"What do you mean?" Min Ho blinked in confusion, holding out one of the copper coins in his palm as if expecting it to suddenly make sense.
"Eomeoni!" the serving girl called out sharply, ignoring the coin. Her eyes darted toward the back as she raised her voice again. "Eomeoni!"
Cheon Sa's brow furrowed. He and Min Ho had exchanged their old currency for three newly minted copper coins earlier. Doon Wook even wore an amazed look and told them they were lucky that they were given three corper coins, that it seemed the exchange man likes them and he even assured them the coins were more than enough. The man who'd made the exchange had spoken with confidence, claiming the three coins could easily last five days. He had said they'd eat, drink, and sleep in the most luxurious inn in town and still have change to spare. Cheon Sa and Min Ho that had been sceptic about the place felt relieved that the people Dong Wook took them to meet were hardworking people and not dangerous like they thought.
Lured by that promise, they had chosen one of the livelier taverns near the town square, nothing too extravagant, but well-lit, fragrant, and full of chatter. They'd eaten heartily, even ordered tea and meat buns. It hadn't seemed like much.
But now the server stared at them like they were mad.
"You're saying... it's not enough?" Min Ho's eyes widened in disbelief. "I may not know much about currency, but even I can tell how valuable this is."
"You're joking, right?" she said flatly, arms crossed.
"Wait..wait. Let me add the rest," Min Ho stammered, fumbling in his satchel and pulling out the other two coins. He set them down beside the first one, offering a hopeful smile.
But it was too late. A woman that seemed to be the tavern owner was already walking towards them in large strides. The woman, a broad-shouldered woman with thick hands and a face carved from stone, had appeared beside their table, drawn by her daughter's call.
"What did they eat and drink?" she asked, her tone clipped, her gaze sharp.
The server rattled off their order, counting it on her fingers. "Everything they ate and drank adds up to twenty copper coins. And they made a room reservation too at the inn. I turned away other guests for that room, it's thirty coins per night!"
The woman rounded on Cheon Sa and Min Ho, her arms crossed now, voice rising.
"And you're telling me all you have are three coins?"
Min Ho looked down at the useless amount in his hand, and Cheon Sa stared straight ahead, jaw tightening. The silence between them was heavy with realization, with shame, and with the slow, creeping awareness that they'd been scammed.
Min Ho's face had drained of all color, his fingers clenched around the worthless coin as if willing it to change. Cheon Sa remained still, impassive as ever, but behind his calm eyes was the silent confirmation of their mistake. They had dismissed Old Man Choi's warnings, laughed off his cautionary tales about the capital's cunning ways and now they were paying the price.
Cheon Sa could retrace his steps. He remembered the winding alleys Dong Wook had led them through, intentionally convoluted to confuse, Cheon Sa didn't think much of it then but now he knew it was on purpose. Still, he could find the way back if he tried. But that wasn't the issue. The real problem stood before them now: a woman who looked capable of dragging them through the depths of hell with her bare hands and smiling while she did it.
Even if he made it back to that exchange house, who was to say the same man would be there? Who was to say it even existed as an exchange house? And causing a scene or starting a fight in the heart of the capital would be reckless. He knew better.
"It's… it's the new coin," Min Ho said faintly, voice barely above a whisper.
The woman, broad-shouldered, sharp-eyed, her gray hair pulled into a severe knot stepped closer. She didn't just radiate anger; she boiled with it. Her presence alone seemed to silence the tavern, the clatter of bowls and chopsticks vanishing into a thick, expectant hush.
"You dare speak?" she hissed. "With that tongue that tried to cheat me?"
The door thudded shut.
Several large men stood from their tables. Some casually positioned themselves by the door, arms folded, legs planted wide. Others edged toward the windows, cutting off every possible exit. They were dressed like regular tavern workers, but their stances, the quiet precision of their movements they were clearly more than mere servers. This wasn't their first time handling a situation like this.
The tension in the room crackled. Every patron was staring now, some with raised brows, others smirking over cups of alcohol. A few whispered behind their hands.
"No problem," the woman said coldly, voice carrying clearly through the room. "We'll take you straight to the Magistrate's office. You'll be arrested, stripped of your belongings, and made to work until every copper you owe is paid back threefold."
"What?" Min Ho shot to his feet, the shock temporarily overriding his fear. "Why do I have to pay three times?! Isn't that theft in itself?"
"That is the law of this town!" the woman roared, slamming her palm down on the table so hard that the dishes jumped. "If we let every filthy drifter with a smooth tongue and fake coin roam free, we'd all be out of business! You think we don't know your type?"
Min Ho opened his mouth to protest, but she cut him off with a finger pointed like a blade.
"Do you think you'll only be working behind the punishment hall? You'll be flogged, twenty or more lashes each, your backs stripped like thieves! Then you'll be tied to the town square so the people can see what happens to liars and swindlers!"
Cheon Sa's eyes widened, just slightly but it was enough. Min Ho glanced at him and faltered, the fire in his voice extinguished. He slowly sank back down onto the bench, mouth clamped shut, his pride swallowed by dread.
The woman wasn't finished.
"And when that's done," she spat, "after you've bled and served and begged for your shame to end, you'll be cast out. No lodging, no food, no coin. You'll crawl out of this town with your heads down and your names cursed!"
The tavern was deathly silent for a beat then the serving girl snorted and giggled.
"You forgot the part about the prison, Mother," she said, grinning wickedly. "The one with the rats and biting insects. They'll have such fine company."
She let out a loud laugh, throwing her head back, and a few others joined in with mocking chuckles.
Cheon Sa slowly looked around. Eyes. Everywhere. Piercing, amused, judgmental. They had become the evening's entertainment, a warning, a joke, a spectacle.
Cheon Sa's gaze swept over the tavern. If they were blacklisted in the capital before even setting foot in the main districts, before even finding Dong Ha then their journey, all their hardship, would be nothing more than a wasted effort. No one would offer employment to men branded as swindlers or debtors. And though he was silently grateful that death wasn't among the punishments listed, exile and public flogging were near enough.
His thoughts turned quickly. The only path left was to offer work, any service, any task they were short of and make reparation through labor. He would lower himself, just this once, to keep their names clean.
Since their case would be taken to the Magistrate's office and not the palace, there was still a slim chance they could strike a deal. Even so, the woman and her daughter seemed intent on making their fate sound as dreadful as possible, and Cheon Sa couldn't fault them for it. Fear was a useful tool and they wielded it well.
"If you think I'm bluffing..." the woman snapped, her voice sharp as bamboo cracking in winter, "then think again! Workers!" She called.
Then...
A sweet, lilting voice, soft as silk over crushed petals, rippled through the charged air.
"Pardon the commotion. It seems my guests have made a regrettable mistake."
Heads turned. The tension cracked. Even the tavern owner flinched slightly at the sudden intervention.
Cheon Sa's eyes lifted and there she was.
The gisaeng they had earlier dismissed now stood with poise and presence, commanding the room without raising her voice.
She was no longer the fleeting woman running after them on the street. Now, standing framed in the warm lantern-light of the tavern, she was resplendent in a flowing hanbok of soft plum and jade silk, the outer robe trailing behind her like mist. Embroidered cranes and weeping willows adorned her sleeves. Her hair was pulled into an elegant jjeok, pinned with a glinting silver binyeo shaped like a blooming peony. A handfan painted with clouds and cranes dangled lazily from her fingers.
Beside her stood the other woman from earlier that joined in the chase, plain but well-kept, dressed in a modest, dark-blue durumagi with her hands tucked respectfully before her. She had the grace of a senior maid, or perhaps a stewardess of a noble household.
When they arrived, Cheon Sa hadn't spared a glance at his surroundings, so he couldn't tell whether the two had followed them in or had been seated in the tavern all along watching silently as he and Min Ho devoured their food, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. Perhaps they intended to approach him again with their offer, hoping to recruit him. But now, with trouble already closing in, Cheon Sa didn't know how he'd respond if they did. The timing couldn't have been worse
"You're right, Ara. Pay the woman," the second woman said coolly to the gisaeng, her eyes not leaving Cheon Sa as she nodded toward the owner.
Without a word, Ara stepped forward, her steps graceful, deliberate. From her sash, she withdrew a silk pouch embroidered with delicate butterflies. She loosened the tie and poured a neat stack of copper coins into her palm. Twenty, counted and offered.
The restaurant owner narrowed her eyes as she wore an irritated look but took the coins with a begrudging hum. She held them up to the lantern, counting swiftly.
"That covers only the food and drink," she said curtly. "What of the room?" she asked, her voice cold as steel, eyes sweeping over them with thinly veiled disdain.
Min Ho, still reeling, rose to protest.
"We didn't even stay in the room! And we are not going to stay either... We..."
"Min Ho." Cheon Sa's voice was low, but edged with quiet authority. He didn't look away from Ara, watching her closely, how she let the tavern owner speak to her as if she were nothing more than a blemish on silk.
"What?" Min Ho turned sharply to Cheon Sa, his brow furrowed, lips twitching with restrained anger. "We're not even staying, so why should we pay? Isn't this nothing but outright cheating?"
Ara glanced sideways, amusement flickering behind her lashes. She added more coins to the restaurant owner's palm with an almost careless elegance. The pouch hardly looked lighter.
"We're not the ones paying," Cheon Sa murmured under his breath, a quiet reminder to Min Ho of just how little ground they had to stand on.
Satisfied at last, the owner gave a shallow bow, the sudden shift in her tone almost jarring.
"Thank you for your intervention. We shall speak no more of this."
And with that, she turned to her staff and customers, her harshness vanishing like morning mist. The men who had stood guard near the doors and windows slowly returned to their places. Murmurs rose again as the tavern resumed its rhythm.
Min Ho exhaled.
"So... does this mean we can still use the room? Since you paid for it and all?" he asked sheepishly.
Ara looked at him, the corners of her lips lifting just enough to be called a smile. She raised her fan, covering half her face with practiced allure.
"How naive," she said, voice smooth as honeyed tea. "That was not a payment for comfort. It was a caution fee, a compensation for inconvenience."
She lowered herself into the seat across from Cheon Sa, fan still in hand. "Neither of you will set foot in that room."
Cheon Sa's brow furrowed. The second woman still standing had not uttered another word. She clearly wasn't Ara's servant. She had addressed Ara by name, not by title, which was unusual if she serve Ara. Yet, she also didn't behave as a superior.
Cheon Sa was relieved the eyes had drifted away from them and that they hadn't been hauled off in chains. It meant they'd been granted another chance to find their footing in the capital. But now a different problem loomed, they were indebted to Ara, and who could say what that debt might cost? From the faint, knowing smile that played at the corner of her lips, Cheon Sa could already tell repayment wouldn't wait, and it certainly wouldn't come cheap.