Blog

Ban Ryu stood before Soo Yeon’s father.  And bowed deeply to the esteemed man.

“What is it?” that honored gentleman asked impatiently.

“Sir, I deeply respect you, and I’ve come to beg a favor of you.”

“I do not know why you think that I would give a favor to such as you.”

Ban Ryu’s face fell.  “It is true.  I do not deserve it.  Though I do desire it.”

“Well, spit it out then!” the exasperated fellow urged the young man.

“Would you please consider taking me under your wing?  To become my mentor.”

Lord Kim Seub simply gaped at the lad.  “You can’t be serious.  Your father is a traitor.  You’re both disgraced.  Why would I ever want to help you?”

“Because I agree with you.  I support our king.”  Ban Ryu paused and heaved a deep sigh before continuing, “My father should be disgraced.  I should be disgraced.  But…can a man not change?  Can he not learn from his mistakes and start afresh?  Not even when he is young and has learned the error of his ways?”  

He had always lowered his eyes before Minister Park.  But no more.  Gone were the days of cowering before powerful men.  If he was ever going to become something good, then he was going to have to find the courage to look a good man in the eye.  So he could see what he was becoming.  Hence, Ban Ryu stared Soo Yeon’s appa squarely in the eye.

And discomfited that fine gentleman.  “You are speaking absolute rubbish,” Lord Kim Seub blustered.

“I am sorry you think so,” the young man murmured, bowing deeply once more.  “I apologize for wasting your time.”  Mortified, he glanced at the ground.

Soo Yeon watched sadly from the doorway as her beloved beau backed away from her father before slipping out the door.  She stepped into the room to confront her father.

“Appa, why don’t you give the boy a chance?  He is clearly repentant.”

He spun around.  “Not you too!”

“Appa, can you not use your imagination just a little?  How hard must it have been for that boy to be raised by that man?  And to have Minister Park as an adopted father?”  She shuddered.  “The man was cruel beyond measure!  What must he have done to that boy?”

Lord Kim Seub considered his daughter.  “Why do you care so much?  For this son of our enemy?”

“Just because he was born to your enemy doesn’t make him my enemy, Appa.  He and Soo Ho are now friends.  Doesn’t that tell you something?”

“Yes,” his face grew hard, “that my son is a traitor.”

“No, Appa!” she cried.  “How can you say that?  Soo Ho is the one who discovered that Minister Park was poisoning the queen!  He’s the one who told the king!”  She paused.  “But the fact that Soo Ho has befriended Ban Ryu might tell you that your enemy’s son is a traitor…to his appa’s cause.”

His eyes narrowed as they slid over her countenance.  “Why do you defend the lad so passionately?”

“Appa, he is a hwarang.  He is a friend of the king.  Do you really think that the king would have befriended him if he were bad?”

“The king is young.  He may not yet be very wise.”

“I think he is quite wise.  He managed to take his throne.  Without bloodshed.  He garnered the support of the entire hwarang and convinced the royal council to allow him to take his seat.  And Ban Ryu was part of the hwarang who surrounded him that day.”

Lord Kim Seub simply stared at his daughter.

Her heart racing, she exclaimed zealously, “Can you not see?!  He is a good man!”

He furrowed his brow but remained silent.  Then after a moment, he remarked, “I have a council meeting in an hour.  I’m headed out.” 

He turned from her, but then he pivoted towards her and commanded, “Stay out of trouble.”

Then he was gone, striding out the doorway through which Ban Ryu had passed not five minutes earlier.

Leaving behind him a very forlorn young lady.