Yeo Wool followed Sam Sook from a healthy distance. Curious to see if she was visiting her mother. And if her husband had come with her.
Yeo Wool hadn’t seen Sam Sook in nearly fourteen years. But when she turned towards him, he finally got a very clear view of her beautiful face. He had to admit that the angel – who had once saved him as a child – had transformed into an incandescent creature. She had always been golden in his memories. But she was even more captivating now.
When he had first met her, he would not have believed that she could grow any lovelier than she already was. But he would clearly have been wrong.
He remembered that life-altering moment like it was yesterday. Of course, it hadn’t been yesterday. It had been fourteen years ago. And a very special day for more than one reason. It had been his eighth birthday. His mother had planned a big party at their home, and many of the lords’ sons had been invited. Sam Sook had been in attendance too.
He had never met her before. And that day, he had not noticed her arrival. He had been occupied outside with the other boys. Several of the older boys had surrounded him. They were jeering at him.
Dreading facing a huge crowd of people at his party and disliking being the center of attention, Yeo Wool had headed outside to his favorite place. His mother’s magnificent gardens hidden back behind their house. Believing that he had an hour to himself before anyone would arrive, he had escaped to his favorite corner of his mother’s lush paradise. To occupy himself with his secret passion. Only the birds knew how much Yeo Wool loved to sing. He enjoyed dancing too. But serenading the feathered creatures perching on the branches of the garden’s trees was his favorite pastime.
He had stood in the midst of four fine trees and released his beautiful voice to fill the atmosphere with joy.
––
Sam Sook had stepped into that garden and hidden herself behind a flowering tree. Leaning back against it, she had closed her eyes. And been immediately transported by a sweet voice raised in lilting song.
“What do you call the stars at night
That shine so true and glow so bright?
Just like your eyes they twinkle too,
Reminding me of precious you.
“Where do you go to find their light?
Have you troubled their sweet delight?
Where can I find your eyes’ embrace?
And look upon your lovely face?”
He had the purest voice that she’d ever heard. Simply lovely. Like an angel singing. Serenading the earth with God’s grace. She lost herself in the beauty of that tone as he continued to sing.
“Right here, right now,
My dear, somehow,
I am gonna reach you.
I am gonna touch you.
“Right here, right now.
My friend, somehow,
I’m gonna hold your light.
Cause, love, you shine so bright.
“What do you call the sun at noon
That shines so bright and glows so true?
Just like your smile its beams embrace
This lonely soul with its glad rays.”
––
Yeo Wool was in the middle of the second verse when the first group of boys arrived.
“What’s that sound?” one of them asked the others as he strained to listen.
Another giggled. “Is that Yeo Wool?”
A third guffawed. “He sounds just awful. Like a girl.”
And a fourth hushed the others. “Shhh. Come on. We won’t sneak up on him if you continue to make so much noise.”
A moment later, the four older boys were creeping silently through the garden on their way to humiliate the young boy. Unbeknownst to them, they were followed by a sturdy, ten-year-old girl. One who had already been itching for a fight. And now they had interrupted her lovely reverie, the one moment of peace which she’d found today, with their caustic remarks.
She had learned this morning that her parents had arranged for her to leave everything that she knew very soon and move into a stranger’s house. She would be heading to a new village. Forsaking her family for her fiancé. She was hurt and furious. And ready to take out her distress on the first willing target.
And she was also a lover of justice. And she despised cruelty in its every form.
She also loved music. And was a connoisseur of poetry.
So when she learned that those vicious, older boys were preparing to corner a defenseless child, she followed them. Wrath boiling in her veins.
“What is that caterwauling?” one of the boys raised his voice. “Can you all hear that?”
“Yeah. It sounds like a cat in heat,” another one poked fun at Yeo Wool’s singing voice.
“Yeo Wool? Is that you? Hidden in this garden. Singing like a girl?”
“Everyone knows that Yeo Wool is a sissy. He only hangs out with girls. He’s even beginning to act like one.”
“He sure sounds like one of them!” one boy laughed as he caused all the other boys to burst forth into another round of taunting remarks meant to tear the little boy down.
“It’s the fatherless sissy!” echoed one of their friends.
Yeo Wool had, of course, instantly ceased to sing when they’d surrounded him. He stared at them with wide eyes. And he worked furiously to bite back the tears now stinging his eyes.
He hated these boys! Why had they invaded his private sanctum today of all days? He’d believed himself safe for another half hour. Yet here they were disturbing his peace. And attacking his identity.
He had always loved to sing. What was wrong with that? And why did his love of songs make him like a girl? Couldn’t boys love music too?
He stood, his fists clenched, his eyes traveling from one boy to another until they’d traversed the entire group. He’d been searching for the weakest link. But truthfully, he’d been simply terrified. What were they planning to do?
Beat him? Destroy his grandmother’s precious garden? Chase his beautiful birds away?
But as he looked up at those lovely trees, he realized that all of those birds had already flown away. They had seen the danger and fled. Just as he now wished to do.
The tallest boy, a good half-foot taller than Yeo Wool, suddenly stepped forward and shoved the little boy in the shoulder, causing him to fall back a few feet. He bumped into the trunk of a tree and, panicking, began to fight for a deep breath of air.
“Yeo Wool, you’re such a ninny. Why don’t you ever come play with us? You should be playing soccer instead of singing.”
“I bet he stays behind to play with his sister’s dolls,” one particularly rude young man taunted him. “Admit it. You’d rather play with dollies and sing songs than play with us.” He reached out and smacked Yeo Wool on the head.
That’s when Sam Sook had seen enough. She stepped forward and grabbed that boy by the hair and tugged his head down. “Hey! Why are you picking on this harmless, little kid? What did he ever do to you?” she hollered in his face.
As he screeched, the other three boys turned towards her.
“Hey! Let him go!” the next tallest among them bellowed.
She shoved the first kid at him, and both boys suddenly sprawled on the ground.
The third boy scanned her body contemptuously with an irritated glance. “What do you think you’re doing? We’ll teach you a lesson.”
He stepped forward, but she was too fast for him. A couple inches taller than him, she stepped forward quickly and threw her leg out towards him. He ducked too late. Her foot caught him along his jaw. He went flying backwards until he landed on his bottom.
Prepared for further attack, she turned towards his friend, her hands balled into fists and held up in front of her. She was clearly prepared to punch the fourth boy in the nose. She made a move towards him, and he fell back.
“You all leave this boy alone. From now on. Or you’ll have me to deal with.” She moved threateningly towards all four of them. Jutting her chin out and lifting her fists.
They jumped to their feet and ran off.
She turned towards Yeo Wool, and it seemed to him that the clouds parted over her head, and manifold bright rays of sunlight cascaded down to blanket her in a heavenly glow. He stared in wonder at her. His avenging angel.
She beamed at him, a captivating smile wreathing her winsome countenance. “You have a beautiful voice,” she breathed in awe.
He grinned at her. “You really think so?” Then he frowned. “Those boys hated it. They told me that I sing like a girl….”
“Don’t pay any attention to them,” she commanded him in a tone ringing with authority. “They’re just jealous.”
She paused a moment as she gazed after the departing backs of those cruel kids. Then she speared him with her piercing gaze as she continued in that same confident timbre, “You have a heavenly voice. You were clearly born to sing. Don’t ever let anyone silence your gift.”
He blinked up at the tall girl. “I’m Kim Yeo Wool,” he asserted.
Her lips flipped upwards in another smile. “I’m Yang Sam Sook.” Then her eyes lit up. “You’re the birthday boy, aren’t you?”
He nodded.
And with those few words – and her quick defense of him – a beautiful friendship was born. However, it was destined to be a fleeting one. Eight short weeks later, Sam Sook left him to move in with her intended husband. Just a couple of months before her eleventh birthday.
Yeo Wool had cried himself to sleep the day that she had departed for Lord Jeong’s. He would have been surprised to know that his tough friend, that brave girl, had done the same thing that night. Far from home. Far from her family. Far from him. All alone in a strange place, she had longed for the comforts of her family home, the embrace of her adoring appa, the loving voice of her beloved eomma, the constant chatter of her little sisters, and the beautiful smile of her new friend. But most of all that night, she had missed his lovely voice. Raised in song.
