Chapter 1

“…. so we were thinking to display just enough artifacts to give the guests enough foundation to grasp the narrative, but the main focus would still be….”

Wheein trailed off mid-sentence and stopped on her track when she instinctively knew that she lost her audience. Again. Huffing a resigned breath, Wheein turned around and found the distracted curator staring at one of the statues through the glass showcase.

“You know, if you keep stopping, we won’t be able to finish the tour.”

The older man looked at his assistant sheepishly then laughed it off, “I have faith in our exhibit designers. I’m sure the team has done a marvelous job, now come here, child and look at this.”

He pressed the hidden button at the right side of the panel and watched eagerly as the glass box lifted up on its hinges, allowing him to reached inside and picked up a wooden statue with his gloved hands reverently, “Look at the carving on the feature,” his thumb move over the facial features of the wooden statue with marvel, “it looks so human like, isn’t it?”

Wheein looked at him fondly and indulged him yet again, moving closer so that she could see for herself what made him so enthralled.

The statue was of a warrior, dressed in full war regalia with bow strapped on her back and a sword on her hand. They both fell silent, admiring the craftsmanship and Wheein swore that in her mind eyes, she could almost see the warrior came to life, walking toward the battle field with her sword drawn, slashing down at her enemy.

Shaking her head back to reality, Wheein put on her most serious face and tried her hardest to admonish the older man, “You are worse than a five years old in a candy store, please put that back before the collection team found out that you moved things around and kill you.”

The older man barked a laugh before complying, securing the statue once more behind its temporal home. His feet however, remain rooted on the spot where he stood, still gazing into the artifact with a faraway look.

Wheein cocked her head slightly,  “You know, I’ve known you since you are still my professor but this is the first time I see you so distracted.”

“Hmm? Ah… yeah, this exhibit…” he cleared his throat then sighed heavily, “it has been controversial since the beginning don’t you think? The findings basically rocked the academic world, the arguments that follow….” He shook his head, disgust written plainly in his face, “It changes our understanding of the hwarang and the dynamics of the three kingdom history,even the whole social structure.”

He turned to fully face Wheein, hands moving animatedly as if to drive his point, “Look at all of these magnificent proofs! Who would have thought that when King Jin Heul of Silla first organized his elite military team, he recruited both gender instead of them being all boys, or that we only know four hwarang Generals while in reality they have more and that half of them are female!”

He stopped himself short, slightly flustered at his sudden outburst. Fishing a handkerchief from his suit, he clumsily pat the non-existent sweat from his brow, a nervous habit more than an actual need and smiled sheepishly at the startled young woman.

“I’m sorry… I get really worked up at things like this. It just felt, unfair, somehow.”

Wheein grinned at him, warmth suffused her heart as it swell with pride and affection for the white haired man in front of her, “You are a feminist, I know.”

She laughed when he scoffed at her and Wheein tugged at the curator’s arm, “Come on, we need to finish the walkthrough so we can get the cleaning crew in here. Afterwards I have to quiz all of the guides on the material, I hope all of them could memorized all of the information in time, I mean 14 historical figures are really….” She stopped and looked at the suddenly fidgeting man quizzically.

“15.” The word was blurted out quickly as the older man turned flustered.

“Excuse me?”

“The Hwarang segi did not just chronicled the journey of 14 Hwarang Generals, it was 15. There was an attempt to remove one General from the historical record. A Damnatio.”

The condemned.

Goosebumps flashed through Wheein’s body as she watched the Curator looked around the empty museum, as if afraid that someone would be listening in, before continuing solemnly, “Come, let’s finish this in my office.” He his step and walked away from the gallery toward the back office area.

Wheein gaped at his back, still reeling from the shocking discovery, “Wha…..” she cleared and tightened her grip on her tablet, “What’s his name? The condemned General.”

The Curator looked over his shoulder briefly before continuing on, “Her. Her name was General Yue Xing Yi.”

***

Kim Jong Jin, the Curator of the National Folk Museum of Korea, looked deep in thought as he let his muscle memory guided him through the motion of putting tea leaves into the pot before pouring the fragrant beverage into the two awaiting porcelain cups.

He carefully put the steaming mug in front of Wheein and sat down opposite of her – still lost in thought – so much so that the heat permeating from the mug to his reddened fingers barely registered in his brain nor does the minty steam wafting from his mug did anything to calm his nerves. 

“When we were translating the Segi, we noticed peculiarities, as if there was an attempt to remove a certain someone from certain records, we are not clear as of why such blatant attempt to conduct a damnatio memoriae were done, but there was an obvious gaps throughout the records. We also noticed that there were several paintings that were torn down, smashed or disfigured statues that was not ravaged by time but was done deliberately.”

He put down his mug and went over to his desk, pulled down a secret compartment and pressed the button there, revealing a secret preservation room to his quiet apprentice. 

“Come, I want to show you something.”

He hurried Wheein along with a flurry motion of his hand and quickly closed the door behind them once they were both inside the extremely cold room.

“The excavations, the study that follows, this exhibit were all privately funded by the Moon Foundation and their only caveat,” the Curator explained quickly as he guided the bewildered Wheein through the room and stopped in front of a high glass showcase, “is this, we must exhibit this. The key to the puzzle.”

Sitting there straddling a mountain of a black war horse and in the process of nocking an arrow, was obviously a hwarang general – the regalia was undisputable – and even though the regalia hid her body, it wasn’t enough to hid the beauty of her face.

Sharp longing pierced through Wheein as she stared unblinkingly at the painting, as if willing the unknown woman to life.

“Wheein? Are you okay?” Mr. Kim broke the silence and Wheein blinked back to the present.

“Yeah, I’m sorry… it’s just…” There was something about this fierce looking warrior that spoke to something in Wheein’s soul, “… you were saying?”

“Along with the painting, they also gave us a diary of the General.” He took a book from the nearby desk and put it up for Wheein to see, “This is a copy in its original wording, not the translation….”

The Curator took one look at Wheein and his eyes turned into a slight crescent as he chuckled, “Wheein-ah, you’re vibrating.”

“Huh?”

“You. Vibrating.”

“Ah… yeah, I mean, I guess, I couldn’t help the excitement.” Wheein blushed up to the tip of her ear before glaring at her old confidante, “Don’t act as if you wouldn’t be the same.”

“Of course I did.” They both shared a small knowing smile before his face turned pensive once again, “There were questions about the authenticity of the diary and the painting, some cry foul play but some, like me, believed that we are looking at a genuine piece of history. The Museum’s Board of Trustees refuses to exhibit this piece until all of the historian confirms that this General truly exist while the Director of Moon Foundation are threatening to pull the exhibit altogether if we didn’t showcase her. It’s still up in the air, but whatever the decision will be, it’s going to be a quite a run.”

The Curator looked at Wheein in the eyes and offered the book to Wheein, “We were sworn to secrecy and had to sign a confidentiality agreement not to copy and share this with anyone, but out of all of my students, you are the most equipped to help me. You are fluent in the ancient writing and you have the most discerning eyes to spot forgery.” He sighed and rubbed his face tiredly before continuing, “And honestly? At this rate, we all need fresh eyes and new perspective and I’m not too proud to ask for help. So, will you?”

There was a slight tremor on Wheein’s hand as she took the offered book but her voice was all steel when she said yes.

***

“I’m home.” Wheein yelled out to her empty one bedroom apartment, as if telling whoever inhabited her apartment while she’s at work that the living occupant of the house is back and taking over. She kicked off her shoes and padded bare footed to the kitchen, lighting on all of the lamp on her wake, and took out a can of beer from the refrigerator.

Dropping heavily into the sofa that took up almost half the size of her living room, she propped her feet on the desk and leaned back, burrowing herself deeper into the sofa, as if trying to become one with the comfortable furniture.

Taking massive multiple gulps of her beer, she took off her hair tie and ran her fingers through her long black hair lazily, straightening back all of the kink as she simply laid there in quiet and just breathe out all of the hectic-ness of the day.

She would be content to just sit there, drifting in nothingness and wake up the next morning with a giant pain on her neck, but the knowledge that there was something historical just a mere inches away, tuck inside her tote bag, was enough to make her moved her fingers slowly, rummaging through all of her other junks and retrieved the book.

Wheein caressed the smooth blue cover, calming the sudden nerves that ran through her fingers, making it slightly shaky as she thumb over the first page and there, the of classical literary Chinese characters greeted her.

Wheein raised her eyebrow. Although the words clearly depict a complaint, she somehow could picture the General smiling as she wrote down those words. Amusement evident by the light of her brush.

Wheein smiled, she recognized the name immediately, Bae Joo Hyun was one of the General chronicled in the Segi who was famous for always wearing a demon mask whenever she went to war. The ferocious lithe demon that bring the fear of god to her enemies, yet loved by her garrison for her kindness. It was said that she was forced to wear the hideous mask because her beauty was so enthralling, her garrison prefer to look upon her rather than fight alongside her.

“Guess this proves that the belief was true.” Wheein mumbled to herself and flipped another page for a new entry.

Wheein knitted her eyebrow and re-read the last passage and wondered whether she misread it. “Is it a dear diary thing? calling your diary, your heart?”

Wheein waited a fraction of a beat before turning to another fresh page, slightly worry that a voice would actually answer her out loud question. 

Wheein blushed. Whoever the General was writing for – and even without further information to glean on – it was obvious that she written it for someone that she loves dearly and Wheein felt almost like she intruded on something extremely personal, like she trespasses on her secret thoughts, her dreams.

One thing for sure, she’s not sure that this is a diary. It felt more like a collection of letters to someone. A lover. Her very much female lover. But then again, Silla’s view toward marriage and were different from the current mainstream social behavior.

“What happened to you?” she traced the written characters with her forefinger, suddenly engulf by an out of nowhere melancholy over someone that has passed the earth hundreds of years prior.

Wheein signed and dragged a comforter that she always put there in the sofa for nights like this and settling in more, book in hand and start reading anew.

***

Wheein yawned as she trudged her way toward the still closed off area of the museum. She sipped her venti-sized Ice Americano with 2 extra shot of espresso and let the living elixir bring forth life into her semi-conscious body. She barely got an hour of sleep, too immersed into the tale that Xing Yi…. She shook her head slightly to stop her train of thought, one night with the General and she already calling her by her given name.

“What do you think? Do you think they all having with each other?” Wheein’s ear perked up at the feminine voice and she looked up to find two museum’s educators standing in front of the statue that both she and the Curator admire yesterday. 

“I mean, you read the Segi, they chose the most attractive youths from the aristocrat. They all lived together, trained together, traveled together before stationed in their selected military organization. Put enough attractive people together, there’s no way they’re not boning each other. Hell, look at this statues, I wouldn’t mind if SHE wants to sleep with me.”

Wheein cleared loud enough to alert them of her presence and glared at their sheepish look, “The Museum is opening soon, I’m sure the two of you will be needed somewhere.”

The two young women bowed slightly at her and quickly scampered away from the Assistant Curator when Wheein suddenly felt the need to twist the knife just so, “And for the record, it doesn’t matter. Instead of wondering about whether or not, they were boning,” she air quoted with her fingers.

“It’s better to wonder why we only discovered this now? The whole lot of female Generals, what’s their story, which war they fought and lost, how they died and their stories. Not whether or not some of them might be a lesbian.” Wheein stopped herself when she noticed that she already scared them into a sweat and waved her hand at them dismissively with a roll of her eyes, “Just go.”

“Nice speech.” A clapping from her back startled Wheein. She swiveled around to the direction of the voice and came face to face with a smirking woman, leaning against one of the glass case. Dressed in one of Thom Browne gray suit, there was something about the black haired woman that felt imposing somehow. Like she belong with this special legion of warriors and could hold off an army of men by herself with just a sword and a smile.

“I’m sorry, but this part of the Museum is still close for public.”

The mysterious woman hummed her acknowledgment but continued looking around the room before pointing at one of Joo Hyun’s demon mask, “What happened to the owner of the mask?”

“She died.”

The woman laughed, “That’s an understatement, but how she died? Tell me her tale.”

Wheein took a deep breath and walked closer to the glass case that was the mask temporal home, “She was fearsome, brave and kind. Possessing a beauty so incomparable, she had to hide her beautiful fairy face with this demonic mask and her fair skin that rival the glory of the moon with battle armor. She led a 500 cavalry men to defend the northern border from Gogeryo, which attack the city with 10.000 soldiers.”

“Did she died in that battle?”

Wheein shook her head, “She won. Did you ever hear that beauty kills? Bae Joo Hyun was honored above other for her bravery and her victory, but when the crown prince was dazzled by her beauty and fell in lust with her…” Wheein trailed off, there was a note of disgust in her tone before she cleared and continue on,  “Anyway, to avoid the young prince, the General stay away from the capital city. She prefer to stand guard at the northern border with her sister in arm. But jealousy ran deep and bitterness last, the crown prince sent her a poisonous wine, which ended her life.”

Wheein walked a couple of steps to the side and pointed at another demonic mask, “This one, although owned by General Bae, but its last owner was General Jiang Se Qi.” Wheein smiled, remembering a phrase in the diary about how Se Qi is that one perfect child, top of the class, the Ace of their team.

“If you want to look closer, you can.” She motioned to the woman to move closer and pointed at the splattered mask, “When they found this mask, they cannot clean the blood from the mask. As if the blood has seeped into every molecule of this bronze mask, a reminder that Jiang Se Qi bathe in the blood of her enemy before she too succumbed to the underworld.”

The Segi said that Se Qi had become battle-crazed – something akin to PTSD in this modern civilization – where she took up the mask, penetrated the crown prince’s castle and slaughtered all of his guards and his family members, before decapitating him, yet Wheein somehow knew that it was not battle crazed that made her dismissed her allegiance to her sovereign, it was sorrow. He took away something much more precious than life itself from the General.

“She died smiling. Her soul free to meet up with her sister in arm.” Wheein looked up and as their eyes met, a brief understanding passed between them, before Wheein remembered that she was not supposed to be here.

“You are not supposed to be here.”

The woman chuckled and nodded slowly, “My apologies, however, I have to admit, you did your homework, Miss…”

“Wheein. Jung Wheein.”

“Well, Miss Jung, forgive my manner. My name is Moon Byul Yi and on behalf of the Moon foundation, I want to thank you for giving their stories justice.”

Hearing the name made Wheein took one steps back, “Oh .”

Byul chuckled at Wheein outburst and put up both of her hand to appease her, “A beautiful story by a beautiful woman, exactly how I want to start each one of my morning.”

The compliment wrapped warmly in a flirtatious tone made Wheein blush.

“We are still finishing up the walk through design and placement, but you are welcome to come again and take a look. It will be an amazing exhibit and if you’d like, we can arrange a grand opening tour just for you.”

Wheein hid the fact that she knew that the exhibit was still up in the air and watched as emotions seemed to fleet across her handsome face before it settled once again into an easy smile.

“It would be delightful, I could listen to you for hours on end.”

“Well, it’s a story worth telling.”

Byul smiled and nodded, “Indeed, well, until we meet again then, Miss Jung.” She extended her hand and engulfed Wheein’s much smaller hand in a warm clasp before turning on her heels and left.   

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Author's Note:

I wrote this story for @Guchahae and also trying out a different kind of writing style too. I wonder if you guys could guess who plays the General Yue and who plays Se Qi xD tbh, I really want to continue this story, but I'm not sure whether I could give it justice, so the progress is much too slow for my liking cause I kept editing and deleting scenes like crazy.

How do you guys like it so far? 

-Gabe-