Taemin

Without a carriage, the way to town is arduous. My new pants used to be white and I feel terribly cold. Nevertheless, I can't say that my mood is clouded by it.

The lights of the city show me the way.

Already shortly before the city I can hear loud music and a buzz of voices. Everything sounds cheerful and inviting.

Looking down on the city, the houses looked like small dollhouses, but they are bigger than in my imagination. Nothing compared to my palace, of course. But they look cute. Some houses are painted white and have dark coloured bars as decorations. Others have remained in the natural brown of the material. Pointed roofs line up one after another.

I wonder if enough light can get through the small windows. All my windows tower from floor to ceiling, but here they form only a small square. Most of the windows are dark, but in some of them a dim light burns. The alleys are lightly decorated with colourful garlands and shining lanterns. The further I walk the louder the backdrop of sounds becomes.

"Ouch!" howls a little girl below me as she runs into me.

"Are you okay?" I ask her, crouching down to help her up.

"I'm so sorry!" her mother, I assume, screeches from behind her.

"She's so excited, you know."

"It's okay, nothing happened." I assure her with a smile.

The mother's dress, as well as the girl's, looks the same. There are several patches sewn on the brown cotton. How can fashion be so different, it's not so far from the palace to the city after all?

"Are you also on your way to the marketplace?" the elderly lady asks me. She has kind facial features that are provided with some wrinkles. 

"I am."

"Then let me buy you a beer to make up for it."

I can already see dancing shadows in the yellow light. The music is blaring cheerfully, I can't say I've ever heard such. In front of me stretches the huge marketplace which is full of people. Drinking men, dancing children, laughing women.

A large fire burns in the middle of the huge square, illuminating it brightly. Here the decorations are more generously distributed. Garlands, torches and lanterns shine in bright colours.

"Well then, into the hustle and bustle!" the woman says cheerfully and I follow her to one of the many long tables laden with food.

Where we should sit down I don't know, because all the seats seem to be taken. But that does not bother me. The crowd of people fascinates me. Stories are exchanged, jokes are told out loud and people laugh even louder at them.

"Mom, can I go play?" the little girl asks sweetly and immediately gets permission.

"Jungsu!" she calls out to a lanky, blond man.

She points two fingers up and he immediately taps two beers from a very large keg. She squeezes in between the people and I do the same. I feel uncomfortable reducing the space but people don't seem to mind, they even move a little to the side.

"Thank you." I say to the bawling man next to me, but he doesn't even seem to notice me.

"You can forget pleasantries with Hyukjae." She laughs and I have to laugh with her.

"For the pretty ladies." Says Jungsu, setting out two pitchers of the yellow contents for us. She raises her jug ceremoniously.

"To the king." We drink at the same time but I immediately put the jug down and cough slightly.

"That tastes like..." but I can't finish my sentence. The man next to me has now turned to us.

"Don't make me laugh. What has he done for us?" Excuse me?

"He ended the war." She replies to him and I nod in agreement. He only has a screwed-up laugh for us.

"If it wasn't for him, we wouldn't be having this party. Or would you rather be in the trenches than here?" Again, I can only agree with her.

"I'm going to die either way." he empties the rest of his mug in one go and slams it down on the table in a way that makes me flinch slightly. Apparently that's the way to show you want another beer because Jungsu nods at him and immediately gets to work.