5 Ginseng Roots

"I have five ginsengs to sell to you, young sir," Rin spoke to the gentleman who wore the same traditional clothes for commoners in this era.

"Wow, silk," Yuna muttered as she was looking forward to seeing a nobleman in this dream, or transportation dream before she comes back to where she came from.

"That costs only three silver coins," The male who seemed to be the owner of the stall grabbed the ginsengs and examined them using a magnifying lens. "Young Rin."

"Can't we compromise for something higher, sir?" Yuna chimed in with the conversation and maintained eye contact him the man. "We are really hungry, dearest sir."

"Okay, I will give four silver coins, no more, no less."

"We need this to buy medicine for our mother too, who is already sick in bed," Yuna joined into the conversation and tried to win the man with a pouty face. Acting cute would be the best thing to do. "Please?"

Yuna could see how she made a difference. The merchant who seemed to be so sure not to give more than what they deserve was now hesitating. She always thought that she was already halfway there when the man hesitated. Her charms were still there; after all, she was trained to become an idol. An idol has to know how to charm people, wherever, whenever and whatever the place, the time, and nationality.

Nothing can block her way to show her domineering charms against everyone.

"Five silver coins, that is all I can bargain to you, young ladies," The man finally answered after a series of deliberation and consideration. "That is already the highest worth I can give you. In exchange, you have to always go to me whenever you find these, okay?"

"Thank you, kind sir!" Rin replied with the biggest grin. "Thank you so much!"

"Thank you, sir," Yuna did the same with a slight bow.

For some reason, she became so happy when the merchant agreed to their deal. She deeply cared a lot for Rin, even though it was the first time they ever saw each other.

She felt the need to take care of her like she was her younger sister. Rin seemed like a kind-hearted girl whose dad left her with her sickly mother when she was even younger, throwing away their responsibilities as parents of their child. She felt attached to how Rin was able to show her smiles and was not even discouraged when things won't go according to expect.

Yuna was one hundred percent sure that it was not, and it will not be easy for Rin from now on, so as long as she was still here, she wanted to support her in any way she can.

They were now striding and walking among several marketplaces and small restaurants that would fill their grumbling stomachs. Yuna could definitely smell and see familiar-looking dishes available there, and gukbap was her favorite. Gukbap literally means rice and soup. The mixture of rice and soup was definitely the best to battle the scorching heat.

Yuna gawked at how realistic her dream seemed. The buildings really looked like what she saw in her history books. The whole place was dreamy and she liked the busy atmosphere of the marketplace. All people there wore traditional outfits in the Joseon era. It was a golden time for her.

"Older sister," Rin called her out when she noticed she was already ahead of her but Yuna was still observing everything. She looked like she was overly fascinated about everything in general. She always thought that everyone and everything was strange, but it turned out that she was the one who was strange after all.

"Older sister!" Rin called her out again as the young girl grabbed her hand and dragged her to where they were supposed to go. "Stick with me, please. Or we might end up losing each other."

"Okay, I understand."

They continued to walk around and their goal was to find a cheap gukbap restaurant and have their first meal. When they finally found a merchant, it was somewhere far from the alley. It seemed like Rin was well-versed in this area, so Yuna followed her like she is a dog and her owner was Rin.

Rin looked really young but she was already mature for her age. Yuna could not believe how she was letting a young girl lead her.

After all, she has always been deemed as a leader. A natural born leader anywhere she went. She was always self-sufficient and always thought she was good at adapting things, but this time, she could not help herself but make someone younger than her lead her. This was a place she knew nothing of. It was like the place was her country but at the same time, it seemed like it was not.

Everything was foreign to her.

It dawned to her that the place they went was not a rice soup restaurant, but it was a place that sells medicinal herbs and everything. Yuna remembered that that was the reason why young Rin was already risking her life on the mountains trying to find some ginsengs to sell, and that was because her mother was sick. Rin was the only one they could count on.

Or at least, that was what Yuna concluded basing on what she told her.

Yuna just observed how Rin dealt with the merchant.

"How many can I buy with four silvers? I badly need six packs of ginseng roots, kind sir?" Rin asked the merchant.

As Yuna scanned the overall look of the merchant owner, he looked like those noblemen who earn a lot of money through several businesses and gambling. He had an average-looking face, but what caught Yuna's attention the most was his beard. The goatee looked weird on him that she wanted to laugh out loud.

It was as if a dog had a weird-looking beard on it.

The clothes he wore were made up of silk. For some reason, Yuna could tell just with one glance.

"Six packs of ginseng roots for four pieces of silvers?" The merchant held his chin using his index fingers and said, "That is impossible dear. You can only buy four packs of ginseng roots for four pieces of silvers."

"Yes?" Rin looked surprised. "But the last time I bought ginseng roots from you, one piece of silver in exchange for two packs of ginseng roots!"