Green Plum

After Master's drunken sobs ended, he promptly dozed off. Clinging to that empty wine bottle with an iron grip.

Aiyah.

Why do you have to make things difficult for this auntie, Master? We're so high up, and it's going to take forever to get back.

Also, I'll have to carry you back too!

Luckily, it turned out to be a relatively easy journey; however, my aching back may say otherwise.

"Oiyahhh," cracking my spine back into place, I let my shoulder slump as I sunk into a chair. Unfortunately, there was only one bed here, and Master usually is the one who leaves before the day ends.

Perhaps today is that one exception to that pattern.

Ahh, I suppose I'll be sleeping on the bench for tonight. "Yawn!" Looking out the window, I could see that there wasn't much time until sunrise.

I better get some shut-eye before Master wakes me up at some ungodly hour.

Although, knowing him, he just might let me sleep in while he nurses his hangover.

Ahh, either way, training would still probably be hard.

Leaning into my chair, I tried to find a good angle to sleep. Looking at Master dozing off in my bed, I've come to realize that I don't know that much about Master.

I would if even Senior Sister knew some of Master's history to this extent.

Ah, nevermind, nevermind.

If the old man wants to tell us, then it's his choice to do so.

---

"Ehm…" Angling my head away, I tried to evade that blinding light that shone into my eyes. Who opened up the windows?

Shifting around some more, that proved to be a mistake as my neck screamed in pain. "Ahh, f*ck…" Rolling out my neck, I tried to ease the soreness, but it only hurt even more.

Ahh, sleeping in this chair was a bad idea.

Sitting up, my blanket fell off me.

Wait.

Blanket? I don't remember grabbing a blanket before sleeping…

Looking over to my bed, I noticed that the bed was already neatly made as if it was unslept on. Did Master put this blanket on me? He was nowhere in sight.

"Wakey, wakey!" Barging through the door, Master greeted me with a smile as he held up a wooden lunchbox. "Rise and shine!

It's time to start your first official day of training!"

The first official day of training? Then was the stuff that I had to do beforehand? The warm-up?!

Slamming the large box down on the dainty tea table, Master started to set up the breakfast dishes. "Go wash up and come back for some breakfast."

"Alright." Looking at Master, it seems like he doesn't remember last night's events, nor does he have the symptoms one would have after drinking their sorrows away.

Standing up, my bones started to ache from the night of poor posture. Aiyah, this will bite me in the a*s for the rest of the day.

Rolling my shoulders, I heard them creak and groan from the movement.

Ahh, it's going to be a long day.

---

The breakfast table was quiet aside from the occasional clink of chopstick hitting the porcelain bowls. Looking over to the side of the table, it was weird not to have Senior Sister between us — nagging on about how we should eat more vegetables.

As if she were here, I placed some of the leafy greens into my bowl.

"Hmm, you don't usually eat your vegetables so easily," the Master commented.

"Oh, yeah." Pushing them around, I was still debating on whether or not to eat time. I mean, technically, I don't need to, but if Senior Sister were here, she'd probably want me to. "It's just a force of habit, I suppose."

"Hmm, I see," Master hummed as we continued to eat in silence.

That is until Master broke that silence.

"You know, there's nothing more dangerous for a young cultivator than to develop an internal demon because of frustrated desires or unrequited love."

"Oh?" I don't think I've ever heard of that before.

And why is Master bringing this up?

"It doesn't often happen nowadays. However, back in my day, it was quite frequent," Master said as he shoveled in some more rice into his mouth. "While just about anything could create an internal demon, which would hinder one's cultivation, obsessions born out of love were the most dangerous."

Where was Master going with this?

"Therefore, this master has a question for you, dear disciple."

"Eh? What is it?"

"Do you have anyone you like?"

"Pfft-

Cough! Cough!" Choking on my food, I drank some tea in an attempt to make the food go down easier. "W-what?"

What kind of question is that, Master?!

"Ehhh, maybe I should've gone for a more subtle approach," Master muttered. "Alright, is there anyone that makes you feel nervous or excited?"

"Uhh, no?"

"Herm, what about, whenever you're not with this person, you miss them dearly. You think of them often. Is there anyone who matches that?"

"Um, I don't think so…"

"Herm, strange.

I thought I hit this one on the head," Master mumbled to himself. "Herm, strange…

"What are you talking about, Master? Hitting what on the head?"

"Well, I was fairly certain that you liked your senior sister."

W-what?" Choking on my tea, I resisted the urge to spit it out onto Master's face. What the heck is Master talking about?!

Gulping down my tea, I tried to straighten things out with this crazy old man. "I-I don't like Senior Sister, alright?!"

That's crazy, ludicrous!

How could I like Senior Sister?!

"And what kind of crazy conclusion is that?!"

"Call it intuition," Master shrugged. "This master's sixth sense is never wrong."

"Well, make this the first time because I don't like Senior Sister!" H-how does one even come to such an answer?!

A-and such a far-fetched one at that!

Master rose a brow at me, unconvinced. "Really? You don't like her…

At all?"

"N-no!" My face started to burn as my words began to jumble out. It was as if my tongue decided to tie itself into a knot. "I just see her as a very close friend!

M-my best friend, you could say."

"..." Master leaned back in his chair; his raised brow seemed to rise impossibly higher. He looked at me as if saying, 'Oh really?'

W-wah?

What is this?!

"O-okay, maybe she's not my best friend, b-but, I don't like her in that way!"

Senior Sister is Senior Sister, after all. How could I think of her in any other way?

Not the romantic sense that Master claims! I mean, that's impossible. "I just, uh, think about her a lot. Because I care about her, she's my one and only Senior Sister."

"Ehmm…" Master started to smirk a little like the cheeky bastard that he is. "Sure, sure...

Whatever you say, dear disciple."

"...

I'm telling the truth!"

"Right, and that's why you cling to her so often, yes? Because you care about her so much."

"Yes, that's right! I don't like her; I just like being around." Something about it just makes me feel complete. "I don't like her in the way that you've described."

Yeah, I don't like Senior Sister at all in that way.

"That still doesn't explain why you get so giddy and happy whenever you're around her."

"Oh, that's simple. That's because Senior Sister makes me laugh and smile more than anyone else does-"

Master's cheeky grin only seemed to grow wider.

"O-okay, maybe I do like…

Senior Sister… a little bit... " Ahhh, so embarrassing! Holding my face, I felt my hands burn upon contact.

"Hahaha!" Master burst out laughing, which only made my face even hotter. "I knew it, hahaha!

You know, your Senior Sister was acting strange too, haha! I just had to confirm it myself that what I was thinking was true!"

Was Senior Sister acting strange? Since when?

Oh… right.

How could I forget…

"But I'm not allowed to like Senior Sister! She likes someone else!"

I can't burden Senior Sister with these silly feelings of mine. "She probably is thinking of that person…"

What's the point of holding onto fledging feelings if it's meaningless?

My heart started to ache as my throat grew tight as my embarrassment completely evaporated, leaving behind the bitter taste of self-pity and dread.

"P-plus, two women together? Whoever heard of such a thing?"

No good, no good… I can't let these things get to me.

Like Master said, unrequited love is one of the great poisons to a cultivator. If I let these things fester, then there would be no turning back.

Perhaps coming to realize these feelings are a good thing. You can't solve a problem if you don't acknowledge that there's a problem.

Yeah…

I have to snip this plant from the bud.

"Ehm, well, the world is large and broad," Master said as he took a sip of tea. "You can't simply assume something doesn't exist just because you haven't seen it before."

"Nonetheless, it still goes against our Confucianism beliefs, especially the womanly virtues."

"Since when have you been one to care about such rules and regulations?"

"I don't; however, for Senior Sister, she lives by them." Plus, if I told her, won't it be pointless?

She likes someone else anyways.

I wanted the green plum to fall from heaven; however, at the same time, I don't want it to happen[1]. It's better to let Senior Sister's crush have her.

At least she'll be happy, and I can stay by her side as her junior sister.

It's fine… I'm happy that it's like this.

[1] green plum from heaven - green plum is a childhood female friend. And once they fall from heaven, that is your fated true partner.