Doljabi. (2)

Months slowly passed.

My days were mostly spent with the workers of the household; they played with me, bathed me, washed me and clothed me. Yong Myeong normally stayed as far away from me as humanely possible, unless of course, Kang Joon-ki was home or Kang Seung came to visit.

If either Joon-ki or Seung were near me, Yong Myeong wouldn't be far.. She would play with me and hug me, she even put me to sleep. She knew how to put on the perfect facade of a perfect mother.

As a child everyday seemed to blend together. Time passed peacefully and rolled by like clouds on a sunny day; slowly, mundanely and in an aggravating manner.

It's funny because when I was Daniel Slade time just went too quickly, my life was over in such a flash and yet now every second seemed to drag. Boredom really does warp one's perspective.

Of course, I didn't idle this time away, I made sure to use these peaceful days to cement my popularity in the household.

The first way I did this was by making Min Ho tour me around the estate. We would explore the outhouses, the kitchens, the halls, the staff dorms, all the gates, parking lots, leisure and sports areas and even the security rooms.

The Kang Estate was huge, the size of two big university campuses, so this tour took most of the day. Thankfully, instead of walking, Min Ho drove me around in a Golf Cart. During these tours, I made it my duty to interact with the staff as much as possible. I smiled at the cleaners, I hugged the guards and even waddled towards them and made them play with me. I waved at the doorman and even chatted with the Gardners. I complimented all their work and I even handed out refreshments, from water to fruits, to show how much I liked them.

I made this tour a part of my daily routine, no matter the weather each tour was the same, I would go full circle over hundreds of acres of land and welcome the workers at every building and every site. It wasn't long before my tour had become as popular as a parade; wherever I went the workers would stop in their tracks or pop their heads out of windows and even run towards my Golf Cart just to say, hi.

"Hello Young Master, I hope you're having a good day."

"Hi, Kang Ho!"

"Hi, sweetheart."

What made them like me even more, was that I made sure to remember all their names. As they yelled greetings I yelled back: "Hello Dong-hyun Hyung! Hi Jeong-hoon Hyung, hello to you too Ae Ri noona!!!" [1]

As I said the names of individuals I would hear cheers and people yelling, "Oh my God he remembered my name! He's such a smart gorgeous boy! I love you Kang Ho!"

This even happened when Min Ho and I passed the homes of other Kang family members, even when we went into the territory of other factions. Whether they were from Buk, Nam, Dong, or Seo, their Servants would scurry out to greet me and play with me, wanting to hold my hand and give me a treat.

After a few months, it got to the point where even other members of the Kang family would step out of their homes or peer through their windows to watch all the madness.

On the tour, when I would arrive at Grandfather's house, Kang Seung would run out to welcome me each time. He would have a gleaming smile on his face and he would swoop me up into a big hug.

One time he whispered into my ears, "You little monster, quite impressive, no very impressive."

I had glanced at him innocently, "What do you mean Grandpa? I'm not a monster," and I'd stare at him with my big clear innocent eyes and Kang Seung would simply look at me and laugh.

Sometimes it felt like Kang Seung could see right through me. As if he was gazing at Daniel Slade and not at a baby, but maybe I was overthinking...

And eventually my first birthday came about, and with it so did my Doljabi.

A Doljabi is a Korean traditional ceremony done on a child's first birthday. The child is placed in front of various items or objects, between 6 or 8 items. Then, the child is encouraged to grab one or two items from the set of objects. Each choice represents a certain future for the child, it predicts their lifestyle and their career.

In a normal Doljabi, the items used are a Gavel (meaning a judge), a stethoscope (Doctor), money (entrepreneur), books or a calligraphy pen (for a scholar), sports equipment (for an athlete), a musical instrument (for a musician), test tubes or scientific objects (for a scientist) and so on. However, the KangMung group was different, they wanted to sort their potential heirs into two groups, leaders and followers.

In the novel, Kang Ho hadn't gone through his Doljabi since no one had cared about him or his future. His first birthday had happened quietly with only Lee Min-Ki and Kang Bora to celebrate with him. He was destined to be a follower no matter what he picked and had never been given a choice otherwise. Yet now everything was so different. From just a few actions I not only had a Doljabi, but it was the focus of the KangMung Group.

That afternoon Kang Seung, Joon-Ki, Madame Kang and a heavily pregnant Yong Myeong brought me to Kang Palace. It was an ancient Palace that was older than any other building on the land and stood at the edge of the estate surrounded by beautiful lakes and trees. It had a beautifully maintained tiled roof and vibrant colours.

Waiting in the Palace were all the Kang family members I had seen at the Pearl Room that day, and even more people that I had never met before.

Everyone was dressed in the beautiful silks and linens of traditional Hanbok. The Nam faction was dressed in Green, the Buk faction in White, Seo in Red and Dong in Yellow. The new people that I had never seen before were all dressed in black Hanbok with silver patterns.

I was dressed in a small green hanbok and on my head was a traditional hat a bokgeon.

I felt like I had been whisked back in time to more ancient days.

Madame Kang and Yong Myeong went to sit with the Nam faction as soon as we reached the hall, but Kang Seung and Joon-Ki walked with me down the aisle to the stage. Every step I took I saw hundreds of eyes watching me, observing me.

When we reached the stage Kang Seung placed me gently on a small throne-like cushion on the ground, so that I was looking directly at the hundreds of people in the hall and they were all looking directly at me in turn.

Kang Seung turned to the crowd, "Welcome everyone. Thank you so much for coming to my Grandson's Doljabi. The last time we had a ceremony like this it was for Kang Wook's granddaughter, Kang Ara" Kang Seung gave a small wave and a tiny five-year-old wearing white robes, standing with the Buk faction, waved back at him.

"Of course I was expecting a slight turnout but to think the entire family gathered, I haven't seen the Kang Palace so packed for a Doljabi since my first son's ceremony, even members of the Mung family have come." Kang Seung lowered his head respectfully towards the group wearing black, those in the black hanboks similarly bowed towards Kang Seung.

"Of course I had to come Seung, I had to see for myself the genius child that you were boasting about during the previous Group Meeting. He's so loved by all the servants here at the Kang Estate that even workers at Mung have been gossiping about him and they're even trading pictures of him." An extremely handsome and tall man, who seemed to lead the group dressed in black, said this with a gentle smile on his face.

He had serene green-black eyes like a still lake in the middle of a dark forest, his aura was extremely calm and almost soothing, but something was unsettling about him. If I were to describe this unsettling feeling, it was like a Venus flytrap; he appeared calm and still but I was certain that if prey came towards him he'd snap his jaws.

"Even my Granddaughter has been buying pictures of Kang Ho from the workers, she's very fond of him." As he said this a pretty girl, likely between the age of 6 or 7, turned bright red. The girl lightly hit the man's arm while squealing, "Grandpa how could you say that in front of everyone!!"

The man let out a deep sonorous laugh that echoed out, "You see Seung, she practically begged me to come, she thinks he's adorable"

Kang Seung also laughed, "Well it's a pleasure to have you here Mung Do-Hyun, and indeed Kang Ho is extremely adorable."

He turned to me, "Kang Ho say hello to Mung Do-Hyun and his granddaughter Mung Bae."

I stood up steadily on my small legs and bowed towards them, I then said with a clear and loud voice, "Hello Mung Do Hyun, hello Mung Bae. Thank you for coming to my Doljabi."

Mung Do Hyun's expression froze and his mouth hung wide, it took him a second before his expression turned normal, he laughed, "Wow, now I heard he was smart and eloquent but I wasn't expecting this. Is he really only one year's old?"

"Today is his first birthday" Kang Seung confirmed.

[1] Hyung means older brother, Noona means older sister in Korean. You can use these terms to fondly refer to someone older than you, it doesn't have to be a blood relative.