The Brothers Kim

From his quarters, Namjoon stared out of his window and at the night sky. It was a clear summer's night and the dark sky was speckled with stars that winked at him from above. Namjoon sighed contently as he gazed up at them, momentarily forgetting his worries of the rumours that were sweeping amongst his men. His smile slipped briefly as he recalled them again. But with effort, he pushed the idea to the back of his mind once more.

There will be no war, he tried to reassure himself. The new emperor will not allow it.

But even though Namjoon tried to think positively, he had no idea what the new emperor will be like. No one did. And he feared that the new emperor will be a greedy man that wished for expansion of their already vast kingdom.

As Namjoon considered this, he was suddenly distracted by the sound of a young woman's voice. He squinted his eyes as he looked out his window and found that one of the maids was being punished outside with four buckets of water filled to the brim. The maid was carrying two buckets at either end of a wooden pole which she shouldered. Namjoon strained his ear and finally understood what she was saying: it was a colourful array of curses that Namjoon was too shy to repeat.

He looked on at her from afar and chuckled as he continued to listen to her. Clearly, she does not know that she is being too loud, he thought. Or, that if anyone heard her, she would be punished even further for such vulgar language.

Namjoon, amused by the maid's chantings, decided to pay her a visit.