[Episode 23]
Why didn’t you tell me about the baby?
Let me go.
How long will you make me into the bad person?
The baby isn’t yours.
Listen here.
Go back.
Can I become your sponsor?
If I were to be you sponsor, you would be able to go on performing.
And the baby wouldn’t be without a father.
Don’t you agree?
Myeongwol.
Myeongwol!
Ma’am. Ma’am.
What happened?
Sir.
What is it, doctor?
What’s wrong with her?
She should be lucky to be saved of her own life.
What?
Sir.
I wish it didn’t have to be this way.
But, I guess this is how heaven intended.
Ma’am.
Hang in there and try to be mentally strong.
She had a miscarriage?
Are you saying that Jini had a miscarriage?
It’s my fault.
I had wanted to relieve you of your grief.
Will you pack up for me?
I have to go to the capital.
No, please don’t do that.
Danshim.
Danshim’s right.
How can you go to the capital in your current condition?
If you go and see Jini, she’ll be even more stressed out.
Just stay here.
I’ll go to the capital with Danshim.
But...
I’ll go instead of you.
I’ll make sure I care of Jini even better than you can.
So, don’t worry.
That’s what we’ll do. We’ll go to the capital.
I’ll tell Jini to come stop by, once she’s better.
You must take good care of Myeongwol.
Having a miscarriage is just as hard on the body as giving birth.
I know. Yes, I do.
I wish you could leave the baby behind.
I know.
There are many girls here that can take care of the baby.
But what am I to do?
The baby can’t get enough of me.
Who does he take after to be so picky?
Still, I think he’s great.
The baby cries in the hands of everyone else.
But when Deokpal holds him, he stops crying and smiles.
That’s because I’ve raised him.
Oh, that baby.
How long will be keep them waiting?
Go on you way.
You must leave now, to reach the capital by the end of the day.
Let’s go.
I thought I told everyone not to come in.
It’s me.
Go back home.
Take this.
Go back.
Please take it.
Shall we go to the kitchen?
Shall I give you a beating?
Do you think it’ll make you feel better?
Yes.
That’s a good idea.
Please do that.
Get up.
I have no reason for living anymore.
With my hands...
With my own hands,
I killed my baby with my own hands.
It was just an accident.
I killed my baby.
Snap out of it.
You didn’t do it on purpose. It was an accident.
What’s the use of blaming yourself like this?
If you’re able to make a difference by blaming yourself, I’d let you continue.
But, there’s no turning back time.
Come to your senses and go to the troupe.
Go to Myeongwol and be with her.
Comfort her.
That’s the only thing you can do.
It’s the only thing you must do.
Danshim.
Are you awake?
It’s been a long time.
You’re right.
How are you? Are you okay?
Yes, I am.
Did you have your baby?
Myeongwol.
Is he big now?
He is.
He must be very nice, just like you.
Danshim, come out for a second.
The baby keeps crying, because it’s his bedtime.
Did you bring your baby here?
I shouldn’t have.
I should’ve left my baby at home.
But my baby is just so needy.
Wait a second. I’ll be right back.
Can I hold your baby for a second?
Can’t you let me hold it, just once?
You’re so handsome.
Come here.
Come.
That’s a good boy.
Look at your hands.
They’re so little and silky.
What was he like when he was a newborn?
Was his hand this little?
Or even smaller?
Myeongwol.
Why are you dressing up the baby?
Are you going somewhere?
I have a difficult request to ask of you.
I don’t know my way around the city.
Can you take me to Mr. Byeok’s house?
What?
He said that the baby wasn’t his.
Why do you have to make such a fuss in this cold weather, taking the baby out?
The baby has never seen his father’s face.
I want the baby to see his father from afar.
If that’s not possible, then on this long pathway...
I want my son to walk on this pathway to his father’s place.
That’s what I wanted.
Myeongwol left this behind.
She told me to pass it on to you.
Wait.
Honey.
Let him be.
Just let him do as he pleases.
I’m sorry, sir.
What is the name of the baby?
I just call him ‘Baby.’
I couldn’t give him any old name, because of his noble birth.
Shall I name him?
Naming him isn’t the only thing I’ll be wiling to do.
If you’re okay with it, I can take care of him as well.
Sir.
If you don’t want me to, I won’t.
No.
Please look after him.
Will you be able to take it?
You’ll be very lonely.
I’m fine.
I can take it.
I’ll be satisfied with the fact that the baby will be taken in by his father.
I wouldn’t want anything else, sir.
I can’t take care of you.
You’d be withering next to someone that doesn’t care for you.
It’s not a good thing.
Sir.
Don’t fall for anyone like me again.
Next time, meet a man that won’t regard you as a toy.
Meet a man that will give you his everything.
What happened?
You’re making me curious.
Hey, Danshim. What about the baby?
Why did you leave the baby behind?
Don’t call me Danshim.
What?
Just call me Gaetong.
It’s okay to call me Gaetong.
What?
Oh, goodness.
If I had no choice to send away our baby,
I wanted to let it go here.
I don’t have the right to come here.
Don’t blame yourself.
It wasn’t your fault. The baby left us on its own.
It was a really nice baby.
The baby knew that we could never be together,
even if it were to be gone.
It had taken our thoughts into consideration.
A baby that was very considerate.
What if we had become foolish again, because of the baby?
We’d throw away our dreams, because of unattainable love.
We would’ve grown old with each other, which would make us angry.
The baby had taken all of this into consideration.
This is the place where we were happy.
This is where I want to say goodbye to the baby.
And we will go back to the world.
You will go back to your job and I will to mine.
Let’s help everyone that needs our help.
We can consider the needy as the baby that left us.
Call Myeongwol to the festival.
Tell her that we have a great instrument.
It’s an instrument that would be perfect for Myeongwol.
Give it to Myeongwol.
We’re at the troupe now.
I had fallen asleep.
It’s cold. Let’s go inside.
You’re late. You must be busy.
Go inside. The madam is waiting.
Really?
I want you to attend the ball tomorrow and recite poetry in the morning.
At three in the afternoon, you’ll be playing the geomungo at the palace.
At night, you’ll have to come back to the troupe and train the students.
Understood?
Yes, ma’am.
You look tired.
Your face doesn’t look so good.
No, I can stand it.
It’s been only a few months after that bad incident.
Tell me if you’re tired and I’ll rearrange you schedule.
I’m fine.
Don’t worry too much.
Okay.
Go and have some rest.
Oh, your temper.
Stop practicing and go and rest.
I’m back in the same place.
No, I should say that I’ve fallen into hell.
Booyong.
What does she have?
What does she have that everyone is asking for her?
What is it?
You can do better than to sit like that.
Are you working out Myeongwol’s schedule once again?
Yes.
It seems like you’re Myeongwol’s secretary and not the troupe leader.
How can you smile it off?
What other choice do I have?
From the king to the humblest men, all people want is Myeongwol.
You should control the schedule.
Think of the fairness between the other girls.
At least take Booyong into consideration.
I don’t want to.
Ma’am.
Don’t you know that the world of arts can be cruel?
You either have the talent or you don’t.
Those with great talent can get money and power.
But the ones that don’t will be forgotten half the time.
You’ve been around long enough. Why don’t you know this?
If it weren’t for Myeongwol, Booyong...
Tell her to call it quits if she can’t beat Myeongwol.
That’s the only choice she has if she doesn’t fit the bill.
Why is the finest gisaeng drinking alone?
I can’t sleep.
What about all the men that are after you?
I was going to sleep after a single drink.
Why do I need to bother other people?
Sit down.
Come join me.
I can see that you want a drink as well, to have come to the kitchen late at night.
What’s with the sigh?
Why are you putting on such a long face, when you have everything?
How can I put it?
Why are we living as gisaengs?
We’ve lost our love and I’ve lost my baby.
I made a strong commitment when I first stared working.
Why did I have to do this?
What are you saying?
I was so tired at the ball today that I lost the rhythm three times.
But the audience complimented me to no end.
They have no ears for music.
I don’t think they listened to my performance at all.
Because they’ve heard so much about me,
I think they were merely afraid that I’d find out that they were ignorant.
You’re showing off, aren’t you?
Booyong.
What’s wrong with that?
What’s wrong with people praising you with all their might?
Booyong.
There are many girls here in the troupe that would die for what you have.
There are many girls that are suppressed by your name.
There are girls that are intimidated to death.
That’s happening here in the troupe.
Where are we going next?
I think we’ve taken care of all the places for the day.
I see.
Have some.
The drinks are too humble, for an old friend.
You’re working at the clinic now.
Your social rank has fallen a great deal.
The king is too harsh.
I can’t believe he degraded you for being lazy on the job for a few days.
It’s what I wanted.
I wanted to start all over again.
Why did you have to do this?
It’s not good to be so hard on yourself.
That’s not true.
I’ve come back to where I belong.
I have to start over again.
Because of my mistake,
I had to say farewell to my baby.
I wanted to come to a place where I could remember my baby.
It still won’t make up for the pain that I’ve caused the baby.
It won’t make up at all, for what I’ve done.
Have you heard about Myeongwol?
She’s having a great life.
She’s even more popular than before.
Crazy wench.
Do you want to die?
How can you call yourself a teacher when drinking is all you do?
A troupe leader isn’t only about having great talent.
If you want to be a troupe leader, you must take good care of your pupil.
But I’ve told you this at least a hundred times.
A troupe leader?
Did you just say troupe leader?
Booyong.
Why shall I work hard to be a troupe leader?
You’ve worked three whole years to compete with Myeongwol.
Where has your determination gone?
Who cares if I’m determined?
It’s already decided on who will be the next troupe leader.
Booyong.
From the king to the noblemen, everyone thinks of only Myeongwol.
How can I win under such a situation?
It’s a very funny situation, ma’am.
Who cares about what others think?
Ma’am.
Can you come to terms with it?
Would you be able to come to terms with the fact that Myeongwol will be leader?
If that’s the case, I’ll give my post to Myeongwol.
And I’ll retire from my job.
Regardless of what I think, the world has already made up its mind.
It’s meaningless if you don’t recognize it.
And you never know who’ll win if you don’t give it a fight.
You have to compete until the end.
It’ll be great if you win.
But even if you lose, you’ll have other opportunities, if you give it a fight.
In six months, the last competition for the troupe leader position will be held.
What type of dance you perform doesn’t matter.
You can make up your own dance.
Perform the finest dance.
The winner will be the next troupe leader.
But who will judge our dance?
Will we have to dance in front of the king?
No, the king and other noblemen cannot be fair judges.
I’m going to have the finest gisaengs in all the nation as judges.
The dance that other artists will recognize...
will be considered the best dance.
Don’t you agree?
So train harder to win. Got it?
Yes, ma’am.
The finest dance.
The drum dance and crane dance.
If I’m to make a new dance by incorporating the two top dances in Joseon,
wouldn’t that be the finest dance?
Ma’am.
The time has finally come to finish the dance routine.
It’s great. It’s very surprising.
Training hard for three years is finally paying off.
Don’t you agree?
It’s a great dance, teacher.
The strengths of both the crane and drum dances are put together.
It’s soft, yet strong. And strong, yet very elegant.
What do you think?
It’s nice.
It’s really elegant.
Tell me what you find fault with it.
There can be no faults.
Your dance is the finest, no matter what.
Nothing is perfect on earth.
Concentrate and look it over again.
There’s bound to be something wrong with it.
I have to find the problem, to make it better.
How did you feel?
With your talent, I’m sure you could feel something.
I was sad.
Why did you feel sad?
That’s it.
Why didn’t I realize this earlier?
A great dance isn’t one that I’ve performed before.
The audience is always ready to be delighted.
I shouldn’t be dancing to please the noblemen.
Myeongwol has gone to the market to dance?
I just can’t understand what Myeongwol is trying to do.
Why would she want to do that?
She is truly unique.
What?
Booyong, I think you’ll have to work harder than now.
I know.
What?
I don’t understand what you and Maehyang are talking about.
Myeongwol is testing the crowd.
She’s already competing.
What did you say?
I really don’t understand what you’re saying.
The dance that’s being performed in the festival...
must be seen often, for one to be familiar with it.
Don’t you agree?
I do. But...
But the people in the market have never been in a festival before.
They are of the very low class.
They are totally unprepared.
If Myeongwol is able to move the people of the market,
it’ll be the finest dance of them all.
Teacher.
Stop talking to me.
I thought that you had important matters to study.
What are you doing here?
I am studying.
What? Is this studying?
Yes, it is.
Studying isn’t about just reading books.
Who is this? Aren’t you Hwadam?
Yes, how are you?
What brings you here this time?
I’m here to teach my student about fire.
Yes?
But, where are people rushing off to?
The finest gisaneg, Myeongwol, is holding a dance performance.
Notices have been posted, inviting anyone to come and watch.
The finest gisaeng, Myeongwol?
Would you like to take a look?
Yes, of course.
Wonseon, get my robe.
But what about what you were going to teach me here?
The market can be educational.
Teacher.
Wherever people are, it’s a great place for learning.
How many times do I have to tell you?
I had heard that Myeongwol was the finest artist in all this world.
But she’s merely just the finest gisaeng in this world.
What do you mean?
Sir, how could you say that?
I don’t need to see anymore. Let’s go back.
What is it?
Are you Hwadam?
Yes.
I’ve heard about you, since I had lived in Song-do.
I’d like to introduce myself. My name is Myeongwol.
You’re a gisaeng, right?
Some people call me the greatest artist alive.
What a joke.
You’re the finest gisaeng in the entire world.
Why do you say that?
What’s the reason that you say such things to me?
Why do you ask me that?
The people in the market have already spoken to you.
Are you saying that the people are stupid for liking my performance?
They may be of low class, but they don’t have low taste.
I guess you still don’t realize what you’ve done wrong.
Who told you that you’re the finest artist in all of the nation?
Was her dance that bad?
No, it was quite good.
So why were you so mean to her?
Her mindset was discouraging.
What?
She needs to learn how to be a better person.
If she doesn’t, she won’t be able to perform the great gift that she has.
I am merely the finest gisaeng in all of the nation?
It can’t be.
That’s not possible.