Chapter 13: Me, You Punk, and the Suwon Busa [1] "It just won't work…"
The Busa muttered with the look of a man who had seen all there was to see in life.
Kanghyeok had not expected a man of the Busa's rank to blurt out something like this so suddenly.
For a moment he was so taken aback that he simply stared at the man's face.
"Don't look at me like that."
Only then did Kanghyeok realize his discourtesy and apologize.
"My apologies."
"No, no. It's ridiculous of me at my age."
With a face full of regret, the Busa tried once more to leave the room.
It seemed he felt ashamed for having spoken words unfit for a scholar-official's dignity.
Just as he was about to open the door, Kanghyeok caught him by the forearm.
How desperate must he have been to come all the way here.
And without a single attendant, at that.
If I treat someone at the level of the Busa, it'll make moving around much easier.
Of course, being Seungmun's son already meant there were almost no restrictions on him.
Still, the more backing he had, the better.
And the Suwon Busa was practically a king within Suwon.
"No, I think I may be able to help."
"Ah, can you really?"
The Busa turned back with the face of a man who had just seen his savior.
Then he began pouring out his tale of woe.
"As you know, my wife is back in my hometown of Haenam."
It was the first Kanghyeok had heard of it, but he responded smoothly.
It was a skill he had naturally picked up during his residency from constantly currying favor with superiors.
Pretending interest when he had none, pretending to know when he did not—even he thought it was uncanny.
"Ah, yes, yes. I knew."
"Everything from here on is to remain secret."
"Yes, please do not worry, sir."
"Yes… well. Not long ago, I took in a concubine. A man grows lonely at night and cannot live otherwise, can he?"
Kanghyeok had thought it was perfectly normal for a yangban to take concubines.
So he did not really understand why the Busa was speaking with such secrecy.
He would only learn later that, up through the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, women's status had been much higher than in later times.
In this period, it was common for a man to marry into the wife's household and live with her family, and inheritance was often divided equally.
In some places, even ancestral rites were rotated among the children.
That was also why female artists such as Shin Saimdang, Song Deokbong, and Heo Nanseolheon appeared in such large numbers.
In any case, the Busa continued very cautiously.
"But the thing is… only now, after a long time, have I realized it no longer works properly."
That was entirely possible.
The guilt probably played a part too.
"I see. It must have weighed heavily on your mind."
"That is why I came even to you."
How much inner struggle must he have gone through before coming to Kanghyeok, whom he had always regarded as no more than a wastrel?
Had it not been for the rumors spreading through the town lately, he would never have come.
Even now, he was still uncertain.
But Heo Yeop, a man he occasionally saw, had praised Kanghyeok so extravagantly.
He had carried on about how the boil on his back, which no remedy had helped, was cured in a single stroke.
The Busa had nearly lost his senses listening to it.
"You did well to come."
"Yes… what should be done? I have ways of obtaining most medicinal materials."
"There will be no need for that. I will give you some medicine. Take that."
Kanghyeok rummaged through the leather bag.
Out popped the Viagra that until now he had not once needed to take out.
There were a full hundred and eighty tablets.
Even if it never reset, that was enough to take one every day for six months.
Kanghyeok took out one tablet and handed it to the Busa.
It was the moment the chairman's grandfatherly lust, transcending time and space, finally proved useful.
"You should take it about one sikgyeong before intercourse."
"Just this one is enough?"
The Busa looked at Kanghyeok with complete disbelief.
In truth, this was not the first physician he had visited.
Other physicians had used acupuncture and prescribed all manner of strange things.
Eat raw octopus, eat eel, even swallow a young man's semen, and so on.
Unfortunately, none of it had worked.
It felt somehow unconvincing that one little pill could be the end of it when it seemed as though much more effort should be required.
But Kanghyeok remained firm.
"Yes. It is enough. Absolutely."
"Mm… very well. May I try it tonight at once?"
"Yes. Do so. However, do not take it together with alcohol. That could be dangerous."
Was not Viagra originally developed as a blood-pressure medicine?
They had made it so badly that the blood pressure barely dropped, while something else became very excited instead.
However, if taken together with alcohol, which also dilated blood vessels, there was a risk the blood pressure could fall far lower than intended.
So that at least had to be handled with care.
Fortunately, the Busa was a man who understood common sense.
"Alcohol… understood."
"Good. Then I hope you receive good news."
"Thank you. If this truly works, I will not let it pass without reward."
"Yes, understood."
Apparently too embarrassed to remain seated any longer, the Busa briskly rose to his feet.
Senior Third Rank placed him just beneath the high-ranking hall officials, so he was truly a man of lofty standing.
For such a man to come all this way without even a single attendant or groom was no small thing.
Kanghyeok offered his farewell to the man's back.
"Then please go safely, sir."
The Busa barely seemed to hear Kanghyeok's farewell as he hurried off.
He mounted the horse tied by the wall and galloped straight toward home.
In his mind there was only one thought—to somehow get it up and accomplish the deed.
By then, it was nearly the hour when the curfew bell would ring, so there were not many people about.
Because of that, the Busa was able to ride straight home without hindrance.
"My lord, you've returned."
Several servants hurried out to receive their master, who had returned alone late at night.
The Busa was in such a hurry that he leapt right off the horse.
"Yes. Go and bring me a cup of water."
"Not in your room, my lord?"
"Enough questions. Just bring me water."
"Yes, yes."
One servant ran off at once and brought back water, and the Busa promptly swallowed the Viagra he had received from Kanghyeok.
"My lord, you'll give yourself indigestion."
"Yes, yes. And now, do not come anywhere near the room."
The Busa half answered, half did not, and rushed into the room where his concubine lived.
The servants already knew their master had lately been beside himself with infatuation for his beloved concubine, so they thought little of it.
Not one of them suspected there might be any problem at all on the Busa's field of battle.
"My lord, you have come."
The Busa's concubine, Lady Bang, sat quietly to receive him.
As she had originally been a gisaeng, her manner was exceedingly gentle, and the Busa liked that very much.
He was at the point where he felt more tenderness toward her than toward the wife he had left back home.
His heart was aflutter like that of an adolescent boy, but there was one problem.
It had been quite some time since he had taken her in as a concubine, and yet he had never once managed to consummate things.
Hiding his troubled feelings, the Busa spoke with a composed face.
"I am late."
"Please give me your clothes."
Lady Bang carefully helped him remove his outer garments.
It should have been a rather erotic mood, but the Busa's junior remained perfectly still.
Of course he could only grow anxious.
There's still no sign…
The Busa smacked his lips and sat facing Lady Bang.
"Was anything unusual today?"
"No, my day is never anything special. Ah, your books had become disordered, my lord, so I arranged them."
Though she had once been a gisaeng, Lady Bang was deeply accomplished in writing and painting.
Pleased, the Busa let out a warm laugh.
"Is that so? You did very well."
"When you have time, perhaps you could… hm? My lord, your face is red."
It was not only his face.
The Viagra's effect was no joke.
He was swelling to the point that sitting there had become uncomfortable.
Good! That Baek Kanghyeok fellow truly is a divine physician!
The Busa burst into delighted laughter and lunged at his concubine.
"Enough talking. Come here!"
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