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Once the initial pleasantries with Princess Tao had concluded, the group made their way to the banquet hall to enjoy a meal. Yona, Hak, and the very hungry bunch sat on the floor around a beautiful ornamental rug as they waited in anticipation for the food to be brought out. The wait was not long before the servants carried in large platters and deep bowls of exotic and beautiful food. Everyone’s stomachs growled at the delicious smell wafting from the dishes set before them.
Immediately after the servants finished setting the dinner down for their guests, Zeno quickly went in for the kill. He grabbed handfuls of food and started stuffing them into his mouth one after the other. His wide grin said it all. The food was delicious. Yun, of course, scolded the yellow dragon for being rude since they were humble guests. To which Zeno shrugged and continued shoveling food into his mouth. Kija, on the other hand, was more composed and graciously thanked the host before grabbing anything.
It was not long into the meal before Algira became concerned about the blue dragon’s eating habits. Shin-Ah, being devoid of food in his dragon village, was quick to take as much food as he could possibly fit into his mouth at one time. Algira stared and wondered how the blue dragon could eat so accurately with a blindfold on. It baffled him and he decided to learn more. He gave Shin-Ah, and his small friend, more food and watched in awe as they both filled their cheeks. It was like seeing double.
Unfortunately, Yona was not having such a pleasant time as the rest. She looked down at the wonderful food before her, but her stomach ached and she became nauseous. She decided it was best to try and use the restroom. However, upon standing up, the truth behind her discomfort was revealed: blood. It happened. The dreaded fate of all women, the menstrual cycle, appeared in all of its glory as it ran down her leg. Embarrassed, she quickly squatted down on the ground to hide it.
This rapid movement did not go unnoticed by Hak. He was the first to be concerned and asked the Princess what was wrong. Lost in a panic, she did not answer him. To which he leaned in closer and mentioned how pale she had become. In a spooked frenzy, Yona slammed her palm against Hak’s face and pushed him away. Hak, very confused, apologized for getting too close. Yona became flustered at his response, since she did not intend for it to be interpreted as an attempt to alienate him.
However, her menstrual cramps got the better of her and she hunched over in pain instead of trying to reconcile with Hak. She did not know what to do or what to say. The others started to notice her discomfort, but before they could get any answers, Princess Tao violently pulled the rug out from underneath the food and wrapped it around Yona. Everyone gasped as the food went flying and spilled everywhere. As Princess Tao rushed Yona away, she looked back and asked everyone to continue eating.
“Continue eating what?” Yun questioned as he stared at the spilled food in disbelief. “It’s all over the floor now.”
“Looks fine to me!” Zeno happily exclaimed as he continued to shovel food from the floor into his mouth. Shin-Ah decided to follow suit and also stuffed his face with the spilled food.
“How uncouth!” Kija yelled in disgust at the yellow and blue dragon. “We are the mighty dragons of Kouka! We do not eat food off of the floor!”
However, per usual, no one was listening to what Kija had to say. Hak on the other hand, did not care about the food anymore, but instead was concerned for Yona. He wanted to know what caused her to act the way she did and why Princess Tao ushered her away. It was baffling to him to say the least. She was always composed and he could usually tell if something was off, but not this time. This time was different.
“What’s on your mind, Hak?” Jae-Ha asked as he brought a cup of sake to his lips to take a sip. “You look deep in thought.”
“It’s the Princess,” Hak began in a concerned tone, “I wonder if she’s alright.”
As Hak spoke out loud what the rest of the group was thinking internally, they all stopped and began to listen to Hak and Jae-Ha’s conversation. They were all concerned for Princess Yona as well. They had been through many difficult times together, so surely they could be there for her this time as well. However, each realized that there was nothing they could do unless they knew what was bothering the Princess.
“I think she’s menstruating,” Jae-Ha said casually as he took another sip of sake.
“She’s mens-what?” The group asked in confused unison.
“Wait, none of you have heard of menstruation?” Jae-Ha questioned with a raised eyebrow.
“Again, what?” Hak asked, confused by the green dragon’s strange words.
“Men-stru-a-tion,” Jae-Ha repeated, this time sounding out the syllables to make it more clear.
“I got the word,” Hak began impatiently, “but what does it mean?”
Jae-Ha paused to appreciate the situation he got himself into. The group was staring intently at him, sitting on the edge of their seats, waiting for the grand explanation of what “menstruation” is. A lump formed in his throat as he realized he was the only one with this certain piece of knowledge. It made sense. He was the oldest after all and most of the group grew up sheltered, knowing almost nothing about women. The silence in the room became awkward and sweat began to form on Jae-Ha’s face as he tried to formulate a decent response.
“Oh, I know!” Yun exclaimed as he broke the silence, slamming his fist into his hand in remembrance. “I read something about that in one of the books Ik-Soo gave me a while back.” He brought a finger up to his mouth as he thought about it. “Isn’t that the condition where a woman continuously bleeds?”
“They WHAT?” Kija shouted as he shot up from his seat on the floor. “Bleed? Continuously? What kind of wretched illness is this?”
“Kija,” Jae-Ha sighed as he tried to interrupt the white dragon’s train of thought before it got out of hand. He was, however, unsuccessful.
“Yun! How do we treat it?” Kija demanded as he put his hands on Yun’s shoulders. With no response from Yun, he changed to a more serious tone and asked, “How long does she have?”
“Um,” Yun tried to think back to what he read. His face went cold as rationale flew out the window. “I don’t think there was a cure. I mean, if you continually bleed, you’ll eventually…”. Yun did not want to finish the thought.
“You mean,” Kija said quietly as he processed Yun's thoughts for him. His face grew dark and his heart started to race. “The princess is going to die?”
“Kija,” Jae-Ha said earnestly as he tried to interject again, and yet he was ignored once more. He placed a hand on his forehead in exasperation. The situation was getting out of control.
“Hey, Hak,” Yun began as he turned to look at the Thunder Beast with a grave expression. “Did you know about this?”
“No, I didn't,” Hak replied quietly. He was in shock at the disturbing revelation. “She didn’t tell me anything. Why wouldn’t she tell me she was ill? It’s my duty to protect her and now… I have to watch her die?” Hak slammed his fist on the ground in frustration.
“It’s going to be okay, Hak,” Kija assured him. “Yun will find a cure. Right Yun?”
“I’m… I’m going to try,” Yun answered with hesitation. He was not sure what to do or where to start looking for a cure.
“That’s right!” Kija affirmed. “We won’t let the princess die! Not like this! She’s come too far to let some horrible unknown illness take her from us! Let’s go broth—”
“Stop, stop, stop!” Jae-Ha interjected with frustration, finally breaking from all of the stupidity he was subjected to. “Yona is not going to die!”
A collective huh came from the group and they all looked at Jae-Ha in bewilderment.
“Yun,” Jae-Ha said gently, annoyance leaking into his words. “Do you know why the woman bleeds?”
“No, not that I recall,” Yun answered as he thought back to when he read the book. “It was a while ago.”
“Well, it’s all part of the baby making process,” Jae-Ha explained matter-of-factly. Instant regret came across his face as he looked at the reactions around him. In his annoyance at their illogical thinking, he failed to choose his words carefully. These were no ordinary men after all. Their illogical fallacies knew no bounds.
“What?” Kija shouted. He was trying to formulate his thoughts but could only stutter them out. “You mean… You mean… She… The Princess is… Pregnant?”
“No way!” Yun gasped. He was shocked by the idea, but was curious who the father could be. “Hey, Thunder Beast,” Yun started to question cautiously. “Is it yours?”
Hak spit out his drink at the question, “What? No!” A large unsolicited blush grew across his face at the crazy notion.
“Then…” Yun started to look around the room. His gaze met Zeno, but was instantly met with a violent head-shake. Makes sense. He thought to himself. He seemed like a one-women kind of guy. He then swiveled his head to look at Shin-Ah, but something told him that the blue dragon knew nothing about babies or how to make them. Yun whipped his head around to Jae-Ha with a look of utter horror. The rest of the group also gave Jae-Ha a shocked expression.
“Alright, that’s it!” Jae-Ha exclaimed as he reached his boiling point. “Everyone shut up and sit down, now!” At the green dragon’s command the group was all sitting on the floor again, waiting for his next words. “Now, can I please explain this without everyone jumping to random conclusions?”
The group nodded in agreement and leaned in to listen intently. Yun pulled out a piece of paper from his satchel so he could take notes for the future.
“Great,” Jae-Ha sighed in relief. “Let’s start with something simple. Does everyone know how a baby is made? There were several head nods ‘yes’ and one head shake ‘no’, but he pretended to not see the ‘no’.
“Perfect! We all know what sex is,” Jae-Ha said quickly as he clapped his hands together with a smile. “Moving on then.”
“Jae-Ha,” Shin-Ah interrupted. “What is sex?”
Everyone stiffened at the blunt question. No one wanted to have that conversation with Shin-Ah. Yun glared at the green dragon for bringing up the topic without thinking, and gave him a ‘fix this’ kind of look. Jae-Ha returned the look with a sheepish grin.
“I’ll tell you when you’re older, okay?” Jae-Ha answered sweetly as he patted the blue dragon on the shoulder. Shin-Ah nodded. Phew, glad I dodged that bullet. Jae-Ha thought to himself. Sweat began to form on his face. This was not a good look for him.
“Alright,” Jae-Ha cleared his throat and continued with his explanation. “In order for a woman to have a baby, she has to make an egg—”
“Wait, like a bird egg?” Kija asked, deadpanned.
“No Kija,” Jae-Ha retorted at the stupid question. “Women don’t lay eggs. They make eggs inside their bodies, and then the eggs have to be fertilized. Once fertilized the egg grows and eventually becomes a baby.”
“Oh,” Kija said as he slowly began to comprehend the situation. “So where does the bleeding come in?”
“I could get there quicker if you would stop talking,” Jae-Ha answered through clenched teeth. He took a deep breath and continued. “If the egg is not fertilized, then the whole uterus lining comes out with the egg.”
“Her insides come out?” Kija gasped in shock at the grotesque explanation.
“Kija,” Jae-Ha uttered in agitation as his eyebrow twitched with insatiable rage. “If you keep interrupting me, then I’m going to make you explain the birds and the bees to Shin-Ah!”
“I’ll… I’ll be quiet,” Kija conceded to the threat.
“Now, back to what I was trying to say,” Jae-Ha continued with a sigh. “When the egg and uterus come out, the woman bleeds, and it can be quite painful at times. It only lasts a week though, sometimes less, sometimes more. Each woman is different. But either way, it’s extremely uncomfortable.”
“Oh,” Yun thought out loud as the lightbulb went on. “So, it’s not that she’s losing blood like she’s been injured, it’s just the body's way of removing something it doesn’t need anymore.”
“Bingo,” Jae-Ha affirmed with a smile. “However, in some extreme cases, the bleeding can get really bad. I have heard of some women—”
“So,” Hak interjected, not wanting to hear about the bad cases. “Why is this happening now? The Princess has never had this issue in the past. Or at least she didn’t tell me about it.”
“That’s the interesting thing about women,” Jae-Ha smirked at Hak. “They don’t start their periods until a certain age. That’s when they can start having babies. She was probably too embarrassed to tell you.”
“Then, all of this,” Kija began to ask. “Is it just natural?”
“Completely,” Jae-Ha answered confidently.
“Then Yona won’t bleed to death?” Shin-Ah asked in concern.
“No, she won’t,” Jae-Ha replied with a small laugh. “But it will happen every month.”
“Every month?” Kija exclaimed. “She has to suffer for an entire week, every month? Until when?”
“Either she gets pregnant or runs out of eggs,” Jae-Ha answered. “Most women over 50 usually lose all of their eggs and stop menstruating.”
“That’s such a long time for our princess to be in agony,” Kija lamented. He quickly turned his head to look at their resident doctor. “Yun, there has to be something we can do to alleviate her suffering!”
“Sex?” Shin-Ah asked innocently. In his brain it made sense. If one option did not work, why not try the other option to fix it.
Hak spit out his drink again, then put his cup down for good. Kija was not sure whether to blush or be angry at the egregious suggestion. Yun scowled at the green dragon, who was trying to hold in a laugh.
“Whoever decided it was a great idea to teach Shin-Ah the word sex , needs to find a nice ditch to die in,” Yun said as he continued to glare at the green dragon.
Jae-Ha cleared his throat, “The best way to help Yona is to give her herbs for the pain, heat for the cramping, and let her sleep it off.”
“What about her clothes?” Hak asked in curiosity. “Won’t they get full of blood?”
“Probably,” Jae-Ha admitted. “Usually when it shows up suddenly, the clothes get a little bloody, but they have special linens for that.”
“I can’t believe I never knew about this,” Hak regretted as he folded his hands and brought them up to his face. “I’m supposed to be there for her and take care of her. And to think, I selfishly thought she was pushing me away because she didn’t like me.”
“Don’t be too hard on yourself,” Jae-Ha smiled at his depressed friend. “Some things are easier to talk about with the same gender. It must be tough on her to only have men around. I bet she and Princess Tao are going to have some lovely womanly conversations tonight.”
“I hope so,” Hak wished. “She deserves it.”
The room was quiet again. Everyone was sitting relaxed and relieved after their emotional roller coaster of a ride to get to this point. The food that was still edible was stone cold and no one was hungry to eat after that conversation. They all sat in silence, pondering everything that was spoken, mulling it around in their heads.
“Zeno,” Shin-Ah said, finally breaking the silence. “Will you tell me what sex is?”
“Jae-Ha!” Yun shouted in annoyance.
“Oops,” Jae-Ha mumbled under his breath as more sweat began to form on his face. He quickly got up from the floor and waved farewell to the group with a cheap smile on his face. “Well, this has been a wonderful chat with you all, but I think I’m going to bed now.”
“Oh, no you don’t!” Yun yelled as he jumped up from the floor and chased after the speedy green dragon. “Come back here and fix this!”
Shin-Ah looked over at Zeno with his beautiful, golden, dragon eyes, pleading for an answer to his question.
“Well…” Zeno began hesitantly. Try as he might, he could not resist those mesmerizing eyes that reminded him of his dear brother Abi. “I guess it wouldn’t hurt. It goes like this…”
The End