The Kite Fighters

The day of the kite festival arrives, and the brothers are nervous as they walk to the park, counting nines for good luck. A royal procession brings the King to a platform, from which he will observe the competition with the judges. The King announces the start of the festival and surprises the crowd by breaking tradition: He begins with the wishing kite ceremony, rather than ending with it. The King releases his wishing kite, painted with the phrase “bad luck—go!” (103), and the crowd releases theirs as well, hoping to banish bad luck for the year. With this, the boys’ competition begins and they line up to begin flying. Each pair of fighters flies until someone gets their kite knocked down, their line cut, or until a fighter steps out of their designated area. Young-sup’s dragon kite is the most admired kite in the competition and he cuts his first opponent’s line in under a minute.

Young-sup continues to sever the lines of his next two opponents. After his third win, the judges call him up to the royal platform and ask him about his technique. He tells him about his special line, and after a close inspection, the judges allow him to continue.