The highlands were a harsh place for a child. Except for early in the year, it mostly rained or snowed. With skin cracking from the cold chill multiple times, the child spent time in a house tucked in a corner of the highlands.
Doha was following the child, wandering through a dream.
‘So when does this dream end?’
The dream showed no sign of ending. Time here differed from real time; in two hours, one could see an entire year. As the dream showed no sign of waking, Doha bit his lip.
‘Perhaps… he’s waiting.’
Whether knowing Doha’s feelings or not, the child scampered around the highland town again today. Unlike the child’s home, the marketplace was lively. There were merchants selling embroidered shoes, merchants selling fruit imported from the lower regions, and shops displaying fabrics everywhere. The child’s head was busy turning at this wonderland.
<Young Master, I’ll be back from the mill soon, so don’t move from here.>
<Hmm? Is Sundol going to buy rice cakes?>
Sundol, the servant who had come to the highlands together, blushed at the child’s innocent words. Then, pressing a few coins into the child’s hand, he met the child’s eyes and said,
<Aish, Young Master. There are such things. Anyway, just stay here for a moment.>
After earnestly holding the child’s arms and pleading, he eventually ran toward the mill. His steps were light as he ran toward his love. Watching his departing figure, Doha let out a hollow laugh.
‘Leaving a child to do such a thing. If father knew, there would be an uproar.’
The child, who had been watching Sundol with Doha, eventually turned his body in the opposite direction with his hands behind his back.
<This is good!>
With an excited face, the child ran into the alley. His small legs moved with such vigor that he was quite fast.
<Hey, where are you going!>
Doha hurriedly tried to grab the child’s nape, but once again, his hand passed through the child’s body. Frowning at his ghost-like state, Doha followed the child.
Small footprints formed in the dirt ground with each step. Upon entering an alley, the small footprints became two. At the end, there was a boy leaning against the wall. Sensing someone approaching, he raised his head.
Doha’s steps came to an abrupt halt upon seeing the boy.
‘That’s Hyunseo, isn’t it?’
Though still young, his face was already fully formed. The handsome features that drew gasps at first sight were unique to Hyunseo as far as Doha knew. Perhaps because of his young appearance, his sharp impression seemed gentler than before. Just as Doha approached him, drawn by the adorable chubby cheeks protruding on both sides—
<Hyunseo!>
The child ran to Hyunseo ahead of Doha. The contrast was evident between the child dressed in silk clothes and Hyunseo wearing rags. The child sat down in front of Hyunseo and met his eyes.
<You were waiting for me, right? Right?>
Young Hyunseo stared blankly at the child. After staring as if to pierce through him, he abruptly turned his head away. As if accustomed to his dismissal, the child smiled.
<I know everything even if you don’t say it. You’re not usually around here.>
<…No.>
<Liar, when I’m not here, you play in that alley over there!>
<…I’m always here.>
Though it was a short answer, the child smiled brightly with joy. It was a beautiful smile that brightened the surroundings. The dimples on both sides were cute.
At the child’s smile, Hyunseo slightly turned his head to look at him. It was then that his tightly closed lips slowly parted.
<Since I don’t know when you’ll come, I’m here every day.>
Hyunseo’s eyes were visible through his unkempt hair. They were eyes no different from now. Eyes mixed with affection and obsession—Doha’s shoulders trembled when he discovered those eyes.
‘He was different from the start. This wasn’t made overnight, I see.’
Doha clicked his tongue, but the child was not yet old enough to discern the meaning in his eyes. The child’s eyes merely sparkled at Hyunseo’s words, happy to meet a friend.
As if remembering something forgotten, the child clapped his hands. Then he pulled out a rice ball from his clothes.
<I secretly hid this for you without Sundol knowing, so eat it quickly.>
<…>
Young Hyunseo looked at the rice ball in the child’s hand. It was a rice ball mixed with seaweed flakes and barley, with a flower-shaped carrot attached to it. The carrot, seemingly cut by the child, was awkwardly crooked.
Even with small fists himself, how did he manage to bring such a small thing? Hyunseo muttered quietly before pushing away the child’s hand.
<You eat it.>
<I’ve already eaten a lot, I tell you!>
<Then why are you so short?>
<Being short! Being short isn’t because I don’t eat much, but because I’m an Eumin. The servants said it’s because I’m an Eumin.>
Hyunseo raised his head to look at the child. The child’s face clouded as he mentioned being an Eumin. As if displeased by something, Hyunseo frowned.
<If you eat the rice ball, you’ll be taller than me.>
<Even as an Eumin?>
<There’s no law saying Eumin can’t grow tall, eat quickly.>
He took a portion of the rice ball and brought it to the child’s mouth. The child gulped at the rice ball with its savory aroma wafting through.
<Will I really grow taller?>
The child asked without taking his eyes off the rice ball. Seeing his face that obviously wanted to eat it, Hyunseo burst into laughter and answered,
<That’s what I said.>
At the firm answer, the child opened his mouth and ate the rice ball. He chewed and swallowed the rice ball earnestly, hoping to grow taller. Hyunseo grinned as he watched the child who was so easily deceived.
<Eat well and grow taller than the baby.>
What? Baby? The child, offended by the word “baby,” widened his eyes. Finding even that adorable, Hyunseo laughed and removed a grain of rice from the corner of the child’s mouth as he spoke.
<The baby will grow this much from eating the rice ball.>
Hyunseo’s eyes were affectionate as he looked at the child. He didn’t take his eyes off the child the entire time he ate the rice ball. Just as Doha was clicking his tongue while watching that persistent gaze—
A sound of a door opening was heard at the end of the alley. Doha, the child, and Hyunseo turned their heads toward the alley’s end. As slow footsteps continued, Hyunseo blocked the child.
<From now on, don’t make even a breath of sound.>
He whispered to the child in a cold voice. The child nodded slowly at the suddenly changed tone.
<O-Okay.>
Soon, a man’s figure emerged from the shadows. It was Deokbae, an attendant from the gisaeng house where Hyunseo stayed. The well-built Deokbae was in charge of various tasks at the gisaeng house. For instance, when there were guests threatening the gisaengs, or debts to be collected. He was a Yangin who stepped in when Eumins needed to be disciplined.
Deokbae was of poor character. Due to his nature of not treating Eumins as people, he often caused various incidents within the gisaeng house. The Eumin gisaengs would slyly avoid him because of incidents too indecent to mention.
<Already hanging out with Eumins at such a young age?>
Deokbae, who had discovered Hyunseo and the child, grinned. Approaching, he pushed aside Hyunseo’s body, which was shielding the child.
<Why are you hiding it so much? Good things should be shared.>
Hyunseo desperately tried to hide the child, but with his small body, he couldn’t overcome the strength of an adult Yangin. When Deokbae swung his foot, Hyunseo’s body tumbled to the ground. Doha shouted as Hyunseo rolled on the ground.
<Hyunseo!>
The child’s face, which had been continuously hidden, was revealed. It was still a youthful face but showed the makings of a great beauty. Large eyes pooled with teardrops. As the teardrops crossed his cheeks, Deokbae began to stare at the child, completely entranced. His Adam’s apple bobbed greatly.
<So this is what he was hiding all to himself!>
The reddened eyes were tempting. Just as Deokbae, his face completely flushed, reached his hand toward the child, Hyunseo, who had been rolling on the ground, grabbed Deokbae’s leg. Wrapping his arms and legs around it, he bit Deokbae’s leg with all his might.
<Argh! You little bastard!>
Deokbae’s scream echoed through the alley. Deokbae rolled his foot several times to remove Hyunseo, who was desperately clinging on. When that didn’t work, he grabbed Hyunseo by the hair.
<Alright, let’s see who dies today.>
Deokbae shouted in a voice charged with rage. Lifting Hyunseo easily, he headed toward the alley wall. He intended to smash Hyunseo’s head against the wall. Seeing the ominous sign, the child hurriedly grabbed Deokbae’s waist.
<No! Stop it, let him go!>
<How close must you two be to act like this! Can’t you let go?>
<I can’t, I can’t! I won’t let go until you release Hyunseo!>
When the child shouted with a trembling voice, Hyunseo, who was being held, looked at the child. His lips moved quietly.
Get help.
Reading Hyunseo’s words, the child shook his head. No, I can’t leave you. The two hands gripping Deokbae’s waist began to tremble. It was a heartbreaking sight that pained Doha’s heart as he watched from behind. When Deokbae lifted Hyunseo’s body into the air, the child screamed.
<Don’t! Stop!>
The child, stamping his feet, looked at Hyunseo. Hyunseo’s lips still carried the same message. The child, looking at him with tear-filled eyes, eventually released Deokbae’s waist.
<Wait a moment, I’ll bring someone to help!>
The child hurriedly escaped the alley. Hyunseo’s eyes followed the child as he ran with his short legs. Even at the moment his head hit the wall, his gaze remained fixed on the child.
By the time the child brought Sundol a while later, both Deokbae and Hyunseo had already disappeared.
<Young Master, are you sure they were here?>
<Yes… I should have saved him…>
The child stared blankly at the empty alley. Only traces of where Hyunseo had rolled remained in the alley. Only the multiple footprints indicated the existence of Deokbae and Hyunseo.
The child, crouching on the ground, shed tears drop by drop. Each place the tears fell darkened in color. If only he had come a little earlier, if only he had been a little faster, he might have been able to save him.
That day, though the child and Sundol searched the entire neighborhood, they couldn’t find any trace of Hyunseo and Deokbae.
* * *
The child went to that alley every day but never met Hyunseo again. Doha quietly followed the child as he returned home with a dejected appearance.
Time passed, and when the child reached the age to realize that eating rice balls wouldn’t make him taller, only then did he meet Hyunseo again.
At the entrance of the alley where they had encountered Deokbae, the child discovered Hyunseo in a terrible state. Though his appearance had become much sharper, he was indeed the Hyunseo the child knew.
<Hyunseo…?>
Having searched for him for so long, the child called his name as if in disbelief. The face covered with bruises turned toward the child.
<Do you know what kind of alley this is and still come?>
The child’s steps halted at the emotionless voice. It was a much lower voice than before. The child, looking at him with wavering eyes, eventually hardened his face and spoke.
<It’s the red-light district.>
<Knowing that, you still come here?>
<You told me to come back, so I did.>
After learning this alley was in the red-light district, the child inquired about Hyunseo at every gisaeng house. He finally found where Hyunseo had been, but by then, his residence had already been moved to another area. The child, biting his lip, sat down in front of Hyunseo.
<Do you know how much I’ve been looking for you?>
A careful hand brushed up Hyunseo’s hair. Beneath the straight forehead, his eyes were visible. They were the crescent moon-shaped eyes the child had been desperately searching for. Meeting his eyes, the child asked,
<So which gisaeng house are you in?>
The child knew there was no adult who would help him. So he used his wealth and honor.
From that point on, Doha bought him from the gisaeng house. He was a very strong and clever Yangin. That Yangin called the child ‘Young Master.’
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
