# 83
***
It had been a truly informative time.
But was this really okay?
Jin-ha rubbed his neck, which had been sucked by Riyekan the entire time, and reflected on his increasingly promiscuous lifestyle. He couldn’t shake the feeling that he had traded his body for information.
Of course, he had learned satisfyingly many things, and it wasn’t entirely unpleasant, but…
Still, he shouldn’t be swept away so recklessly. Jin-ha resolved to pull himself together. Even if there would come a day when he would completely fall for that man, it shouldn’t happen this way.
As Cha Ki-young had said, even if he tried it once for fun, he couldn’t engage in such undignified acts like a one-night stand, could he?
“……”
Though it seemed he had already done a bit of that…
Jin-ha convinced himself that since they hadn’t gone all the way, it didn’t count.
Besides, his relationship with Riyekan wasn’t going to end after just one night. Once they started, they would have to continue, and if they spent the night without establishing a proper relationship, they would be nothing more than sex partners.
Good Lord.
Jin-ha felt almost dizzy at the thought of words he had assumed would never be relevant to his life now approaching right before his eyes.
“We’re almost there. Look over there, Hunter Lee Jin-ha. That’s our destination.”
Riyekan, who had been watching with interest as Jin-ha huddled in a corner of the carriage lost in complicated thoughts, suddenly pointed outside the window.
By now, the carriage had approached a dangerous island where seawater was swirling. Rain poured from dark clouds densely filling the sky, and lightning struck. The wind blew fiercely, whirling the clouds, but strangely, they remained stagnant without going outside the island.
It was a barrier set up by the Sea Serpent, which had the power to summon storms, to exclude intruders. It was a tremendous storm that would likely overturn any ordinary ship in an instant, but the carriage running on water passed through the storm without any difficulty.
Finally, through the heavy sea fog, a white building appeared.
“That is the summer palace of the Abon Kingdom.”
The walls were so white they hurt the eyes, and the roof was as blue as summer sea water, looking refreshing just by sight. The fact that it stood out so much even with the sun obscured by dark clouds and the view blurred by fog suggested it would be much more beautiful in good weather.
As the carriage reached the island and began to run on the sand, Jin-ha curiously looked around.
A beach full of fine sand stretched far into the distance. Half-broken rocking chairs and torn mats left on the beach seemed to assert that this place had once been a resort. After passing that, a small village appeared. Though no one lived there now, it had once been a proper village.
“Did people live here?”
“At one time, it was the most desired retirement place for those who worked in the royal palace.”
“Most desired?”
“During autumn, winter, and spring, they would receive wages just for maintaining the island, and during summer, the king would come and stay with his family, so it was a prosperous and leisurely island in many ways.”
A life with a boss present for only one season—it was certainly likely to be popular.
After passing through the small village of less than twenty households, a forest on a shallow hill revealed itself. After going through the forest a bit, a stream would appear, and after crossing the bridge and going a little further, there would be a large zelkova tree, and beyond that tree, the summer palace would soon appear.
Somehow, he felt like it would be just like that.
“Hunter Lee Jin-ha, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing. It’s nothing. Just… the village feels a bit eerie.”
Jin-ha, making an excuse, looked around at the scenery with confused eyes.
‘Why does it feel so familiar?’
He felt as if he had been here before.
The carriage continued without stopping, and surprisingly, it did indeed cross the bridge over the stream, pass by the zelkova tree, and reach the palace.
Everything was as Jin-ha had expected. And that wasn’t the end of it. Even the summer palace seemed familiar somehow.
The three-story building in a ã„· shape, built by layering white stones, had dozens of windows. The pillars were decorated with gold leaf, and small sculptures were placed at each connecting section between floors. The bright blue roof sparkled like the water’s surface under the sun, and at the pointed end stood a statue of a raptor similar to an eagle.
No, that’s surely how it must have been. Once.
Now, unlike then, only an old, half-ruined building remained.
“Let’s have a meal first, and then we’ll look around the building a bit.”
Riyekan, who had gotten out first, waved his hand to spread a barrier against rain and extended his hand toward Jin-ha.
Jin-ha took that hand and got out of the carriage, slowly scanning this place that was simultaneously familiar and strange.
The fine pile of soil used to build a sandcastle, the swing that was almost forbidden after nearly falling, the bone-shaped toy of the hunting dog they played with together…
With each remaining trace he saw, forgotten memories popped out of a box.
Jin-ha asked in a trembling voice.
“Riyekan, has… Master Senistry ever been here?”
Riyekan looked surprised.
“How did you know? Master Senistry grew up here in her childhood. I heard she entered the royal palace after growing up, but returned here again not long after and lived here until she entered the tower.”
Jin-ha touched his forehead and staggered.
“Jin-ha?”
Riyekan quickly embraced him and asked, but Jin-ha was too stunned to answer.
Because the image of Master Senistry was vivid in the memory that had just surfaced. The person pushing Jin-ha’s bottom as he excitedly pedaled on the swing was clearly the beautiful blonde woman, Master Senistry.
And next to her, his father stood with his arms crossed, watching them contentedly.
“What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?”
Why had he forgotten this memory?
Jin-ha gasped and grabbed Riyekan’s arm with trembling hands.
“My stomach… my stomach feels bad…”
“Oh my. Motion sickness? Let’s rest for a moment first.”
Riyekan scooped him up and strode into the building.
***
Jin-ha’s childhood memories weren’t clear. But is it strange for someone well into adulthood to have unclear childhood memories? Rather, vividly remembering those times would be considered unusual.
So he had lived without paying much attention to it, but who would have thought he would suddenly recover childhood memories in a place like this?
“……”
Jin-ha removed the cold towel covering his eyes and looked up at the ceiling.
Even the ceiling, which had once been clean, was now a mess with rain stains.
‘There used to be a chandelier hanging there.’
On the wall, there were candle holders individually handcrafted by artisans, and on that wall over there, a strange tree-shaped objet d’art decorated a side table…
Once recalled, past memories came crawling out like a string of candies. Jin-ha had been here with his father. The problem was that Master Senistry was also with them. And they were engaged in extremely intimate skinship!
“Father…”
Jin-ha sighed deeply.
His father’s past simply couldn’t be pieced together. Combining Cha Ki-young’s information with what he learned here yielded truly bizarre results.
His father had a child, Lee Jin-ha, with his mother, then brought him to this world and lived in a family-like relationship with Master Senistry, only to later return to Earth and establish a home with his mother.
“To think my father was such garbage…”
He had wanted to know his roots, not such shocking facts.
Just as a headache surged and Jin-ha moaned, pressing his brow firmly:
“Hunter Lee Jin-ha. How are you feeling?”
Riyekan, who had brought lemonade on a tray, worriedly touched Jin-ha’s forehead.
“You don’t seem to have a fever, but you’re sweating heavily. Today, let’s just have a meal and then lie down in a room.”
“Yes… But is there a suitable place to sleep in this tattered mansion? Perhaps it would be better to go down to the village…”
“No, it’s fine.”
Riyekan smiled arrogantly.
“There are solutions for that, so don’t worry.”
Solutions?
Normally, Jin-ha would have asked various questions out of curiosity, but today his mind was saturated, preventing him from doing so. In fact, today he really just wanted to rest quietly. The forgotten memories didn’t all burst out at once. As he rested, one more thing would surface, and then another would emerge from a small piece of wood that briefly entered his view.
“Here, lie down for a bit.”
“Yes…”
Riyekan pulled him to the sofa and laid him down. The thigh he rested his head on was hard. Jin-ha thought it might be better not to use any pillow at all, but his complaint soon disappeared. Riyekan gently stroked his forehead and began to caress his hair, which, surprisingly, felt incredibly good.
Ah, so this is why this man is so obsessed with being caressed.
It felt like his unstable heart was being comforted. Suddenly, he liked that Riyekan’s hands were large. Even with small hand movements, they covered more area, which felt good.
With his eyes closed, Jin-ha unconsciously placed his hand on Riyekan’s knee and slowly stroked it with his thumb. The hand caressing his hair hesitated momentarily, but when Jin-ha pressed and rubbed his cheek against Riyekan’s thigh in protest, it continued.
At some point, Jin-ha fell asleep.
Feeling the gentle touch of fingers parting the hair on his forehead.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
