Chapter 18
***
There were no servants tending to the inner quarters today. They had said guests were coming, so everyone seemed busy with preparations. With no one guarding the middle gate, Yun-seo cautiously observed his surroundings before standing at the doorway.
From there, he noticed a wide-open side door. For Yun-seo, who hadn’t been allowed a single step outside the inner quarters since his identification as a Yeong Chunhwa, the open door felt like it was tempting him.
He had been told that he was identified as a Yeong Chunhwa and was an extremely important person who needed to protect himself, but he couldn’t quite understand what that had to do with not being allowed outside.
His father had sternly instructed that he must not abandon his body and mind. Yun-seo couldn’t understand how he could abandon his own body and mind, which belonged to him. For now, his only wish was to wander around just a little.
Yun-seo fidgeted with his fingers, looking around before stealthily walking toward the side door. His heart was pounding, so he placed his small hand on his chest and took a deep breath.
Finally, no one stopped Yun-seo as he slipped through the side door. He ran away from the house with a bright smile.
The midsummer sun was scorching. Being confined to the house, he hadn’t clearly felt the changing seasons, but seeing the noisy cicadas and the shadows cast by the dense green leaves, he realized summer was in full swing. Yun-seo giggled as he hopped from one shaded spot to another, then decided to go to the stream because of the heat.
On the way to the stream, he realized it was his first time going out without Yeondeok. He suddenly felt afraid, but more than that, a wonderful feeling of finally becoming an adult washed over him.
Running energetically, he arrived at the stream where children were playing in the water. Yun-seo crouched down and dipped his hands in the cool water, watching them with curious eyes.
“Hey! Do you want to play with us?”
An outgoing boy invited Yun-seo. After a moment’s hesitation, Yun-seo happily joined the group of children.
Engrossed in water play, he became soaking wet like a drowned rat. On the way back, his clothes clung to him with every step, and the water-logged fabric felt heavy and stifling, but his joy outweighed the discomfort. The exhilarating thrill of interacting with peers not chosen by his parents for the first time in his life was overwhelming.
Next time, I should bring Yeondeok to play.
The thought of playing with Yeondeok made him even more excited. Yun-seo was humming a tune when he spotted a servant lingering near the residence and raised his hand high.
“Gwangseok!”
“Young master!”
The servant rushed toward Yun-seo and swept him up in his arms. Yun-seo was bewildered at first, but then giggled as his viewpoint suddenly rose.
“I’m all wet, though.”
“Oh, young master. Where on earth have you been!”
“I was at the stream. There were so many children there. We played…”
“How could you go out without saying anything? Do you know how everyone has been searching for you?”
“For me?”
“Yes! The master is very angry.”
Only then did Yun-seo realize he had disobeyed his father and hunched his shoulders.
“Very? How very?”
“Oh my, when you go back, you must apologize profusely no matter what. Do you understand?”
Yun-seo had rarely seen his father angry. Though somewhat strict, his father had been generally lenient with him, so Yun-seo was worried but not terribly afraid.
However, when he entered the house and felt the completely frozen atmosphere, Yun-seo sensed that something was wrong. Led by the servant’s hand to his father, who glared at him with a cold face, even his sense of injustice subsided.
“Father, I’m sorry…”
“Where have you been to get so wet!”
“The stream, ah…!”
His father’s palm flew to his cheek, and his small body, unable to withstand the force, fell backward—yet Yun-seo still couldn’t grasp what had happened to him. When the burning pain flared like fire, tears welled up, and his father, red-faced with anger, shouted:
“Are you trying to bring shame to this family!”
His father had struck his cheek. That fact hurt Yun-seo more than the stinging pain. Was it because he was still young and immature? He couldn’t understand why going out briefly deserved such harsh punishment.
Afterward, the servants also realized this was no ordinary matter and strengthened their surveillance, but time tends to dull people’s vigilance. By the time Yun-seo turned eleven, he had forgotten the terrible pain and sadness and planned another outing.
“Yeondeok, they say the traveling performers who just arrived are amazing. Since they travel everywhere, it will be hard to see them again if not this year. So let’s go together, okay?”
“But will the master allow it?”
“That’s why we need to sneak out.”
Yun-seo, his eyes shining, shared his detailed plan with Yeondeok. Though Yeondeok hesitated, being only three years older than Yun-seo and having his own movements severely restricted since Yun-seo’s confinement, it was an irresistibly tempting proposal.
“No…”
What happened afterward was unforgettable, even if he wanted to forget. Yun-seo deeply furrowed his brow and waved his hand, but something cold touched his fingertips, stopping the gesture.
“No, no…”
“Yun.”
A clear voice that could be understood at once even in a crowded place flowed gently into his ear. Hot breath escaped between his lips, and his entire body felt unbearably stifling. As he tried to toss restlessly, something cool grabbed and held his hand.
“Yun. Come to your senses.”
At the unfamiliar yet somehow intimate address, Yun-seo lifted his heavy eyelids. As a familiar face came into his blurry vision, a sigh of relief burst forth.
It was a dream. Yes, just a dream.
Yun-seo tried to rub his eyes, but Hwi’s gripped hand came along, so he quickly let go. Then, breathing laboriously, he looked around.
“Where am I…?”
“At an inn. A physician came by and said it’s a severe cold with high fever.”
“How long have I been asleep?”
“Don’t worry about it. Here, take your medicine first.”
Hwi slipped his hand under Yun-seo’s back to help him sit up, then brought a medicine spoon to his mouth. Yun-seo raised his hand weakly, but Hwi made a soft, low sound and poured the medicine between Yun-seo’s lips. The bitter taste automatically made his brow scrunch.
Hwi continued to feed Yun-seo medicine like a bird bringing food.
After emptying the bowl, a cough erupted. Hwi wiped Yun-seo’s mouth with a clean white cloth, then laid him back down. As Yun-seo blinked dazedly up at him, Hwi reached out and brushed Yun-seo’s eyes. There were droplets of water on his fingertips.
“Does anything else hurt?”
“No. This is just… because I had a dream.”
The steady gaze looking down at him seemed to ask what kind of dream. Yun-seo smiled faintly. Now, with a burning fever, having him by his side upon waking brought great comfort. If he had been alone on this journey, there would have been many, many sorrowful things.
“I’m hot…”
As he tried to remove the bedding tightly covering him up to his neck, Hwi stopped his hand and placed his palm on Yun-seo’s nape. His cool hand gently dissolved the heat, creating what felt like sweet water between them.
“Ah… that feels nice.”
Yun-seo’s heavy eyelids closed, and the corners of his mouth rose slightly. Hwi’s fingertips tapped Yun-seo’s nape gently. It was like a comforting pat, yet somehow it felt awkward, making Yun-seo’s vision blur with rosy laughter. He soon let out a long, comfortable breath.
When he opened his eyes again, something damp was wiping his forehead. As he exhaled in admiration at how much lighter his body felt, the white cloth moved away.
“How do you feel?”
“I’m better now.”
Had he stayed by his side, wiping his sweat and cooling his body? Yun-seo wondered how he could ever repay this kindness. Without Hwi, taking care of himself would not have been easy at all. Meeting this man by chance on the road was, looking back, truly a stroke of good fortune.
When Hwi picked up the bowl containing the medicine, Yun-seo hurriedly sat up. As the medicine spoon approached his mouth, he naturally opened it.
“Ah, hot…!”
The medicine was too hot to drink, and as he flinched back, Hwi raised his eyebrows slightly as if to say “this is hot?” and looked back and forth between Yun-seo and the bowl. Then he blew on the medicine to cool it before offering the spoon again.
Though Yun-seo drank what was given, the timing of the spoon going in and out didn’t quite match, so his mouth kept getting messy. Suddenly wondering if this man had any experience nursing others, Yun-seo couldn’t help but laugh.
“Why are you laughing?”
Hwi set down the medicine bowl and asked. Finding something to laugh about seemed to give him energy, and a mischievous look spread across Yun-seo’s face.
“There are things even you can’t do well, my lord.”
“You’re the only one this frail around me, so it’s bound to be my first time.”
Having Hwi confirm that this was his first time nursing someone made Yun-seo’s chest feel strangely ticklish for some reason. The sensation of a fuzzy thread rolling around in his chest made Yun-seo instinctively hunch his shoulders.
NOTES: For Clarification these notes are from the author not from the translator. I wanted to remove the notes but that’s kinda rude to the original text. So ama leave it there.
*Severe cold: A cold with high fever. National Institute of Korean Language. Standard Korean Dictionary.
