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Chapter 15
Haewolgak
Haewolgak.
The place where Miss Yuji stayed. I had only heard the name before, despite it being so close by, and had never once visited.
Yuji often jokingly told me to come visit, but it was far too presumptuous a place for Iseo to go.
Who was Yuji, after all? She was the heroine of the world Iseo lived in, the woman who would eventually marry Ryun after countless twists and turns. Just standing before the gates of Haewolgak, Iseo swallowed nervously, feeling instinctively that this was not a place she should enter.
“What are you standing there for? Why aren’t you coming in?”
At Ryun’s cool voice, however, Iseo had no choice but to awkwardly step inside.
True to its reputation as the finest gisaeng house in Hanyang, Haewolgak was dazzlingly extravagant. From the entrance courtyard alone, the carefully planted trees and flowers were impressive, and elegant orchids lined the wooden veranda, drawing the eye. Somewhere in the distance, the sound of a gayageum drifted through the air.
“You have arrived?”
A steward hurried out and bowed deeply. Ryun flicked his fan with an annoyed motion, and the man disappeared as quickly as he had appeared. Passing through a deserted garden and deeper into the rear grounds, they arrived at a detached pavilion.
Iseo was astonished first by how much larger Haewolgak was than it appeared from outside, and then again by how quiet it was.
Ryun stepped onto the veranda, opened the door, and went inside. This time, Iseo truly could not bring himself to follow and hesitated at the threshold.
“What? Don’t tell me you disdain this place because it’s a lowly gisaeng house?”
Ryun, already seated crookedly atop a cushion, asked with a mocking smile.
“N-no, it’s not that.”
Iseo lifted his calm eyes toward Ryun.
Anyone else might have frowned at Ryun’s sarcasm, but Iseo’s face showed no reaction. Yet neither did he grovel submissively. Though they had not known each other long, his eyes were always astonishingly clear and composed.
Of course, in his previous life, Iseo had memories of being chewed out dozens of times a day by section chiefs, managers, and department heads. Compared to that, Ryun’s snide remarks were nothing at all. Naturally, Ryun had no way of knowing that.
“It’s just that I’ve been working in front of the fire since dawn, so I must smell rather unpleasant.”
Trailing off, Iseo carefully looked around the splendid room. A mother-of-pearl chest delicately inlaid with patterns, a cloisonné mirror, and beside it, a jewelry box left carelessly open, with a jade hairpin set in gold sticking out haphazardly.
Even though the man lounged about as comfortably as if it were his own quarters, anyone could tell this was a woman’s room. Iseo worried that the stale smell clinging to his body might seep into it.
Not only sweat—he had been rushing around all morning, so his straw sandals were surely covered in dust. Unlike Ryun, his clothes had frayed sleeves and worn hems, which made him painfully self-conscious.
In his current state, he looked more suited to squatting in a kitchen corner and eating from a humble dog-legged dining tray.
“I was worried I might be imposing…”
Before Iseo could finish speaking, someone entered from the rear garden and let out an exaggerated cry.
“Oh my, isn’t this Young Master Iseo? No matter how many times I invited you to visit, you never once showed your face!”
Yuji appeared beside him, smiling teasingly with narrowed eyes.
“Why are you standing here instead of going inside?”
“Miss Yuji!”
Upon seeing her, Iseo bowed politely. But the moment he lifted his head, Yuji linked arms with him without hesitation and clung to him brightly. Glancing nervously toward Ryun, Iseo tried to gently pull away with an awkward smile, but Yuji’s strength, honed through dance, was no joke either.
“Hah!”
Ryun let out a disbelieving laugh. Even with him—a grand prince—Yuji was always aloof and prickly.
“Isn’t this treatment a little too different?”
“What do you mean?”
Still clinging to Iseo’s arm, Yuji asked boldly.
“Enough. Just go prepare some food.”
“What, is my house some kind of restaurant? Why do you keep ordering me to serve meals?”
Yuji shot him a glare. Watching the dangerous atmosphere between them, Iseo awkwardly interjected.
“My lord, perhaps another time. I’m not very hungry, so I should head home now.”
Yuji’s eyes widened in shock.
“My goodness! Young Master Iseo, you still haven’t eaten lunch?”
Without releasing his arm, she shouted loudly.
“Granny! Granny!”
An old woman poked her head out from the kitchen.
“What now? You just ate and even had snacks! What are you going to do if you get fat?”
At the old woman’s scolding, Yuji pouted irritably.
“It’s not for me. We have a guest. Please prepare lunch.”
She gently shook Iseo’s arm as she spoke. The old woman’s gaze swept over Iseo—the frail shoulders barely hidden beneath his loose jacket, his tiny face, the thin wrists exposed beneath rolled sleeves. Clicking her tongue in disapproval, the old woman muttered,
“Where did this child crawl out from looking like he hasn’t even had a bowl of gruel? Wait a moment.”
With that, she disappeared back into the kitchen, and soon the sound of chopping echoed out.
“Young Master Iseo, hurry inside. She may look like that, but her cooking is unmatched. If you leave without tasting it, you’ll regret it. Half the reason gisaeng Yuji of Haewolgak is so famous is thanks to that granny’s cooking.”
Interlacing her fingers with his, Yuji climbed onto the veranda first and tugged him along.
“Young master, come in quickly.”
Her affection was overwhelming. She looked exactly like someone greeting a long-lost lover, and the man already seated in the room curved his lips into a crooked smile.
“Hah. I must be the fool for staying here after seeing such treatment.”
“Oh? Sounds like you know that already. Then why do you keep staying here instead of in your perfectly fine residence? You’re the reason people misunderstand me.”
Yuji grumbled with a pout, yet even so, she seated Iseo carefully on a cushion and fussed over him to make sure he was comfortable.
Iseo felt utterly out of place in his shabby appearance amid such luxury. He should have realized it earlier, when they passed the last tavern.
A gisaeng house! How could someone like him possibly belong here?
Besides, he was not even truly a man.
“Don’t tell me this is your first time in a gisaeng house? Why are you so restless for a man?”
As if reading directly into his thoughts, Ryun remarked.
“How could someone like me, living hand-to-mouth each day, ever frequent a place like this?”
“You seem not to understand. Even men who may die tomorrow flock here without a care for what lies ahead.”
Ryun smiled faintly as he spoke, and Yuji frowned.
“Don’t say strange things to our innocent Young Master Iseo.”
“You sound like his mother. At least an older sister. I’ve spent all this time eating and sleeping here. Do you know how much money I’ve poured into Haewolgak? Isn’t this too much?”
“Not a single coin Your Lordship gave came without my sweat upon it. Are you the sort to spend money carelessly? Don’t speak as though you were doing me or Haewolgak some great favor.”
Since she wasn’t wrong, Ryun merely cleared his throat twice before glancing toward Iseo.
The boy still looked uncomfortable in the room, unsure what to do with himself.
He had apparently run around so much all morning that his white socks had already turned black. The way he fidgeted, worried about dirtying the cushion, was both amusing and strangely adorable.
Yuji, who would sooner play the gayageum or dance for customers than offer even the smallest smile, was fussing over him so attentively for the first time. Ryun found the whole scene unexpectedly entertaining.
“Granny, isn’t it ready yet? Our Young Master Iseo is starving! His stomach’s rumbling like thunder!”
“Goodness! I’m coming, I’m coming! Stop nagging!”
The door slid open, and a meal was carried in. There was so much food that two servants had to carry the table together with care. True to Haewolgak’s illustrious reputation as Hanyang’s finest gisaeng house, the table overflowed with dishes Iseo had never even seen before.
The moment the servants left and the door closed, Yuji sat close beside Iseo, placed a spoon into his hand, and pushed every meat dish toward him.
That wasn’t all. She carefully picked pieces of abalone soy marinade and marinated crab—luxuries rarely found outside Haewolgak—and placed them directly onto his spoon. Just as Ryun said, she looked exactly like a mother bird fussing over her chick.
“Hah.”
Ryun glared at Yuji in disbelief before lifting his own spoon.
Food held little meaning for him anyway. Yuji’s theatrics were ridiculous, but Iseo himself was not unpleasant to watch. In fact, despite his weak body, the boy supported both his mother and brother while still finding room to care for others. Ryun found it oddly admirable.
Though he scoffed, a faint smile had already crept onto his lips.
While Iseo filled himself with meat dishes, Ryun finished a simple bowl of rice with vegetables and leaned back to watch him eat. The way he nibbled quietly with his small mouth was unexpectedly pleasant to look at. If he had skipped breakfast, he truly must have been hungry.
“Eat slowly. You’ll upset your stomach.”
Yuji poured him scorched-rice tea and set it beside his bowl. Then, without making it obvious, she slipped another spoonful of rice into his bowl.
“Yuji, if you keep this up, that young master won’t even be able to walk home.”
“Hmph. Then he can just live with me. What’s the problem?”
Hearing their conversation, Iseo suddenly began coughing as though something had gone down the wrong way. Looking alarmed, Yuji patted his back and held out the bowl of tea. After drinking it and finally calming down, Iseo waved his hands with watery eyes.
“Miss, please stop giving me more food. I’ve already eaten plenty.”
That appearance, too, seemed oddly adorable.
‘Did I have this kind of taste?’
Ryun’s gaze drifted over the slender white nape of Iseo’s neck and the reddened tips of his ears before he abruptly stopped himself and coughed awkwardly.
Perhaps he had stayed in gisaeng houses too long.
Though, for a place belonging to a gisaeng, Yuji’s quarters were quiet as a temple, untouched by the usual chaos. Ryun lightly concluded that his sudden and bewildering preference must simply be the result of prolonged exposure.
If he left Haewolgak and stayed somewhere cleaner and quieter, this strange inclination toward blushing at the sight of another man would surely disappear.
For instance, somewhere like Hanseojae.
The moment his thoughts reached Hanseojae, Ryun recalled the night he first met Iseo. Strangely enough, every thread of his thoughts kept circling back to the boy.
“By the way, why haven’t you stopped by Hanseojae?”
“Hm?”
“Didn’t I say that if you stayed in this neighborhood, all the plums from Hanseojae would be yours?”
“Ah… I’ve been rather busy lately.”
Remembering how he had spoken as though he would never return to Hanseojae again, Iseo scratched his head sheepishly with an awkward smile.
