CH 5

It was around shinsi (15:00 to 17:00) when Hyun woke up. He frowned at his throbbing body. The bones were tingling, the muscles were aching, and the skin was sticky. His eyes were swollen and hard to open properly, and his throat was so hoarse.

—Huu… I’m so tired.

As soon as he got up, he felt dizzy and leaned on the table for a while. His stomach was upset at the beginning, but as time passed, it seemed to be getting a little more tolerable.

With a melancholy expression, Hyun dipped a dry cloth in the water he had prepared in advance and wiped his body and washed his face with difficulty. Then he gathered his wet clothes and blankets and changed into new ones.

Even after two years had passed since falling to Danguk, Hyun was still unfamiliar with his youthful body. But, he knew he couldn’t keep getting frustrated, so he struggled to survive. Behind him, he had the help of a great man who took good care of him. He was the only one who stood by his fearful side when he was feeling lonely in this world.

Hyun didn’t open his heart to Wei Jeokmyeong right from the beginning. Even though he did save him, he was a stranger, so how could Hyun believe him easily? Without knowing where he was or why he was here, he wasn’t desperate enough to open his heart to the beautiful but merciless man.

In the first few weeks he entered the Wei Estate, Hyun could hardly sleep. He understood what they were saying, but they were not able to understand what he was saying, and Hyun was afraid of the sudden change of environment. Deep in his heart, the thought that he might never be able to return to Korea again crept up. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t shake this ominous feeling.

The taste buds that were accustomed to stronger seasoning could not accept the food here, the bed was very hard, and everything in life, including washing, was inconvenient. There was also a limit to communicating with gestures. He was gradually getting tired.

He missed Seoul and Korea. He had no one waiting for him, but it was better than here, where everything was unfamiliar and awkward. He just hated everything.

‘How long has it been?’ Hyun was exhausted from fear and depression. Maybe his mind got younger along with his body, and his tears flowed like a child. Even though he was usually silent all day, he often burst into tears at the sudden surge of sadness.

That day too, unable to overcome the sadness, he was squatting alone at the end of the corridor and crying. By the time he heard a sound, Wei Jeokmyung had already come closer. He looked at Hyun, whose eyes were swollen with tears, and suddenly reached out his hand. Surprised by the sudden contact, Hyun struggled hard and punched him in the shoulder, but Wei Jeokmyung did not care and gently stroked Hyun’s back, letting Hyun vented his frustration just like that.

—L- Let me go! Leave me alone!

“You can cry more if that can make you feel comfortable.”

Hyeon, exhausted from the effort, eventually gave up on pushing him away and just cried, pouring out all his tears and runny nose. The occasional burst of Korean contained a lot of sadness.

‘What did I do wrong to come to this place? I don’t like those people who beat me, I hate this place, I hate everything. I want to go back to Korea. I want to go back. Please send me back.’

How many hours had he cried? Only after Wei Jeokmyung’s front was wet with tears and mucus did Hyun become silent. Wei Jeokmyung continued to gently stroke Hyun’s back as if to comfort him. Hyun looked at Wei Jeokmyung with his runny nose and tear-stained face. His face was full of pity for Hyun rather than displeasure.

“It’s alright. Everything will be alright.” Wei Jeokmyung whispered, “I will do everything for you, so don’t cry alone. I will lend you my arms at any time. So don’t be like this, okay?”

Tears welled up again at the warm words. The sadness melted away at the reassurance that everything would be okay without even asking why. He thought he was alone here too, but this man didn’t seem to think so. His warm embrace was a great comfort. His heart was melting at the sincere warmth that he had tasted for the first time in a long time, or maybe the first time in forever. Hyun thought why is this man so nice to him?

After his neighbor’s grandmother died, Hyun had been alone again. People who were longing for affection deliberately approached Hyun, and some others tried to exploit his cheap labor. Even orphans, their personal information could be money, and some orphanages approached them on purpose to receive some private loans.

After knowing this, some orphans began to whisper that they didn’t need a sponsor, and some others aimed for a deposit in a semi-underground rent room the size of a mouse’s tail. Hyun, who was tired of loneliness, was delicious food for everyone.

Still, he tried to trust and depend on people because he didn’t like being alone. Until that one older brother, who worked in the same factory and became close friends with him, stole Hyun’s money and stamps that he had saved for half a year. There was even a debtor who paid a visit because that friend had done something in Hyun’s name.

After suffering a lot from them, Hyun decided not to trust people anymore. He had a short life of twenty-three, and his neighbor grandmother was the only one who did not ask for conditions from him.

So he couldn’t easily believe in Wei Jeokmyung. ‘He must have wanted something too. What kind of conspiracy does he have in mind?’ He kept doubting that he brought him here to satisfy himself with his poor sympathy.

Wei Jeokmyung did not reproach Hyun and supported him. He didn’t think it was strange even if Hyun, who was not familiar with this place, made a mistake in everyday actions that anyone in Danguk should’ve known. He explained one by one step by step as if it was natural for him to be this clumsy, and comforted him for being overly cautious.

There was no pretense in Wei Jeokmyung’s actions. He gave before Hyun asked for anything, and if Hyun was wary, he took a step back and smiled softly. Food, clothes, and things were tasted and used first by Hyun, and he did not feel lonely anymore. He was the one who strictly forbade others to enter the main building, but he allowed a maid to enter for Hyun’s sake.

As time passed, Hyun could no longer turn away from reality. It means that this world is real, and the fact that Wei Jeokmyung is sincere towards him. Also, this is the world in which he will live in the future.

After being comforted in Wei Jeokmyung’s arms, Hyun did his best to adapt somehow. He served alongside Wei Jeokmyung, trying to get used to his surroundings. However, as if to ridicule his efforts, in less than two months after he entered the Wei Estate, his body began to change, back to his original form, the state of an adult.

In order to live in this unfamiliar world, he thought it would be better to be an adult than to look young, so he was very happy at first. It was definitely the case until morning, when he returned to his boyish form again.

What was more painful was that this change was not a one-off. He didn’t know if it was a means to remember his previous life, or if there was something wrong when he fell to this place, but this strange phenomenon, which regularly comes every full moon, made Hyun realize that he was strange. It was a terrible mockery of fate.

Hyun did not disclose this symptom to anyone else. Even to Wei Jeokmyung, he was completely silent. He was afraid of what he would think if he found out that he could turn into an adult at certain times. He didn’t want to be lonely anymore.

Those were anxious days. He was anxious because he didn’t know when the secret would be revealed. He locked himself in his room every night of the full moon on the pretext of being sick, but he could not be reassured as he was nearly caught once in his adult appearance by Wei Jeokmyung. He wasn’t sure how long he could fool him.

Hyun opened the door and checked the small foobox on the floor. Inside were meat porridge, seasoned stir-fried vegetables, and pills wrapped in paper. The food was delivered by Hyang, a maid who works in the kitchen, and the medicine was packed and sent by Wei Jeokmyeong via the general manager.

Wei Jeokmyung did not know what kind of disease Hyun had, and each time after the night of the full moon, he made a pill to maintain Hyun’s body. Hyun, who could not bear to tell the truth, had his conscience pricked, but, thinking of his sincerity, chewed the pill diligently and swallowed it. He had been starving the whole time he was sick, and even the bitter pills tasted very sweet.

After a while, he left the room with the food box. He was thinking of bringing it to the kitchen.

The northwest main building was the largest and most magnificent among the other places of the Wei Estate. Hyun had already been working here for two years, but he still didn’t know every inch of this estate. He had heard that only people of the Wei family would have enough energy to cover every inch of this place, but he didn’t believe it.

Hyun tried to bow down to the masked man who guarded the door leading to the outside, but found blood in his uncovered eyes. Hyun frowned. It seems that this masked man was the victim who woke up Wei Jeokmyung from his sleep in place of Hyun today.

“Master will be leaving the palace soon. Where are you going?” Said the masked man while opening the door.

Every time they saw Hyun, they informed him of Wei Jeokmyung’s every move even if Hyun didn’t ask for it. At first, Hyun was puzzled by their actions, but now that it had become a daily routine, these notifications had become very familiar.

Hyun pointed at the food box in his other hand with his finger.

“Ah, you are going to the kitchen. Yes, I understand.”

Hyun bowed to him and exited the middle door.

Even in the pre-war period, the Wei family lived a modest and crude life compared to the size, fame, and wealth of the family. As a general, he focused only on his personal training ground, weapons, and magic, but only managed the landscaping of corridors, gardens, gardens, and ponds to the extent that he did not dislike it. The current view would not have been possible had it not been for the large-scale construction work of Princess Kiryo, the younger sister of the current emperor, when she got married to the Wei family.

Hyun was passing through the neatly maintained garden, and when he heard the voice of someone calling him, he hurried his steps.

“Hyun! Ah Hyun!”

He tried to ignore it by pretending he didn’t hear it, but the main character of the voice came first. Hyun frowned at the wretched hand that grabbed his shoulder as the other party hurriedly approached him.