TYMIR Ch 10

“That child seems to have taken quite a liking to you.”

Even with his head bowed, the persistent gaze pouring down on the crown of his head made his body stiffen automatically. Nevertheless, he couldn’t hide the faint blush spreading across his face.

“Are you going to Master Choi’s residence?”

“Yes, then I shall take my leave now.”

Hyowon quickly rose to his feet and retreated as if walking backward. Madam Han stared intently at his form. Until the small body crossed the threshold.

“My lady, what is the matter?”

“Bring that boy named Makgae to me.”

Finding this very strange, Yeonim approached and asked while gently massaging her shoulders, and Madam Han’s eyes glinted.

“Makgae? Why are you looking for him?”

As the dull question continued, Madam Han’s gentle eyes creased slightly.

“Oh, no, it’s nothing. I will bring him, my lady.”

🎐⋆｡🍥

“He’s just a skinny little boy, how very strange.”

While waiting in front of the inner quarters for Hyowon to come out, he felt an overt stare. He thought he had grown quite used to the gazes that followed him since entering this house. But it was so persistent it felt like his skin would burn. At this, Yoonyi slightly lifted his head and met her eyes.

“……It’s nothing.”

As Yoonyi looked at the maidservant standing before him, she shook her head from side to side. It was then. Through the open paper-screen door, Hyowon could be seen, his face pale.

“Young Master!”

His rice-grain-sized face was so white and drained, it was pitiful. Yoonyi quickly approached and took his hand. As warmth coiled around the cold palm, Hyowon finally let out the breath he had been holding.

“Yoonyi.”

Only then did Hyowon awkwardly curl the corners of his mouth into a slight smile. The maidservant, watching this, couldn’t take her eyes off them as if witnessing a very strange sight.

“Are you feeling a bit better now?”

“Of course, let’s go. We’ll be late for the teacher’s house.”

As if fleeing, his short legs picked up speed, getting faster and faster.

“Y-Young Master, you’ll fall if you do that.”

His running steps only calmed down after he passed the main gate. Puffs of white steam continuously billowed from his slightly parted lips.

“The weather is so cold, why did you run so hard?”

Yoonyi gently bent his knees and carefully wiped away the transparent beads of sweat that had formed on Hyowon’s round forehead.

“That is…… I find Mother a little uncomfortable.”

With his gaze fixed on the ground and fiddling with his hands, Hyowon managed to form the words.

“……The Madam?”

Hyowon’s eyes drooped like a puppy soaked in the rain, and he nodded powerlessly. Suddenly, Yeonggil’s wife’s words from the servants’ quarters, warning him to be careful and avoid the inner quarters as much as possible, seemed to ring in his ears like a hallucination. The trembling of the small, still-clenched fist had not stopped.

“Let’s go, Young Master.”

Yoonyi firmly grasped the trembling hand and quickened his pace. The still-overcast sky was so hazy it looked as if it would spew out snowflakes at any moment.

“Oh, by the way, I don’t know the way yet……”

“I know the way, so don’t you worry, Yoonyi.”

As if he had forgotten to ask, he added the words belatedly, and only then did the corners of Hyowon’s eyes curve slightly.

“Then I shall just follow you, Young Master.”

As if those words were so pleasing, his previously gloomy complexion cleared up as if it had never been cloudy. Red flower petals, cast as shadows below the stone wall, scattered pitifully in the midwinter wind.

“But, that flower is……”

“Do you know of it?”

It looked strangely familiar. When Yoonyi couldn’t tear his eyes away, Hyowon asked suggestively.

“It just seems familiar for some reason.”

“It’s a red plum blossom.”

“Red plum blossom……”

Yoonyi slowly repeated the words like an echo. Red petals shimmered on his jet-black pupils. Hyowon, who was blankly staring at his form, felt a slight heat rise below his ears.

“L-let’s go.”

Hyowon, who had been quickly shaking his head, abruptly walked ahead. The nape of his neck, peeking out from under his winter hat, was reddish.

Despite the biting cold, the marketplace was bustling with people. As they walked, looking at the people and the stalls, a cozy tiled-roof house surrounded by a low wall came into view in the distance.

“There it is!”

Hyowon, with a faint smile, shot up a short finger.

“Young Master, it’s still slippery.”

“It’s fine, it’s fine.”

His steps grew faster. Yoonyi, who was following quietly behind, reached out his hand as if to stop him.

“Is Dolseok there?”

Hyowon, who had run to the gate in a flash, quickly called out.

“Who is it?”

Not long after, the wooden gate creaked open with a disinterested tone. A man with a somewhat grumpy-looking face suddenly appeared through the gap.

“Aigoo, Young Master, you’ve arrived.”

Upon seeing Hyowon, he immediately broke into a smile and quickly opened the gate for him. Then he glanced back slightly and tilted his head.

“Young Master, who is this child?”

“He is my new personal servant.”

Standing close beside Yoonyi, Hyowon murmured, his eyes curving softly.

“A personal servant? What about that boy Makgae?”

At that, Dolseok repeatedly rubbed his eyes and asked again.

“Don’t even bring that boy’s name up.”

As if he didn’t want to talk any further, Hyowon quickly ran into the inner courtyard. At this, Yoonyi also bowed his head slightly and followed him inside. The quiet courtyard was lightly covered in white snow. Opposite it stood a cozy main building.

“Yoonyi, I’ll be right back.”

Hyowon familiarly crossed the courtyard, took off his shoes on the stepping stone, and went up.

“Yes, Young Master. I will wait here.”

But for some reason, Hyowon couldn’t enter right away and hesitated sluggishly. As if his heels were stuck to the wooden floor. Dolseok stared at this strange scene for a long time before finally turning away.

“Young Master, are you uncomfortable somewhere?”

“Hold this for a moment.”

As worried eyes drew close, Hyowon quickly took off his winter hat and popped it onto Yoonyi’s head.

“Pardon?”

The soft winter hat, with its added warmth, was incredibly cozy. And so, Yoonyi’s eyes grew as wide as lanterns as he stared blankly at Hyowon.

“If you lose it, you’ll be in big trouble.”

When Yoonyi tried to take it off, Hyowon shook his head firmly. Then, with a fumbling hand, he even wrapped the sable fur scarf from his own neck around Yoonyi’s slender one.

“I’ll be right back.”

Hyowon, who had been staring at his form, finally disappeared into the study with a satisfied face, as swift as an arrow.

“Y-Young Master…!”

Flustered, Yoonyi quickly reached out his hand, but he was so fast, like a squirrel, that he couldn’t catch him. His hand, which had been fumbling in the air, touched the scarf. The scarf, still full of the child’s body heat, was piping hot.

🎐⋆｡🍥

“Yoonyi!”

How much time had passed? Along with the warm air flowing from inside, Hyowon’s voice tickled his skin.

“So you are the new servant boy I heard about.”

A low voice followed. At this, Yoonyi instinctively turned his body and bowed his head.

“It’s alright, let me see your face.”

At the voice that came again, Yoonyi cautiously lifted his face. Master Choi, whom he was meeting for the first time, had gently curved eyes and looked very mild and warm.

“I hear you bravely protected Hyowon? Hyowon was boasting so much about it that I came out of curiosity.”

“T-teacher!”

As Master Choi, standing on the wooden porch, handsomely lifted the corners of his mouth and glanced down at Hyowon, the pebble-like round face flushed beet red as if it would burst.

“……The Young Master did?”

Yoonyi still blinked blankly, as if he couldn’t believe what he had just heard.

“It’s not easy to willingly step forward in front of a large beast. Truly commendable.”

“It was nothing. Compared to the grace the Young Master has shown me, it was a trivial matter.”

It seemed he had talked about what happened on the mountain. He had been more afraid of Hyowon getting hurt than of the threatening beast. Even if the same thing were to happen again, his heart to protect Hyowon would not change. In the first place, if it weren’t for him, he would no longer be of this world.

“Although there is a distinction between high and low birth, it is very good to see such a genuinely caring attitude.”

Master Choi looked back and forth between Yoonyi and Hyowon with a satisfied face.

“……T-teacher.”

Embarrassed, Hyowon made a half-crying face and let out a weak voice.

“Alright, I’ll stop.”

A hearty laugh echoed around the eaves. Master Choi, who had been looking at his disciple with flushed cheeks with a loving gaze, slowly turned his back. At this, Hyowon quickly bowed his waist, and Yoonyi followed suit.

“Are you leaving now?”

“Yes, Okgum. See you tomorrow.”

“Go safely, Young Master.”

Hyowon waved his hands in the air with a relieved face. That innocent smile made him seem a little like a child. Yoonyi diligently followed, carrying a bundle of books.

“I should have gotten an oil-paper umbrella. I’m sorry, Young Master.”

Before they even turned a corner after leaving the main gate, the lightly fluttering snowflakes grew thicker and piled up softly on his small shoulders. Yoonyi made a canopy with the bundle of books he was holding and gently bit his lower lip.

“That… don’t get the wrong idea. The reason I told the teacher about you wasn’t for any other reason but……”

Glancing furtively, Hyowon’s voice broke off intermittently. His already flushed cheeks turned an even deeper shade of red from the lashing of the angry wind, as if flower petals had been crushed upon them.

“Yes, Young Master.”

Finding even his anxious state to be just lovely, Yoonyi smiled broadly and gently lowered the fern-like hand that was rubbing the tip of its nose, then softly stroked the flushed skin.

“……Yoonyi?”

“Let’s go quickly, the weather is cold.”

The gentle eyes widened into circles. Hyowon forgot to breathe and for a long while, held the person standing before him in his gaze. A slightly cool hand overlapped onto his own, which was frozen stiff.