YCHW Ch 7

He could not figure out whether he should affirm or deny. He did not want to reveal his destination, but at the same time, he was desperate for help. All he had were just a few maps and a compass, and with those, he could not make his way through easily. Moreover, he realized the reality that, at this rate, it would be impossible to arrive safely in Yehang.

He had planned and mulled over his escape for a considerable amount of time, but the reality he actually faced was not easy. Apart from the fact that his current situation was dire, choosing to have a companion was also a very risky choice. Of course, there was no guarantee that the man would help him, but…….

“That’s good. I was just feeling inconvenienced for not having brought someone to order around, so you can just follow me.”

“……Why should I do that?”

“Is there a reason you should not?”

The man, with quite a brazen demeanor, slowly scanned Yoonso from head to toe. Yoonso also followed his gaze and examined his own attire.

He had put his hair up as if he had gone through the coming of age ceremony and inserted a topknot pin, and had wiped off the powder, so he should look like a respectable and ordinary man without any suspicious signs. However, because he had taken and worn the most worn-out of Yeondeok’s clothes, anyone could guess his circumstances just by looking at him.

“The young lady I served has sent me away, so I am no longer a servant.”

“Anyone can be used as a servant if you pay them.”

The fact that the man intended to treat him as a servant as a matter of course was more of a relief than a displeasure. After all, being seen as a precious young master from some house would have been more unfortunate for him.

“But why are you traveling alone, Master?”

“I was waiting after coming up to the capital in a hurry because they said there was a precious item… but I came up empty and am on my way back.”

“Pardon my rudeness, but what kind of work do you do?”

“I am with a merchant guild.”

A merchant guild meant he was not an official or a member of the gentry, so he could relax his mind a little. It also made sense that his destination was Yehang, and it seemed he could receive more help than he had thought. However…….

“No matter how urgent it was, are you saying you came all alone like this?”

“I hate being late because of formalities. In this line of work, you often end up with nothing even if you hurry a great deal.”

“Without any luggage either?”

“I sent the luggage ahead.”

The man answered as if spitting out the words, then suddenly brought his fingers to his mouth and let out a long whistle. At the sudden action, Yoonso tensed his body and looked around nervously.

Before long, the sound of footsteps running this way was heard.

It was not the sound of human footsteps. It was the sound of horse hooves, the horseshoes striking the ground. Soon, a sturdy red horse that had galloped like an arrow revealed itself from between the trees. Yoonso, dumbfounded, looked back at the man.

“Suddenly a horse….”

“I sent it ahead so it would not get hurt when we encountered the band of thieves.”

The horse’s mane was glossy, as if it had been raised on good food. The man familiarly stroked the head of the horse that had approached.

“So, will you go?”

The man’s eyes as he looked back at Yoonso were indifferent. As if he had nothing to lose.

It was certainly he himself who was the one with something to lose. If he went with the man who had subdued six bandits by himself, he would at least be guaranteed safety. He would also be able to reduce the time wasted on the road, and if they traveled as a pair, it would be much easier to avoid suspicion if a pursuer was on their tail.

But could this strange man really be not dangerous? Would he not, on the contrary, lead him to a dead end?

He pondered it, but it was a problem for which it was difficult to find a clear answer in the first place. The only thing that was clear was that escaping the private residence was the only thing within his capabilities. Even that was close to a stroke of luck. The road ahead would be very arduous for him, who knew nothing of the world, to navigate alone.

“Before we go, may I ask for your name?”

The man raised one eyebrow as if he had heard an unexpected question.

“Hwi.”

“Hwi……. Which family’s Master Hwi are you?”

“Would you know if I said the Do family?”

Do Hwi. It was a family he had never heard of. Because his father had made him learn the families that held key positions in the capital or the border regions, he knew the surnames of the major gentry families even though he had not wanted to.

Then again, if he was not from the gentry, it was only natural that it would be a family he did not know. While feeling relieved, he shook his head, hiding his somehow sheepish expression, and the man asked.

“What’s your name?”

“I am… Jang, Deokyoon.”

In his haste to answer without a pause, he had ended up mixing his name with Yeondeok’s. He felt a pang of regret, but he comforted himself that it would be difficult to find a connection between the name Jang Deokyoon and the name So Yoonso.

He had only schemed for ways to escape from the private residence that had confined him, but he had not even thought of a pseudonym. From now on, he would have to keep the future in mind. The life of a commoner, not the second son of the So family and a promising Yeongchunhwa. As he thought that, his heart suddenly swelled with emotion.

He also quite liked the name he had come up with on the spot. Jang Yeondeok, Jang Deokyoon. Don’t they sound just like brothers? Remembering Yeondeok, whom he had no choice but to leave behind, Yoonso’s expression clouded over for a moment.

“For a servant, you’re quite picky. Are you satisfied now?”

“Uh… but Master, what do you trust about me to ask me to go with you?”

He himself was desperate for help, but in this harsh world where a bandit who appeared from nowhere could harm an innocent person, he wondered what he trusted about him to allow him to be his companion. He said he was with a merchant guild, but he did not seem to be a worker and was surely of high station; it would be troublesome if he knew less about the world than he did.

Hwi, who heard Yoonso’s question, let out a small laugh and lowered his head. At the man’s face coming closer, Yoonso flinched and took a step back.

“I am not trusting you. I am trusting myself.”

It was a sneer that had lingered for only a very short moment, but even that laugh made his face, which exuded an ice-cold aura, soften somewhat. Yoonso blinked at the afterimage of the quickly vanished sneer and then understood the meaning of his words.

Indeed, he was a man who had defeated six bandits without a single tear in his clothing. He could probably subdue one like him in an instant with the flick of a finger. That would be both his fortune and his misfortune. Hoping that it would only be his fortune, Yoonso bowed his head deeply.

“Then I will serve you until Yehang. I will strive to ensure you have no discomfort, so please look upon me favorably.”

“You’ll have to strive a lot. I’m just as picky as you are. Now, get on.”

“Are we both riding one horse? The horse will have a hard time if it carries two men….”

“You talk a lot for someone who doesn’t look like he weighs as much as a peck of rice.”

The gaze that scanned Yoonso’s body was quite rude. Yoonso bristled and threw his shoulders back.

“Despite my appearance, I am a man who can pull his own weight!”

“Who said you weren’t?”

His mocking expression was obvious at a glance, but perhaps because his sharp, cold impression had softened, it was not unpleasant. Yoonso ignored Hwi and approached the horse, then hesitated.

“I apologize, but I have never ridden a horse before….”

Perhaps because of his two previous escape attempts, his father had spared no expense in his education, from embroidery to archery, but he had forbidden horse riding. The reason was that there would be no occasion to ride a horse even after entering the palace, and for that reason, Yoonso had never even been near a horse.

“You’re a lot of trouble.”

Hwi let out a sigh, then suddenly grabbed Yoonso’s waist and lifted him up in a flash. Yoonso shrieked and flailed, and as soon as Hwi set him up on the saddle, he leaned forward as if to prostrate himself and hugged the horse’s neck. The proud horse, as if taking after its master, merely glanced at Yoonso and gave its head a light shake.

Soon, Hwi lightly mounted behind Yoonso. He grabbed the nape of Yoonso’s neck to sit him up and then took the reins. The posture of being embraced in the man’s arms was uncomfortable, so he straightened his back, but Hwi pressed down on Yoonso’s chest with one hand.

“Stay still. If you’re uncomfortable, this one gets uncomfortable too.”

Barely suppressing his body that had almost flinched at the sudden contact, Yoonso tried his best to relax his posture. The sensation of the man’s chest touching his back was distinct, making it awkward and uncomfortable, but it was unavoidable as his posture was now clearly stable.

Since it was his first time riding a horse, his heart pounded with a mixture of excitement and fear. Yoonso calmly felt the beating and then narrowed his brow at the tickling sensation in his lower abdomen. He had no idea why his guardian star was suddenly stirring. Could it be that yesterday’s incident had aftereffects…….

“Uht…!”

Hwi lightly kicked the red horse’s rump, and the horse shot forward. On top of the horse that was galloping furiously like a fish that had found water, Yoonso’s thoughts scattered in an instant. Yoonso swallowed a scream and an exclamation and gripped the edge of the saddle tightly.