YCHW Ch 2

Born as the second son of a Sadaebu family, Yoonso, who was six years younger than his older brother Wongyeong, was the baby of the family and received an abundance of affection.

Wongyeong had already passed the chosi and was awaiting the next examination, shouldering the expectations of the entire household. In contrast, Yoonso had no interest in a government post and, thanks to his righteous older brother, was able to dream of a free life.

Yoonso considered all of this a blessing and strived to be grateful and humble. He firmly resolved that once he was old enough to pack his own travel gear, he would journey to every corner of the country, documenting the lives of people regardless of gender, age, or social status, and publish a good book.

“Let’s go over there first.”

Having come out without eating his evening meal, Yoonso was just starting to feel hungry when he spotted a sijeon selling jeonggwa and began to walk toward it. In that moment, his vision blurred, and the figures passing before him seemed to multiply into two or three, then a wave of hyeonhun washed over him.

“Ah……”

“Young Master?”

As Yoonso staggered, unable to properly plant his feet on the ground, Yeondeok hastily caught him. He knew Yeondeok was tilting his head to check his complexion, but he had no time to worry about it due to the unpleasant sensation that followed. His heart began to pound, a spot deep in his stomach grew sluggishly warm, and soon it churned as if something like an insect were Hwi-ing inside.

“I, feel strange……”

“Young Master, Young Master! Are you alright?”

Since it was a street crowded with people, his siwi quickly shielded Yoonso’s body. Yoonso squeezed his eyes shut and then opened them, shaking his head to try and clear his mind, but his symptoms did not improve in the slightest. A sudden fear gripped him, and tears welled up in his eyes. Even so, he did not want to return home just like this, so he was forcing strength into his heels.

Suddenly, a certain scent brushed past the tip of his nose.

At the same time, his dizzy and blurry vision gradually became clear. The grip of Yeondeok’s hand, holding Yoonso’s arm, tightened. He was a boy with a firm grasp, so it hurt quite a bit, but Yoonso was grateful, thinking how much he was being cared for. Finally regaining some of his strength, Yoonso let out a sigh and began to speak.

“I’m alrigh……”

However, upon seeing Yeondeok’s face, which had frozen stark white, Yoonso could not finish his sentence. Just as he was about to chide him for making such a fuss over a brief dizzy spell, goosebumps suddenly broke out all over his body, the fine hairs on his skin standing on end.

Strangely, it was excessively quiet.

How could a marketplace, where people had gathered like clouds, be as silent as if a mouse had died? As soon as Yoonso slowly turned his gaze, he met their eyes.

The eyes of a woman, the eyes of a man, the eyes of a child, the eyes of an old person, the eyes of a beggar, the eyes of a performer, the eyes of a merchant…….

Everyone’s gaze was fixed on Yoonso. As he trembled, not knowing the Yeongmun of this nightmarish moment, Yoonso felt something other than their stares.

A fragrance that filled the marketplace. That fresh scent he had smelled a moment ago hung at the tip of his nose, laid out like a thick fog. And that fragrance was flowing out from his own body, as if gushing from a spring.

He did not know what had happened. He did not know what he should do, and stood there blankly in a state of bewilderment for a long while, when a man came running, literally as if flying, and paid his respects. On the blackish-blue band wrapped around the man’s head, a silver dragon with three claws was embroidered.

He could guess that the man was a Yongrin, but he could not clearly grasp why he had appeared before him, or why he had been escorted with such reverence and sent back to his private residence. It was only after returning home and hearing the Yongrin speak to his parents that he barely managed to find a clue, but that too was incomprehensible.

I’m a Yeongchunhwa……?

To be the Yeongchunhwa that appeared in the collection of folktales he had read before going out to the night market, he simply could not believe it.

The existence of the Yeongchunhwa was not unfamiliar. The relationship between the Yongrin and the Yeongchunhwa had always drawn the interest and attention of many, and was often used as a subject not only for books but also for chang, operas, and the like.

But they were beings who existed only in such places. Beings who lived without revealing themselves inside the imperial palace. Beings who, when the time came, would head to the gates of hell to save this country. Beings who, despite being real and alive, were like paper dolls that only seemed to leap about within the pages of a book.

“Young Master, please do not worry too much. Everything will be alright.”

At Yeondeok’s words, Yoonso turned his dazed gaze, which had been wavering somewhere, to him. The face of Yeondeok, who was comforting him, was strangely pale itself.

Yoonso recalled the faces of his father, mother, and older brother he had seen just a short while ago. Awkwardly stiffened faces. Trembling eyes and twitching fingertips. Expressions that seemed to say they did not know whether they should be happy or not.

Seeing even his family, whom he loved and relied upon, wear such faces, he truly had no idea how things were unfolding. Suppressing the tears that threatened to well up, Yoonso just fidgeted with his fingers, then squeezed his eyes shut and prayed.

Dragon God, Dragon God. I am just an ordinary child. The only thing I am good at is reading books a little quickly. So please do not make me a Yeongchunhwa. I know that a Yeongchunhwa has to go to the palace. I do not want to be separated from my family. I have to grow up and travel all over the world to write a travel journal. Dragon God, if you are watching, please have mercy on me…….

His prayer could not be completed because of the sound of a door opening. The person who opened the door after a long wait was Yoonso’s father, Sobaeguk.

“Father……!”

“Let us go quickly, quickly.”

Sobaeguk, with a somewhat flushed and urgent demeanor, grabbed Yoonso’s arm and started walking. The spot gripped by the forceful hand hurt, but Yoonso could not even whine and only watched his father’s expression.

When they went outside, the atmosphere was unsettled for some reason. The household servants stood around awkwardly, wearing expressions similar to his father’s, and strangers who were not part of the household were visible here and there. Furthermore, the front of the main building, which they had reached, was being guarded by warriors wearing swords.

A sudden fear set in, and he grabbed and pulled on his father’s hand, but his father paid it no mind and led Yoonso inside.

It was an outer chamber where only very important guests were occasionally received, a place Yoonso had never even set foot in. Amidst his fear, curiosity arose, and Yoonso eagerly turned his head to take in the paintings and ceramics decorating the room.

“Here, sit here.”

Sobaeguk sat Yoonso down in front of a palseonsang.

In the very center of the palseonsang, a screen was hung, making the other side invisible, but the shadow of a person could be faintly seen beyond the screen. And surrounding him were warriors with swords.

Judging by the thickness of the shadow’s lines, it was a man, but he did not seem to be a fully grown adult. He wondered who on earth this person was to cause such a commotion, and his lips pouted at the fact that no one was giving him any explanation. As he tried to glare at the person beyond the screen out of spite, Sobaeguk pressed down on Yoonso’s head, forcing him to bow it.

A heavy silence descended upon the outer chamber.

Soon, a hand quietly emerged from beneath the screen. It was quite large and fine, but the calluses embedded in the fingers and palm were noticeable. As he was looking at it quietly, Sobaeguk gave a slight gesture with his hand. Yoonso, gauging the situation, placed his hand on top of the faceless person’s hand.

As soon as their skin touched, Yoonso flinched. The person’s hand was cold, even though it was not a cold winter. Could he be in poor health? Out of a sense of pity, he unconsciously curled his fingertips and held the person’s hand, and this time, the person showed a sign of hesitation. Soon, the person bent his fingers and clasped Yoonso’s hand in return.

As he sat still, holding the hand of an unknown man, he became extremely curious and anxious about the person’s identity. In the hopes of getting a slightly better look, he was narrowing his eyes toward the screen when Yoonso shifted his bottom due to a strange sensation that traveled up his skin.

He instinctively tried to pull his hand back, but the person held him even tighter, as if he would not let him go.

“Ah, Father……”

Something was scanning his insides. If asked what that something was, he could not offer any answer, but it was truly happening. Yoonso hunched his shoulders tightly and asked his father for help, but Sobaeguk only watched their clasped hands with glinting eyes.

Today was a special birthday, but he had not even gotten to enjoy the night market and had experienced a sudden incident, leaving him dazed, and now even his father was not helping him, so tears welled up. The man was still scanning him. Not that he felt any strange sensations; it was merely a feeling as if air were floating inside his body.

He could tell that whatever was being done was harmless, but he could not just accept it positively. As he bit his lower lip hard with his small teeth and blinked his eyes rapidly, the person finally withdrew his hand.

As silence once again filled the outer chamber, every second felt like three years.

By the time his tears had dried, the person beyond the screen stood up from his seat. Just as Yoonso lifted his head to confirm his identity, Sobaeguk knelt on one knee and pressed Yoonso’s head down.

All he could see was a pair of silk shoes passing by the palseonsang. Yoonso followed those shoes with his eyes until the very end, but he could not find out any information about the man.

“Wait here quietly.”

Soon, Sobaeguk stood up and left the room with the men who had been standing guard.

Yoonso was a son who knew how to be filial, but he was not a child so meek as to obey his parents’ words to the letter. He tiptoed carefully to the doorway and slightly opened the closed door, seeing his father standing outside. He pressed his ear tightly to the crack in the door and focused on the sounds coming from outside.

“How is he?”

“He is of the right material. It is still early, but it is my humble opinion that you should prepare for the future.”

“……Of the right material!”

The right material? What kind of material?

Yoonso strained to hear more, but their conversation ended there, and at the sound of his father returning, he hurried back into the guest room.

He tried to act composed, but he could not completely erase his anxiety and was shaking his leg restlessly when he lifted his head. His father was smiling from ear to ear, his eyes glittering.

“My son. You are now the future of our family.”

Yoonso’s eyes widened in bewilderment. His father had always told his older brother, Wongyeong, that he was the future of the family, so he could not understand why he was now saying that to him.

“You there. Take Yoonso to the inner quarters.”

Yeondeok, who had been loitering outside, rushed over and led Yoonso toward the inner quarters. Even as they passed the rear garden and entered the inner quarters, Yoonso could not comprehend what was happening to him.

“From now on, Yoonso will live here. He is not to go outside carelessly, and you all must guard and serve him well. Do you understand?”

“Yes!”

While the servants tidied up the inner quarters in perfect order and the doors of the space that imprisoned Yoonso closed one after another, Yoonso, unable to fathom the lifelong misfortune that had befallen him, could only stare blankly at Yeondeok’s bewildered face.

The day the youngest Yeongchunhwa in Daeyeong sprouted. On his eighth birthday, the day he had taken the first step toward his dream. So Yoonso’s life had thus tumbled down an unwanted path, so easily and emptily.