By Zephyria 
32
“Hey, that’s not right. Even if he’s younger than us, he’s still a nobleman.”
The man shook his head, but his expression hinted at anticipation. Ho-eun nodded without hesitation.
“Yes. Please, make yourself comfortable.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
At Ho-eun’s affirmation, the woman and man looked at each other and giggled, as if thrilled by something. Ho-eun, who had been quietly watching them, carefully spoke.
“Um, I, I also have something to ask…”
“Yeah, what is it, what is it?”
“What are your names?”
“Names?”
Names, he says, names. What are names? Ugh, it’s just name, name. Ah, name. The woman and man repeated Ho-eun’s words, giggling again. Then, the woman smoothed her hair back with her palms, tidying it up, and grinned, revealing her teeth.
“I’m Dong-ja.”
The man scrubbed his face roughly with his hands, as if trying to stretch his nose.
“I’m Man-soo.”
Dong-ja and Man-soo. Ho-eun smiled faintly. Today, Chilbok, Dong-ja, and now Man-soo. He had learned the names of three people.
As Ho-eun repeated the two names in his mind, Dong-ja pointed at himself, then at Man-soo.
“I’m the God of War, and he’s my Bondmate.”
“Ah…”
Ho-eun nodded slightly. No wonder, they didn’t seem like ordinary comrades. The two were a little different from the God of War and Bondmate Ho-eun had imagined, but it didn’t feel strange. They seemed like close friends, or even family.
What was strange was his relationship with Tae-muk.
Ho-eun glanced at Tae-muk again. Tae-muk, having finished his meal, was already smoking another cigarette. The smoke he exhaled was truly thick and dense.
“I am Choi Ho-eun.”
Turning back to Dong-ja and Man-soo, Ho-eun clearly stated his name. At that, Dong-ja waved his hand.
“We know. Do you think we wouldn’t know the name, no, the title of the Commander’s Bondmate?”
Ho-eun smiled faintly at those words. But Dong-ja pulled his chin in and clicked his tongue.
“Tsk, tsk, look at your face. You’re going to crumble, crumble away. Young Master, you’ve lost so much weight in just a few days. Do you know that?”
“If you know that, would you steal his food, huh?”
“Ha, didn’t you eat it too? Did only I eat it? Huh?”
Dong-ja raised his spoon as if to hit Man-soo’s forehead. Man-soo hunched his neck and made a sound like, “Eek, eek.” The somewhat comical sight made Ho-eun slightly raise the corners of his lips, and Gil-sang said,
“I will ask Chilbok to brew some herbal medicine for Young Master.”
At that, Dong-ja, who had lowered his spoon, nodded vigorously.
“Yes, herbal medicine would be good. Herbal medicine. Even though Chilbok is young, he’s skilled and good at that kind of thing.”
When Chilbok’s name came up, Ho-eun pulled himself closer.
“How old is Chilbok?”
“He’s the youngest in our unit. Fifteen.”
“Fifteen…”
Ho-eun’s mouth opened slightly. Fifteen. He was younger than he had expected. He was about the same age as his second older brother’s son, his nephew. Thinking of it that way, he seemed even younger. How could such a child be on the battlefield, and in the most dangerous Crimson Rain Brigade at that?
Before long, Dong-ja and Man-soo had eaten all of Ho-eun’s bibimbap. Even after that, they smacked their lips as if it wasn’t enough.
Ho-eun, watching Man-soo scrape the rice grains stuck to the edge of the bowl, suddenly remembered something. He jumped up as if propelled and ran somewhere. Dong-ja, craning his neck, asked at the sudden action.
“Young Master! Where are you going?”
Man-soo and Gil-sang, who were sitting together, as well as Tae-muk, frowned and stared at Ho-eun’s sudden behavior.
“Just a moment, just a moment! I’ll be right back! Just a moment!”
Ho-eun shouted as he ran towards the horse, dodging the soldiers sitting in groups of three or five. Each time his feet hit the ground, the maple leaves piled up on the ground popped up and fell slowly.
“Haa, haa…”
Ho-eun, already out of breath from running, rummaged through the bag attached to the horse’s saddle. It should be here somewhere… Mother had packed it…
Soon, a palm-sized silk pouch appeared. It wasn’t large, but it was quite heavy. Ho-eun hugged it tightly to his chest and returned to the group.
“Haaa…”
Ho-eun, sitting next to Tae-muk again, took a long breath. His cheeks were flushed with heat. He roughly swept the Braided Hair that had fallen forward behind his ear and opened the pouch. Inside, there were sparkling things like silver coins, piled high.
Ho-eun took a handful and gave three or four to Dong-ja, Man-soo, and Gil-sang.
“What is this?”
“Isn’t it a silver coin?”
“Silver? Silver, you say?”
The three people turned the things they received back and forth, examining them. Something round and hard was wrapped in paper that was as shiny as silver. It was about two finger-lengths in size and thinner than a pinky finger, with a very unfamiliar appearance.
“It’s chocolate, a Western confection. No, I should say it’s more like candy…”
“Western confection? Young Master eats things like this?”
Dong-ja asked, meaning, ‘Do you eat such precious things?’, but Ho-eun took it as, ‘Are you eating something like this like a child?’ He lowered his gaze as if embarrassed.
“My, my parents still think I’m a child.”
“If they treat you like a child by buying you things like this, I’d welcome it with open arms, huh?”
Man-soo chuckled and threw the chocolate into his mouth without even unwrapping it. Seeing that, Ho-eun, horrified, stopped Dong-ja and Gil-sang, who were also about to put it in their mouths as is.
“Peel it! You’re supposed to peel it and eat it. Like this, you peel it like this.”
Ho-eun peeled Gil-sang’s chocolate. Finally, a jet-black kernel appeared. Seeing that, Man-soo spat out what was in his mouth.
“No wonder, it tasted sour like it was spoiled. I wondered what the taste was…”
Dong-ja teased him, calling him an idiot. Man-soo, sniffing his nose for no reason, belatedly put the peeled chocolate in his mouth. Dong-ja and Gil-sang also ate the chocolate. Soon, the brows of the three people relaxed. The corners of their eyes loosened, and their eyelashes fluttered.
“Heeya, it’s sweet… It’s sweet… It’s sweeter than the candy you bought in Hanyang, Man-soo, huh?”
“Wow, this, uh, it’s not snow, but it melts in my mouth, melts away.”
“It’s an incredibly… amazing taste…”
The three people sucked on the chocolate in their mouths with childlike innocence. Ho-eun, watching the three, smiled gently. Strangely, his heart felt warm. Ho-eun, who had been fiddling with the pouch, belatedly remembered Tae-muk. He grabbed a handful of chocolate and held it out to Tae-muk.
“Commander, please have some too.”
“Get rid of it.”
Tae-muk frowned and refused. But Ho-eun didn’t care and stuffed it deep into Tae-muk’s uniform pocket.
“Please have some.”
“….”
Tae-muk, at Ho-eun’s stubbornness, let out a hollow laugh. A mouthful of cigarette smoke was exhaled through his teeth. Ho-eun, regardless, took out the chocolate hanging from Tae-muk’s pocket and pressed it deeper.
The three people sitting across from them stretched their philtrums long and exchanged glances. Then, when Tae-muk glared at them, they averted their eyes as if nothing had happened.
“Shall I give some to the others?”
Ho-eun, with plenty of chocolate still left, asked Gil-sang. Gil-sang handed the pouch to a nearby group, telling them to take one each. He didn’t forget to tell them to peel the wrappers.
Before long, the pouch returned to Ho-eun. Really, everyone was so proper, taking only one each, so nearly half of it remained.
The soldiers, each with a chocolate in their mouths, bent their backs like rice stalks. It was funny how everyone, young and old, was sucking and raising their cheekbones, but it didn’t look bad.
At that moment, everyone forgot about the Devouring Ghouls and the battle, melting into the sweetness of the chocolate.
How long did that languid rest last? Tae-muk got up.
“If you’ve all eaten, let’s depart.”
Gil-sang quickly followed suit.
“Yes, let’s go.”
“Hey, the Commander says let’s go!”
At Dong-ja’s shout, the soldiers who had been sprawled out got up in an orderly fashion. Everyone gathered their weapons and packed their belongings. Tae-muk rechecked the map.
Ho-eun, who had been hesitating behind Tae-muk, cautiously took a step back, watching him. Then, he went down, against the flow of soldiers. In the distance, he saw Chilbok, who was placing a pot on a pile of luggage.
“Chilbok! Chilbok!”
“Young Master?”
Chilbok looked at Ho-eun with a puzzled expression, and Ho-eun took him between the trees. Then, he handed him the pouch of chocolate he had been carrying.
“Eat this.”
“Oh, I received some too.”
Chilbok showed the chocolate he had taken out of the pouch with an innocent face. The round chocolate was a half-moon shape. It was because Chilbok had taken only one bite and wrapped it back up.
“Eat that too, and eat this too.”
Ho-eun forced the pouch into Chilbok’s hand. Chilbok’s eyes widened as if they would pop out.
“All, all of this?”
“Yes.”
“All by myself?”
“Yes.”
“…Why?”
“Because I’m grateful, because I’m grateful.”
Ho-eun smiled brightly. The ‘sticking close operation’ was all thanks to Chilbok. Thanks to him, he was able to get a little closer to Tae-muk. Of course, all they did was eat one meal together, but even that couldn’t really be called eating together, but anyway, it was a huge development. It was enough that Tae-muk didn’t shove the bibimbap down his throat.
Ho-eun saw the future in that development and was able to have hope.