By Zephyria 
124
“……”
Tae-muk froze at the unexpected answer. He never imagined that would be the reason.
He stared at Ho-eun with strange eyes. As he did, the words he had spoken in the alleyway earlier came flooding back to him.
‘You bastards!’
‘How dare you! Do you know who this person is!’
‘Come here at once, kneel, and beg for forgiveness!’
It was the first time he had seen Ho-eun raise his voice like that.
‘Just tear their heads off!’
It was also the first time he had seen Ho-eun be so cruel. He didn’t seem to be this angry even when he had insulted his father before.
“……”
Tae-muk was a little dumbfounded by his anger. He had never been angry at such words before. He didn’t even know he should be angry. He had lived a life where he had heard worse words countless times. And, childishly, no one had ever taken his side like this before.
Tae-muk looked at Ho-eun again. Ho-eun was frowning deeply, as if he was still angry, and his lips were tight. He looked as if he had been insulted himself.
Looking at his face, Tae-muk felt a strange fluttering in his chest. It felt like lying on a rowboat in the middle of a storm.
He felt lost, as if he had been shipwrecked in the vast ocean, and at the same time, he felt a strange anticipation, as if he was drifting towards an unknown place.
Tae-muk repeated Ho-eun’s words a few more times, then asked quietly.
“It’s okay for them to insult you?”
“……Me?”
Ho-eun’s eyes widened as if he had never heard of such a thing. Had they insulted him? When? As Ho-eun retraced the situation step by step, he soon recalled them slandering the relationship between him and Tae-muk, saying they would do this or that, give money or not. It was a word he had completely forgotten. Because it wasn’t important.
Ho-eun brushed the hair that had fallen forward behind his ear and muttered.
“Ah, I’ve heard those kinds of things… often…”
“……What?”
“My appearance is a little, well, not very masculine. I’m weak, small, and my skin is pale because I don’t see the light…”
Ho-eun continued to speak slowly with a dry face. Suddenly, Tae-muk jumped up. Ho-eun, who had been leaning on him, slid down, but Tae-muk grabbed him and placed him on his lap. Then he made eye contact with him.
“You’re a nobleman.”
In the somehow subdued atmosphere, Ho-eun straightened his back without realizing it and answered clearly.
“Yes, I am.”
“And there are guys who say that kind of thing? …How dare they?”
At those words, Ho-eun let out a faint smile before he could stop himself.
“What can’t they say behind my back? The people even insult His Majesty. They didn’t know I was listening.”
“……”
Tae-muk closed his mouth. He felt a sense of rebellion, but it wasn’t wrong. Yes. What can’t they say behind your back? In a world where they insult the king and the nobles. He had done the same. But…….
Tae-muk licked the inside of his cheek, thinking about something, and then asked again. There was a hint of anticipation in his eyes.
“So, did you cut off their wrists?”
But Ho-eun’s voice soared high.
“What? What crime is it to cut off someone’s wrist?”
He frowned as if the thought alone was disgusting. He pulled his chin in as if he was about to vomit. Tae-muk’s face also contorted.
“Why didn’t you cut them off?”
“Because I didn’t want to.”
“……”
“And even if I wanted to, there’s no way I could have. Dong-ja Noonim, Man-soo Hyung, Officer Oh, and you, General, weren’t by my side then.”
“……”
“Of course, Deok-woo was there, but he’s just big, he hates fighting, blood, and pain.”
In a world where Devouring Ghouls eat people, Deok-woo would be terrified and jump at the sight of a dead bird. He had even mistaken abandoned straw or clothing for an animal carcass and screamed so loudly that the whole neighborhood could hear him. Ho-eun chuckled as he recalled Deok-woo at the time.
“……”
Tae-muk stared at Ho-eun. Then, he clicked his tongue and thought.
He should have been by his side instead of that Deok-woo.
In the early dawn, before the sun had even risen, the Crimson Rain Brigade began to prepare to return to their base. The day was so cold that white breaths puffed out every time they breathed. Misty breaths also puffed out from between the teeth of the horses lined up in formation, but the place where the most breaths rose was none other than.
“Please don’t go, Young Master…”
“Can’t you stay a little longer?”
“You have to eat breakfast before you go. Just breakfast, just eat breakfast and go.”
It was from the crying girls. As their body temperatures rose, their breaths and sniffs rose like smoke from a chimney.
“……”
Ho-eun squatted down in front of them, biting his lip. His eyes were red with the sight of them crying so sadly, but as an adult and as a man, he couldn’t bring himself to shed tears, so he held back.
He took out a handkerchief from his pocket and carefully wiped away their tears, comforting them.
“We can meet again. If we’re alive, we’ll definitely meet again.”
“When will that be? When can we meet again?”
“Please set a date.”
“That’s right. What if we go to church or school without knowing you’re coming, Young Master? What if you just leave?”
“That’s…”
Ho-eun couldn’t easily continue. He could say next week, next month, next year, but he didn’t want to. Because it was a promise he couldn’t keep. But the girls would sincerely wait for him. And they would be disappointed and sad when he didn’t come.
After contemplating the answer for a long time, Ho-eun spoke in his unique gentle voice.
“In the future, when the Devouring Ghoul disappear, I’ll definitely come to see you then. I promise.”
It was a promise, but not a promise. The day the Devouring Ghoul disappeared. It was not only impossible to know when that would come, but it was also impossible to know if it would come at all. Still, he hoped the girls would be fooled. But the girls seemed to see through Ho-eun’s heart, and they began to cry even more sadly.
Then, Jeong-i, who had reddened the tip of her nose but never shed a tear, stepped forward.
“No. We’ll go see you then, Young Master. There’s no reason why we can’t go since there are no Devouring Ghoul.”
At those words, the girls suddenly raised their heads. They nodded their heads, each of them, and came forward like Jeong-i, surrounding Ho-eun.
“Yes, that’s right. We can go.”
“Please tell us where to go. We’ll definitely go.”
At those words, Ho-eun chuckled.
“Really? Okay, then I’ll tell you my address.”
Ho-eun told them his home address clearly. He didn’t even know the address of the Crimson Rain Brigade, so he told them the address of his main house for now.
Then, for a moment, he wondered where he would be living when the world without Devouring Ghoul came. At his house in Hanyang with his parents? Or with the Crimson Rain Brigade? Or somewhere else alone with Tae-muk? He stopped thinking.
Jeong-i and the girls put their heads together and repeated Ho-eun’s address over and over again. Jeong-woo, who was being held by Jeong-i, also muttered, “Hanyang, Hanyang…” as if he was trying to memorize something.
It was then.
“Young Master.”
Gil-sang, who had finished preparing to leave, called him from behind.
“Ah, yes!”
Ho-eun reluctantly got up and, with Gil-sang’s help, climbed onto his horse.
“Young Master…”
“Young Master…”
The girls with tearful faces hesitated and approached the horse. Their small faces were red with the cold morning air. Ho-eun gestured to them.
“It’s cold. You’ll catch a cold. Go inside.”
The girls nodded their heads, but they couldn’t take their feet off the ground. Ho-eun smiled faintly. It seemed like he had to leave first. Otherwise, the girls and Jeong-woo might freeze in that spot.
Just then, Byeonguk, who was standing in front of him, waved his hand and announced the departure. The Crimson Rain Brigade soldiers at the front began to move hesitantly, and soon the movement spread to Ho-eun. He could no longer delay the farewell.
“Don’t skip meals, and dress warmly. Okay?”
Ho-eun said the words he had already repeated more than ten times. Then, he finally said goodbye.
“Stay… well.”
Please stay well. You have to stay well. After pressing those feelings into three syllables, he waved his hand gently at the girls and Jeong-woo. The girls waved their hands in response, then began to cry even louder than before.
“Goodbye, Young Master!”
“Stay healthy, Young Master!”
They shouted like that and cried so loudly that the world seemed to be falling apart. But the sight of them diligently waving their hands was so pitiful and cute.
“……”
Ho-eun kept looking back at the girls as he moved forward in the formation. He craned his neck and even turned his upper body to keep looking at them.
Even though the distance was quite far, the girls stood on the street as if nailed to the ground, just crying. Jeong-i, who had been holding back her tears, was seen rubbing her eyes roughly with the back of her hand.