By Zephyria 
63
Two days ago, Ho-eun, who had regained consciousness, remained confined to his bed. His strained body was not recovering easily. He slept, woke up to eat, and slept again. And throughout those two days, Tae-muk stayed by his side. Though not certain, he was likely right, as Tae-muk was always there when he opened his eyes.
Today, he finally felt well enough to venture outside. Between being tormented by Tae-muk and being ill, he hadn’t had a chance to explore the encampment despite being in the middle of it. He wondered if Gil-sang, Dong-ja, and Man-soo were doing well. He also wanted to meet the other soldiers of the Crimson Rain Brigade.
“……”
Ho-eun took a nervous breath and checked his attire again.
He had to look presentable. First impressions were important. So, he chose a green Dapho that was neither too dark nor too bright. It had a subtle sheen and silver embroidery at the edges. But wearing just that might make him look too proper, so he wore a pink Dopo underneath.
Ho-eun spent a long time grooming himself before finally standing in front of the entrance to the military tent.
“……”
The heavy, drooping fabric moved slowly. Light seeped in flatly from below. He could hear the noise from outside and feel a subtle chill.
“Hoo…”
Ho-eun took a deep breath, his shoulders rising high, and then lifted the fabric. At the same time, a flood of bright sunlight poured in. Having relied only on oil lamps and lanterns inside the tent, the sunlight felt intensely bright.
Ho-eun squinted for a moment. Then, he managed to open his eyes.
“Ah…”
He couldn’t help but exclaim in admiration.
Since leaving the capital, Ho-eun had endlessly pondered and imagined the space of the ‘encampment.’ Dozens of tents spread out on a flat field, with about a hundred soldiers like Gil-sang and Dong-ja gathered there.
But his imagination had been crude, he realized.
Before Ho-eun’s eyes… there were nearly a thousand soldiers.
He couldn’t count them one by one, but judging by the endless rows of tents, there might have been even more. And each tent was so enormous that he felt like he had entered another world, where houses were built of fabric instead of bricks.
At the top of the tents, the Crimson Rain Brigade’s red flags and the Taegeukgi fluttered alternately, a magnificent sight as they all waved in the same direction with the wind.
“……”
Ho-eun slightly hunched his shoulders. The overwhelming scenery made goosebumps rise not only on his spine but also on his cheeks.
Tae-muk led all these people, this massive unit. He had known all along that he was an amazing person, but today that fact struck him with particular clarity.
Ho-eun, who had been lost in thought for a moment, moved his foot to the left. But he couldn’t take even one step before turning back. Then he moved to the right again, but that too didn’t last more than one step.
“What should I do…”
He wanted to look around, but he didn’t know where to go. He was afraid that if he moved rashly, he might end up in a place where he shouldn’t be. Should he look for Tae-muk first? Just as he was looking around, “Doryeonnim!”
A youthful voice called out to him. Ho-eun turned his head in that direction. Soon, a bright smile bloomed on his face.
“Chilbok-ah!”
Chilbok was standing between the tents. Ho-eun ran towards him in one stride. His slender body swayed precariously. The flowing lines of his beautiful Hanbok fluttered like a butterfly, making him look even more fragile. Surprised, Chilbok came to meet him with an anxious face, saying, “Oh, oh, don’t run, you’ll fall!”
“Are you feeling alright?”
“Yeah. I feel light. It’s thanks to you.”
Ho-eun raised himself up on his tiptoes and then back down, showing that his body was fine.
“Thanks to me… What did I do…”
Chilbok scratched the back of his head and avoided his gaze.
“You made delicious food. That’s why I recovered so quickly.”
Ho-eun had eaten a lot of food since the Baeksook. Each dish was not only precious but also full of care. Although his stomach was small and he never scraped the bowl clean, he was able to regain his strength thanks to it.
“N-no, it’s nothing special. I didn’t make the food all by myself…”
Chilbok, still avoiding his gaze, rubbed the tip of his nose roughly with the back of his hand. He rubbed it so hard that his nose turned as red as a raspberry. Ho-eun chuckled softly at the sight.
“Where are you going?”
“Ah, I’m going to the food storage to get salt.”
“Storage? There’s a storage here?”
“Yes, there is. There’s also an armory, an ammunition depot, and a supply depot.”
Chilbok rattled off the types of storage. Ho-eun made an ‘ooh’ sound, rounding his lips. It was fascinating. Of course, his own house had several buildings used as storage, but it was still fascinating that there were such things here.
“Can I come with you?”
Ho-eun subtly moved closer to Chilbok’s side. At that, Chilbok’s eyes widened.
“Why? Do you need something? I’ll bring it to you.”
“No, I don’t need anything. I was just thinking of following you around and looking around. I’m afraid I’ll get lost if I go alone…”
“…Looking around? Is there anything to see here?”
Chilbok looked around. But he couldn’t find anything special. It was a familiar sight to him, so it was only natural. But to Ho-eun, this place was another world.
“There’s a lot to see.”
“What?”
“Everything. All of it.”
Ho-eun’s eyes sparkled.
Ho-eun toured the encampment step by step with Chilbok. The tents were slightly different in size and shape, and according to Chilbok, it depended on the rank. Naturally, Tae-muk’s tent was the largest and thickest, he said.
There were also spaces made of wood or straw instead of fabric, and those were the storages that Chilbok had mentioned. The storage included an armory for storing Guns, swords, spears, bows, etc., an ammunition depot for storing ammunition, and a supply depot for storing military uniforms and other necessities.
Finally, they looked around the food storage, which stored rice, Jeotgal, kimchi, dried meat, etc., and the security was as strict as the armory. Near the food storage, there was also a pen with dozens of pigs and chickens gathered.
Ho-eun diligently wandered around the encampment, not even noticing that his legs were aching. He met a lot of Crimson Rain Brigade soldiers, and they all looked at Ho-eun with curiosity. They whispered and gossiped among themselves.
Who is that nobleman, why is a nobleman here, is he the Commander’s Bondmate, ah, so that’s him, the same words were repeated over and over.
Ho-eun also looked at them with curiosity. It would have been rude if one side had stared, but since it was mutual, it wasn’t particularly uncomfortable.
When he had encountered about a hundred soldiers in passing, Ho-eun felt something.
“Chilbok-ah. The way everyone looks at me seems somehow warm, is it just my imagination?”
The soldiers kept smiling at Ho-eun. If they made eye contact, they would bow or wave. It was a very different reaction from the one they had shown when he first encountered the Crimson Rain Brigade soldiers at the Korean restaurant in the hotel. Back then, he had heard very unpleasant things about wearing diapers.
Just then, a soldier greeted him again, and Ho-eun smiled awkwardly and bowed slightly. Chilbok replied.
“It’s because of the rumors.”
“Rumors? What rumors?”
“The rumor that Doryeonnim is not like a nobleman.”
Instantly, Ho-eun’s face turned pale.
“…There’s a rumor like that?”
It felt like there was a hole in his chest. After all, being told that you are not like a nobleman was a very big criticism for a nobleman.
Acting rashly, unlike a nobleman.
Not behaving properly, unlike a nobleman.
Being rude, or weak, or useless, unlike a nobleman, and so on.
“W-what kind of rumor is it?”
Ho-eun asked with an anxious face, and Chilbok replied.
“When Gil-sang Hyungnim was injured, you cried because you were sorry.”
It was an unexpected answer, but it was still a sufficiently embarrassing answer.
“That’s what they’re saying?”
“Yes.”
“I, I didn’t cry…”
Ho-eun remembered crying when Gil-sang was injured in the valley, but he pretended not to know. He didn’t want to admit it. Crying was not a manly thing to do. Ho-eun rubbed his eyes with the side of his hand for no reason, and Chilbok continued.
“Also, you speak formally to Dong-ja Noonim and Man-soo Hyungnim, but you tell them to treat you casually.”
“Yeah, I did.”
It was only natural since they were higher in rank and older than him.
“And you shared your precious chocolate.”
Chilbok said that and squeezed his pants pocket, then let go. The pocket bulged out.
“Oh, well, that’s…”
“You even gave Bibimbap to Dong-ja Noonim.”
Around that point, Ho-eun felt something strange.
“That’s what they’re saying?”
Ho-eun scratched his cheek. What was there to say about that? He was relieved that it wasn’t a scandal, but at the same time, it was so trivial that he felt deflated. And he couldn’t understand why that was a reason for not being like a nobleman.
“The rumor is that Doryeonnim is a good person.”
“A good person…”
“Most of all, the Commander has gotten a lot better thanks to Doryeonnim.”
At that, a small flash of light flew and struck Ho-eun’s eyes.