CNC 252

Special Side Story: Come Back To Its Original Owner  Episode 6

As Hong-seo recounted his situation to the young master, believing this to be his last place of refuge, someone shouted at him.

“Stop making excuses, you brat!”

“Who knows if it’s even true that you’ve starved for three days!”

The servants chimed in from all directions, their voices buzzing with agitation.

“Quiet.”

The young master’s voice, though not raised, possessed a power that silenced the commotion. He looked around at the servants and continued sharply.

“Where did you learn the habit of raising your voices in the presence of your master?”

Unlike his gentle tone until now, a chilling anger seeped through his voice.

“F-forgive us, Young Master.”

The once emboldened servants bowed their heads and retreated.

The young master commanded Hong-seo.

“Lift your head.”

“……”

“Now.”

Though he hesitantly lifted his head while still prostrate, he did not dare to meet the man’s eyes. He showed his face to the young master but kept his gaze cast downward.

“I hear you can read and write Hangeul?”

“Yes, My Lord!”

“Then can you write down exactly what I dictate?”

“O-of course! I will write a thousand, ten thousand words if you wish!”

Hong-seo prostrated himself again and again, pressing his forehead against the ground.

“It is better to keep him here under observation than to let him wander the village.”

No one dared to oppose the master’s will. The young master turned and instructed the steward.

“Take him to the small sarang-chae.”

As he turned, the hem of his dopo fluttered lightly. For a moment, a fragrance wafted from him.

It was a strange and mysterious scent, one Hong-seo had never heard of or smelled before. Without realizing it, Hong-seo lifted his head to look at the man’s retreating back, inhaling deeply to catch the lingering scent.

It was more intense than the smell of the meat that had been boiling in the cauldron.

It was a unique fragrance that symbolized a scene Read on Read BL Novelsin one’s life, [unauthorized copy]one that, unauthorized copyonce smelled, could never be forgotten until death.

■

As the steward directed, Hong-seo first had to wash his hands and face at the well. He was told that it was the young master’s policy that everyone in the household, regardless of whether they were a slave or a servant, must maintain a clean appearance.

Come to think of it, the servants who had surrounded Hong-seo earlier seemed to have clean faces and clothes, even if the garments were worn. Usually, servants of a noble house are inevitably shabby because a servant is, after all, just a servant, but the servants of this house looked radiant.

Tsk, tsk, tsk.

Looking at Hong-seo’s face, still dripping with water after washing, the steward clicked his tongue in pity.

“Now that you’re washed, you actually have a bright look to you.”

Then, he scanned Hong-seo’s attire.

“But what is this state of dress? I wonder if you’ve been rolling around in a muddy ditch.”

It had been over fifteen days since he fled from his previous residence. In that time, he unauthorized copyhad slept in crevices of unauthorized copyrocks and walked [stolen content]until his feet blistered, so his clothes had naturally become stained with various grime.

Ashamed of his jacket and trousers, which were frayed and torn in places, Hong-seo uselessly tugged at the hem of his clothes with his hand, as if he could cover something.

“It can’t be helped, so for now, let’s go see the Young Master as you are.”

“Yes, Elder.”

Bowing deeply, he followed the steward.

“I don’t know what kind of fate drifted you here, but consider it a blessing to have been rescued by our Young Master. In any other house, you would have been beaten until your buttocks burst.”

Was it just the beatings? Depending on the master’s temperament, he was in a position where he could be thrown in prison for stealing a single grain of rice. Realizing belatedly how dangerous his actions had been, Hong-seo wiped a cold sweat from his brow.

I really lost my mind. What was I thinking, touching someone else’s things… Even thinking about it again made him dizzy. It was a wicked act he had never committed in his entire life. Had he been that hungry and exhausted?

Following the steward with such thoughts, Hong-seo’s mouth fell open the moment he passed through the first gate and entered the sarang-chae.

The scale of the servants’ quarters had already given a sense of the prestige of a unauthorized copyfamily [unauthorized copy]that could easily employ over a hundred male and female servants each, but upon entering the sarang-chae, the servants’ quarters felt like a mere thatched cottage.

A family that had produced several high-ranking civil officials of the second senior rank or higher for generations.

He recalled the stories of the villagers who had bragged as if it were their own family, saying that the current Minister of Personnel was the Great Lord of this house.

The L-shaped tiled house was immense, appearing to be about eighty ja long from one end to the other.

At the right end, a raised pavilion floor stood higher than the main hall, and in front of it was a garden full of atmosphere, designed so that one could appreciate the seasons while sitting in the pavilion. Behind a beautifully curved old pine tree, apricot blossoms dyed in pale pink were in full bloom.

To think that a tiled house like a whale’s back was called a “small” sarang-chae…

Just stepping onto the high foundation made him feel as if he were looking down upon the whole world. The polished, gleaming floor of the main hall was so pristine that he felt apologetic even stepping on it with his dirty socks.

“What are you dawdling for? The Young Master is waiting!”

“Yes, yes, Elder.”

Urged by the steward, Hong-seo took off his shoes and, feeling completely [Read on Read BL Novels][visit our site]intimidated, scurried through the seemingly endless veranda.

At the end, the young master’s five-bay sarang-bang finally appeared.

Elegant stationery chests, an paulownia wood bookshelf with doors, and four-sided tables holding precious ornaments like ceramics or mother-of-pearl lacquerware were lined up on both sides. The room in front of the innermost chamber seemed to be used as a study, as books filled every place his eyes landed.

“Young Master, I have brought the boy.”

The steward reported politely.

The young master was sitting on a cushion behind a long, hanging screen.

The silhouette of a man who had removed his dopo and gat shimmered behind the screen.

“Let him in.”

It was not his first time entering a nobleman’s sarang-bang. As the steward pushed him forward, Hong-seo walked in with a polite demeanor and knelt before the screen. In front of the screen lay an inkstone with ground ink, a brush, and paper.

“I hear you refuse to disclose which village you are from.”

“I am sorry, My Lord.”

Hong-seo simply bowed his head.

“You must have your reasons.”

“……”

“You aren’t someone fleeing after committing robbery or murder, are you?”

“No, My Lord! I am absolutely not someone fleeing after committing a crime!”

“And yet, you stole and ate a chicken once you arrived in our village. How could anyone trust such a person?”

“Please believe me, My Lord. That was the first time in my life I have ever stolen!”

“How many days had you starved?”

“Three days… I had nothing but water.”

“Three days, indeed…”

The young master’s voice continued, sounding as if it had been slightly scratched, leaving an impression.

“When a person is starved to their limit, they are capable of anything.”

“……”

It was the first time a nobleman had considered his situation with such words. Not knowing how to respond, he merely blinked his eyes beneath his bowed head.

“So, how did the chicken taste?”

“Pardon? Yes… it was my first time eating a whole chicken by myself… it felt like a dream. It was tender and greasy, sliding down like water…”

From behind the screen, the young master unauthorized copyburst into [stolen content]laughter. Had he not actually been asking about the taste?

Thinking about it, it seemed unlikely that he would truly ask a thief about the taste of the stolen goods.

“I am sorry, My Lord! To be so brazen after stealing from another…”

“You simply answered the question I asked; what is there to be sorry for?”

His voice still carried a hint of laughter.

Even if it had been one of the house’s own slaves, they would have been beaten on a straw mat, yet he laughed it off when a complete stranger, a beggar passing by, stole a chicken intended for a young lady.

Strange. He was a truly strange master.

Hong-seo stole a glance upward at the young master. Although the screen was draped, he could make out the young master’s face through the gaps. With his gat removed, his features were revealed even more clearly.

Long, deep eyes, a straight and high bridge of the nose, and lips holding a smile. He was a beauty that made one’s eyes widen. In terms of appearance, he seemed only five or six years older than Hong-seo, but perhaps because their statuses were so different, his overwhelming and dignified aura made him feel more than ten years his senior.

Startled, as if he had glimpsed something he shouldn’t have, Hong-seo instinctively cast his eyes down again. Read on Read BL NovelsHis unauthorized copymouth went dry, and he licked his lips several times. His heart hammered violently.

“What is your name? You can disclose that, I presume.”

“It is Hong-seo.”

“Hong-seo.”

“Yes.”

As if savoring the taste of the name, the young master murmured it three or four times in his mouth. Then, he commanded.