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Special Side Story: Come Back To Its Original Owner Episode 12

“I am certain!”

Forgetting both fear and hesitation, he looked straight into the man’s eyes. He was driven solely by the desire to convey just how wonderful the man was.

“The most wonderful person I have ever seen is you, my Lord.”

“Wonderful, is it…”

Hae-sung rolled the word around in his mouth before asking again with a lonely expression.

“Do you like me because I am wonderful?”

“Yes. You are someone I can sincerely look up to.”

Hae-sung, who had propped one knee up and rested his arm upon it, leaned his temple on his hand and gave a faint smile.

“I wonder if I should be happy or if I should weep.”

Hong-seo’s heart raced under the gaze of that tilted face. It wasn’t that he was afraid of his Lord, so why was his heart pounding so? Was it because of the alcohol?

The racing of his heart likely gave him [Read on Read BL Novels]more [stolen content][visit our site]courage than usual. Looking down at his right wrist, which was still being held, he spoke as if possessed.

“My Lord. There is something I wish to ask you as well.”

“Something you wish to ask me?”

Far from rebuking him for being presumptuous, Hae-sung’s tone welcomed the question. Hong-seo nodded.

“Very well, what is it you wish to know about me?”

“I am curious… why you sometimes look so sad.”

Releasing the hand that had been supporting his temple, Hae-sung tilted his liquor cup.

“Do I look sad sometimes?”

A nod.

“Especially today… it was more so after your friend left. You skipped dinner, and even now… you haven’t touched the side dishes…”

“I see you are worried that I am skipping meals.”

To Hae-sung, missing a single meal might have been nothing, but it wasn’t for Hong-seo. For his entire life, he had lived with nothing but the worry of his next meal.

The reason his parents had sent him away to the Namsadang troupe, the reason he had gritted his teeth and endured [unauthorized copy]brutal abuse within that troupe, and the unauthorized copyreason he had to stomach the schemes of filthy noblemen—it was all because of food.

Therefore, for Hong-seo, eating was synonymous with the reason for living. That was how he had lived until now, and he had believed that was all there was to the world.

“Born as the eldest grandson of a family with nothing to envy, I never worried about food or clothing, I was given the opportunity to enter government service, and as everyone says, my life is a smooth road. What reason could I possibly have to be sorrowful?”

It was as he said.

It was a life that anyone would look up to and envy.

“You are right, my Lord. Everything you say is correct, but…”

“……”

“Even now, as you say those words, you look sad to me.”

Setting down his cup, Hae-sung met Hong-seo’s eyes once more.

Eyes that were straight and virtuous—eyes that looked as if they had never been servile, had never uttered a lie, and had never turned a blind eye to injustice.

The power of those eyes was inescapable, and it felt as though nothing could be hidden before them.

Hae-sung’s hand reached for Hong-seo’s cheek. This time, it wasn’t a handkerchief. His bare hand touched the cheek.

“You said you felt it would be alright if it were me, didn’t you?”

“……”

“That you wanted to speak honestly to me.”

“Yes.”

“I feel the same way.”

“……”

“When I look at you, I find myself wanting to pour everything out. Only to you.”

“You may tell me anything.”

“Anything?”

“My life is essentially in your hands, and besides, I have received such grace from you… where and to whom would I ever go to gossip about my Lord?”

Hae-sung’s face, which had been grazing his cheek, seemed to brighten slightly. Encouraged, Hong-seo added more fervently:

“I won’t say a word.”

“……”

“I will never say anything that would make you look bad.”

Hae-sung looked at various parts of Hong-seo’s face in silence for a moment. A smile that looked almost like crying flowed down like rain, blurring his beautiful face.

“You are the first person to ever make such a vow to me.”

His finger moved toward the lower part of the cheek.

“Hong-seo.”

“Yes.”

“Hong-seo, who was a piri player for the Namsadang troupe.”

“Yes.”

“Hong-seo, who can read and write Hangeul and knows how to do arithmetic.”

“Yes, my Lord.”

“Hong-seo, the chicken thief.”

“……”

He was clearly teasing. It really had been a mistake, and Hong-seo had apologized many times, and though he had already been forgiven, he felt a slight resentment that Hae-sung brought it up again to tease him. Perhaps that was why, without realizing it and quite presumptuously, his lower lip pouted slightly.

Tap.

The tip of the finger touched his lip.

For a moment, a thrill shot through his entire body as if he had been struck by lightning.

It was a shiver, as if their lips had actually met.

Startled enough to nearly jump out of his seat, he looked up at him with wide eyes.

However, Hae-sung only smiled tenderly, as he usually did.

He didn’t look sad now. He looked happy. It would be wonderful if he always smiled like this…

Hae-sung pressed a handkerchief into Hong-seo’s right hand, which he had been holding the entire time.

“Here, you shall have this.”

“…Pardon?”

It was one surprise after another.

“I, I cannot…”

“Do not say you cannot. This is a command from your master.”

“……”

Unable to figure out what to do, Hong-seo looked down at the handkerchief in his hand.

Embroidered handkerchiefs were often used as tokens of affection between lovers.

A woman would gift a handkerchief she had embroidered herself to her beloved, or conversely, a man would gift his own handkerchief to his lover. A handkerchief was such an intimate exchange.

That night, even after lying down to sleep, Hae-sung’s scent lingered beneath his nose. He could not fall asleep for a long time, touching the lips where the man’s hand had rested.

He gripped the handkerchief he had placed beside his pillow several times, gently pressing it against his nose and lips. The handkerchief, too, was faintly imbued with his scent.

It was around the time the apricot blossoms were fading and the dizzying red of the royal azaleas began to confuse the world.

■

Hae-sung, dressed in a cheolrik(1) for the hunt, looked like a different person.

Hong-seo had thought of him only as a noble white crane, someone who [unauthorized copy]suited the image of turning pages of a book while sitting before a Read on Read BL Novelswriting [Read on Read BL Novels]desk. But with his sleeves tied with bigu to prevent them from fluttering and a headband wrapped around his forehead instead of a gat, he was the very image of a gallant tiger.

Waiting for him in front of the sarangbang, Hong-seo could not take his eyes off this new appearance.

Upon spotting the waiting Hong-seo, Hae-sung showed a look of pleasure.

“It is early, yet you have come to see me off. Without sleeping more.”

“I-it is only natural that I do so, my Lord.”

Hae-sung’s reaction—looking as pleased as if he had received an unexpected gift—made Hong-seo feel shy. It was only natural for a servant living in the adjacent room to see off the master’s departure, yet he was this happy…

Today, Hae-sung planned to go hunting with a few close friends.

He had heard there was a good wild boar hunting ground about an hour’s ride away. Since they had to return before sunset, the party decided to depart as soon as dawn broke to fully enjoy the hunt.

Crossing the long corridor to the open veranda, Hae-sung slipped his feet into leather hunting boots. Then, he tilted his head in curiosity.

“Hmm? Why are my boots warm?”

“Hong-seo warmed them by the hearth,” the steward beside them reported in a pleased tone.

“Is that so?”

Once again, Hae-sung looked back at Hong-seo with [Read on Read BL Novels]a joyful expression. At Hae-sung’s words, finding joy in every little stolen contentthing, the back of Hong-seo’s stolen contentneck and his ears turned red. Hong-seo spoke as if making an excuse.

“I thought it was still chilly in the early morning…”

“Wearing warm boots makes my body feel much more relaxed.”

After putting on the boots and stepping down, Hae-sung added as he stroked Hong-seo’s head.

“Thank you, Hong-seo.”

He could not suppress the joy springing up from deep within his heart like a mountain spring.

The joy of not merely living to avoid starvation, but of learning, improving, and feeling a sense of reward day by day, and having someone who recognizes and praises that. Happiness. It was a new life he never knew existed in the world.

Since sharing their secrets, Hong-seo felt Hae-sung had become significantly closer.

When he was hiding his identity and origin, he was always haunted by the anxiety of when he might be discovered and sent back to the Namsadang troupe. But after confessing to Hae-sung, that anxiety had faded.

Hae-sung did not despise him for what he had experienced with the noblemen, nor did he tell him to leave.

Instead, he had wiped away his tears with a fine silk cloth.

That handkerchief was still inside his chest.

Whenever he gently pressed his left chest to feel the presence of stolen contentthat handkerchief, a new, indescribable joy—unlike anything visit our sitehe had felt before—seemed to envelop him.

(1) Cheolrik: Active attire primarily worn during hunting or military activities.