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“Yeon-ah!”

Yes, he had been waiting for this call. He had been waiting for the voice of his savior, who would rush into the room, his robe fluttering in the wind.

Only then did light shine into Yiyeon’s eyes, which had been as murky as water after a heavy rain. It was the light named Hyunhak.

Hyunhak, who had rushed into the room, roughly knocked the matchlock rifle out of Yiyeon’s hand. The rifle fell to the floor. Perhaps because he had been running, Hyunhak’s breathing was just as ragged as Yiyeon’s.

Out of his mind, Yiyeon simply stared at Hyunhak, who was calling out to him. His face was covered in saliva and tears, but what did that matter? Even in this state, Yiyeon shone as he gazed at Hyunhak like a pearl retrieved from the mud.

As Hyunhak spread his arms to embrace Yiyeon, he threw himself into his arms even faster than he could approach him. Like lovers embracing each other and throwing themselves into deep water for an impossible love, Yiyeon threw himself toward Hyunhak.

Hyunhak caught Yiyeon in a firm embrace. He had thrown himself at him with such force that his shoulder struck his chest, sending a tingling sensation through his body.

But Hyunhak did not let him go; instead, he held him even tighter. His strong arms wrapped around Yiyeon’s trembling body. Hyunhak’s body heat– which felt slightly higher than normal –spread through Yiyeon, who had been pale and frozen.

Hyunhak’s breath, his scent, and even his shadow, these were the things Yiyeon had desperately longed for as he was losing consciousness. Like two stars reunited on the Magpie Bridge[fcnt content=’a legendary bridge in Chinese mythology formed by a flock of magpies across the Milky Way. It allows the separated lovers Niulang (the Cowherd, star Altair) and Zhinu (the Weaver Girl, star Vega) to reunite once a year.’] after a long separation, Yiyeon clung desperately to Hyunhak’s embrace, afraid of losing him again. The Yiyeon who had once bowed his head, unable to dare look at Hyunhak, no longer existed.

Like a tragic lover reunited with the one he had longed for in his dreams, Yiyeon’s fingers turned white as he desperately clutched Hyunhak’s clothes. Only then did Yiyeon realize why he had dared to take Hyunhak into his heart.

Yiyeon simply could not resist his presence. It was an irresistible force. He had lived because of Hyunhak, and he could still live only because he was there. That was because everything–breathing, eating, sleeping–was now impossible for Yiyeon without Hyunhak.

Just like air, Yiyeon could only truly live when Hyunhak was by his side. Since he was the one who had saved his life in the first place, he could not live without him.

He was light, air, water, and salvation. How could he not hold such a man in his heart?

Yiyeon finally admitted to himself that he could no longer push Hyunhak away. No matter how hard he tried to keep his distance, it was impossible. Without him, he couldn’t even breathe properly. Yiyeon started crying and complained to Hyunhak like a child.

“How…how could you be so late? Why did you take so long to come?”

Hyunhak had no excuse for Yiyeon’s scolding. He had already returned at an absurd speed, but as a spirit, he could have returned even faster. He berated himself for not doing so, even though he could have sped up the entire way after the crow flew in, cawing loudly, “A bear is ransacking the house.”

No doubt Hyunhak had set out from home vowing to return as quickly as possible, but once he actually entered the village, the words he heard made it impossible for him to simply turn back.

“Have you seen someone who looks like this? He’s about this tall.”

At the entrance to the village, two burly men had cornered a peddler and were showing him a portrait. Though he behaved like a proper nobleman, fearing he might be exposed as non-human, Hyunhak stepped aside to go around them. And it was no mere coincidence that the face in the portrait caught his eye.

The person depicted in the portrait was Yiyeon. Perhaps the painter’s skill was lacking, as he hadn’t fully captured Yiyeon’s beauty, but that delicate and pure appearance was unmistakably Yiyeon’s. Hyunhak, who would open his eyes even in his sleep at the mere mention of Yiyeon and who could recognize a single strand of his hair as his, had no way of missing that portrait.

Hyunhak, who had been trying to distance himself from the men, gradually slowed his pace, his full attention focused on the conversation between the peddler and the men. The peddler, who had been clutching the portrait with both hands and staring it with an intense gaze, tilted his head, shook it and asked,

“Is that a man?”

“It’s a man. He’s exceptionally beautiful, so he’ll stand out. If you happen to see him, come to the magistrate’s residence. They’ll reward you handsomely.”

It was a conversation about Yiyeon, so how could he just walk by? Hyunhak decided to hide himself and began eavesdropping on the men’s conversation. Even though the portrait was roughly drawn, the subject’s appearance was extraordinary, which seemed to pique the peddler’s curiosity; he began asking all sorts of questions, wondering if this might be news that could turn a profit.

“Who is this person you’re looking for? Is he some runaway servant? He doesn’t look like a servant, though…”

“That’s none of my business. It’d be best if you brought him back alive, but even a tip on where he was seen would do. Whatever you bring back, the second young master of Magistrate Seo’s household will reward you.”

The men didn’t look like slave catchers, and the man in the ragged clothes was far too beautiful to be a mere slave. If a slave were that handsome, running away wouldn’t even be an issue, life would be so grueling that he wouldn’t have survived this long.

Perhaps a question the peddler had asked had offended the men; the two cut him off and moved on to another person coming up behind them. Then, just as they had done with the peddler, they issued the same warrant for Yiyeon’s arrest.

Hyunhak followed the peddler, watching the men mechanically repeat the same words. Perhaps feeling some regret, the peddler turned around after taking just a few steps to stare at the men, then soon unpacked his belongings at a nearby inn.

“Why is the second young master of the county magistrate’s household looking for that man?”

“The magistrate’s second son is a madman… Don’t worry about that.”

“Do you know anything about it?”

The peddler, who seemed familiar with the village, ordered a snack. He then suddenly nudged the visit our siteperson dining at the next table and struck up a conversation. Whether everyone gathered at the inn had heard the same story from the men carrying the portrait or because this wasn’t the first time such a thing had happened, the moment he prodded them, answers flowed out as if they’d been waiting for it.

“The young master of that house has gone completely mad… They say there was a wicked male prostitute in the village who bewitched people, and that he was a monster who used sorcery to summon a talking tiger to harm him, and now he’s been tormenting people ever since.”

“I was wondering what the story was. So it’s a male prostitute? He looked so soft and supple, I was convinced he was a woman.”

“That’s exactly why they say he bewitches people. Anyway, everyone says they were all killed by the tiger, but that young master is the only one who didn’t die. He’s demanding they bring him right in front of him and make him sit there. If you’re going to go mad, at least do it gracefully. Tsk, tsk.”

What is a prostitute, and what kind of family is the county magistrate’s? He seemed to vaguely recall Yiyeon mentioning the latter in passing.

Human affairs were such that just when he thought he was starting to understand, something new would always appear. Though he couldn’t tell exactly what it meant, Hyunhak, who had been eavesdropping from behind the shadows, immediately felt his mood sour and frowned.

Talk of being “wicked,” “a monster,” “sorcery,” and “bewitching people”–even at a glance, the words directed at Yiyeon were far from kind. It was as if the very words reeked of foulness, making him want to wash his ears, but Hyunhak gritted his teeth and listened to the end.

Once he’d heard it all, he could guess who the second young master of the mad magistrate’s household was, and even a tiger–let alone a human–could tell that he was certainly not seeking out Yiyeon with good intentions.

He really should have just killed him that day; sparing him “just in case” had ultimately come back to haunt him. Hyunhak gritted his teeth. His sharp fangs clattered together, but he couldn’t relax his contorted face. If it were up to him, he would have torn those humans over there to shreds so they could never spout such nonsense again.

He didn’t know what they were planning to do once they found Yiyeon, but Hyunhak vowed to himself that he would never send him back to those bastards. Just as he was about to leave because he couldn’t stand listening to it any longer, the sound of the peddler whispering passed by Hyunhak’s ear.

“I wonder if I’d get even a bucket of rice if I actually reported something?”

“Forget it. I heard he was a vicious madman even ​Read on​before he went crazy, you’d just end up getting beaten for nothing.”

Was that a silver lining? It was unlikely to happen anyway, but even if someone had seen Yiyeon, no one would go looking for him given the notorious reputation Young Master Seo had built up over the years.

Hyunhak stepped out of the shadows and walked down the middle of the main street. The coins he’d stolen from the people jingled in his pocket, urging him not to waste any more time.

‘Yeon-ah.’

Hyunhak silently repeated Yiyeon’s name as he recalled the expression on his face just before he left. A face that had shown his surprise at the suggestion to go to the village together. Yiyeon must have already known that something like this would happen. That was why he must have been reluctant to go to the village.

It was lamentable that he’d been disappointed by Yiyeon’s refusal without realizing any of this. The black tiger silently berated himself– just as Zao would have done to him– “You stupid tiger”–and banged his head against his palm.

Hyunhak moved swiftly through the crowd. He decided that even if Yiyeon asked him to in the future, he would never, ever let him go down to the village. Not only did he refuse to let those bastards capture Yiyeon, but the very thought of Yiyeon being dragged away made his blood boil.

Absolutely not. He would never, ever send him down.

Hyunhak made this resolution in his heart as he quickly took care of the tasks Yiyeon had entrusted to him. Though it was a light burden for Hyunhak, he was carrying a load big enough to worry anyone watching, and he left the village without looking back.

Just as he had crossed the mountain and was nearing home, Hyunhak spotted a crow flying up in a panic. Without a moment’s hesitation, he began to run. He ran so fast that items spilled out from the load on his back, but with no time to gather them, Hyunhak raced toward Yiyeon. It fell to Zao to tidy up the items left behind where he had run.

As soon as he returned home, the first sight that met his eyes was Yiyeon, crying with a gun pointed at his head. His heart sank. It felt as if the world were ending, and everything went dark before his eyes.

He should have ignored the humans’ idle chatter and moved faster, but overcome by belated regret, Hyunhak humbly accepted Yiyeon’s scolding and instead held him even tighter as he cried in his arms. Though it had only been half unauthorized copya day, Yiyeon wept bitterly in Hyunhak’s embrace, as if he were reuniting with a long-lost loved one.