NTH 52

The man who had fallen into Euntaek’s arms quickly collected himself. Straightening his posture and bowing his head, he offered his apology.

“This lowly one has a bout of dizziness and committed a discourtesy to you, my lord. I am truly sorry.”

Euntaek shook his head, feeling an inexplicable dizziness of his own, his heart pounding, thump thump, and a sensation like something was churning deep in his lower abdomen.

“It is all right.”

“As I am not feeling well, this lowly one will be on his way now.”

The man left abruptly, leaving behind only the sweet and slightly bitter scent of plum blossoms.

A moment later, Euntaek, snapping back to his senses with a start, realized that the dagger he had been wearing at his waist under his sleeveless jacket was gone. Euntaek urgently shouted to Soe-sim, who was waiting on the opposite side.

“A thief! A Pyonangdo has stolen my precious sword!”

“What, sir?”

Euntaek and Soe-sim ran through the marketplace, chasing in the direction the man had disappeared.

Euntaek’s physical abilities at this time already far surpassed those of an ordinary person, so not long after he started running with determination, he began to see the hem of the man’s light blue dopo in the far distance.

Seeing the man turn into a narrow alley on the right, Euntaek ran that way. However, just as Euntaek was about to enter the alley, he crashed head-on with a basket seller who suddenly popped out.

“Aigoo, I am dying! I am dying! My baskets!”

Baskets large and small were scattered everywhere, and the basket seller lay sprawled on the market floor, letting out a wailing cry. Flustered, Euntaek helped him up and shouted for Soe-sim, who had followed behind, to help gather the baskets, before quickly turning into the alley.

However, the Pyonangdo was already nowhere to be seen, and not even a trace of the plum blossom scent remained.

Euntaek, looking around, walked out of the alley with a dejected stagger. The basket seller, who had gathered all his baskets with Soe-sim’s help, was quietly departing as if he had never caused a commotion.

The eyes of the basket seller, who had passed by Euntaek indifferently, were sanbaegan, resembling the chilling eyes of a snake.

“Is that truly so? How could that be! Did I not tell you to be so careful!”

Choi Chanmyeong exclaimed, slamming his liquor cup down on the small dining table with a thud. Euntaek made an embarrassed expression and offered an excuse.

“I did not know he would appear so calmly in broad daylight. I was too careless.”

“Did you report it to the authorities?”

“I did, but…”

Euntaek trailed off, bringing the liquor cup to his lips and tilting it. Chanmyeong leaned in close as if interrogating him.

“Why, do not tell me you also cannot properly remember Heukyeong’s face?”

“Yes. Except that he was unbelievably fair and pretty.”

No matter how hard he tried to recall the man’s face, his memory was hazy and blurred as if covered in fog. He could remember nothing except that the man was breathtakingly beautiful, and the strange lust that had surged enough to make his lower body stir.

“It was truly a fleeting moment when he leaned on me, saying he was dizzy. There was not even a hint of him taking anything.”

“Hmm. Was that really so? Are you sure you were not completely out of your mind because your body touched Heukyeong’s?”

“That is…”

Euntaek’s face turned beet red as he recalled the feel of Heukyeong’s delicate shoulders, which he had briefly held in his arms by chance, and the waist that had fit in one hand. Chanmyeong spoke as if in admiration.

“For you, Nam Euntaek, of all people, who would be sad to be called second-best when it comes to being like a block of wood, to show such a reaction. I am truly envious of you, so envious.”

“What on earth is there to be envious about when I have had a precious family treasure stolen due to my foolishness?”

“Did you not meet Heukyeong, exchange words with him, and even have your bodies touch, however briefly? There are many who have been victimized by Heukyeong, but I have never heard of anyone who has personally held him in their arms.”

“Who held whom! People will misunderstand if they hear you.”

Euntaek, with his reddened face, gulped down his liquor.

As if that were not enough, on the very night he had his sword stolen by Heukyeong, Euntaek had a dream where a beautiful man with fair skin and red lips, wearing only a dopo over his naked body, climbed onto his stomach.

More than the self-loathing he felt for having wet his undergarments since dawn over a petty thief, Euntaek felt more ashamed that he found himself wanting to see him just one more time in a clear state of mind.

“So, what do you plan to do now? If you return to your hometown having lost the sword, will not Lord Nam be greatly angered?”

Chanmyeong wore a worried expression. Euntaek, who already had a plan in mind, answered calmly.

“I suppose so. That is why I am thinking of becoming the bait myself this time.”

“Bait? How?”

“Actually, I came to see you today because I have a favor to ask regarding that. Could you spread a rumor for me in secret? I am an outsider, but since you are a local here, it will be much easier for you to start a rumor.”

Euntaek explained his plan to the bewildered Chanmyeong.

「Lord Nam Min-yang, the governor of Chungcheong Province, acquired a rare precious sword through the Qing dynasty, and his second son brought it to Hanyang, only to have it stolen by a Pyonangdo in the marketplace.」

Up to this point, it was a fact that Chanmyeong already knew. Euntaek asked him to add another story to it and spread it.

「The stolen sword is actually one of a pair of swords crafted by a master in the Qing dynasty. One sword alone trades for thirty nyang of gold coins, but if the two are together, people line up to buy them for a hundred nyang. They say that Lord Nam’s second son, fearing he might lose the remaining sword as well, has taken to putting it inside his trousers and tying it to his waist.」

“What, is that really true?”

When Chanmyeong asked with a surprised look, Euntaek nodded.

“That is right. The sword was actually a twin sword, and I only showed one to you.”

“I see. But what will you do if that rumor spreads and you become a target again?”

“That is what I am aiming for. If that greedy Pyonangdo learns that there is one more sword, will his ears not perk up? Besides, he has already met me, so he will remember my face.”

“That is true.”

“Since the rumor says I have tied it inside my trousers, he will not be able to take the sword from me by bumping into me like before. He will surely approach me in a different way. I will be fully prepared, catch him, hand him over to the authorities, and retrieve my precious sword.”

“Oho! As expected, Euntaek, your mind is brilliant! I will immediately have a few of my underlings spread the rumor far and wide.”

A few days after that, Choi Chanmyeong came to visit the residence in Hanyang where Euntaek was staying.

“Now, even the neighborhood dogs know that you carry a precious sword in your trousers. Has anyone approached you suspiciously these past few days?”

“There were three or four instances, but they were just common thieves. The escort warriors I hired privately were guarding me in secret, so they were easily caught. But it was definitely not Heukyeong.”

“That is a shame. By the way, are you free this evening? I know of a fantastic gisaeng house, and I was thinking of taking you there.”

“If it is something like that, I will pass.”

“Come on, you came all the way to Hanyang. What will become of my reputation if I do not take you to a good place? Let us put aside our worries about the Pyonangdo for a moment and enjoy ourselves for just one night.”

“I said I am fine…”

“Look here, Euntaek. The truth is, I boasted to the gisaengs there that I would bring a young master so handsome that everyone’s eyes would pop out tonight. I am begging you like this, so please, just come with me once, eh?”

Because Chanmyeong pleaded so earnestly, that evening Euntaek reluctantly made his way to the gisaeng house.

Butterfly-like gisaengs, wearing ornamental hairpieces on their heads and lavishly adorned with all sorts of accessories, entered the room where Euntaek, Chanmyeong, and other young men were, one after another.

“You are truly as handsome as they say, my lord.”

“I heard you were six feet tall, and indeed, you are so strikingly tall and handsome it makes one’s eyes pop.”

While the gisaengs showered him with effusive compliments, Euntaek occasionally fumbled at his waist with his hand to check if the dagger was in its place.

As the drinking party was reaching its peak, the paper-screen door opened and the head manager of the gisaeng house appeared and spoke.

“Suhyang, who newly joined our establishment a few days ago, will now play the gayageum for you lords.”

As the manager stepped aside, a gisaeng entered the room quietly with an elegant gait. Sitting in front of the folding screen and placing one side of the gayageum on her lap, she began to play, plucking the strings with her long, slender fingers.

“Wow…”

“She is truly a peerless beauty.”

Euntaek, letting his friends’ exclamations of admiration pass in one ear and out the other, stared at Suhyang with a hardened expression.

A tiny face with skin like white jade, neat eyebrows and long, lush eyelashes, large eyes that sparkled with clear and transparent light. Red and plump lips, a slender neckline, delicate shoulders and a waist that looked like it would not amount to more than a handful, and delicate, slender hands playing the gayageum.

While Chanmyeong and Euntaek’s other friends were all captivated by her gayageum performance as if entranced, Euntaek silently checked the dagger at his waist once more.

When Suhyang finished her gayageum performance, the men all made a ruckus, telling her to come and sit by their side. Amidst the commotion, Chanmyeong drew the attention of the crowd.

“Look here, everyone, instead of us doing this, how about we let Suhyang choose her seat?”

“No way. If we do that, she will choose young lord Nam without a second thought.”

“I am against it too. After seeing Nam Euntaek, no one else will be even half as appealing to her.”

As everyone except Euntaek clamorously opposed, Chanmyeong spoke towards Suhyang.

“Then why do you not say something? All the men here want you to sit beside them, so what method do you think would be best to decide?”

At those words, everyone stopped talking and looked at Suhyang. Suhyang, who seemed to be thinking for a moment, opened her red lips, which were painted with a fine rouge.

“I wish to serve the lord with the greatest strength here, separately.”

“Serve separately? What does that mean?”

At Chanmyeong’s question, Suhyang slightly twisted her lips into a smile that looked almost like a sneer.

“To ask such a question in a gisaeng house, my lord must have mistaken this place for the National Academy.”

“No, that is not what I meant…”

“I need a man who will not let this one sleep a wink tonight. If there is no such person here, then Suhyang will be on her way to another room.”

Before those words were even finished, men here and there began to arm wrestle each other. Chanmyeong looked at Euntaek, who was sitting alone with a hardened expression.

“Are you not planning on joining this round? That would be good for us.”

Euntaek stared at Suhyang for a moment. She was looking down at the arm-wrestling matches with her chin held high haughtily. A corner of Euntaek’s mouth lifted as he announced his intention to participate.

“No. I will participate too.”

“Really?”

Instead of answering, Euntaek rolled up the sleeves of his dopo. Even though only about half of his forearm was revealed, all the gisaengs screamed and gathered around him. As Euntaek placed his elbow on the small dining table, Chanmyeong made a disappointed face.

“To think my first opponent is you. It seems I have left all my good luck at home today.”

Euntaek, without even frowning once, won four rounds in a row and reached the final. After easily winning the first two matches of the best-of-three final, Euntaek spoke to Suhyang with a blunt expression.

“Guide me to a private room right now.”

“I have been waiting.”

Suhyang raised her red lips into a bewitching smile, opened the paper-screen door, and went out with Euntaek. The remaining people, regardless of gender, could only envy the two of them.

Coming out of the main building of the entertainment house, Suhyang crossed the courtyard and took Euntaek to the quietest detached building at the very back. When they entered a spacious room where a silk quilt with luxurious embroidery was laid out, maids who did the kitchen work came, set down a simple table of drinks and side dishes, and retreated.

“It is an honor for this humble body to serve you, my lord.”

Suhyang poured liquor into a cup. Euntaek, watching her, was so dumbfounded that he was at a loss for words.

Is this really a man? His voice is delicate too, and there is no Adam’s apple to be seen at all.

Even though he was looking at him from right in front of his nose, he simply could not believe it.