NTH 71

The next evening, Suhyeon had his employee secretly check if President Matsuuchi was going to Cheongsugwan. He had his taciturn and swift driver, Mr. Park, monitor Hayashi Ryomu’s movements.

The two men, who returned late, came straight to Suhyeon’s study to report.

“I have confirmed that the president entered Cheongsugwan.”

“Are you certain that he goes there every Thursday to meet a gisaeng?”

“I bribed the servant in charge of the gate and asked him, and he said it was true.”

“Thank you for your hard work. What about Hayashi Ryomu?”

“That man took a day off from Matsuyama today and was combing the neighborhood, searching for Tsubame’s whereabouts.”

“The neighborhood, you mean the place where Hayashi and Tsubame currently reside?”

“Yes. It seems he searched it as if with a fine-tooth comb, from the shacks to the dugouts where the beggar children live together. And…”

When the driver, Mr. Park, glanced around and hesitated to continue his story, Suhyeon spoke with a gentle expression.

“It is alright, so please speak comfortably.”

“Well, it is because the last thing Tsubame was doing before he disappeared was surveilling you, young master.”

“Are you saying that if Tsubame does not turn up no matter how much he searches, Hayashi will turn the arrow of suspicion toward me?”

“I think that is likely to happen. But wasn’t the reason that fellow Hayashi sent Tsubame in the first place because he was suspicious of you, young master?”

“Hayashi would think that if I, a known pro-Japanese collaborator, went out of my way to capture Tsubame, it must be because I have something shady to hide.”

“That is correct. In reality, Hayashi is an insignificant figure, but since he is highly trusted as an informer by President Matsuuchi of Matsuyama and the Japanese police, we are gravely concerned for your safety, young master.”

“Hmm.”

Suhyeon, who had been lost in thought for a moment while tapping on the glossy, high-end mahogany desk, finally spoke in a light voice.

“Well then, let’s just get rid of them both.”

“Pardon? By ‘both of them,’ you mean…”

“Matsuuchi and Hayashi. They are bastards who have committed countless evil deeds, so even if I kill them, my dreams will not be too disturbed.”

“Then what are your plans for Tsubame?”

Suhyeon’s heart grew heavy as he recalled Tsubame’s small face, crying his eyes out, saying he was scared of dying. He stood up from his chair and said.

“I will think about that a little more. You have both worked hard, so rest well tonight.”

After the employees left, Suhyeon went out to the drawing room, called for Abeom, and asked.

“Where is Tsubame?”

“He is in the guest room on the second floor.”

“What is he doing?”

“It seemed he was rummaging through the newspapers you have collected, young master.”

Suhyeon went up to the second floor and walked toward the guest room. The door was open, so he peered inside and saw Tsubame flipping through old newspapers.

“Do you know how to read?”

As Suhyeon approached, Tsubame glanced at him and then shook his head from side to side.

“I do not.”

“Then what fun is there in looking at the newspaper?”

“I have nothing to do, so I am just looking at the photos and pictures. Ah, I know this person here.”

When Tsubame pointed to a man in a photograph, Suhyeon asked with a puzzled expression.

“Who is that person?”

“It is Iwamura Shinjiro, the Chief of the Security Section of the Police Affairs Bureau of the Government-General of Joseon.”

The title and name written in Chinese characters below the photograph matched exactly what Tsubame had said. Surprised, Suhyeon asked him.

“How did you know that?”

“He came to Matsuyama, saying he would have kimonos tailored for his wife and daughters. I never forget a customer I have seen even once, but when this person came, the toad president was so obsequious that I remember it even more.”

Suhyeon flipped a few pages back in the newspaper and pointed to black-and-white photographs of other famous people.

“Then what about this person?”

“The Vice President of the Joseon Industrial Bank, Kurono Takeshi.”

“And this one?”

“The Director of the Gyeongseong Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Kondo Takahiko.”

After that, he asked about several more people, and Tsubame answered all of them correctly. It was truly a marvelous memory, to have memorized the face, title, and name just from seeing and hearing them once.

Furthermore, Tsubame was someone who was ‘good at hiding his presence,’ to the point that even President Matsuuchi had acknowledged it. If Suhyeon had been an ordinary person and not a person with extrasensory perception, he might have been tailed by Tsubame in Myeong-dong and would be getting tortured somewhere by now.

Until now, he had to use that ability to hunt down independence activists because of Hayashi Ryomu, but what if Tsubame were to turn to this side?

“Tsubame. Do you want to leave this place?”

When Suhyeon asked, Tsubame looked up at him with a frightened expression.

“Why so suddenly?”

“Do you want to go back to Matsuyama and live a life of being beaten, scorned, and hungry? Do you miss the time when you were used by Hayashi and acted as an informer?”

“I only did that to survive. What was I supposed to do when I would have starved to death otherwise?”

“If I were to say that I will hire you, would you be able to betray Hayashi?”

As Tsubame stared blankly at Suhyeon, Suhyeon lowered himself, looked him steadily in the eyes, and said.

“I will let you sleep in a warm place and feed you until you are full. I will protect you and keep you safe. You just have to help me using that extraordinary memory and your talent for hiding your presence.”

“…”

“However, as you have seen, I am a financier who poses as a pro-Japanese collaborator and provides funds to the independence army. If you are hired by me, you will make an enemy forever of Hayashi Ryomu and President Matsuuchi, whom you have served as your masters until now. Can you do that?”

At Suhyeon’s question, Tsubame blinked his large eyes.

“If I say I cannot, then I, who know your secret, will not be able to leave this house alive.”

“That is right.”

Having threatened him with his life, Tsubame would have no choice, but Suhyeon felt uneasy. Knowing the source of his anxiety, Suhyeon asked Tsubame point-blank.

“But you. Are you not Hayashi Ryomu’s lover?”

At those words, Tsubame neither confirmed nor denied, but asked back.

“Why do you think that?”

“Because among all the orphan children Hayashi employs, he keeps only you living in his house, and also…”

“Because we have slept together?”

“Yes.”

“Are you going to kill Ryomu?”

“That is my intention. That man is too close to the Japanese police. His intuition is good, too, which makes it more unsettling. It also bothers me that he suspected me and had you tail me just for speaking a few words of Korean.”

“…”

Tsubame was silent for a moment. If Tsubame was indeed Hayashi’s lover, things would get complicated.

“Forget it. Let us pretend what I said just now never happened.”

Suhyeon, with a troubled heart, stood up from his spot and was about to leave the guest room, when Tsubame spoke from behind him.

“I am not his lover.”

Suhyeon stopped and turned around, and Tsubame, with his head lowered, continued.

“I just liked him on my own.”

“What?”

“I knew that Ryomu was just using me. Still, still, Ryomu was the only one who treated me like a living person.”

Tears welled up in Tsubame’s eyes, and his long eyelashes became wet. Suhyeon felt a strong sense of déjà vu, as if he had seen such a sight somewhere before.

“I thought I would be abandoned by Ryomu if I became useless, so I informed on people even more diligently. On days when I brought back results, he would praise me and show me affection, and I liked that.”

Suhyeon was dumbfounded. An inexplicable anger surged from deep within him, and he spat out, as if interrogating him.

“What about the days you did not? What did that man do to you when you had no results.”

“…”

“Did he not hit you and starve you? No matter how harsh life is, you like a trashy bastard like that? Are you in your right mind!”

“Then if I go and kill the people from the newspaper one by one, will you show me affection?”

“What did you say?”

“Will you praise me for doing a good job, and hug me and kiss me?”

“If something like that is the reward you want, I will do it even a hundred times!”

Suhyeon, who had shouted in anger, looked away awkwardly, and Tsubame wiped his tears with his sleeve.

“Alright. Then I will take you as my master, so please hire me from now on.”

Suhyeon sighed and placed a hand on his forehead.

“Stop if you are going to regret it later.”

“If I do not, you will kill me anyway. I am a lowly person who has no patriotism or loyalty to begin with. It is only natural for me to side with the one that lets me keep my life, is it not?”

“But if I see you looking sad, saying you miss Hayashi, I feel like I will want to kick you out immediately.”

“Then you can just make me forget him.”

“What?”

Tsubame moved closer to the flabbergasted Suhyeon and looked up at him intently.

“If you have the confidence, then try to make me like you instead of Ryomu.”

Suhyeon sat on the edge of the bed and looked down. Lying on the thick mattress spread on the floor, Tsubame was fast asleep under a cotton blanket. The words he had uttered defiantly would not leave Suhyeon’s mind.

“If you have the confidence, then try to make me like you instead of Ryomu.”

Try to make him like me.

Suhyeon had absolutely, never once in his life, made such an effort for anyone. That was true not only for Seo Suhyeon in this life but also in all the lives he had lived before.

The problem was that those very words had sparked a sense of stubborn pride in him. Toward a boy whose existence he did not even know of until two days ago. Suhyeon was ashamed because he knew all too well what an utterly childish emotion it was.

But Tsubame had devoted his body and soul to Hayashi and even risked his life to act as an informer, just because Hayashi had spoken to him and was occasionally affectionate. Suhyeon became genuinely curious how he would act if he learned what it truly meant to be treated well.

‘Alright. Since it has come to this, I will make you not just like me, but fall so deeply for me that you can never escape. As long as you have value to me, that is.’

The next day, on his way back from an outing for his Shinhwa Tailors business, Suhyeon stopped by the downtown area. He bought expensive Japanese sweets and red bean bread from a bakery, and also purchased a pair of leather shoes from a shoe store.

Returning home, Suhyeon handed them to Tsubame.

“Take these.”

“What are these?”

“A gift. Eat the snacks and wear the shoes.”