NTH 89

“I see. I can’t believe how hard this winter rain is coming down. It will probably take quite a while for it to stop.”

“I agree.”

They stopped talking for a moment and looked at the cave entrance, a short distance away. Rain was pouring down relentlessly, as if a silver curtain had been drawn outside.

“I am not sure if you are aware, but in three days, it will be the new moon, a day with no moon.”

At Sonyeong’s words, which broke the silence first, Meoru, who had been staring at the falling rain, turned his head to look at him.

“Is it finally time for me to act as the shield against misfortune?”

“That is correct. But do not worry. Have I not kept even the frail His Highness the Crown Prince safe until now? I will do my best to ensure that not a single one of your fingers gets hurt.”

Sonyeong’s expression as he clenched his teeth at the end of his sentence, steeling his resolve, seemed more pitiful than heroic to Meoru.

Meoru puffed out his chest and leaned back, making himself comfortable.

“By the way, about that. Does it have no effect on you at all?”

“Yes?”

“I mean, protecting someone. Whether it’s the Crown Prince or me, ghosts from the netherworld will come flocking to possess a living person’s body, right? If you fight with such dangerous things, couldn’t you get hurt?”

At Meoru’s words, uttered casually with an innocent gaze, Sonyeong was at a loss for words for a moment.

From his earliest memories, his life had been a continuous series of learning spells and calendrical science, telling fortunes, and fighting things that were not human. Sonyeong had always perfectly handled the tasks entrusted to him as a matter of course. Perhaps because of that, he had never received the kind of concern Meoru was expressing from anyone before.

“Why aren’t you saying anything? Could you really get hurt?”

Interpreting Sonyeong’s silence as an affirmation, Meoru was startled and asked again. Sonyeong smiled faintly.

“Thank you for your concern, but it is a needless worry. I am many times stronger than you think. I am not careless enough to be defeated by lowly spirits that do not even have physical bodies.”

“But you never know if many of them attack at once. What if one of those ghosts slips into your body?”

“The moment even a part of them touches my body, they will be annihilated. The same goes if they touch a talisman imbued with my energy.”

“Really? How is that possible?”

“Well. Because my body is so sacred?”

Sonyeong said playfully, spreading his arms. Meoru swallowed hard and hesitated uncharacteristically.

“Um, well, then, are you a, a virgin…?”

“What did you say? How did the conversation get to that?”

When Sonyeong asked with a stern face at the completely unexpected question, Meoru stammered.

“N-no, it’s just, well, a sacred being or something like that, I mean, would probably be clean…”

“So you are saying that a body that has experienced copulation is filthily sullied?”

“That’s not what I meant! Ah, really, I’m so ignorant that my words are failing me, I don’t know how to express it.”

As Meoru scratched the back of his head awkwardly, Sonyeong smiled slightly.

“I am joking. Let us just say that my spiritual power is quite high.”

“Ah…”

“At my age, how could I not have had such an experience? It is just that my body is bound to the nation for life, so I have had few opportunities and do not particularly enjoy it.”

“Really? Then, have you, um… had experience with a man?”

“What was that?”

As Sonyeong furrowed his brow and glared at Meoru, Meoru said in a shrunken voice.

“Because you are so beautiful, I thought many men would have been captivated by you.”

“Regardless of what others do, I have never met a man who could arouse my body.”

“You haven’t? What kind of man do you think would arouse you? A handsome one? Or a wealthy one?”

“Well. Appearance and wealth are secondary. First of all, he would have to be a man whose intentions are not so easily seen through.”

“Easily seen through?”

Meoru suddenly looked down at his own chest and tried to pull the narrow overcoat together to cover his bare skin. Seeing this, Sonyeong made a dumbfounded expression.

“I am not talking about covering your skin, but about not resorting to obvious tricks with transparent motives.”

“Tch, what’s that. Do you like devious sorts who hide their true feelings and pretend they don’t have them?”

“What do you mean by that?”

“If you have a mirror, you should know what you look like. Any man who sees you and isn’t tempted either has no prick or is a eunuch. But aren’t the ones who pretend otherwise on the outside while harboring dark lust on the inside more dangerous?”

“Not everyone harbors lust just because someone’s appearance is a little pretty. If they did, how would humans be any different from beasts?”

“The problem is that it’s not just your appearance.”

“Is that so? In your eyes, what else do I have?”

“Is it just one or two things? You smell nice, your voice is gentle, your demeanor is elegant, your touch is affectionate, it feels good just to look at you, just…, just thinking about you makes my heart race and I feel like I’m going crazy, what more do you want me to say.”

Even Sonyeong, who was thoroughly accustomed to the obvious advances of men, was left speechless by Meoru’s sudden directness. But no matter how big his frame was or how much he pretended to be an adult, it was just the reckless heart of a man ten years younger than himself. Sonyeong soon regained his composure.

“Meoru.”

“…What.”

“The reason you are feeling that way right now is because there is no one else to set your eyes on here. As you know, this is a temple with only men.”

“…”

“When His Highness the Crown Prince recovers his health and you receive a large reward, go out into the world. Many women will probably line up, wanting to catch your eye.”

“I might die from being possessed by a ghost before that, so what does the future matter.”

“I told you I would protect you so that would not happen.”

“Hah… Instead of that, can’t you just let me touch you a little? You said it’s all your fault that I ended up as someone else’s shield against misfortune. If you’ve put me in such a pitiful situation, you should at least give me a small reward so I can endure life here.”

“No.”

“Ah, come on!”

“It seems the rain has stopped, so let us go back now.”

Watching Sonyeong stand up coyly, Meoru could do nothing but smack his lips like a dog that had been chasing a chicken.

Three days later, after finishing dinner, Meoru received a message from the Grand Tutor and headed to the separate building located in the innermost part of the temple.

Being summoned by the Grand Tutor, a high-ranking official who assisted the Crown Prince. For a commoner like Meoru, it was such an awe-inspiring major event that it might happen once in a lifetime, if at all. However, Meoru, who already knew the reason he was being sought, did not feel the slightest bit of honor.

A servant, seeing Meoru’s arrival, opened the paper-screen door for him. It was a spacious area, more than three times the size of the room Meoru shared with five other servants. The expensive folding screen and silk bedding were particularly noticeable.

Meoru entered with a face scrunched up as if he had chewed on shit. But when he saw Sonyeong was there, his expression unknowingly softened.

“Well. How have you found your time here?”

At the Grand Tutor’s question, Meoru answered bluntly.

“It is very good. It would have been much better if I hadn’t heard about things like being a shield against misfortune.”

“Ahem! This rude fellow, again…!”

“Grand Tutor. Did you not promise to leave everything regarding that matter to me?”

Sonyeong said calmly, his voice as clear as the plucking of a gayageum. Does that person make such noble and lovely sounds even when he’s groaning in pleasure? Meoru became genuinely curious.

In a clear voice, not a moan, Sonyeong said to Meoru.

“I have called you to ask that from now on, on the nights of the new and full moons, you sleep in His Highness the Crown Prince’s chambers.”

“Sleep? Do I just have to sleep?”

As Meoru asked with a suspicious look, the Grand Tutor interjected again.

“That’s right. All you have to do is sleep for one night under a fine blanket in the room of the noble His Highness the Crown Prince. How easy and comfortable is that?”

“If it’s so easy and comfortable, why don’t you do it yourself instead of making me do it?”

“What! You utterly ill-mannered lowborn, who do you think you are, talking back to me so sharply!”

“You were the one who tricked me and brought me here in the first place, old man! What do I care what happens to the royal family? If I had known it was a job to lure ghosts and such, why would I have happily followed you all the way to this remote mountain backcountry!”

“This bastard who deserves to be drawn and quartered still hasn’t come to his senses!”

The Grand Tutor’s eyes became bloodshot as he roared thunderously. But since Meoru was the one and only person who could be the Crown Prince’s shield against misfortune, he couldn’t have him dragged out and flogged. Sonyeong, tired of the two fighting like this every time they made eye contact, shook his head.

“There are some preparations to be made, so I will take him now. You, stand up and follow me.”

Meoru, who had been having a staring contest with the Grand Tutor until the very end, followed Sonyeong out of that place. They went inside the dense and tall bamboo fence behind the separate building.

In a spacious area, there was a large wooden bathtub. Two servants were pouring steaming hot water into the tub and mixing it with cold water to get the right temperature. The whole area was hazy with thick, milky steam, making it feel as if they had entered another world filled with fog.

The netherworld, for instance.

“Thank you for your hard work. You may return to your quarters now.”

The servants bowed at Sonyeong’s words and went outside. Sonyeong, who had put a large pouch filled with medicinal herbs into the tub, turned to Meoru.

“Take off your clothes and get in the bath.”

“Yes? Right now?”

“Do you want to get in after the water has gone completely cold?”

“That’s not it, but…”

He wasn’t ashamed of taking off his clothes in front of another man. He was just embarrassed, wondering what to do if his body was too dirty. Meoru had never once taken a hot bath in the winter in his entire life. As if sensing his thoughts, Sonyeong turned his back to Meoru and stood still.

Meoru took off his clothes and carefully got into the bathtub. Only then did Sonyeong turn around. Seeing Meoru sitting awkwardly, his whole body submerged in the warm water, Sonyeong barely managed to hold back his laughter.

“How does it feel?”

“It’s warm and nice.”

“Is it not too hot?”

“It’s just right. A hot bath in winter. Am I being offered up to be eaten by ghosts after being washed so luxuriously?”

“Of course not. In order to cast the spell to lure them tonight, your excessively overflowing yang energy must be contained as much as possible. That is why I am having you bathe in water infused with medicinal herbs first.”

“My yang energy will be contained after washing in this water? Good heavens, am I going to shave my head and become a monk here?”

“It does not have such a great effect. It is just a procedure to purify the body. Besides, you will be sleeping in His Highness the Crown Prince’s bedchamber, so you cannot go in without washing properly, can you?”

Sonyeong came up behind Meoru and poured warm water on his hair. Startled, Meoru exclaimed.

“Wh-wh-what are you doing?”

“I am going to wash your hair with calamus water.”

“I can do that myself, so leave me be!”

“I have to carve an invisible seal on your scalp anyway. If you can do that yourself, then go ahead.”

“No, what’s that, hah…”

As Meoru huffed and puffed with a flushed face, Sonyeong said coyly.