The World Met Again (1)

Splash— splaaash—

"That ought to be enough…."

What was I doing right now?

I was pouring tea all over my bed.

And not just any tea—tea steeped so strong it could strip paint.

"You there."

"…Yes. I am here."

"I spilled tea on the bed by accident. Change the bedding for me."

The purpose, of course, was to erase the thick scent of the fluids Geumryang and I had left all over this place last night.

I could have poured perfume or scented oil instead, but that would only invite questions like, Why on earth would anyone dump expensive perfume on a bed? So tea it was.

Rattle—

Before long the sliding door opened and two trainees appeared, efficiently gathering up my bedding and carrying it out. Even soaked through with tea and heavy as it must have been, they worked without a single complaint.

As the son of Lady Cheong-hwa, I was generally attended by trainees with a certain amount of seniority. The ones who actually entered my room rotated daily. From what I'd heard, Nakseonggwan had so many trainees these days that even with everyone taking turns, they never ran short of hands.

The moment the first pair left with my bedding, two more trainees entered carrying fresh sheets—crisp, pure white, and stiff with newness, wherever they'd managed to find them. With practiced hands they remade the bed to perfection, offered me a bow, and slipped back out through the sliding door.

Rattle—

The door closed again.

I immediately threw myself onto the newly changed bed. The blended reek of semen, love juices, and sweat—that dense, almost cavernous musk—was gone at last, and something like peace finally settled over me.

"Haa…."

Drenching the bed in tea had been a precaution against repeating the mistake of last time, when Wolbaek's maid had caught us in the act. I'd already sealed that maid's lips, of course, but the anxiety still lingered.

"Nothing went wrong last night… right?"

By "last night," I meant the moment Geumryang had returned to her own room.

I'd wanted nothing more than to carry her back myself—her legs had been trembling so badly she could barely walk—but running into anyone along the way would have been a disaster. So I'd watched her dress as neatly as she could manage, then kept watch to make sure the corridor was empty when she left.

Fortunately, the fifth floor of Nakseonggwan had been silent in the deep of night.

But you never know. I'd seen her set off, clinging to the railing and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠staggering toward her room—but whether she'd made it back without meeting anyone else was another matter entirely.

"…First thing, I need to go see Geumryang today."

Then I started thinking about what came after.

Geumryang's reaction yesterday had given me a major insight. Until now, I'd only planned to approach the ones not on the Uncheong selection list—Mok-hwa and Wolbaek. But Geumryang, whom I'd met by pure chance, was on the list and still insisted she would not go to Beijing.

Which meant the other two on the list—Gyeonghwa and Cheon Su-a—were people I needed to investigate as well.

Who could say? They might have their own reasons for refusing the Uncheong selection.

And when I reported to Mother, wouldn't it land better to say, "So-and-so does not want to take the Uncheong selection," rather than, "So-and-so wants to take the Uncheong selection"?

With the latter, she could simply answer, "Still, the ones already on the list are better," and I'd have nothing left to say. With the former, unless she replied, "No. Drag her there anyway," she would have no choice but to find a replacement—and then I could conveniently supply a suitable one.

So how likely was it that Mother would insist on dragging someone along?

I didn't rate the odds very high. Mother almost never forced anything on the courtesans of Nakseonggwan. And yet she always found a solution somehow—that was the truly astonishing part. She'd find a substitute, or persuade them, or scrap the plan entirely and start over.

"Someday… I'll…."

Inherit it.

Nakseonggwan—the cash cow that, in a single month, could earn enough to tear down this five-story building and rebuild it from scratch.

But could I actually run it well?

"Kh…."

Right. I was learning the outer shell of Nakseonggwan from Mother, bit by bit—but when it came to the inner workings, the people who actually made it up, I knew next to nothing.

Was that what Mother had meant?

Had she given me this assignment so that I would come to know every Beauty, and from there learn to see through all of Nakseonggwan the way she did?

Perhaps the work ahead of me these next three weeks wasn't some petty little rebellion against Mother's plans. Perhaps it was something far more serious—learning about the courtesans, and judging their worth for myself.

"In that case… I can't just lie here…!!"

I forced myself upright. Two nights of storm-level sex in a row had left every muscle and joint in my body screaming in protest. The only difference between me and Wolbaek or Geumryang—my partners in those nights—was that I had three weeks of work with a hard deadline, while they had absolutely nothing to do during the day.

"…Well then. Shall I go take a look at those lucky ones first?"

Thud, thud, thud….

Rattle—

I stepped out into the corridor. Far down the hall, the rooms where the Beauties lived came into view.

"Nngh… hnnn…."

My whole body hurt.

It wasn't just the muscle aches. My throat was swollen, my nose was running, and my head throbbed as if I'd caught the flu. And through all of that, my crotch still pulsed with a dull, insistent ache.

Considering how that absurdly massive cock of Jin Yu's had been thrusting in and out of my ass, maybe it was only natural.

Rattle—

"Geumryang! The sun's already high—why are you still in bed? Taking a nap?"

"Hic…?!"

Speak of the tiger and he appears, as they ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠say. I'd only been thinking of him, and the owner of that cock opened the door and walked right in.

I turned with difficulty and looked toward Jin Yu.

"You came……?"

"What? You look terrible."

"Mm…. I got up, but I don't feel good…. Sniff."

Wrapped tight in the blankets, I watched him approach. He pulled a chair over beside the bed and laid a hand on my forehead.

"…You've got a fever. Catch a cold?"

"I don't… think it's a cold. No cough…."

"Then what is it?"

"Dunnooo…. Maybe last night was… too intense…."

I'd heard it once, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠not long after arriving at Nakseonggwan—that the first time a man and woman mixed their flesh, the next day always brought some kind of fallout.

"Why are… you fine…?"

"I'm hurting too. I just came out because I've got things to do."

"Things to do…? What… things?"

"Mother gave me permission to go down to the ground floor."

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"Lady Cheong-hwa…?! Really?!"

"Yeah. So I figured I'd get some outside air."

That was wonderful news.

Jin Yu had always, from time to time, gazed out the window with that distant look in his eyes. And on days when I came back from a walk, he would always grill me for every last detail of what I'd seen. Knowing how long he'd waited for a day he could go outside, I wanted to celebrate it as if it were my own joy.

It was a shame I was laid up like this and couldn't share that first moment with him—but maybe it was the fever talking. Without meaning to, I found myself wanting to be a little selfish.

"…Jin Yu."

"Hm?"

"Are you going out into the streets too? To the market?"

"Dunno. I'll probably start by walking the Nakseonggwan grounds. If there's time, maybe?"

"Don't go."

"Huh? Why?"

The pure, genuine curiosity in his "Why?" pricked my conscience. But I'd already said it—I couldn't stop now. I pulled the blanket up over my face a little and mumbled,

"…My wish is to be the one who shows you the streets for the first time. To introduce you to the market."

"Aigoo."

I meant it.

I wanted to see his face when he looked at the people on the streets in wonder. I wanted to fix in my eyes the way he'd fluster at the sheer crush of that enormous crowd. I wanted to take him to the market and feed him this and that. I knew a few stalls that looked like junk food but tasted incredible, and I wanted to watch him try them and light up the way I once had.

But if he started wandering outside from today on, all of that might turn to foam. It wouldn't be his first time anymore.

At my selfish little wish, Jin Yu just snorted. Of course it wouldn't work….

"Alright. If that's your wish, then I won't."

"H-huh?"

"Honestly… I'm more curious about the people inside Nakseonggwan than the ones outside."

"Inside… you mean the courtesans?"

"Yeah."

Curious about the courtesans?

That was new. Until now, Jin Yu had only ever cared about how much money was coming in and going out of Nakseonggwan….

"Don't tell me… Jin Yu…."

"Hm?"

He hadn't… discovered the taste of women, had he?

Even as I felt my face heat up, I finished the question.

"Just because I'm… like this…. You're not going off to screw any random courtesan… are you?"

"W-what are you talking about?!!"

"R-right…?"

"Of course not!! I-in the first place—do you think I could just go around screwing whoever I want?"

"…And why couldn't you?"

"You and I have known each other forever…. So you came on to me first, and that's how last night happened! You think some courtesan I've never even met would do that with me?"

Ahh….

Jin Yu, you're more innocent than I thought.

"You're Lady Cheong-hwa's son."

"So?"

"If you were to lay a hand on me… it would be an overwhelming honor."

"That's ridiculous…."

"'Imperial favor'… that's what you called it yesterday, right?"

Bearing the Emperor's child and becoming his official wife.

"What… about it?"

"To the courtesans, Jin Yu… you're that kind of existence."

Even I, given half a chance, had thought about carrying your baby….

"……No way."

"Did you think I was just calling you that for empty flattery?"

"How?"

"Prince ♥"

"……."

Jin Yu said nothing.

Had I shown him this world a little too nakedly?

Right. Maybe I'd said too much. Ever since last night, when those terrible memories of Beijing—when my life had hung by a thread—had come flooding back, I'd found myself casually voicing the cold truths I'd learned back then.

That clinging to a powerful man and fastening the leash of his child around your own neck was hundreds of times better than living wretchedly alone. I'd heard that truth secondhand from the bottom-rung lives of the brothels—women whose pride had kept them from ever taking that final step.

"…I'll be careful."

"Heh. Careful of what?"

"But you shouldn't talk like that so freely either."

"Why? Scared I'll come after you with bad intentions?"

I asked it playfully.

"No."

"Then?"

"Because even without doing anything like that, you're already more than valuable enough."

"……."

For a moment, the words stuck in my throat as if something had caught there.

I'd been showing off like I knew more about the world than he did—but maybe Jin Yu was the more grown-up one between us.

"Ohui, Geumryang."

At the way he called me, my mouth finally opened again. It was the same phrase he'd used yesterday to stop me when I was throwing a tantrum, begging him to take me.

I already knew what I was supposed to say.

"…Yes, Young Master."

"Rest well, and get better soon."

"…Yes."

"That way we can go see the streets and the market together for the first time. Right?"

Smiling, he said it just like that.

…Why did those words—those perfectly ordinary words—make the tip of my nose sting?

"…Mm! I'll get better… real, real soon."

Ah. Such a warm person.

…A good person.

From beyond the door, I could hear Jin Yu asking someone to look after me, giving them this instruction and that.

Thump, thump….

My heart was racing.