The Straw-Hatted Stalker Reveals Herself
Why are you telling me to take it off now?
I'd scored in the mid-to-upper ranks on the exam. After making a promise to meet up with Jeong Hyeon-beom and So Ji-hu again someday, I set off for Jeong-eup.
"……."
Clop clop clop.
But my nerves were on edge because of the guy riding behind me, following on horseback. It wasn't like I owned the road, and up until now, traveling companions hadn't bothered me much.
But this time was different. Gripping the reins, I glanced back over my shoulder.
A man of small stature was trailing me on horseback. Even with his face hidden under a straw hat woven from reeds, he couldn't conceal the hand holding the reins. Those pale, slender fingers screamed "runaway young master from some rich house."
I'd noticed the little squirt a few hours ago. Up to that point, I'd just figured he was heading the same way and thought nothing of it.
But watching him rest when I rested and set off when I did changed my mind. I glanced back over my shoulder at the kid again.
He was still following with his head bowed low.
Why the hell do I run into trouble every damn time I head home? At least this time it wasn't a leopard or bandits—small mercies.
What if he follows me all the way to the house? Picturing my wife and kids at home, I stopped in my tracks.
The kid trailing behind halted his horse right after me.
"Stay right here for a sec." I said to Eori, loosely tying the reins to a nearby tree. Then I drew my Soo-seok revolver from my bosom and turned.
"Hey."
"……!"
Even from several meters away, I could see his tiny frame flinch. Preparing for whatever might happen, I thumbed back the hammer and asked,
"You know me? Why the hell are you tailing me?"
"……."
Nod nod.
This little brat just nods when an adult's talking to him? I guess I'd soaked up some Joseon-era bullshit too, because my face soured at the sight of the kid nodding silently.
"Why are you following me?"
"……."
"Why are you following me? You deaf?"
Shake shake.
The hell? I could kinda understand how people felt watching me. Ignoring my rising blood pressure, I started walking again.
"Who are you? Do you know me? Why are you following?"
No matter how many times I asked or how close I got, he just stared at me from under his hat without answering. I couldn't even see his face properly because of the cloth wrapped around it against the cold wind.
Time for the etiquette enforcer, then.
"Take off that rag on your face while I'm asking nicely. Before I shoot."
I stopped a few steps ahead and aimed the gun. The eyes peering from under the hat trembled slightly.
The kid let go of the reins and raised his slender hands. With one hand, he pointed to the cloth covering his face.
Like, for real?
"Yeah. Take it off. For real."
"……!"
The eyes looking up at me curved into a quiet smile, like they'd been waiting for those words. That eye-smile... I'd seen it somewhere before.
But she was supposed to be at the gisaeng house right now, not in front of me.
"You, you, you don't happen to be...?"
The kid confirmed my suspicion by slowly pulling down the cloth, revealing her recently blossoming beauty.
"Why are you telling me to take it off now?"
"Hey, you...?!"
I was so flabbergasted that words failed me, and my gun hand dropped. Cheong-yeon, following my lead, lowered her hands and grabbed the reins again.
"Let's get going, sir. I'm following you, after all."
"Wha—why the hell are you here?"
"How else? I rode here."
"No, that's not what I—"
For now, I carefully eased the hammer down to prevent an accidental discharge. As I was holstering the Soo-seok revolver again, I asked once more,
"Why are you here?"
Cheong-yeon—no, Kim So-yeon—wasn't the type to be out here. She belonged in Cheong-un-gak, one of Jeonju's gisaeng houses. Wearing flashy skirts and jeogori, not men's military robes.
And... ah, fuck it.
"Why are you here?"
"How many times are you gonna ask?"
Kim So-yeon giggled like the whole situation was hilarious. But I was just dumbfounded.
"Can you even be here?"
No way in hell. She was Cheong-wol's successor, the top gisaeng at Cheong-un-gak, with beauty lately in full bloom. She didn't belong out here.
"Why not?"
Kim So-yeon shrugged like she couldn't understand the question.
"You think gisaeng take guests every single day? We're people too. People. Winter slows the customers down, so we take vacations like this, heading off on long trips."
"By yourself?"
"Myself? My companion's right here, big as life."
"Where?"
I looked around just in case, but there was no one but me and Kim So-yeon.
"Right here."
Kim So-yeon gripped the reins with both hands and pointed at her companion.
Me.
"Are you insane?"
"Kuhahat! If you'd just made me your concubine sooner, this wouldn't have happened."
"You little—!"
Who the hell stalks someone to become their concubine?! Kim So-yeon wanting to be my concubine wasn't new.
But following me all the way home like this? First time.
"So what am I supposed to do?"
She must've sensed I was seriously pissed. Cheong-yeon pouted her vermilion lips like a cat that ate the canary, then whined like a scolded kid.
"After this winter, I'll never get to see you again. You're the only one who treats me like a person. I don't wanna let you go without doing anything. Got it?"
"Yeah, yeah, got it. For real."
Sigh. What the hell do I do with her? Send her back? We'd come too far for that. Even turning around now, she'd hit Jeonju after dark.
To buy time while I figured something out, I asked,
"What about the house master? Does he know you're here?"
"Of course. Father gave permission. Said not to come back till I'm a concubine."
"What if something happens?"
"Then..."
Cheong-yeon smiled with those pouted lips.
"You take responsibility, right?"
"Responsibility, my ass. Fuck. Seriously."
If she weren't so damn pretty, I'd have smacked her. For real.
But what now? Take her along for real? Eori would kill me.
And dragging a gisaeng-house girl to a backwater like Chaekho Village...
"Hm? Why the smile? Finally warming up to making me your concubine?"
"In your dreams."
I forced down my twitching lips and got serious. With a sigh full of frustration, I nodded.
"Fine. Let's go."
"Ooh! For real?"
"Yeah. Sure."
It was too late to send her back to Jeonju anyway, and wherever we stopped—my place or not—she'd need a night's rest. But making her a concubine? Hell no.
A girl who'd ditched the gisaeng house to stalk me wouldn't leave over a little nagging.
But if she left on her own? Problem solved.
Chaekho Village was nothing like Jeonju—pure, unadulterated countryside. The villagers were Hwacheok folk: rough around the edges, looks different from regular commoners.
Even our house was the same. We'd stacked cash from the gisaeng house lately, plus royalties from my plagiarized works courtesy of King Munjong, so money wasn't an issue.
Rumors said we had a tiled-roof house in Hanyang, so folks thought I was loaded. Reality? Not even close.
Our family home was a basic two-room place with a kitchen—standard-issue tiled roof.
No desperate gisaeng would wanna be concubine in a dump like that.
"Alright. Let's go."
I started walking, half-expecting her to whine about heading back to Jeonju right now.
We spotted Chaekho Village as the sun dipped low. Bathed in red sunset glow, it looked as idyllic as ever.
But a delicately raised gisaeng would see it differently.
"Ohooo! So that's Chaekho Village, where you grew up? Heard about it, but first time seeing it—exciting!"
It had to be different for her, right?
"Where'd you take down that tiger? North gate, I heard? Sun's setting west, so that hill there's gotta be it! Come on, let's go!"
"Go where?!"
Kim So-yeon laid eyes on humble little Chaekho Village and her eyes sparkled with curiosity and delight.
But once inside, it'd change. Seeing the Hwacheok villagers—so different from other Joseon folk—she'd freak.
"Ooh! So this is what Hwacheok people look like up close! Seen 'em from afar, but never this near!"
"You think this is a zoo?!"
"Huh? What's a zoo?"
"Uh, it's a thing. Get off the horse. You'll get stabbed like that."
I grabbed her sleeve and yanked her away from peeking over the fence at the villagers. Even off the horse and following me, she didn't hide her curiosity a bit.
"Sir, what's that the kids are throwing and playing with?"
"Ttakji. Folded paper things."
"Then what's that paper flower? Ttakji too?"
"Nah, that's origami."
"Everything's so new. Following you was the right call."
"Bringing you was my mistake."
Kim So-yeon was thrilled, wrecking all my plans. I'd figured Eori might forgive if she whined to go back to Jeonju, but this excitement? No clue.
Ah, fuck. What now? Take her in for now? Better than wild beasts—no, Eori with a knife was worse. Yeah.
Despite my tangled thoughts, my feet carried me to our family home.
"Oh my!"
Reality snapped back when I heard Eori's voice. I'd arrived at our front gate without realizing.
Through the open gate, I saw Eori coming from the kitchen.
"Husband! You're finally back?"
Eori, now a mother, had matured so much since two years ago. Her figure, impossible to hide even under loose hanbok, had grown even more voluptuous. Her bright smile carried a fierce allure now. Especially those sharper double eyelids—sleepy yet fatally seductive.
"Hee hee hee!"
But that innocent laugh was the same as ever.
Until she spotted Kim So-yeon behind me.
"Pardon the intrusion."
"Hey, wait—"
Before I could stop her, Kim So-yeon strode into the yard, doffing her hat and scarf. Revealing beauty rivaling Eori's full bloom.
"……."
Eori's smile vanished.
But Kim So-yeon ignored it, bowing demurely.
"I hope you've been well, ma'am. I'm Kim So-yeon, known as Cheong-yeon at Cheong-un-gak. It's a great honor to meet you after such a long journey."
"……."
The air grew suffocating. Eori stared at Kim So-yeon with empty eyes; Kim So-yeon smiled softly, head bowed.
"……."
Eori moved first. She turned and went into the kitchen.
She emerged moments later... wielding the kitchen knife for chopping meat?!
"Wha—whoa! Hold on! Eori! Eori! No! It's not—wha?! Why me?!"
"You're first, husband……!"
"No! No! Wait! Ah! Just wait!"
I'd thought she'd charge Kim So-yeon, but Eori glared at me like she wanted to kill.
Like, literally kill.
"No! It's not like that! I told her not to come! Listen to me! She followed on her own!"
I dropped to my knees and groveled. Eori loomed over me with hollow eyes.
Debating whether to cleave my skull or slit my throat, probably.
"Ma'am. It's a misunderstanding."
Kim So-yeon spoke up, unflinching. She flinched a bit under Eori's glare but continued calmly.
"As your husband said, I followed on my own. So please, don't blame him."
"……."
Wha—what? Did it work?
"……Words."
Eori broke her silence.
"Too slippery."
She raised the knife high.
"Whoooaaa! Hold on! Eori!"
"I, I'm!"
Kim So-yeon dropped the ladylike act this time.
"I'm a virgin!"
"What?"
Even though it was the flat of the blade, Eori's descending hand froze.
Seizing the moment, Kim So-yeon yelled desperately.
"I got tangled with that guy before even pinning up my hair—I haven't held a man's hand! Check the room if you don't believe me!"
Whether shock or absurdity, Eori's hand stopped. Slowly, she lowered her arm and pointed the kitchen knife toward the room.
"Husband."
"Y-yeah?"
"To the room. Now."
"O-okay. But, uh, the knife..."
"……."
"Uh, fine. Whatever you want."
I shuffled into the room like a mouse in a trap. When Eori followed shortly after, I spilled everything.
She glared coldly, but it was better than the empty stare from before.
"Heard some commotion at the mill house? You know anything?"
"Oh, yeah, I heard. They say he brought a gisaeng home? To make her a concubine?"
"What? That guy! Never pegged him for it! But what about Geum-ok, then?"
"Heh heh! Come on! Two ain't enough for the mill house stamina? Gotta be at least three."
"Right! Three minimum! Otherwise, our little darkie croaks! Kah kah kah!"