The Husky Pursuit in the Alley
You ruined my daughter's marriage prospects, you wretch!
I inspected the house while cleaning it up. The structure was sound, but without essentials like farming tools or a cauldron, it wasn't livable right away. I couldn't just buy them on a whim either. We'd gotten a flood of gifts a few days ago, so money wasn't the issue. But we were in Hanyang for a visit, not to settle down permanently. We'd have to leave in less than a month. I considered renting it out to a tenant who could use it while we were gone, but skimping on quality items we'd need years later felt wasteful. Any tenant who could afford a tiled-roof house would surely have their own furnishings, and with servants included, it wasn't a bad deal for them. So I put the house up for monthly rent and continued crashing at Lord I In-su's place. Of course, with the condition that the servants covered their own food until a tenant moved in.
"Hmmm…."
To earn that food money, I holed up in one of the side chambers at Lord I In-su's residence, focusing on my plagiarism spree. Was it like this? Then I hit a wall—not creation, but memory. It had been over ten years since I read the book, and the details were fuzzy. The Crown Prince had said to just wing it if I couldn't remember, but he wasn't the type to mean that literally. If I half-assed it and showed him, I'd get shot down for sure.
Ah, fuck it.
If it wasn't coming back after thirty minutes of staring, it wasn't coming back after three hours. Better to take a walk. Eori and Takji had taken Geum-sun-i and Eun-sun-i out, so I stepped out the gate alone. Wandering aimlessly through the streets, I racked my brain. A guy from warm Honam ends up in cold Hamgil-do, catches tuberculosis, and imagines he'll die when the last leaf on that vine falls. Then the painter secretly draws a leaf on the wall….
"Grab that bastard!"
Grab that bastard? Huh?
"Grab that bastard! Grab him!"
A chase had erupted in the quiet alley. Men from some yangban household, eyes bloodshot, were pursuing a woman.
"Kyaaah! Help! Somebody help meee!"
The fugitive looked just over twenty. Her voice was husky for a woman as she screamed for her life and bolted straight toward me.
"Y-Young master! Save me, please!"
"Me? You mean me?"
"Yes! Who else is here, young master? Please, save me!"
She ducked behind me without asking, panting hard. A sweet fragrance wafted over my shoulder, but for some reason, chills ran down my spine.
"Who the hell are you? Get lost."
"Th-those guys are trying to kill me!"
"I said get lost."
"Kyaaah! Save me!"
Her constant husky screams from behind made my skin crawl. Something about it felt off-putting.
"Hey, you there, young master!"
The men who'd been chasing her murderously closed in, each gripping a hefty club. The leader pointed his at the woman.
"No more talk! Hand her over now!"
"Huh? Why?"
"Can't say, so just hand her over!"
If I complied, based on her story, it was either a beating with those clubs or getting rolled up in a mat for one. Two options, same result.
"Y-Young master…!"
She grabbed my shoulder with trembling hands, as if begging me not to. Big hands for a woman. And a bit hairy.
Yeah, okay. It's Joseon. Women don't shave here.
"You fucking bitch! You're dead when we catch you!"
I ignored it and turned back to the men, who were stomping closer, clubs in hand.
"Wait, hold on."
I waved them off with one hand while slipping the other into my robe for my gapsa badge.
"I'm Idle Captain Kim Si-jin. Stay back."
Idle Captain—honorary in peacetime with no stipend or command, but still a proper Joseon official. Flashing it made them halt and hesitate.
"Greetings, Captain."
The leader bowed upon recognizing my rank, then introduced himself and explained.
"I'm I Dal-ji, servant to Lord I Jeong-won, a jeongnang in the Ministry of Taxation. That wench serves the same household, but she's stolen something, so we're here to retrieve it."
"No! I didn't steal anything!"
Conflicting stories. I shook off the hand on my shoulder and asked the men again.
"What'd she steal?"
"My daughter!"
"Pardon?"
"She stole my daughter! My poor girl, already suffering as the bastard child of a servant—and that bitch took her!"
What the—? Human trafficking? No way, right?
"No! Geum-sun and I love each other!"
Ahh. Got it.
"You goddamn wench, I'll kill you!"
"You ruined my daughter's marriage prospects, you wretch!"
"Rip that bitch's head off!"
Even in open-minded modern times, people viewed gays through tinted glasses. In Confucian Joseon, this reaction was par for the course.
"Hold on. So, your daughter and this woman… are in love?"
"Yes! My girl refused marriage to live with that bitch—urk!"
Uh oh. What now? My take on gays was live and let live, as long as they didn't mess with me or mine. Classic bystander mentality. But standing by here meant the woman behind me got beaten to death. No easy out.
"Sir, what does your daughter think?"
"Why ask that?"
"W-well, the parties' feelings matter most."
"He's right! Geum-sun's feelings are what count!"
Shut up! Buzz off!
I didn't hate gays, but her voice grated on me. I shot her a sidelong glare of annoyance before persuading the men.
"Beating her lover won't just hurt your daughter deeply. Calm down first."
"Calm my ass! Fuck! Hand her over!"
The man finally lost it completely and charged. I backed away slowly, brain racing. What to do? She did mess with his daughter. Play dumb and bail? Nah, she'd die.
Ah, screw it! Save the person first!
I tucked the gapsa badge away. When my hand emerged, it held my iris sword for self-defense instead.
"Wha—whoa! He's got a sword!"
"Sword! Sword!"
"Dal-ji! He drew steel! Snap out of it!"
The glint of the blade in the sunlight seemed to bring him to his senses. Even he, who'd looked ready to lunge, backed off growling.
I didn't point the tip at him—just gripped it and spoke firmly.
"Killing her now won't end this. Cool off. Talk again in a few days—empty-handed. Got it?"
"…!"
"I'm staying at Magistrate I In-su's place. Come there when you've calmed. Someone's gonna die like this."
"…Fine."
Daughter or not, he wouldn't charge a sword-wielding captain. Eyes still flashing, he gathered his men and left. I sheathed my sword only after they were long gone.
"Y-Y-Young master! Thank you so much!"
Whoa!
"?!"
She suddenly hugged me from behind. Even trying not to notice, I felt two soft mounds against my back. But like the first time I saw her, a weird disgust welled up.
"Thank you! You're my lifesaver!"
"Yeah, yeah, let go and talk."
"No way!"
"I'm telling you to let go 'cause I don't like it."
What the hell? Creepy.
I pried her arms from my waist and stepped away. She covered her face with both hands, sobbing as if hiding her tears.
"Sob! Sob! Sob! If you hadn't helped, young master, I'd be… who knows what by now! Sob! Sob! Sob!"
What? Who sobs like that? Does everyone cry differently, like sneezes?
My hand instinctively went to the hidden iris sword. But I dropped it without drawing and asked,
"So, you really like women?"
"Yes! Geum-sun is my moon in the night sky—no, my life! My heart! My breath! I can't live a single day without her! Even if the sky falls and the earth caves in…!"
Ugh. Yeah. True love.
Seeing desperate lovers should feel heartwarming, but I barely kept from frowning. No clue why it bugged me so much. She was pretty enough, but that raspy voice and oversized hands nagged at me. Am I secretly homophobic? Nah.
"If not for you, young master… Thank you!"
"Uh-huh. Stay back. Talk from there."
I backed away as she reached for my hand. She grabbed air, then asked innocently with reddened eyes,
"B-but, young master… You'll really protect this girl?"
"Yeah, guess so."
Saved a life—good deed. But now I'd unwittingly invited a guest home. To someone else's home. Lord I In-su would have words, especially for sheltering a gay woman. Even if he liked me. And we barely had spare rooms—Geum-ok and Eun-ok shared with Eori.
Cramming two adults and two kids in one room? Nah.
Take her to my place? Hell no—if she and Geum-sun eloped for a love nest there….
"What's your name, anyway?"
I'd figure it out on the way. She wiped her dry eyes and replied,
"I've wandered so much, no proper name from my parents…."
"They called me Sa-bang-ji at my last place."
Sa-bang-ji? Odd name.