First Outing (3): Chasing Shadows Home
I run. “Ma’am!” I hear Jeongi calling from behind, but I ignore him and sprint with everything I’ve got.
As I run, the hairpin I’d used to pin up my hair starts to loosen bit by bit, and my long hair begins to cascade down. Unlike back when I was a man with short hair, this long hair is insanely heavy—like someone’s yanking on it. The hairpin, barely clinging to my head, shakes with every stride, smacking against my body in the most irritating way.
I can’t take it anymore. I yank out the hairpin Hwaya and the maids so carefully chose for me and toss it behind me.
“Ma’am! Why all of a sudden…!”
My robe’s sash is already half-undone, the front flap whipping around, and these flat shoes with no heels keep trying to slip off. Gripping the hanbok-style skirt with both hands, I run awkwardly, but the distance between me and the fleeing man just keeps growing.
“Wait! Stop right there!”
I shout as hard as I can, but of course, no answer comes back. If anything, he notices I’m tiring and glances back leisurely.
My breath comes in ragged gasps. My body still doesn’t feel entirely like mine. My head screams to keep chasing, but my legs won’t obey. I thought I’d gotten pretty healthy, but apparently my condition’s still a mess. Compared to my old, robust male body, I wonder if this frail one will ever feel normal.
Still, I can’t stop. I can’t let that guy get away. For the first time since possessing this romance-fantasy novel body—whose name I don’t even know—a clue has appeared.
He was holding something that looked just like a smartphone!
Of course, from a distance, I can’t be sure it’s really a smartphone, but there’s no way I’d let the first possibility I’ve seen pass by without a fight.
To shake me off, he darts into a narrow alley. I’m already at my limit; every turn widens the gap noticeably.
One more alley turn.
I can’t keep up anymore. I have to slap a hand against the wall to stop.
My vision shakes. My lungs burn like fire.
I can’t let him get away like this….
“Ma’am. Are you chasing that man?”
Jeongi, who’d followed me in perfect calm, speaks up. In his arms, he holds the hairpin I threw away, the accessories that fell off while running—even my left shoe, which I hadn’t noticed slipping off.
“Ma’am. The man in the gray robe holding something black?”
Jeongi carefully hands me the items I’d dropped and asks more specifically. I nod with effort.
“Shall I catch him?”
His question reminds me of what he said in front of the candied-fruit vendor earlier—that if I didn’t give a clear order, he’d hold back.
“Yes. Haah… catch him….”
“Understood.”
The moment I give the order, Jeongi shoots off like an arrow and drags the guy back in no time. It’s so fast that I’m still leaning against the wall, catching my breath.
“Why… haah… only now?”
“Hwaya gave strict orders to serve you well. I couldn’t leave your side without a direct command.”
I just realized Jeongi’s a total stickler for rules. Couldn’t he bend a little in situations like this…? Why’d I have to go through all that trouble?
I’d gripe at Jeongi later for just trailing behind without orders. For now, thanks to him, we caught the guy.
“Aargh! You bastard! This is mine!”
The man desperately clutches the black slab to his chest, refusing to hand it over. With his build—about twice mine—I can’t even get a look at the thing while he thrashes around.
No way I could’ve done it alone.
“Take it from him.”
“Aigoo, more trouble piling up!”
Using Jeongi, I snag it easily.
After all that pointless ordeal, I finally get the item. The moment Jeongi hands it over, it feels familiar in size—the rectangular shape that fills one hand, just like the smartphone I carried every day in the modern world.
But that’s it.
No screen, no buttons, no camera—nothing a smartphone should have. It’s not even metal; it’s wooden. Just a wooden plaque painted black.
Not a smartphone. I was wrong; I jumped to conclusions and caused a needless fuss.
Now I’ll return this mystery plaque, apologize for being rough, tell Jeongi it was a mistake, and head back. Brush it off as a silly error from getting excited on my first outing, meet up with Hwaya, stroll the market, buy snacks for the cute kids who caught my eye… head back… head… head….
Head back? Where to? Not Ryu Sua’s life—where the hell am I supposed to go back to?
“Fuck…. Fuck! Why run if it’s nothing!”
A stream of curses erupts from my mouth in a rage-filled voice, and I hurl the wooden plaque to the ground.
“Am I some criminal? The vendor said he’d trade it for meat on market’s last day, so I was treasuring it. You lot were staring holes through me!”
“What? You think I need that crap? Look at me!”
“Even if not, with fine folks like you glaring daggers, who’d stick around?”
Still fuming, I keep bickering with him, huffing for a while.
“Then… just go…. Why run all of a sudden…”
But no matter how much I vent, nothing changes. My voice loses steam, growing thick and wet.
My vision blurs. My jaw goes slack; I collapse to the ground.
Jeongi approaches in alarm, but I pull my knees to my chest, bury my face, and stay there.
What a mess this all is. Smartphones in an Eastern romance-fantasy? Was I hoping for another possessor or transmigrator besides me?
If I’d known, I’d have stayed quietly in the bookstore picking novels. Instead, I exhausted myself chasing shadows, and now Hwaya’ll scold me when I get back….
Why? What did I do wrong?
I was just heading home from work like always… fuck, I hadn’t even thought that through properly. What an idiot.
Probably dozed off on the subway reading a novel. So why am I trapped here?
Why shove me into some no-name shitty romance fantasy? Who? Why?
Should I flail around thwarting some unknown black curtain? Or seduce the male lead who was supposed to turn villainous? Is that Sohwi? Ah~ And his true form’s a scary giant fox. Perfect match, right?
Or does Ryu Sua die as fated and go dark? Whatever. Flip the dinner table, undo my sash for a wild night, pop out a kid, and get sent back?
If that’s it, just say so. It’s not even my body— I’ll fawn over my fox hubby with all I’ve got and go home.
I’ll do anything. Please, just tell me what I need to do. Please.
“Why tease me like this, damn it…”
Hot, trembling tears pour from my blurred eyes.
I hate it all. I cry.
“Hic… I wanna go home…”
I want this endless first outing to end. I want to go home.
Everyone in the estate knows the lady of the house has memory issues.
But the maids say she smiles brightly and remains as kind as ever, so no one worries much.
Today, her fondness for children in her true form was the same as always.
Yet…
How is this woman crumpled on the ground, sobbing her heart out in grief, the “same”?
She’s just been holding it in, pretending all this time. Probably because she hates worrying others.
That’s the lady we know.
“Hic… I wanna go home…”
“Shall I escort you back to the estate?”
“I wanna go home.”
To the question of returning to the estate, she answers she wants to go home. I can say nothing.
I don’t know what “home” she means.
I just watch as she sobs quietly, repeating it.
After some time—maybe a quarter of an hour—she calms enough to speak in a muffled voice, head still buried.
“Sorry…. I’ll return the wooden plaque. Sorry.”
“He already took it and left.”
“…Could I compensate him later?”
It’s pitiful—our lady apologizing to thin air long after he’s gone, even offering to track him down for recompense.
“Yes. I’ll look into it.”
“…Thank you.”
Yes, I’ll look into it.
How dare he speak rudely to her, then slink away.
Does he deserve to keep breathing in Horyeongsan’s domain?
I didn’t lie. I’ll “compensate” as she wishes.
Very comfortably. Not recompense, of course.
Just so our pure-hearted lady doesn’t worry.
I’ll handle it myself.
Report to Head Maid Hwaya when she arrives.
Then take my punishment for failing in my duty.
But if the others find out… god knows how they’d tear him apart.