Older Brother
Whether I was struck dumb with horror or not, the conversation between the two royal brothers flowed as smoothly as water.
"Geum visits my quarters often, so he and Bong-bong can spend time together whenever he comes."
"May I truly, Brother?"
Oh, brother. Look at these two.
Seriously, what in the world are they doing?
Why was there not a single soul in this vast palace who gave a damn about a child’s own wishes?
"Bong-bong mentioned she was lonely because she had no friends, so the timing could not be more fortuitous."
I had no idea the Crown Prince would remember that offhand excuse. When he had caught me with my face smeared in ink to the west of Chwiseondang, that was merely the first lie that tumbled out of my mouth, but still…
Getting buddy-buddy with a seven-year-old nitpicker is the absolute last thing on my bucket list.
I had to dodge this nightmare at all costs. Naturally, I resorted to exercising my right of refusal with every fiber of my tiny being.
Which is to say, I scurried behind the Crown Prince's back and hid.
"Haha. Having two new brothers spring up so suddenly must have made Bong-bong shy."
Wrong. It’s not shyness; it’s sheer, unadulterated disgust.
Right then, Prince Yeoning addressed me directly.
"Bong-bong-ah."
"Yeth, Yeoning-gun-jaga. Did you summon me?"
Watching me clasp my little hands together politely and take painstaking care to enunciate each syllable, Prince Yeoning softened his tone.
"It seems I startled your young self earlier. I only wished to impart the weight of proper decorum, so there is no need to remain so stiff. From this day forward, consider me your adoptive elder brother and be at ease."
…I did not believe a single word.
I felt like a brand-new corporate intern standing before a department head who slapped you on the back and barked, "Just treat me like a friend, relax!"
Did my shoulders swell with pride because royal princes were squabbling over calling me their little sister? Not in the slightest. Absolutely not.
My entire survival strategy hinged on maintaining the lowest possible profile: a completely unremarkable, invisible toddler.
Catching the King's eye has already made that an uphill battle, sure.
Yet this was a whole different kind of peril. If rumors spread that I was basking in the doting favor of the royal princes, and I became the target of petty court jealousy, my palace life would turn into a living hell.
"Jeoha. Can I say something, pwease?"
I mustered every ounce of nerve I had.
This court was a ruthlessly rigid caste society. To these royals, they were the heavens above, and I was the dirt under their feet—or perhaps a wretched creature buried straight down in the Earth’s core. Even so…
I have my own mind, thank you very much.
I wanted to remind them of that simple truth they seemed so blissfully blind to.
"What is it? Speak, Bong-bong-ah."
Looking up into the Crown Prince’s gentle face, I kept my voice steady.
"I already have an older brother, Jeoha."
"Ah, is that so? You have a brother outside the palace?"
"Yeth…"
The moment the answer left my lips, Prince Yeoning cut in.
"Even if you have an older brother, what harm could there be in gaining an adoptive one? What is more, for one of royal blood such as myself to play the part of your brother ought to be a tremendous honor."
It was arrogant to an almost unbearable degree, yet I tried to cut him some slack. Born a prince and having spent every second of his seven years atop the social pyramid, such arrogance was second nature to him.
Still, I was stubborn in my own right.
"That is…"
I hesitated for a brief second. Did I really need to drag something so somber out into the open? Yet if I stood by and let things slide, I would end up tangled up with Prince Yeoning before I knew it.
"My older brother is dead."
I laid bare the simple truth.
"Even though he is gone now… to me, I only have one brother."
Unlike my deliberate calculation, an unexpected lump rose in my throat the moment the words left my mouth.
Wait, this isn’t about my past life. I’m talking about Hwang Bong-bong's brother. Why am I getting so choked up?
Flustered by the sudden surge of grief, I hastily bowed my head.
"……."
A heavy, suffocating silence swept over the pavilion.
The Crown Prince, Prince Yeoning, and all the court attendants in their wake froze as if struck by a bitter winter gale.
"…Bong-bong-ah."
The Crown Prince's voice trembled. Only after wrestling my features back under control did I dare look up.
His usually placid, benevolent eyes were churning with distress. Beside him, Prince Yeoning was blinking in dumbfounded shock, completely petrified.
"Bong-bong-ah," the Crown Prince murmured, remorse lacing every word. "I spoke out of turn, never dreaming you bore such a sorrow. I have troubled your heart with my careless words. Forgive me, Bong-bong-ah."
"No, Jeoha. I am sowwy."
The air had turned far too gloomy on my account.
Time to make my exit.
I felt a twinge of guilt for wrecking the mood and running away, but self-preservation came first.
"Then, I shall take my leave and return to Chwiseondang."
I offered a deep, polite bow and slipped quietly out of Jeoseungjeon.
Phew. Barely escaped with my life.
I had finally wriggled out of the royal brothers' clutches. Their absurd notions about playing house and making me their adoptive sister seemed thoroughly squashed.
Still… what kind of person was the real Hwang Bong-bong’s older brother?
Come to think of it, I didn't even know his name. To be frank, I had never felt the need to dig into this body's past. Ever since Court Lady Han mentioned that I was an orphan of noble birth whose older brother had passed away, I had simply assumed I was an abandoned child with nowhere to turn.
She said there was quite an age gap, but even so, he must have still been just a boy…
I brushed the lingering thought aside.
I don’t know his face, and I don't know his name. What’s the point in dwelling on it? Besides, he's dead.
It was an uncanny coincidence, though: both the original Hwang Bong-bong and I in my past life had lost an older brother.
Memories from that previous existence, which had begun to feel like a distant dream, crept quietly back to the surface. On days when graduate school felt too brutal to endure, I used to visit his niche at the columbarium. Staring at that small glass-fronted cubicle packed with traces of his life—and the cherished memories we had shared—always brought a sense of calm, as if he were patting my shoulder in quiet comfort.
His death anniversary must be coming up soon.
He had passed away in March, just as the first buds of spring were beginning to bloom. In a world bound to the lunar calendar, I couldn't even pin down the exact date.
Even so… I wish I had a place to remember him.
There would surely be difficult days ahead. It would be nice to have a private sanctuary where I could run to whenever things became too hard to bear.
Before long, my feet carried me to the Northern Forest of Jeoseungjeon, the very grove where I had wrestled with Geumdeok. Back then, between digging in the dirt and wrangling a royal feline, I hadn't possessed the luxury of admiring my surroundings. Seeing it now, the woods were surprisingly picturesque.
"This spot will do."
Beneath the sprawling boughs of a massive pine nestled in the heart of the grove, a patch of ground lay bathed in warm, dappled sunlight. I cleared away the brittle fallen leaves and twigs, then gathered smooth pebbles, carefully stacking them one by one until they formed a miniature stone cairn. At its base, I laid a small bouquet fashioned from wild forest blooms.
Lastly, I drew three pieces of dang-gwa from the pocket of my pouch.
It was my own humble ancestral memorial spread.
"…Oppa."
It had been so long since I allowed myself to call out that name. So long since I thought not of Hwang Bong-bong, but of the person who meant the entire world to me in my past life.
My only family, and my greatest pride. An Olympic gold medalist, a national Taekwondo athlete, and, by everyone’s consensus, the most hopeless, doting older brother on the planet…
Was it already seven years ago that his radiant life had been cruelly extinguished? Having tumbled back hundreds of years through time, I had lost all track of how to measure the days.
"Oppa. You wouldn't believe the insane thing that happened to me."
Tenderly stroking the rough surface of the stones, I whispered toward the mound.
"I should’ve listened to you and done sports. Instead, I got all carried away studying history and ended up stranded in the Joseon Dynasty. I guess this is my punishment for never listening to my big brother."
A gentle breeze rustled the pine needles overhead. From somewhere in the underbrush, a lone yellow butterfly drifted out, fluttering softly around the little stone cairn.
…Did you come to see me, Oppa?
Did you come all this way just to comfort your ungrateful little sister who almost forgot the anniversary of your death?
"Still… I think it’s time I accepted it. No matter how much I want to deny it, this is the reality I have to live with."
This tiny cairn was a place to honor my brother, but it was also the altar where I bid farewell to my former self. An aegi-nain of Chwiseondang named Hwang Bong-bong—that was who I was now, and the life I had to survive.
"Even so, Oppa… I'll come visit once in a while. When things get too tough, or when I miss you so much I can't stand it…"
Drip.
A single tear dropped onto the emerald moss below.
"So please, watch over me from heaven. Okay?"
I tilted my head back, gazing up at the impossibly vast blue sky. Amidst the sunbeams shimmering like gentle ripples across water, I slowly closed my eyes.
His brilliant, dazzling youth. Followed by those agonizing, shadow-drenched days when an unexpected illness stole away his light, wasting him away until nothing remained…
I held my breath, listening intently to the echo of his voice buried deep in my memory.
'You have to live a happy life. Promise me, okay?'
'It’s a promise.'
"…I promise."
I had a duty, a solemn responsibility to keep that vow. Wiping the wetness from my cheeks with the back of my sleeve, I pushed myself up from the forest floor.
"Jeoha. Regarding the matter of the child Bong-bong you spoke of earlier."
At Eunuch Mun’s quiet approach, the Crown Prince’s face brightened with interest.
"Ah. Have you looked into it?"
"Yes, Jeoha." Eunuch Mun lowered his head, speaking in a measured, reverent tone. "Just as was said, she is indeed an orphan. Originally, she lived alone with an older brother ten years her senior."
"Yet Bong-bong said her brother had passed away as well?"
"Yes. A considerable amount of time has elapsed since his disappearance, so everyone in her village assumed the worst."
"A disappearance?" the Crown Prince pressed, his brow furrowing. "If he simply vanished, how did they conclude he was dead?"
"That is… do you recall the violent brawl caused by a band of rogue martial artists some two months ago? The bloody clash that swept up innocent commoners and left several dead?"
"Of course I remember. His Majesty was so incensed by the outrage that he ordered the scoundrels executed on the spot."
"It was precisely around that time that Bong-bong’s brother went missing."
"Ah…"
"Word had it that her brother kept company with martial artists, so the villagers believed the conclusion was all but certain."
"So that is what happened."
The Crown Prince nodded, a somber weight settling over his features.
Long after Eunuch Mun bowed and withdrew from the chamber, the young heir to the throne remained sitting in solitude, lost in contemplation. The scene from a few days prior flashed vividly across his mind.
'It's not your fault, Jeoha.'
'It's the adults who are in the wrong.'
She had offered him such extraordinary solace when he was wallowing in self-pity over his miserable circumstances.
And yet, that very child had been bearing such crushing grief within her tiny, frail body all this time…
His heart ached with an unbearable pang of remorse. How could he ever hope to repay such a debt?
That night, the candles in the Crown Prince's bedchamber burned long into the dark hours, refusing to go out.
It was from that day forth.
The beginning of Hwang Bong-bong's long and arduous wait.