The Second Test - 7
"Hyung-nim? Why would you suddenly bring up an inn...?"
A fish must never be allowed to grow suspicious. I stared at the Three-Eyed Sword, Jo Cheol, with wide, startled eyes—a man who had just heard the very last thing he expected.
Perhaps feeling sheepish about butting into a business conversation out of nowhere, Jo Cheol cleared his throat awkwardly and spoke.
"Ahem. Well... I've reached the age where a man ought to start thinking about his sunset years, hasn't he? Figured it might be nice to have an inn tucked away for them."
I understand completely. That's how it always goes, isn't it? People start pondering retirement, so they launch businesses and buy up property.
The Three-Eyed Sword's problem was that he intended to do it all with somebody else's money.
In Jo Cheol's eyes I could see that peculiar thrill unique to a man handed an unforeseen opportunity. The thrill, however, was not yet roaring.
Do not put the contract in front of him just yet.
Fan too fierce a wind on a little flame, and the fire never catches—it simply dies.
"Aw, come on, Hyung-nim. Don't do it. Business is no work for a human being."
Rather than goad the fish outright, the first move was to shake the bait until it looked alive—send a headwind into the flame and rouse its own will to burn.
Waving my hands in refusal, I remonstrated in the voice of a shopkeeper crushed beneath one calamity after another.
"You'd merely be dipping a spoon into the bright, promising venture little brother Kang is running. How hard could that be?"
"It's people-wrangling, Hyung-nim. One cough from you and every martial artist in earshot goes quiet as a dead mouse—and now you mean to walk into a trade where every species of nightmare customer under the sun comes swarming to your door?"
I pressed a finger to my forehead and shook my head slowly, as though contemplating a truly thorny problem. Looked at one way, the logic held. But to a fire already kindled, it would read as logic riddled with holes.
"You think I was some eternal master? There was a far longer stretch of my life when I swung a blade with my neck on the line just to scrape together my next meal."
The flame slipped into the gap in my logic and burned hotter still.
"If you ran the food delivery business, you'd be working under me. I'd have to give orders to my own Hyung-nim—no. I couldn't."
I crossed and waved my arms as though the mere thought had me cornered.
"That's what it means to be a ronin—flash a bit of coin and we'll bow our heads to the greenest whelp alive. Between you and me, brother, courtesy would be kept just fine. What's the problem?"
"Hyung-nim, I think this 'good opportunity' has you dazzled, so let me speak as your younger brother. This is no matter of one or two coins, and it would be your very first time running a business at all. If you're truly interested, why not look into it properly, slowly, later on?"
I hurried to smother the Three-Eyed Sword's ardor—then heaped on more.
"Hmmm..."
But the flame refused to settle. If anything, it blazed with the fervor of a fire that wanted, more than anything, to keep burning.
Time to feed in the kindling, I think.
The moment had come. I sent the subtle signal we had prepared.
"What are you carrying on about so earnestly, brother-in-law?"
Jeon Gilsan, as if he had been waiting for precisely this, carried a tray bearing liquor over himself and set it on the table.
"Hyung, liquor this fine... you really shouldn't have."
"My brother-in-law brags about his hometown hyung nonstop, and now you've finally come around—the least I could do was bring out the good stuff. That said, is all this commotion over an inn?"
"Ha ha. It's such a fine establishment that it simply keeps coming up in conversation."
As I spoke, I casually rotated the bottle so its face turned toward Gilsan. The Plan B signal. Go.
"I'm telling you, sell it to me. Does it absolutely have to go to the Joseon Hometown Association? I'll sweeten the price we discussed. In fact, let's open my third location while we're at it."
"...Your third location?"
The Three-Eyed Sword, Jo Cheol, looked at me as though the words made no sense at all.
"Gilsan-hyung has two shops here in Wuhan. This is shop number one."
"Thanks to my brother-in-law here, I went into a business that was never in my stars. Who'd have guessed a layabout who spent his days on wine and dice would take to it so naturally? Thanks to that I opened a second location, and just lately I've been weighing a third."
"Little brother Kang..."
Why does he get to and I don't? Is this discrimination? And it's such a tantalizing inn—one worth paying over the asking price for, no less. I didn't need to crack open Jo Cheol's skull to know; his eyes said it all.
"Gilsan-hyung, I was barely managing to talk him down..."
"What? What did I do wrong?"
When I muttered as though I blamed him, Gilsan replied with perfect incomprehension. His acting was stiff enough to leave a strange humor clinging to it, but for the moment at hand, it fit like a glove.
"A place everyone raves about, hm. Now I'd like to go see it with my own two eyes."
"Haaah. Your eye for these things truly is sharp, Hyung-nim... but I am flatly, completely opposed to you going into business."
"I've survived this treacherous murim on nothing but my eyes and my gut. And my gut is telling me, loud and clear: this one, you charge ahead, no question."
Kindly save that gut for the murim, Hyung-nim.
As though I truly had no other choice, I heaved a long sigh and finally opened my mouth.
"They say the inn sits empty tomorrow. Then let's go have a look at it tomorrow—and please, do keep weighing the decision all the while."
"Tomorrow, then."
Even at my urging, not a trace of deliberation could be heard in the Three-Eyed Sword's voice.
"As if he'd agonize over it."
It's human nature: the moment you tell someone not to do a thing, that is exactly what they want to do. I said it in the study of my estate, sorting through the day's events.
"Why did you refuse? You should've just had him write the contract on the spot."
Gilsan sat in my office as if it were his own and asked, curiosity written all over his face.
"Because it has to be his own free will."
"Free will?"
"I'd love for him to dance on the stage I built from start to finish, but somewhere along the way, someone always wakes up. Huh? Why am I moving forward when I've just been standing still? Something's off here. In that instant they glance around themselves. Why do I need to buy this inn? And the moment a single doubt sprouts—even for one heartbeat—the entire stage comes crashing down."
"Then shouldn't you have pushed things through faster, not slower?"
"No—quite the opposite. What you have to manufacture is focus. The finish line right before his eyes is dazzlingly tempting, so why does this guy keep blocking the way? He loses all time to look around. Someone else plainly planted the thing, yet he talks himself into believing otherwise: I'm running on my own will. I want to run farther. His vision narrows until nothing remains but the finish line."
The finish line I set for him, that is.
"So what was the day for, then?"
"To make him want the contract so very, very badly. That's the only way he ends up paying back the principal and the interest, too."
Even now, an image of himself living a second life must be unfurling inside the Three-Eyed Sword's head.
"Interest? Wasn't the Three-Eyed Sword just holding a stack of promissory notes?"
"I did some digging. Word is that when the House of Hoga collapsed, he got his hands on the Hoga estate. Ran off with the family treasures, they say."
What an absolutely upstanding gentleman.
"So you mean to strip him bare in the name of investment capital. You terrifying creature..."
"Watch me. Anyway—good work today."
Did my unqualified praise catch him off guard? Gilsan's eyes went round for a heartbeat, and then the corners of his mouth crept upward.
"Right? My acting wasn't bad, was it? I think I've got more of a knack for this than I gave myself credit for."
"Not bad at all. So why do you keep turning up here every day? Don't you have work?"
At some point it had become the most natural thing in the world: I come home, and this guy trails in after me.
"If you were me, would you throw away a front-row seat to this? Pulling the wool over a master's eyes! You couldn't pay to see a show like this!"
Don't lean in with that delighted look on your face. In the end, you're just here to loaf.
"At the very least, get some paperwork done."
"Says the man... who dumped all of his onto Hyang."
Gilsan slid a glance toward Miss Jegal, toiling away at documents in a corner of the room in my stead, then shot me a look that asked whether I felt even a flicker of shame.
Fighting dirty with facts, of all things. And now Miss Jegal keeps stealing glances at me. My conscience twinges.
I could tell Miss Jegal I was sorry a hundred times over, but I could not afford to lose to that bastard Gilsan. I walked around behind Miss Jegal and declared, bold as brass:
"Because she's my Miss Jegal."
We are promised to each other's futures, after all!
"..."
I'm sorry. Please stop looking at me like that. Even I think I sounded like absolute trash just now.
"Pfft."
When her cousin found himself struck dumb, Miss Jegal covered her lips and laughed, plainly delighted.
"Hyang. Say something to him too. Tell him to get to work."
"Ah, u-um... if Young Master Kang wishes it, then it's fiiiine..."
A halo was shining behind Miss Jegal, I swear it!
To keep Gilsan from pouncing again, I needed to land a finishing blow. It would make me look like something of an irresponsible wretch, but the moment Miss Jegal said I'll take care of all of it myself, Young Master, this argument would be over.
"Miss Jegal... is there anything you'd like my help with? I'll pitch in at once."
I waited for her answer. Miss Jegal avoided my gaze and opened her mouth with care.
"To tell the truth... you do have quite a lot of work piling upppp..."
Ah.
"I-I'm sorry."
"Pfft!"
Don't you dare laugh, you bastard.
"So you've come, little brother!"
The next day. Impatience must have gotten the better of him—the Three-Eyed Sword arrived ahead of our appointed hour and was pacing back and forth outside the inn.
"Hyung-nim, you've been waiting. The tour of the inn will be given by Mansik, who works under me."
"Mansik, at your service! A pleasure to be of help!"
Ordinarily I would have preferred to do the explaining myself, but just now I was the man playing the dissuader. Times like these call for a reinforcement at your side—one skilled at stoking the flames.
"I leave him in your hands."
I led the Three-Eyed Sword, who looked even more swollen with anticipation than the day before, into the inn.
"Now, do you see where this sits? To the north lies the residential quarter where all the men who've come to Wuhan hunting for work crowd together. Workshops and offices cluster to the southwest, and to the south runs the road down to the wharf—so anyone passing through Wuhan can wander all the way up to this inn for a rest. That's what it comes down to, sir!"
Mansik pressed himself to the Three-Eyed Sword's side and began explaining, point by point.
"Right. It does sit square where the three roads meet."
"Do men cook their own suppers at home, sir? These days they all order delivery. And on the road home after work? Why, this very inn is standing there waiting, so they stop in before heading home. That's what it comes down to! Would a man really eat and go straight home after work, just like that?"
"Naturally he'd stop for a drink."
"Exactly, sir, exactly! When even one cup feels precious, the liquor trade thrives too. And among those who come ashore at the wharf, anyone hoping to lodge a little cheaper walks right up here hunting for a room. See how it all works?"
"Sounds fine just hearing about it."
They did say Mansik had served as an estate steward—he was executing my coaching to the letter. The man could pass for a triumphant merchant this very instant. He was fanning the flames of anticipation without missing a single stroke.
When Mansik's eyes met mine from a step away, I gave a small nod.
Now, take him up to the top floor.
Mansik moved naturally to the topmost floor and opened the window.
"But sir, you can't settle a thing just by listening! Come up and look out the window! Three roads, spread out before your eyes. Over there, the Azure Dragon of the Left! Here, the White Tiger of the Right! And that one there's practically a Vermilion Bird! Truly! If the old keeper of this place hadn't drowned himself in gambling, this inn would have fed three generations! Three!"
The Three-Eyed Sword stared blankly out the window, mouth agape.
This is where it ends—looking down from the top floor of an inn.
It is no accident that men who hold power always seat themselves in high places. Look down from on high, and everything below feels as if it belongs to you.
An inn at the meeting of three roads. And atop it, a business guaranteed to succeed. Jo Cheol was standing on the summit, savoring the joy of success.
"Little brother, how much would it take to run a business out of this inn?"
The Three-Eyed Sword's voice, from atop his summit, trembled faintly.
"...There's a rather cheaper way, and an ordinary way."
I spoke carefully, as though I simply could not bring myself to go against my elder brother any longer.
"Two ways?"
"One would be to join the Joseon Hometown Association's savings circle. Join now and you'd be at the very back of the rotation, so it would take a good long while—but with the many conveniences and benefits we'd extend you, you could open shop at a comparatively modest cost."
"A savings circle? Now there's a term I haven't heard in an age. But dead last in the rotation—wouldn't that take forever?"
"You'd be looking at a good ten years."
"Ten years? That I cannot do!"
"Then you could do as my brother-in-law did, and cover every last expense yourself."
The purchase price of the inn, the franchise fee, the Giosugu rental fee, and on and on. I handed over the documents on which all those many costs had been tallied.
"Isn't this sum far too steep?!"
"Ha ha. This is Wuhan, the capital of Hubei Province, is it not? Would I have walked away from it for nothing?"
The capital of Hubei, I say. And with foot traffic to match. Did he truly think a business here could be raised on a fistful of coins?
Laughing off the Three-Eyed Sword's suspicion that I was somehow rigging things against him, I said:
"Still, it is far too much..."
Well, of course it is. I intend to make him repay every coin of principal and interest.
"Frankly, I think so too."
"...Huh?"
There was no need to insist otherwise. When I nodded along readily, Jo Cheol stared at me, thrown off balance.
"I'm only showing it to you. It's true this is a chance to buy a fine inn, foot traffic and all, at a bargain price—but it isn't fate. If there's no hurry, you're free to take your time and look at other establishments."
Of course, the Three-Eyed Sword was extremely hurried—but still!
Cheap, and yet too dear. Because it's Wuhan. Because it's ground that could feed three generations. A splendid inn—but not his fate. I let a faint wistfulness bleed into my voice, speaking as if I had never once dreamed of taking a single coin of my elder brother's money.
"Hmmmm..."
Why did agreeing with him make it ache all the more?
Anyone with eyes could see it was prime ground. The kind of location a man would buy even at a recklessly extravagant price.
The Three-Eyed Sword wavered. He wanted to swallow the hook dangling before his eyes, but at the final moment he was wrestling with himself.
What Jo Cheol needed was one last fanning of the flames. For the finale, I cast a glance at Mansik.
"Association Head. Shall I send word to your brother-in-law and have him come over?"
"Yes. Let's settle it all in one stroke today. Tell him to come while we're at it—"
"There's no need for that."
"Hyung-nim?"
"That opportunity—I'll buy it with money."
The Three-Eyed Sword had swallowed the hook at last.
"We settled on signing the contract in two days."
He would sort through the treasures in his keeping and pay in a single lump sum. In response to Jo Cheol's words, I gave him the name of a man who would buy the treasures off him.
"Will it truly... succeed?"
"Right? I'd say it's nearly done."
I said it breezily enough, but inwardly I exhaled a small sigh. This was proving no easy matter at all.
"..."
But why the dark face, Miss Jegal?
"Miss Jegal, is something troubling you?"
"Oh, n-no. It's just..."
She had something to say and was biting it back. After months under one roof, a single look at Miss Jegal's face told me a good deal.
"I will hear you out. Whatever it is, tell me."
When I regarded her as though I would listen to anything she had to say, Miss Jegal opened her mouth at last, carefully.
"I... I'm worried about the Three-Eyed Sword, once his promissory notes are taken from him and he learns the truth..."
Miss Jegal's eyes were brimming over—with worry for me.
"Ah! Now that you mention it—once you make him settle the debt with his investment money, what then? The Three-Eyed Sword's bound to be absolutely furious."
A fair point. Even once a debt is repaid, the man remains. A private grudge would surely be left behind.
But.
"It's fine."
It didn't matter.
"What do you mean, fine? He's a runner who already bolted with someone's money once—shall I call in a few people from Mangeum Hall so he can't try anything? It's not as if our grandfather touches the collections trade, mind you, but say the word that the debt collecting's all wrapped up, and I reckon he'd lend a hand."
I smiled at the two of them, who were watching me with worry.
"I've already made the preparations."