White Bones Never Forgotten
“I’m looking for someone I lost.”
“Ah, I see. I hope you find them.”
The waiter, satisfied with the answer, asked no further questions and returned to his duties.
Dan Yeop shook his head and reached for his food.
After the meal, while clearing the dishes as Dan Yeop sipped his tea, the waiter spoke again.
“You must be from a noble house, aren’t you?”
“Me? No.”
Dan Yeop gave the waiter a sullen look. He was wearing ordinary clothes—what could possibly have prompted such a remark?
“Not you, sir. The child you said you lost.”
“Why?”
“I mentioned it to my master, just in case. He said that seven or eight years ago, a man in silk robes came through Nak’an County looking for a child just like that, then left.”
A spark flashed in Dan Yeop’s eyes.
The story was similar, yet the roles were reversed. He was searching for the family that had lost a child, while the man in silk had been searching for the child himself.
“Did he find the child?”
“Probably not. He wandered around Nak’an County for a few days, just like you, then disappeared.”
“Is that so? Was he from the family that lost the child?”
“Of course not. What family would quietly sit on the loss of their child, then start searching six or seven years later?”
“Fair point.”
Dan Yeop nodded and handed the waiter five coins.
“Thank you.”
The waiter swiftly pocketed the money and carried the empty dishes away.
Darkness had already settled outside the window. Dan Yeop gazed at the now-empty street.
Two days had passed. His search for his parents had made no progress at all.
Even if it had been fourteen years ago, if his parents had gone looking for their child, someone should have remembered. Yet there was no trace of such an event.
Could the child the man in silk robes was searching for have been me?
It was possible, but unlikely. The circumstances suggested otherwise—his parents had not searched for him immediately after his disappearance.
Just then, the old woman he had seen the day before appeared at the same spot again. As Dan Yeop stared blankly at her, the innkeeper approached from the counter.
“Granny Jang was perfectly fine when she worked at the Jin estate.”
“You know her?”
“Yes. Her son used to work in the kitchen here. That’s why she still wanders around the inn every evening after sunset.”
“Ah.”
Dan Yeop sighed at the poignant story.
The innkeeper continued, “Granny Jang originally worked at the Jin estate. When the Jin family’s precious daughter married into the Guo scholar’s household, she went with her. She lived well there, but time spares no one. Last year, she started acting strangely.”
“Strangely?”
“She kept saying odd things to the scholar’s only grandson.”
“What did she say?”
“Every time she saw the boy, she’d ask, ‘Do you know you have an older brother?’ That’s as good as saying Lady Jin bore another man’s child. It’s a miracle Scholar Guo didn’t beat her to death. They forgave her, saying she’d gone senile. Out of respect for the old bond between Lady Jin and her former maid, they quietly sent her away.”
“They sound like good people.”
“Now that she’s senile, even her own children have abandoned her. I worry she’ll die alone on the road.”
“How sad.”
Dan Yeop looked at the old woman with fresh eyes. She, too, had once been young. Growing old was a sorrowful thing.
At that moment, the old woman slipped on the icy ground and fell. Dan Yeop rushed out.
“Granny, are you all right?”
As he helped her up, she clutched his hand tightly.
“Oh my, what a kind young man. Thank you.”
As she tried to walk again, she slipped once more and fell backward. Dan Yeop reached out, but her flailing hand caught his collar. His tightly fastened robe came undone, revealing his neck.
“Oh dear! I’m sorry. I—”
The old woman’s apology died on her lips as her eyes locked onto the marks on Dan Yeop’s neck. Her hands trembled violently at the sight of the clear fingernail scars.
“Oh no, my lady. Please don’t do this. You’ll kill the child. What wrong has the child done? Please, stop. Oh, my poor lady. My poor child… Sob, sob.”
As tears streamed down her face, Dan Yeop awkwardly patted her back.
“It’s all right, Granny. Don’t cry.”
He assumed she was weeping over memories of raising the child at the Guo household. But her next words froze him like ice.
“Th-that mark on your neck… How did it happen? Someone tried to kill the child, didn’t they…?”
Dan Yeop suddenly realized that “the child” she spoke of might not refer to Scholar Guo’s grandson.
“Granny, was the child born at the Jin estate or at the Guo household?”
“What are you saying? Of course the first child was born at the Jin estate.”
“So that’s why you told the Guo grandson he had an older brother?”
“Naturally. Why would I say something that wasn’t true? Do you think I’m mad?”
“Then what happened to the child from the Jin estate?”
“Lost.”
“Lost? They couldn’t find the child at the Jin estate?”
“They didn’t even look. What unmarried girl would search for a child she bore?”
“Ah, I see.”
The old woman stared at Dan Yeop.
“Who are you, anyway?”
“Me? Just a passing traveler.”
“And that mark on your neck?”
“Ah, this? I nearly got strangled to death as a child. It’s from then.”
“Oh my, how terrifying. Don’t say such things. It mustn’t happen. Our young lady tried to kill the child she bore, too. Do you know how terrified I was that the child would die?”
“Why did she try to kill it?”
“She went to Gwangbul Temple and suffered a terrible ordeal there. Then she suddenly gave birth.”
“The child’s father was a monk?”
“I don’t know. I only heard about Gwangbul Temple when the master and the young lady were arguing. Let me see your neck again.”
Dan Yeop willingly opened his robe. The old woman examined the scars closely and muttered to herself.
“How can they be exactly the same? The marks on our young lady’s neck were just like this.”
“Did she marry into the Guo household after the child disappeared?”
“Yes, that’s right. She married the following year. I went with her to the Guo household.”
“What was the child’s name?”
“None. No one at the Jin estate ever gave the child a name.”
“Tsk. Who else would know about the child?”
“Since I served the young lady from the Jin estate onward, only I know.”
“I see. May you live a long life, Granny.”
Dan Yeop took a silver coin from his pouch and pressed it into her hand. The old woman’s eyes widened in shock, and she quickly hid it in her robes.
With nothing left to say, Dan Yeop slowly turned away. From behind him came the old woman’s voice.
“You take care, too.”
Dan Yeop paused, raised a hand in acknowledgment, and returned to the inn.
As he sat staring blankly into space, the waiter approached.
“Um, sir. The dining hall is closing. Will you be staying again tonight?”
Dan Yeop thought for a moment, then looked at the boy.
“Do you know where Scholar Guo’s residence is?”
“Of course I do.”
But the young waiter did not tell him. Dan Yeop smiled bitterly and placed a coin on the table. The waiter reached for it, but Dan Yeop was faster. Covering the coin with his palm, he asked,
“Where is it?”
“Go out the inn gate, follow the left road for a while, and you’ll see it on the right.”
“Will I recognize it?”
“There’s a plaque on the gate that says ‘Guo Residence.’ If you can read, you’ll find it right away.”
Dan Yeop lifted his hand, and the waiter snatched the coin.
Dan Yeop rose, retrieved his travel bag from his room, and stepped outside. He walked in the direction the waiter had indicated, but the Guo residence did not appear. Just as he was about to turn back, thinking he had been tricked, he saw the plaque reading “Guo Residence.”
His heart pounded.
Calm down. It might not be true.
Muttering that it could be nothing more than the ramblings of a senile old woman, he stood before the gate.
Thud. Thud. Thud—
When Dan Yeop knocked, a gatekeeper soon opened the door.
“Who is it?”
“I’m a traveler passing through. May I stay the night?”
The gatekeeper scrutinized Dan Yeop from head to toe before reluctantly replying,
“Wait here. I’ll ask the scholar.”
The gatekeeper returned shortly.
“Come in. Why travel in such cold weather?”
The civil service examinations were held in autumn, so the question implied, “What have you been doing until now?”
“It just turned out that way.”
“You’ll have to explain your circumstances to the scholar.”
Inside the inner courtyard, an old man stood with his hands behind his back on the main hall’s veranda.
“Scholar, I’ve brought the traveler.”
When their eyes met, Dan Yeop clasped his hands respectfully and bowed his head.
“Scholar Guo, my name is Dan Yeop. After failing the examinations, I stayed at an inn in Chang’an Castle. Now that my funds have run out, I’m on my way home.”
Scholar Guo studied Dan Yeop before speaking.
“So that’s your story. We’ll talk in detail tomorrow. Rest for now. Take him to the guest quarters.”
Without another glance, Scholar Guo turned and entered his room. The gatekeeper led Dan Yeop to the guest house.
Once there, Dan Yeop asked casually, “The people here are kind. Do they usually take in uninvited guests like this?”
“You’re lucky, young master. If our young master weren’t preparing for the examinations, this never would have happened.”
“The young master?”
“The master’s grandson.”
“Ah.”
Dan Yeop nodded in understanding. Since the grandson was preparing for the exams, they had taken in someone with examination experience.
“How old is the young master?”
“He’s thirteen this year.”
Dan Yeop felt a strange sensation. The five-year age gap meant she had married the following year and borne another son.
“Rest well, then.”
As the gatekeeper vanished into the darkness, Dan Yeop entered his room. He did not go to bed.
What kind of face would the dunce Dan Yeop make if he knew where he was?
The thought amused him, and he chuckled like a mischievous child.
Sitting alone in the dark, he lit the oil lamp and took the Book of Songs from his bag. A passage seemed to have been sent from heaven itself.
Father begot me, mother raised and nurtured me. Ah, sorrowful and tender parents! How much toil and hardship you endured to bring me into this world and raise me.
Dan Yeop read the Book of Songs until the window brightened with dawn. When he heard footsteps in the courtyard, he went out to wash. Maids and servants passed by, stealing glances at his face.
Just after he returned to his room, the gatekeeper from the previous night called to him from the yard.
“Young Master Dan.”
When Dan Yeop stepped out, the gatekeeper met his gaze.
“The master has invited you to breakfast.”
“Ah, yes.”
Dan Yeop followed the gatekeeper to the inner residence.
The inner hall.
Inside sat Scholar Guo and his wife, a middle-aged couple, and a boy in his early teens. When Dan Yeop entered, all eyes turned to him at once. He quickly clasped his hands and bowed to Scholar Guo.
“Scholar Guo, thank you for inviting me to breakfast.”