Eight Corners Society (11)
Eight Corners Society (11)
"The North Sea is very different from Dongga Lake."
The North Sea was a white, horizonless land. True to the word "sea," it stretched on forever, and in every direction the landscape mirrored the frozen images the mind conjures of the north, blanketed in ice and snow. Dongga Lake was its exact opposite. Along the vast lake, the ridges of the mountain range cast winding shadows. The blue grass and trees, the streams that stretched out like the teeth of a giant saw, etched into Eun Ho-seol an unceasing longing and pride for her homeland.
"Do you always think of your homeland when you come to Dongga Lake?"
While tossing out a question about the North Sea Ice Palace, Docheol at the same time rested his foot against her leg. At first he only teased her, nudging her repeatedly with the tip of his foot. But as time passed, his touches gradually grew bolder, and now he would lift the hem of her long skirt with his toes and stroke her bare skin while watching her reaction.
"Or is there nothing else you think about?"
Docheol did not expect Eun Ho-seol to answer. Even as he asked, he kept caressing her calf, waiting for her to raise her leg and match him in return. That she would play along was a given, but he always put on an expression of feigned longing, feigned pity, rolling his eyes and gauging her response.
Then Eun Ho-seol would savor that gaze, draw out the moment, and as if granting a generous favor, casually lift her own leg and entwine it around Docheol's foot. By now the pair's play had moved far beyond the light squabbling of children. They sought out the soft parts of each other's legs and rubbed together; like birds in courtship, they rubbed foot against foot and shared each other's breath.
The light slanting in through the window gap pierced the tablecloth, casting the two's lewd shadows. Seon-go, having vacated her spot, peered through a crack at their messy, childish love play and, aroused, trembled and wiped her lips.
"Next... neext..."
Seon-go, as fretfully as a child throwing a tantrum, let out that sound, then again pretended nothing was wrong, looked in the mirror, and managed her expression. She too, like Docheol, knew the next step was necessary.
Even the stimulation of twining leg with leg, given time, became chronic. A person numbed by one form of stimulation inevitably wanders in search of a greater thrill. For Docheol to step from that next thing to the one beyond, and to tread a path that promised an even keener excitement, it was essential to push aside the guards standing outside the door.
Of course, Docheol had already devised a plan for how to do it.
******
"W-What is this?"
Fragrant aromas, a generous spread of food, comfortable chairs, and delicious tea prepared for the two — these were the things Docheol had readied for the "honored guests" who had visited once again. While Eun Ho-seol and Seon-go moved to another room to talk, Docheol called the guards aside and drew them into his room.
The guards, who had traveled a long way without a proper meal and endured much hardship, swallowed hard at the cozy scene before them. They rolled their eyes as if ready to grab the food even without permission, but the one among them with a shred of restraint turned his gaze to Docheol and spoke.
"W-What is this? What on earth? Why are you giving food like this to us?"
"Because you've worked hard. I've put out food so that at least while you're here you can rest comfortably. Aren't you always far too tense guarding Madam? I too once tried this and that and went through plenty of hardship. I understand your troubles, so please eat lightly and be on your way."
"H-However... W-We are guards..."
One of them hesitated and opened his mouth. But no matter how much he spouted his sense of duty as a guard, Docheol knew better than anyone that it was an illusion. What was Hwang Ryong-seong's faction? The faction Hwang Ryong-seong led was not built on sect tradition. What drove them was purely power and authority.
Sect tradition, the weight of history, the sense of duty of the strong — none of that weighed on them. Only a shallow loyalty to Hwang Ryong-seong and money ruled them. The bonds and loyalty of such men were no different from those of the thugs at a brothel.
They couldn't quite commit outright betrayal, but a little deviation was easily done. If you gave them the slightest excuse, they would swallow the bait hook, line, and sinker and run wild as they pleased.
"That's why I prepared the room right next door, didn't I? You can stay here, and if Madam Eun so much as cries out, you can come right away. If you're worried about poison, I'll taste everything here one bite at a time."
Docheol said this while stroking the wall. Outwardly it looked thin, but the wall had been constructed in several layers, so no sound would leak unless it was a scream. Conversely, a bell hung on the door to the next room, so the moment they came out to check on the situation, the bell would ring.
It was a room made, in the truest sense, for secretly carrying out an affair.
"Oh, no! It's fine. We'll eat. We'll eat!"
The two waved their hands dismissively and sat down at the table. Then, like men possessed by ravenous spirits, they ate the food and drank the beverages, their faces brightening. Through the gap of the closing door, their chuckling voices could be heard.
- If this isn't heaven, where is?
- Hardly any work, and they feed us. Our Madam Eun has truly made excellent friends! U-hahaha!
Docheol laughed too.
Because this place would truly become heaven.
******
"Ngh...!"
Several more days passed. We sat around the table enjoying a simple game. It was a game of using your finger to flick a piece and send the opponent's piece flying far away. Seon-go, who had innate dexterity, was winning by a landslide, and Eun Ho-seol, tilting her head at an unfamiliar pastime she was encountering for the first time, repeatedly came in last.
"I really ought to teach you some tricks."
And while she was fretting, I drew close beside her. Eun Ho-seol unconsciously turned her head toward where the guards were. But of course, the guards were not there. They were all in the next room, thumping their full bellies and laughing brightly.
"Relax. I've moved the guards to the next room."
I whispered in a voice quiet enough that Seon-go couldn't hear and pressed close beside her. Eun Ho-seol, who had briefly leaned away as if to distance herself, stiffened at those words and drew back. Matching that, Seon-go lightly furrowed her brow and spoke. Of course, her voice too was low enough not to be heard in the next room.
"Docheol. Aren't you getting a little too close to my friend? I'm jealous."
With that single line, the dizzying possibility of being caught seized control of Eun Ho-seol's mind. She learned that this too was another "game," and it made her anticipate even more provocative actions.
"To teach, you have to stick close like this. Can't be helped, right?"
I said that in a brazen, affable tone and moved closer to her. Seon-go tilted the teapot this way and that and spoke.
"We're out of tea. Just a moment."
And she wheeled her chair and left the room. The moment she was out, I gently wrapped my hand around hers as if nothing were out of the ordinary and spoke.
"There, like this. You're putting too much force into your hand. If you do it too hard, it flies too far and you can't hit the piece."
I wrapped her hand and whispered into her ear. Every time my voice reached her, Eun Ho-seol's face flushed red, then the heat subsided. I thought she looked just like a windowpane in winter. A windowpane that clouded white each time you breathed on it, then cleared again.
Outwardly, it seemed as though nothing changed, but I knew the nature of such windowpanes. You breathe on them and draw a picture, and each time you scatter your breath again, that trace remains intact to show who claimed this window first.
My hand grasped Eun Ho-seol's hand firmly. As someone who had cultivated the ice arts, her hand was cold.
"Your hands are cold."
I deliberately stroked the back of her hand, made a show of correcting her posture, and pressed my body a little closer. The faint chill emanating from her shoulder felt pleasant.
"...So you dislike it?"
Eun Ho-seol said that and looked at me. I wrapped both hands firmly around Eun Ho-seol's hand. I cupped it like a flower bud and stayed still for a while so that my heat could embrace her. I spoke.
"The colder you are, the more you're meant to meet a warm person, isn't that so?"
Eun Ho-seol did not answer my question. But I could hear the sound of her heart, and I could see her fingers curl. I took her finger, placed it on my piece, and stroked her wrist as I spoke.
"Now, give it the right amount of strength and flick."
Eun Ho-seol bit her lip firmly and turned her wrist. I had aimed for my own piece, but she deliberately turned her hand and changed the direction toward Seon-go's piece.
Tuk.
The lightly flicked piece struck the opponent's piece and both toppled to the floor. The sight of the two pieces overlapping each other caught my eye. I distanced myself from her and spoke.
"Well done. As expected, you learn very quickly."
And at the same moment, Seon-go entered. Pulling her chair closer, she spoke as if she knew nothing.
"Ah, you hit it! That's amazing! I also struggled a bit to learn this game, yet you learned so fast. Is it because my husband taught you so well?"
Then Seon-go wrapped her arms around my waist, looked at Eun Ho-seol, and smiled.
Watching that, Eun Ho-seol's brow twitched.
She wriggled her fingers, glanced at me again and again, and breathed raggedly.
'A little more.'
'I can go a little further.'