The Way Home

“Young master, aren’t you eating?”

“You eat a lot.”

I watched Bangja, who had gotten up with a lighter body and was gulping down the meat dishes he hadn’t eaten earlier, and felt like my worries from last night were a waste.

Bangja was rubbing his stinging eyes, not even noticing me yawning widely.

This bastard only calls me Young master, but he doesn’t seem to care for me at all.

“Are you really okay?”

I suppressed the urge to chop Bangja’s Adam’s apple with a hand strike as he neatly tore a cabbage kimchi lengthwise and asked. Bangja nodded his head frivolously.

“I think I have even more energy.”

His face seemed brighter than when we were climbing the hill yesterday. It seems that fatigue recovery is one of the effects of the Golden Eye Herb.

I thought about asking the owner for tea made with Golden Eye Herb, but I swallowed the words, thinking it would be too much trouble.

“Let’s get up when you’re done eating. Staying in our seats is also a nuisance to the homeowner.”

“Yes, I understand. I’ll just finish this and get up.”

Bangja scraped the barley rice from the bowl with a spoon and put it in his mouth before getting up from his seat.

As Bangja took the table out, the woodcutter’s wife, who was sweeping the yard, received it.

“Did you enjoy the meal?”

Her face was lined with wrinkles from her hard life, but the woman, who would have been quite likable in her younger days, spoke, and Bangja and I nodded.

“We are receiving good hospitality.”

As I bowed my head, the woman was startled and lowered her body.

It must be burdensome to receive a bow from a nobleman. Having lived as both a high-status person and a low-status person, I understood her feelings.

“My husband went out to chop wood early in the morning. He asked me to tell you that he is very sorry for not being able to see you off.”

He probably didn’t get enough sleep, but the woodcutter seemed to have gone out to make a living.

“Please accept this as a small token.”

I took out a bundle of coins from my satchel and handed it to the woman.

“I already received it last night.”

The woman waved her hands, bowing even lower.

“I’m doing this out of gratitude. If it weren’t for your husband, my guide would have died. It’s a small price to pay for a life, so please accept it.”

“Ah, thank you…”

Forced to hold it in her hand, the woman turned her head to the side, embarrassed.

“Then I’ll be going.”

“We’ll be going.”

As I stood in front of the brushwood gate and said goodbye, the woman who followed awkwardly greeted us.

The brushwood gate marked the boundary between those leaving and those staying.

“You must see the Divine Doctor.”

The woman looked at Bangja and said.

“I have a rough map, so I will definitely find him.”

He smiled, holding up the roughly drawn map.

It was the woodcutter’s consideration, even while going to chop wood, to take care of us.

“I’m really okay. I don’t feel anything wrong. If we stray off course for no reason and get delayed, the Magistrate will be worried.”

Bangja told me not to stray off course for no reason, but it was a priority to check Bangja’s health.

“Are you a Divine Doctor? It’s only a day’s journey, so it doesn’t matter if we’re a little late.”

“I understand.”

“There’s an inn in the next village, so it might not be a bad idea to find someone to send a message from there.”

In the end, Bangja accepted the woman’s suggestion, and we deviated from the path to our destination.

The next village was quite close. It felt like it took about three hours to get there, and it didn’t feel much different from the previous village.

Well, a Joseon Dynasty village is a Joseon Dynasty village, how different could it be?

After passing the Jangseung that marked the entrance to the village, we were able to easily find an inn with steam rising from it.

While I rubbed my legs and caught up on my lack of sleep, Bangja ordered an early lunch and looked for someone to deliver the news to Namwon.

“Fortunately, a merchant going in a similar direction said he would take the letter.”

Bangja, who had returned to his seat, pointed to the merchant over there.

The merchant, who met my eyes, got up from his seat and bowed.

“Give him a reward.”

“I understand. Would you like to write the letter to Young master’s house yourself?”

“You write it.”

I had confirmed that Bangja could read and write while coming here.

“Me? Am I doing it?”

“Did the tiger bite shock you so much that you don’t remember how to write?”

As I muttered, looking at the distant mountains, Bangja’s eyes widened.

“It seems that the Divine Doctor should examine Young master, not me.”

“Stop talking nonsense and write a letter and send it. Tell them that something came up and we’ll be late.”

“I understand. …Ah! Young master, that…”

Bangja, who was taking out paper from his satchel, looked at me cautiously.

“What is it?”

“Could I write one more Love Letter?”

“Who are you going to send it to?”

“I’m going to send it to Hyangdan. Hehe…”

I put the spoon I was holding back into the rice soup. The sight of the dark-skinned guy blushing made me lose my appetite.

“Hyangdan?”

“Ah, why are you being so embarrassing?”

“Don’t blush and tell me. Who is Hyangdan?”

“Huh… You don’t remember Hyangdan either?”

“I’m asking because I don’t remember. Don’t make me ask twice.”

As I stirred the rice soup with a spoon, Bangja smoothed his face and cleared his throat.

“Ahem, that… she’s Chunhyang Ah’s maidservant. And, and we exchange Love Letters.”

“Sweetheart?”

“Aish! Sweetheart, don’t use such embarrassing words! I haven’t even held her hand yet.”

Bangja, who jumped up like a startled cat, pointed his index finger and lowered his voice.

“Okay, okay. You can write to that Hyangdan or whatever. What’s the big deal about using one or two more sheets of paper.”

“Hehe, thank you. Young master.”

Bangja, with a beaming face, took out a fine brush and wrote a few words on the paper, then raised his face again.

“Um, Young master?”

“What.”

“You don’t happen to not remember Chunhyang Ah, do you?”

“……..”

“No way…?”

As I slowly averted my gaze, Bangja looked at me in disbelief.

“How could you forget?”

“You can forget if you’re under a lot of mental stress.”

“No, but you met her every night! You sneaked out of the house every night to see Chunhyang Ah on the swing! You even went to the mill and had secret talks! Before going to Hanyang, you uh? You did that uh?”

As Bangja raised his voice, I could see the ears of the people in the inn gathering in this direction.

“Shut your mouth. Shut it.”

I kindly lifted Bangja’s chin with my hand to prevent him from saying more.

Bangja struggled and smeared ink on my arm.

After ending the chaotic scene at the inn, we were able to arrive at the Divine Doctor’s place after walking for another half day.

The Divine Doctor, who was leisurely basking in the sun, looked strangely at the two men who were trudging in, and after listening to my words, examined Bangja.

“Hmm… his pulse is normal, and he looks fine. It seems that the emergency treatment with Golden Eye Herb was quite effective.”

“Didn’t I tell you? I’m healthy.”

Bangja showed off his health by making non-existent arm muscles.

“Look before you leap.”

I said some general words and lightly performed a hand strike on the top of Bangja’s head.

After finishing the meaningless examination, we retraced our steps back to the inn.

It would soon be dusk to go on the road to Namwon.

We ate dinner early and went into our room, packed our luggage, and lay down.

I could feel my legs, which had been overworked for two days in a row, swelling up.

As I stared blankly at the ceiling, the person named Chunhyang that Bangja had mentioned at lunch came to mind.

Bangja, Hyangdan, and Chunhyang. Even if I tried to ignore it, The Tale of Chunhyang came to mind.

Moreover, since the place we are returning to is Namwon, it would be reasonable to think that I have possessed a world where The Tale of Chunhyang is realized.

If so, Chunhyang must already be in some kind of relationship with ‘me’.

Relationships that were created before I possessed this body are bound to create variables.

If I cut it off rashly, things could go wrong, and if I continue as is, I could encounter unforeseen ambushes.

What choice would the original owner have made?

My worries deepen.

“Ah, Young master.”

Bangja called me while lying down.

Such an impolite guy.

“What is it?”

“About the letter earlier.”

“Yeah.”

“I wrote a letter to Chunhyang Ah too.”

“What did you send?”

“That Young master forgot Chunhyang Ah.”

“Just that?”

“Yes.”

“You son of a bitch.”

Why are you raising the difficulty level?