Chapter 22: Unspoken Bonds

Yun-jo tried to look inside when the door opened and closed, but he couldn’t. Sahyeon’s room was pitch black. All the windows were closed, and the blinds were drawn. He couldn’t see a thing.

He asked the physician about the illness, but he wouldn’t give details. After all, Yun-jo wasn’t a doctor; he wouldn’t understand the symptoms anyway. What mattered was Sahyeon’s current condition, and he had already heard what there was to hear.

Yun-jo leaned against the railing of the pavilion, arms crossed, staring at the tightly closed windows of the main building across the pond.

How long could Sahyeon actually live? Nineteen? Twenty? Even that was too optimistic. He had at most a year, maybe just a few months.

Considering that the emperor, his father, had been bedridden for over a decade, Sahyeon’s condition was clearly worse. And there was no cure. If there had been, he wouldn’t have been praying to some god whose existence was uncertain.

About thirty minutes later, the medicine boy entered the main building. The physician came out and seemed to say something. He wrote something on a piece of paper and handed it over. The boy took it and started to leave, but then stopped at the edge of the yard and hesitated.

Yun-jo watched this, then as soon as the physician went back inside, he jumped up and approached the boy.

“What’s wrong?”

“Ah, Lord Hwawolgak.”

The boy answered without surprise, as Yun-jo often appeared suddenly from nowhere. “Hwawolgak” was the name of the pavilion by the pond, and since Yun-jo had been staying there for days, the servants had started calling him that.

“The physician gave me an errand.”

He glanced at the paper. It was written in Chinese characters.

“What’s this?”

“They’re medicinal ingredients for the young master. The ones we brought are all used up, so I need to go to the pharmacy to get more.”

“Then why haven’t you gone?”

“I’m in the middle of decocting the next dose. If it burns, the medicinal properties will change, so I have to watch it constantly. Right now, I’m the only one in the dispensary. It takes over two hours just to go to the town and back…”

Yun-jo hadn’t known, but decocting medicine was no simple task. Not only could they not let it burn or boil over, but they also had to maintain a constant temperature. They had to watch it the whole time, pouring water on the earthenware to cool it if it started to boil, or blowing on the fire if it started to die down.

Also, some ingredients had to be added early and boiled for a long time, while others needed to be added late and boiled briefly. Getting the timing and quantities right required great skill.

Since Sahyeon collapsed, the medicine, which used to be taken twice a day, was now being administered almost every two hours. So the scent of brewing medicine never left the estate.

“Wasn’t there another boy?”

There had originally been two medicine boys brought by the physician, but now there was only one. The boy looked embarrassed.

“My colleague went to Wonkyung on an errand for the physician.”

Hearing this, Yun-jo realized the boy couldn’t leave, so he readily offered.

“I’ll go.”

“Really? Oh, that would be a great help.”

The boy’s face lit up and he handed over the paper.

“Just show this at the pharmacy and ask for what’s written here. I’m sorry to trouble you, guest.”

Yun-jo took the list and glanced at the ingredient names. But he couldn’t read them. They were all in Chinese characters.

[○冬, ○○○, ○草, 水○草, ○○…]

A few easy characters caught his eye, but he couldn’t make out any of the names. To hide that he was illiterate in this language, Yun-jo cleared his throat and stuffed the list into his chest.

Seeing that, the boy asked awkwardly,

“Can you be back within an hour?”

“I’ll be faster than that.”

With the boy seeing him off, Yun-jo lightly leaped over the wall and left the backyard.

The medicine boy, who was decocting, was startled to see Yun-jo slip back into the dispensary in less than half an hour. He thought maybe Yun-jo had gotten lost and returned. But Yun-jo was holding a neat bundle of herbs. The boy’s eyes widened as he took it.

“How did you go and come back so fast?”

“I thought it would be better to be quick.”

Yun-jo shrugged. He knew the location of the pharmacy in the town, so it didn’t take long to go back and forth. He just had to choose alleys with no people. In fact, buying the herbs and paying took longer.

The boy nodded in admiration.

“I see. You’re truly amazing, milord.”

“I’ve eaten quite a few meals here, so this is nothing. Call me if you need anything else.”

“Ah, milord!”

Yun-jo waved his hand dismissively at the grateful boy and was about to leave when the boy called him back. When he turned, the boy’s eyes sparkled as he quickly wrote something on a piece of paper and handed it to Yun-jo. Taken aback, Yun-jo looked at the paper.

“What’s this?”

“This is an ingredient that’s essential for the young master’s medicine, but it’s rare and hard to find in the town. I originally told my colleague, who left a few days ago, to pick some up on the way, but I must have miscalculated because we’ve already run out. As you know, it’s still a long way from Wonkyung.”

“You want me to go again?”

“Since you’re fast, I was wondering if I could ask you…”

The boy put on an apologetic expression.

It was already afternoon, and he had to be awake in a few hours. This time, he’d have to go to a large city outside the prefecture. With coordinates, travel time wasn’t an issue, but finding a pharmacy in an unfamiliar town would take a while. But Sahyeon was sick, and this medicine was essential. Yun-jo estimated the time and nodded.

“…Alright, I’ll go.”

Sahyeon seemed to be recovering very slowly. The frequency of medicine had decreased from every two hours to every three or four hours, and sometimes the window facing the pond was briefly opened. But entry to the main building was still forbidden. Just when Yun-jo’s patience was wearing thin, Sahyeon finally called him in.

Yun-jo was sitting in the pavilion, holding a piece of paper in one hand and tracing the Chinese characters on the floor with the other, memorizing them. He looked up at the sound of someone leaving the main building. The physician crossed the yard and came to the pavilion to deliver a message.

“The young master says you may enter.”

Yun-jo quickly stood up. Sure enough, the window of Sahyeon’s room across the way was now open.

The two-story pavilion had a bridge that led to the edge of the pond and then a path around the water to the main building. But instead of taking that, Yun-jo jumped straight down from the upper railing.

Unlike last time, he didn’t jump into the water. Instead, he stepped on a small island-like structure in the middle of the pond, paused briefly, then leaped again, crossing the pond in just two steps. The physician, who saw him jump, was startled and then shook his head.

Yun-jo approached the window and clung to the sill.

“Sahyeon!”

The blinds over the window were pulled aside, and Sahyeon’s face appeared. He wasn’t wearing that annoying veil. His face seemed sharper, thinner than a few days ago, and although it was hard to tell because he was already pale, he looked bloodless. Still, he looked better than when he collapsed.

Glad to see him, Yun-jo called his name again.

“Sahyeon!”

Sahyeon’s gaze went to what Yun-jo was holding.

“What’s that?”

“Ah, nothing.”

Yun-jo crumpled the paper and stuffed it into his pocket. He couldn’t bring himself to say he’d been memorizing Chinese characters from the lists the medicine boy had given him. There was no reason not to, but admitting now that he couldn’t read didn’t feel dignified.

“Are you feeling better? I’ve been coming every day…”

He was about to point at the cursed barrier rope that had kept him from entering, still hanging conspicuously at the entrance, but Sahyeon spoke first.

“I know.”

“What?”

“I heard from the physician. That you’ve been coming.”

“Oh, you heard?”

Yun-jo looked momentarily surprised that Sahyeon had been told about him, then smiled shyly.

Sahyeon stared at him silently, then asked.

“Why did you come?”

“Huh?”

“I told you not to come anymore.”

Yun-jo closed his mouth.

When their eyes met, Sahyeon looked away. Very slightly, almost imperceptibly. People who are easily read tend to avoid eye contact. Sahyeon’s expression was as cold as his words, but his eyes refused to meet Yun-jo’s.

Yun-jo had also prayed to the gods before—knowing it wouldn’t come true, but when there was nothing else he could do, just once, the first and last time.

And he thought about how that terrible illness had shaken Sahyeon’s life.

“Oh,” Yun-jo replied.

“If you think I’m the kind of person who comes when called and leaves when told, you’re very wrong. I came because I wanted to, so I’ll leave when I want to.”

“……”

Sahyeon’s gaze wavered. Rarely, various emotions flickered across his face in an instant. Yun-jo looked at him and asked.

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