Chapter #051:
Is He a Bad Guy? (1)
Jjaek jjaek jjaek.
“Pyeongha.”
Early in the morning.
Standing diagonally in front of the gate of the manor, holding his school bag, Pyeongha heard Seokdu speak with concern.
“This is your first time going down to the village, right? Aren’t you nervous?”
“Hmm… I’m not really nervous…”
Holding Yeonha’s hand in one of his own, Pyeongha twisted his body and pouted.
“…What should I do?”
“Hm?”
“…If I want to see my uncles, what should I do?”
“Khrheup…!”
Unable to hold back any longer, Seokdu wiped away the tears streaming from Pyeongha’s small eyes. Like Seokdu, Heukpyo, choked up, rubbed the tip of his nose, and made an unnecessarily loud noise.
“If you want to see them, what else can you do! Just run straight to the manor! Forget that writing stuff—you don’t even have to learn it…”
Bbeoeong!
Kudangtangtang.
Kwangpae, who lightly kicked Heukpyo for his nonsense, knelt in front of Pyeongha and met his eyes.
“Pyeongha.”
“Yes, Uncle Kwangpae.”
“What do you usually do when your uncles are busy?”
“I play in the forest.”
Pyeongha answered Kwangpae’s question.
“I play with the animals, practice spear techniques. Uncle Harang taught me the spear.”
“Right, right. Normally, the time you spent alone is now just being shared with friends.”
“Hmm… then… can I come running if I want to see you?”
“No, you can’t.”
“…Why not?”
Pyeongha’s eyes welled up with tears at his firm answer.
“Don’t you want to see me?”
“Of course I do. I’d even want to study writing with you if I could, in the study hall or wherever.”
Kwangpae patted Pyeongha’s tearful head and continued.
“But even so, you must be patient. It’s for you, not anyone else.”
“Why? How is that for me?”
“Your uncles don’t want you to grow into a weak adult who can’t do anything without us. You don’t want to be that kind of adult, do you?”
“…No, I don’t.”
Wiping away his tears with one hand, Pyeongha pressed his lips together and looked at him.
“I’ll grow up like my uncles. I don’t want to be a weak adult.”
“Like us…”
Kwangpae, who had been trailing off, smiled faintly and slowly stood up.
“Then go bravely! Becoming like us is no easy task!”
“Yes! I got it! I’ll go bravely!”
With a bright smile as if nothing had happened, Pyeongha spoke to Kwangpae as if making a promise. Yeonha also smiled, holding Pyeongha’s hand as they started walking.
“I’ll take Pyeongha to the study hall. See you later, uncles.”
“I’ll be back, uncles!”
“Take care, nanny.”
“Have a good trip, Pyeongha!”
“If anyone misbehaves, remember them all! The uncles won’t let it slide!”
Watching the nanny and Pyeongha walk away, Heukcheonsagoe waved his hand. Baekryeong quietly followed behind them, and Heukpyo patted Seokdu, who was sobbing and shedding tears.
“Khrm… Why are you crying over something so small when you’re so big?”
“…And the stuff in your eyes, is that snot?”
“No, this is just… Huh? Are you crying too, brother?”
Seeing something glimmer in Kwangpae’s eyes, Heukpyo raised his eyebrows in disbelief. Kwangpae avoided his gaze and looked up at the sky, shouting:
“I’m not crying!”
Yet, despite his words, a few drops of transparent liquid fell from his thick, crossed arms.
“Huh… So this is the child I’d only heard about before.”
Upon arriving at the study hall, a white-haired elderly man, appearing around seventy, greeted Pyeongha and Yeonha.
His name was Cheon Seohak, a former low-ranking official who retired at sixty to live in the countryside. Locally called Master Cheon, he spent his days teaching children.
“You look very smart. What’s your name again?”
“Pyeongha.”
“Yes, right. From now on, study hard here with your friends. Understand?”
“Yes, Master.”
“Good, you answer well, too. Clever.”
“Please take good care of Pyeongha, Master Cheon.”
Master Cheon smiled kindly, and Yeonha greeted him politely.
“I’ll come pick you up at Shin-si. Can you stay here well, Pyeongha?”
“Yes… are we going now?”
“Yes. Your friends were studying. You should study too, hurry.”
“…Okay… Can I come late?”
“No. Later, you should tell us how your day went, too.”
“Yes, got it!”
Pyeongha’s brave reply made Yeonha smile and pat his head as she left the study hall.
Master Cheon then pointed to the empty seat and spoke.
“Sit over there. Have you studied the Thousand Character Classic before?”
“No, I haven’t.”
“I see. Then we’ll start with writing it. I’ll bring some spare paper. Wait quietly. The others are quietly reading, too.”
“Yes.”
“Yeesss.”
Once Master Cheon left, the children who had been quietly reading swarmed around Pyeongha.
“You’re new around here! What’s your name?”
“Pyeongha.”
“How old?”
“Six.”
“Just six? You’re the youngest here.”
“From now on, call me ‘Hyungnim’.”
“Hyungnim? Not just a friend?”
“Even as friends, ‘Hyungnim’ is still Hyungnim.”
The children around Pyeongha laughed and chattered, showing interest. Pyeongha, apparently not disliking it, smiled shyly and scratched the back of his head.
“This is the first time someone called me ‘Hyungnim’…”
“We’ve never had a youngest as young as six. Before you came, Cheongjin was the youngest—seven years old.”
“Hehe, you don’t have to call me Hyungnim. We’re only one year apart.”
“But there’s still hierarchy…”
“Then just call him ‘Hyung’ instead of Hyungnim. Hyungnim sounds too formal.”
“You can call me ‘Hyung’ too. Only Sung-ho, who’s eleven, gets the honorific ‘Hyungnim.’ Eleven years old, so he’s Hyungnim.”
“Hey, these guys? I was just joking around.”
Bang!
“You little rascals! Causing trouble again?”
“Uh-uh!”
“No, no!”
“We just got up while reading!”
The children returned to their seats at Master Cheon’s appearance. Pyeongha’s eyes sparkled as he observed the orderly scene.
“Pyeongha, take some paper. I’ve brought brush and ink. Let’s write the Thousand Character Classic, one character at a time.”
“Yes!”
The gloom of leaving home vanished, replaced by a smile spreading across Pyeongha’s face.
“So, Sung-ho told me to call him ‘Hyung,’ not ‘Hyungnim.’ Cheongjin wanted me to sit next to him.”
“Wow, really? You made so many friends in just one day!”
Yeonha patted Pyeongha’s head as he chatted during dinner. Yet Kwangpae and Heukcheonsagoe’s faces looked somewhat disappointed.
“Khrm… What’s so fun about playing with snot-nosed kids?”
“Eh? What did you say, Lord Jangju?”
“Ah, nothing. Were there any troublemakers?”
“What’s a troublemaker?”
“Someone who starts a fight, a conflict.”
“What’s starting a fight?”
“That’s….”
Kwangpae struggled to explain, so Heukpyo chuckled and stepped in.
“You know, those irritating types who try to provoke or threaten others. Were there any like that?”
“No, there weren’t.”
“Really? Strange. Usually, a newcomer will have someone pick a fight or demand what isn’t theirs.”
“Are there really such bad people?”
“Of course. Tons of them…”
As Heukpyo nodded absentmindedly, he suddenly realized the attention on him and stopped mid-sentence. Muttering to himself, Everyone’s so unreasonable. Only I’m wrong. Meanwhile, Pyeongha suddenly spoke up.
“Oh, I wanted to ask something.”
“Ask? What is it?”
“What’s the name of our manor?”
“…Huh?”
“My friends asked. They wanted to know where I lived. I said in the mountain manor, but they wanted its name.”
“…What?”
Both Heukcheonsagoe and Yeonha remained silent.
“…The nanny gave us homework.”
Yeonha went inside to put Pyeongha to bed, leaving only Heukcheonsagoe. They had been ‘tasked’ by her to come up with a name for the manor by tomorrow morning.
“So… what do you think it should be called? Speak your ideas.”
“Why not just name it anything?”
Heukpyo spoke confidently first.
“Let’s call it Heukcheon Manor, after us. It’s a common name in the underworld, so no one will think it’s our manor…”
Bbeoeong!
As if expected, Kwangpae’s kick sent Heukpyo tumbling.
“Why are you doing that again?”
“Please think before you speak. Common name in the underworld? That just screams shady.”
“Ah…”
“Or we could name it after the nanny. Yeonha Manor.”
“Better than Heukcheon Manor, but I doubt the nanny would agree.”
With Baekryeong’s suggestion dismissed, Seokdu spoke.
“What about using Pyeongha’s name?”
“Pyeonghamanor?”
“Yes.”
“So, if anyone asks the manor’s name, Pyeongha can say it himself?”
“…Weird?”
“Does it sound weird?”
With the others’ ideas blocked, all eyes turned to Kwangpae.
“And your opinion, Hyung?”
“Me?”
“….”
“Well… my idea…”
…There wasn’t one. He was just irritated by everyone else’s suggestions. Eventually, they agreed on Seokdu’s idea: Pyeonghamanor. If it turned out too strange, Yeonha could correct it.
“Hmm… actually, not bad. Pyeonghamanor.”
“Yes. We came here to raise Pyeongha anyway.”
“Raising Pyeongha… it’s been over five years already.”
Finishing their ‘homework’ warmly, old memories slowly surfaced.
“…I always thought Pyeongha would stay a baby.”
“But seeing him tell stories about the study hall and friends… it feels…”
“…Proud, and a little regretful. I should’ve watched him more closely.”
“…Were there really no troublemakers in the study hall?”
Reflecting on the past few years with Pyeongha, Heukcheonsagoe started laughing and chatting. Their conversation continued late into the night.
