With the stationery box tied up and dangling from her hand, Nokhee walked down a deserted back alley.
She had told Eokbun that she was going to the back garden, but of course, that was a lie. If she were to show herself around the Yoon family, she would surely face unpleasant consequences.
Hwangju Castle was far larger than four or five of the small villages she used to live in combined, but after nearly ten years, she had come to know every secluded, hidden corner of the place.
Following the back alley, she passed an abandoned lake, empty pavilions, and deserted palaces left to decay.
The curse had slowly withered away the Yoon family’s lineage, so it was only natural that many parts of the estate had fallen into disuse. At times, the unsettling thought crossed her mind that these abandoned spaces had once been filled with the presence of the family. Nonetheless, they made perfect hiding spots for a servant like her.
Today, she needed to copy a text, so Nokhee headed to an abandoned library deep within the Western Palace.
The Yoon family had plenty of expensive scriptures, and they didn’t mind wasting them on a lowly sacrificial servant like her. Even this library was filled with countless scriptures, but they had all rotted from dampness, rendering them useless even as scrap paper.
Of course, Nokhee hadn’t come to this place just to read boring texts. The sole reason she came was for the bookstand…
As she turned the corner and entered the library, she came to an abrupt halt. A dark figure lay sprawled across the desk. Sunlight illuminated his dishevelled hair and soiled clothes.
It was Kijoon.
Nokhee stared at the sleeping figure, momentarily forgetting how to breathe.
To be honest, she didn’t know what had possessed her during her walk here.
Perhaps it was the apprehension that this time Kijoon might not return, or maybe she was trying to downplay it while worrying about who she would ask to do the transcribing now...
At the same time, she wanted to rush to the Grand Shaman and beg her to send someone to catch that runaway servant, promising to do whatever she was told.
During the brief moment it took to walk here, her emotions swung back and forth countless times. But then she saw him sleeping so peacefully.
Nokhee just wanted to collapse on the spot and cry uncontrollably, without any regard for her dignity.
For a moment, she stared blankly at the sleeping servant. She noticed the sunlight cast upon Kijoon's hair was slowly moving toward his forehead.
Nokhee quickly snapped back to reality like someone waking from a long dream, and she quietly made her way over there.
Up close, she found his peaceful sleeping face to be quite beautiful. After hesitating several times, she finally reached out to shield his eyes from the sunlight as it rose over his eyebrows.
The moment the shadow of a small, cupped hand was cast over his pale face…
Tak—.
A rough grip seized Nokhee's wrist. Startled, she tried to shake off his hand and retreat, but his tightly shut eyes flew wide open before she could react.
Through the thick eyelashes, his golden eyes became visible. As if assessing the situation, his pupils narrowed sharply, glistening, and Nokhee held her breath.
But it was only for an instant. Like a dream, in the blink of an eye, Kijoon's eyes returned to their black colour, matching his hair, and they locked onto her intensely.
Suppressing her racing heart, Nokhee forced herself to speak.
“...What are you doing here?"
“As for you, my lady, what are you doing?”
The reply came as a counter-question, a deep voice tickling her ear.
She had never seen him give a proper answer to a single question, but strangely, she didn’t find it particularly bothersome. After all, she had never given a proper answer either.
“I came to wake you up. Here you are, sleeping soundly on the desk, completely oblivious to the fact that your lady is arriving.”
She wondered if the day would ever come when she could say, ‘I was simply trying to shield you from the sun while you were sleeping so soundly,’ instead of making such a sharp retort.
Despite the reproachful tone, his expression remained unchanged — emotionless and cold as stone. He released her wrist as if it were something filthy and then abruptly stood up.
“I’ll be on my way.”
“Where to?”
Nokhee swiftly blocked his path as he attempted to leave.
Being nearly a head and a half taller than her, he initially intimidated her so much that she couldn’t even think about blocking his path.
However, after doing this repeatedly, she became so brazen it was as if she had a mask of shamelessness plastered on her face. With a scoff, Nokhee defiantly shot back.
“Didn’t you hear from Eokbun?”
“...”
"If you've returned, you should report to me immediately. How dare you be so disrespectful, considering you're just a servant?"
“Is there something specific you need from me?”
Kijoon was as distant as ever, treating her like a complete stranger. It felt as if their meeting just a few days ago had been nothing but a figment of Nokhee’s imagination.
At first, his cold tone made her heart race with worry, but now she had grown quite accustomed to it and could respond casually.
“Well, you need to finish what you were doing.”
As if she had been waiting for this moment, Nokhee extended the bundle she had been holding toward Kijoon. She had brought it along intending to examine his writings while indulging in self-pity. It turned out to be a wise decision. She felt grateful to Yoon Jucheol for providing her with this opportunity to keep Kijoon close.
“What are you doing? Aren’t you going to take it?”
When she nonchalantly shook the bundle in front of him, Kijoon let out a short sigh and sat back down.
Nokhee liked this about Kijoon. Even though he found it quite bothersome, he couldn’t resist her insistence and ultimately complied.
Only in moments like these did she truly feel like a noblewoman. One raised in privilege, ignorant of the ways of the world, and who could act childishly in front of the man she liked.
Kijoon's long fingers untied the hastily wrapped knot and lifted the lid of the stationery box. Without uttering a word, he retrieved the scripture and opened it to the spot where he had stopped last time while transcribing. As expected, he remembered everything, but it was clear that he was pretending not to know.
Suppressing a smile, Nokhee quickly sat down across from him and took out the ink from the stationery box to prepare it for use. Eventually, Kijoon, brush in hand, dipped it into the ink and began to write on the paper.
Amidst the musty smell of mildew, the sharp scent of ink spread through the air. A delicate line was drawn from Kijoon's brush, dots were placed, and delicate strokes fell below, completing a single character swiftly. Immediately afterwards, new lines were drawn below.
She had watched him transcribe for her dozens of times, and by now she should have grown tired of it. Yet, she couldn’t quite understand why she never felt bored.
Without uttering a word and keeping his mouth tightly shut, he scribbled away, resembling a living doll.
‘Heartless bastard.’
If he were to ask how she knew he was here, she would surely have some excuse ready. However, his lips showed no sign of parting, as if they were smeared with honey. [1]
Nokhee grumbled in frustration. Even so, whenever she looked at Kijoon’s handsome face, her weary heart would melt away like snow under the morning sun.
She was busy stealing glances, alternating between the characters he wrote, his hands, and his face.
“Have you fallen ill again?”
The one who had not cast her a single glance until now suddenly spoke up. For a moment, Nokhee wondered if she had misheard amidst the wind. Frozen in place with only her eyes blinking, Nokhee hesitated, caught off guard by his unwavering gaze fixed on her as he stopped writing.
“...How did you know?”
“The stench of blood fills the castle.”
Worried that traces of her recent illness might still be visible on her face, Nokhee instinctively brushed her dry cheeks.
He wasn’t asking out of concern for her; he was simply confirming whether he was right. Realising this, she couldn’t help but mutter to herself, “He’s like a ghost.” [2]
In the ten years since her arrival at Hwangju Castle, eight individuals with the Yoon surname had transformed into monsters and been killed.
Although it was unusual for so many to die within ten years, no one noticed that the lord's daughter had been bedridden after six of those eight funerals — except for Kijoon, who had an uncanny sensitivity.
Even Eokbun, who had been attending to her since her arrival, was completely oblivious; perhaps that was why she felt so drawn to him.
“One of the elders, Jongcheol, has passed away.”
At this response, Kijoon made an unreadable expression.
At times, he appeared to harbour a dislike for the Yoon family, yet whenever he heard about a member’s death, he showed little reaction.
While he certainly had no affection for the Yoon family, who took every opportunity to torment him, he was generally more ruthless when discussing the Grand Shaman.
He tilted his head as if pondering something and asked again.
“Did that weasel [3] give my lady the heirloom again?”
Nokhee was taken aback and quickly intervened, stopping Kijoon from referring to the Grand Shaman in such a disrespectful manner.
No one in this house would dare to refer to the Grand Shaman that way. The name stemmed from her resemblance to a weasel, and although Nokhee agreed with that description, it was a term that could lead to serious trouble if overheard by someone else.
“Don’t say things like that. If someone hears, there will be consequences.”
“There’s no one around.”
“It’s said that birds hear the words spoken in the day, and mice hear the words spoken at night.” [4]
“Whether it's a mouse or a bird, just catch and kill them, and that’s all there is to it.”
Sometimes, just when she was lost in thought, Kijoon would make a remark that caught her off guard, making her realise he was anything but ordinary.
He could sense that people had died in the castle from the almost completely erased smell of blood, and his indifference towards harming others clearly indicated that he wasn’t normal.
“…Forget it, what’s the point in talking to you? Just finish writing.”
Nokhee muttered weakly, feeling drained. In response to her command, Kijoon moved his hands without saying a word.
She shot him a disbelieving glare but soon gave up on that too. It would only hurt her eyes.
Swish, swish―.
The sound of the ink-laden brush gliding over the paper echoed in the silence. Nokhee once again observed the tall man who was writing like a young nobleman.
Just like the divine beast, Haetae, that Emperor Taejo once commanded, Kijoon was a mythical being who had forged an ancient pact and willingly devoted himself to serving the Yoon family.
Whether he was precisely a goblin or a yokai, [5] Nokhee wasn't entirely sure. She had heard that high-ranking noble families commonly kept one or two such non-human beings in their service.
However, Kijoon was undeniably handsome, so he didn’t look like a malevolent spirit; and after seeing him for so long, she no longer found him frightening at all.
Kijoon was just Kijoon. The name Kijoon was given by her.
The Yoon family often referred to Kijoon in various derogatory ways, calling him a 'worm,' a 'snake bastard,' or simply a 'lowly servant,' depending on their mood.
Since they had become sworn enemies with the snake, it seemed that they intended to belittle and disparage the highly capable Kijoon in every possible way. The Yoon family’s pettiness was already well known to heaven and earth, as well as to her, so it was no surprise.
However, Nokhee despised snakes and felt it was a shame that someone with such outstanding looks would be called such derogatory names.
So she named him "Kijoon," after the Kirin. [6] If he was going to be a spirit guarding the household, a mythical creature like the Kirin was certainly preferable to a vile snake.
Kijoon didn’t seem to care what he was called, but Nokhee liked the name very much and called him that as she pleased. As a result, whenever she sought out Kijoon, everyone in the household understood who she meant.
Kijoon, Kijoon, Kijoon.
Nokhee rolled the name Kijoon on her tongue several times. Even if she locked her heart tightly every morning, she couldn’t hold back the flood of emotions. It was terrifying how powerful first love could be.
Surely, Kijoon must know. It was impossible to miss her staring at him so blatantly, like a lovesick fool.
No, maybe he didn’t. Perhaps he still hadn’t noticed.
Translator's Corner:
[1] This metaphor suggests that his lips are so sealed or sticky that they won’t open. The phrase indicates that something sweet or enticing is keeping his mouth shut, implying a reluctance to speak or reveal anything.
[2] In Korean culture, ghosts are often thought to possess an uncanny awareness of the future and the ability to manipulate circumstances to their advantage. Therefore, when someone describes a person as "like a ghost," it suggests that their talent or skill in predicting outcomes is so extraordinary that it mirrors the supernatural abilities traditionally associated with spirits.
[3] The author used the term 족제비 (jokjebi) which literally means "weasel" in Korean, and refers to a person who is being characterised as sly or deceitful.
[4] This Korean proverb is equivalent to "the walls have ears" and is used to warn someone to be careful about what they say since one never knows who may be listening.
[5] In Korean folklore, Dokkaebi (도깨비), often referred to as Korean goblins, are considered spirits of nature closely associated with mountains and forests. Known for their playful yet sometimes malevolent behaviour, they delight in playing pranks on humans but can also offer assistance if treated with respect. It is said that they grant wishes, but only if they are pleased with the individual making the request.
On the other hand, Yokai (요괴) refers to a broader category of supernatural entities and spirits in East Asian folklore, particularly in Japanese culture, and are often characterised by their malevolent traits.
[6] The Kirin, also known as Qilin in Chinese and Kilin in Japanese, is a mythical creature featured in various East Asian mythologies. Often depicted as a chimerical being, it typically has the body of a deer, the tail of an ox, hooves, and occasionally sports scales or a fiery mane. Renowned for its gentle and benevolent nature, the Kirin symbolizes good fortune, prosperity, and tranquillity. In Korean mythology, the Kirin represents longevity and happiness, and it is believed to bring good luck to those who encounter it.
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