Chapter 15

His words were strange. He was asking something no one had ever asked her before. Hong Yeom-rang didn’t stand up. He kept looking at Hisa’s feet. Her toenails had fallen off and regrown a few times, so they were uneven. Just like her fingers, her toes weren’t pretty either. Yet Hong Yeom-rang deliberately kept looking at the ugly parts.

“Someone might get lost or hurt. If I stop, I won’t know.”

“Why would you care about that. Who do you think you are. You’re just a monster.”

The last part was something Hong Yeom-rang said to himself. This was a monster. Something that had no reason to involve itself in human affairs. Under the bright sunlight, Hisa looked around with a face that had gained color from eating his hair. She checked gently if the wildflowers had survived the night, if the wind had damaged them, if enough acorns had fallen for the squirrels to get through winter.

The monsters he knew never had eyes like that.

She’s a monster. A monster that eats people’s hair.

“I like people.”

“So you like the sacrifices that feed you?”

At her cheerful answer, Hong Yeom-rang sneered as he asked. He lifted his gaze to her. His sharp eyes burned with a heat he didn’t even understand.

“Why are you suddenly angry? Because I’m not taking you down to the village?”

That question again. Why are you angry. Hong Yeom-rang felt a strange sense of familiarity. His eyes narrowed.

“Stay here for a hundred days. Nothing will happen. It’ll pass quickly.”

She spoke as if it were for his sake, not hers, even though she needed those hundred days to feed. That irritated him. Hong Yeom-rang grabbed her injured ankle tightly.

“This is for me? No. It’s for you, Miss.”

His hair was within reach. Without thinking, Hisa reached out and gently touched the ends of his hair. With cloth wrapped around her fingers, she couldn’t feel anything. The hand gripping her ankle loosened slightly.

“Is that so… well, whatever.”

He got angry, then gave her new clothes. He got angry, then tore the dragging fabric to fit her. He got angry, then wrapped the torn cloth around her ankle himself. Hisa bit her lip to hold back a smile.

Was there another man whose words and actions were this different. He had even given her his sleeping place from the first day. But she knew if she pointed it out, Hong Yeom-rang would explode, so she stayed quiet.

“I’ve never walked with someone before, so I forgot you were behind me.”

After tying her ankle securely, Hong Yeom-rang stood up. This time, Hisa tugged on the strip connecting their wrists first.

“So what.”

“I think it’d be nice to walk side by side.”

“Just keep forgetting me and go where you were going, Miss.”

He had been following so quietly that she really had forgotten him. She always walked alone, so she assumed she still was. Hong Yeom-rang had other intentions, obvious ones, but he pretended not to. She never got close to the sacrifices. They found her unsettling and were afraid of her. Sometimes, like him, someone noticed her presence, but they would pretend not to until the end, then accept their reward and go back to the village.

He said he didn’t need any reward. Then how would he leave at the end.

Curious, Hisa turned to look at him again.

“Watch where you’re going.”

Hong Yeom-rang frowned as she started walking backward while looking at him.

“I’ve got eyes in the back of my head, so I’m fine.”

“Yeah right.”

He scoffed at her nonsense. Just as expected, she stepped on something and fell backward. Hong Yeom-rang instinctively pulled the strip connecting them. Her pale hand lifted into the air. Her knees dropped toward the ground. He barely managed to stop her from falling completely.

“Ah…”

“Ah? You said you had eyes in the back of your head, didn’t you?”

“…My knees hurt…”

“Unbelievable. You’ve got a talent for this.”

The curse slipped out. If she was going to act tough, she should at least commit to it. She had just twisted her ankle, and now she was getting hurt again without hesitation. Hong Yeom-rang felt his irritation spill over uncontrollably and fell silent.

What is this.

If his father had sent him to Hisa instead of a teacher in the capital, maybe he would have grown into a more patient man. The capital was full of pleasure and violence, and Hong Yeom-rang had not been the type to sit quietly under a teacher. Seeing all kinds of people had only made his temper worse.

Despite his harsh words, Hisa’s expression barely changed.

When their eyes met, she gave an awkward smile. She always smiled brightly enough to make people lose their minds, but seeing her smile like that, Hong Yeom-rang suddenly realized she was actually in pain.

“See.”

Still kneeling, one hand held by him, Hisa bit her upper lip lightly. She must have been embarrassed, saying she had eyes in the back of her head and then falling right away.

“I’m fine!”

She forced strength into her legs and stood up. Hong Yeom-rang had bent down to check her, and if he had been any slower stepping back, her head would have slammed into his chin.

“This is ridiculous…”

Hisa didn’t understand why he was angry again. She stood up and walked briskly. She could feel blood running down her knees, but it was fine. After a few steps, she stopped because he wasn’t following. She tilted her head and looked at him in confusion.

Blood was dripping beneath the yellow overcoat. The spot where she had knelt was already stained red, bigger than his fist. Even so, she insisted she was fine and kept walking. Hong Yeom-rang couldn’t believe it.

What am I even doing here.

He had just tied her ankle, and now her knees were bleeding.

“…”

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Otherwise, he felt like yelling at her. Fighting her was pointless. She always talked back, and somehow he ended up getting dragged into it and losing his words.

He thought she was on the level of the village fool, but she might actually be smarter than that shaman.

“Is there a stream nearby?”

“Yeah.”

Rather than follow her slow pace, it seemed faster to carry her. Hong Yeom-rang picked Hisa up. One arm under her knees, the other around her back. He could feel her staring at him from below, but he didn’t look down.

“Where.”

“Over there…”

Her ugly fingers pointed the way. As he carried her, the forest opened a path. Soon, the sound of water reached them. It wasn’t just a stream, but a small waterfall.

Shhhh—

Water poured down into a deep pool below. From there, it flowed onward. He set Hisa down on a rock by the edge of the pool. Since he had already torn it, he ripped more from her overcoat and soaked it in the water.

“Lift your clothes.”

Hisa did so without hesitation.

Her torn, battered knees were revealed. He pressed the cold, wet cloth against them. She flinched slightly at the pain but didn’t complain. Even when he pressed harder, she endured it.

“Just look ahead and walk. You can’t even walk properly. Stop testing my patience.”

“You’re angry because of me? Why?”

“Because Miss fell like an idiot in front of her servant.”

He said it sarcastically. Even so, she liked being called Miss, so she held back her laughter. He was a rigid man. Even while mocking her, he still accepted his loss and willingly played the servant.

He didn’t go back on his word.

Even if he was a foul-mouthed, ill-mannered servant.

“That’s why you should’ve come when I told you to walk beside me.”

“How could a servant walk side by side with his lady.”