“West bank of the Hyeol-aeg River. Five miles southwest. Cottage.”
What an odd message. Even odder was that Cheol didn’t remember writing it, but it was certainly his handwriting. The brushstrokes were undeniably his. A cottage on Hyeol-aeg River? What could he have wanted there? Perhaps an investigation would be of some benefit. After all, his old self had thought it important enough to write it down.
Cheol placed the message back in the wooden box with the hairpin. The metal of the binyeo in his hands felt cool to the touch, as he held it up to the light. Apart from being a little rusty, it looked the same as it had all those years ago.
“How odd,” Cheol murmured.
“What’s odd?” Hye-jin asked from beside him.
Snapping out of his trance, Cheol returned the binyeo to the box and shut it. “Do I have a gap in my schedule in the next few days, Hye-jin?”
A faint smile curled on her lips. “When do you ever have a gap in your schedule?”
“Quite right.” Cheol sighed. He couldn’t just shift his priorities in favor of a hastily scribbled note. He handed the hairpin back to Ji-won. “Have someone polish it up.” After all, Cheol doubted Min-jun would appreciate getting a rusty hairpin as a gift.
‘You think I’ll put something so dirty in my hair? I think not,” Min-jun would say, his entire face contorted in disgust. No, Cheol could not do that, lest he be forced to sit through an hour of Min-jun’s complaints.
Ah, now all he wanted to do was check up on his lovely consort again. That would not do. Cheol had work to do.
. . . 12 hours later, morning of the next day . . .
“I thought I told you to rest,” the King had told him, dressed in only his undergarments. The servants left the room one by one, a few of them blushing at the sight of the King and his favored consort. The King’s eyes swept over Min-jun, who had taken special care to look his best. Beauty was the best weapon in these circumstances. He’d donned a blue-green hanbok embroidered with pastel flowers that climbed up from the hem of his overcoat to Min-jun’s torso. Min-jun’s hand reached up to take off his hat, placing it on the floor near the door.
“I believe if I rest any longer, I will certainly go mad,” Min-jun said, taking slow steps towards him. “Let me go back.”
“No.” Not even a hint of hesitation, or consideration for Min-jun’s state of mind.
No matter. Min-jun was skilled in the art of persuasion. If he can’t win him with force, he’d do so with warmth.
Min-jun picked up the folded robes that the servants had left on the table. The fabric felt soft to the touch, as Min-jun traced the pattern embroidered on it. The King watched him, curious.
“I came in unannounced at such a moment,” Min-jun said, dragging a hand across the King’s back. His skin was warm through the thin fabric of his undershirt, and his muscles momentarily tensed as Min-jun so brazenly touched him. “Let me make up for my mistake.”
“You seem more inclined to distract me further,” the King said, although he nevertheless shrugged on the shirt Min-jun offered him. Come to think of it, the last time they’d gone further than a kiss was all the way back in that Inn. Whatever passion Min-jun had inspired in the King seemed to be fizzling out. Was it the work of that woman? Hmph. And Min-jun had been so certain the King was close to being driven mad.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Zlc-pec abemtfv atf Blcu’r rtbeivfg, ofluclcu ab yf oijaafclcu bea atf mgfjrfr lc atf ojyglm, jcv ribkis ifa tlr tjcv rilvf vbkc. “P xcbk sbe’gf mbcmfgcfv jybea ws kfii-yflcu.”
“P’w uijv sbe ecvfgrajcv,” atf Blcu rjlv, tlr nblmf qblcafv lc j kjs atja kbeiv’nf fcvfv atf mbcnfgrjalbc kfgf Zlc-pec jcsybvs firf. Yo mbegrf, Zlc-pec bcis veu lc tlr tffir, qijmlcu ybat tjcvr bc atf Blcu’r mtfra jcv ujhlcu eq ja tlw, qifjvlcuis.
“But I am alright, believe me.” Min-jun averted his gaze, trying his best to appear like a tearful lover. “Is it so wrong of me to want to earn my place?”
The King shook his head, slowly, lips curling into a smile. “You make a wonderful actor, my love. Earn your place? Your place is beside me. You need no one else’s permission to be my consort, as you know.”
“But I’m this close to proving I’m just as noble as any nobleman,” Min-jun said, demonstrating just how close by pinching two fingers together. “If I succeed, it will be good for both of us. They’ll realize you have perfect judgment, and that I’m not just . . .”
“Just?”
“A whore.” There it was. Hook, line, and sinker. The hesitance in the King’s gaze was undeniable. Min-jun did not flinch as a hand reached out to him. The King’s fingers brushed over the curve of his ear, touching the feathery wisps of hair that had escaped Min-jun’s topknot.
“No.”
This stubborn bastard!
Min-jun crossed his arms, putting distance between them. “Why not? Do you intend to keep me here for the rest of the remaining weeks?”
“By all means, yes.” He admitted it! He wasn’t even ashamed!
“Why?”
“Well, I can’t say seeing you surrounded by other men is particularly pleasant.”
Of all the absurd excuses! “That’s what this is about? Some primeval possessive streak? I’m not going to fuck any of them! What, do you also take me for the sort of person that goes to bed with any man who so much as looks at me?”
The King seemed a bit taken aback for a moment, leaning away from Min-jun, who had only loomed closer in his tirade. “Of course not, my love. But they are all intent on disgracing you before the week is through. Since they know I have no intention of giving you up, their methods will get more severe.”
Min-jun opened his mouth to argue further, but then shut it as the memory of a few nights prior returned. Ha-jun had been planning to seduce him since the moment Min-jun stepped into the Academy. He’d nearly kissed him. But still . . .
“I can handle it,” Min-jun said. “It’s not like they’ve got the guts to kill me. Not after all your threats and not with Sun there to protect me.”
The King gave him a dubious look. “And how is your injury?”
A change of subject. Good, this meant they were making progress.
“I barely feel it.”
Somehow, the King managed to appear even more skeptical, as he kneeled down and rolled up Min-jun’s pant leg. Not this again. Some prodding was enough to make Min-jun let out a small hiss of pain.
“Barely feel it, hmm?” the King said.
Min-jun moved away abruptly and the sudden jolt sent a sharp pain up his leg. Damn it. “It’s because you’re intentionally irritating it.”
He walked around the still kneeling King and took hold of the red robes on the table. In doing so, his attention fell on a wooden box. It was crafted from dark wood with streaks of red running through it. His fingertips brushed over the lid of the box, the grains smooth against his skin. It was familiar somehow. Against his better judgment, Min-jun picked the container up to inspect it. On the side, a character had been carved into the wood. Plum jade?
Before he could properly jog his memory, the box was snatched away.
“Feeling meddlesome today, are we?” The King held the box out of Min-jun’s reach.
“If you don’t want people looking at it, you should hide it better,” Min-jun replied. Who could it be for? That woman, perhaps? All Min-jun had gotten as an engagement gift was a bouquet of tulips that wilted away eventually. Still, why did it look so familiar? Perhaps one of his clients had given him a hairpin from the same shop.
“You’re an investigator through and through.” The King sighed, placing the box back down on the table. “Entirely too inquisitive.”
This only stoked Min-jun’s curiosity further.
“My robe, if you do not mind, love.”
“Oh. Right.”
Min-jun finished helping the King dress, decidedly less flirtatious now that his efforts had proved to be in vain. If the King could not see reason, Min-jun would just have to figure out another way to get out of the Palace. He needed to gauge the crowd’s emotion after his performance several days prior. Could they still be talking about his lesson? Had their opinions shifted?
Min-jun bowed to the King and turned to leave, but then that low voice called to him again.
“You may leave tomorrow morning in the palanquin, but Sun is to keep a strict watch over you. If he sees anything out of place, I give him permission to take you away at once.”
Surprise gripped him. Min-jun whirled around to face him again, but the King was busy adjusting his hanbok. Min-jun might’ve tied it a little too tightly. Spurred by a sense of victory, Min-jun walked over to him, taking hold of the King’s arm. “Truly?”
The King looked down at him with that cheeky smile. “Of course, my love. I would not lie to you.”
Absent-mindedly, Min-jun placed his chin on the King’s shoulder, narrowing his eyes in suspicion. “Truly?”
“Truly.” The King brought Min-jun’s hand to his lips, kissing his palm. The gentle kiss made Min-jun’s heart skip a beat, and the King lifted his gaze to meet Min-jun’s, teasing him. Damn those violet eyes. Min-jun wanted to see them alight with passion the way they had on that night in the Inn. “As much as I prefer having you all to myself, I’d rather you not resent me for something so trivial.” There was certainly more to it. Min-jun arched a brow, prompting him to continue.
The King’s hand brushed over Min-jun’s. “And I could see by the determined look on your face that nothing I said would keep you here.”
. . .
Min-jun couldn’t help feeling a little suspicious. The King might be a possessive man but he had never been one to restrict him so severely. Was he truly that jealous of those scholars? Either way, Min-jun would have to make the most of his freedom, lest the King grow even more fond of restricting him to the Jangmi Villa.
“Your Highness,” Sun said, as he offered a hand to help Min-jun out of the palanquin. Another servant handed him a wooden cane,with a metal handle fashioned to look like a dragon’s head. He didn’t really need it, but it was better than being carried around everywhere.
Not long after Min-jun entered the courtyard, Ha-jun walked up to him. Their relationship was noticeably less genial now, but Min-jun found that he much preferred it to the cloying sweetness from before.
“Well, what’s happened since I’ve been gone?” Min-jun asked.
Ha-jun hesitated and wrung his fingers together nervously. “Perhaps you should sit down first?”
“Sit down?” Min-jun only now noticed the dark circles under Ha-jun’s eyes, the trepidation in his frown. It must be something quite bad, then. “Don’t beat around the bush. Tell me outright.”
Ha-jun sighed. “A body was found in one of the classrooms.”
A body.
Fantastic.
A/N: Murder mystery time! Looks like Min-jun simply can’t escape all these mysteries around him smh. Also, guess who binged The Autumn Ballad c-drama last week. letsplaydominoes and I both agree that the ML has the perfect voice for Cheol, so if you’d like to hear what Cheol’s voice sounds like, feel free to check out some clips on Youtube. The ML (Liang Yi) is played by Jeremy Tsui, and he’s a very good ML.
Anyway, rant over. Thank you so much for reading. If you liked it, please leave a comment down below.
Thanks for the chapter ♥️♥️
Thank you for commenting!
Investigator Min Jun going to attract Cheol faster than a flirty Min Jun
Thank you for chapter
That’s very true! Cheol thinks investigator min-jun is very attractive.
Thank you for commenting!
Troubles follow him…
He’s a real trouble magnet. Thanks for commenting!
Oh jeez – I hope nobody will blame his lecture somehow. It’s going to be hard enough to figure out if it was one of ours or one of theirs responsible 🤔
😶 i like that idea.
thanks for commenting!
A reference to the morning affection in this chapter sent me back to give my brain a boost of happy chemicals 😌. I love how Min-jun flirts himself into a corner!