At that moment, Jaegyeom suddenly furrowed his eyebrows and groaned. In response, Yoon Taehee immediately pulled his hand away and stepped back. As if someone had caught him red-handed, his heart suddenly pounded.
The child told him he was unconscious…
He stared down at the boy’s face in the pale darkness. His pursed lips twitched, and a faint voice flowed through the cracks, as though sleep talking.
“No, where are you going…”
Yoon Taehee quietly listened.
“Sorry… I was wrong…”
His serene face contorted in an instant.
Jaegyeom started to cry. Cold sweat broke out on his smooth forehead. At the unintelligible plea, Yoon Taehee narrowed his eyes. Was he dreaming? What on earth was he dreaming of?
“Don’t go. Why. Why do you…”
Jaegyeom slowly raised his arm. As if he was trying to grab onto something, the way he was floundering with his hand in the air looked very desperate and distressed. In the dream, Jaegyeom sobbed a little.
“…”
Yoon Taehee, who was still looking down at him, slowly reached out his hand. A cool, large palm covered his damp forehead. Jaegyeom, who was groaning, then lowered his arm. He murmured something incomprehensible, and his frown gradually straightened.
“A dream…”
After a while, Yoon Taehee withdrew his hand. Warm water dampened his palms. It was a strange warmth that made his heart flutter. It reminded him of something he had tucked away in his blazer pocket.
A nightmare. It was a nightmare. And coincidentally…
Yoon Taehee looked at his own palm for some time which had touched the boy’s forehead. His gaze fell suddenly to the bracelet on his wrist. A black pearl shimmered in the dim light. Lost in thoughts for a moment, he moved his bracelet to his hand.
Yoon Taehee closed his eyes and began to calmly count the number of pearls in his shiny black pearl bracelet. After he stroked each one, he brought the bracelet to his lips and whispered softly.
“Heukje.”
At Yoon Taehee’s call, a breeze suddenly seeped into the tightly closed room. The hem of the curtain fluttered, and a faint figure emerged from the shadow beneath it. Contrary to his name, the intelligent ghost, who was called the ‘Heukje’, was wearing a blindingly white robe. The faint moonlight filtering through the window illuminated the white robe.
“Did you call, Taehee-nim?”
Heukje knelt down on his knees and bowed his head. Yoon Taehee put his index finger near his mouth, ‘shh’. And then he beckoned. At the gesture, Heukje rose to his feet. The sound of his footsteps could not even be heard. Yoon Taehee spoke bluntly and to the point.
“Reap the nightmares.”
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.
Heukje, who had bowed his head respectfully, raised his eyes. No one was named, but his eyes turned to the bed. The boy, who had been calmed down by Yoon Taehee’s touch, was drifting in his dream, crying again.
Lfexpf kjr j qjgjrlalm lcafiilufca rqlgla ilnlcu lc atf rtjvbkr jcv tjv atf jylilas ab wjclqeijaf vgfjwr. Ggfjwr kfgf atf rtjvbkr bo gfjilas. Geglcu atf vjs tf wbnfv ogbw qijmf ab qijmf lc atf obgw bo j rtjvbk, jcv ktfc vjgxcfrr ofii ja cluta tf ilxfv ab kjix lc jcv bea bo batfg qfbqif’r vgfjwr, rqslcu jcv kjamtlcu atfw.
Of course, most ghosts can also appear in human dreams. However, Heukje didn’t just show up, he could create or manipulate dreams as he wanted. It was also thanks to Heukje’s ability that, on the day the soul of the young master of Jukyung Construction was stolen, he made his father have meaningful dreams and deliberately leaked clues to the exorcist of the Undercover Department.
At Yoon Taehee’s words, Heukje replied curtly, “Yes.” and bowed his head. Compared to Saero or Paehyeon, Heukje was a spirit of few words. Even when Yoon Taehee summoned him, he never asked why, and always just stood by and remained silent even while Paehyeon and Saero growled and quarreled. Likewise, Heukje did not ask questions like who this boy was and why he was trying to get rid of nightmares. He just did what he was told.
“Let him only see good things. Let him only hear good things.”
Yoon Taehee used his fingertips to brush over the boy’s bangs, which were wet with sweat and clinging to his forehead, and stared at the boy blankly.
“Even when he closes his eyes.”
At the end of those words, Yoon Taehee turned around without hesitation.
***
Jaegyeom woke up four days later.
“I’m home.”
Jaegyeom, who was staring at the familiar ceiling, suddenly raised his upper body. The recoil made the bed rock. Sitting still, he raised his hand and scratched his head. The pegasus’s nightmares usually left him feeling foggy and heavy, but for some reason, this time his mind was clear and he felt refreshed. As if he had just shaken off an old fever.
Was it just his imagination?
He looked out the window and saw that the sun was setting over the foot of the mountain. Jaegyeom groped his body, realizing he felt fine, without a single sore spot. He had gone crazy that night. And then Jeongju came…
After calmly recollecting his memories, he looked around his room with a blank face. Just then, his gaze reached the bedside table next to his bed. There was an object lying next to the night lamp, something he hadn’t seen before.
“What is that?”
Jaegyeom reached out and picked up the item. A small cabin was enclosed in a semicircle of transparent glass. As he tinkered with it, snow suddenly started falling inside the dome. Jaegyeom’s eyes widened at a mysterious thing he had never seen before. A small wind-up poked out near the base. Wondering what it was, he tugged it.
Ring, ring, a melody suddenly flowed out.
Startled, he dropped his music box onto the bed. The melody was still flowing from the music box buried under the blanket, and the snow that fluttered around the small cabin did not cease. Jaegyeom calmed his surprised heart after a while and picked up the music box again.
He heard a clattering sound from outside the door, and then the closed door opened wide. Jaegyeom slowly raised his head to find Mesani looking at him with his mouth open blankly. Jeongju, who was standing next to him, was wearing an apron, and in his hand was a green onion.
“…”
“…”
“…”
Everyone looked at each other wordlessly. The sound of something bubbling outside the door was mixed with the friendly melody of the music box. A scent of something delicious wafted in the air. The green onion finally fell from Jeongju’s hand,
“Jaegyeom!”
“My lord-!”
Jeongju and Mesani came running screaming. They dived for Jaegyeom, who was sitting on the bed, spreading their arms wide and crushing him. Jaegyeom grimaced and tried to push them away, but it was no use.
“Jaegyeom, who am I? Huh? Can you recognize me?”
“My, My lord, I’ve been waiting, uhhung, uhhgg…”
Jaegyeom finally got annoyed.
“Aren’t you going to let me go? Get off me.”
Despite Jaegyeom’s annoyance, Jeongju and Mesani did not give up and hugged Jaegyeom with even more force. On the contrary, they were rather relieved to tears. He was his usual cranky self. He had truly woken up. It was a relief, like everything was finally back to normal.
“My lord! Are you awake?”
“Jaegyeom. How do you feel? Huh?”
Jaegyeom rubbed his eyes with an indifferent face.
“Why are you like this.”
Just then, the sound of something boiling over in the kitchen was heard. Jeongju, who had been lying on the bed, hurriedly ran out to the kitchen, yelling “no!” Taking advantage of that, Jaegyeom slowly got out of bed. It was only when he stepped on the floor and stood up that he felt a sense of reality.
“My lord, are you really okay? Yes?”
Mesani sniffled and clung to Jaegyeom’s waist.
“Mm. It’s okay. I’m fine.”
Jaegyeom nodded and asked.
“How many days have I been unconscious?”
“Today is the fifth day.”
“It’s only been five days, what’s the big fuss…”
Jaegyeom muttered sheepishly. He thought it had been a month. He was glad he woke up earlier than expected. If it was a little later, the house might have collapsed, not just the bed. It’s only been five days, but what’s the big deal… Jaegyeom quickly turned his words around, not wanting to make the atmosphere uneasy.
“But what is this?”
Jaegyeom pointed to the music box placed on the bedside table.
“Ah! That’s…”
Mesani, who was clinging to Jaegyeom’s waist and rubbing his cheeks, hesitated and raised his head. Hesitantly, he glanced at Jaegyeom and then looked at the doorway, that Jeongju had long gone out of to the kitchen.
“It- It was given by him.”
Mesani had been scolded by Jeongju a few days ago so much that his tears flowed out. It was because he had taken ‘him’ into the house without his permission. Jeongju came back after going out and found out that the exorcist had come and gone while he was away, so he was terribly angry. ‘You opened the door?!’
Mesani felt wronged, and protested that he was not a bad person and went back without doing anything, but Mesani had to stand with his hand up for an hour. ‘You didn’t learn your lesson after that whole situation!’ Jeongju warned him all night not to trust anyone other than Jaegyeom and himself, and told him to throw away the thing the uninvited guest left behind. But Mesani couldn’t do that. Because he was asked by the man to give it to his lord ‘by all means’.
Jaegyeom asked, frowning.
“Him? Who?”
The uninvited guest left the room in a short time as promised to Mesani. Then, he took out something from his blazer pocket and handed it to him. Mesani asked what it was, and the uninvited guest said, “If you say it’s a present for the collection of stickers, he will understand.” Mesani translated his words exactly as they were.
“H- He said it was a present for the collection of stickers.”
Jaegyeom’s face hardened slightly.
“…”
He stared at the music box in silence, and tugged the wind-up like before. Then the melody that had stopped started to flow again. He held it in his hand and shook it lightly, and the snow in the dome fluttered again. It was a strangely calming song. While listening to the song quietly, Jaegyeom opened his mouth.
“What song is this?”
Mesani rolled his eyes around and recalled his memories. ‘What did he say…’, after vigorously racking his brain, he suddenly jumped up with his eyes shining.
“It’s ‘Love Dream’!”
“What? What dream?”
“He said it was ‘Love Dream’.”
Jaegyeom’s face became ambiguous.
“…”
At some point, the melody stopped. Jaegyeom, who was silently looking at the small cabin where snow was fluttering, touched the wind-up again. Ring, ring, the music that had stopped flowing again. He murmured after a while.
“Crazy guy.”
Thank you … Good chap
thank u for the chapppter!!
Thank you!
Does that mean Jaegyeom liked that music box?
Thank you! I love this story so far. I was at the edge of my seat when they were fighting on the mountain. I read that in one go. The calmness now feels pretty amazing after that. haha
Noooo I caught up with the latest chapter and now I feel hollow inside 🫠
I wonder why Yoon Taehee wasn’t scarred by the bow. It surely wasn’t something Jaegyeom did conciously … so maybe subconciously? But is it even possible to influence the bow like that? Or has the bow a mind of his own in a way? Or is there something going on with Taehee?
Why is it can just see Jaegyeom smile while saying “crazy guy” .. Thanks for the chapter…😍
No rejection… No signs of rejection… GUYSSSD!!!!!! NO SIGNS OF REJECTION!!!! WHAA~~~
Those three are really a funny trio. I love how they love and protect each other.