“Are you afraid of ghosts? You seemed pretty calm even when you saw us.”
“I was just pretending to be calm. How could I act scared right in front of you? That would hurt your feelings.”
“Most people would, though.”
“Would they? But I think I’d faint if I actually met a ghost.”
“I don’t think you would.”
He laughed “haha” and slowly drank his tea.
“Ask me everything. You seem to have a lot of questions.”
“…Mm….”
Squirm.
Of course I have lots of questions. What should I ask first? At least something that won’t touch on his painful wounds….
As I pondered and rolled my eyes around, they accidentally met with a dwarf who was scratching his head. Spirit-nim. You don’t really intend to be discovered by Bihyeon-nim, do you…?
“And you’ve been acting strange this whole time.”
“…I’d like more tea.”
“You’re really bad at deflecting.”
He looked at me with eyes that seemed to wonder whether to let this slide or not, and smiled. With a playful eye-smile, he gestured with his hand. Then he took the teacup from my hand and made it larger before slowly pouring tea.
“Don’t worry, those spirit drawings won’t move around like ghosts. They used to move quite a bit in the distant past, but I haven’t seen them move recently.”
“…Pardon?”
“Because they lost their master.”
But they move just fine. I was even getting enthusiastically whacked with a feather duster by the spirits just moments ago. I blinked and awkwardly turned my gaze away, forcefully stuffing yakgwa into my mouth.
“…Was the child who drew the picture not human?”
“No. They were human. The drawing probably came to life because they drew it with a sincere heart, hoping I wouldn’t be lonely.”
Because this place is full of divine power.
I thought he’d avoid questions about that child, but Bihyeon answered quite faithfully, surprisingly. I see. That child was definitely human. I kept putting yakgwa in my mouth. Glancing at me, he made the teacup small again and handed it to me. I took it and slowly drank the tea. As expected, it was at an appropriately warm temperature. Not too hot, not too cold—just the right temperature.
Suddenly, as I glanced around, my eyes locked with a dwarf who had quickly removed his hat and was scratching his head. Kheulk! I turned my head to the side and covered my mouth. Wow, I almost spat it out. I barely managed to swallow, but a cough came out and my eyes teared up.
“Kheulk, khollok!”
Bihyeon, who had been slowly raising his teacup to drink, tilted his head and looked where I had been looking. Perhaps meeting the moving dwarf’s eyes, he made a small questioning “Hm?” sound with slightly cold eyes.
– Huk.
One dwarf made a loud sound as if startled. Bihyeon slowly set down his teacup and stood up, approaching the wall. The dwarves’ eyes, who were now trying to pretend to be drawings again, moved smoothly.
…I don’t know anything.
Hmm, Bihyeon tilted his head at an angle, then raised his head to look at me. His gaze was mysterious yet seemed chilly. It seemed to contain many complex emotions. The dwarves trembled and came out of the wall, hiding between objects and peeking their heads out. Watching this, Bihyeon let out a “Heo,” a hollow laugh.
– W-we don’t know anything!
– That’s right, we don’t!
Two dwarves came out and prostrated themselves before Bihyeon. He smiled and looked at me with slightly reproachful eyes. W-why are you looking at me…?
“Seeing how you’re not surprised at all, you must have already known.”
“You seemed like you wanted to keep it hidden… I’m sorry.”
“There’s nothing to be sorry about.”
He sighed and said,
“Where’s the other one?”
– Th-that’s….
The dwarves glanced behind Bihyeon. Our gazes simultaneously turned that way. The dwarf hiding behind him jumped in surprise.
– These, these traitors!
– Hurry up and come out and apologize!
Suddenly the three of them started bickering and fighting amongst themselves. Since they were fighting as thin lines, it made slapping sounds.
“…So you were hit by the spirits.”
As if immediately noticing the scratch on my cheek, Bihyeon smiled gently. I awkwardly laughed “haha” while reading his mood, then sent a resentful look at the dwarves. If you were hiding, why couldn’t you just stay still… How on earth have you been hiding until now…? Perhaps understanding my gaze, the dwarves protested as if wronged, gesturing enthusiastically with their hands and feet.
– That’s what’s strange! We should normally be asleep like usual….
– Right! We’re overflowing with energy today and can’t sleep!
– Right, right. It’s strange! So strange!
Hmm. Given the situation, I think that might be because of me. Bihyeon, who had been looking at the dwarves with still-complex eyes, glanced at me. It seemed like he was asking ‘Did you do this by any chance?’ so I quickly shook my head.
“I didn’t say anything.”
“It, it just seemed like you were suspecting me. I didn’t touch anything, I didn’t do anything….”
“I know.”
At my words, he answered with a “haha” laugh. But his gaze had settled into a chilly calm. I felt self-conscious and immediately turned my head toward another direction.
“Why did you awaken?”
– …We don’t really know either.
The dwarves, bowing low before Bihyeon, looked at me. It seemed like a plea for help, but there was nothing I could do to help right away. I’m scared too, you know…. Perhaps because it was related to that child, Bihyeon’s expression seemed particularly dark. I glanced at Bihyeon. Whether he had been looking at me, our eyes met immediately. Because the question directed at the dwarves seemed like it was being asked to me, I trembled and smiled awkwardly.
– B-but shouldn’t the human be sleeping now?
– Right! Our master said humans shouldn’t stay up at night.
– Right! Human bodies are weak!
Why bring up that child now of all times? Thanks to that, the atmosphere sank even more chillingly. The dwarves must have felt it too as they trembled greatly.
Good grief.
“…You should probably stop sleeping now. You’ll definitely be tired when you return later.”
He said this while staring intently at me, smiling as usual. It was a smile with the same cold air as when I first saw him at the cafe.
“Yes… That would be good.”
But what could I say? I felt like I’d dream about that child again if I slept now, but there was nothing I could do about it. I read the mood, smiled awkwardly, and headed toward a random room with a bed.
“You guys handle yourselves.”
Swoosh, his cold gaze turned toward the dwarves.
– Then we’ll be cleaning!
– Right. A bad energy suddenly got stronger in this place.
– Shake off the bad energy! Shake it all off!
As if pleased with Bihyeon’s permission, they stood up and fluttered their wings gently. I glanced at them, then lay down on the bed and pulled the blanket over me. What am I even doing here right now…? I don’t have time to be leisurely like this. I have so many things to worry about…. I don’t know. I’m too tired to think now.
“Don’t worry about anything right now and just sleep.”
“…Yes.”
Bihyeon leaned against the doorway and said in a low voice. After nodding, I pulled up the blanket and curled up as much as possible.
* * *
Munch munch.
Thanks to Bihyeon placing a small house on the dining table, I could eat while seeing the faces of the palace residents. Since morning, the bear who had set out a feast was humming and kept adding things to the table. And those things were placed on my table too.
Of course, inside my house, the dwarves were also sitting in front of the table. Though they weren’t in bodies that could eat anything, they seemed to want to be by my side. After mixing rice with soup and eating, it was too much to eat all the side dishes too, so I quickly shook my head. Bihyeon, who had been making the side dishes smaller, laughed “haha.”
“Just eat! You need to eat at least one bite for the nutrition to go evenly throughout your body!”
Uwak.
When he yelled, it really felt like my ears would burst. As I trembled and raised my hand, Bihyeon tapped the bear’s shoulder.
“Oh, was my voice too loud? S-sorry.”
Only then did he sit down again while reading my mood.
– It’s the first time coming out of that room!
– Isn’t this house amazing? Usually we can’t leave that room.
– I know. This house is amazing!
The spirits, who had been looking around with sparkling eyes, fluttered their wings and moved. They seemed very excited. I picked up my spoon to drink water and eat the remaining rice.
“Don’t force yourself to eat.”
Bihyeon, who had finished eating and was drinking tea alone, smiled as he looked at me. As always, the corners of his mouth were raised, but today his eyes were still cold. That chilly atmosphere made it feel like we’d returned to when we first met. Though his actions were nothing but affectionate.
‘Well, I suppose this worked out well.’
Once I leave this place, I’ll…. I put meat in my mouth and chewed slowly, then nodded.
“I’m eating because it’s delicious. I’ll stop if it gets hard.”
At the words “delicious,” the bear turned his head and trembled. Normally he would have shouted that I was a good kid, but he seemed to be holding back for my sake. I smiled at the bear, then scooped up another big spoonful of rice and put it in my mouth. As if saying to do as I pleased, he took a sip of tea and picked up a yakgwa.
Even after the palace residents finished their meal and went off to do their work, he remained at his seat until the end. Continuously, until I slowly finished eating. When I finally finished and put down my chopsticks, Bihyeon raised his hand and moved his fingers slightly. Then the dishes in front of me grew in size on their own and moved to where the bear was washing dishes.
“You’ll have yakgwa, right?”
“Yes, please give me some. But what’s today’s tea?”
“It’s plum tea.”
“Give me that too, please.”
He nodded and made the yakgwa and plum tea small before placing them in front of me.
“And the cafe boss said to tell you to come back as soon as your matter is resolved.”
“Oh, my cell phone….”
“He only conveyed it through a call, so I’ll bring it to you tomorrow.”
“Okay.”
I need to return to normal soon. So I can work again and do things…. I breathed quietly, and the bear washing dishes and Bihyeon simultaneously stared at me. Perhaps I had been staring blankly at the yakgwa, as Bihyeon made the yakgwa float up and tapped my lips lightly.
“Ah.”
“Don’t worry. Seodam will come in just a day or two.”
“Yes….”
I grabbed the yakgwa with my hand and took a bite. Mm, as expected, it’s delicious. As I chewed and smiled, the bear chuckled and started washing dishes again.
“Let’s go to the room now.”
“Um, can’t I stay outside for a bit? I want to see outside.”
Being continuously in Bihyeon’s room felt strange, so it seemed much better to be outside. That child appeared in my dream yesterday too. Smiling brightly while sitting next to Bihyeon, no less.
“Alright then. Just in case, cover yourself with a blanket.”
“Okay.”
When I entered the bed and covered myself with the blanket, Bihyeon picked up the small house and went outside to the yard. Going to sit in the pavilion, he carefully set down the house and glanced inside as if checking on me. I was peacefully covered with the blanket when our eyes met, so I smiled slightly. His eyes seemed indifferent, but his actions were truly meticulous and affectionate.
