Chapter 1
After the clamorous rain had passed, it was the season when leaves, holding the dazzling midday sunlight, shone green.
In the midst of a high-rise apartment complex stood an old tree that seemed to have seen quite a few years. A few steps past the tree, a quiet tile-roofed house welcomed you.
Inside the wide-open gate, a woman with her hair tied back in a single bundle was sweeping.
Tringgg.
“What’s with the phone call this early in the morning.”
Yoo-eun put down the broom and headed to the office. The man wearing a gat (traditional Korean hat) and a durumagi (traditional overcoat) glanced at her and then strode out through the open door.
“Yes, understood. I’ll be careful.”
After hanging up, Yoo-eun quickly looked outside and called out.
“Seonbi-nim! Hey, Seonbi-nim!”
She called several times, but only an empty echo answered. Barely putting on her shoes properly, Yoo-eun hurriedly rushed outside.
“This man, really! There he goes again!”
On a weekday morning, the path cutting through the apartment complex was quiet. No, it had been quiet – but then a voice filled with excitement pierced through.
“My lady, look over there. The children are riding something fascinating.”
Into Yoo-eun’s view came a man standing still, watching a child ride a kids’ kick scooter.
“Isn’t it astonishing? It’s already amazing to see a palanquin without horses or bearers, but what is that? It moves on its own!”
The man even went a step further and approached the child.
“Young one, what is the name of that thing?”
“Can I help you?”
The child’s mother, who had been resting on a bench, came over and watched the man warily. His attire – a gat and a durumagi – didn’t look ordinary, so her gaze was cold.
“That person… he seems suspicious.”
Yoo-eun, who had just arrived, quickly stepped in. The mother, who hadn’t even noticed Yoo-eun until then because of the man’s overwhelming presence, flinched visibly.
“Hello, I work at Geumseongdang Museum nearby.”
As Yoo-eun greeted her, the resident, who recognized her, finally relaxed.
“Ah, the curator young lady.”
“Haha, hello. This gentleman is a visitor to the museum. He must have been trying to ask the child for directions to the museum!”
“Oh, is that so. I thought…”
‘There are so many weird people these days,’ the mother’s words trailed off, but Yoo-eun pretended not to hear and smiled brightly.
“Well then, I need to escort our guest, so we’ll be going now.”
“Take care. By the way, are those wind chimes still hanging?”
“Excuse me? Yes, they’re still up.”
Taken aback by the abrupt change of topic, Yoo-eun answered reluctantly. The child’s mother muttered with a face that was hard to tell whether she was smiling or frowning.
“No wonder it was noisy last night.”
Yoo-eun tried to say something, but the mother quickly left with her child.
‘We’ve received a complaint that the metallic sound is too noisy. Please take action.’
Remembering the call from the district office earlier, Yoo-eun let out a small sigh. It wasn’t the first or second time she’d received a complaint about the wind chimes being too loud, but it was unavoidably tiresome every time.
After all, even the existence of a small Hanok house in the middle of the city center was bound to seem strange to people.
“Hey, stop looking elsewhere and follow me properly.”
Fed up, Yoo-eun tugged hard at the man’s sleeve as he gazed at a convenience store with wonder.
“Hmm? What?”
“Stop being distracted and follow me.”
“Ah, yes, I understand. But what is that place over there? It looked like a place selling things.”
“Yes, that’s right. It’s called a convenience store.”
The man was so busy looking around, full of curiosity, that Yoo-eun couldn’t relax for fear he might wander off. She had to tug his sleeve from time to time to get him to move.
“Truly remarkable. How can they build buildings so high?”
Looking at the tall apartments surrounding them, the man murmured in genuine amazement.
“You do know you’ve said that twelve times just today, right?”
“Haha, is that so? I’m just truly amazed.”
The man’s laughter was as refreshing as leaves rustling in the wind.
Yoo-eun averted her gaze from him. Her heart had suddenly started beating faster.
From the entrance of the apartment complex to the museum was neither far nor close.
In between, a couple of people passed Yoo-eun and the man. Their faces had been expressionless, but they looked the man over once in surprise as they passed.
Besides being noticeable because of his gat and light blue durumagi, the man had plenty of other features that drew attention.
Yoo-eun also stole a glance at him.
His neat gait, his tall and lanky build, his broad shoulders that weren’t hidden even by his generously cut clothes.
Her gaze lingered longest on his face.
‘He’s annoyingly handsome.’
It was the kind of face that would make you trust him even if he said he was making soybean paste out of red beans (i.e., trying to deceive you).
“Hmm? Is there something on my face?”
If Yoo-eun had been a bit more brazen, she might have thrown out a line like “It’s your handsomeness,” but she was already overwhelmed just trying to manage this strange guest, so she simply shook her head.
The man seemed to smile faintly, then lifted his gaze upward.
“The tall buildings are amazing, but I can’t see the sky very well.”
At his words, Yoo-eun also tilted her head back.
“…Ah, you’re right.”
Seeing the sky in pieces like a mosaic, Yoo-eun agreed.
Having barely managed to bring the man to the Hanok located in the middle of the apartment complex, Yoo-eun was horrified as soon as she entered.
“Argh! The wind chime! Why is the tape the director put on peeled off?”
There had been a storm with wind and rain the night before, so the wind chime hanging from the eaves must have swung wildly. Cold sweat ran down Yoo-eun’s back – she knew very well how that small piece of metal, which normally made only a soft sound, could become an absolute racket once it got going.
“If you mean that sticky string, I took it off.”
“Excuse me?”
Yoo-eun’s head whipped around, her eyes blazing, but the man answered calmly.
“A wind chime is meant to meet the wind and make sound, is it not?”
“I know that, but this is inside an apartment complex! If it’s noisy, we get complaint calls.”
“Oh my. To call the sound of a wind chime noisy… such harsh-hearted people.”
Watching the man say only what he wanted to say, Yoo-eun shook her head. She wrapped tape around the wind chime to keep it from moving.
“Why are you fixing it again after I went to the trouble of taking it off?”
“Because we get complaints that it’s noisy. They say it’s eerie or something. The call this morning? It was about this.”
“No.”
The man took the wind chime from Yoo-eun.
“Give it here!”
Yoo-eun jumped up, but when the man raised the wind chime high in his hand, she didn’t dare try to take it back.
‘I’m not that short, but why does this man have to be so tall!’
After struggling for a while and giving up, the man smirked at Yoo-eun, then unwrapped the tape and hung the wind chime back under the eaves.
Ding.
A tone as clear as a cloudless sky spread through the air.
“If anyone says they dislike this sound, tell me. I will personally teach them the beauty of the wind chime.”
Seeing the man smile with his eyes half-closed, Yoo-eun couldn’t bring herself to sigh. She just turned her head away with a huff.
“So, what is it that I am to do today?”
The man took a step closer and asked. A clear, elegant fragrance brushed Yoo-eun’s nose.
She paused for a moment, then pointed to the broom lying on the ground – imagining the man’s bewildered reaction.
“What you need to do today, Seonbi-nim, is sweep the floor.”
“I’ve never done such a thing.”
Just as expected, the man tilted his head, looking at the broom lying idly. Yoo-eun grinned at him.
“Still, do it. This is more important than expounding on how nice the wind chime sounds. A clean living space clears the mind. Don’t you agree?”
Watching the man hesitantly pick up the broom, Yoo-eun quietly sighed. It hadn’t even been a month since the man came here. But the fatigue Yoo-eun felt was already greater than that.
‘Feels like it’s been ten years.’
This already talkative place had gained another subject that piqued people’s curiosity. Yoo-eun tugged at the end of her tied-back hair.
The man watched the slim woman’s back as she disappeared into the building for a moment, then quietly began to sweep.
Only the occasional sound of birds and the ting of the wind chime filled the space.
Geumseongdang, dedicated to Grand Prince Geumseong, the sixth son of King Sejong, was as peaceful today as always.
“Brother! What kind of law is this! How can you do this!”
A man bound like a criminal on the bare ground – Yu – shouted at a man in his mid-to-late thirties who stood on the wooden floor wearing a red dragon robe (royal attire).
“Brother!”
“Enough.”
The older brother’s gaze toward his kneeling younger brother was cold.
“Brother! You cannot do this!”
Ignoring the royal rope binding him, Yu struggled forward, trying to persuade his second brother.
“Please listen, brother. You are not the kind of person to do this. To drive out your young nephew and… how can you—”
“Stop.”
“Brother.”
“I told you to stop!”
His voice was so sharp and frosty that even those standing nearby flinched. Yu, who had been silent for a moment, spoke again.
“Say that you were briefly out of your senses. Then I can understand.”
“Stop this at once!”
This time it was another man standing beside the man in the dragon robe who shouted.
“His Majesty told you to stop.”
“You…! Were you not a servant of the late king, of my brother? Yet how can you stand there and support my second brother?!”
“What are you talking about, Grand Prince? The Former King (Sangwang) has abdicated.”
Yu was momentarily speechless at the man’s attitude of already referring to his nephew as the “Former King.”
On the surface, the reason was as the man said: the weak young king could not bear the weight of the throne and abdicated in favor of his uncle.
But Yu knew that the truth was not so.
“Is that not because you all pushed him out? Did you not tell my nephew to step aside?”
Exasperated with the unyielding Yu, the man sighed. Only for a moment, then he spoke firmly.
“This person is my king now.”
In the dark night, the man’s eyes reflected the torchlight, gleaming fiercely.
“The times have chosen His Majesty. So give up.
