Chapter 10
Yoo Ui’s parched lips curved into a fine arc.
“You are truly a kind-hearted person, young lady. To be so gracious even to a stranger.”
“The scholar is a guest of Geumseongdang.”
Even as Yoo Eun spoke defensively, Yoo Ui’s smile did not fade.
“Even if that is your only reason, I am still grateful to you. Without you, I would be trembling in this unfamiliar place, knowing nothing.”
“Do you not regret… learning the truth? The process is gone, and only the conclusion remains before you.”
“I do not regret it.”
“Even though it was a truth you might have been better off not knowing?”
Yoo Ui’s fists, resting on his knees, clenched with tension.
“That is so.”
As Yoo Eun looked into his eyes, which had regained their original color, she opened her mouth to say something.
Grrrrrrrrrrrrumble.
A loud sound echoed through the room.
“I’ll prepare the meal, so wash up and come out.”
Yoo Eun said lightly, suppressing a laugh, and Yoo, his cheeks flushed red, nodded.
When Yoo Eun stepped outside the room, two men with serious expressions were waiting for her.
“He says he’ll eat.”
“Yahoo.”
“Shh.”
Yoo Eun put a finger to her lips and pulled up a food delivery app.
“It’s a happy occasion, so I’m treating you.”
Before the food arrived, Yoo came looking for Yoo Eun.
“Do you happen to know… when His Majesty King Danjong passed away?”
As if uttering the posthumous title was painful, Yoo Ui’s handsome face contorted.
Yoo Eun, who knew that Danjong had died young even though she didn’t know the exact year of his death, fell silent. She couldn’t bring herself to tell this man, who had cried out in despair for failing to protect his king, an even more cruel truth.
“I… I don’t know that much.”
“I see. Young lady, I believe I must return to my original place as soon as possible. When exactly will I be able to go back?”
“That’s…”
“Where was the place I first arrived? I need to go there.”
“I understand you are anxious, but Scholar, the gate will not open again so soon.”
It was the Director who stopped Yoo, who looked ready to dash into the exhibition hall right then and there.
“When a small wild animal or an inanimate object arrives at Geumseongdang, the gate reopens quickly. But when a person comes, it takes at least a week before the gate opens again.”
Yoo fell silent for a moment, as if counting the days.
“Then, I will be able to return in time, correct? But what if the gate connects to a time after Joseon has disappeared, like now?”
“You don’t need to worry about that. The gate that returns always opens at the right time for the person who needs to return.”
The Director’s tone was calm, but Yoo Eun noticed that his eyes were sharper than usual.
“Even if you wanted to go back to a time earlier than the period you lived in, the gate would not allow it.”
“…Why is that?”
Seeing the faint hint of regret on his composed face, Yoo Eun finally guessed that Yoo Ui had wished to go back to before Danjong was dethroned and exiled.
“Because in the time before you came here, you already exist there.”
“You mean two identical beings cannot exist in the same time?”
“Correct. And consider this: what would happen if someone who knew the future arbitrarily went back to the past and changed things to suit their tastes? The ‘present’ would become different.”
The Director clearly didn’t know who the scholar was, yet every word he spoke seemed to fit Yoo Ui’s situation perfectly.
“Even if you changed the past, there’s no guarantee you would get the result you want. You might gain what you desire, but you could lose something else precious in return.”
“I—!”
Yoo Ui flared up, but then closed his mouth. His fists were clenched tightly, and he looked to be in great pain.
“Time, as it flows, holds its own meaning.”
“Do you not have things you wish to change, things you wish to turn back, sir?”
“Of course I did.”
Yoo Eun had never heard this story before.
“But as time passed, I realized something. If I had clung only to the past I lost, I would have lost other things as well.”
The Director’s expression was impassive yet strangely melancholic, and both Yoo Eun and Yoo Ui fell silent, chastened.
“This may not be a comfort, but while you are here, at least stretch your legs and sleep in peace.”
As if he had never spoken of such heavy matters, the Director gave a kind smile.
Soon, the Director’s favorite pizza and pasta were delivered to Geumseongdang, and the four of them sat around the wooden veranda, enjoying the pleasantly cool breeze.
Among them, the most striking figure was Yoo Ui, holding his cup with a solemn air. He was staring at the bubbles in his cola with great seriousness.
Watching this, Ha-kyung peeled the straw wrapper and stuck it into Yoo Ui’s glass.
“Please use the straw. If you drink slowly, it should be fine.”
After taking one cautious sip after another, Yoo Ui’s cheeks flushed a vibrant red.
“This is a remarkably sweet beverage. What did you say it was called?”
“It’s called cola.”
“Cola. I must make a point to remember that name. Do you know how it is made?”
“The company—that is, the store—that makes this drink keeps the manufacturing method a secret. They say it’s their own proprietary process.”
“That makes sense. It is very delicious. It’s sweet, yet there’s a sharp, tangy sensation in the mouth—quite exquisite.”
He was still clumsy with the fork, so he picked up the pasta with chopsticks, but his condition seemed much improved from before the food arrived.
‘No… is he truly okay?’
Having learned that the person he cherished was in danger but that he could no longer do anything about it, he must be eaten up with anxiety.
Yoo Eun’s eyes fell upon the dried blood scab on the back of Yoo Ui’s hand.
He had wept as if his soul were tearing apart. His desire to return immediately would not easily subside, and the fact that there was nothing he could actually do must be utterly despairing.
Because she understood all too painfully his wish to go back to before the thing he wanted to stop had happened, Yoo Eun felt her own spirits sink. She too had dreamed, hundreds and thousands of times, of returning to before “that incident.”
“Yoo Eun, why aren’t you eating?”
“Huh? Ah, I just remembered I didn’t bring some of my luggage.”
“Is that so? Well, you haven’t been home for a few days, right? Nothing urgent needs doing right now, so eat first and then go.”
Yoo Eun forced a smile and nodded.
Four days had passed out of the week until the gate would open, leaving three days remaining.
This time was Yoo Ui’s chance to explore the other world before returning to Joseon. Dozens of times a day, whenever he had a chance, he tried to step outside Geumseongdang.
Working as usual in the office next to Geumseongdang, Yoo Eun realized something was off.
The absence of the person who had turned the always-quiet Geumseongdang noisy in just one day.
“Scholar!”
Yoo Eun jumped up from her seat and ran outside Geumseongdang. The Director and Ha-kyung looked at each other and smiled.
“She certainly seems more lively.”
“Doesn’t she? She’d been so listless for a while.”
“Exactly. Yoo Eun’s expression isn’t exactly expressive to begin with, but after ‘that day,’ she became completely blank.”
Yoo Eun had always been a hard worker, but after ‘that incident,’ she became a full-blown workaholic.
She had even taken full responsibility for organizing this Geumseongdang Festival.
Not only did she have to deal with the Seoul City Intangible Cultural Property artisans participating in the event, but she also had to coordinate closely with the district office and cultural heritage authorities for sponsorship, so the Director usually took the lead. It was a lot of headaches, but Yoo Eun rather said she liked being busy and asked to be entrusted with the work.
As if she were someone who couldn’t function unless she was busy.
“I figured doing something actively was better than staying still, so I let her handle the festival, but the work should be reasonably difficult.”
“Yoo Eun is indeed impressive. She’s been known for her sharp competence since her undergraduate days. Seeing such a junior just staring blankly into space was so heartbreaking…”
Sometimes, just like Yoo Ui had done a few days ago, Yoo Eun would stand with unfocused eyes. As if she herself didn’t realize what state she was in.
When she first came to Geumseongdang, she had been passionate about her duties, but now she seemed to be clinging to work desperately, as if to survive. It was as if, without something she had to do, she might scatter into the air at any moment.
The Director and Ha-kyung hoped that the sudden guest might stir Yoo Eun, who had been frozen in grief.
“I hope it ends well…
