Even My Life Is Yours Chapter 55

There were fewer people who passed the hazing ritual, which was no different from a hunt, than one might think. Out of the fifty-odd new recruits, only about a dozen or so passed.

“So, how did you get your pouches?”

The senior, who had been so intimidating before the hazing ritual, asked with a smirk. Hongyo replied,

“Well…”

Hongyo glanced behind her and said,

“I made a snare by twisting the vines growing on the wall.”

At that, she could hear one of the men behind her, who had been stripped to the waist in the cold, huffing and puffing with rage. But the seniors paid him no mind and nodded as if to say, ‘not bad.’

“Ah, so that was you? Thanks to you, we got to see something funny. Well, anyway, you set a trap. Not the standard way, but you used your wits. Yes, one must use one’s head. A good attitude.”

Then he said,

“Yeo Hongyo. Pass. From now on, I will treat you as a respectable man of Hwayoungkyung.”

Hongyo gazed at the Hwayoungkyung uniform that was handed to her. Seeing the bluish-gray silk uniform, she could finally feel at ease, thinking she had safely entered Hwayoungkyung. But her relief was short-lived when she saw the next man called out.

“Jang-ga Daeho, step forward.”

As the large man stepped forward, the courtyard fell silent. The pouches tied to his waist spoke of his prowess. Most of the people here had probably had their pouches taken by that man. Hongyo glanced at the man who had come to stand beside her.

If she had let her guard down for even a moment, her pouch would have been dangling from his waist too. It was then. As if sensing Hongyo’s gaze, the man rolled his eyes and glanced at her. At his gaze, the back of her neck, which had almost been caught, tingled.

“My, my. Why so many pouches? It’s obvious you’ll be this year’s champion.”

The senior marveled at the pouches worn like trophies.

“You’re as big as a mountain. You seem strong too. My expectations are very high.”

He then tried to pat his shoulder, but at the man’s indifferent gaze, he cleared his throat and withdrew his hand.

“Jang-ga Daeho. You are this year’s champion. As a prize, when you go to Myungwol-gwan, just put it on the tab. This one’s on the seniors, so drink your fill.”

The man who received the uniform gave a slight nod. It was a very insolent attitude, but the senior pretended not to notice and shouted loudly to the men behind him.

“Now, it’s your turn. As promised, strip to the waist and crawl between our legs, and we will graciously accept even incompetent fools like you as our juniors. Come forward one by one.”

At that, the men, who had been glancing around, began to take off their tops one by one. A cold sweat broke out on Hongyo. Meanwhile, the men, who had stripped one by one despite the freezing winter cold, came forward in turn. The seniors, who were teasing the men shivering as the wind brushed against their bare skin, looked incredibly pleased, as if they had been waiting for this moment.

Hongyo looked down at the uniform in her hands. It seemed her life in Hwayoungkyung would not be entirely smooth, and she was filled with worry.

˖°⛩️⋆˙️

The gong signaling the morning rang out loudly. Startled by the sound, Hongyo’s eyes shot open, and an unfamiliar ceiling came into view in the dim light.

She had just arrived at Hwayoungkyung yesterday, and with all the chaos of the so-called hazing ritual, she didn’t even know when she had fallen asleep. All she knew was that she had washed up and lain down, and now it was already morning. Hongyo hastily put on her uniform. The first class started today, so there was no time to delay.

She had worn uniforms many times before, but wearing the Hwayoungkyung uniform felt strange. She had attended the dojang, but that was only because Gamyoung had insisted so much. This was the first time she was putting on a uniform because she herself wanted to learn something. After a final check of her attire, Hongyo took a deep breath.

“I can do this.”

Having psyched herself up, Hongyo was about to leave the room. Just then, the door to the next room opened with a clatter, and Yeoryeong came out, tying his headband tightly.

“Oh, what perfect timing!”

Though he had known her for only a day, Yeoryeong asked with a genuinely pleased face.

“Did you sleep well? I couldn’t sleep a wink, probably because I wasn’t used to the bed, even after all that chaos yesterday.”

“A person who says he couldn’t sleep snores loud enough to bring the house down?”

“Ah, you heard?”

Yeoryeong scratched the side of his head, looking embarrassed. He then skillfully changed the subject.

“Anyway! It’s the first day of class, so we can’t be late. Let’s get going.”

He then casually slung an arm around her shoulder, and Hongyo was helplessly dragged along. Meanwhile, the men she had seen yesterday were coming out of their rooms in the other dormitories one by one. Seeing the men who, just last night, had been stripped to the waist and crawling between the seniors’ legs, now looking quite respectable, made last night’s events feel like a dream.

But even among them, the unusually tall man was indeed the one from last night. Hongyo instinctively looked at the man with wary eyes. At that, Yeoryeong, who had followed her gaze, looked back and forth between the man and Hongyo and asked,

“By the way, are you okay?”

When Hongyo looked back, Yeoryeong, who had already removed his arm from her shoulder, asked with a genuinely concerned expression.

“Your arm, I mean. With a grip like that, I’m sure it’s bruised.”

Hongyo recalled last night. She had been caught right in front of the white line. It was fortunate that it was just her arm; if he had caught her by the scruff of her neck, she was certain she wouldn’t have been able to escape easily. The thought sent another shiver down her spine.

“Well, I’m fine.”

As Hongyo nodded with a stiff face, Yeoryeong said,

“Honestly, after seeing you trip that guy yesterday, I see you in a new light. You look so delicate, I thought you’d be a pushover, but you’re quite a surprise. Well, I guess it’s only possible to enter Hwayoungkyung without connections if you have that much skill.”

His face showed genuine admiration. But there was something else in his words that made Hongyo more curious.

“Connections? People get in here with connections?”

At that, Yeoryeong, with a slightly troubled expression, replied.

“Someone with no skill at all who hasn’t even passed the military exam can’t get in openly with just connections, but if you’re a little lacking but have strong backing, it’s not impossible to get in. A background from Hwayoungkyung makes it easier to get a comfortable and good position when you’re officially appointed to other agencies.”

This was all new to her. She had only accepted the official post because she heard she could learn military strategy and other things in addition to martial arts; she had no idea about these circumstances. It was then. Yeoryeong moved closer to Hongyo. Startled, Hongyo leaned her head back, but Yeoryeong moved even closer and whispered so that only she could hear.

“Anyway, it’s best to be careful of that guy. He’s strong as an ox, but more importantly, Jang-ga Daeho’s father is Lord Pangam. It’s not good to get on his bad side, so try to stay out of his sight as much as possible.”

Lord Pangam… Come to think of it, she had heard that name yesterday.

“Ah, I heard it yesterday. I overheard the Gamkyung talking to Jang-ga Daeho.”

At that, Yeoryeong’s eyes grew even wider than before, and he said in surprise,

“What? You met the Gamkyung? How?”

To Yeoryeong, who looked ready to grab her by the collar if she didn’t tell him, Hongyo explained the situation as briefly as possible. However, she omitted the part about meeting him at the martial competition, fearing it would reveal that she knew Gamyoung.

“So if the Gamkyung hadn’t shown up yesterday, I wouldn’t have been able to escape.”

After listening to Hongyo, Yeoryeong stroked his chin with an interested look.

“So the Gamkyung-nim and Jang-ga Daeho know each other. Well, one is the son of the Gwansa of Hyungju, and the other is the son of the Pangam, so it would be stranger if they didn’t know each other. Anyway, be more careful from now on. As you saw yesterday, Jang-ga Daeho is known to be quite ruthless.”

Hongyo was about to ask what he meant by ruthless but stopped herself. Seeing how he had tried to snatch even her pouch right at the end after already taking everyone else’s yesterday, she thought she understood what he meant. Instead, Hongyo asked what she had been curious about since yesterday.

“By the way, did you really find the pouch yesterday? Is there really a fool in this world who would drop his pouch?”

Last night, when the seniors asked how he had obtained his pouch, Yeoryeong had replied with a sly smile that he had found it. But no matter how foolish one might be, no one would drop their pouch in a test like this. At that, Yeoryeong, looking surprised, mumbled his lips. He clearly looked like he was debating whether to tell her or not. Just as she was about to wave her hand and say ‘forget it,’ Yeoryeong spoke up with an air of granting a special favor.

“Actually, I knew. That we would need that pouch for the hazing ritual.”

Wasn’t that even more surprising news? As Hongyo’s eyes widened, Yeoryeong smiled and said,

“Think about it. The hazing ritual is actually an event to break the spirits of the new recruits, isn’t it? The content just changes every time. So I naturally thought the seniors would have something prepared this time too. So a few days before entering Hwayoungkyung, I had my people watch the marketplace. And just yesterday, some men in Hwayoungkyung uniforms bought dozens of those pouches. What could that be? The material to torment us, of course.”

As Hongyo stared in amazement, Yeoryeong beat her to it.

“Don’t you dare say it’s cheating. The seniors told us to bring the pouches, but they never said we had to snatch them.”

It was absurd. So he had been watching and then bought the same pouches?

“If the seniors had realized that my pouch was slightly different from the ones they bought, they would have failed me. But seeing as they didn’t say anything, don’t you get it? This was never meant to be a fair test of martial skills in the first place. What do you think ‘by any means necessary’ means? It means to show what you can do, whether it’s with strength or wits. Well, that’s just a pretext too, and the real purpose is probably to make a laughingstock of us and break our spirits.”

Despite his light tone, he was quite cynical. One could never know what was in a person’s heart, so she didn’t know if the seniors really did this just to torment them, but it was fascinating that one could think of it this way.

But her reflection didn’t last long. The bell rang, announcing the morning assembly before lunch. As she stood in the front courtyard where they had gathered yesterday, following the seniors, Jeonghwan, the representative of the Gamhwi, shouted loudly.

“All Gamhwi, pay your respects to the Hwayoungkyungjang!”

At that sound, Hongyo, knowing it was rude, craned her neck. It really was Gamyoung. A smile spread across her lips out of sheer delight.

“I am Hwayoungkyung jang, Cha Gamyoung.”

But the moment their eyes met, Gamyoung was wearing a face that even she, who had spent so long by his side, had never seen before.