Boy Monster Chapter 63

A war propaganda procession, flying the Rising Sun flag high, passed through the city of Gyeongseong. Infantry followed the cavalry unit, and even the Imperial Guard, mobilized to show unity with Joseon, was positioned in the middle of the procession. This event, attended by the vice-commander of the Japanese army stationed in Joseon to also celebrate the Japanese-Soviet Neutrality Pact (1), was a theatrical performance to justify the conscription of war supplies and manpower from colonial Joseon.

Jang Hwonwoo stood in the center of the procession, disguised as an Imperial Guard. For Jang Hwonwoo, who possessed outstanding shapeshifting skills, disguising himself as one person for a day was not very difficult.

The division commander of the Yeongheung Bay Command, a subordinate of the vice-commander, had recently been transferred to the distant Yeongheung Bay and had protested, been compared to other subordinates, and had even been told to commit seppuku, leading to great dissatisfaction with the vice-commander.

Jang Hwonwoo planned to obtain a sample of this man’s handwriting today. After circling the city, when the vice-commander gave a ceremonial order, the division commander would write and seal a document announcing the execution of forced conscription of Joseon people. If he memorized the handwriting on that document, he could use it to frame the assassination.

The Japanese soldiers and the Imperial Guard carrying propaganda flags passed Gwanghwamun street in front of Gyeongbok Palace. The soldiers guarding the vice-commander, who was on horseback, aimed their long rifles in all directions, on alert.

“Halt! Everyone, attention!”

The vice-commander stopped the procession in the middle of the road. The division commander of the 20th Division, who had the vice-commander’s trust, read out a declaration in a booming voice, announcing the reasons for enlistment and conscription. The division commander of the Yeongheung Bay Command, whom Jang Hwonwoo was targeting, looked displeased the entire time.

“…Thus, on behalf of the Imperial family of the Empire of Great Japan, I issue this order of conscription. May the youth of the Great East Asian Japanese Empire join in the will of His Majesty the Emperor!”

Handwritten edicts from the vice-commander and the division commander were delivered to the heads of each district assigned a conscription quota. The soldiers, police from the Police Affairs Bureau, and guards scattered to their assigned areas in an orderly fashion, and the procession of the top brass, led by the vice-commander, dispersed and headed for the military headquarters.

Jang Hwonwoo, from the very front row of the procession, aimed for the edict in the hands of the Guard Captain. Watching for the right opportunity, he secretly used his psychokinesis to make the sign of a Japanese-owned soy sauce shop fall. As the large wooden sign came crashing down nearby, the Guard Captain’s confident stride faltered.

“Whoa!”

The Guard Captain stumbled and dropped the edict. Jang Hwonwoo did not miss the chance and approached him, picking up the edict. In the brief moment of returning the edict to the Guard Captain, he memorized it clearly. Perfectly memorizing the handwriting and signature of the scapegoat, the division commander, who would be framed for the murder of the target vice-commander.

“Here you are.”

“Thanks.”

Success. Now, if he wrote a telegram in this handwriting, it would become evidence that the division commander had requested a secret meeting with the vice-commander.

Jang Hwonwoo planned to plot a meticulous assassination to eliminate both the vice-commander and the division commander. He could not let the old man who coveted Jae Eunho live.

‘I can’t just kill him. That despicable bastard who thinks of violating Sa Yeonri… that person….’

To avoid suspicion, he went to Unhyeongung Palace and stood guard, only sneaking away after evening had fallen and it grew dark.

He hummed to himself at the thought of boasting to Jae Eunho that he had obtained the handwriting to be used for the target’s assassination. Jae Eunho would be overjoyed. He would ride that momentum to request a reward for his hard work, and also play on his sympathy to get some kissing practice. A faint smile spread across Jang Hwonwoo’s eyes.

Now back to being the original ‘Hiroshi,’ Jang Hwonwoo headed for the garrison headquarters. Hiroshi, the second-in-command of the Sashimcheon unit, had to show his face to the vice-commander once a day and report on the intelligence circulating in Gyeongseong. When he requested to see the vice-commander, an unexpected answer came back.

“The vice-commander is currently out.”

Jang Hwonwoo left a report of his visit and turned away. He saw another soldier next to him who had also come for nothing. It was the division commander who had the vice-commander’s trust. The man, who had come to boast about the results of the forced conscription, spoke to his colleague with a disappointed face as he went down the stairs.

“He said if I really want to report today, I should come to the red-light district. He was bragging and bragging about going to taste something brand new. I’m thinking of going to have a look myself…?”

“……”

At the end of May, a sky lantern festival was scheduled to be held on the Han River to celebrate Buddha’s Birthday. Under the guidance of the monks, the work of making sky lanterns was in full swing at the Sashimcheon mansion. The busy Hwelju and Yeonri were exempt from the task of making sky lanterns, so Jae Eunho didn’t need to waste time on such chores, but he had been engrossed in making them all day to sort out his complicated feelings, and had already completed five.

— Haven’t you ever thought, Sir, that you’d like to pair up with a lover, like other Hwelju and Yeonri?

The pairing of Hwelju and Yeonri. It was sexual knowledge he had heard about countless times and had perfectly mastered. But until now, to Jae Eunho, it had been just a set of instructions, text for educating young Hwelju and Yeonri. The words had never felt so real.

Eunho looked at the row of sky lanterns and put a Western cigarette to his lips. In his dazed state, he struck a match, unaware of the danger to his fingers.

— I’ve decided. I’m going to take that Yeonri.

Suddenly feeling a searing heat on his fingertips, Eunho shot up, frantically shaking his finger that had been burned by the flame.

“Ah, hot, hot!”

After making a fuss all by himself, Jae Eunho quietly sat back down. Stung by the fact that his mind had been elsewhere, he grumbled to himself in frustration.

“You can get hurt easily with these Western cigarettes if you’re not careful for just a moment.”

The more he felt the reality that the day Jang Hwonwoo would connect with a Yeonri was near, the more he couldn’t handle his agitated heart. He couldn’t figure out why he felt like he was being robbed, and no matter how much he tried to suppress it with reason and self-scolding, he could not calm his anguish. It was because of the thought that he was losing the closest person in his life to someone else.

“This must be what it feels like to marry off a child. Right, it’s like I raised him myself.”

Even talking like an old man was no use. A sorrow different from mere disappointment shook his heart. The faint light shining through the paper of the sky lantern reminded him of the scene beyond the door at the secluded hour when a union takes place. After the candle is blown out by a gust of wind, the image of a man and a woman joining their bodies in the darkness filled his head.

Jang Hwonwoo layers his own sturdy body over someone’s white, naked form lying in the bedding. The thought of that body moving between the soft flesh that would suck in the man’s body made his heart tumultuous like a storm.

“It’s because I’m the only one who can’t have a proper pairing, so I’m jealous. That’s why I’m feeling envious!”

Jae Eunho paced around in a hurry. He let out a puff of cigarette smoke with a deep sigh and ruffled his hair fiercely. It was because a sharp heat had shot to his groin. To think that thoughts of an ‘erotic escapade’ had stirred up carnal desire in him—it’s all because of these sky lanterns! It’s because the light from the sky lanterns is so suggestive!

Having reached that conclusion, Jae Eunho cleared his throat loudly and grabbed the handle of a sky lantern.

Eunho threw open the paper-screen door and placed the sky lanterns outside in the hallway. By the time he had put all five sky lanterns out in the hallway, the redness of his ears had returned to normal.

“A telegram, Sir!” a 16-year-old Yeonri shouted, running up the stairs. She was a girl who had had a crush on Jang Hwonwoo since she was young. The girl approached Jang Hwonwoo’s room, a few doors down from Jae Eunho’s, and secretly opened the door. The girl poked her head through the open doorway, sniffed his scent, and giggled.

Jae Eunho thought, ‘Could it be her? There are many 2nd-grade Hwelju who want to be connected with her. Is that why he used the expression ‘taking’ her….’

Unaware of the piteously downcast look in Eunho’s eyes, the innocent girl ran forward and said.

“How can even Master Hwonwoo’s scent be so manly? Wow…! Sir, you made so many sky lanterns? I haven’t even finished one yet, can you give me one?”

The people of the Sashimcheon family called Hiroshi by his name, Jang Hwonwoo, when there were no Japanese around. It was a small act of defiance and solidarity among the Hwelju and Yeonri. Eunho hid the complex feelings that had been tormenting him and stroked the girl’s hair.

“Take as many as you like. I can just make more.”

“Wow!”

“Did you get a perm? It’s pretty.”

“Do you think Master Hwonwoo will like it?”

“Of course. Your hair is renowned even here in Hwanggeumjeong (2).”

The sight of Jang Hwonwoo, who had grown too big for Eunho to reach out to easily, holding a girl much smaller than himself would be a beastly image that couldn’t be veiled by the soft light of an oil lamp and paper screens…. They would faint from the pleasure of intercourse and connection…. Drenched in a night and a heat that I can never share with anyone… holding each other in the closest of embraces, their bodies becoming one.

When Jae Eunho put another cigarette to his lips, the girl held out the telegram. It was a telegram written by the family head himself and sent via a messenger.

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚟𝚒𝚌𝚎-𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚎𝚎 𝚂𝚊 𝚈𝚎𝚘𝚗𝚛𝚒.

𝙷𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚖 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚟𝚒𝚜𝚒𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝙹𝚊𝚙𝚊𝚗 𝚗𝚎𝚡𝚝 𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚑.

𝙲𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝟶𝟶 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚞𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝙷𝚘𝚗𝚖𝚊𝚌𝚑𝚒*.

𝙷𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚒𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚞𝚛𝚐𝚎𝚗𝚝, 𝚜𝚘 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊 𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚔𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚠.

𝙳𝚘 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚜𝚊𝚢 𝚊 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚘𝚛𝚢 𝚊𝚋𝚒𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚢. 𝙹𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚜𝚊𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚖𝚞𝚕𝚎𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚏𝚏 𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚕. 𝙸 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚎𝚡𝚌𝚞𝚜𝚎𝚜, 𝚜𝚘 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚜𝚊𝚢 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚘𝚗’𝚝 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚎𝚝𝚊𝚒𝚕𝚜.

𝙰𝚗𝚍, 𝚋𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊 𝚔𝚒𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚘.

𝙵𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚋𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚔𝚒𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚊𝚢 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙲𝚑𝚞𝚜𝚎𝚘𝚔 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚊𝚝 𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚍𝚎𝚘𝚔 𝙿𝚊𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚎.

Surprised by the unexpected content of the telegram, Eunho tilted his head.

The vice-commander of the garrison. What does this man want to confirm about me?

If I don’t reveal my special sensory ability, I’m just an ordinary Yeonri who will connect with a Sa Hwelju. It can’t be that information about the planned assassination has leaked.

After some thought, Jae Eunho concluded that what the Japanese man wanted to confirm was the ‘mark.’ He intended to check the mark to see if he was truly a Sa Yeonri. All Yeonri have their own unique mark on their buttocks. It was a pattern that appeared after suffering a fever around the age of 5 or 6. Many ordinary people, who knew nothing of the Sashimcheon family, would think the child had caught a terrible infectious disease or brought a demon to the village and would cast them out. When the family head suppressed the Yeonri’s manifestation with a spell, the high fever and boils would disappear as if washed away, and only a single-character mark would remain on their buttocks.

This mark was different for every Yeonri and appeared in various forms, such as pictographs or Chinese characters. When connected with a Hwelju, that single-character mark would be engraved over the Hwelju’s heart.

Jae Eunho, being a Sa Yeonri, had also suffered severely from that illness as a child. The mark Jae Eunho bore was a slightly eerie one: the single character for death, 死.

On the day he changed his clothes to display his ability in front of Prince Ui, Jang Hwonwoo had seen Jae Eunho’s naked body. Naturally, he must have seen the mark as well. The only people who had seen the Sa Yeonri mark on Eunho’s buttocks were the family head, the chief shaman, and Jang Hwonwoo.

So does this mean I have to take off my pants in front of the garrison’s vice-commander….

It was unpleasant, but he knew he couldn’t refuse. He had to obey the call of a high-ranking military official and the family head. With the mindset of going to dig up even a small piece of information, he began to prepare to leave.

Jae Eunho opened his wardrobe, took out a kimono, and then called for a rickshaw puller. On his way out of the house, as he walked down the hallway, he saw a drop or two of rain falling outside the window.

Footnotes:

1. The Neutrality Pact signed between the Soviet Union and the Empire of Japan in Moscow on April 13, 1941.
2. The old name for Euljiro.