Wandering Through Vol. 2 Chapter 55 - Reunion

At the foot of the mountain, patches of green grass sprouted where the snow had melted, but the mountain itself remained stark white. 

 

Leegwang left his horse below and climbed on foot, lost in thought.

 

‘Maybe I should turn back here.’

 

Had he not noticed the footprints left on the white snow, he might have done just that. Lifting his head, he spotted something moving swiftly up the distant slope.

 

…A roe deer in human disguise?

 

It resembled a person, but its movements were undeniably beast-like. The dark figure darted nimbly across the snowy mountain, leaving deep footprints that made it easy to follow.

 

“My lady! I’m back!”

 

The creature’s voice boomed loudly. The temple wasn’t even visible yet, but its voice carried from far away.

 

After walking a little farther, a small house came into view.

 

Surrounded by a low wall that didn’t even reach Leegwang’s chest, the house was truly just three rooms wide—a literal thatched-roof cottage. 

 

There was no need to look around, the entire place could be taken in at a glance.

 

Talismans covered the walls and pillars, and several Buddha-like statues were placed in the yard. The already cramped space looked even smaller, cluttered with such things.

 

Inside that narrow yard, a woman in a thickly padded coat and a tightly wrapped headscarf brushed snow off the shoulders of the roe deer-like figure and said,

 

“Let’s rest for a few days, then head down to Jungsong, Ban. I heard there’s a famous shaman there.”

 

Leegwang stopped in his tracks. Though only the woman’s back was visible, and her face couldn’t be seen, just hearing her voice was enough…

 

“No. Until all the snow melts from the mountain, you can’t go anywhere.”

“That’s ridiculous. It’s already spring down below.”

“No means no. If you fall ill again because of this, Nanny Yeongseon will really kill me this time.”

“Oh, come on. Ban. If we don’t tell Nanny and just sneak out together, it’ll be fine. She came by just two days ago—no matter what excuse she gives about temple duties, she won’t be back until next month.”

“Do you really think all the monks at the temple up there are blind? If Nanny Yeongseon starts questioning them later about whether the lower house was left empty, they’ll spill the truth in no time.”

“We can just ask the monks to keep it a secret, Ban. I’ve copied three volumes of Buddhist scriptures just for moments like this. If we offer them and drop a hint, they’ll agree, won’t they? Hmm?”

 

That voice, coquettish like a mountain creature, made his ears itch. The rising lilt at the end of her words reflexively made his lower half grow heavy.

 

Just what had I done to react like this? 

 

Leegwang was startled by his own body’s response, something he hadn’t felt in a long time.

 

“Even if you keep pleading, no means no! Last time you did this, you ended up sick in bed!”

 

The woman in the quilted jacket slumped her shoulders. At her disappointed expression, the deer-like creature pacing on two legs grew restless. 

 

Still, it refused to change its stance, and the woman turned back toward the room with a sullen face. Her steps were slightly unsteady as she turned, perhaps due to her discomfort.

But Leegwang didn’t seem to notice any of that.

Her small, pale face was tightly wrapped in a head cover and scarf. The cold had reddened the tip of her nose and cheeks, and her round eyes were pitch black.

 

“So you’ve been quiet all winter, haven’t you?”

Her eyelids, lowered in disappointment, fluttered. Her small lips moved hesitantly as she spoke. 

 

It was impossible to understand how everything about her was so clearly visible from this distance.

Leegwang couldn’t take his eyes off her.

 

Dragging her unsteady leg, she sat on the wooden floor, then puckered her lips a few times before finally smiling. She laughed with her eyes crinkling, reaching out to hold the hand of what looked like a young deer. 

 

The deer-like child seemed to be making some kind of earnest excuse, but honestly, none of it reached Leegwang’s ears.

 

“Yeah. That’s right, Ban.”

Her small, pale face nodded repeatedly as she smiled. Her voice grew softer and gentler, as if indulging the other’s affection.

Leegwang stood frozen in place, dazed like a stone statue.

 

She went inside the small house. And sometimes came out. Sometimes she sat on the porch, other times she wandered around the yard. 

 

Occasionally, when she stepped out, she forgot her scarf or outer coat.

 

Night came early in the mountains.

Even before dusk fell, she had been moving between the kitchen and the house. She shared a meal with the deer-like child, washed the dishes, and then, as darkness settled, hardly stepped outside again.

 

Light seeped through the cracks in the door.

Before he knew it, night had fallen.

 

Even after the light streaming through the cracks of the thatched-roof house had gone out, Leegwang remained standing in the same spot, staring into the yard as if entranced.

The next dawn, he was found by an old monk who was making his rounds through the mountains.

 

The old monk was startled when he spotted Leegwang standing tall like a village guardian in the dim mountain pass. 

 

Though clearly a nobleman’s son, Leegwang seemed dazed, as if possessed by a spirit, so the monk brought him to the temple.

 

Placed in a small room, Leegwang remained absent-minded until dawn, when he finally drifted into a shallow sleep. 

 

And then, he dreamed a most peculiar dream.

 

A walking roe deer told him that if he saved it, it would lead him to a stream where his lady was bathing. 

 

Like most dreams, it made little sense. He wasn’t sure what he saved the deer from, but in the blink of an eye, he stood before a stream—or what he assumed was a stream, as everything was hazy. 

 

The deer had been hazy too.

 

Had I stepped forward? Bent down? 

 

He couldn’t recall. But when he blinked again, a pale, wet face was right before his. 

 

A droplet rolled from the corner of an eye and splashed onto a flushed cheek. When he pressed his lips to that soft warmth, the sensation was so vivid it sent shivers down his spine. Her delicate skin seemed as if it would tear at the slightest pressure. 

 

Enchanted, he rubbed his lips against her tender cheek, intoxicated by the way her flesh yielded beneath his mouth.

 

His member hardened to the point of pain.

 

Just as he cupped her cheeks to claim her lips, overwhelmed by a frenzy of desire—he woke.

 

“…”

 

Leegwang looked down. His lower body was swollen tight, as if he were about to release at any moment.

The sound of the wooden clapper echoing from outside did little to calm his excitement.

 

🦋

 

“The house below the temple, you mean? Ah, the one where the disabled benefactor lives…”

At the young monk’s words, Leegwang nodded.

“Well… I don’t know much except that she came to the mountain last year.”

Leegwang’s eyes twisted with dissatisfaction. Perhaps because it was a small temple, there were only a few elderly monks, and every one of them was tight-lipped. 

 

No matter what he asked, none of them gave a proper answer. He had dragged the temple’s sole young monk inside to question him, but the reply was the same.

The young monk shrank under Leegwang’s intimidating aura.

“I really don’t know. I don’t know anything.”

Leegwang swallowed a sigh. 

 

The young monk, who had been kneeling, cautiously rose to his feet and said,

“I—I should go attend to my duties now.”

He couldn’t tell if they were hiding something significant or not. Leegwang stared blankly at the spot where the young monk had slipped away before standing up irritably.

Thinking he might as well go down and see her face again, he stepped outside—only to find the elderly monk who had brought him here waiting in the courtyard.

“What about the house below has you so curious that you’re even questioning a child, Scholar?”

It seemed the boy had already reported to him. 

 

Leegwang descended into the courtyard and replied,

“When the elders refuse to answer, what choice do I have but to ask the young one?”

The elderly monk sighed at Leegwang’s aggressive demeanor, then asked,

“Might I inquire why you’re asking about the house below?”

“When a young man asks about a woman, what other reason could there be?”

 

Leegwang’s overly blunt words left the old monk momentarily speechless. 

 

After an awkward silence, the monk finally nodded cautiously and spoke carefully.

“The maid from the lower house may be somewhat unrefined, but she is still an unmarried maiden. However, her master cherishes her greatly, so it won’t be easy to hand her over to you, scholar…”

His words seemed to carry a hint of hope, as if he thought Leegwang was interested in the maid rather than the master. 

 

But Leegwang cut him off sharply.

“That maid is none of my concern. What about the master?”

 

He didn’t even remember the maid’s face. To Leegwang, that maid was just a roe deer—a roe deer that walked on two legs and spoke human words.

Even if the maid were to strip naked in front of him, Leegwang would simply think she had finally realized her place. 

 

After all, beasts weren’t meant to wear clothes.

 

Leegwang was human, so he was more aroused by a woman wrapped tightly in layers than by a naked roe deer. 

 

Just the sight of her fair, smooth forehead made his lower half grow heavy.

 

“…The patron of the lower house is already married.”

“But doesn’t she go without a husband? If she had one, she wouldn’t be alone in these mountains.”