"I heard it clearly with my own two ears. He definitely said he saw it. Not just that. He said he even talked to it."
In a corner of the JoongHuiDang, a building in the crown prince's residence, a group of court ladies and eunuchs had gathered under the eaves where a breeze could easily flow through. Including today, people had gathered here for three days already.
The reason why people had gathered here without missing a day for three days was because of the abandoned palace building, the JaSunDang. Having heard that a new recruit had been assigned to the haunted JaSunDang, people gathered over to Eunuch Jang, who readily provided the stories, and tilted their ears toward him.
"However, it's strange. Didn't court ladies die in the JaSunDang? Why did Eunuch Hong see a male ghost?"
"You absurd fool. Why do you think only court ladies have died at the JaSunDang? I heard that a soldier that had fallen in love with a court lady and jumped into the pond and drowned."
"Something like that had happened?"
"My, how scary."
"Eunuch Jang, how long has Eunuch Hong been in the JaSunDang?"
At the inquiry of Eunuch Kim of the Great Hall, Eunuch Jang quickly replied.
"Today would be the third day."
"The third day......"
Repeating the words to himself, Eunuch Kim reached into his sleeve and took out a ten nyang coin and held it out.
"Then I bet that he will last another three days."
At Eunuch Kim's words, the nearby court ladies all lowered their heads.
"Do you really think he can last three more days? He said he saw the ghost and even talked to it...... Don't you think that means he already has one foot in his grave? I will bet this coral ornament that he will only last until the end of today."
"Still, this person has shown that he can survive three days. So I bet he will survive five more."
"I bet four days."
Wagers had been made between the court ladies and eunuchs, excluding Raon. Up till now, no one had been able to survive two days in the haunted JaSunDang. But to think that the new recruit had been able to survive for three days... the curious people had begun to bet amongst themselves.
"Anyhow, this is very worrying."
Caught up in the betting process, Eunuch Jang spoke up as he gathered all the money and jewelry into one place.
"Eunuch Hong's condition was out of the ordinary. I just peeked into the JaSunDang and I saw him staring up into the ceiling with a blank expression while talking to himself. I'm worried something problematic will happen soon."
"I heard this from an upper court lady from the empress' residence, but they say that those that are affected by a ghost will become one as well."
"Such a horrible fate for someone so young."
"What did he do to receive the wrath of Eunuch Sung?"
"Tsk tsk."
"Hey, HyangGeum. Isn't it time for you to prepare for the crown prince's day?"
"Aigoo, I totally forgot."
Court lady HyangGeum, who had gotten carried away with the stories that had been told, rushed towards the royal kitchen.
"I also had assignments given to me from Consort SookEui. I forgot it as well."
(T/N: "SookEui" = a title given to one of the concubines of the emperor)
"Me too, I'll be taking my leave."
Like that, the eunuchs and court ladies disappeared. A little while later, a black shadow appeared from under the eaves of the JoongHuiDang. As if he had heard all the stories told by the court ladies and eunuchs, the shadow looked towards the JaSunDang and his face cracked a smile. Then, he disappeared.
---
"As for me, I thought that a eunuch would naturally only serve those seated at the very top."
In the vast empty room, Raon sat by herself and spoke as she looked up towards the ceiling.
"I didn't even think that one could get a job protecting an empty palace building."
"......"
"Of course, I have no complaints. Honestly, I've lived a very exhausting life up till now. I haven't been able to relax so comfortably like this since I've been young. But Kim-hyung, why does a saying like this exist? 'Only people that have been idle can be idle'. Haha, am I not exactly that? Don't you have to know how to be idle to be idle?"
"......"
"But Kim-hyung, I don't know why everyone keeps avoiding me. A little while ago, I left the JaSunDang to look around the other palace buildings and met some eunuchs. It has been a long time since I've met a decent person, ah, not to say that you're not a decent person, Kim-hyung. Anyway, I let them know I was happy to see them. But wouldn't you know, they avoided me as if they had seen a ghost. Why do you think they're acting like that?"
Raon spoke to ByungYun, who was sitting on a crossbeam, but she didn't really expect an answer. Today marked the third day since she entered the JaSunDang. She spent the first and second day cleaning the building. Maybe because she was cleaning a building where half had collapsed and burnt down, it had only taken her two days to finish. Therefore, having nothing to do on the third day, Raon spent the day grumbling to ByungYun, who was lying down on the crossbeam.
As she expected, ByungYun never spoke a word back to her. Well, it didn't matter. No, just having someone nearby was a comfort to her.
"Did I tell you this? I feel fortunate that Kim-hyung is here."
ByungYun's back, which had been still like a stone statue, flinched, but Raon couldn't see it from below.
"If Kim-hyung wasn't here, my life here would have been very difficult."
This was the truth. The fact that ByungYun was a young man, and a handsome young man at that, did bother her. But if he wasn't here at all in this forlorn place, Raon felt that she would have been grinding her teeth in loneliness and end up walking out of here with her own two feet. Still, even if she wanted to leave, she wouldn't have been able to throw the grand orientation that Eunuch Sung wanted, so she probably would have been punished in another way.
Raon, who had a bitter smile, quickly changed the subject to a happier topic.
"Our DanHee, she's probably gotten a lot better, right?"
She wasn't always this chatty. It seemed that she was chatty because she had nothing to do. But this was better than keeping her mouth shut tight.
"Since the heavens are watching over her, she might even have already brushed herself off and gotten up. By the time I leave the Palace, she may be healthier than than me, right?"
Just thinking about it cheered her up, and Raon's face brightened.
"My dream, you see, is to dress DanHee in elegant clothes and accessories, so that she doesn't lose face at her husband's household. I'm going to send her away by putting her prettily in a lovely bridal palanquin, so that she doesn't envy anyone else."
If I want that to happen, I can't stay shoved in this abandoned building. I can't pass the days doing nothing.
Lost in thought, Raon turned her eyes to the open door. The corners of the sky began to be dyed with the sunset. On one hand, she wondered how a day in which she had nothing to do had gone by so fast, but then...... Without shame, grumble. Raon looked down at her stomach that made the noise. Even though she hadn't done a thing that day, her stomach was very punctual about asking for food. Raon slowly brushed herself off and stood up.
"Where are you going?"
ByungYun's voice drifted down from the crossbeam. Raon immediately sat back down and gladly replied.
"I feel like I have to do something... anything."
"You don't need to. Don't do anything."
"I can't continue to be shameless and accept all the free food Kim-hyung is giving me."
"If you can't eat due to shame, eat by using your wits."
(T/N: ByungYun is playing with words here. Basically, he's saying that if the food is hard for her to swallow because she feels like she didn't earn it, then use her brain to understand her situation and eat anyway... because her situation isn't good right now.)
"My grandfather always used to say this."
Raon stretched out her index finger as if by habit.
"He said 'Those that don't work, don't eat'."
"What kind of person says that to a kid? Your grandfather sounds quite petty."
"He just taught me the importance of work at an early age. You can consider it a type of early education."
As soon as she finished talking, she left the room. In a little while, she returned holding a small table. On the small table, there was a bowl of chicken porridge that was giving off a delicious aroma that filled the room. In her three days here, Raon had never seen a glimpse of ByungYun eating any food. She saw the wide back of ByungYun, who had looked over then turned around.
"Kim-hyung, I took the leftover chicken from yesterday and made some porridge."
"You eat it."
"I've already eaten."
"It's annoying."
"If you don't eat like that, what if you get vertigo and become dizzy?"
"......"
"Then you might fall off the crossbeam and die. How ridiculous would that be? That's what we'd call a dog's death. A dog's death that a ghost would laugh at."
"Why does it seem like you want me to die like that?"
"What, I'm just saying. So, Kim-hyung, come down and eat a bite. I didn't want to brag, but the porridge I make is so good that it can make a dead person leap to their feet."
Raon tried to tempt him with the delicious aroma that was floating around, but ByungYun was unshakeable. In the end, Raon pouted and moved the table to the side.
Silence filled the JaSunDang once again. Raon, who had been scratching the floor, began to mutter to herself.
"Ah, being idle is so hard. Should I clean something?"
"Don't do it."
ByungYun, who hadn't budged an inch when she said anything before, instantly replied at her soft-spoken words. This was because he remembered how she had overturned every nook and cranny of the JaSunDang when she was cleaning it before. At ByungYun begrudgingly shaking his head sternly, Raon became dispirited and lowered her head.
Unable to stand seeing her depressed figure, ByungYun nonchalantly spoke up.
"If you're that bored, why don't you pull out the weeds?"
"Ah, the weeds, you want me to pull out the weeds?"
Raon turned her head to the yard that was full of weeds.
"I see. Why didn't I think of pulling out the weeds before? Kim-hyung, just wait a moment. I'll pull all of them out."
Just having something to do made Raon's face brighten. With her bright complexion, Raon quickly ran outside. However, she returned shortly and looked up at the crossbeam.
"Kim-hyung."
"......"
"Do you happen to have a sickle?"
"......"
"Or maybe a hoe?"
"......"
"I guess not. There's no way you'd have something like that."
It seemed like getting rid of all those weeds was impossible to do with an empty hand.
"There might be something useful lying around in this building. I better look around."
Talking to herself, she was about to leave the room when ByungYun's voice followed her.
"Don't go near the eastern side."
"Why?"
"Something trivial will come out."
"What do you mean by 'something trivial'?"
She asked, but didn't get a response from the person who turned around again. After blankly staring up at the crossbeam, Raon turned her gaze to look outside the building.
A trivial thing at the eastern side of the palace building? Just what is that?
---
Snap, as Raon closed the door and left, the room filled with silence. Within the silence that felt like an old friend, ByungYun opened his eyes. He slowly got up and looked out the open window facing east. On the front yard of JaSunDang infested with weeds, Raon's moving shadow caught his eye.
"Annoying brat."
Muttering under his breath as if out of habit, ByungYun shifted his gaze below. He saw the bowl of porridge that was giving off the delicious aroma. Looking back and forth at Raon then the bowl, ByungYun leaped off the crossbeam and landed below. He moved so quickly and softly that Raon's mouth would have been wide open if she had seen him. In the blink of an eye, ByungYun was in front of the table and gazed blankly at the bowl of porridge that had not yet cooled.
"So annoying."
Speaking softly in a tone that conveyed annoyance, ByungYun sat in front of the table.
Finally, he slowly lifted the spoon that was on the table and took a heap of the porridge and began to eat. Immediately, the fragrance of the delicious porridge filled his mouth. The porridge began to melt on the tip of his tongue like ice.
"Still, it's not so good that a dead person will leap to his feet."
Remembering Raon's previous words, ByungYun gave the ungenerous verdict. However, he still didn't forget to put the spoon back into his mouth. A long time hadn't passed before the bowl of porridge was wiped clean. Putting the last spoonful in his mouth, ByungYun closed his eyes to savor the porridge as long as possible.
Was it because it had been a long time since his stomach had been full with warmth? ByungYun was covered in languid satisfaction. He then went and laid down with his head on his arm in the spot Raon had designated as her own. With a full stomach and the warm floor at this back, he didn't have any worries.
This kind of feeling, it's not bad.
Having plunged into complete satisfaction, ByungYun treated the insect noises in the summertime as a lullaby and fell asleep.
How much time had passed like that? He opened his eyes and looked around the dark room, his eyes searching for someone as if out of habit. He was subconsciously searching for Raon. After a moment, he let out a laugh.
It had only been three days. Even if he had spent a lot of time with that kid, it had still only been three days. Did he come to have an attachment to that kid in that short time? He felt that his habit-like search for Raon was laughable.
"An attachment. Such a useless thing."
He jumped up to the crossbeam. No, he was going to. But he couldn't make himself do it. When he heard the sound of the drum alerting the curfew, ByungYun subconsciously searched the weed-infested front yard with his eyes.
He looked around for a while, and ultimately, the few short words left his lips.
"Annoying brat."
---
Like the saying 'If one doesn't have teeth, they live by the skin of their teeth', Raon was unable to find the sickle or a hoe and began to weed the yard empty-handed.
At first it was good. She felt that if she did her best, the front yard of the JaSunDang would be cleared in no time. However, that was a delusion. Even though it was abandoned and desolate, the JaSunDang was still building within the crown prince's residence. What kind of place was the crown prince's residence? Wasn't it the place where the Crown Prince lived? She had underestimated the vastness of the place where the the foundation of the nation had lived.
She could see no end to this weed-infested yard. At that moment, Raon came to a realization. The JaSunDan was indeed very big. She had realized a little too late that there was no way she would weed this place with her own bare hands.
"I better ask Eunuch Jang to get me a sickle."
Thinking of Eunuch Jang, who came to see her almost daily at the JaSunDang, she brushed off her hands that had been stained with grass.
How much time has passed?
She had started pulling out the weeds when the sky had been filled with the sunset, but now she could see the white full moon.
"I didn't even realize how fast the time went by."
Raon looked around at the weeds that had grown up to her chest. She then began to walk back towards her room. How long had time passed like that?
"Heuuuk, heukheuk, heuuuk......"
(T/N: sobbing noises)
The creepy noise crept into Raon's ears.
"What is that?"
Raon stopped walking. Raon slowly turned her head to the direction where the noises were coming from. Raon strained her ears to hear the sound again. Was she just hearing things? She didn't hear anything more.
"Did I hear it wrong?"
She tilted her head and was about to keep walking when... seuseuseuseuk, seuseuseuk, this time the sound was different than before and sharply entered Raon's ears.
(T/N: the noise of something moving in the grass)
One could interpret it as the sound of the wind, or it could be the sound of someone brushing against the weeds. Raon stopped breathing and focused on the sound.
"Seuseuseuk, seuseuseuseuk. She hadn't heard it wrong. It was definitely the sound of something brushing against the weeds, and it was heading towards her.
It might be Kim-hyung coming to look for me.
Raon turned to the direction the sound was coming from.
"Kim-hyung. Is that you, Kim-hyung?"
Standing in the middle of the field of weeds, Raon spun in a circle and called out.
"Kim-hyung? Is that really you, Kim-hyung?"
Raon knew better than anyone that there was no way it was him. ByungYun was someone that never moved from his crossbeam all day. He was always saying she was bothersome and annoying as if it was his habit to do so. Why would he leave the building to go look for her? The reason why she was calling out in vain was because she was trying to tamp down the chill that was slowly rising up her spine.
Raising her voice in a completely empty space, Raon suddenly remembered a voice telling her something.
'The court ladies that drowned in JaSunDang. It wasn't two, but four.'
It felt like Eunuch Jang's chilly confession had just entered her ears.
'Don't go near the eastern side. Something trivial will come out.'
The moment ByungYun's indifferent voice rang clearly in her head, Raon looked over at a rundown building close to where she was standing. Underneath the full moon, she could faintly see that the building was towards the east. It was definitely another palace.
There's no way that the thing Kim-hyung was mentioning is that building, right?
Raon shifted her eyes and hurriedly looked for the JaSunDang. She saw its roof and calculated the direction. She turned white and turned back to gaze at the palace.
I'm in the east, the east!
Seuseuseuk, seuseuseuseuk. The sound was coming closer and closer.
Does the place really have a ghost? Then is this the sound of that trivial thing?
Raon's neck tightened at the approaching sound and began to busily shift her eyes all over the place. Then in a moment... she turned into stone. A black shadow appeared and covered her head.
Raon looked down at the shadow that got longer and longer, then she lifted her head. In a moment, with the full moon at his back, a black figure entered her eyes. In the next moment, an exclamation left her lips.
"Huh?"
Underneath the brilliant moonlight, an ivory white face. An unexpected person in an unexpected place. Raon, who looked at the ivory white face with clear eyes, spoke out an unsuspected name.