A short while later, I was sitting in the reception room with the two of them.
Namgung Hwi, hands balled into fists and neatly placed on his knees, looked thoroughly tense.
In contrast, Tang Un looked perfectly calm. Leaning back against the chair, he sipped his tea with elegant ease.
“......”
“......”
“......”
Sobody say sothing. I’m going to suffocate.
An awkward silence spread. I chewed my lower lip, flicking glances between Tang Un and Namgung Hwi.
Frozen solid, Namgung Hwi stared down at his teacup, oblivious to my gaze. Tang Un, on the other hand, t my eyes at once and smiled faintly.
You’re the adult here. Can you please loosen up the mood a little?
I tugged on his sleeve, trying to give him a hint. He tilted his head as if to ask what I was doing.
I tugged his sleeve again.
Don’t just sit there—say sothing.
Blinking at my fussing, Tang Un straightened his clothes in a “fine, I get it” sort of way.
After retying the string of his outer coat, he slowly opened his mouth.
“Does the tea suit your taste?”
“Yes. It’s excellent.”
Namgung Hwi answered in a hurry.
For the record, he hadn’t even touched his teacup.
At least he’d managed to work out that you’re supposed to say sothing nice about it, even if you don’t drink it.
Unbothered, savoring the aroma, Tang Un spoke gently.
“It’s tea from Mount ng. I’m glad to hear the tea of Sichuan pleases a guest who has co such a long way.”
Older brother. You don’t look glad at all.
Despite his mild tone, his gaze was cold.
He was emphasizing that Namgung Hwi was an outsider and reminding him that this was Sichuan.
“I... yes. My apologies.”
Breaking out in a nervous sweat, Namgung Hwi had clearly caught the hidden aning. But it didn’t look like Tang Un intended to let this go so easily.
“If you’ve had sufficient ti to enjoy the tea, perhaps you could now tell which clan’s guest you are. I’ll accompany you back to the guest quarters where your party is staying.”
Roughly translated, that sounded like: “So whose son are you, exactly? I’d like to have a word with your parents.”
I stared at him, jaw hanging open at the high-class roundabout scolding.
I asked you to ease the mood, not start an interrogation. Of course, you’re Tang blood—you’d have a personality like this.
It seed to offend Tang Un that so unknown child from another clan had freely wandered into the Tang estate’s inner compound—into the Grand Elder’s quarters, no less.
“......”
“......”
Silence settled over us again.
By now, Namgung Hwi’s leg was shaking. He must have been terrified that the mont he gave his na, his clan’s dignity would plunge through the floor.
Watching the standoff between the two, I let out a deep sigh.
It’s not like I wanted to shield Namgung Hwi. But if I let this go on, there was a good chance it would snowball into a conflict between clans.
Then they’d start sorting out who was right, and when they explained why he’d been going in and out of Grandfather Tang’s quarters, my story would naturally co up.
That could never happen. It was already more than enough just trying to play dead quietly; I couldn’t have my existence advertised in every direction.
Forcing a smile, I grabbed Tang Un’s hand.
“Older brother, please don’t be so angry. I was the one who called him.”
“What do you an?”
“He’s my friend. Grandfather was going to be away, so I invited him over to hang out. I guess I wasn’t thinking. I didn’t know you’d be coming today either. If you’re going to scold soone, scold .”
Eyes suspicious, Tang Un looked back and forth between and Namgung ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ Hwi. It was the look of soone wondering how I knew a child from another great clan.
Ah. So you know I don’t have any friends, do you.
I hurried to tack on an explanation.
“We happened to et a few days ago and got close. We went to the market street together. That’s when we decided to be friends.”
“...Is that true?”
“We had fried sticky-rice cakes and fooled around. He said it was his first ti eating Sichuan rice cakes. Right? I an, right?”
When I quickly sought backup, Namgung Hwi nodded vigorously. Only then did Tang Un’s eyes soften into crescents.
“I see I’ve misunderstood. I thought an outside guest was bullying you.”
I silently covered my mouth with my teacup to hide my expression.
“I thought he was bullying you” sounded a lot like “if I’d caught an outsider bullying a Tang child, I would have lodged a formal complaint with his clan” to . Probably just my imagination.
Older brother, you have real talent for noble young-lady speak.
His eyes once again those of a gentle deer, Tang Un admonished Namgung Hwi.
“Even so, young sir, I think it would be best for you to return now. The event begins tomorrow, and if you’re absent too long, your clan elders will worry.”
“Yes. I’ll do that.”
Scrambling to answer, Namgung Hwi shot to his feet and clasped his fists. He had the look of soone who wanted to flee this instant.
I stood up as well.
“I’ll walk him back.”
“All right. Go on, then.”
Smiling brightly, Tang Un set down his teacup. And then—crack—the table collapsed.
“Ol—older brother Un?”
“It’s nothing. Just a fly buzzing around, that’s all.”
The table broke. The table actually broke, older brother.
So you’ve got quite the temper yourself, huh.
Faced with that naked hostility, the color drained from Namgung Hwi’s face.
I withdrew my earlier judgnt that Tang Un was unusually gentle for Tang blood.
Anyone with the surna Tang was clearly out of their mind.
*****
On the way to the guest quarters, Namgung Hwi said nothing. His face looked like his soul had been sucked right out of him.
Of course he was shaken. It was his first ti out of the house, and he’d gotten scolded by an elder of soone else’s household. His heart had to be pounding out of his chest.
Still, he deserved it. A lot.
Even as I thought that, the sight of him so deflated tugged at sothing in .
I walked quietly, giving him space to calm down. It looked like he needed ti to sort out his feelings.
After fidgeting with his fingers for a long while, he mumbled softly,
“Thanks.”
“For what?”
Playing dumb, I asked back, and he answered hesitantly.
“For calling your friend. If they’d found out the Young Clan Head of Namgung had climbed over a wall on his own, my clan’s reputation would’ve hit rock bottom.”
At least you know that what you did would have dragged your clan’s reputation through the mud. That’s sothing, I guess.
I snorted and tried to comfort him.
“Just don’t make the sa mistake again.”
And if we run into each other at the banquet, I’m sure older brother Un will recognize you right away.
He thought that getting out of this one situation ant he’d never be found out. Naively optimistic kid.
Looking gloomy, Namgung Hwi murmured,
“I must’ve been too excited. This isn’t Anhui, and I wasn’t thinking.”
“Sorry?”
“I’m also sorry for suddenly showing up. You might’ve had circumstances that kept you from coming out, but I just assud you were ignoring .”
At that unexpected confession, I blinked. It seed he’d been replaying the entire day in his head.
The protagonist is a protagonist for a reason. It’s not easy for grown adults to admit their mistakes right away, and he was doing it at his age.
Co to think of it, the day he bruised my wrist, Namgung Hwi had imdiately admitted he was at fault and apologized.
His words were rough around the edges and he was clumsy at dealing with people, but he wasn’t a bad kid.
He was still young. He’d probably get better as he grew older.
Even as the words left his mouth, his cheeks flushed with embarrassnt and he added, shuffling his feet,
“Anyway, thanks for today.”
“Don’t ntion it.”
I’d done it for my own sake too, and it wasn’t a bad thing to have Namgung Hwi in my debt.
Who knew if we’d ever et again—but then again, who knew? Maybe soday, far in the future, he might be in a position to help .
Of course, that assud I’d still be alive by then.
Ugh, I shouldn’t think so negatively.
I shook my head, tossing out the stray thoughts. In the distance, I could see the guest quarters where the Namgung clan mbers were staying.
That was when I finally rembered the letter I’d forgotten about.
“Oh, the letter...”
“About that letter you ntioned—oh, you go first.”
“You go ahead.”
...Our timing was just not lining up.
We looked at each other and laughed awkwardly.
“I’ll listen to you first, Young Clan Head.”
When I deferred, Namgung Hwi stared at the ground, mumbling shyly.
“Thing is... I wrote that letter late at night and... it was a bit... no, never mind. It wasn’t anything important. Just forget it.”
“Uh-huh.”
I’ve never read it, so even if I wanted to rember, I couldn’t. What’s with being so bashful over “don’t worry about it”?
I nodded to show I’d understood, and he whispered,
“What were you going to say?”
“It wasn’t anything much either. I was going to tell you not to write letters since I can’t read them. I don’t know my characters.”
Then he frowned, puzzled.
“Why not? Aren’t you studying? Your hands were covered in ink.”
Covered in ink?
Startled, I raised my right hand and saw my fingers and sleeve were stained pitch-black.
It looked like I’d dunked my hand in an inkstone and pulled it out.
You have got to be kidding . How am I supposed to get this off?
I shook my hand in horror, and Namgung Hwi snickered.
“You didn’t know? You were like that a few days ago too. You were covered in ink like soone who’d never held a brush before.”
Of all people, it had to be this wild colt who saw like that. Heat crawled up my ears in sha.
Hiding my blackened sleeve behind my back, I mumbled,
“...Please forget about it.”
“You do know how to read, right? I’ll rewrite it and give it to you, so you have to send a reply to the next letter.”
“I’m telling you, I don’t. I haven’t even finished the Thousand-Character Classic yet.”
“Then you will soon. Take your ti and study, then send one. Got it? I’m going.”
“Wait, do you have any idea how long that’ll...! He’s really going?”
Having unilaterally demanded a reply, Namgung Hwi darted into the guest quarters without even waiting for my answer.
His step was light; he looked suspiciously cheerful.
I watched his retreating back with a hollow feeling in my chest.
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