The Inn (2)
Disbelief.
It was not something easily accepted.
"You're not lying, are you? You left only last night, Young Master."
"Why would I lie to Lady Jimin? Ahaha. I told you, it's already finished."
She could not believe it.
Yet So-un was not a boy who tossed out lies lightly.
He could be shabby at times, but never base.
"Then… the Chancellor?"
"That's finished too."
Jimin's eyes widened.
He spoke of impossible things as if they were trivial facts.
There was nothing more exasperating than being told to believe what defied belief.
"Then… the Black Hall?"
"You call it that? Whatever the jianghu names it, the old man in the three-story pavilion is finished too. That one as well… heh heh, finished."
So-un picked up a duck leg with his hand.
He opened his small, childlike teeth wide and bit deeply.
With a mouthful of meat, he chewed casually, as though discussing something mundane.
To properly strip a bird, one must know its anatomy.
Where the leg ends and the wing begins.
Where the bone lies beneath the joint.
Only someone who has torn one apart many times understands.
So-un might appear naïve, but he was skilled at stripping meat.
He separated the duck leg in a single motion.
In Haran, and throughout their travels, he had eaten countless birds.
He bit precisely into the thick flesh near the joint
and chewed without a care.
Jimin could not believe it.
So-un was not a liar.
But that he had accomplished the impossible already…
Her gaze lowered and hardened.
She rose from her seat.
"Perhaps it would be faster to confirm it from someone else," she thought.
"Young Master, stay here. Don't go anywhere."
Her voice was low but firm.
"You will pay the bill before you leave… hm?"
So-un looked up, duck leg still in hand.
Grease shone at the corner of his mouth.
His face appeared unconcerned,
yet there was something in his tone that suggested he might bolt.
Damn.
With no money, and without settling the bill, Jimin walked out.
If she did not return, So-un would find himself in trouble for dining without payment.
With an awkward expression, So-un waved his clean left hand, trying to stop her.
It was a gesture meant to restrain her.
But the quick-tempered Jimin had already pushed through the inn doors and run out.
She meant to confirm the truth of his words.
Outside, she immediately heard the rumors.
The upheaval in the imperial palace.
The Chancellor's pitiful death.
And the collapse of the three-story pavilion behind the palace.
There was no need to search for information.
On the main avenue, passersby were already gossiping.
Like neighbors discussing a scandal next door,
their voices mixed excitement with curiosity.
Jimin felt a sudden wave of dizziness.
How could this be possible?
What exactly was that boy?
They had left the previous night.
By morning, the world had changed.
The chance of success had been slim.
It was the kind of undertaking that demanded readiness to die.
Even if successful, it should have taken months.
She had come prepared to devote herself fully to the cause.
And yet—it was already done.
She could not accept it.
She stopped people in the market and asked again and again.
The answers were the same.
All of it was true.
She confirmed that So-un had spoken truthfully.
But she still could not believe he had done it himself.
How could a boy who smiled so lightly accomplish such things?
When she returned to the inn,
So-un had dismantled an entire duck.
Bones stripped clean of flesh were piled high on the table.
"I should have fed him properly sooner," she thought.
His constant scrimping had kept him from eating enough.
Now that it was bought, he stripped it clean without waste.
On the battlefield, he had caught and roasted birds every day.
He knew their structure well.
Where sinews ran.
How to twist to release the flesh.
Understanding structure mattered in many things.
Jimin sat before him
and stared straight into his eyes.
There was only one question in her gaze.
"Boy, was it truly you?"
She did not say it aloud,
but the question was unmistakable.
"So you came because you thought I couldn't manage alone."
So-un said it lightly.
Jimin nodded silently.
She had rushed here ready to risk her life.
She had not intended to turn back.
"Thank you. You didn't have to. But still… you're the only one who worries about me, noona."
If he did not say something…
And yet he claimed it was already finished.
She could not believe it.
She did not know what to say.
More than anything, that easygoing face unsettled her.
That a boy who had just been gnawing on a duck leg
could speak of the Chancellor and the Black Hall so casually—
that was what made her dizzy.