Yunseo burst into a bright laugh and grabbed Hwi's hand, then flinched and checked around the surroundings. Hwi then gripped Yunseo's hand even more firmly.

"They have no eyes or ears."

"There's no way you can say that."

"Can you say there is something they can't do if they can do it?"

"Stop being stubborn and say it properly."

Yunseo looked away from Hwi and his smile faded.

"I am stubborn and you are not harmonious enough."

"Couples grow to resemble each other."

"Will I become as stubborn as you?"

"The opposite would happen."

Even though he was being provocative on purpose, Hwi simply looked at Yunseo with those warm eyes as if stars had pooled there. The place where he kept wanting to put his hand kept bothering him and Yunseo casually shrugged his shoulder and asked.

"Where on earth are you off to?"

"Tomorrow is the day the night market opens."

"……You're going to the night market?"

At the unexpected answer his mouth fell open and closed again. Yunseo lowered his raised voice and shot a quick glance at the court attendants standing at a distance.

"What does that mean?"

"Exactly what it says. I want us to go together."

"That…… is that possible?"

"It's a common excursion for the Emperor. The purpose is to observe the people's lives, but surely no one would object to taking a day off."

Once he went inside the palace it felt like he'd never go outside again — that was what he had been thinking. But an opportunity like this had come to find him. He was glad, but also somehow he worried about what sort of scheme this was.

Hwi took Yunseo to the bedchamber. Without bringing in any court attendants and with only the two of them remaining, Hwi put his hand to Yunseo's clothes.

"Clothes first."

Hwi pulled out a sky-blue robe from within and put it on Yunseo. As Yunseo ran his hand over the garment to smooth it, Hwi had also changed — and the dark green hemp cloth caught his eye.

As plain as any ordinary person in the streets — he had no choice but to think of the man he had first met. A tinge of haze, just barely staring — Hwi came forward and reached out his hand.

"The colour suits you well."

He had the mistaken notion that nothing had changed. Bittersweet but no longer an endless sorrow — rather, a faint and tentative expectation swept through him. Yunseo's lips curved upward in a smile.

Yunseo grabbed Hwi's arm and he took Yunseo just like that into his arms, and as they stepped outside the bedchamber, Yunseo had by now grown used to resting his neck against him.

In the blink of an eye they had left the imperial palace. Hwi carefully set Yunseo down. Soon looking around him Yunseo's hand came out in front of him.

"Shall we go, my lord."

At the abrupt address Yunseo turned his head and looked back at him oddly.

"Why is it suddenly like this?"

"Because we're outside, the title changes."

Eyes that seemed to be trying not to laugh were watching Yunseo. He felt as if he were always playing some enjoyable game. Yunseo dismissed the laugh that was about to float up and grabbed his hand.

"Straight to the market then."

"Right."

"You mustn't lose my hand."

Whether some master would walk about holding hands like this he wasn't sure, but this time was just enjoyable. The two men traded idle conversation and headed toward the night market.

Perhaps because the surroundings had completely gone dark, for once there was no one at the market. Being in this bustling place and seeing it for the first time in so long made him feel like the vitality was overflowing — just standing and taking in the scene made him feel good. Gazing quietly at the scenery standing there, Hwi asked.

"There's said to be a new store that opened not long ago — apparently the dumplings there are quite good. Shall we go to Daeryeong?"

"You should have told me before I set out."

"Oh come on, I'm still inexperienced."

Hwi brought his lips down onto the back of Yunseo's hand. The flesh was subtly and finely prickling and Hwi led him toward the dumpling shop with a deep smile.

There were quite a few people waiting to buy dumplings in front of the shop. Yunseo lined up and waited with Hwi and received a pouch of dumplings.

He took out a dumpling and put it in his mouth. Savoury and sweet — he didn't know why it tasted so good. Hwi said he didn't particularly enjoy eating, but he wanted to show him the taste. A little while later a tilted Hwi lowered his head sideways toward Yunseo and ate the dumplings together with his fingertips.

He fiddled with the fingers rubbing against each other and checked Hwi's reaction as he chewed. The corners of his lips twitching ever so slightly, Hwi came up to Yunseo and lightly flicked the tip of his nose. A thin laugh sprang out naturally.

They ate the dumplings one by one and strolled through the night market with Hwi. The cumbersome robes, the following court attendants, and the gazes with no way to avoid them — the two of them walking hand in hand now didn't bother him, or perhaps it was because Hwi hadn't noticed the person who looked from time to time, whatever it was he didn't care.

"Oh? Those people over there……"

The most famous street corner in the market had people gathered. Going closer you could see a fence woven of fresh twigs set around it and inside it a stage and musicians were preparing for a performance.

"If you want to watch, it would be more comfortable to watch from the middle. Shall we go in?"

"Can we watch from out here?"

"If you wish then there's no reason you can't."

Hwi squeezed into the gap where people were standing thickly and found a good spot from which to watch the stage and settled in. His body wrapping tightly around Yunseo's prevented anyone else from brushing against him.

Yunseo exchanged a glance around at the shoulders wrapped around him from behind and looked straight at the stage. Hwi brought his lips close to Yunseo's ear to make a sound that barely rustled.

As he stroked the forehead, the musicians began to play their instruments. It was a fairly large scale so the anticipation swelled. Soon actors wearing masks came out and the audience sent applause.

One person wore the mask of a dragon, one person wore a mask with a flower drawn on it. Because the flower resembled the shape of a flower spirit it was immediately possible to guess at a glance what kind of story they were trying to tell. And the performance — as he had expected — went smoothly.

The story of a person who, having suffered hardship and been lost in anguish, meets a true person upon meeting a flower spirit, heading out breaking through thorns to save the country. The narrative was familiar, but the musicians' handling of their instruments was superb and the actors' performance was outstanding enough that immersing oneself in the drama was sufficient.

It was a simple story, you could say — but wasn't every story inevitably like that. The things that capture people's interest, things worth paying attention to, things that can draw out empathy — focusing only on those and dramatizing them to the extreme was how popularity was gained.

The audience was moved at the actors' every gesture and sighed and wept. When Yongrin drove away the demons, everyone was of one heart and cheered him on. Yunseo had been looking at the stage, but Hwi's face leaned down toward him and Hwi without expression watched the performance and then looked at Yunseo's face with his eyes.

"Waaaaah!"

When the drama finally reached its end, all the audience cheered and sent applause. As the applause gathered, from one place a great shout burst out.

"Long live His Majesty the Emperor!"

"Long live!"

"Long live Her Majesty the Empress Consort!"

"Long live!"

At the cheers that were enough to make the ears ring, Yunseo looked around at the surroundings with a blank expression. From all around, Yongrin and the flower spirit were being called heroes and their great deeds were praised, and they called for eternal peace within the Emperor's reign.

Inside the warmth and ardour of the cheers, his shoulder against Hwi's went taut. Tears rose to his eyes, and he even found someone clasping their hands together in prayer — seeing that, Yunseo felt his chest growing heavy and could not breathe.

The actors bowed to the audience and took off their masks to reveal themselves. Quite a lot of money was inside. Seeing that, Yunseo as he stroked his arms up felt Hwi taking the money out of the sleeve and putting it into the mask, and the actor who looked up at Yunseo met his eyes and smiled widely before looking up further and turning away.

Looking back afterward, Hwi was just holding up those earlobes and merely stroking Yunseo's cheeks. Yunseo put his purse in Hwi's hands and Hwi tidied it up neatly and led Yunseo out of the crowd.

Coming out of the place where the crowd had cleared and walking quietly, Hwi asked Yunseo.

"It's said to be a famous performance, but it doesn't seem to sit well in my lord's heart."

"It's not that……"

"Hm?"

"It's just, my mood is a little strange. On the one hand I'm moved hearing the words 'long live', and on the other hand it's not settling well at all — I'm not adapting."