An Advertising Genius Falls into the Joseon Era - Chapter 39

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 39
“A horse?”
Yun asked, his expression catching something unexpected.
“Yes. If we all enter the checkpoint as we are now, without distinction, all of us carrying our bundles, they’ll surely look down on us.”
“Mm, that’s true enough.”
“Therefore, we should……”
Song Do-hyeon paused, catching himself mid-thought.
Then he resumed.
“If at least the Acting Leader rides a horse into the checkpoint, they won’t be able to dismiss us so easily.”
Why had he singled out the Acting Leader—why specifically suggest that only he should ride?
Ha Yun looked sharply at Song Do-hyeon in that instant, but Song Do-hyeon kept his gaze fixed on Yun, his expression unchanged.

“There is merit to that argument.”
Yun nodded his approval.
If the Chief Representative Im Sang-ok had come himself, it would be different.
But with a newcomer holding the position of Acting Leader, it was necessary to project authority, at least outwardly.
And Ha Yun, already slight of frame, would be especially vulnerable.
When Ha Yun first arrived at Manshang, one reason he’d been dismissed was his small stature for a man.
If he appeared in Qing territory now, carrying a bundle as large as himself, he risked becoming an object of ridicule.
“I’ll inquire with the innkeeper tomorrow whether he has any spare horses available.”
“Thank you.”
Yun accepted Song Do-hyeon’s suggestion and brought the meeting to a close.
“It’s grown quite late. Administrator Ha should rest now.”
“Yes, thank you for your trouble.”
Ha Yun turned and left the room.
He had not gone far before his steps slowed.
‘Suddenly proposing to borrow a horse?’
His mind churned.
It wasn’t nonsensical reasoning.
Even to his own ears, the logic had been sound.
Yet the timing of the proposal felt deliberate.
‘Could it be… because of me?’
Today’s events crowded unbidden into his memory.
Ever since that moment when Ha Yun had nearly fallen backward, Song Do-hyeon had followed in silence, step by step.
Neither rushing nor lagging.
Always maintaining that precise distance, always trailing behind.
‘He could have passed me any number of times……’
No matter how he turned it over in his mind, it seemed deliberate.
Now that he thought about it, even the rescue itself didn’t sit right with him.
Song Do-hyeon might have claimed it was for the bundle’s sake, but if Ha Yun had rolled off that slope, Song Do-hyeon stood to gain far more—he would have inherited the Acting Leader’s authority without question.
With Ha Yun gone, the position would naturally fall to him.
And yet he hadn’t let it happen.
Instead, he’d pulled Ha Yun to safety without a second thought for his own stained clothes.
And now he was even advocating to borrow a horse for him.
There was more than one thing that didn’t add up.
‘No, that can’t be it.’
Ha Yun shook his head and made his way back to his quarters.
Until he fell asleep that night, his thoughts kept circling back to Song Do-hyeon.
***
The next morning.
The Trading Group, having completed their preparations at dawn, waited in readiness.
Shortly after, Yun approached Ha Yun and Song Do-hyeon, who stood at the head of the procession, leading two horses by their reins.
“Unfortunately, the innkeeper had only two spare horses available.”
“I see.”
Yun gave a helpless shrug.
The leadership of this Trading Group consisted of three men.
Ha Yun, Song Do-hyeon, and Yun himself.
One of them would have to walk.
Yun spoke first.
“Then Administrator Ha and Administrator Song can share the horses between them.”
“And Yun here?”
“Even with these legs, I’ve got one solid thigh, if I do say so myself.”
Yun flexed his thigh to demonstrate his confidence.
“Walking? I won’t fall behind most young men.”
He added one more thing.
“Besides, the two of you will handle the direct negotiations. I’m merely here to assist.”
“That may be true, but…….”
“The Acting Leader wouldn’t want you underestimated either.”
“If that’s the case…… understood.”
Ha Yun nodded reluctantly.
“Now then, don’t worry about me. Just mount up quickly.”
Yun handed the reins to the two of them.
“Giddyup!”
Song Do-hyeon swung himself into the saddle first.
From the practiced ease of his movements, this wasn’t his first or second time.
Then came Ha Yun’s turn.
“Ugh!”
His first attempt ended in failure.
Ha Yun tumbled pathetically from the saddle before he could even reach it.
“Oh dear, this is harder than I thought…….”
Embarrassed, Ha Yun scratched his head and grabbed the reins again.
“Hyah!”
Hop.
But this attempt too ended in failure.
Chagrined, Ha Yun kept trying to hoist himself into the saddle.
“Ha!”
“Ugh!”
Every attempt came to nothing.
Unable to bear it any longer, stifled laughter began to leak out from among the porters.
“Im, at this rate when do you expect us to depart?”
“Lord, just learning to ride will take all day.”
“Quiet!”
For a man from the modern world, mounting a horse turned out to be considerably more difficult than Ha Yun had imagined.
“Uhhh…….”
After all his efforts came to nothing, Ha Yun looked up at Yun with a helpless expression.
“What should we do? I simply can’t manage it.”
“……I’ll help you.”
Unable to watch any longer, Yun grasped Ha Yun and hoisted him up.
“Oh!”
In one smooth motion, Ha Yun’s body rose to saddle height.
Though he wobbled for a moment, he managed to settle into the saddle without incident.
Once Yun confirmed Ha Yun was safely mounted, he signaled for departure.
“Then we’ll be off.”
With the signal, the Trading Group moved forward.
At the head of the column rode Song Do-hyeon and Ha Yun, mounted side by side.
Clop, clop.
Fortunately, once mounted, it proved far less difficult.
The horse was well-trained; Ha Yun merely had to grip the reins and point the direction, and the animal moved accordingly.
‘This is certainly much easier.’
Though his thighs ached somewhat, compared to trudging along with a backpack the difference was simply night and day.
Had Song Do-hyeon not suggested riding, Ha Yun would likely have fallen behind within thirty minutes.
Ha Yun glanced sideways at Song Do-hyeon.
His gaze was fixed on the distant landscape ahead.
Time passed.
As it did, the distance between the mounted pair and the rest of the column gradually widened.
Soon only Ha Yun and Song Do-hyeon remained together at the front, riding side by side.
“…….”
An awkward silence settled between them.
All that could be heard was the steady clop of hoofbeats.
Then Song Do-hyeon urged his horse closer to Ha Yun’s.
“Is this your first time riding a horse?”
“Yeah, I guess.”
Something felt off.
Song Do-hyeon initiating conversation first like this.
Ha Yun feeling self-conscious about it.
Emotions entirely foreign to yesterday flooded through his chest.
“Loosen your grip on the reins. You need to feel it — like you’re communicating with the animal.”
Anyone could see Ha Yun was wound tight as a drum.
His palms gripped the reins so hard that crescents from his fingernails had bitten deep into the skin.
Song Do-hyeon reached over and gently took hold of the horse’s reins alongside him.
Ha Yun’s eyes widened.
“You don’t grip the reins — you rest them in your hands. If you squeeze too hard, the horse tenses up too.”
“…Yeah, okay.”
The explanation did nothing to ease the tension coiling through him.
If anything, his heart began pounding harder, knocking against his ribs.
Song Do-hyeon drew closer still.
“Don’t try to force it. Follow the flow.”
“The flow…?”
“Horses are intelligent creatures. They sense your anxiety immediately.”
As Song Do-hyeon spoke, he reached over and stroked the horse’s head.
A tingle shot through him.
For some reason, Ha Yun felt the back of his neck prickle with embarrassment, and his shoulders rose.
“First, we need to practice letting the tension out of your body.”
“Let the tension out? How am I supposed to do that?”
“Take a deep breath in. Then exhale as slowly as you possibly can.”
“Like this?”
Following Song Do-hyeon’s instruction, Ha Yun drew in a deep breath. His chest expanded, air filling his lungs down to their very depths.
“Shhhhh—”
Then, slowly, very slowly, he began to exhale.
As the air left his body completely, the rigid muscles softened of their own accord.
“There we go. That’s much better.”
Song Do-hyeon smiled softly, watching the change.
It was a smile that had slipped out unbidden.
“Wait!”
Ha Yun suddenly pointed at him, teasing.
“Did you just smile?”
“…!”
Song Do-hyeon’s expression froze.
Only now did he realize he’d smiled while looking at Ha Yun.
“No. I wasn’t smiling.”
“Don’t lie. You were. I saw it.”
“That’s impossible. You must be mistaken.”
“Come on, I was watching. You were definitely smiling.”
As Ha Yun pressed the point with stubborn persistence, Song Do-hyeon turned his head away, avoiding his gaze.
“That makes no sense. Why would I have any reason to smile at you?”
“Fine, fine. I must’ve been seeing things. Forget about it.”
Ha Yun found Song Do-hyeon’s desperate denials endearing, and a soft laugh escaped him.
“Hmm, mm…”
After the brief commotion, an awkward silence settled between them once more.
But it wasn’t an unpleasant one.
Simply an awareness that they were both holding too much back.
This time, Ha Yun was the first to speak.
“Anyway, I appreciate it.”
“Appreciate what?”
“Everything.”
In this moment, Ha Yun laid bare the feelings he’d been carrying all this time.
“Treating someone decently even though he’s just a drifter who somehow ended up as Acting Leader, lending me a horse, what happened yesterday — all of it. Thank you.”
Song Do-hyeon said nothing in reply.
He simply listened in silence to what Ha Yun had to say.
Ha Yun continued speaking.
“I have my reasons for staying here only a while. I’m someone who’ll leave someday, so bear with me until then.”
“……!”
At those words—that he would leave someday—Song Do-hyeon’s eyes wavered.
“So don’t hate me too much. We should at least get along while I’m here. Don’t you think?”
With that said, silence fell again.
“Hm……?”
Sensing Ha Yun’s confusion, Song Do-hyeon found himself being studied. His face bore the look of someone lost in thought.
After a moment, Song Do-hyeon murmured softly.
“……I don’t hate you.”
The words “not anymore” followed, but they were mumbled so quietly that Ha Yun failed to catch them.
“Then I’m glad.”
Ha Yun smiled lightly at the knowledge that his sincerity had gotten through.
Clip-clop. Clip-clop.
After that, for a long while, nothing was said—only the sound of hoofbeats echoing down the road.
***
A month later.
Ever since Ha Yun had begun riding, the pace of the caravan had noticeably quickened.
Thanks to that, they reached their destination sooner than expected.
“Look, look at that!”
A vast river with no visible end flowed before the Trading Group.
The boundary that divided Joseon from Qing.
It was the Yalu River.
The members of the Trading Group cried out in unison at the sight.
“It’s the Yalu River!”
“Once we cross that river……!”
“Qing Dynasty!”
Between them and the Qing Dynasty, there now remained only a single river to cross.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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