Sowol Inn - Chapter 24

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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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Chapter 24
So Wol glanced back over his shoulder without thinking, catching sight of Lili.
The child’s warm breath, deep in sleep, brushed against his back.
What was supposed to be a month had simply stretched longer.
When Beop Gong came, of course he would hand the child over.
Even for Lili’s sake, it was the better choice.
A simple villager like So Wol could offer only food and shelter.
He couldn’t nurture the power Lili carried within him.
Beop Gong would be capable of reaching beyond all that.
So Wol resumed his steps.
For now the boy wept the moment So Wol vanished from sight, but he would adjust soon enough.
Beop Gong would have his hands full, but it was suffering he deserved.
So Wol alone had endured months of thankless drudgery, so that bastard owed the world some hardship of his own.
Children adapt to new things quickly, or so they say.
Whether that was truly the case, So Wol couldn’t know.
Lili was the only child he had ever known.
His thoughts scattered at the sight of Baek Ya hovering near the Inn’s front gate.
The moment Baek Ya spotted So Wol, he bounded down the slope at a run.
“We’ve got a guest, sir.”
He took the washing basket and hoisted it into his arms.
“What’ll they be having?”
“Stir-fried vegetables.”
“Wine?”
“They’re not drinking.”
“Got it. Baek Ya, hang out the laundry.”
“Sure.”
So Wol shelved the tangled thoughts that had been clouding his mind moments before.
Lili was still in his arms, and the Inn had a hungry guest waiting.
When a guest arrived, it was the innkeeper’s duty to get food on the table first.
Rolling up his sleeves, he crossed the Inn’s threshold.
* * *
Beop Gong never came.
Not after So Wol had sewn new summer clothes for Lili.
Not even as the summer heat began to break.
Not even when the cicada calls that had blanketed the courtyard grew sparse.
So Wol’s patience was beginning to fray at the edges.
“When the hell is that bastard showing up?”
Now, whenever he glimpsed fabric that resembled the Yellow Robes, his eyes snapped toward it.
Every shadow climbing the hill made his neck tense.
But each time it was someone else.
In the end, So Wol sent the carrier pigeon first.
[When are you coming?]
There was no reply.
A few days later, he sent another message.
[Are you even alive?]
This time, too, there was only silence.
“……This son of a bitch better not have died somewhere while making a fool of himself.”
Grumbling though he was, So Wol waited anyway—he had no choice.
In the meantime, Lili grew noticeably.
It seemed like only yesterday the boy had clung to table legs to pull himself upright, yet now he toddled about on his own two feet, wobbling and determined.
These days, his routine was to trail behind Baek Ya while he cleaned.
“Ba! Ba!”
In Lili’s hands was a scrap of cloth he’d picked up from somewhere.
“Lili, are you trying to help Uncle with the cleaning?”
“Kyaa!”
Instead of answering, Lili slapped the cloth scrap hard against the floor.
As dust billowed up, Baek Ya scooped the boy into his arms.
“Lili, don’t do that.”
“Ba-ah!”
“Don’t do that.”
Lili tilted his head, then scrubbed Baek Ya’s face with the cloth scrap he held.
“Lili! Ptooey, ptooey!”
So Wol burst out laughing.
No one had taught him, yet Lili mimicked Baek Ya’s gestures with an ease that never ceased to amaze So Wol.
According to Wang Yeom, Lili was developing far faster than children his age.
Dan U hadn’t even been able to stand alone at that age, he’d said.
But So Wol, who had never seen another infant, took the remark lightly.
“Aba! Aba!”
Baek Ya, who sat Lili on So Wol’s lap, rubbed his own cheek vigorously.
“Ugh, filthy.”
“You’re just mimicking what she does.”
“Still filthy.”
As Baek Ya grumbled, Lili giggled and clapped his little hands together.
He looked as though he were teasing Baek Ya.
Just then, someone called for So Wol from beyond the gate.
“Lili, are you in there?”
“I’m here! What is it?”
So Wol rose to answer and opened the gate, only then realizing something odd.
When had he started answering so naturally to that name?
He rubbed his lips awkwardly and moved toward the gate.
Standing at the door was Yu, the village elder.
“What brings you here?”
“Nothing much, except—it’s been nearly a year since Lili came to the inn, hasn’t it? Even if it’s humble, you ought to do a Dol-Jabi for him.”
“Dol-Jabi? What’s that?”
“Birthday grabbing. A child’s first-year ceremony.”
So Wol scratched his cheek.
He’d heard that some ceremony was done when a child turned one, but he wasn’t sure it was necessary.
“Do we really have to?”
“Not strictly speaking, but won’t the child feel disappointed later if he learns he never had a birthday table of his own?”
The elder had a point. So Wol nodded in agreement.
“Understood. What do I need to prepare?”
“Nothing on your end. Dan U has been gathering things for days now. Just bring Lili.”
“……Dan U?”
So Wol blinked in bewilderment, and the elder chuckled at him.
“That boy’s grown so large while you’ve been sitting idle that Dan U rolled up her sleeves to do it herself.”
“Oh no, I owe her a debt.”
“Debt, nothing. Enough chatter—come now. Baek Ya, you come eat some meat too.”
The elder gestured toward Baek Ya without fanfare.
“Baek Ya, let’s go.”
So Wol gestured once more, and this time Baek Ya trailed after him.
As So Wol crossed the threshold, he looked down at Lili in his arms.
Bringing him before others made him suddenly conscious of the boy’s wrinkled collar.
His own appearance mattered little, but he wanted Lili to look neat and tidy.
He smoothed the boy’s clothes and followed the elder out of the inn.
The elder’s house was filled with familiar faces.
On the platform, Jang Wi and Wang Yeom were playing with Dan U, while Heo sipped tea nearby at his leisure.
In the kitchen, the elder’s wife and his daughter Man Cheong were setting up a feast with the other women.
“Lili’s here!”
“You’ve finally arrived.”
“Baek Ya came too. How have you been?”
Greetings rained down from all sides. So Wol answered with a smile.
“Ha! It’s been a while since I’ve seen everyone.”
Unlike So Wol’s easy response, Baek Ya seemed uncomfortable with the sudden attention.
He hunched his shoulders and hid behind So Wol’s back.
Then one of the women pulled So Wol along.
“Don’t stand there—come sit. Baek Ya, come over here too.”
Once So Wol had settled into a seat, Dan U spotted Lili and waved.
“Lili!”
“Ah!”
Lili squirmed in So Wol’s arms, delighted—a sign that he wanted to be put down.
When So Wol set Lili down, the child toddled over and threw his arms around Dan U.
“Oof!”
“Lili’s heavy!”
Dan U, unable to bear the child’s weight, tumbled backward onto the ground.
“Ha, look at these rascals.”
Jang Wi, laughing heartily, helped Dan U and Lili to their feet.
“Well now, Lili’s grown quite a bit. When he first came, he could barely open his eyes.”
Heo, setting down his teacup, leaned toward Lili as well.
He gently took hold of the child’s wrist and smiled warmly.
“Sturdy little one. So Wol’s raised him well.”
So Wol, feeling oddly self-conscious, cleared his throat and looked away.
A feast table had been set up in one corner of the courtyard.
It was no elaborate spread, but rice cakes, meat, fruit—nothing was wanting.
It was clear the villagers had each contributed what they could.
Only then did So Wol realize, with a pang of chagrin, that he alone had forgotten to mark Lili’s first birthday.
Just then, the village headman’s wife finished her preparations and clapped her hands together.
“Well now, before the child tires, let’s do the Birthday Grabbing.”
At her words, the women cleared the center of the table and began setting out items one by one.
An old, worn brush and a book, their handles stained with use.
An abacus missing several beads.
A half-used thread spool.
A bundle of coins.
A crude wooden sword, the sort children played with.
A humble but fitting Birthday Grabbing table was soon complete.
“Come now, Lili. Sit here.”
Wang Yeom seated the child before the table, and Lili cocked his head, blinking uncertainly.
Then he caught sight of the objects and his eyes brightened.
“Ah?”
“That’s right. Pick one.”
The headman spoke with evident pleasure. All eyes in the village turned to Lili.
“If he grabs the brush, he’ll become a scholar?”
“A book would be better still.”
“Lili should take the abacus. He’ll inherit his father’s inn, won’t he?”
“The thread—he should grab the thread. A long life awaits him.”
Murmurs and laughter rippled through the gathered crowd.
“So Wol, what do you say? What would you wish for Lili to choose?”
So Wol offered an awkward smile.
It mattered little to him what Lili seized.
A child’s future was not settled by such superstitions, after all.
Brush or abacus or thread—any would do.
Only one thing—he did not wish for Lili to grasp the sword.
He could not bear the thought of the day Lili would come to know the weight of steel.
Without realizing it, So Wol’s fists clenched.
Then Lili moved.
In the hushed silence that fell, the child’s small hand reached out and touched something on the table.

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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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