Superstar From Age 0

Translator: MarcTempest

Editor: AgRoseCrystal

Chapter 582 Part 2

“Thank you.”

It was a touching scene, even with the laughter.

***

The young master’s condition improved little by little.

“The painting tools should arrive by the time it snows, I think. Mr. Lee said so.”

“Snow…”

“…Yes. But… I think the scenery will be very different from here.”

The young master, who paused for a moment, looked out the window again. He saw the mountains towering between the curtains and the glass.

He briefly imagined the snow that covered those mountains.

Would they be completely white, or would there be colors mixed in between? What color would that be? How would they shine when they received the sunlight? What would they feel like when they saw them at dawn, or under the moonlight? What about when it was dark without a trace of moonlight? Or when the orange sunset faded?

“…I want to…”

Countless imaginations and colors and landscapes came like waves. His heart started to beat a little faster. He felt thrilled and a little scared.

The unknown painter clenched and unclenched his trembling hands. They were still shaking regardless of his will.

“I want to paint them.”

Somehow, his heart began to flutter.

***

The snow fell, but the painting tools did not arrive. In the meantime, Min-han learned how to write from the young master.

The writing tool was the Eastern painting tool he had bought. He didn’t know he would use it, but he scratched his head and burned with enthusiasm.

“You seem to have memorized the letters, so let’s try writing some words. Let’s start with your name.”

ㅁㅣㄴㅎㅏ

Min-han wrote each letter carefully with his trembling hand.

“Is there anything wrong?”

“Uh, no… Was your surname Min?”

The young master, who had called him Min-han until now, spoke with a sorry look on his face.

“Ah, my name is Min-han.”

Ah, that’s a relief.

“I don’t have a surname.”

…That’s a big deal?

The young master, who was relieved and then saddened, made the audience laugh. And they listened to Min-han’s story.

“I didn’t have a name either.”

Min-han looked at the name he had written and continued.

“I was found alone in the mountains near here. I don’t know what happened to me, but my clothes were torn and my body was in bad shape. I almost died in the mountains, but I was able to live thanks to the villagers. And since then, I’ve been living in this village.”

The young master listened quietly to Min-han’s story.

“I wasn’t in my right mind at that time, so I couldn’t find out my age or name. They guessed I was about eighteen by looking at my height, so I became eighteen years old, and my name…”

Min-han smiled brightly and said.

“My name Min-han was also given by a guest who stayed at this mansion.”

Ah…

“I wanted to meet him and thank him. To tell him that I like the name he gave to the orphan, that I’m using it well. And that… I’ll live well so that the name won’t be tarnished.”

Well, he was jealous of the villagers who had families and the young master.

Min-han smiled awkwardly and finished his words.

“He told me to follow the surname of the person I respect the most.”

The person he respects.

That must be him.

“I thought I’d just wait here for his news, but I guess it’s better to open a big store in Hanyang as you said. If the name Min-han becomes known, he might know it, and he might come to see me someday.”

The young master stared blankly at Min-han.

“And I want to have a family, too. I want to earn a lot of money so that I can feed them well, heal them if they get sick, and never part with them no matter what happens. I want to show him that the orphan he gave a name to is living happily like this.”

Min-han looked ordinary, but he had such a story. Moviegoer and the audience were quietly immersed in the two’s conversation.

***

The first walk outside the mansion’s wall.

The young master was staring blankly at one place, even when Min-han said they should go back.

Among the hills where the trees stood, there was a place that was empty and only snow piled up.

‘Ah.’

Min-han, who was a bumpkin, opened his mouth.

“There was a forest fire about ten or nine years ago, but luckily only that place burned down.”

“…Nine years ago?”

The unknown painter looked at the empty place where not a single small tree was visible. It looked like a dead space, contrasting with the trees next to it.

“Why… are there no trees?”

If nine years had passed, there should have been some grown trees. But there was nothing in that space. Only the fallen dead tree trunks occupied the place.

“That’s the strange thing. No matter how we planted trees, or flowers, or seeds, they all died. They said it was because the mountain god was angry and we even held a ritual, but it didn’t work. We’ve left it alone since then. The other places are fine.”

Min-han shrugged his shoulders and said as if it was nothing.

“It used to be a place where a lot of flowers bloomed,”

He didn’t know when the young master’s gaze would leave that place.

“There won’t be any flowers there anymore.”

[I wonder what the young master was thinking then.]

***

The young master’s room.

The young master, who was sitting on the bed, stretched out his right arm. Mr. Lee, who was careful, grabbed the young master’s hand.

The young master’s hands were wrapped in bandages from the middle of his arms to the tips of his fingers. From the first day he met Min-han until now.

“Your wounds have healed a lot.”

“Yes. Thanks to the three of you.”

“Of course, it’s our duty.”

Unlike the young master and Mr. Lee, who were happy about the healed wounds, there was someone whose heart sank. It was Min-han.

And the audience.

Moviegoer and the audience swallowed the scream that seemed to come out and looked at the screen. The wound on his arm, which they thought lightly, was more serious than they thought.

‘…Is this …a lot better?’

Min-han couldn’t take his eyes off the young master’s arm.

It was Mr. Lee’s job to wrap the bandages, so Min-han had never seen the wound under the bandages. He only thought it was badly injured when he saw the blood on the first day.

…He never thought it would be such a severe wound.

The young master’s arms that were exposed were miserable.

There was no place without a wound, from the arm to the finger. He wondered how a carriage accident could leave such a wound, and thought he needed more treatment.

No, if his exposed arms were like this… what about his body and legs that were hidden by his clothes…

The young master, who felt the worried gaze, lifted his head and looked at Min-han. The pity and worry that showed on Min-han’s face. The young master smiled with a pale face and hugged his arm full of wounds.

“It’s okay now. Hyung. It doesn’t hurt.”

But his arms were still shaking.

Min-han felt like he had taken the young master’s accident too lightly.

***

It was a new year, and January was almost over, but the painting tools didn’t come. Min-han sighed as he swept away the snow that had piled up more. He couldn’t nag Mr. Lee either, because the people who used to come once or twice a week didn’t come either.

“They must be very busy.”

“They’ll come soon.”

Unlike Min-han, the young master was walking around the yard with a relaxed face. His hands were still trembling, but he seemed to be more at ease since he took off the bandages.

Min-han’s eyes swept over the young master’s hands as he swept away the small snow. The hands full of wounds.

He thought it was a great thing to do to save someone else, but he didn’t know the person and the young master was someone he knew, so he felt resentful.

The young master, who seemed to know Min-han’s feelings, smiled brightly.

Mr. Lee opened the door of the mansion and said.

“Young master! It’s cold. Let’s go in now!”

That’s when it happened.

Thud! Thud!

The sound of knocking on the gate was heard. It was faster and louder than usual.

It was a rare visit.

Did the painting tools come? Min-han brightened up and tried to move, but Mr. Lee walked quickly and said. He looked a little stiff.

“Min-han. Take the young master and stay inside.”

“Huh? Yes, yes.”

Min-han blinked his eyes and looked at the young master. The young master seemed to be frozen.

“…Young master. Let’s go in.”

“…Yes.”

[Now that I think about it, the young master and Mr. Lee might have felt something ominous from that knock.]

The narration was ominous.

Moviegoer and the audience swallowed their dry saliva.

As soon as Min-han and the young master entered the mansion, they went up to the second floor. They could see the situation at the gate from the window on the second floor.

“It’s the merchant who bought me the brushes and inkstone last time.”

“Ah.”

The person who knocked on the door was the big merchant who had bought Min-han the brushes and inkstone. He had seen him a few times, but he didn’t hear his voice, so he didn’t know if he couldn’t speak.

Mr. Lee, who read the paper that seemed to be from the merchant, asked several times. The merchant nodded heavily. And he handed over something wrapped in a cloth. Min-han’s face brightened up in an instant.

“The painting tools are here!”

Unlike Min-han, who was happy, the young master’s eyes didn’t leave Mr. Lee’s back.

Soon Mr. Lee came into the mansion.

“Who came?”

“It was the merchant. Sir! Are these the painting tools?”

“Uh, uh. Yes.”

Mr. Lee, who had a slightly flustered expression, had a cloth with painting tools in one hand and a crumpled paper that was a letter in the other.

Min-han’s eyes were on the painting tools, and the three’s eyes were on the crumpled paper.

“…Hyung.”

“Oh! This is pretty heavy, huh? …Right?”

The young master smiled faintly and said to Min-han.

“Can you please tidy up the painting tools… in the room?”

Min-han, who blinked his eyes, nodded and went upstairs. The camera showed the three people who were looking at the crumpled letter.

The unknown painter read the letter over and over again with a blackened face.

Mr. Lee clenched his teeth and looked somewhere, and Madam Go shed tears.

They couldn’t believe it no matter how many times they read it.

“…How could they… how could they pass away like this…”

[It was a letter that announced someone’s death.]

***

Min-han didn’t know what to do.

The day the painting tools arrived.

The atmosphere of the mansion changed completely.

The young master, who used to go out for a walk outside the mansion, locked himself in his room again, and Mr. Lee and Madam Go were busier than ever.

They acted differently, but they seemed to move with the same mind and thought.

But Min-han, who knew nothing, couldn’t fit in with that flow. He just did as usual, bringing three meals a day to the young master, sweeping the yard, and helping with chores.

He felt like he became a nine-year-old kid.

He watched his Hyungs and sisters go back home when their parents called them.

They were kind, but they treated him slightly as an outsider.

“But come to think of it, I came here to work for a short time this winter…”

The young master would also go back to Hanyang someday, and he would go back to the village when spring came and never enter this mansion again.

Then he would be alone again.

…A little.

No, a lot.

A lot.

Min-han felt lonely.

He was sweeping the yard with a slightly gloomy expression, when

Bang! Bang!

There was a sound of knocking on the gate.

Mr. Lee went to the back mountain and Madam Go was busy too. What should he do? He was flustered when he heard a familiar voice.

“Mr. Lee! Is Mr. Lee not here?!”

It was the man who delivered the letters.

“Mr. Lee went to the back mountain!”

“Is that you, Min-han? I see. Then I’ll just give you this and go. Uh, can you open the gate…”

He wanted to say yes, but he remembered the warning that Mr. Lee gave him. He told him not to let anyone in when he was not there. He hesitated, and a voice shouted as if he didn’t care.

“Never mind! I’ll throw it over! I’ll come again in a few days, so tell Mr. Lee to stay in the mansion!”

Before Min-han could say anything, a letter fell from above.

“Mister?!”

“I’m going now!”

Crunch! Crunch!

He heard the sound of footsteps getting farther away. He quickly picked up the letter so that it wouldn’t get wet by the snow, and looked at the gate with a bewildered face.

…He had no idea what was going on.

Min-han’s eyes turned to the letter. The light letter felt heavier than ever.

Could it be here too…?

Only three people knew the truth.

…He knew he shouldn’t do this, but Min-han’s hand reached for the letter.

That day.

He couldn’t forget that he didn’t get to see the letter that came with the painting tools. He wanted to know what the three people knew. And he wanted to help them.

Now that he had learned Korean from the young master.

Min-han was confident that he could read the letter.

He swallowed his saliva and opened the envelope. A few thin sheets of paper came out. He looked at the one with the longest writing on it.

“…is…in…of…and…”

He muttered and bit his tongue.

Chinese characters, Chinese characters, and more Chinese characters!

He couldn’t read anything but the particles in the letter full of Chinese characters he hadn’t learned. He banged his head on the gate.

A little later.

Min-han handed the letter to Mr. Lee, who had returned to the mansion. He was worried that he would get scolded for the torn envelope, but Mr. Lee was more focused on the letter.

Mr. Lee’s eyes widened as he read the letter. His hands trembled as he held the paper.

“Madam Go! The young master!!”

Mr. Lee called Madam Go and headed to the young master’s room on the second floor. His voice was urgent, but it didn’t sound ominous like the previous letter. Rather, it had a hint of joy.

The door that had been tightly closed opened.

Min-han’s face was full of worry as he saw the young master’s room that had darkened again.

“Min-han. Pull the curtains. Quickly!”

“Ah! Yes!”

At Mr. Lee’s words, Min-han hurriedly pulled the curtains and let the light in.

The young master, who had been lying in bed, stirred up at the noisy situation. His face and eyes were still lifeless, as if he were dead.

[I was worried.]

[I wondered if the young master’s condition would get worse.]

[What was in that letter that made Mr. Lee, who had been depressed by the previous letter, react like that.]

“Read this, please.”

Mr. Lee handed him the letter. Madam Go, who came in late, looked puzzled.

The young master’s eyes, which had been dead and dull, moved to the letter that Mr. Lee was holding. It was the short one.

While the young master read the letter, the room was filled with the breathing of the four people.

Rustle.

The young master, who had shown no reaction, reached out his trembling hand to the letter. Min-han looked at the young master’s face cautiously and widened his eyes.

[There was a light in the young master’s eyes as he looked at the letter.]

[It was a very, very beautiful light.]

The young master put down the short letter and picked up the longer sheets of paper. It was the letter full of Chinese characters that Min-han had failed to read.

[I couldn’t read it then, but I can read it now.]

The unknown painter, who didn’t care about his shaking arms, opened his mouth with a trembling voice. Min-han’s voice, which came as a narration, was calm.

But his heart was the same.

“오등은 자에…”

[We, today,]

“아 조선의…독립국임과 조선인의 자주민임을 선언하노라…”

[We declare that our Joseon is an independent country and that the Joseon people are a sovereign nation.]