Chapter 6
older Jeon servant
"Sir Kim Sunoo?" the gentleman inquired politely, stepping aside as three burly porters with heavy sacks slung over their shoulders elbowed past him and strode off down the terminal.
Sunoo Taeh's brother
I am he.
Sunoo said, his voice trembling with fright and excitement as he gazed at the impeccably dressed, white-haired man.
older Jeon servant
I have been instructed be her lady, Song Hyekyo , to escort you to her home. Where are your luggages?
Sunoo Taeh's brother
"Right here,"Sunoo answered lifting the luggage in his left hand. "There's only one."
He glanced over his shoulder and another man climbed off a shiny black car with a gold crest on the door and hurried forward.
older Jeon servant
"In that case, we can be on our way," the man said as the luggage was lifted and loaded to the back of the car.
Sunoo Taeh's brother
But what about my Hyung?
Sunoo said, his hand clasping Tae's in a stranglehold of eager terror.
older Jeon servant
"I'm certain that the person meeting your hyung' will be here shortly. Your train arrived sooner than expected.
Taehyung
don't worry about me
Tae said with a bright confidence he didn't quite feel.
Taehyung
I'm certain they will be here any minute. In the meantime, Manee ajhusi will let me stay at their lounge
Mentioning the staff they've befriended during the trip for Sunoo' comfort.
Tae stayed where he was, watching Sunoo climb into the luxurious vehicle with the gold crest on the door. After the man closed the door, Sunoo immediately looked through the window and waved goodbye.
Tae sighed deeply and sat on the provided benches for waiting passengers, studying the bustle of the environment. He had never felt so utterly alone in his life.
It was almost evening when a harassed looking man approached him.
older Jeon servant
"Sir Kim Taehyung?" The man removed his hat upon seeing Tae's nod and whipped the sweat running down his forehead.
older Jeon servant
"I apologize for being late Sir Taehyung, there was some small accident on the way here, and I needed to change car." The man continued to explain wringing his hat through his hand.
Taehyung
"It's alright Sir, are you okay though? Are you hurt?"
older Jeon servant
The man smiled at the young gentleman, "I'm fine Sir Taehyung, it was the car that took all the damage. I am Sukrit , I am one of honorable Seojoon's servant by the way."
Tae bow at the elder guy and smiled.
Taehyung
You can call me Taeh, Sukrit shi.
older Jeon servant
"Uyy, no need to call me Hyung', Sir Taehyung," Sukrit bashfully replied. "Where is your luggage? let me get them and let's be on our way."
Taehyung
Please Ajhushi, call me Tae. I won't be comfortable if you call me like that.
older Jeon servant
"Okay , Sir Taeh." Sukrit nodded and opened the door for Taeh and putting the luggage in the back after.
older Jeon servant
"I should inform Sir Taehyung that we will not be going to Seoul, I was instructed by your grace Seojoon to deliver you to his nephew's house in Busan, he will join you there instead." The driver enlightened his passenger. "It will be not more than four hours; we can stop by at the border of the city for you to eat – "
Taehyung
"It's okay Sukrit shi, I'm not hungry. We can go to Busan from here."
Tae interrupted the older guy a bit awkwardly, he doesn't want to prolong this trip, hopefully immediately meet his uncle. Not to mention that he's already exhausted from the train trip.
older Jeon servant
"I understand Sir Tae." Nodded Sukrit.
For long hours, Tae studied the Seoul busy streets before making way to a countryside scene. He cannot clearly see the road ahead as it has started to get dark.
Despite the jostling and jarring he received every time the vehicle wheels passed over a rut or bump, his spirits rose with every passing mile. The driver threw a glance and said,
older Jeon servant
"We're about two miles away, Sir Tae, so if you'd like to – "
Once. One of the tires hit a deep rut, they jerked crazily to the side and Tae was flung to the floor in a sprawling heap. A moment later, the door was jerked open and Sukrit helped him out.
older Jeon servant
"You hurt?" he asked worriedly.
Tae shook his head, but before he could utter a word, the driver rounded on two men dressed in farmers' work clothes who were sheepishly clutching their caps in their hands.
older Jeon servant
"Weir shi! 'Jon shi! What do you think pulling out in the road like that?! Look what you've done, one of my tire is busted – " The rest of what he said was laced with stout curses.
It seems that Sukrit knew the two farmers. Turning his head away from the altercation, Tae brushed his shirt and pants, trying unsuccessfully to rid them of the dust and grime they'd acquired from the floor of the car.
Taehyung
"How can it be like this, it almost feel like someone doesn't want me to meet my uncle." Tae thought silently.
Sukrit looked at the back to inspect what's to be fixed. One of the farmers shuffled over to Tee, twisting his battered cap in his hands.
older Jeon servant
"Me and Jon were awfully sorry sir," he said. "We'll take you to the Jeon's mansion – that is, if you don't mind using our carriage and putting your luggage in the back with the piglets?"
Grateful not to have to walk the two miles, Tae readily agreed. He talked to Sukrit and upon informing him that he cannot get the car out of the ditch, Sukrit agrees too, thinking that he needs to get help from the mansion to tow the car.
Both of them climbed on to the bench between the farmers. Riding in a farm cart, although less prestigious than a car, was scarcely any bumpier and far more familiar for Tae. Fresh breeze cooled his face and his view of the lavish countryside was unrestricted.
With his usual unaffected friendliness, Tae soon succeeded in engaging both men in a conversation about farming, a topic about which he knew a little and was perfectly happy to learn more.
Tae's attention was pulled though, because their wagon had turned onto a paved drive and passed between two imposing iron gates that opened onto a broad, seemingly endless stretch of gently rolling manicured parkland punctuated with towering trees. The park stretched in both directions as far as the eye could see, bisected here and there by a stream that meandered about, it's banks covered with flowers of pink and blue and white, which he can see due to the presence of lamp posts.
Taehyung
"It's a fairyland,"
Taeh breathed aloud. His stunned, admiring gaze roving across the carefully tended banks of the picturesque stream and the sweeping landscape.
Taehyung
"It must take dozens of gardeners to care for a place this size.
older Jeon servant
"That it do," Weir said. "your grace's got forty of them, counting the ones that takes care of the gardens at the house". They had been going along the paved drive for fifteen minutes when the cart rounded a bend and Jon pointed proudly.
older Jeon servant
"There it is – theJeon's mansion."
Tae gasped, his mind reeling, his empty stomach clenching into a tense knot. Stretched out before him in all its magnificent splendor was a three-story house that altogether surpassed his wildest imagination. Built of yellow brick with huge forward wings and steep rooftops, it loomed before him – a palace with graceful terraced steps leading up to the front door, lights glistening against hundreds of panes of mullioned glass.
They drew to a stop before the house and Tae tore his gaze away long enough to one of the farmers to help him down from the wagon seat.
Taehyung
"Thank you, you've been very kind,"
He said, and started slowly up the steps. Apprehension turned his feet to lead and his knees to water. Behind him, the farmers and Sukrit shi went to the back of the wagon to remove his bulky luggage, but as they let down the back gate, three squealing piglets hurtles out of the wagon into empty air, hit the ground with a thud, and streaked off across the lawns.
Tae turned at the sound of the farmer's and Sukrit ajhushi shouts. He giggled nervously as the red-faced men ran after the speedy porkers.
Ahead of him, the door of the mansion was flung open and a stiff-faced man dressed in green and gold livery cast an outraged glance over the farmers, the piglets, and the dusty, disheveled male approaching him.
JK's butler
"Deliveries," he told Tae in a loud, ominous voice, "are made at the back."
Raising his arm, he pointed imperiously toward the drive that ran alongside the house, Tae opened his mouth to explain that he wasn't making a delivery, but his attention was diverted by a little piglet, which had changed direction and was headed straight toward him, pursued by a panting Weir
JK's butler
"Get that cart, those swine, and your person out of here!"the man in uniform boomed.
Tars of helpless mirth sprang to Tae's eyes as he bent down and scooped the escaped piglet into his arms. Laughing, he tried to explain.
Taehyung
Sir, you don't understand -
JK's butler
the man ignored him and glanced over his shoulder at the footman behind him. "Get rid of the lot of them! Throw them off – "
Jeon Jungkook
What the héll is going on here?
Demanded a tall man in his mid-twenties with soft brown hair, stalking onto the front steps.
older Jeon servant
The butler pointed a finger at Tae's face, his eyebrows levitating with ire. "That man is – "
Taeh put in hastily, trying to stifle his chuckle as tension, exhaustion, and hunger began pushing him perilously close to nervous hysteria. He saw the look of unconcealed shock on the tall man's face when he heard his name, and his alarm erupted into hilarity.
With uncontrollable laughter bubbling up inside him, he turned and dumped the squirming piglet into the flushed farmer's arms, then straightened his shoulders and tried to bow formally.
Taehyung
"I fear there's been a mistake," he said on a suffocated giggle. "I've come to –"
The tall man's icy voice checked him in mid-explanation.
Jeon Jungkook
"Your mistake was in coming here in the first place, Sir Kim. However, it's already late to send you back to wherever you came from."
He caught the younger guy by the arm and pulled him rudely forward.
Tae sobered instantly; the situation no longer seemed riotously funny, but terrifyingly chilling. Timidly, he stepped through the doorway into a three-story marble entrance hall that was larger than his entire home in Daegu. On the either side of the foyer, twin branches of a great, curving staircase swept upward to the next two floors, and a great domed skylight bathed the area in mellow light from the above. He tipped his head back, gazing at the domed glass ceiling three stories above. Tears filled his eyes and the dome revolved in a dizzy whirl as exhaustion and anguish overcame him. He had traveled thousands of miles across the country, rutted roads, expecting to be greeted by a kindly gentleman. Instead he was going to be sent back, away from Sunoo – the ceiling whirled before his eyes in a kaleidoscope of brilliant blurring colors.
older Jeon servant
"He's going to swoon," the butler predicted.
Jeon Jungkook
Oh for God sake!
The dark-haired man exploded and swept him into his arms. The world was already coming back into focus for Tae as the older guy started up the right-hand branch of the stairs.
He demand hoarsely, wriggling in embarrassment
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