"Master JHo, are you planning to just leave Master Cheon-Ho like that?"
Du-Ito spoke to JHo who was in the room through the opened door.
Since the time Master Cheon-Ho humiliated Ho-Chi in front of everyone, JHo did not have audience with Master Cheon-Ho and he stopped watching Ho-Chi from afar.
No longer wishing to see JHo silently sitting in his room, Du-Ito spoke up.
"Master JHo"
"Don't worry…If I stay silent, Master Cheon-Ho is going to forget all about Ho-Chi. …It is because of me that Master Cheon-Ho acts the way he does, so if I stay quiet he will lose interest."
Watching JHo sighing out his words, Du-Ito felt stuffy. Not able to say anything, Du-Ito wordlessly left the corridor.
"It's me.. it was all my fault…I was the problem."
JHo's monologue piled on and became a small hill in JHo's room.
"…Master Cheon-Ho…"
Master Cheon-Ho was unusually sensitive to others' presence, so at night he did not let anyone into his bed chamber.
However in the middle of the night, someone was calling Master Cheon-Ho's name while Master Cheon-Ho was lying on his bed.
Master Cheon-Ho looked up at the shadow beyond a sliding door that was made of paper. Rather than noticing the figure by its shape, Master Cheon-Ho noticed his delicate smell and his small voice. The fox beyond the sliding door was Ho-Chi.
Because JHo was staying quiet in his palace, Master Cheon-Ho almost forgot about Ho-Chi. Now that Ho-Chi came for a visit all by himself, Master Cheon-Ho became curious.
However, the curiosity did not stop Master Cheon-Ho from becoming displeased about Ho-Chi interrupting his sleep. Out of irritation, Master Cheon-Ho got out from his bed and abruptly slid the door open with a bang.
Intending to break Ho-Chi's heart into pieces for being so thoughtless, Master Cheon-Ho looked down on Ho-Chi.
However, Master Cheon-Ho could not say anything.
Because of abruptly opened door, Ho-Chi was looking up at Master Cheon-Ho with a startled expression.
For the first time, Master Cheon-Ho saw Ho-Chi's eyes. Even though they lived together before, Ho-Chi always bowed his head and shrunk his shoulders, so it was Master Cheon-Ho's first time meeting Ho-Chi's gaze like he was now.
Ho-Chi possessed dark hair color like that of human and his face did not have anything special about them. The only unusual trait about Ho-Chi was his star shaped scar on his forehead. Master Cheon-Ho could not take his eyes away from Ho-Chi who was standing very close. Too close that if Master Cheon-Ho took even a step closer, Ho-Chi could be in his arms.
"Ah, m..my apology…"
Ho-Chi was surprised to see Master Cheon-Ho so close. Though startled, Ho-Chi could not help but admire Master Cheon-Ho's beauty.
Ho-Chi thought, 'a fox this beautiful is my creator'. Thinking about how beautiful and magnificent Master Cheon-Ho is, Ho-Chi felt sorry.
Ho-Chi felt sorry because he was nothing special. In fact, he was used to being called useless. It was inevitable that Master Cheon-Ho named him Ho-Chi*.
*Ho-Chi: Disgrace of foxes*
"Uh,…I would like to give you this."
From his bosom, Ho-Chi took out a gift that was wrapped in different layers of clothes and offered it to Master Cheon-Ho.
Master Cheon-Ho retrieved his gaze from Ho-Chi and looked down on the gift.
"I..I made it in between breaks…Although I do not have anything expensive, I've made this with what little skill I have…I would like to offer this to you…"
"…"
"..I will make my leave now…"
Master Cheon-Ho did not say anything, instead he looked down at the gift in a daze. Ho-Chi felt that it was strange but choose to quickly leave the corridor.
However, Ho-Chi could not leave the corridor like he wanted to because he was suddenly in the air. His feet dangling in the air, Ho-Chi felt Master Cheon-Ho's arms around him.
Ho-Chi felt Master Cheon-Ho's broad chest from his back and felt Master Cheon-Ho's exquisite clothes made from soft fabrics all around him. Surrounded by Master Cheon-Ho's embrace, Ho-Chi felt confused for a moment.
The arms that were lifting Ho-Chi off from the floor tightened their hold and buried Ho-Chi deeper into Master Cheon-Ho's embrace.
Ho-Chi who realized what was happening, felt startled and happy at the same time. Ho-Chi felt happy that for a moment he wanted to cry.
Even though Ho-Chi was Master Cheon-Ho's child, he never faced him up close and he certainly didn't have chance to hold Master Cheon-Ho's hands.
However, now, Master Cheon-Ho was hugging Ho-Chi.
Because of the hug, Ho-Chi was so happy that he wanted to cry.
Without any tears to shed, Ho-Chi's eye rims became red. With the red eye rims, Ho-Chi looked up at Master Cheon-Ho.
In the midst of happiness, Ho-Chi began to worry about Master Cheon-Ho's unexpected behavior. Maybe, Ho-Chi thought, he did something wrong and Master Cheon-Ho is trying to punish him. Ho-Chi began to feel scared. That is when Master Cheon-Ho woke from his daze.
When Master Cheon-Ho met Ho-Chi's gaze, he became extremely shocked and threw Ho-Chi down on the floor. Master Cheon-Ho then turned his body abruptly to enter his room. After Master Cheon-Ho entered his room, he banged the sliding door shut after him.
Master Cheon-Ho, not noticing the end of this clothes stuck between the doors, stood against the sliding door.
Ho-Chi quickly got up from the floor and apologized multiple times as he ran away through the corridor without patting the dusts off his clothes from falling on the floor.
A few moments later,
after Ho-Chi's footsteps could no longer be heard,
Master Cheon-Ho's head peaked out from the bed chamber and surveyed the corridor.
Master Cheon-Ho's face was colored bright red.
There was only Master Cheon-Ho left in the corridor.
TN: Master Cheon-Ho~~ it is time for you to regret what you did to Ho-Chi~~! XD