Moon's Whisper, Heart's Echo

22.The Follower

The paper crane's wings were already creased from being carried too long in Jae-hoon's sleeve. He hadn't meant to bring it - had told himself this morning he would stop these foolish gestures. Yet here he was again, watching Min-joon practice his forms in the school courtyard.

These days, it felt like Tae-young's shadow fell across every corner of his life. In teahouses, noble wives whispered about the matchmaker who had bewitched the Crown Prince's cousin. At family gatherings, his mother's friends clucked their tongues over "foreign women" who didn't know their place. Even his wife had grown sharp-eyed and watchful, tracking his movements with careful precision.

None of it made sense. The timing was too perfect, the stories too precise. Like scattered seeds that somehow all bloomed on the same day.

"Uncle Park!"

Min-joon's voice cut through his thoughts. The boy abandoned his practice, face bright with recognition as he darted across the yard. Jae-hoon's fingers clenched in his sleeve as Tae-young appeared, seeming to materialize from the afternoon shadows like some spirit of fortune.

Tae-young caught Min-joon mid-run, swinging him up with practiced ease. The boy's delight was painfully clear - none of the hesitation he showed around his true uncle.

"Young master." Tae-young caught Min-joon with easy familiarity, steadying the practice sword strapped to the boy's back as he placed him down. "Master Song tells me you've mastered everything."

"I did it perfectly three times!" Min-joon's whole body vibrated with pride. "Even when Jun-seo tried to distract me."

"Is that so?" Tae-young adjusted Min-joon's collar with the casual intimacy that seemed to come so naturally to him. "Then perhaps we should celebrate. I heard the street vendor has fresh yanggang today..."

It wasn't until Min-joon's expression shifted to careful politeness that Jae-hoon realized he'd stepped forward.

"Uncle Yi." The boy bowed with precise formality, nothing like the bright creature who'd flung himself at Tae-young moments before. "I... didn't see you."

"I was passing." He smiled. "That is... I thought..." He reached for the paper crane, but Min-joon had already shifted closer to Tae-young's side.

"That's very kind," Tae-young interjected smoothly, "but I believe Young Master Min-joon already has quite the collection. Don't you, young scholar?"

"Yes." Min-joon smiled. "Thank you, but I don't need..."

"Of course. Another time perhaps."

Something flickered in Tae-young's eyes - not quite pity, but close enough to sting.

"Min-joon-ah," Tae-young's voice held gentle authority. "Why don't you collect your things? We shouldn't keep your mother waiting."

Once the boy was out of earshot, something dangerous flickered in Jae-hoon's chest. "You're everywhere these days. The markets, the school gates... leaving your shadow across everything."

"Like rumors?" Tae-young's mouth curved slightly. "Strange how they spread, isn't it? Almost as if someone were guiding their path...You recognize the rumors are orchestrated, yet do nothing to stop them."

"And you think you're any better?" Jae-hoon's laugh held no humor. "Climbing into the same cage I'm trying to protect them from. Playing right into my mother's hands while pretending superiority."

"Protect them? Is that what you call this silent watching? This coward's distance?"

"You know nothing about what's at stake. About what I've sacrificed-"