Chapter 5: The Junior

Jun-seo did not drop the tray, which Woo-jin would always count in his favor.

He set it down on the stone floor with both hands, very carefully, and backed up until he hit the doorframe.

"Senior brother," he said, "I'm going to ask a question, and I'd like you to say something that makes sense."

"He's the Hall's pledge," Woo-jin said, from the water.

"He's in your bath."

"He's under my roof. I'm his host."

"He is naked."

"It's a hot spring, Jun-seo."

"Senior brother, you are also naked, and so is the arm that is round you."

Mu-yeol, who had not moved, said in the mildest voice in the world, "Good morning. You must be the one who eats."

Jun-seo stared at him.

His face went through four colors.

"I'm Pyo Jun-seo," he said at last, in a very small voice. "I've heard that you eat children."

"Only before noon."

Jun-seo made a high noise and sat down on the floor.

Woo-jin wanted it on record that he handled this better than anyone could have.

He told Jun-seo the truth, or the part of it a twenty-two-year-old could carry.

The Heretic Blade and Woo-jin had come to an understanding about the war.

"What kind of understanding?"

"The kind where we don't kill each other."

"The kind that involves a bath?"

"Jun-seo."

"I'm only asking."

Mu-yeol climbed out, wrapped a towel round his hips, and rummaged in the bundle he had left on the shelf.

He came back with a paper parcel tied with red string.

"My brother Yoo-chan sends these," he said, "by courier, every third day. He doesn't trust the Alliance's cooks."

Jun-seo sniffed.

"Dumplings," he whispered.

"Pork and chive. I'd be glad if you'd carry them to the kitchen and say nothing about the bath."

Jun-seo looked at the parcel for a long, agonized moment.

Then he took it in both hands.

"I'm a man of honor," he said. "My silence has a price, and I'd like to point out that it's a cheap one."

He was gone before Woo-jin could answer.

Mu-yeol laughed until he had to hold the edge of the tub.

"Your junior is wonderful."

"He's a menace."

"He's a very good menace."

Over the next two weeks, Woo-jin would find out exactly how right Mu-yeol was.

The invitation arrived before noon, carried by an Alliance page in pale grey.

Keep reading free with an account. Start The Rival Who Killed Me Remembers Too from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.