A New Name, A New Life

"What do you say? Why not come work with me?"

"……!"

The moment Hayun heard Im Sang-ok's offer, her heart began pounding wildly.

Mansang—the greatest merchant guild in all of Joseon. To work there was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, one most people would never see even once.

If she went, finding the gogok and returning to the future would both become far easier than they were now. No, even if she never made it back to the future, it wouldn't matter. If she seized this chance, she could live comfortably in Joseon for the rest of her days.

It was the equivalent of a modern-day chaebol chairman personally offering her a job. Any ordinary person would have answered without a second's hesitation. Hayun was no different. There wasn't a single reason to refuse.

"……!"

And yet it was the empty tables of the Life Tavern that held her back.

She could walk away right now and think nothing of it—but the two people she'd leave behind would almost certainly slide back into the same life as before. Back to a desolate tavern on the verge of collapse. Thanks to everything Hayun had built, they might scrape by for a while, but in the end, the tavern's ruin was only a matter of time.

Three years? Or four?

This business was unforgiving—without constant innovation, survival was nearly impossible. And now Sanmaru Tavern had joined the competition. The future awaiting the two of them without Hayun was, for all practical purposes, already written.

The customers would dwindle little by little, until one day they'd close the doors for good…

The Life Tavern, shutting down. That was something she could never allow. Her own success was one thing, but what would it be worth if the two people who had suffered alongside her from the very beginning lost everything?

After long deliberation, Hayun refused Im Sang-ok's offer.

"I'm sorry, but I can't. Not yet."

"Why not?"

Im Sang-ok's eyes were full of surprise. He clearly hadn't expected to be turned down.

"First, I want to see the Life Tavern through. It's what I've been building."

Hayun looked at Ok-bun and Mun-sik as she spoke.

"Leaving like this would be discourteous to these people. And I can't simply abandon this place, either."

"Oh ho?"

At her answer, an intrigued expression spread across Im Sang-ok's face.

"I owe them a debt I can never repay."

Sincerity rang plainly in Hayun's voice.

"These are the people who saved me when I collapsed here with no memory of who I was. For months, they gave me a place to sleep and food to eat. Until they can stand on their own feet, I cannot leave this place."

Hayun made her refusal unmistakably clear.

At that, Im Sang-ok suddenly burst into hearty laughter.

"Hahaha! So you understand loyalty. All the more reason I like you."

He regarded Hayun with a look of deep satisfaction.

"A merchant who knows the meaning of loyalty is a rare creature indeed. Most of them calculate nothing but profit."

Im Sang-ok prided himself on having seen every manner of human being during his years as Daebang of Mansang. Among them had been the brilliantly talented, and those whose loyalty outshone anyone else's. But men who possessed both talent and loyalty were few and far between. Commerce, by its very nature, was a structure in which one side always lost something—which was precisely why it sat so poorly with loyalty. And yet here was someone who carried both. How could he not be taken with her?

"Then how about this instead?"

Im Sang-ok proposed something unprecedented in its boldness.

"I will command every soul connected to Mansang to patronize this Life Tavern from this day forward. Their livelihoods will never be a worry again."

"……!"

Hayun's eyes went wide.

With branches across the entire country, Mansang's network numbered in the thousands. The peddlers hauling goods, the silk merchants, the fishmongers—every one of them was tied to the guild. And Mungyeong Saejae was the vital thoroughfare linking Yeongnam and Hoseo—one of the passes every merchant of the Eight Provinces was bound to cross, Mansang or not. If all those people began stopping here, the revenue alone would be more than enough.

Steady, reliable customers!

Hayun's mind raced. Ten a day at minimum, twenty or more at peak—and that, every single day. It was more than enough income for Ok-bun and Mun-sik to live out their lives without a single worry.

Fewer customers than now, sure—but stability is what matters.

Having made up her mind, Hayun looked at the couple. They were already staring back at her with expressions that plainly said, Say yes, quickly!

"Hayun, don't you fret about us."

"When would an opportunity like this ever come again? Take it, child."

She couldn't stay here forever anyway. Someday she would find the gogok and return to her own world. So when an offer came along that promised the old couple a secure old age, accepting it was no bad thing.

After one last moment of hesitation, Hayun nodded.

"Then I accept. I'll follow you, Daebang."

"Hahaha! Well decided. Good."

Im Sang-ok let out a satisfied laugh, then rose from his seat.

"They say even an ox horn comes loose when you keep at it—so see to your farewells now. We ride for Uiju today."

"Today? Right now?"

Hayun asked in surprise.

"What, is there much left to settle?"

"No, it's not that, it's just…"

"Then I'll give you until this evening."

Im Sang-ok turned to Mun-sik and Ok-bun.

"Share whatever words you've left unsaid. I'll be waiting at the village entrance."

With those final words, Im Sang-ok left the Life Tavern.

"……"

An awkward silence settled over the tavern in the wake of his sudden departure. Hayun, Ok-bun, and Mun-sik stood there, none of them quite able to speak first.

It was Mun-sik who finally managed to open his mouth.

"Well now, that's a fine turn of things. Where else'd you ever find a chance like this?"

"Uncle…"

"The Daebang of Mansang made you a promise like that—folk like us can live out our days without a worry. That's a blessing, I say. Ain't it so?"

"That's right, that's right. Don't you go worrying about us. You just mind your own road ahead."

Ok-bun's voice trembled as she forced the words out, and tears welled in her eyes.

Hayun swallowed hard before speaking.

"…Thank you. For everything."

"Thank us? It's us who ought to thank you. Without you, this place would've shut its doors long ago."

"Come back whenever you're craving some gukbap. If it's you coming, Hayun, Ok-bun'll run out here even in the dead of night."

"I will. I promise I'll come back."

"There's a good child. Now go on and gather your things. The Daebang will be waiting."

Hayun knew farewells were best kept short, so she went to her room and packed.

"Is this all of it?"

Everything she owned fit into a single small bundle. She had fallen into this world with nothing at all, after all—a few changes of clothes were the whole of her possessions.

Packed in no time, Hayun stepped out of her room.

"Got everything? Not leaving a thing behind?"

"Yes."

"Here. Take this."

Ok-bun handed her a pouch as if she'd been waiting for the moment.

"What's this?"

"Oh, it's nothing much, child. Just buy yourself something to eat on the road."

The pouch had a satisfying heft to it, and when Hayun peered inside, she found it brimming with clinking coins.

"Auntie, this is…"

"Don't you dare refuse. Every last coin of it is money you earned yourself."

What Ok-bun pressed into her hands was half of everything the Life Tavern had earned. Half, she said—but once you counted the groceries, the renovations, and every other expense Hayun had poured money into, it was practically everything.

Ok-bun held out that small fortune, then gripped Hayun's hand tight one last time.

"You make sure you live well, you hear?"

"I will. I'll come back a success—just you wait."

Mun-sik gave her shoulder a gentle pat.

"Send word now and then, won't you? A letter or two."

"I will."

"Then… safe travels, child."

"Goodbye… take care of yourselves."

With footsteps that refused to move easily, Hayun at last made her way out of the Life Tavern. She walked a good stretch before turning back—and there they were, Ok-bun and Mun-sik, still waving from far down the road.

Thank you. For everything.

With a deep, formal bow toward the two of them, Hayun brought her chapter at the Life Tavern to a close.

At the village entrance stood a single carriage, waiting as though Im Sang-ok had arranged it well in advance. Seeing Hayun approach, he asked,

"Ah, there you are. Did you get a proper farewell in?"

"Yes. Thanks to you."

"Good. Then climb aboard."

The great carriage bore the emblem of Mansang carved into its side. Following Im Sang-ok, Hayun stepped up inside.

It's bigger than I expected.

It appeared to be a cargo cart converted for passengers, and it boasted space enough for the two of them with room to spare.

"We can set off now."

"Yes, my lord Daebang."

At Im Sang-ok's signal, the carriage lurched into motion.

Rumble. Rumble.

For a long while, an awkward silence filled the carriage.

"……"

She had followed him without a second thought, but Hayun still knew far too little about Im Sang-ok. She felt certain she'd heard the name somewhere before, but she couldn't quite place where.

Come to think of it… didn't one of my ancestors have a name like that?

What Hayun didn't know was that Im Sang-ok was famous enough to have had his life story dramatized for television. He was a merchant among merchants—a tycoon whose name appeared in the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty. And she had no idea yet that that tycoon's blood ran in her own veins.

Im Sang-ok asked abruptly,

"You lost your hopae—your identification tag, didn't you?"

"Yes…"

Hayun answered carefully.

Im Sang-ok's eyes sharpened as he pressed further.

"Did you lose it? Or did you never have one to begin with?"

"……!"

Caught dead to rights, Hayun's face froze.

Her counterpart was the greatest merchant in all of Joseon. Standing before him, she realized, clumsy lies would never pass.

"The truth is, I never actually had a hopae to begin with, and the reason for that is—"

"Stop, stop. Say no more. It's settled."

Im Sang-ok cut her off mid-sentence.

Having no hopae meant one thing only: either a runaway slave, or someone with troubles grave enough to demand hiding their station. Knowing this, Im Sang-ok drew something from inside his robe.

"Here. Take this."

"What is it?"

What he produced was a wooden tablet carved with characters—a hopae.

Im Sang-ok gestured to it.

"This is the new name you'll live under from now on."

"A new name?"

Hayun studied the tablet closely. The name was written in Chinese characters, but she could read it easily—because it differed from her current name by a single final character.

She asked cautiously,

"Im Ha…seong? Who is Im Haseong?"

"That, I'll tell you in due time."

A nameless bitterness flickered across Im Sang-ok's face.

"If you'd rather not be forever darting in and out of the magistrate's office, you'd best live under this name. If that displeases you, you're free to turn back even now."

Hayun examined the tablet intently. Im Haseong. Somehow, the name felt familiar. Perhaps because the surname truly was her own. Or perhaps because it shared the same generational character. Whatever the reason, "Haseong" sat naturally on her ears. Above all, she needed that name to survive in Joseon.

After only a brief deliberation, Hayun nodded.

"Very well. From today, I will live as Im Haseong."

"Well decided."

Im Sang-ok smiled with satisfaction at her answer. Then his face hardened.

"And one more thing. Living as a woman in this country of Joseon is little different from living in shackles."

He pointed at Hayun's head.

"And with hair like that, doubly so."

"……!"

Hayun's hand flew to her hair without thinking. A short bob that barely covered her earlobes. Even in the twenty-first century the style was uncommon—and in Joseon, it was utterly beyond the pale.

Under the doctrine that one's body, hair, and skin are received from one's parents and must not be harmed, touching one's own hair was taboo in this era. Such a cut simply would not be tolerated. Indeed, it had been the single greatest reason Hayun had been dragged off to jail in the first place.

Knowing this, Im Sang-ok offered a way out.

"How would you feel about passing as a man—just until your hair grows out?"

"You want me to dress as a man?"

Im Sang-ok nodded.

"If you go about looking as you do, you'll be reported to the authorities again and again. And I can hardly come to your rescue every single time, can I?"

"Hmm…"

He had a point. Even running the tavern, she'd spent half her time explaining this hair of hers. Where it came from, whether she was even Joseon-born, whether some lover had cut it off in a fit of jealousy—the explanations alone ate up hours. And then came the informer, and jail on top of it all.

To be sure, this era had gachae—ornamental hairpieces worn atop a woman's natural hair—but those were things reserved for the palace, wholly ill-suited to Hayun's circumstances. Like it or not, dressing as a man was her only option.

Dressing as a man, huh…

And yet Hayun didn't particularly want success badly enough to cross that line. She liked herself as she was. The moment anyone tried to change her, her rebellious streak came roaring to the surface. Seeing her hesitate, Im Sang-ok added a few words from beside her.

"Only until your hair grows long. After that, I'll say nothing more. It isn't the fact that you're a woman that's the problem right now—it's that hair."

"Ah…!"

Hayun realized, belatedly, that the point of the disguise was not her sex at all—it was her hair. As he'd said, living with this haircut simply did not fit the temper of the times.

"I understand. Then for the time being, I'll live as you see fit, Daebang."

"Good. Then try this on."

As if he'd been waiting for exactly this moment, Im Sang-ok held out a sangtu—the topknot worn by married men.

With clumsy hands, Hayun fixed it atop her head.

"Is this how it's supposed to sit?"

"Hahaha! A little crooked, but now you finally look something like a Joseon man."

Laughing, Im Sang-ok reached over and adjusted the topknot with his own hands.

"There. Now it's perfect. Take a look for yourself."

He handed her a small hand mirror. Hayun studied her reflection.

"……!"

It looked far less awkward than she'd feared. It was like her usual updo with a topknot perched on top—at certain angles, it almost passed for hair simply tied back with a cord.

To Hayun, wearing her very first sangtu, Im Sang-ok extended his hand.

"Welcome to Mansang, Haengsu Im Haseong."

After a moment's hesitation, Hayun took his hand in both of hers.

"I look forward to working with you, Daebang."