Treasure

Nam Mu and Nam Gil were standing in front of the stable. Li Jie had gone inside to get his own horse ready. Nam Mu was trying not to panic and Nam Gil could see that. “It’s really going to be alright. Li Jie and I are by your side.” Nam Gil clapped him on his shoulder, giving him a gentle push at the same time. Nam Mu shook his head but Nam Gil softly grabbed his arm. He gave Nam Mu a gentle look. “Son, It’s alright to be scared but try to remember that fear can hold you back from achieving your dreams. Try a thing you haven't done three times. Once, to get over the fear of doing it. Twice, to learn how to do it. And a third time to figure out whether you like it or not.[1] You’ve tried it once, don't stop now.“

Nam Mu understood what Nam Gil was trying to say but that didn't make his fear go away. He was ready to give an excuse but the words never got out. He had just spotted Li Jie walking out of the stable with both his horse and Saja. “Look Nam Mu, I’ve got him all saddled up for you.” Nam Mu took a few steps backwards. “I… I…” He looked at Saja with fear and dislike. His head was dropped and was walking gently next to Li Jie. ‘I wonder if they will send me back?’ Saja seemed more submissive. He wasn’t acting like an evil steed anymore. Nam Mu frowned. He looked around wondering who was talking. ‘Wang Hwanin will kill me if they send me back.’ Nam Mu gasped when he heard Wang Hwanin.

A strange feeling of familiarity came over him but he didn't know why. He looked around again because he couldn’t find the person who was talking. “Wang Hwanin?” Nam Gil laughed at Nam Mu. “Why are you calling on the Heavenly King?” Nam Mu frowned. “It’s not me, someone is talking about getting killed by Wang Hwanin if he gets sent back.” Li Jie gave him a concerned look. Nam Mu pouted. “Don’t do that! I’m not crazy!” Li Jie didn’t look convinced but Nam Gil was studying Saja.

‘C… Can you hear me?’ Nam Mu was looking around frantically. “Who is me?” Li Jie was getting scared. “Who are you talking to?!” Nam Mu gave him a crooked smile. “I’m just pulling your leg!” Nam Mu himself didn't know who he was talking to. How could he explain to Li Jie without the other thinking that he was turning crazy. “That is not funny. I thought you were losing your mind!” Li Jie gave him a side look, not sure if Nam Mu was really joking around. ‘It’s me… Saja. Can you really hear me!’ Nam Mu's eyes grew big looking at the horse. ‘H… Holy donkey’s ears. You can really hear what I’m saying?!’ Nam Mu gave him a short nod.

‘Do I really have to become a madman? The others will think I'm possessed or that I've really lost my mind.’ Saja neighed, it sounded like he was laughing. ‘You don’t have to talk out loud. You can just think what you want to say. I can hear both your thoughts and words.' Nam Mu crooked his head. ‘Are you sure?’ It was Saja’s turn to nod. ‘H… How can this be?’ Saja gave him a silly look. ‘You tell me! I… Could it be?’ Saja bobbed his head but didn’t elaborate further. ‘What?’ Nam Mu was blown away. He could talk to a horse. If he wasn't dazed he would have noticed Nam Gil giving Saja a warning look. Nam Gil gave his shoulder a squeezed “Ready? I’ll help you get on the horse.”

Nam Mu snapped out of his daze. Even though he could now hear Saja’s thoughts. He still didn't trust the animal. Saja pushed his shoulder with his head. ‘Don’t worry Asi. I promise to be a good mawl this time.’ Nam Mu was confused. ‘Asi? Mawl? What does that mean?’ Saja neighed ‘Asi means brother and mawl means horse.’ ‘Which language is that?’ Saja bobbed his head looking excited. ‘It’s Jejueo. People from Jeju Island use those words.’ Nam Mu looked unconvinced. ‘I’ve never been to Jeju so I don’t know those words.’ Saja neighed, sounding excited. ‘Asi! I’ll teach you all about Jeju Island. You’ll be native in no time.’ ‘I’ll have to take your word for it.’ “Are we going or not?” Li Jie was getting impatient.

‘Asi, please believe me. I’ll be a good beos to you.’ ‘Beos?’ ‘Sorry. I’ll be a good friend.’ Nam Mu took a deep breath and walked towards Nam Gil. “Let’s get this over with.” He grabbed the saddle. “Swing your leg over.” Nam Gil gave him a push up. Within a few seconds he was sitting on top of Saja. Nam Mu looked down at Nam Gil, still looking a bit fearful. “That’s good. Grabbed the reins and we can start to walk.” Li Jie was also on his horse, smiling at him.

Nam Mu did what he was told. “You're doing great. Gently squeeze the middle of Saja’s ribcage with the calves of your legs to cue him to move forward. As soon as Saja walks forward, release all the pressure. When Saja is going forward at the speed you want, your legs should hang loosely against his sides, not applying any pressure. Do you understand?” Nam Gil looked to see if Nam Mu understood his words. Nam Mu gave him a nod. ‘Asi, in the future you don’t have to do all that. You can just tell me what you want.’ Nam Mu wasn't sure if he was happy that Saja was being so helpful. “Told you it wasn’t scary.” Li Jie looked at Nam Mu giving him a big smile.

Nam Mu gave him a fearful smile back. “Y... Yes… You’re right. It’s not as scary at all.” Li Jie scoffed. "Let's go one full circle. Let's go" After that Li Jie looked at Nam Mu to see how he was doing. “Should we go a little faster?” He didn't wait for Nam Mu to reply before snapping his reins to make his horse trot. Nam Mu didn't want to go faster but Saja was clueless. ‘Asi! Hold on tighter.’ After saying that Saja began to trot too. Man Mu was first scared but after half a lap he was starting to enjoy it. ‘Can you go faster?’ Saja neigh happily. ‘Of course! Let’s go! Gada!’ Saja went in full gallop leaving Li Jie and his horse behind. Nam Mu gave a scared yelp but soon he was laughing. “This is amazing!” Hours later Nam Mu slid off Saja’s back. His butt and his leg hurt but he was still extremely happy. ‘Asi! Will I see you tomorrow?’ Saja was rubbing his head all over Nam Mu’s face, making the latter laugh. ‘I have too many questions, that can't wait. I’ll come after dinner.’

“You two go ahead and get cleaned up” Nam Gil took the two horses away back to the stables, while Li Jie and Nam Mu went back to the Willow pavilion. While grooming Saja Nam Gil looked at him with irritation. “You are really a troublesome horse." ‘Again I’m really sorry Boss. I didn’t know he would fall off.’ "You’re so lucky that Wang Hwanin is lenient. If it was me I would have fed you to Gumiho [2] already.” Saja gave Nam Gil a nudge looking silly. “Don’t act cute with me.

Be careful with what you tell Nam Mu. He’s not ready yet and you don't want Wang Hwanin to really kill you?” Saja gave him a solemn look.’I promise never to do that again. Wang Hwanin gave me an earful for two hours. My brains hurt after he was finished.’ Nam Gil laughed. He rubbed Saja’s head. “Do you blame him! You nearly killed the Yeouiju vessel.” Saja put his head down and feigned sadness. Nam Gil had a far away look on his face. “I wonder if something went wrong, when he came back down. He shouldn’t be able to hear you now.” Saja nodded. ‘I also wonder. Wang Hwanin never makes mistakes. Ha. His action makes him seem human.’ After Saja’s words they heard a loud thunderclap. Saja’s eyes nearly rolled backwards. ‘Me and my big mouth. Sorry Jeonha![3]’ Nam Gil rubbed Saja’s head again, laughing hard. “Silly mutt. He is always listening, so be careful with everything you do. Don’t forget my words. Don’t tell Nam Mu anything.” ‘Who are you calling mutt! I’m a purebred!’ Nam Gil ignored him, still laughing before going to Li Jie’s horse.

“How about you? Can you talk to Nam Mu too?” ‘No sir, he can’t hear me.’ Nam Gil scratched his ear. “I think that after the ascension he might be able to talk to you too. Let me know if that happens.” The horse bobbed his head. ‘Yes, sir.’ When he finished grooming both horses he left to see Jin. He hadn’t seen Jin in these couple of days and he wasn’t sure if Jin already knew what was going on.

Saja looked up to see Nam Mu wobbling towards him. ‘Asi! Why are you walking like that?’ Nam Mu gave him a dirty look because Saja sounded like he was laughing. “Shut up. Let’s try to figure out why we can talk to each other.’ Saja gave him a solemn look. ‘I can’t explain that. I really don’t know.’ “What about Wang Hwanin, who is that?’ Saja's eyes perked up. ‘That I can tell you! Wang Hwanin is the "Heavenly King", and one of the founders of the Goryeo nation. He’s the grandfather of all the people in Goryeo’ Nam Mu scratched his head. The strong feeling of familiarity and recognition came back. He was wondering why he felt like he had met Wang Hwanin. “Wang Hwanin… I feel like I’ve met him before.”

Saja snorted but didn’t say anything. He really wanted to tell Nam Mu more but this was something Nam Gil had warned him about. “Why did you say that he’ll kill you?” ‘It’s just a figure of speech. Every horse fears the Gods.’ The other horses gave Saja a look while rolling their eyes. He wanted to tell them that he had no time to think of something else! Nam Mu nodded, believing Saja's words. “Can you explain why you acted like a demon the first time we met.” Saja put his head on Nam Mu’s shoulder. ‘Asi, I’m really sorry. I wanted to play a joke on you but I didn’t know you've never ridden a horse before. The boss had explained that I was a gift for his son, so I thought that you and him would have the same humor.’ “Boss? Do you mean my… Master Nam Gil?” “Yes. I call him Boss.’ Nam Mu didn’t expect that. He felt a warm feeling inside.

Even though Master Ping was nice to him, there was a clear master and servant relationship. This was the first time since his parents death that he had felt the love of a parent again. “Can you tell me more about master Nam Gil?” ‘Asi, I haven’t known the boss for a long time. He bought me just before he left Jeju. From what I can tell, he’s a nice namjaw, I mean man. He has made sure that I was always fed and that I stayed warm and dry. During our trip to this country I saw other namjaw being horrible to their mawl but Boss was never like this.’ The rest of the night Saja told him about his travels with Nam Gil. His stories made Nam Mu forget why he had gone to the stables. Even the unusual phenomenon of horse and human talking to each flew away, while he was listening to Saja.

[1]Virgil Thomson

[2]Similar to the Japanese kitsune and Chinese huli jing, Korean Gumiho are creatures that take the form of a nine tailed fox – according to legends, foxes who live for a thousand years can become a gumiho.

[3] Your Majesty