“Reining in the Tyrant”

I can’t remember exactly when it started. It was probably with webtoons. The stories were exciting and I was dying to know what happened next, but of course the ones I got hooked on were always ongoing. Then, by chance, I discovered that some of them were based on novels, and naturally I was drawn into the world of web novels.

Expanding into BL was partly out of curiosity. If a work is considered a masterpiece, there must be a reason for it, right? I figured there was no reason to avoid it just because the two main characters were male. When I finally gave it a try, I didn’t feel particularly uncomfortable. Maybe it’s because I tend to read stories as a detached observer, as if I’m just watching someone else’s life unfold.

To be honest, I didn’t find much difference between heterosexual and same-sex romances. Having never been in a relationship with either sex, romance itself is just a fantasy to me anyway.

”A puppet, you say? Do you really think I treat you like a puppet?” 

“Isn’t that how it’s always been? Your Majesty always assumes that everything will go your way.”

I had stopped reading during a heated argument between the characters, and the scene haunted me all day. I thought I might die of curiosity. Sure, I could have sacrificed some sleep to read a bit more, but I’d learned my lesson after countless all-nighters. Sleep deprivation had wreaked havoc on my daily life, so I’d decided to control myself from now on.

“Wow. Breaking someone’s ankle? That’s crazy…”

I muttered to myself as I scrolled through the pages, completely absorbed. Before I knew it, I’d reached the last page. The story ended with the bottom man attempting suicide, only to fail and lose half his mind. Meanwhile, the top man held him and whispered a tearful confession of love that the bottom man couldn’t even hear.

I was so stunned I couldn’t speak. Being a romance novel, I had assumed it would end happily. Sure, they didn’t die or break up, but with neither of them finding happiness, wasn’t that practically a bad ending?

Frustrated, I picked up my phone to search for reviews online. Just then, a vibration alerted me to an emergency disaster message.

[A dungeon rupture has occurred near Shy Palace, causing unstable ground conditions. Residents are advised to evacuate immediately and remain vigilant for their safety. – Disaster Management Bureau -]

Wait… that’s near my house.

I stared blankly at the screen, unable to process the situation, as a deafening roar shook the air, followed by the house shaking violently as if hit by a massive earthquake.

It seemed like today was destined to be a truly awful day. I hadn’t even been out of the house yet and I’d managed to get caught in a dungeon break right in my own home. If I’d known this was going to happen, I would have swallowed my pride and moved into the leaders’ dormitory. Sure, I hated the idea of sharing a room with someone else, which is why I rented this place, but at least it would’ve been safer.

Anyway, I had to evacuate. Just as I was pushing myself out of bed, there was another deafening crash. The bookcase next to my bed toppled over and crashed into me.

—

“Ugh…”

Fortunately, my lifespan didn’t seem to have been cut too short, as I managed to regain consciousness not long after. Judging by the throbbing headache, I probably had a concussion, but at least I hadn’t crossed the River Styx yet.

As I tried to assess my condition, I realised it wasn’t just the headache. My whole body felt heavy and sore, like I was soaked in wet cotton, and a strange chill made me shiver. It was strange – being crushed by a bookshelf shouldn’t have made me feel like I had the flu.

I opened my eyes, confused, and realised that something was wrong with my surroundings.

Wait a minute. This isn’t my bedroom ceiling. Had someone dragged me into a traditional Korean hanok village while I was unconscious?

“Jae-hee! You’re finally awake!”

Before I could fully grasp the situation, the door burst open and someone entered. It was definitely a face I’d never seen before, but the man looked at me as if he knew me well.

A middle-aged man approached, clasped my hand and began to shed tears, speaking through sobs.

“Thank heaven! Thank you for saving him. I will repay this grace at any cost. Truly, thank you.”

‘Who are you?’

“The doctor said there was no hope this time, and I really thought I had lost you. But I believed in you. I, your father knew you would come through somehow, that you would wake up like this… Oh dear, I can’t stop these stupid tears…”

It had been over 15 years since I had last seen my parents’ faces, but I could still remember them vividly. This man looked nothing like them. Besides, my parents were long gone, so there was no way they could still be alive. Whoever this man was, he wasn’t my real father.

But who was this person who was sobbing like he was greeting a son who’d narrowly escaped death?

“Um, excuse me…”

I tried to say something, but the moment I opened my mouth I was overcome by a coughing fit. I’d thought it was the after-effects of a cold, but it seemed my throat was worse than I’d realised. Or maybe my lungs were in trouble.

“Oh dear, what am I going to do? Let me get some water right away. Wait here.”

The man – who called himself my father – hurried off to fetch water as I continued to cough so violently that I feared I might end up coughing up blood. A few sips of lukewarm water later, my parched throat felt a little less dry, though not entirely better.

“So, um…”

“Father! Jae-hee is awake?”

“Our youngest! Let me see him! Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?”

“How dare you rush in before your mother?”

Before I could ask anything else, two young men and a middle-aged woman burst into the room. From the way they were talking, they seemed to be my family.

But I’m an only child. Who could they be?

“Oh, look at you! You’ve got even thinner, and you were already so slim to begin with.”

Totally unfamiliar faces.

But it wasn’t their faces that confused me more – it was their clothes. While it wasn’t too surprising that the house was a traditional hanok, the fact that everyone in sight was dressed in hanbok felt distinctly out of place. It was as if this wasn’t a modern society at all.

Hmm. Could this be it? That thing I’d only read about in web novels… Transmigration?

“I… came back from the brink of death?”

“Oh dear, what do we do? They say high fevers can sometimes cause memory problems.”

Feigning memory loss, I carefully began to gather information. It seemed I’d landed in the body of the youngest son in this household. A sickly boy, loved and cherished by his family for his frail health.

Judging by the way I was drained of energy by the slightest movement, this body was clearly far from healthy. I couldn’t help but think that at this rate I might be heading for a second death. One false step or fall and I’d probably break a bone.

The other piece of information I managed to glean was that this family belonged to a fairly prominent noble lineage. My physical condition may have been poor, but at least this part was a silver lining. With some moderate exercise to build up this frail body, I might be able to live a quiet and uneventful life in relative comfort.

“Now that Jae-hee is awake, Father, you should go to your meeting. You’ll be late.”

“It’s already too late. What difference does it make if I’m not there? It’s like a candle flickering in the wind anyway…”

A candle flickering in the wind?

“What do you mean by that?

I had assumed that life as a noble child would be comfortable and safe, but the phrase made me suspect that something more disturbing was going on. I looked around to assess the situation and the person they called my elder brother casually offered an explanation.

“You don’t need to worry about such things, Jae-hee. The instability in our diplomacy with Cheonho is nothing new.”

Cheonho… Cheonho?

The word struck a chord. It was the name of the kingdom in the novel I’d read just before my transmigration.

Diplomacy with Cheonho? Where was I now? What country was this?

“Brother, my memory isn’t quite intact, so…”

I knew it would sound absurd. But try as I might, I couldn’t think of a more subtle way to ask. So I decided to go straight for it.

“What… is the name of our country?”

“What a strange question. Isn’t it obvious? Our father here is the proud Taebusi of our glorious Haeya.”

‘Haeya… so that’s it.’

This was Haeya – the homeland of the protagonist in The Affectionate Bond, and also the country that collapses miserably before the novel even begins.

For reference, the plot of The Affectionate Bond went something like this:

The protagonist, Lee Gyeol, is born the youngest prince of Haeya. Soon, however, war breaks out with the neighbouring kingdom of Cheonho, leading to Haeya’s downfall and the death of his entire family. Thanks to the queen’s sacrifice and the resourcefulness of his nurse, Gyeol barely escapes with his life. He settles in a rural village and lives as an ordinary citizen.

One day, while climbing a mountain in search of medicinal herbs for his ailing nurse, Lee Gyeol meets Beom Mu-yeong, the film’s protagonist. The two are irresistibly drawn together by fate. But when he discovers that Mu-yeong is none other than the Emperor of Cheonho – the man responsible for the death of his family – Gyeol’s feelings of affection turn to rage and fear.

Unaware of the truth, Mu-yeong offers to pay for the nurse’s medical expenses and brings Gyeol to his palace as his concubine. Thus begins Gyeol’s forced entanglement at the heart of palace intrigue. There he endures endless emotional and physical hardship, slowly wasting away as he becomes increasingly ill.

To make matters worse, Mu-yeong, who should have been Gyeol’s protector, is a psychopathic, obsessive and controlling Alpha. Completely incapable of understanding human emotions, he only makes things worse. As the story unfolds, their relationship spirals further into disaster with each volume.

Ah, the ending was terrible, even thinking about it now.