By Zephyria 
62
“…….”
“…….”
Silence descended. The boiled chicken placed between the two cooled down with each passing moment. Ho-eun, his gaze lowered, stroked the patterns engraved on the scabbard. Then, as if something had occurred to him, he lowered the ends of his eyebrows and carefully requested.
“Ah, and if possible, um…, could you, next time, not make it so painful?”
“…….”
“I can’t afford to be bedridden for five days every time.”
Ho-eun smiled awkwardly. In truth, he didn’t want to do it at all, but he knew he couldn’t. As long as the Devouring Ghoul didn’t disappear from this land, Tae-muk would have to keep fighting. And if he did, there would come a day when he would be injured again, and then he would need me, that act, again.
He was already dreading that day, but he believed he could adapt. Wasn’t he the one who had adapted to fevers and colds? He was confident in enduring pain.
Ho-eun took a deep breath in and out, calming his nerves.
“You’re strange.”
Tae-muk, who had been staring at Ho-eun without blinking, said.
“Did I do something wrong again?”
Tension filled Ho-eun’s eyes once more. Then Tae-muk tossed the sword down as if throwing it away, and said in a somewhat sulky tone.
“What could you do.”
“……Yes?”
“You don’t do anything wrong.”
“…….”
“That’s why you’re strange.”
“…….”
Ho-eun scratched the scabbard pattern with his fingernail. It was strange that he didn’t do anything wrong. He didn’t know what it meant, but at least it wasn’t a scolding, since he hadn’t done anything wrong.
At that moment, the light reflected off the blade slashed past Ho-eun’s eyes. Ho-eun aligned the opening of the scabbard he had been holding with the tip of the sword. And just as he was about to put it in, Tae-muk snatched the scabbard from Ho-eun and sheathed the sword.
As the vanished flash of light allowed Ho-eun to relax his shoulders, Tae-muk put down the sword and said.
“If I get hurt like that again, run away.”
“Run away? From you, General?”
“Yes. The injured me is not in my right mind. Not even human.”
“…….”
“I’ve already tasted you once, so next time I might really tear you apart like a Devouring Ghoul. No amount of ointment will help with that.”
“…….”
“So run away. Go hide with Oh Gil-sang or someone.”
“…….”
“If the wound heals halfway after about a day, I’ll be a little better. Then you can come back.”
Ho-eun was listening to Tae-muk’s words seriously. Then he couldn’t help but smile at the last thing he said. ‘Then you can come back.’ It was funny and pleasing that he was telling him to come to him anyway. Even after hearing that he might tear him apart like a Devouring Ghoul just before.
“I’ll take care of that myself.”
Ho-eun replied, picking up a spoon. At those words, Tae-muk’s eyes twisted all over. He glared at Ho-eun, who was white, neat, upright, stiff, and even dignified, as if he was displeased.
“Why are you so cocky? Is it because you’re a nobleman?”
“Perhaps.”
Ho-eun, who had adapted to Tae-muk’s talk about noblemen, put a spoonful of porridge in his mouth with a calm face.
“…….”
Tae-muk looked at Ho-eun with a face that said, what should I do with this guy? Ho-eun continued to eat shamelessly, even though he knew that gaze. A spoonful of porridge, a spoonful of soup, but he didn’t touch the chicken. Seeing that, Tae-muk frowned even more. Ho-eun moved his spoon and opened his mouth.
“By the way, what you said earlier, General.”
“What.”
“You said you’re not in your right mind when you’re hurt.”
“So.”
“Then, can I assume that you were harsh to me that day because you lost your reason?”
“…….”
“So, if you were okay, you wouldn’t have been so harsh to me, can I assume that?”
“…….”
Tae-muk was silent. His chest, inhaling, slowly swelled and then slowly deflated. Ho-eun interpreted his silence as affirmation.
“That’s enough.”
A subtle smile hung on Ho-eun’s lips. He no longer needed Tae-muk’s apology.
‘Don’t you think I hate you too?’
‘How did someone like you become my Bondmate?’
During the Sexual affair, those words were more painful than the genitals tearing his rear. No matter what Tae-muk did to his body, it would eventually heal. Ho-eun, who had been in pain all his life, knew better than anyone that physical pain could not last forever.
But the wounds in the heart do not care about time. Healing can be very slow, or it may never heal.
But if Tae-muk didn’t mean it, he could go back to before the wound was made, to when it didn’t exist in the first place. That was the privilege of the wounds left in the heart.
But Tae-muk didn’t mean it. He wasn’t in his right mind. And he’s sorry for what happened that day.
Ho-eun felt the wounds in his heart healing with each passing moment. Then, soon, it disappeared without a trace. With a lightened face, he put down his spoon. And he wriggled his body and changed his posture.
At that sight, Tae-muk asked something out of the blue.
“What, should I give you the sword?”
It seemed he thought Ho-eun had changed his mind about taking revenge. He even picked up the sword that had been placed next to him. He was ready to draw the sword right away if Ho-eun just nodded. Ho-eun chuckled and shook his head.
“No.”
Ho-eun straightened his uncomfortable body, knelt down, straightened his back, and placed both hands on his thighs in a proper sitting posture. His back and buttocks hurt, but he endured it. And staring intently at Tae-muk, he began to apologize.
“You said I didn’t do anything wrong, General, but that’s not true. I did something wrong.”
“What did you do wrong?”
“Saying I hated you, that you were terrible, without knowing anything about you.”
“…….”
“I was careless. I should have trusted you, General, I’m sorry. Please forgive me.”
Ho-eun lowered his head. He only believed what he saw with his eyes. In this world, what is unseen is greater than what is seen, but he did not realize that, and in the end, he hurt Tae-muk. He didn’t know if he was actually hurt by his words, but Ho-eun hurt him anyway, and that was definitely wrong.
“…….”
Tae-muk didn’t give any particular answer. Ho-eun became anxious, wondering if his apology wasn’t satisfactory. But he didn’t have the courage to tell Tae-muk to stab him with a sword like he did. He didn’t mind the pain, but dying was the problem.
Scratching his thigh with his fingertips, he stammered.
“T-truthfully, I like that you’re my God of War, General. I’m proud and pleased.”
“…….”
“I mean it.”
Ho-eun knew that when Tae-muk talked about the villagers, he felt sorry for them. He also knew that he hated the nobleman who had taken their lives.
Feeling such emotions meant that Tae-muk was an extremely human person.
Ho-eun cared more about Tae-muk being a true hero of this turbulent time and a righteous man saving the country than him doing terrible things to him. The more he was, the more special I, his Bondmate, would become.
Call him cunning, call him a snob, he couldn’t help it. Ho-eun had longed to be special and useful all his life. And Tae-muk was the one who could fill that hunger to overflowing.
As Ho-eun stared at Tae-muk with sparkling eyes, Tae-muk averted his gaze.
“……Eat your food. Why is a nobleman so talkative when eating?”
“I’m done eating.”
Ho-eun replied in a light tone. At that, Tae-muk’s face slowly crumpled. Astonishment and embarrassment filled his black eyes.
“……What did you eat?”
The boiled chicken was not in a state that could be said to have been eaten. It should be considered not eaten. More than half of the rice was left, and both chicken legs were still intact. If Dong-ja or Man-soo saw it, they would be horrified, roll their eyes, and faint.
“Eat more.”
At Tae-muk’s words, Ho-eun shook his head. He looked at the chicken, which was showing its white flesh, as if it were disgusting.
“I can’t eat any more.”
“Why. Doesn’t this suit your taste either?”
In an instant, Tae-muk’s eyes turned cold. Ho-eun said softly.
“No. It’s delicious. However, I originally can’t eat a lot. My digestion is slow, and I often get sick. So I don’t really feel pleasure in eating.”
“…….”
“Since I eat little, isn’t that rather good on the battlefield?”
Saying that, Ho-eun smiled faintly. He seemed to like his joke, which wasn’t really a joke.
“…….”
Tae-muk didn’t say anything. He looked at the spoon that had not been in Ho-eun’s mouth even ten times, and then loosely clenched his fist under the table. As if estimating the size of the rice ball he had eaten sometime.
Sitting in front of the mirror, Ho-eun tightly tied his Hair Tie. And he straightened it so that there were no wrinkles. The first time he tied his hair alone, his hair was disheveled and falling out, but his skills had improved a little in the meantime, and now he could tie it neatly.
He turned his face to the left and then to the right, examining his appearance in the mirror. Then he suddenly chuckled.
Last night, he had casually asked Tae-muk if he had a mirror. It was so difficult to groom himself without a mirror. Then this morning, Tae-muk had somehow obtained a mirror the size of two palms.
Recalling Tae-muk, who had been holding the mirror and looking at him with a sullen expression, made him laugh. It was so like him to scold him for needing such a thing and then end up getting it for him.