DKM 18

“Young Master, please calm down for a moment… Ack!”

“Myoryeong!”

Moyong Hwa pushed Myoryeong aside mercilessly and grabbed my shoulders.

“If I had been the one to take you in, you wouldn’t have answered like that, right? You would have said I’m the best! Yes, no matter what I did, you would have said I’m the best.”

“Young Master! Young Master Soseo!”

Myoryeong quickly ran off to get Soseo. To anyone watching, Moyong Hwa had completely lost his mind. His subsequent words were too fast to understand. After muttering incomprehensible things while gripping my shoulders for a long while, Moyong Hwa lowered his head. With his head down, he burst into a giggle.

“Right, let’s go to the Moyong Clan.”

“…Excuse me?”

“Once you come to the Moyong Clan, visit our sitethose thoughts will vanish completely. stolen contentAfter living there, unauthorized copyyou’ll say without hesitation that I’m cooler than Brother Soseo.”

“Young Master Moyong Hwa, I… Ugh!”

Moyong Hwa grabbed my arm and headed out of the martial arts training ground. Wait, I feel like this situation has happened before. Suddenly, my eyes snapped open. Right, when I first met Soseo at the inn. Back then, Soseo had also forcibly dragged me into a room.

I recalled that scene, but then I shook my head. No, Soseo is different from this crazy guy. Soseo is much kinder and gentler than Moyong Hwa… Huh, but isn’t it a fact that Soseo forcibly dragged me into the room while I was struggling? I grew dazed. What exactly is the difference between the current Moyong Hwa and the Soseo of that time? My head was so full of questions that I forgot to resist and was being dragged along by Moyong Hwa.

“Moyong Hwa!”

That call snapped me back to my senses. Looking up, I saw Myoryeong panting for breath and Soseo with a hardened expression. Soseo approached with quick strides and reached out his hand to me.

“Myoha, come here.”

Moyong Hwa shook his head and pulled me closer to himself.

“No, Brother. This child is coming to the Moyong Clan with me. I’ve already thought about which room to give him.”

“…What are you talking about? Myoha is a child I brought here.”

Soseo’s face crumpled.

“Above all, there’s no way Myoha would want to go there with you. Let him go.”

“Ah, you don’t have to worry about that, Brother.”

Moyong Hwa giggled.

“Once he’s at the Moyong Clan, he’ll forget all about someone like you in no time.”

At that moment, Soseo struck Moyong Hwa’s abdomen with lightning speed. Moyong Hwa flew far back and slammed into a wall. His face distorted in pain, and he coughed up a spray of blood. But Soseo didn’t stop there; he reached down and pulled up Moyong Hwa’s sword, which had been thrust into the ground of the training ground.

“Paeng Soseo! Stop!”

The moment Paeng Soseo was about to swing the sword, a deafening shout echoed across the training ground. Soseo’s hand stopped in mid-air.

“What do you think you are doing!”

—Thump.

The carcass of a boar as large as a house and bundles of herbs with a bitter scent fell to the ground. The Gaju strode forward and seized Soseo’s arm. Once Soseo was subdued, Myoryeong rushed over to support me.

“Myoha, are you okay?”

“…Yeah, I’m okay.”

As I was supported by Myoryeong, I thought to myself.

…I take back what I said earlier. I really don’t think we’re cut out for wuxia.

After confirming that I was safe, the Gaju began to interrogate Soseo in earnest.

“You just tried to kill Moyong Hwa with genuine intent. Am I right?”

“….”

“What is the meaning of this? And after you told me I wasn’t even worth getting angry at.”

Soseo said nothing. When Soseo avoided answering, the Gaju pulled on his arm.

“Let’s have a talk.”

“…Is there any need to talk?”

But Soseo didn’t budge. Standing there as if nailed to the spot, Soseo spoke.

“You will never understand me, Father.”

“We can’t know that until we talk. Come now, Soseo. With your father…”

“You didn’t understand Mother either, did you?”

“…What?”

Soseo shook off the Gaju’s hand. The Gaju’s eyelids trembled.

“…Are you seriously saying that right now?”

“If you had truly cared for Mother, you should never have sent her back to the Moyong Clan.”

“I only did my best for you and Soha!”

“What does it matter if that was your best, Father? It was the worst decision for Mother. Because of you, Mother is even less whole than before.”

Soseo looked at the boar and the herb bundles and laughed as if it were pathetic.

“What use are things like this? This isn’t what Mother truly wants.”

“….”

“I’ve been sick of insensitive people like you for a long time.”

“…Perhaps you all…”

As if triggered, the Gaju’s face distorted, and he spat out an unexpected truth.

“Perhaps you all are just too sensitive?”

“….”

“I’m truly exhausted now. I’m really… sick of this.”

The Gaju covered his face with his palm.

“What do you truly think is the reason we can’t live peacefully like other families?”

“….”

“I really did my best. So why are you all…”

“If this is how you’re going to keep doing your best, then just give up on Mother and me entirely. That is my request to you, Father.”

Soseo left the training ground after discarding the unconscious Moyong Hwa like trash. We also read the room and slowly left the training ground. Left all alone, the Gaju only stared with vacant eyes at the boar carcass and herb bundles scattered on the ground. As soon as we arrived at the lodging, Myoryeong checked my arm. Finger marks were clearly visible.

“Isn’t this going to bruise?”

“I’m just glad it ended with this. You saw his eyes earlier. He was half-crazy. I should be careful not to run into him, even by chance, starting tomorrow.”

“….”

Myoryeong smoothed out my sleeve and looked at my expression.

“About the conversation between Soseo and the Gaju earlier.”

“Yeah, it was bothering me too.”

“I wonder what happened in this house? I guess you really shouldn’t [visit our site]judge a person by their appearance. The Read on Read BL NovelsGaju seemed like such a good father.”

“…True.”

You really shouldn’t judge a person by their appearance. As my expression darkened, Myoryeong spoke cautiously.

“Um, Myoha.”

“Yeah?”

“Do you want to leave this place now?”

“Huh?”

“I think I might have misjudged things. I’m sorry.”

I shook my head.

“It’s okay. I feel the same way.”

“Then should we leave after all?”

“…Um, Myoryeong.”

I made a request to Myoryeong.

“Can I be alone for a bit?”

“Of course. Get some rest. If anything happens, come to my room.”

“Okay.”

Myoryeong closed the door and left. I sank into thought, staring at the innocent ceiling.

I remembered in sequence: when Soseo forcibly dragged me into the room, when he stubbornly fed me snacks, when he suggested I come to the Paeng Clan, and when he said I would soon forget Seolhwa once I arrived in Hebei.

Thinking back, there were more than a few moments that felt unsettling. But because I had received stolen contentso much, because there were so many things to [visit our site]be grateful for, unauthorized copyI just let those moments slide. To think that the person I firmly believed to be kind and good until now might actually not be that kind of person. It felt strange, but…

‘Is there anything else you don’t know? I’ll teach you everything.’

I remembered Soseo, who taught me everything kindly, no matter how basic my questions were.

‘Eat slowly. Tell me if you want more.’

I also remembered how he frequently called me to feed me delicious things. I bolted upright and left the room. I wanted to see Soseo right now. Should I bring something to eat? It feels a bit awkward to go empty-handed. I headed toward the kitchen.

“Will this much rice be enough?”

“Yes, this should be enough for everyone to eat their fill.”

In the kitchen, the women responsible for the Paeng Clan’s meals were busily moving around, scooping rice high into bowls. It’s not even mealtime yet, so what’s going on? I watched the women with curious eyes. Unaware of my presence, the women continued to chatter.

“But it hasn’t been that long since they ate, why are they making a fuss for rice again?”

“They say they’re hungry from moving furniture and [visit our site][stolen content]cleaning. Grandfather visit our sitegave his permission.”

“Huh? Wasn’t the cleaning finished yesterday?”

“You haven’t heard yet? Apparently, Young Master Soseo threw a fit. The furniture got completely messed up, so he needs a room to use until that room is organized.”

“It’s been a while. It’s been so quiet lately that I’d almost forgotten.”

I leaned against the wall and continued to eavesdrop on the women’s conversation.

“I guess blood doesn’t lie. Like mother, like son.”

“Oh, hush. Young Master Soyu isn’t like that.”

“Is it because Young Master Soyu takes after the Gaju? He shows no sign of it at all, but Young Master Soseo is particularly like that.”

“Well, Young Master Soseo resembles the Madam starting from his face. Honestly, doesn’t Young Master Soseo fit in better with the Moyong Clan?”

“True, he doesn’t really fit in with the Paeng Clan.”

Just then, a shadow fell over me. I looked up.

“What are you doing instead of going inside?”

“Grandfather Jang.”

“Ack…!”

At Grandfather Jang’s voice, the women almost dropped their bowls. The grandfather entered the kitchen with his hands behind his back.

“Are the servants’ meals all ready?”

“Yes, yes. We just need to ladle the soup.”

“Stop chatting and serve it quickly. Myoha, why are you here? Is something the matter?”

“I wanted to bring some tea to Young Master Soseo.”

“Did Young Master Soseo ask you to bring some?”

I hesitated, then spoke honestly.

“No, I just thought it would be nice to bring him some tea…”

“Goodness. The Young Master is in no mood for tea right now.”

The grandfather shook his head.

“No, just prepare it.”

“But the Young Master is currently…”

The grandfather shouted sternly.

“If I tell you to prepare it, just prepare it! Why are there so many words!”

“Ah, yes…!”

The women hurriedly prepared a tea and snack tray and pressed it into my hands. Grandfather grumbled as he led me out of the kitchen.

“These days, there are so many who don’t know their place and talk back. I should re-educate them. They have less tact than someone who just arrived…”

“Thank you, Grandfather.”

“No need to thank me. The Young Master is still in his room, so deliver it well.”

“Yes, Grandfather.”

I bowed deeply and started walking. As I walked down the hallway toward Soseo’s room, I saw someone sitting in the training ground, which should have been empty. Looking closer, it was Moyong Hwa. It seemed the Gaju had also gathered all the things he left on the ground and gone inside… I don’t know why that guy is still here, and why he’s insisting on sitting on the dirt floor. There are plenty of places to sit. I clicked my tongue and headed toward Soseo’s room again.

However, before I could go far, I ended up turning back.