DKM 7

We showed Seolhwa the few coins that happened to be in our pockets.

“Look at this. It sold for a great price.”

“Let’s use this to buy something delicious later.”

Seolhwa’s face, which had been clouded with worry throughout his stay at our house, brightened a little. I wiped away my sweat and looked up at the sky.

“The sky is still so bright.”

“It’s too wasteful to just stay inside. It’s a rare day off, after all.”

“Then why don’t we go play on the mountain behind our house?”

“The back mountain?”

“Yeah, that would be the perfect place for the three of us to hang out.”

“Seolhwa, how about you? Is that okay?”

“Yes, it’s okay.”

We packed rice balls using the leftover rice from yesterday and headed for the mountain.

“Myoryeong, remember when we went crazy trying to find food here before?”

“Yeah, I remember.”

“I was seriously worried about how we were going to survive back then.”

I feel truly happy. Sitting on either side of Seolhwa, we took large bites of the rice balls. Eating in a place with fresh air and beautiful scenery made it taste like honey. We polished off the rice balls, not leaving a single grain behind. After finishing the meal, we began exploring the mountain in earnest. Back then, I hadn’t noticed because I was only looking for food, but there was so much to see here. I guess that’s why they say the scenery of Mt. Geumgang is best enjoyed after a meal. Myoryeong spoke as he plucked some grass from the ground.

“Isn’t this the weed I chewed on back then?”

“Don’t ever eat that again.”

“I wasn’t planning to, even if you didn’t tell me. Ah, by the way, I’m thirsty.”

Myoryeong tossed the grass aside and touched his throat.

“Isn’t there somewhere to get water?”

“Wasn’t there a pond near here when we came last time?”

“Oh right, there was a pond. I’ll go check it out.”

“Want me to come with you?”

“No, stay here.”

I watched Myoryeong’s back as he disappeared into the brush. A smile naturally curled my lips.

“This is really nice…”

This peaceful and leisurely situation. I plopped down onto a flat rock. Then, a few nameless flowers blooming nearby caught my eye. I reached out and plucked them.

“The flowers are so pretty.”

Would Soseo like it if I gave these to him? Myoryeong dislikes flowers because they just take up space, but Soseo might like them. I plucked a few more.

“They’re really beautiful.”

As I was happily holding a handful of flowers, I felt a gaze on me. I looked up. Seolhwa was staring at me.

“What is it?”

“…No, it’s just that you seem to really like pretty things.”

I nodded, still holding the flowers.

“Yeah, I really like pretty things. No, I love them.”

In the first place, I started reading romance fantasy novels because the female leads on the illustrated covers were pretty. When I answered without hesitation, Seolhwa’s face flushed a faint red. I asked,

“What’s wrong?”

Seolhwa kept his head down and said nothing.

---

“Alright, Seolhwa. We’re off to make some money. Make sure you eat well!”

“Yeah, be careful and have a safe trip.”

With Seolhwa seeing us off, we headed to work at the inn. As always, the street where the inn was located was bustling with people from early morning. I paused for a moment and looked at the street.

“Why the sudden stop?”

“No, I just remembered when we first dropped into this world.”

It feels like only yesterday that I was at a loss because I knew nothing, but now we know quite a bit. It’s [unauthorized copy]style="position:absolute;left:-9999px;font-size:0;">[Read on Read BL Novels]on Read BL Novels -->truly rewarding. Vowing to work hard today as well, I opened the door.

“Hello, everyone!”

“You’re here now?”

I froze right there at the door. Soseo was sitting in the center of the dining area. Myoryeong, standing beside me, looked at me with a puzzled expression. Soseo, who had been talking to the owner, spoke.

“So you must be Myoryeong. You really look a lot like Myoha.”

“…Do you know me?”

“Of course. Naturally.”

Wait, why is he here? After all that effort to hide his existence from Myoryeong. At that moment, Soseo stood up.

“Neither of you has to work today.”

“…Soseo?”

“Let’s go.”

“No, before that, who exactly are you?”

Soseo familiarly draped his arms over our shoulders. As Myoryeong was dragged away by Soseo, he mouthed the question “Who is he?” while I could only roll my eyes helplessly. It was at a fancy teahouse that I was finally able to explain to Myoryeong who Soseo was. Myoryeong asked without even touching the refreshments in front of him.

“You’re saying the person who has been taking care of us all this time wasn’t the owner, but that man?”

“…Yes.”

Myoryeong looked back and forth between me and Soseo before asking,

“Everyone else knows you and the young master are close, right?”

“Yeah, they do.”

“No, I can’t believe I was the only one who didn’t know. This is absolutely unauthorized copyaria-label="visit our site">visit stolen contentour siteridiculous. Why on earth did you hide the young master’s existence from me?”

Soseo answered in my stead.

“I told him to hide it.”

“Why?”

“Because I like playing with him one-on-one.”

“…Did you think I would butt in between you two?”

“Well, to be honest, I have some bad memories regarding a younger sibling.”

Eh? Soseo had a sibling? I naturally assumed he was an only child. Come to think of it, Soseo had never mentioned his family. I quickly asked,

“You had a sibling too?”

“Yes, I did.”

Soseo looked at Myoryeong.

“They were truly cute and lovely, just like your brother, but it was a bit tiring. They followed me around all day, so I could never play with my friends in peace.”

“Ah…”

“I’m really sorry. Since my sibling was like that, I guess I assumed your brother would be the same.”

Soseo took a sip of tea and asked Myoryeong,

“Are you disappointed in Myoha by any chance?”

Myoryeong immediately shook his head.

“No, that’s impossible. He did it for me.”

“…Is that so?”

Soseo took another sip of tea. I read the room. Neither of them seemed to be in a particularly great mood. Then, Myoryeong spoke up.

“But why did you suddenly change your mind? You could have just kept playing with my brother alone, like you did until now.”

I was curious about that too. My eyes shifted toward Soseo. Soseo set down his teacup and spoke.

“Actually, I asked your brother to go to Hebei with me.”

“…Hebei?”

“It’s my hometown. I told him I could get him a better job than here, but your brother said he couldn’t because he wasn’t alone.”

“…”

“So, Myoryeong. Why don’t you come to Hebei with your brother? Everything will be much better than here.”

Myoryeong grabbed my arm.

“Can we talk privately for a moment?”

“By all means.”

And then he dragged me outside. As soon as we stepped out, Myoryeong asked,

“What is up with him?”

I had no words. I opened my mouth.

“Sorry for hiding it. I had to do it to survive.”

“I didn’t drag you out here to argue about that!”

“Then what is it?”

“I mean, Myoha! Do you not realize what the problem is right now?!”

Myoryeong seemed truly frustrated, thumping his chest with his fist.

“Not only did he give us jobs, but now he’s asking us to go to his hometown! Do you know what that implies?! Have you already forgotten what genre I read?!”

“Myoryeong.”

I became serious.

“This is a Wuxia world. BL should be enjoyed only in BL. Soseo and I are merely friends. It’ll be troublesome if you seriously link us together.”

“…Yeah, I know. But where do you find a friend who does that much for another?”

“If I had a lot of money, I would have done the same for you.”

Myoryeong wiped his face with his hands.

“I want to say that such a friendship cannot exist in this world, but since you’re actually the kind [stolen content]of person who would do [visit our site]that for a friend, I have nothing to say.”

I asked cautiously,

“Do you perhaps not like Soseo?”

Myoryeong jumped.

“No! How could I not like him! We can survive thanks to him. But let’s get one thing straight. Are you going to Hebei?”

“No, Seolhwa is here, and I don’t want to be a burden to Soseo anymore.”

“Then that’s fine. Just don’t follow him to Hebei.”

“I really think you don’t like Soseo.”

“I’m just uneasy. I can see the seeds of a scheming top in him.”

“…”

I looked at Myoryeong in silence. Myoryeong frowned.

“You think I’m talking nonsense right now, don’t you.”

“Ah, sorry. Was it that obvious?”

“I’ll definitely make sure to see you kicking the ground in regret later, you dense brat.”

Myoryeong dragged me, still bewildered, back inside. Soseo asked,

“Are you finished talking?”

“Yes. Thank you for the offer, but we won’t be going to Hebei.”

“What is the reason?”

“This is the hometown [unauthorized copy]where [Read unauthorized copyon Read BL Novels]I grew up, and actually, there’s one more mouth to feed at home.”

“One more mouth? You had another family member?”

I nodded.

“Yeah, something like that.”

“…Why didn’t you tell me?”

I couldn’t exactly say that I’d suddenly gained a family member recently and hadn’t had the chance to mention it. I gave a vague excuse.

“I’m sorry, I really didn’t want to be any more of a burden to you.”

Soseo rested his chin on his hand and stared at me for a while before standing up.

“Right, I understand. It would certainly be burdensome to receive too much from someone who isn’t family or anything. I’m the one who’s sorry. I think I pushed my own opinion too hard.”

Soseo is indeed broad-minded. Soseo pushed away his empty teacup and asked,

“Is there anything you want to do? Or anything you want to eat?”

I looked back at Myoryeong. Myoryeong shook his head, indicating there was nothing. I answered,

“No, nothing.”

“…Really nothing?”

“Yeah, nothing.”

Soseo sat in silence for a while before speaking.

“Then shall we just head back to the inn?”

“Yeah, let’s.”

Soseo led the way back to the inn. Myoryeong and I followed closely behind. On the way, Myoryeong visit [visit our site][stolen content]our sitealmost tripped over a stone. I quickly grabbed Myoryeong’s hand.

“Myoryeong, be careful.”

“Thanks.”

“…”

I felt Soseo’s gaze again. I looked at Soseo with a puzzled expression.

“What is it?”

“…No, it’s nothing.”

Soseo turned back around and walked ahead. Unaware of what was about to happen at the inn.