He didn’t think he could reason with him any further, so he finally rose from his seat.
“…I hope you can finish your business and leave as soon as possible. If the Evil Cult Lord stays here for too long, friction is inevitable.”
“I’ll do that if I can.”
Unlike Namgung Eui’s obviously tense tone, Jin Geum-ryeon’s reply was leisurely. Namgung Eui stared at Jin Geum-ryeon for a moment, then opened his pouch, took out a gold coin, and placed it on the table.
“I heard there were injuries. I’ll pay for the medicine.”
At those words, Jin Geum-ryeon stroked his chin for a moment, then smiled coolly and rose from his seat to see Namgung Eui off.
“I’ll put it to good use. Then, take care.”
Namgung Eui hesitated for a moment, as if he had more to say, but eventually shook his head and left the room. Ak Mujin was sorry to see him go like this, but he also knew that relationships couldn’t be forced.
Nevertheless, he watched Young Master Namgung’s back until it disappeared beyond the door, his eyes still full of lingering regret. The inner room was quiet after Namgung Eui left. Go Seong-cheon watched the atmosphere, and when Jin Geum-ryeon sat down again, he lowered his head deeply.
Jin Geum-ryeon opened his mouth.
“…For the Patrol Captain to come himself. He wouldn’t have visited just because I showed up. It seems your public opinion campaign worked quite well.”
“Is that so?”
Go Seong-cheon raised his head again. Jin Geum-ryeon threw the gold coin that Namgung Eui had left behind to him. Go Seong-cheon’s expression, which had been cautious all along, finally relaxed.
“I’ll work hard in the future!”
“That’s enough. Withdraw from this area. It’s not good to be too close to the Martial Alliance. Besides, attacking a member of the Martial Alliance right in front of their headquarters, like today, is too reckless. All I ordered was to stir up opinions among the villagers.”
“Yes, yes. I’ll be careful, Lord!”
“Go now. I’ll give you further orders later.”
Go Seong-cheon immediately rose from his seat, bowed respectfully, and left the inner room. His steps were very light as he took the gold coin. Jin Geum-ryeon also got up from his seat and approached Ak Mujin, who was leaning against the long chair.
Ak Mujin was still trying to gauge the possibility that Namgung Eui was the main character of this Doujinshi. As he did so, thoughts about So Seung-ji followed suit. When he thought about it, weren’t he and Namgung Eui in similar positions?
Still, he didn’t think So Seung-ji would be the main character. His relationship with Jin Geum-ryeon was somewhat bland, and his behavior at the Tea House and Akyang House was too pathetic for a main character.
…Or was he wrong again? Was he barking up the wrong tree again?
Just as his head began to throb, Ak Mujin felt a shadow fall over him and raised his head. Jin Geum-ryeon was standing in front of him, gazing down at his face.
“You want to go to Son of Heaven Mountain.”
With those words, Jin Geum-ryeon knelt on one knee under the chair where Ak Mujin was lying, in a fluid and natural motion.
That’s right. Whether the main uke was So Seung-ji or Namgung Eui, it was Jin Geum-ryeon, the main seme, who had to be interested in them. Thinking he should test him, Ak Mujin leaned his upper body at an angle, propping himself up on the chair with his right elbow, and looked at Jin Geum-ryeon.
“Ahem, do you have any intention of building a friendship with Namgung Eui? It wouldn’t be bad for the Sandow Union’s activities if you could win over the Patrol Captain of the Martial Alliance.”
Ak Mujin deliberately asked an absurd question. If he had any feelings for him, he would show some reaction to this question.
But contrary to his expectations, Jin Geum-ryeon only stared at Ak Mujin.
…Well, how could someone as upright as Namgung Eui join hands with an Evil Sect? It was a ridiculously absurd statement.
As Ak Mujin avoided his gaze in embarrassment, Jin Geum-ryeon gently placed his head on his chest, as if lost in thought. Ak Mujin, slightly surprised by the heavy and warm sensation, looked down at him again.
Ak Mujin’s face, wearing a Human Skin Mask, must have been hideous, but Jin Geum-ryeon’s golden eyes, looking up at him, seemed to shine with affection. His ardent gaze was so intense that it felt like it could burn his face, and he didn’t know where to put his empty hands. In the end, he raised his left fist to his mouth and cleared his throat.
“Ahem, ahem… Why are you suddenly doing this? Get off.”
It was already shocking enough that Jin Geum-ryeon had confessed that he liked him, but now that his feelings were being expressed in action, he began to feel very burdened. It was only natural that his face was turning red and his heart was pounding for that reason. How did he end up possessing a shameful Doujinshi with an Omegaverse setting? Would it have been more bearable if it had been a male-oriented Doujinshi? …No. It might have been even more painful.
Indeed, he had to find Jin Geum-ryeon a partner as soon as possible. Ak Mujin strengthened his resolve.
Cheong-aeng was still in the inner room. He glanced sideways, trying to gauge Cheong-aeng’s reaction. But she had been sitting at a table far away from them, engrossed in reading a book, and didn’t seem to be paying any attention to them.
Jin Geum-ryeon was also ignoring Ak Mujin’s words. He had his cheek pressed against Ak Mujin’s chest and was picking off the dust from his clothes. Ak Mujin’s heart fluttered at the affectionate gesture, close to a coquettish act that only lovers, or rather, young ladies, would do.
“…Jin Geum-ryeon.”
Ak Mujin called his name once more. He now felt sorry for Jin Geum-ryeon. Had he been barking up the wrong tree for far too long? Moreover, Ak Mujin was an outsider who didn’t belong to this world. Of course, he was wandering around, not knowing how to get out, but he thought that Ahn Do-hyun, who was possessed and not the complete Ak Mujin, was not yet a person of this world.
After fiddling with Ak Mujin’s clothes to his heart’s content, Jin Geum-ryeon finally opened his mouth.
“I would like to invite you to my residence. If you have nothing else to do, please do so.”
“What…? What about Namgung Eui…?”
Ak Mujin was flustered by the unexpected turn of events. In fact, now that his goal was to return Jin Geum-ryeon to his original self, this offer wasn’t a bad thing. But if he left already, he wouldn’t be able to meet Namgung Eui.
“I don’t know why you keep talking about Namgung Eui. Are you perhaps interested in Young Master Namgung?”
“No. It’s not that… Don’t you really feel anything when you see Namgung Eui?”
“What am I supposed to feel? Well… The face of the Martial Alliance Lord comes to mind, and I get angry. They look quite alike.”
“No, um…”
It seemed that Jin Geum-ryeon didn’t feel any emotions close to romance, even after meeting Namgung Eui after a long time. Ak Mujin was also aware that a ‘hate-love’ relationship was not a relationship that could easily come to fruition. For feelings that started with hatred to develop into affection, all sorts of twists and turns would be necessary.
But, in any case, wouldn’t it be most important to make them see each other’s faces often in order for feelings of affection to sprout? To do that, Ak Mujin had to stay here somehow, even if it was just with the excuse of seeing Son of Heaven Mountain.
“Anyway, I should go see Son of Heaven Mountain. Or, well, I could go see the Martial Alliance.”
When Ak Mujin began to insist, Jin Geum-ryeon finally took his head off his chest and complained.
“How beautiful can the scenery of Son of Heaven Mountain be? Mount Hua or Mount Song will be more magnificent. The Martial Alliance is needless to say. You saw it when you went to the Tea House. The Sandow Union headquarters is much better.”
His efforts to divert his attention were commendable. Ak Mujin couldn’t help but suppress the laughter that was about to burst out at Jin Geum-ryeon’s childish grumbling.
“You said you would follow me wherever I went without complaint, but did you see Namgung Eui and lose interest because you were reminded of the Martial Alliance Lord?”
“I wanted to leave as soon as possible because you were talking about Namgung Eui.”
What should he do with this guy? Ak Mujin’s mind became complicated. It seemed that Jin Geum-ryeon’s actions were so tightly tangled that there was no room for them to be untangled.
Ak Mujin now leaned his body and supported his face with the back of his hand. Jin Geum-ryeon was still kneeling in front of him.
“…What exactly happened at the Martial Alliance?”
Thinking as the original author, Ak Mujin didn’t think that Jin Geum-ryeon would become the Evil Cult Lord just because he was framed by the Martial Alliance. He thought that the Martial Alliance Lord had killed Jin Geum-ryeon’s parents and made him a target for elimination, so he could hate him enough, but no matter how he thought about it, he came to the conclusion that there must have been an incident beyond that.
“If you promise to stay at the Sandow Union for a while, I’ll tell you everything.”
Jin Geum-ryeon said with a smile, as if he had been waiting for this moment.
“You can leave whenever you want if you want to stay for a while and then leave. Yes?”
Jin Geum-ryeon looked quite earnest as he said those words. After a brief moment of contemplation, Ak Mujin nodded.
“I understand.”
“Really?”
The face that was filled with delight was very handsome even to Ak Mujin’s eyes. He could say with certainty that if he had shown this face to Namgung Eui, their relationship would have developed in a pretty good direction.