Chapter 138: Uninvited Guests (5)

The Attic.

For Tang Hwarin, this room, with its relatively low ceiling that some might find uncomfortable, had become a cozier refuge than even the grand Sung manor where she once lived without want.

Hwarin absentmindedly stared at the medicine in her hand, then turned her head toward her roommate as the scent of alcohol reached her nose.

“Ugh… You reek of alcohol. I told you to wash up before sleeping.”

She got up and opened the window for a moment.

The cold breeze that seeped through cooled her flushed face.

“Mhmmm…”

“I’ll cover you with a blanket.”

When Kang Yunho groaned at the sudden chill, Hwarin approached him as he laid unconscious, overcome by alcohol and exhaustion.

As she unfolded her roommate’s blanket from the corner, his scent wafted up.

She disliked the smell of alcohol, but this scent—this scent wasn’t bad.

At first, it had been awkward, but now it was oddly reassuring.

“Mmm…”

“Ah!”

Startled by Yunho’s soft murmur, she hurriedly pulled her nose away from the blanket.

She quickly draped it over him and returned to her bed, watching him intently.

Hey… You’re not awake, are you?

…Good. If you caught me just now, I would’ve died of embarrassment.

Relieved, she picked up the small hand mirror beside her.

“I can’t believe I’m looking into a mirror…”

Hwarin chuckled bitterly at the thought.

She rarely looked at mirrors.

To do so meant facing a reality she would rather avoid.

A life spent wrapped in layers, covering her lower face with a black veil—why bother looking in a mirror at all?

But now, things were different.

Now, she could imagine a brighter tomorrow.

At first, it had felt like a miracle just to have the pain subside after taking the medicine.

But its effects didn’t stop there.

“It’s really healing…”

No matter how many times she looked, it was astonishing.

It wasn’t an immediate, drastic change, but the improvement was undeniable.

A face she herself never truly paid attention to—yet someone had.

Someone always looked at her closely, worried for her, hoping for her recovery.

If it weren’t for him pointing it out, she might never have noticed.

Hwarin glanced at the man who had entered her life like a miracle and recalled what had happened earlier.

Kang Yunho suddenly touched her.

He had reached out and touched her face without asking.

The part of her face that was her greatest insecurity.

If it had been anyone else, she would have broken their wrist.

But with Yunho, it was different.

She quietly accepted his touch.

“Hwarin… If only people didn’t have such prejudices, they’d see how attractive you really are.”

Is he drunk?

He must be drunk.

Is it because he’s drunk that he’s saying nice things?

Hwarin’s head spun at his murmured words.

She had heard that men, when intoxicated, sometimes saw even plain women as unparalleled beauties.

Maybe this was one of those moments.

“Hwarin, tilt your head up a little.”

Yeah.

This is definitely that kind of situation.

What do I do?

Yunho, aren’t we supposed to be just friends?

She had never particularly wished for a different kind of relationship, but if he truly wanted one… shouldn’t he at least start with words?

This wasn’t right.

This isn’t because I want it.

You’re forcing this, got it?

Fine.

Since you want this, I’ll stay still.

Hwarin closed her eyes and slightly lifted her chin, ensuring he’d have an easier time.

Yunho adjusted the angle of her face with a firm touch.

To her, it felt like a soldier adjusting a target to ensure a direct hit.

Is it happening?

It’s happening, right?

So Yunho really does have feelings for me… What do I do next?

Right. Let’s get confirmation first.

You’re the one making the move, not me.

I don’t mind, but you’re the one coming closer, so I have no choice but to go along with it.

Don’t you dare call this a mistake later.

That would be cruel.

No… that’s not it. Just… tell me what you really feel.

The thought of her plan made her smile inwardly.

But that plan shattered with a single sentence from Yunho.

“Loosen your collar a little.”

“WHAT?!?!”

Just because she allowed one thing didn’t mean everything was permitted.

And what Yunho had just asked was far, far beyond what she had intended to allow.

How much do I have to permit? No, just how far are we going tonight?

“EEEK!”

As his hand reached toward her, fear and confusion overwhelmed her, and she let out a sharp scream.

“…Sorry, Hwarin. That was a mistake. That’s not what I meant.”

Idiot. Stupid idiot.

Tang Hwarin, you’re not an idiot because of your face, you’re just an idiot, period.

Why did you scream?

She glanced at Yunho, who now looked utterly dejected, unable to lift his head from guilt.

There was still a chance.

She had one last trick up her sleeve.

She knew Yunho had occasionally stolen glances at her chest.

He probably thought he was being discreet, but there was no way she wouldn’t notice—he was the only person she paid attention to.

A bothersome and heavy part of her body, but if it was enough to catch his attention, then maybe… just maybe… it could work in her favor now.

Maybe she could reignite whatever had been extinguished inside him.

“Take a deep breath first. This is important.”

As she expected, the moment she loosened her top, something in Yunho’s eyes flickered.

“Okay. I’m ready.”

She was even prepared to nod if needed.

“Hwarin… your face. It’s healing.”

But his words weren’t what she had expected.

They weren’t even close.

Instead, they were an overwhelming truth beyond her wildest hopes.

Tang Hwarin cycled through every possible emotion—gratitude, joy, exhilaration, overwhelming relief, and even tears—before heading to the washroom.

Of course, there was also the lingering embarrassment of once again misunderstanding things entirely.

At the same time, she felt immense gratitude toward Yunho and newfound hope for the future.

I can be cured.

Looking into the mirror above the washbasin, Hwarin smiled.

That was such a ridiculous misunderstanding.

Why do you always have to confuse people like this, Yunho?

It wasn’t my fault.

I’ll just forget about it quickly and act like nothing happened.

She decided she would thank him properly the moment she stepped outside.

But the moment she saw him, she found herself unable to say those words.

The person sitting there was not just her friend Kang Yunho—he was someone’s dearest, irreplaceable companion.

He’s thinking about his friend.

Hwarin didn’t need to ask to know that his thoughts were occupied by someone else.

She had spent her whole life longing for something she never had, whereas Yunho seemed to be drowning in the endless emptiness left by something he had once possessed and lost.

“Are you… thinking about that friend?”

She had hoped, just maybe, that her assumption was wrong.

“Yeah. Just wondering… if that medicine could have helped them. Or if it wouldn’t have been enough…”

But, of course, she had been right.

I’ll never be able to replace that friend, will I?

He had once mentioned them as his closest, most trusted friend.

He had helped her simply because she, too, was a victim of the Poison Human experiment, just like that friend.

That meant whoever they were, they must have held an unimaginable place in his heart.

And compared to that, what was she to him?

She had done nothing to deserve being called his friend.

Kang Yunho had saved her when she was suffering.

He had rescued her from that bandit den.

When she was about to be crushed under insurmountable debt and left homeless, he had found a way to let her inherit this bookstore instead.

She could now even dream of a future where her face would fully heal thanks to the medicine he had given her.

And yet I’ve never given him anything in return.

He had only helped her because she happened to be there along his path.

She had done nothing for him in return.

If it weren’t for her, he wouldn’t have needed to revive this failing bookstore.

With his talent for writing and speaking, he could have succeeded anywhere.

Am I… a burden to him?

If not for her, he wouldn’t have had to run around solving problems, wouldn’t have been tied down to working in a bookstore all day, and could have simply focused on writing in peace.

She was holding him back.

The realization pricked at her heart like thorns.

“Yunho… You won’t leave me once I’m healed, right?”

She murmured the words she could never bring herself to say aloud to him.

From the start, he had said that following her was an act of atonement.

If her face fully healed and the bookstore’s debt was cleared… wouldn’t that be the day his atonement was complete?

If that day came, would he still stay at the Tea Book Pavilion?

“…Yunho, we’re friends, right?”

Because we’re friends, you’ll stay with me, right?

She was still just the same naive, reckless young lady from the Sung Family.

Meanwhile, he was growing far beyond her reach.

The gap between them widened every day.

The kindness he had shown her had become an insurmountable weight on her heart.

And among all the things that had grown, the one that loomed the largest was her feelings for him.

Yunho had called her his friend.

That alone was something she was truly grateful for.

But friends couldn’t stay together forever.

If she wanted to keep him by her side, she couldn’t just be his friend.

She had to be something more…

Hwarin’s thoughts came to a sudden halt.

How?

With this face?

With our relationship?

What kind of shameless wish is that?

She lowered her head in defeat.

The fleeting hope that she could ever replace his dear friend had vanished, leaving her feeling pathetically small.

“…Should I throw away the medicine?”

The medicine she had been taking all this time.

The one Yunho had made for her.

If her face never healed, then maybe… just maybe, he wouldn’t leave.

If she didn’t take the medicine, she could keep him here.

She could bind him to her… forever.

“…No, that would be no different from betraying him.”

She shook her head, chasing away the selfish thought.

That would mean betraying his trust, his kindness—his very reason for helping her.

She could never betray Kang Yunho.

If she did, she wouldn’t even have the right to call herself his friend anymore.

Rather than thinking of ways to keep him chained here, wouldn’t it be better to become someone he wanted to stay with?

Hwarin swallowed the medicine.

It was tasteless, aside from a slight bitterness on her tongue.

But tonight, for some reason…

It tasted more bitter than any poison she had ever known.

“Yunho! Wake up!”

Hwarin’s indifferent morning call jolted me awake.

“Ugh… my stomach…”

The first thing I felt upon waking up was a crushing hangover.

I clutched my stomach and slowly forced myself to sit up in bed.

Whether I spent the night writing or drinking, I still had to go to work.

The bookstore I managed, Tea Book Pavilion, operated under the glorious work schedule of Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Friday, and Friday.

Seriously, who’s the idiot running this place?

“I’ll make you some honey water. Wait here.”

Hwarin quickly prepared a cup of honey water and handed it to me.

I sipped it, soothing my aching stomach, and then looked at her.

“Hwarin.”

“Yeah?”

“You look a little better than last night.”

“Really?”

“Or maybe not?”

“You little—! Are you messing with me?!”

“No, I’m serious. You’re definitely looking better. And I mean noticeably better.”

The area where clear skin had previously formed in thin lines had now expanded to the width of a child’s pinky finger.

“Really…? It really is…”

Hwarin checked her reflection in a small mirror and gently touched the improving area.

Shouldn’t she be happier about this?

Why did her voice sound so subdued?

Did my Fame points increase overnight?

Maybe a lot of people spent the night reading my book, or perhaps last night’s drinking session led to even more discussions about Ho Phil.

Could it be that healing Hwarin was possible now that I’d reached a certain level of Fame in Yichang?

Hubei Province.

In a remote county far from Yichang.

A grand mansion, now in complete disarray, stood before a group of officials.

“Has it happened again this month?”

“Yes. Just like last month, it has happened again. It seems to be occurring regularly. We haven’t yet identified the culprits, but it appears they have a leader. Look over there.”

One of the officials pointed toward the center of the ruined mansion, where a flag had been planted.

“Who the hell is this Kang Mo?!”

The mansion had once belonged to a notorious tax collector.

Now, all his wealth had been seized overnight and forcibly redistributed to impoverished farmers.

As the people sang praises for this nameless bandit, the officials could do nothing but lament.