Even My Life Is Yours Chapter 47

Without realizing it, Hongyo glanced towards the sound, then quickly came to her senses and walked in the opposite direction. Now that things had come to this, it seemed better to find the hut quickly.

Fortunately, Gamyoung’s desperate voice calling for her soon scattered and disappeared into the wind. The thought that she had really been bewitched by a Jangsanbeom made her hair stand on end. However, the hut that should have been visible around here was nowhere to be seen.

‘I’m sure it was around here….’

But for some reason, the hut she was looking for didn’t appear, and she only went deeper into the mountain. She thought she knew this mountain like the back of her hand, but for some reason, the path wouldn’t appear, and only more bare trees became dense. White snow had piled up on the gaunt branches that had lost all their leaves. Every time the wind blew, the swaying branches looked like beckoning hands, making her break out in a cold sweat.

Meanwhile, the snowfall grew heavier, and her legs sank up to her shins with every step. The fear that she might actually die if she couldn’t find the hut enveloped her entire body. Hongyo shouted with all her might.

“Is anyone there?”

Was it because it was too cold? As her mind began to grow hazy, Hongyo screamed as if wringing out her voice. In this night, in a snowing mountain at that, who else would be here besides her, but in the face of death, such thoughts didn’t even cross her mind. Already filled with an all-encompassing fear and a desperate wish for anyone to find her, Hongyo squeezed out her remaining strength and called for help once more, loudly.

But in the mountain now cloaked in darkness, only the echo of her own voice returned. In that moment, Hongyo stopped in her tracks. Among the trees shrouded in darkness, she felt a presence along with the wind. An instinctive wariness told her to leave this place immediately, but it was hard to move even a single step. If it were an animal like a rabbit or a squirrel, it wouldn’t matter, but if by any chance it was a wolf….

Hongyo stared quietly into the darkness. She should have run away immediately since she didn’t know whose presence it was, but she was so delighted by her name being called again from within that darkness that she couldn’t move an inch. And before long, a small light flickered in the dark, and then a figure revealed itself.

“Yeo Hongyo! Are you crazy?”

Gamyoung, holding a torch, rushed towards Hongyo in a single bound. The hand that snatched Hongyo’s shoulder, as if afraid to lose her, had no trace of composure.

It was then. Hongyo’s mind cleared as if waking from a dream. Her vision, which had been strangely hazy as if covered in fog, brightened, and her sight filled with Gamyoung’s face. His agitated eyes and the tense jaw muscles from shouting were etched into her vision. But what made her realize Gamyoung’s presence first was the warmth she felt from the hand gripping her arm. Hongyo, still held captive, looked at Gamyoung and said to him, who was scolding her about something.

“Why are you trembling so much.”

At those words, Gamyoung loosened his grip on Hongyo’s arm. With a face contorted as if in great pain, Gamyoung said.

“Do you know what you were doing when I found you here? You were just walking in circles in this very spot.”

“What are you talking about?”

At the unexpected words, Hongyo tilted her head. I wandered all over the mountain, what do you mean I was walking in circles here.

However, the moment she looked around, Hongyo’s face turned white. Footprints were messily stamped in the area, not even ten steps (about ten meters) away. As a frightened Hongyo looked up at Gamyoung, he opened his mouth, his face pained as if he didn’t want to even think about it again.

“You almost died. Yeo Hongyo.”

It seemed she had really been thoroughly bewitched by something. The cabin she had been searching for so desperately was only a five-minute walk away. Gamyoung pushed open the wooden door. Though it was a small hut, it was well-equipped, having been built to prepare for being stranded.

Seating Hongyo in front of the hearth on the wall, Gamyoung threw in the dry firewood next to it and then put in the torch he had brought. The fire that instantly caught in the hearth dyed the pitch-black interior of the cabin in a vermilion light. Spotting a blanket in the corner, Gamyoung brought all the blankets he could find and wrapped them tightly around Hongyo. But perhaps because she had been in the snow for too long, her body temperature just wouldn’t rise.

“Cold….”

“Wait just a little longer. It’ll get warmer once the firewood burns more.”

Hongyo nodded. But her body, which had lost so much heat that her teeth chattered even when still, couldn’t shake off the cold no matter how tightly she hugged the blankets.

“Why is it so cold?”

A chill could be felt in her voice as she said that. Gamyoung, who had been diligently fanning the flames on the firewood, turned to look at Hongyo. Even wrapped in the fur coat Gamyoung had given her and a pile of blankets, she was pale and shivering violently, which was not a good sign. Seeing this, Gamyoung suddenly took off his upper garment, and Hongyo’s eyes grew as wide as saucers.

“What are you doing?”

“You take yours off too.”

“Wha-what?”

Her eyes, which couldn’t possibly get any wider, were filled with shock. But Gamyoung, not caring in the slightest, spoke urgently.

“It’s because your clothes are all wet. If you wear wet clothes, your body temperature will only drop further.”

However, even with his explanation, Hongyo just kept clutching the hem of her wet clothes.

“No! Are you crazy, in this cold? You put yours back on too! It’s not a good look!”

“I’m telling you, you’ll really die if you keep that up! Besides, what’s the big deal between two men! Are you going to die just because our bare skin touches a little?”

“Wh-why our skin!”

“Stop talking back and listen to me. You’re in real danger if you stay like that.”

His hardened face was serious. At times like these, Gamyoung truly did not back down. Hongyo, feeling no need to argue further, saw Gamyoung approaching her directly, squeezed her eyes shut, and blurted out a stream of words.

“No! I have a huge scar on my body!”

“What about it?”

“I said I don’t want to show you!”

At that, Gamyoung, who had been striding over, came to an abrupt halt. Soon, a small sigh was heard, followed by the sound of him fumbling to put his clothes back on. Just as Hongyo, feeling relieved, was about to open her eyes.

“This is okay, right?”

Gamyoung’s voice came from right behind her, how did he get there so fast. To be precise, the voice whispered right into her ear, making the hair on Hongyo’s head stand on end.

What do you mean, okay!

But perhaps because she was so surprised, the words got stuck in her throat as if it were coated in honey. Regardless, Gamyoung, who was hugging Hongyo from behind, spoke nonchalantly.

“I don’t want to be like this with another man either. But if you don’t want to die from a drop in body temperature, this is the only way. I’ll let go once you’re warm, so let’s just stay like this for a moment.”

There were many things she could have retorted with, like asking where he learned such a thing, or who he thought wanted to be in this situation. But strangely, those words were erased from her mind, and a strange question popped out.

“So you mean you’d want to do this if I were a woman?”

Hongyo herself didn’t know why that particular question came out among the many she could have asked. But Gamyoung, without batting an eye, replied nonchalantly.

“If you were a woman, I wouldn’t have been able to touch even a fingertip.”

It was a very Gamyoung-like answer. …But why did it make her feel so sulky.

Hongyo 괜히 once twisted her body. But the body firmly supporting her from behind, for some reason, didn’t budge an inch. He looked slender on the outside, but his embrace was surprisingly broad and firm. Realizing this, she barely resisted the urge to scratch at an odd tickle in her chest. As Gamyoung had said, she was quickly warming up, so it seemed he wasn’t lying. While Hongyo was lost in all sorts of thoughts, Gamyoung, who must have been quite tired himself, rested his chin on Hongyo’s head and muttered.

“Are you very angry, Hongyo-ya.”

The voice, heard right behind her ear, was moderately quiet and low. It might not have been Gamyoung’s intention, but in that moment, Hongyo’s first thought was that Gamyoung was truly cunning. Who was the one who had deceived her all this time? Anyone, even a living saint, would naturally be angry, not just her.

But the low voice asking her so gently and the memory of his face, genuinely worried for her when he found her on the snowy mountain, made it impossible for her to get angry. Feeling another surge of emotion at that, Hongyo spun around to face him.

“What, you bastard? Wouldn’t you be angry if you were me?”

Surprised by her sudden turn, Gamyoung’s eyes widened. Just a moment ago he was growling at her to listen, and now he was acting like a gentle lamb; it was infuriating. But Gamyoung’s face, seen up close, was so handsome that… it was Hongyo who was flustered instead.

‘What is this.’

Hongyo recalled what Kyungrak had said a few days ago.

‘I thought only Gamyoung had grown, but you’ve grown too, Hongyo. Kids sure do grow up fast.’

She hadn’t realized it then, but looking at him like this, it was true that they had grown. Though his natural bone structure was elegant, his face, with its more defined features, was neat yet manly. When did he become so….

Hongyo furrowed her brow in confusion. Gamyoung, seeing this, must have taken it as a sign of her anger and began to ramble.

“I’m sorry. I really didn’t mean to deceive you. Of course, it’s true I deceived you with a false identity, but it’s the law that royalty cannot carelessly reveal their identity outside. It might sound like an excuse, but please believe me. And….”

Gamyoung’s eyes, full of apprehension as he watched Hongyo’s reaction, held only sincerity. She already knew from Kyungrak, but Hongyo didn’t bother pointing that out. As Hongyo remained silent, Gamyoung whispered quietly, as if atoning.

“I thought if I revealed my real identity, we couldn’t be friends anymore.”

His voice trembled slightly as he said those words, as if he had been truly afraid. Seeing this, Hongyo slipped out of Gamyoung’s embrace. It hadn’t even been an ilgak (15 minutes), but her body, which had quickly adapted to the warmth, felt cool from the sudden chill. But Gamyoung, unlike before, stepped back obediently and waited for the verdict of Hongyo, who was now looking at him with cool eyes.

“Alright. What else did you lie about.”

At those words, Gamyoung calmly laid out the facts.

“Kyungrak hyung-nim was the crown prince of this country, and I’m not an exchange student from Najeon. The reason I couldn’t come to see you for a while was because of the coronation.”

“……”

“I also knew that your adoptive mother was the Head of the Martial Arts Bureau even before you told me.”

That was something even Kyungrak hadn’t told her. Which meant….

“You dug into my background.”

At Hongyo’s words, Gamyoung closed his mouth as if he had nothing to say. Seeing that, the forgotten feeling of betrayal slowly crept back up. Hongyo stared quietly at Gamyoung. Gamyoung’s eyes, tinged by the firelight, were fearful yet did not avoid Hongyo’s gaze.

“Just tell me this. What was the real reason you took me to the hunting ritual?”

She could let other things go, but she had to know this. Why did he do such a thing, knowing that she would receive the official post she so desperately didn’t want if she participated?

“Your skill was too good to waste. It was a waste for a talent like you to rot away like this.”

“Why do you get to decide that? Did I ever ask for it?”

“…You didn’t.”

“……”

“I’m sorry.”

His ready apology made her feel drained. But beyond the flickering light in his eyes, there was another reason besides this one. Anyone else might not know, but Hongyo, who had watched Gamyoung for a long time, couldn’t possibly miss it.

“There’s something else besides that, isn’t there.”

At her words, Gamyoung couldn’t hide his expression, as if he’d been caught off guard. In the hut where no one spoke for a long while, only the bonfire crackled and burned. And finally, Gamyoung opened his lips with difficulty.

“I wanted you to be by my side.”