Even My Life Is Yours Chapter 76

Gamyoung had barely stood waiting when Hongyo, who had washed up in a flash, threw the door wide open.

“Did you find the sweets?”

But the expected answer did not come. Instead, Gamyoung just stood there, staring intently at him. Why is he doing that? Hongyo, seeing Gamyoung remain completely silent, stepped forward.

“Gamyoung?”

Finding it strange that he was still so silent, Hongyo called his name, and a hand stretched out below his shoulders. Then, before he even had time to be surprised, Gamyoung caught the tip of his hair with his fingertips. The touch was so careful, as if treating something truly precious, that Hongyo felt as if he had a mouthful of honey and could not utter a word either. Soon after, his hair wound around those long fingers.

It felt strangely peculiar, though it was nothing major. For no reason, his throat tickled and his toes twitched, causing his shoulders to shrink back involuntarily. Naturally, he couldn’t possibly speak properly. Words that failed to form into sentences caught in his throat and were exhaled as mere breaths. Because even those breaths felt somewhat cautious, his damp nape felt entirely ticklish. Ultimately, just as Hongyo, unable to endure the strange atmosphere, was about to open his mouth—

“Your hair has grown a lot.”

It was a low, locked voice. He had seen Gamyoung countless times before, but he could swear this was the first time hearing such a voice. There was a sense of restraint, as if Gamyoung were suppressing something deeply even while uttering the syllables. Under his slightly lowered gaze, it was impossible to tell what he was thinking. Hongyo shrank back at the strange, unfamiliar mood.

“Come here.”

The voice sounding above his head returned to the usual Gamyoung as if nothing had happened. At that, Hongyo, rather surprised, raised his head to look, only to find that Gamyoung had already snatched away the towel held in his hands.

“If you don’t dry your hair properly, you’ll catch a cold.”

He then approached the bed, sat down, and patted the space beside him. Hongyo nodded in a daze. Gamyoung, who felt like a stranger just moments ago, had returned to his normal self before he knew it, calling him affectionately. Even so, perhaps due to the lingering aftereffects from earlier, Hongyo couldn’t move his body easily, but at the voice calling him, “Aren’t you coming?”, he finally took a step forward.

When Hongyo drew near, Gamyoung made space right in front of himself. As Hongyo hesitated at the small space created in front of Gamyoung, just enough for a single person to fit, he cleared a bit more space.

“Sit.”

It sounded somewhat commanding, but strangely, he felt no desire to argue. Having been here, it seemed both he and Gamyoung had already become dyed by the hierarchy of Hwayeonggyeong. As Hongyo sat obediently in front of him, Gamyoung dried every nook and cranny of Hongyo’s hair with the towel he held. As those large palms tended to his head, all the remaining tension melted away, leaving him entirely languid.

“Ah, that feels refreshing.”

“Are you an old man?”

Even while chiding him with words, his touch remained gentle. Hongyo spoke.

“Do you remember? When we were outside, you used to dry my hair from time to time too.”

“How could I forget that? I’ve never seen you dry your own hair properly.”

Even while saying so, the corners of Gamyoung’s lips crept up slightly. However, Hongyo, who couldn’t see it because his back was turned, grumbled as if he had uselessly received another scolding.

“Why? You’re going to dry it for me anyway.”

At that moment, Gamyoung’s hand drying his hair stopped. Feeling puzzled by this, Hongyo turned only his head to look back, and Gamyoung, who was looking at him with deep eyes as if thinking about something again, smiled awkwardly, caught Hongyo’s head, and turned it back to the front.

“Putting that aside, how is training these days?”

When Gamyoung smoothly shifted the topic and observed Hongyo, Hongyo snapped up the bait immediately and answered.

“Ah! You asked the Inspector General Excellency to teach me, didn’t you? Even if you don’t tell me, I know everything.”

During their last duel, Gamyoung had offhandedly mentioned to Hongyo that it would be faster for someone to teach him, but he hadn’t expected him to remember it. Chuckling happily, Hongyo continued.

“It certainly improves quickly. At first, I suffered a bit from carrying water jars, but thanks to that, my stamina increased, and my skills improved a lot. I thought the Inspector General Excellency would be nothing but difficult, but that wasn’t necessarily the case. I think I know why people like him so much.”

“Is that so.”

“Yeah. He can be scary at times, but he’s actually incredibly sweet. He even gathers those who received poor marks on evaluations and teaches them separately. Even though he pretends not to, he treats everyone familiarly. The more I see him, the more manly and cool he is.”

Truly, the more he got to know him, the more he was a man worthy of respect. He was indeed fitting for the scion of a clan that had protected that vast land of Hyeongju for generations. Even he felt such admiration, so it seemed any man would want to become like him. Although Gamyoung had been silent for a while, Hongyo, his head already filled entirely with thoughts of Jeonghwan, continued speaking while recalling him.

“At first it was difficult, but now it seems he looks upon me favorably. He even asked if I would go to Hyeongju with him after leaving Hwayeonggyeong.”

In an instant, the hands drying his hair faltered.

“To Hyeongju? Why there?”

“He told me to follow him if I didn’t have any particular place I wanted to go after leaving Hwayeonggyeong. Do you remember the military training before? A lady tied my forehead ribbon there. That lady is his younger sister, and he asked how about meeting her once.”

Whether the effects of the alcohol still remained, his voice mixed with a sigh was listless. With this body, I won’t be able to meet anyone anyway. Even so, the fact that someone held him even slightly in their heart was fascinating. However, the contemplation did not last long.

“So, do you really intend to go to Hyeongju?”

For some reason, a voice that sounded angry reached his ears directly. When Hongyo turned around at that voice, Gamyoung was staring at him with an unprecedentedly stiff face. Hongyo stared blankly at Gamyoung. Even though the person behind him was certainly Gamyoung, a Gamyoung with this kind of face felt like a stranger he didn’t know.

Why is he so angry?

Hongyo looked at Gamyoung, who was staring at him with a hardened face. Come to think of it, if Gamyoung were to leave for somewhere far away, he too would feel disappointed and hurt, as if a hole had been torn in his heart. Hongyo answered.

“No. Where would I go? You are here, and Grandmother is too.”

At that answer, only then did Gamyoung resume drying Hongyo’s hair slowly.

“Right. What would you do going all the way to such a distant place.”

Even so, strength inadvertently entered the hands drying his hair. When Hongyo let out a small moan of pain, “Ah,” Gamyoung snapped out of it and put the towel down.

“I’m sorry. Did it hurt?”

“Do you think my head is a polo ball? You should experience it once too.”

Whirling around, Hongyo grabbed Gamyoung’s head with both hands. However, Gamyoung, who he thought would dodge, remained caught for some reason. At that, Hongyo, rather flustered, tried to lower his hands, but Gamyoung, who had been caught quietly, grabbed both of Hongyo’s wrists. His large palms wrapped around the wrists all too easily. Then, still holding the wrists, he slowly pulled Hongyo’s hands away from his head.

“Don’t pay attention to such talk in the future. I told you before. Even if it’s not Hwayeonggyeong, wherever you go, I will make sure you stay by my side.”

The face sporting a slight smile was playful, but the look in his eyes was by no means a joke. Hongyo could not evade that gaze at all. It was the night the welcoming banquet was held. Hongyo realized that Gamyoung’s words, saying he would keep him by his side as a reward for taking first place might not be a joke after all.

Strangely, the air felt tight. Hongyo couldn’t believe the fact that he was nervous right now. The person in front of him was none other than Gamyoung. Excluding Grandmother, the most trusted, relied upon, and precious friend in the world.

Yet at times like this, he could never tell what Gamyoung was thinking. Can we really be this close? Hongyo looked up at Gamyoung from a distance of barely a span apart. Unlike his face which feigned playfulness, the gaze staring down at him wouldn’t break away, as if ensnaring him. The jawline, fine yet solid, and the eyes, smiling yet somehow entirely cold, along with the grip holding his wrists, clearly revealed a reluctance to let him go.

But, why…?

Hongyo couldn’t understand. He already knew well that Gamyoung’s treatment of him was different from how he treated others. But that was the same for him too. Since he was his most precious friend excluding Grandmother, Gamyoung too, even while pretending not to, likely looked after and treasured him a bit more than others.

But right now, something was different. Since they were inseparable every day, it was a natural logic to dislike growing apart, but more than that, he felt an obsession that couldn’t be precisely explained with words. Hongyo, looking at such a Gamyoung, twisted his wrists and pulled them free.

“Where would I go even if I left? Seeing you now, you’re a total coward, aren’t you? It looks like you can’t do anything without this older brother here.”

When he spoke with deliberate grumbling, Gamyoung’s expression also returned to normal.

“Right. I can’t be the only one suffering here like this.”

“Ah, you can’t die alone? I really have a great friend.”

When he tapped his shoulder, Gamyoung, who was pushed back easily, laughed lightly.

“You only just realized? So treat me well. Stop drinking so much alcohol in the future too. If you do it just one more time, I won’t care whether you sleep on the street or not.”

“If you come out like that, I have nothing to say.”

It was a comfortable and playful atmosphere, just like usual. Yet within it, Hongyo felt with certainty that something had changed. Though he couldn’t explain exactly what it was, the air held an anxiety that made him feel as if he had to break that atmosphere with a joke, even if forced.