If Silk Flowers Bloom by the Water’s Edge Chapter 104

In Chukjangji, it was said that mice hear the words spoken by day, and birds hear the words spoken by night. Having caused a fuss under the night guaranteed by the moon, the word without feet must have traveled beyond the wall. Bearing a handprint on his ugly cheek, Shinwoo could not raise his head from the moment he crossed the threshold of the room. While a frowning Yeonrye placed down the teacup and left, Shinwoo’s face was clearly marked with a look of repentance. He looked so innocent that it was hard to believe he was the man who had threatened Jangsi holding a box cutter.

However, Shinwoo’s act of being gentle only in front of her was no longer of any use. It was time for him to receive the treatment corresponding to his sins, which she had been putting off out of old affection. Chaehwa cleared the inkstone off the desk that had been set up for decorative purposes, creating an empty space. Unsettled by her complete silence, Shinwoo’s gaze moved along with her.

“Take this.”

The silk envelope she pulled out from the low desk and placed down was her own punishment, written without consulting her grandmother. As if sensing something, Shinwoo did not even look at the envelope and only stared at Chaehwa.

“I told you to take it.”

“I don’t want to.”

“Shinwoo.”

“I was wrong. I just… at that time, I felt that if I threatened Jangsi, Janghui would come out and prove my innocence.”

“Innocence?”

Finding it absurd that Shinwoo slyly brought up innocence, Chaehwa retrieved the silk envelope as if dragging it down. Disgusted by the man in front of her, Chaehwa even forgot to blink. Steeped in his own innocence, his own thoughts. While other people could spend this entire year just cleaning up the mess he caused. Barely stopping herself from tearing at the handle of the chair, Chaehwa calmed her heart and offered the tea that had gone cold.

“Drink a sip while listening. I can no longer keep you in Nanjubeol. This is a letter of introduction sending you to another family. Read it, and if there’s any part you want to revise, tell me. I’ll write it as you wish.”

“…I refuse.”

“If you stay here, it will only hurt feelings for both you and me. Above all, Shinwoo, I cannot watch you going around putting other haenang in danger.”

“I was jealous.”

Shinwoo’s face was reflected in the teacup steeped in a yellowish light. As a male haenang, he was a child who had endured, and endured again while thinking of the goal he had to achieve. There were times when Shinwoo, wearing an expression unsuitable for his age, looked pitiful. He must have been scared of Yirok, who was barging in as if threatening his position. However, a man who harms an innocent person out of fear and terror could not become the Jeongmusa of Nanjubeol.

“If everyone became prey to Maengmusa just because they were jealous, Jeongmusa would be extinct by now. Don’t you think?”

“Why… do you not ask me even once?”

“What should I ask?”

“About loving you, Young Lady.”

Chaehwa felt no emotion whatsoever toward the love spoken with force as veins bulged on his neck. So, holding the teacup, she merely looked over at him with indifference for a while. Feeling that his first confession, blurted out with effort, was ending in vain, Shinwoo’s pupils turned empty.

“…Shinwoo, you said you love me, yet you left me in danger. I almost wasted years in the hwanchō world. The Jeongmusa order would have been finished with that.”

“That was, Young Lady, that was… because I was bewitched by the hwanchō.”

“Shinwoo, your love is too hollow to me. It has been that way since the past. I don’t want a person who turns the surroundings into ruins just because they love me.”

“Then….”

Shinwoo, making a sound as if he were being strangled, bit his lip with his front teeth until it bled. From his face as he bowed his head, a rain of hot tears dropped down.

“You can hate me. Just please let me stay in Nanjubeol. I… have nowhere else to go if not here.”

“That is too generous a treatment for you.”

“Even though I lose you, Young Lady?”

The Hwaeul family, who had expected a autumn harvest called Shinwoo, had essentially suffered a crop failure this year. If kicked out of the Nanjubeol family, Shinwoo’s situation would become extremely miserable. Whining proudly about losing her was because Shinwoo had grown up as a spoiled brat. If he had aimed for the position of Nanjubeol’s son-in-law, he should have acted wisely. That some good-for-nothing ended up taking over Nanjubeol was entirely Shinwoo’s fault.

“I didn’t tell you to leave right now as an apprentice haenang. If so, it would be hard for you to live as a man, too. Other families would also doubt your ability. This is my last consideration. Leave once you reach adulthood.”

“…Young Lady.”

“No more. You know what will happen if I tell the truth to grandmother.”

The day grandmother learns of it, not only his status as a haenang but also his position as a son-in-law to another family would fly away. Waiting until he reached adulthood was polite in every respect. Shinwoo himself lost his words and sat stubbornly until the white tea was steeped four or five times. Refusing to make eye contact, Chaehwa poured the boiled water into the cooling bowl with neat hand movements. At the sound of the tea water falling in a trickle, Shinwoo realized it was time to leave.

“Give me time to think, Young Lady. I will… stay quietly.”

“If you refuse, it goes to grandmother. And.”

What made Chaehwa’s heart turn this cruel was none other than the word ‘gigolo.’ No matter how much the world changed, the type of rumors people liked was fixed. Wasn’t a love affair the favorite story of the warrior families? Shinwoo turned himself into the ousted main husband and Yirok into a wicked gigolo, making the story filthy.

“Go on.”

It was proper to bear the weight of the work one created on one’s own shoulders. Besides, making him independent upon reaching adulthood was not necessarily a bad thing. The moment Chaehwa brought the newly steeped tea to her lips, Shinwoo took steps out of the reception room. A sigh of utter discontent burst out only after his steps reached the living room.

“Useless guy.”

Standing up to open the window to let the wind in, Chaehwa felt a light dizziness. Rather than feeling sorry for Shinwoo, she felt more sorry for Yirok. Because bringing him into Nanjubeol seemed to make him experience a full set of bad things. Just as she was worrying about how to face his face tomorrow, her cell phone vibrated. Thinking it was a common game advertisement, Chaehwa opened her cell phone and her eyes widened briefly.

「Are you still with Shinwoo?」

It was a text message from Yirok, who lived treating his cell phone like a sacred idol in his room. Intending to quickly type ‘no,’ Chaehwa’s finger hesitated to take the call that came in right away instead. Because it was obvious Yirok would say something unpleasant.

“…Hello.”

—Are you busy?

“No, well, I’m sorry.”

In the warrior world, the stigma of being a ‘gigolo’ was the worst stain on a man. Even if Yirok tried to marry another warrior, the ladies of that house would probably tie headbands around their heads and lie down. Even if not, having to watch Yirok suffer humiliation because of people whispering behind his back. Before the word gigolo was stamped as an established fact, she had to keep her distance. As it reached a point where she had to stop kissing him without fail, Chaehwa’s lips pouted.

Under her mother’s plum tree, familiar hair could be seen. As if noticing her gaze, he raised his head brightly. Their eyes merged into one, and a sigh escaped from Chaehwa’s mouth.

“Why are you… there.”

—Don’t be alone with another man for a long time.

“What?”

—Only do what you agreed to do with me, with me alone. Until I’m here, keep it that way. Got it?

She had permitted kissing, but she didn’t know he would police her being with other men. Leaning against the plum tree and looking up at the window, Yirok’s face carried not a shred of joke. Not knowing if it was fortunate that the night hid her face that had turned bright red, Chaehwa cleared her throat.

“Who are you… to do this? Who are you to stop me from even talking to another haenang?”

—Your gigolo.

“Hey.”

Chaehwa fussed and scolded him not to utter the word gigolo even as a joke. However, Yirok, who was unfazed whether hearing it from Shinwoo or now, crinkled his nose and smiled.

—Out of the things I can hear from now on, that’s the best one. And… I like it.

“You’re saying all sorts of absurd things. You won’t even be able to get married then. Are you crazy? What’s so good about living as my gigolo? If I hear such things from now on, I won’t stay still. You should protect your own honor.”

—Honor?

Stars appeared in Yirok’s eyes, which had been dull as if it were an uninteresting topic. His sparkling eyes merely hung helplessly on a tree out of reach.

—I’ll live as your gigolo and leave quietly. Something to talk about finally opened up between you and me after all.

“Yirok.”

—Just… Kim Chaehwa, I.

The germination of emotion that could not be hidden was blooming in an odd direction. Feeling sorry for Yirok, who was clumsily trying to become a bad guy, Chaehwa’s mouth grew heavy. Leaning against the plum tree as if he would fall asleep, Yirok closed his eyes with a subtle smile.

—Hearing that word made my mind feel at ease for the first time.

“Yirok.”

—Then I have it too, right? The right to be jealous of the man who comes next to you.

“I hate it. Why would I… keep you as a gigolo?”

—That’ll be the best. I like it.

She knew he was a man with an uncommon mindset, but him liking it to that extent was beyond expectations again. Yirok waved his hand with a clear, smiling face as if saying goodbye. Looking down, Chaehwa’s pupils could no longer sparkle.

—Good night. I came to say that.

Yirok unilaterally hung up the phone and stepped away from the plum tree. On his back as he walked down the lonely night road, Chaehwa could not give a positive answer. Yirok was Yirok. Even if they remained in an ambiguous relationship, he was not a gigolo. Her face reflected in the blacked-out cell phone looked terrible. Somehow today, the moon that knew everything seemed to be punishing her.