If Silk Flowers Bloom by the Water’s Edge Chapter 36

The ritual, which was expected to take three days and two nights, was resolved in just one day. Thanks to the “Chaehwa effect,” the Haenangs of the Nanjubeol family, whose pride had swelled, showed no complaints despite being unable to sightsee in Seoul. Even the usually talkative Chaehwa kept her mouth shut for a change. Secretary Yoon, who was nearing fifty, tearfully saw them off, saying the young lady had grown up.

They got into the car to head back before the traffic got worse. Everyone took the same seats as the day they’d left, but a sullen Jangsi moved to the very back. It was an unexpected turn of events when the seat next to Yirok, who had thought he could at least travel comfortably on the way back, was filled.

A mysterious finger poked the shoulder of Yirok, who was leaning his head against the glass window. The slick Chaho raised a hand as if to play a clapping game when their eyes met.

“Hey. Let’s sit together. I get motion sickness.”

The male Haenang who always stuck to Shinwoo like a best friend. Yirok’s impression of Chaho was nothing more and nothing less than that. In Nanjubeol, where everyone somehow managed to get on the train of his interest, whether he liked them or not, Chaho alone was off the rails in indifference. The way he looked at Yirok as if he were a boring person was not a lie, either.

But on the way back to Nanjubeol, Chaho’s eyes were dark, as if possessed. He would giggle like someone with a head injury and frequently strike up conversations with Yirok. Though eighty percent of the conversation was one-sided rambling that Yirok couldn’t understand. From talk about a soccer game they gave up on because they didn’t have enough players to family stories about having three older sisters and two younger sisters. Even though Yirok was in the middle of a vow of silence, Chaho diligently chattered on and on about himself.

It was clearly intentional. Whenever Yirok closed his eyes to sleep, the stories would become uncontrollably loud and all over the place. At first, he thought Chaho had come to bother him on Shinwoo’s orders. But on the way back, Shinwoo turned around several times to restrain Chaho, saying, ‘Could you please be quiet?’ For it to be a pre-arranged act, Shinwoo’s face held a clear wish for him to stop.

The point at which Yirok gave up on sleep and started observing Chaho was when he noticed Shinwoo’s uncomfortable expression. If he hadn’t come on the orders of his close friend Shinwoo, then Chaho’s intentions became all the more unclear. This was because Chaho’s eyes, as he clutched his stomach laughing while showing him uninteresting and unmoving photos of his sisters, were not smiling at all.

The Chaho Yirok observed seemed to enjoy laughing frivolously, having poor posture, and speaking in a thoughtless manner. If it weren’t for the eyes that were observing him with a chilling gaze, Yirok might have fallen for the act and dismissed Chaho as just some guy.

If it hadn’t been for that note, the one that seemed to be from a woman. The bold and inscrutable Chaho was a much better fit for the role of an insider than the timid Jangsi. When Yirok gave up sleep and listened attentively to his stories, Chaho looked even more excited. Although Yirok didn’t say a single word, Chaho didn’t mind.

The car carrying the Haenangs arrived at its destination after more than six hours due to a sudden traffic accident. A five-car pile-up, they said. Police, fire trucks, and various other cars blocked the highway, and it was even on the news. The Haenangs prayed together with one heart for the victims of the accident. All except for Yirok.

The lanterns were lit at the Nanjubeol mansion, where everyone, including the driver, arrived utterly exhausted. As Chaehwa also got out of the limousine that had arrived 30 minutes late, Nanjubeol rang the bell of safe return. It must have been the new bell in the bell tower that Chaehwa had babbled about last time. Dong, dong, dong. As soon as he got out of the car, he heard the clear cry of the bell, striking its own body.

“Ah, this is nice.”

Old Lady Yomyung could be seen opening the main gate to greet them. The Haenangs ran towards her with smiling faces like children returning home. Just as Yirok, with his bag slung over his shoulder, was about to blend in, Chaho put an arm around his shoulders. It was a heavy arm that pinned him in place.

“I didn’t know. You’re a pretty cool guy, Kim Yirok. To be honest, I wasn’t that interested since you’re an outsider. Let’s be friends.”

Yirok didn’t answer and slowly took his hand off his shoulder. The conclusion he’d reached from watching Chaho the entire car ride was that a straightforward personality like this wouldn’t respond to beating around the bush. Yirok didn’t resort to sarcasm and asked directly.

“Who is this because of?”

“Huh? What are you talking about all of a sudden?”

“I’ll listen to you even if we don’t become friends. So tell me now. It’s hard to listen to stories about your second cousin once removed again. My ears hurt….”

It was the first thing Yirok, who had acted as if he had no right to speak the whole way, had said. Chaho leaned against the car and laughed as if Yirok was quite audacious. After thinking for a moment, Chaho spoke with an air of ‘what the heck.’

“I like that you’re direct. Manly. Alright, I’ll tell you.”

Just then, Chaehwa and the Haenangs, who were gathered in a huddle by the main gate, called out to the two who hadn’t joined them yet. They urged the two on with words like ‘What are you doing over there?’ Shedding the lax expression he wore as if they were going to be friends, Chaho’s mouth set into a cold line. At this point, Yirok’s eyes practically itched with anticipation for what he was about to say.

“Don’t be nice to Jangsi.”

The names Yirok had somewhat expected were Chaehwa, or maybe the young lady. In other words, he thought it might be a warning, annoyed by the special treatment he received before the ritual. But the name ‘Jangsi’ coming from Chaho’s mouth felt like it was making Yirok’s memory much worse. That Jangsi with the bangs, the one possessed by a Yogwi? Chaho’s eyes, which wordlessly said he wouldn’t move until Yirok answered, were showing off a subtle possessiveness. Feeling as if he had committed adultery, Yirok let out a hollow laugh.

“I understand. Jangsi, you said.”

“Good, you catch on quick. Let’s play a game of basketball sometime soon.”

Chaho patted Yirok’s shoulder vigorously and ran toward the main gate where his people were. The orange lantern held by Old Lady Yomyung was just about to banish all the darkness from the land.

“Kim Yirok. What are you doing, not coming over here? I’m tired.”

Chaehwa’s call, unfazed even by Chaho’s arrival, was cheerful. Yirok’s eyes met Chaho’s as he turned to look at the sound of Yirok approaching. The staring contest between the unsmiling men was anticlimactically broken up by Old Lady Yomyung’s intervention.

“Alright, you all went through a lot. Jiju said to prepare a feast fit for a king.”

At the sound of Old Lady Yomyung’s voice opening the gate, everyone cheered as if excited. The moment Yirok awkwardly squeezed in was easily buried by the cheers.

Yirok quietly watched the back of Chaho, who had his arm around Shinwoo’s shoulders.

A weakness, the strange Jangsi. A new line was added to the character dictionary in Yirok’s mind.

🌹₊ ⊹

“Ma’am! More galbi-jjim, please.”

“Rice for me, rice.”

“Our Haenang young ladies are eating so well. I’m so happy, I should give you two more bowls.”

The heartwarming conversations shared while passing rice bowls back and forth, the floor heated up to fight the winter cold. An incredible smell wafted from the food, which was served in such abundance that it was, in truth and not just expression, enough to break the table legs. Though not family, they sat around like one, comforting each other after what must have been a tiring day. The aprons of the kitchen staff, who said they had shown off their skills for the first time in a while, were messy, their voices were booming, and the Haenangs were boisterous, as if competing to see who could shout the loudest.

And it was affectionate.

Thinking this wasn’t an atmosphere he belonged in, Yirok had a few spoonfuls of rice and got up. His thought that he had slipped out unnoticed was a miscalculation. The closed sliding door was immediately opened a second later.

“Hey, Yirok.”

It was a voice calling from behind Yirok, who was tying his shoelaces with one foot on the stepping stone. Calling someone’s name you’ve barely spoken to so familiarly must be a common trait of the people in this house. With that thought, Yirok comfortably straightened his back. A middle-aged woman, who seemed to be one of the kitchen staff, smiled brightly and spoke to him.

“Jiju was asking for you, actually. She said she wanted to see you for a moment. I forgot to tell you… I guess someone else told you?”

No, I haven’t heard. But Yirok didn’t want to talk for long, so he stood up with his shoelaces half-tied. He bowed his head to signal he understood and came down the stone steps.

“If you see the young lady on your way, tell her there’s plenty of sikhye here, so she should come have some!”

The woman, holding the door and leaning her upper body out, shouted at the departing Yirok’s back. Yirok, who had been walking perfectly fine, stopped in his tracks at the thud of the door shutting.

A premonition that he would run into Chaehwa if he went this way pressed down on him with precision. Yirok did not ignore his premonition and chose to turn around and go back the way he came.

He knew he couldn’t avoid Chaehwa forever while living at the Nanjubeol mansion. But he felt uneasy. That bizarre young lady, the young lady who commanded monsters like dogs, kept giving Yirok an incomplete day. A day that made Yirok not himself. A day where thoughts of his brother lessened more and more. A day that made him think of tomorrow.

He felt that if that day became a week, then a month, then a year, he would no longer be able to live as the Kim Yirok he knew. He felt he would become an annoying and difficult person, just like Chaehwa.

But on a night when the lanterns hanging on the wall burned brightly, the heavens betrayed Yirok’s expectations once again.

As if she knew his route, Chaehwa was sitting at the end of the very path he had gone out of his way to take. It was only a matter of time before he was discovered by Chaehwa, who was swinging her feet as she sat on a bench as lovely as herself. Yirok couldn’t run back, as if he were stuck in a puddle in a hollow pit.

“Oh!”

I really hate this.

“You really came this way?”

I really hated her. That young lady.