If Silk Flowers Bloom by the Water’s Edge Chapter 62

So, this was a scene and a conversation that only Chaehwa herself could see and hear. She was pushed into a place disconnected from reality, as if she had one foot in the afterlife. She had never been dragged in by such a rude method before. Chaehwa stared at the Yogwi Janghui with eyes from which the embers of emotion had died.

[The Sarira who told you to resent me also told me to deliver this message.]

It was utter nonsense. How dare a mere Maengmusa use a Yogwi’s mouth to deliver a message in Nanjubeol’s Chukjangji. Chaehwa, who no longer had any intention of going easy on it, mouthed her words so that the Jangsi in reality would not be surprised.

‘I will make sure you are annihilated.’

She had hesitated until now for fear of putting a strain on Jangsi’s body, but if she was willing to risk the damage, it was not impossible to exorcise it. And here she thought it had stopped being Sarira’s dog. It had brazenly forced her mind to dip its toe into the afterlife.

In Chukjangji, where the boundary between this life and the afterlife was already blurry, tilting toward the afterlife like this made things that were previously unseen become visible. In the sense that Chaehwa had not come of her own will, what Janghui had done was an overreach of its authority. To put weight on the side of the afterlife instead of this life. Never in the history of the world had anyone been pushed out of this life while watching a basketball game. The Yogwi Janghui erased its smile as if it understood the word ‘annihilation.’ Then, like a dog with its tail between its legs, it tried to hastily return Chaehwa to her original world.

[Don’t misunderstand. I am just delivering. Just these words.]

Janghui’s shadow faded, and Jangsi, who was covering her mouth with her hands, became clearer. Returning to the place where loud noises, cheers, and the sound of a bouncing ball mixed in disorder, Chaehwa shook off her tension. The tearfully loyal servant Janghui delivered Sarira’s message just before disappearing.

[That he is coming to see you soon. That there will be no letting you go like last time.]

Teasing her as if just out of reach, Janghui cackled, mocking Chaehwa. Back in reality, Chaehwa fixed her gaze on the court, which felt excessively close. The first thing she saw was Yirok striking Shinwoo’s chest with his elbow.

She couldn’t hear the sound of the hit, but Shinwoo’s face contorted viciously. However, Shinwoo was in a no-less-aggressive state himself. Not a single person missed the scene of him driving his fist into Yirok’s side while he was dribbling.

“Hey. Someone just finish it quickly. And then just fight for real.”

Chaho, holding the scoreboard, looked to be in a very bad mood. That was because the two were pushing and hitting each other with their arms on any body part except the face. It was to the point where one felt sorry for the basketball that got caught in the middle. Chaehwa, still feeling nauseous, was in the middle of turning her head to check the scoreboard.

Once again, she felt herself departing from this life. I’ve been had—the three words popped into her head the moment her body swayed.

“Why is that… Young Mistress!”

Yeonseo, who was next to her, caught Chaehwa’s body with both arms as she pitched forward. But it was too much for her slender arms to support a falling person. I’m going to fall flat on my face, Chaehwa thought, resigning herself to it as she lost half of her consciousness.

‘Young Mistress!’

‘Call Old Lady Yomyung…!’

The brief moment did not feel short. Even after the thought of hitting her forehead on the thinly snow-covered ground, she remained upright for a long while. Something lightning-fast and hot swooped in, separating her from the ground. With the sound of a basketball dropping, Chaehwa lifted her head and saw black hair.

‘So I’m being carried on someone’s back.’

She was only dizzy, but she hated how everyone around her was making a fuss, saying she was dying or something. She blinked her tired eyes and rubbed her cheek against the back, which felt like a warm stone floor. She was sure she would be fine after a nap.

🌹₊ ⊹

She dreamed of being carried on the back of a rabbit with warm fur. Clatter, clatter. The rabbit, which had been running all over the place, knocking things over noisily, stopped and immediately tossed Chaehwa’s body into a patch of soft grass. Was it because she had lacked sleep from following the basketball games these past few days? As soon as her head hit the grass, Chaehwa fell asleep and was able to sleep for a long time without anyone’s interruption.

But the rabbit, the owner of the grassy patch, seemed displeased and pinched Chaehwa’s cheek. Chaehwa, who was laughing at the cute, chubby paws, perked up her ears at the voice she heard.

“Chaehwa. My child.”

The thought that it sounded like her grandmother’s voice made her eyes open on their own. Seeing the pink ceiling, the grassy patch, the rabbit—it all became a dream that flew away in an instant. An old woman, too wrinkled to be called a rabbit, was looking down at her with reddened eyes. For the sake of the old woman’s blood pressure, Chaehwa reflexively smiled as if she had drawn it on. The family members surrounding the bed let out sighs of relief, but the person by the door alone was quiet.

Chaehwa looked at each person one by one before her gaze fell over there. His clothes and face showed he had just been exercising, but a pale-faced Yirok was standing by the door. Yirok, who had even forgotten the basketball he used to carry everywhere, wore a face of greater agony. Seeing that she was awake, the family members, the Haenang, and even Old Lady Yomyung tactfully left the room, but he alone stood stock-still as if to check on Chaehwa.

“Alright, Yirok Haenang. You went through a lot of trouble carrying Chaehwa.”

The old woman, whose intention to tell him to leave was obvious, smiled only with her lips. Only then did Yirok bow his head without protest, then closed the door and left. A man who simply disappeared once he took his eyes off her.

Once Yirok was gone, she felt sleepy as if her tension had been released. In the meantime, the old woman was continuously massaging her arm, the one she had fainted on, to improve the blood circulation. Ever since she and her grandmother were the only two blood relatives left, Chaehwa was a person who must never get sick. Chaehwa spoke as if to soothe the worry-filled old woman.

“It’s because I’ve been tired these past few days. You know I’m particularly weak in the winter.”

“Born on a cold day, my baby has suffered so much.”

“Mother suffered more than I did. Grandmother, don’t worry and go get some sleep. From now on, I’ll be sure to take the herbal medicine you give me.”

Holding her grandmother’s soft hand, Chaehwa closed her eyes. As the hand gently stroked her hair, Chaehwa suddenly felt a wave of sadness. Every time she realized that she was her grandmother’s everything, she found herself unable to move. Being someone’s everything, it seemed, was quite a heavy burden for someone as light as herself.

Therefore, the matter of hearing Sarira’s message was something she must keep silent about forever. She could bear to see her strong and upright grandmother, but she could not bear to see a broken and weakened grandmother. So today, too, it was a secret.

🌹₊ ⊹

Click, clack.

A sigh was added to the sound of rolling beads. Chaehwa turned over with a huff like a disobedient five-year-old.

“Please protect the child sent down by the lord of the sky who governs the harmony of all creation. When hardship and difficulty approach, lay down a path with the righteous will of heaven. Understand that the path of a warrior has been promised to be so arduous….”

“Halmeom.”

“It is not yet finished.”

“I don’t want to hear it, I don’t want to hear it. My ears are going to fall off.”

It was already the second day of her confinement to her bedchamber. In that time, Chaehwa had recovered completely, but her grandmother’s fuss was just beginning. Not only was she having Old Lady Yomyung perform rituals day and night to dispel negative energy, without any regard for her age, but she was also being particular about food, and no meat was being served at all. On the body of a person who was showing her displeasure with her entire being, Old Lady Yomyung persistently sprinkled holy water. It was a mixture of salt, medicinal herbs, and water drawn from the well managed by Nanjubeol. Chaehwa, who endured that time with her eyes squeezed shut, closed her eyes at the feeling that it was finally over.

“Young Mistress.”

“You still haven’t left?”

“Why do you not tell the Jiju the truth?”

Chaehwa turned back with a blank expression to look at Old Lady Yomyung, who had slowly finished her preparations to leave. Old Lady Yomyung was the only one in the household who knew the full details of the situation. As a once-famous Jeongmusa, Old Lady Yomyung was her grandmother’s staunch supporter and Chaehwa’s teacher. And she was also someone who knew things that even Yeonrye did not. Chaehwa narrowed her eyes slightly and smiled slyly.

“You know. When Grandmother gets sensitive, the first thing she does is get rid of my phone and the things in my room. Saying they’re tainted with negative energy.”

Even in her childhood, Sarira’s assassination attempts had continued. There was even a month where she set a new record of not skipping a single week. When that happened, Chaehwa’s cherished videotapes and game consoles were burned. The reasoning was that items from the outside world had created a hole in Chukjangji.

As Chaehwa grew up and began to fight back against Sarira’s attacks, the Maengmusa’s momentum gradually died down. Thus, her cell phone and other hobbies were Chaehwa’s rewards, obtained through a life-or-death struggle. Knowing this, Old Lady Yomyung said no more and gathered the ritual tools to leave. At the sound of the bedroom door closing, Chaehwa took out the cell phone hidden under her pillow.

It was a phone that, as always, should have had no messages. But the number 1, floating there as indifferently as the sender, was lighting up the text message box. Her pouting lips retracted as Chaehwa’s eyes sparkled. Her finger, tapping the message, was full of excitement.

「Still lying down?」

At the very Yirok-like expression, Chaehwa beamed and sent a quick reply.

「Totally fine hahaha. How did the match go? You lost because of me, right」

She was rolling on the bed, hugging the warm phone to her chest, when a vibration went off less than a second later. With a look of disbelief, she lifted the phone to see a call coming in. Grinning from ear to ear, Chaehwa answered the phone while lying on her stomach.

“Did the sun rise in the west? Yirok, did you have some meat for breakfast?”

Contrary to her expectations, the person who had called was silent. Wondering if the match results were not good, Chaehwa quickly bit her lip. He must have lost the match. And the culprit was Chaehwa herself, who had sprawled out like a stage actor in the middle of the game. Wasn’t Yirok the one who had so desperately wanted the solitary room? As Chaehwa maintained her silence, Yirok said something.

“Huh? What was that?”

But it was a small voice, a voice that sounded like sleep-talking, so Chaehwa turned up the phone’s volume. His voice, which came out after a beat, was finally audible.

—That phrase about it being your fault… don’t say it. It’s not pleasant to hear.

Not understanding the sentence itself, Chaehwa shot up into a sitting position and racked her brain. Was it unpleasant to hear her ask if he lost because of her? But his voice was closer to one crying in agony than one giving a reprimand. Chaehwa asked cautiously.

“Are you alone?”

—I got the solitary room.

“You won?”

—I lost. It was a tie, but the referee said the other side scored one more point at the very end. I have to believe him.

“Then why are you, Yirok, using the solitary room? You said you lost. Ah, Shinwoo must have let you have it.”

Yirok did not answer that and let out a small sigh. Imagining him all alone in the room, Chaehwa was slow to speak.

“I’m fine, so don’t worry. It’s funny how we’re taking turns getting sick.”

—Take care of yourself.

Sensing he was about to end the call, Chaehwa hurriedly added.

“But they’re not giving me any meat, you know? Grandmother told them to take all the meat off the table because I’m tainted with negative energy.”

—…

“It’s really upsetting, right? You know I can’t eat without meat. Is her granddaughter more important, or is the pig more important, the cow more important, the chicken more important.”

—You’re asking the obvious. You’d be more important to her. But… you want to eat that?

“Yeah. I can’t even sleep.”

—I know you say that, but you’ll be snoring in 10 minutes. It’s better to listen to the adults and focus on recovering. I’m tired too. Sleep well.

Click.

At the sound of the call ending, Chaehwa’s jaw dropped. The absurd last words made her so angry that all sleepiness vanished.

“Seriously, why would he call if he was going to be like this? What a jerk.”

She shook her fist at the black screen, but her face was smiling. She didn’t know how it happened, but it was all good since Yirok was using the solitary room he had wanted so much. May he be as comfortable as he was when staying in guest rooms, wherever he went. Chaehwa closed her eyes and exhaled. And exactly 10 minutes later, she fell asleep.