If Silk Flowers Bloom by the Water’s Edge Chapter 86

Today, mean-spirited dark clouds paid a visit to the clear sky. Instead of pouring rain, they only stealthily veiled the sun; even if it was a spring day, it went to show that not all spring days were the same. Muttering that one couldn’t just sit indoors simply because the weather was gloomy, Chaho dragged Shinwoo out with great, great difficulty.

“Here! Catch!”

In the old days, Shinwoo would have taken the initiative to lead the Haenang outside, but now he staggered like a withered dandelion. Although Chaho had pulled out even his cherished new soccer ball for his sullen friend, the ball he sent out somehow became like a royal envoy to Hamhung, failing to return. Even when the sleek ball brushed his foot, Shinwoo remained motionless.

“Hey! Send it over here!”

That their two-man soccer match turned into a solo kicking session was largely the fault of old Ms. Yomyeong. During the few days given to form ghost contracts, the one who achieved the greatest result was Yirok. Had she not bestowed a special prize upon him, saying he had captured a difficult ghost named ‘Saunryeong’? As if telling him to finally forget his days as an underachieving student who fainted in the middle of class, Yirok was truly on a winning streak.

On the flip side, Shinwoo was a sinking ship. But is it not so that if there is a time to fly, there is also a time to fall? At a juncture where it would be barely enough to gracefully congratulate his competitor’s success first, Shinwoo had lost his mind. Occasionally watching him from the side, there were more than one or two times when those empty pupils felt terrifying.

“Shinwoo…!”

Still, reasoning that moving his body would make him feel better, Chaho dragged Shinwoo to the vacant lot, where other Haenang gradually began to gather as well. As if proving that Chaho wasn’t the only one itching for activity in this kind of weather, the female Haenang played group jump rope.

It was right when Chaho was merely beating his chest out of frustration at his friend, who stood idly in their midst without moving. Perhaps finally making up his mind to play, Shinwoo began rolling the soccer ball with his foot.

“Hey, this way!”

Chaho gestured fussily, but Shinwoo’s gaze, as he hurriedly moved the soccer ball, was targeting only one guy. At the spot where his eyes landed, Yirok was walking by, taking a bite out of a red apple he had received as a reward. As it turned out, the Haenang seemed to have been instructed to gather at the vacant lot for an outdoor activity. Chaho, who had already dragged the ball and Shinwoo out early to play, was late to the news.

Shinwoo’s eyes, smoldering as if he were about to cause an incident, deviated from normal. Staring ominously at the soccer ball resting on Shinwoo’s instep, Chaho reached out his hand.

“Hey, hey, hey…!”

If he blasted the ball and hit a person, it would tarnish the reputation he had built up all this time. The fellow threw the soccer ball right in the direction of Yirok’s head. Fortunately, thanks to Chaho’s fuss, Yirok noticed. Turning his body to block the ball with his torso, the soccer ball slid and dropped to Yirok’s feet. It was a foul pass that happened in the blink of an eye.

“Hey! I only recently received that as a new gift! Are you going to buy me a new one?”

If an accident occurred, the soccer ball would face the fate of being discarded. Chaho, wanting to prevent that at all costs, bellowed at Shinwoo until his throat went hoarse and waved at Yirok as if glad to see him. Yirok, who had almost met with disaster while eating his apple, kept the soccer ball threateningly beneath his foot, just as Shinwoo had done moments ago.

“Hey! Sorry! Pass!”

Though things were awkward with Yirok due to the incident involving Jangsi, could he really fail to get the soccer ball back over such a matter when they were bound to see each other for the rest of their lives? However, this time, Yirok stopped eating his apple and smiled chillingly as he looked at Chaho and Shinwoo, looking rather unusual. The soccer ball he playfully rolled under his sole seemed to scream. Chaho nervously bit his lip with his front teeth and said,

“Hey! There are a lot of installments left on that!”

He had never bought anything on installment, but it was an excuse Chaho had heard a lot about. At his pitiful words, Yirok didn’t even laugh and instead brought his instep to the ball. Seeing his foot pull back, Chaho tightly closed and opened his eyes. But at that exact moment, Yirok swiftly changed his body’s direction and kicked the ball. Watching the ball fly in a completely absurd direction opposite to the vacant lot, Chaho spat out a curse.

“Hey! You crazy bastard!”

Seeing the ball fly completely into the juniper forest, Chaho tore at his hair in despair. Yirok merely shrugged his shoulders, bit into his apple again, and went on his way. He thought Yirok had been behaving gently and demurely lately, but it seemed it was just a deceptive attitude meant to fool the elders. It was just as the teeth-grinding Chaho was about to gather the dazed Shinwoo and head toward the forest.

Catching sight of Lady Chaehwa walking from the path opposite to Yirok, Chaho clicked his tongue. Flashing in the east and flashing in the west, his head began to ache at the sight of that silk skirt that appeared wherever the Haenang gathered. His plan to take Shinwoo and leave the spot had gone down the drain.

“We’re screwed.”

Even if one brought a clueless fool to sit down as an audience member, there was a pinkish something flowing between Yirok and the young lady that anyone could recognize. In the middle of the vast Nanjubeol, even when encountering each other by chance like this, they both stepped to the left, then to the right, as if they didn’t know how best to clear the path for one another, before bursting into embarrassed laughter. Removing the apple from his mouth, Yirok subtly grabbed the shoulder of the distracted young lady. Then, he stepped aside to clear the way. Delighted, the young lady ducked her head and let out a laugh. The gaze they sent each other as their paths crossed was impossible to measure with a thermometer.

Even after parting ways without saying much, as if mindful of people’s attention, Yirok looked back at Chaehwa, and Chaehwa looked back at Yirok. Unfortunately, their gazes failed to lock, remaining separate before moving on. Watching this, Chaho laughed hollowly, while Shinwoo, who was watching alongside him, moved his feet.

Since it looked like an accident waiting to happen if left alone, Chaho stuck close behind his fast-walking friend. Chaehwa, who had her hands behind her back and was only glancing behind her, recognized the presence of Shinwoo and Chaho quite late.

“My Lady.”

“Oh, oh…”

“Did you come out for a walk?”

“Ah, Yeonrye said that if I stay inside the house too much, mold will grow on my body.”

Chaho asked the greeting that Shinwoo originally should have asked. Even after arriving in front of the young lady, Shinwoo kept his mouth shut tight. After all, nothing about the young lady’s words rang true. Who didn’t know that she snooped around every single class and flirted with Yirok?

It was glaringly obvious that all her focus was directed toward Yirok, who was standing over there under a tree eating an apple. He wanted to beg her to please look at Shinwoo, who had gone beyond being the green-eyed monster and was now giving off only black ashes. Just then, what diverted Chaehwa’s gaze—which kept glancing only at the tree, or rather, at Yirok—was Shinwoo’s low bass voice.

“Please teach me too.”

“Huh?”

“I’m talking about Yirok. There’s no way he could have successfully formed a contract with that grand ghost all on his own. You helped him, didn’t you, My Lady?”

Inwardly, after hearing the announcement of Yirok’s success, Chaho had also been thinking the exact same thing. Because Chaehwa, who usually didn’t take the training Haenang’s matters seriously under the pretext that their progress was different, was uniquely different toward just one person. Caught fair and square, Chaehwa stammered her words.

“M-me? I doubt it. If I play favorites like that… I’ll be scourged by heaven later.”

“Then please play favorites with me. Teach me, My Lady. It’s because I truly don’t understand it at all.”

Crunch, why did it feel like he heard an auditory hallucination of an apple being bitten into? From the moment Shinwoo approached the young lady, Yirok’s gaze had been fixed on this side. A gaze so dark and passionate was watching them that one couldn’t tell whether he was eating the apple or eating Shinwoo. The young lady walked on eggshells around Yirok massively, as if they shared a secret pact.

“I… I told you it’s not allowed. Do you want me to be punished by heaven?”

It seemed that not heaven, but the man biting the apple would mete out the punishment. Coughing dryly, Chaehwa quickly bypassed Shinwoo and joined the group jump rope. Watching the young lady skip and hop over to the jump rope spot to avoid the difficult question, it was impossible to hate her even if one wanted to.

Staring quietly at his friend’s dark face, Chaho threw out a word of comfort.

“What can you do… spring has come for the young lady.”

“Then winter will come too.”

“Huh?”

“Never mind.”

So that Chaho couldn’t strike up a conversation about going to find the ball, Shinwoo coldly turned his head away. The man standing with only the apple stem in his hand was now focusing on the jump rope that swept and shook the ground. To the point where one who used to be as serene and tender as spring would wish for winter, that thing called affection is not simple.

“Sigh…”

Shrugging his shoulders, Chaho walked toward the juniper forest alone. Since the young lady ignored heaven and began playing favorites, it was finally an era of every man for himself.

🌹₊ ⊹

Dishes of sweet rice puffs, taffy, and stickily stretching honey rice cakes piled up in her quarters. Lady Chaehwa, whose cheeks had grown plump and fair, practically lived with sweet things in her mouth. If she didn’t, her heart felt so empty that she couldn’t bear it. Watching her stare blankly with her mouth full of taffy, Yeonrye was extremely worried.

“Do you have something on your mind?”

“No.”

Answering listlessly, she let out another sigh while looking out the window. Yeonrye subtly nudged the side of the young lady, whom she had watched for more than a year or two.

“I heard you’re heading out the day after tomorrow? Because a request came in.”

“Yeah.”

“Then tomorrow, shall I ask the branch governor and have us go to the department store together?”

“To the department store?”

“Yes. You wouldn’t believe how many pretty new clothes have arrived. Since it’s spring, a lot of polka-dot skirts that you like have come in too.”

“What polka-dot skirt…”

Just as the young lady’s eyes, which usually clapped with joy whenever going to a department store was mentioned, were turning dark. Since it was a heart that couldn’t be soothed by sweet things, it seemed it couldn’t be cured by a department store either. If that was the case, she just needed to entice her by suggesting they go see the sea she loved so much after this request was over.

“Then this time, I’ll really turn a blind eye and…”

“Hold on.”

“Yes?”

“The department store sounds good.”

Chaehwa, whose one cheek bulged out from the taffy, suddenly stood up. Though they hadn’t even drawn up a plan, Chaehwa tried to hurriedly fling herself out of her quarters. Folding laundry, Yeonrye rushed up and grabbed the arm of the swift young lady.

“Ah, where are you trying to go?”

“To grandmother! It’s so great. Department store shopping!”

Smiling so wide her cheeks lifted as if she had thought of something to buy, Chaehwa opened the door of her quarters and ran out. Looking at her back as she ran while hoisting her skirt up to her waist, Yeonrye couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

“Oh my, what is the rush… for a young lady who will be wed soon.”

Yeonrye smiled softly as she imagined Chaehwa wearing a bridal headpiece with bridal rouge pressed onto her cheeks and forehead. It felt like only yesterday that she was a baby wrapped in a swaddling blanket.

The world changed in the blink of an eye.