As True as a Dream Chapter 106

“Mister Hongo, are you home?”

 

Hongo arched an eyebrow and opened the door leading out of the house, only to run into Hae-Joo, who was coming in from the other side.

 

Seeing the bright smile on her face, Hongo realized why Yi Ho’s reaction was so strange.

 

He and Yi Ho are both youkai.

 

All that matters to them is personal gain and survival.

 

The morals, ethics, and sense of belonging that humans clamor for don’t exist and don’t matter to them.

 

However, for the first time in their lives, Yi Ho is shown affection by a human.

 

“Oh my…”

 

Hongo didn’t know why Yi Ho wanted to keep Hae-Joo away from the Guishan Dao.

 

Hongo’s feelings were also complicated when she saw Hae-Joo.

 

“What’s wrong?”

 

“No, I was just thinking about Song Yue for a moment, so my words slipped out of my mouth. Are you coming in now?”

 

Hongo asked Hae-Joo with his usual friendly smile.

 

“Uh, yes. There was something I wanted to ask you before…”

 

“Go ahead and ask.”

 

“…What happened to the materials the boss told you about?”

 

“The data…? Oh, you mean the data about the people around Ms. Na? It’s done, I’ll bring it to you in a moment.”

 

Hongo coolly replied to Hae-Joo’s difficult words and stepped aside from the doorway so that Hae-Joo could enter.

 

Instead, Hae-Joo took a step back.

 

“No, I’m sure you’re still busy with Song Yue, so if you’re on your way, I’ll follow you and pick it up.”

 

“Then I’ll be grateful, let’s go.”

 

Hongo led Hae-Joo across Yi Ho’s lawn, glancing back as he went.

 

When they came out, Yi Ho was perched on the balcony railing, looking down at them.

 

“I forgot to ask you last time.”

 

“What?”

 

Hongo repeated, unable to hear Hae-Joo’s words as he was focused on the back of his head.

 

Standing beside him, Hae-Joo smiled somewhat modestly and spoke again.

 

“After we found the Guishan Dao… I was wondering what I could do with the painting to cure the boss’s illness.”

 

“What?”

 

“I heard that it was Mister Hongo who suggested that the painting would cure the boss’s illness.”

 

Hongo’s eyes narrowed in rare embarrassment.

 

“That’s… I mean….”

 

Stuttering, Hongo’s mind quickly became confused.

 

‘What was he supposed to say?’

 

He remembered how Yi Ho had called him a shaman once.

 

He had gotten away with it then, but now he was in crisis again, wondering if she was being persistent or if he was being stupid.

 

“Ah! Are you here, Mister Hongo? There’s someone from the baseball team we booked for today, and I need to coordinate something…”

 

“Uh, yeah, I’ll be right over, Miss, I have something urgent to take care of right now, we can talk about this later, I’ll send the materials you requested through my staff!”

 

In his entire life as a crow youkai, he had never been so happy to see a “human” face.

 

As if he had just been saved, Hongo spilled out his words in a rush and ran toward the staff member standing at the entrance of the pathway leading to the lawn.

 

Left alone behind, Hae-Joo watched in despair as Hongo ran away.

 

She raised her hand to call out to Hongo once more, but stopped herself.

 

There was no way she could bully a middle-aged man who was working himself to death for Song Yue instead of the boss who played cards.

 

Hae-Joo let out a small sigh and turned around to cross the lawn again.

 

But only a few steps later, she glanced up at the silent building and rubbed her brow in frustration.

 

The closer he got to Yi Ho, the more the doubts that had been nagging at her reared their ugly heads.

 

The Guishan Dao was an ominous thing that could be said to suck human blood.

 

Such a harmful thing could save a person’s life?

 

She was no fool.

 

She didn’t want to tell Yi Ho or Hongo Wu about the “method” of using the Guishan Dao, hiding it behind a veil, using this excuse or that.

 

She wanted Yi Ho to be safe, and she wanted him to live a long, long life with her.

 

So up until now, she’d pretended not to know, and when he’d tried to brush it off, she’d let it slide.

 

But the deeper she got to know him, the more she realized that she wasn’t good at this.

 

What happened in Sogok village defied logic.

 

Wouldn’t the idea of using the Guishan Dao to cure Yi Ho’s illness also be something that couldn’t be explained by “logic”…?

 

She clenched her fists tightly, feeling an ominous premonition that she couldn’t explain.

 

“What are you doing there?”

 

Just then, her favorite voice rang out from not far away.

 

She looked up to see Yi Ho standing with his hands on the railing of a balcony on the second floor of the building.

 

“What are you doing up there?” she asked.

 

When she was far enough away, Yi Ho spoke again.

 

“…Mister Hongo said he’d gathered all the materials for me, and I was going to pick them up… but something must have happened at Song Yue.”

 

Hae-Joo raised the corners of her mouth and spoke up.

 

“Really? Don’t be impatient, Mister Hongo will bring it to you once he’s finished with Song Yue Pavilion.”

 

Yi Ho replied casually.

 

She nodded, pointed her finger in the direction of the door, and started walking.

 

She meant to enter the house.

 

But as she walked with her head slightly bowed, the smile gradually faded from her face.

 

It was Yi Ho who was in urgent need of Guishan Daoi.

 

However, compared to the time when he had gone all the way down to the village to find out where Guishan Dao was, his demeanor seemed to have relaxed a bit.

 

For the next five days, right after Wolmido’s trip to the amusement park on her birthday, they spent most of their time together.

 

After eating together, they scanned the newspapers to see if another “bloodless corpse” had been found.

 

They also traveled to the villages with the most victims.

 

Through it all, Yi Ho was reminded that he rarely brought up the subject of Guishan Dao unless she asked.

 

Hadn’t she been told before that she had to find Guishan Dao so that he could live?

 

Thinking back, it seemed to be after she and Yi Ho had returned from Gongju and confirmed their feelings for each other.

 

‘Am I being too sensitive?’

 

While she was thinking, Hae-Joo reached the study and opened the door and stepped inside.

 

Through the latticed glass doors, she could see Yi Ho sitting on the balcony railing, so Hae-Joo pushed open the study door and stepped out onto the balcony.

 

“How are you feeling today?”

 

“If anyone heard you, they’d think I was seriously ill.”

 

Out of habit, Hae-Joo reached out to check the temperature of his forehead and peered into his pale face.

 

She wasn’t a doctor, so she could only make sure it wasn’t worse than yesterday.

 

“You’re seriously ill, and there’s nothing the doctors can do….”

 

Turning away and muttering to herself, Hae-Joo looked at the entrance to the lawn overlooking the balcony below.

 

“Mister Hongo said he’d have his staff send me the materials…”

 

“When you get the materials, you’re going to run out today to find the people listed there?”

 

“I’d love to, but I’m going to the department store this afternoon.”

 

“Department store?”

 

“It’s Eun-sil’s birthday soon, so I’m going to buy her a birthday present.”

 

“Hmm. Do you want to go with me?”

 

“Sure.”

 

Hearing his words out of one ear, Hae-Joo stood there dumbfounded for a moment, not sure what she had just agreed to, then looked up.

 

“What did you just say?”

 

Then Yi Ho perched on the railing right next to her and looked down.

 

“What were you thinking so hard you couldn’t hear me?”

 

“Nothing, I was just… Oh, come to think of it, you know, the case of Mrs. Na was concluded to be a robbery, and they caught him.”

 

“But?”

 

“It wasn’t a robbery.”

 

At her adamant statement, Yi Ho raised one eyebrow.

 

“It’s me… I’m the one involved with Guishan Dao. It’s just… what I want to check is if the blood… is missing from her body….”

 

“You think it’s because of Guishan Dao?”

 

Yi Ho asked, narrowing his eyes.

 

For some reason, the deep look in his eyes made her chest tighten.

 

And again, an inexplicable feeling of foreboding crept up on her.

 

“Excuse me…”

 

After a pause, Hae-Joo looked at Yi Ho with a serious face.

 

“This Guishan Dao, if we find it, how can we cure the boss’s illness?”

 

“…I said then that we’ll only know when we find it….”

 

Hearing the expected answer, Hae-Joo laughed in vain.

 

Then Yi Ho fell silent.

 

“Many people died because of that painting, not only in Gongju, but also in Gyeongseong… many people died, and because I was afraid to tell Mrs. Na about it, she kidnapped me and tried to kill me, and she herself died.”

 

Speaking of which, Hae-Joo voices the doubts she’s been suppressing all this time.

 

“That couldn’t possibly have anything to do with you, could it?”