As True as a Dream Chapter 127

Dazed, Hae-Joo looked up and saw a crow perched on the wall, looking down at them.

She wiggled her eyebrows, as if it wasn’t the first time.

 

“…Master, Miss Hae-Joo!”

 

A panting Hongo ran up from one side of the alley.

Relieved, Hae-Joo raised one hand high in the air and waved vigorously at Hongo.

 

 

* * *

 

Song Yue Pavilion

 

Hae-Joo sat at the head of Yi Ho’s bed, lifting one of the quilts and pushing up the hem of his shirt to peer at his stomach.

She was relieved to see that it was only a little bit wetter than when she’d glanced at it earlier at the mouth of the alley.

Pulling his shirt back down and tucking the blanket over him, Hae-Joo finally relaxed and sighed heavily.

 

Earlier, she had panicked about what was going to happen to Yi Ho, but thanks to Mister Hongo’s arrival, she was able to hurry and bring him back to Song Yue Pavilion.

 

“Mister Hongo, the boss is injured, shouldn’t he go to the hospital?”

 

“No, he needs to rest first. Let’s go back to Song Yue Pavilion.”

 

After silently examining Yi Ho’s wounds, Hongo replied with relief.

Hae-Joo, who had been watching the scene, couldn’t help but ask.

 

“Because he’s a… Gumiho, is that why he doesn’t have to go to the hospital?”

 

Hongo’s eyes widened in surprise at her words, but he quickly recovered his composure as he realized what he was thinking.

 

“The wound healing itself means that he’s still okay. Because he’s a Gumiho, it’s the fact that it doesn’t heal itself that’s the problem.”

 

“…Okay, let’s go back to Song Yue for now.”

 

For the time being, stabilizing Yi Ho was the priority, so Hae-Joo put her own questions aside.

 

But now she couldn’t hold it in any longer, nor did she want to pretend she didn’t know.

 

Hae-Joo watched Yi Ho lie there for a moment, then stood up.

When she stepped out of Yi Ho’s room, Hongo stood at her side, as if he had been waiting.

 

“Mister Hongo.”

 

“…I’m sure you have many questions. Come this way.”

 

After returning to the Song Yue Pavilion, Hongo had been busy with the affairs of the pavilion after taking Yi Ho into custody, and had only come here now.

Hongo turned toward the study, looking somewhat tired.

 

When they entered the study together, Hongo first turned on the lights in the dark room.

He pursed his lips in confusion, as if he didn’t know where to start, then spoke.

 

“I’m curious about…”

 

“I was on my way to the village of Bangaho today.”

 

Hearing her words, Hongo lightly opened his mouth and let out a sigh.

Seeing that, Hae-Joo couldn’t help but smile.

 

“You said you’ve been a member of the Ban Clan for a long time, so you must know what Bangaho Village is like.”

 

“No.”

 

She raised an eyebrow at his immediate denial.

 

“I lied when I said I served the Ban clan. I have only served one master, Mr. Ban Yi Ho.”

 

Hae-Joo’s eyebrows quirked slightly in response to Hongo’s words, which were met with his usual friendly smile.

Hongo hesitated slightly, then looked at Hae-Joo as if he had made up his mind.

 

“…Don’t be surprised.”

 

Hae-Joo raised her eyebrows, wondering what he meant.

Hongo, who seemed to be running in place, turned into a red crow in the blink of an eye, flapping his wings and perched on the back of the sofa, staring at her.

 

Hae-Joo felt dizzy.

She could barely breathe in disbelief, even though she saw it with her own two eyes.

Meanwhile, Hongo had transformed back into his human form and stood facing her, smiling broadly.

 

“It’s been 350 years since I served my master. I am Hongo, the Crow Demon.”

 

“…Ha!”

 

She didn’t want to believe it, but she couldn’t help but believe it.

Mister Hongo wasn’t human either.

However, since she had already been through Yi Ho’s situation, she was actually quite proud of herself for being so calm.

 

“If you’ve been to Bangaho Village, I don’t know if you’ve heard the story of the fox child born to a female of the Ban Clan.”

 

Hongo looked at her with narrowed eyes, his gaze seemingly observing her expression.

Hae-Joo gave a small nod.

 

“That child… was your boss?”

 

“Yes. Being born between a fox and a man, he had a difficult childhood… I’ve heard.”

 

“So… you’re saying… the boss… lived… more than 370 years? Mister Hongo has also lived for 350 years….”

 

Hae-Joo pondered slowly, trying to come to terms with the very long time they had lived.

 

“He’s lived 400 years, and I’ve lived 600 years, just to be clear.”

 

Hae-Joo burst out laughing uncontrollably and covered her mouth with her hand to calm her rambling thoughts.

 

‘400 years… It was an unfathomable amount of time for someone who had only just turned twenty.’

 

Hae-Joo struggled to hold on to her fading sanity.

The most important thing now was not how many years he had lived, or how hard he had lived.

It was his physical condition.

‘Why was he so sick? What did Guishan Dao mean to him? And what could he do to get better…?’

 

After a short pause, during which she took several breaths, she asked Hongo again.

 

“…First of all, what happened to his body? If he’s a gumiho… Aren’t gumiho naturally strong? In the old stories, it’s said that…”

 

Hongo’s thick eyebrows knitted together as he stammered at a loss for words.

 

“…That’s because my master is a half-human, half-fox.”

 

“Half-human… half-fox?”

 

“He was born between a human and a gumiho, so he’s half human and half fox. We’re not sure what caused it, but… we’re guessing it’s because his body is out of balance.”

 

Hae-Joo furrowed her brow, listening intently to Hongo’s words and wondering.

 

‘Balance?’

 

“If my master was a complete gumiho, or even a complete human, he wouldn’t have this problem. A gumiho is a very powerful youkai among youkai. At one time, they were even considered divine deities. As a master who inherited the blood of such a gumiho, he should also be a powerful youkai. But…”

 

Hongo trailed off, and Hae-Joo suddenly understood.

Half of him was a gumiho, but the other half was human.

 

“Does that mean… he has the power of a gumiho, but the human vessel is… lacking?”

 

Hongo nodded bitterly at her words.

 

“He hasn’t been feeling well for about ten years now. His body has been slowly breaking down, and at this rate, he’ll probably die…”

 

Hae-Joo felt like a bucket of cold water had been dumped on her head.

She didn’t need to hear the rest of Hongo’s words.

‘If he keeps going like this, he’ll die.’

 

In her mind’s eye, she could see Yi Ho’s lazy, languid, and increasingly pale body.

She remembered him coughing up blood, his body burning, and how sometimes he was so tired that he couldn’t even feel his side.

 

‘Dying? The boss?’

 

Hae-Joo’s heart thumped frantically in her chest.

A sudden, overwhelming sense of dread squeezed her heart painfully.

 

‘No way. It can’t be. How? How could it be?’

 

She thought back to Yi Ho, who had appeared in front of her the moment she was about to be killed by Man Insa.

At that moment, she thought she was going to die.

 

Many thoughts raced through her mind at that moment.

The emergency fund she had divided and hidden in various parts of the house, the western handbag she had bought and never opened, the pacifier she had received an advance payment for but hadn’t even begun to make yet, the birthday present she hadn’t delivered to Eun-sil…

 

But most of all, it was Yi Ho that occupied her thoughts.

An unfathomable number of regrets hit her.

Only then did she realize.

It didn’t matter that he was a gumiho.

It was a life where it didn’t matter if the breath she held today would suddenly end tomorrow.

So she wanted to live each day harder, more joyfully, and better.

So she realized that she had to be by his side, that it was right.

She had to live with him.

As long as she stayed hidden.

 

‘So what if he was a gumiho?’

 

It wasn’t this life, not knowing what tomorrow would bring.

She was no longer lonely, happy, and fulfilled because of him.

So she wanted to be faithful to the now.

No regrets.

 

That’s what she thought as she sat by Yi Ho’s bed just now.

But if he kept going like this, would he die?

 

‘How?’

 

Hae-Joo’s lips trembled as she fidgeted with her hands.

She bit her lower lip tightly, as if she were about to burst into tears, and barely managed to push down the pain that was rising at the base of her chest.

She finally realized, for sure, that she couldn’t let go of his hand…!

 

Seeing her pale complexion, Hongo also raised his eyebrows in bewilderment and hurriedly added.

 

“So! Master didn’t want to be like that either. That’s why he was looking for you. There is a way to be okay.”