As True as a Dream Chapter 64

Hae-Joo’s heart sank as she remembered Yi Ho on the train, sleeping like a dead man.

 

Hurrying over to him, she shook his shoulder and gasped in surprise.

 

She could feel the heat of his body through his shirt, almost burning her palms.

 

Panicking, Hae-Joo became unbearably nervous.

 

She had no idea that he had a fever.

 

His face should be flushed with such intense heat, but he was still frighteningly pale.

 

She wondered if he was going to be burned alive.

 

“I’m alive, and if I find the Guishan Dao, there’s an eight out of ten chance I’ll be cured.”

 

Her mind raced through the things she’d heard him say recently about his illness.

 

All the distracting thoughts of last night’s kiss and wondering about his mind flew away.

 

Nothing mattered compared to the matter of his life and death.

 

Hae-Joo’s eyes flushed with urgency.

 

‘What could be wrong with him?’

 

They had to go to town to call a doctor or go to the hospital.

 

Whether Yi Ho hated having a mechanic’s assistant with him or not, he had to drive into town!

 

‘Why not just get in the car and drive?’

 

“It’s okay.”

 

It was then.

 

Yi Ho’s voice was thicker than usual.

 

‘Would it be quicker to take this man into town or would it be quicker to get the doctor myself?’

 

While Hae-Joo looked at the gate and decided which would be better, she looked back at Yi Ho.

 

He opened his eyes languidly, saw her stern face, and his lips curled into a pout.

 

“I just have a fever, and if you have time to worry about that, we can figure out how to find the Guishan Dao.”

 

He ran a scalding hot hand over her stiffened forehead as if ironing it, then stood up.

 

He stood firmly on the ground without staggering, feeling nothing but a slight fatigue.

 

At first glance, one wouldn’t expect someone so feverish to look like that.

 

“Where are you going in this condition?”

 

Hae-Joo asked as Yi Ho started to walk down the hall.

 

“To find Guishan Dao. That’s why we came to the village. First we have to go to that uncle… Yesterday.”

 

Before Yi Ho could finish his sentence, Hae-Joo grabbed his arm and pulled him firmly into the great hall.

 

“You stay home and rest, I’ll go.”

 

“Alone?”

 

Hae-Joo narrowed her eyes at the way Yi Ho’s eyes swept over her as if she were unworthy.

 

“Uncle Jige said that an acquaintance of Father’s came to visit and took the Guishan Dao, and that this acquaintance stayed at a place called Jiao’am Inn in Gongju City. I can ask him who this acquaintance is, right? Even if he doesn’t know his name, if he’s seen him in person, he should be able to describe his appearance and characteristics.”

 

After she finished speaking, she grabbed the pillar of the great hall and put her shoes on the steps.

 

Although Yi Ho’s interest was focused on Guishan Dao, Hae-Joo also wanted to know about the shaman who was practicing at that time.

 

For Yi Ho’s sake, she needed to know more about the ominous Guishan Dao, and the shaman could tell her the story.

 

“I’m going next door, so think about what else you need to ask, and I’ll be right back.”

 

Without waiting for an answer, Hae-Joo pushed open the gate and walked out of the courtyard.

 

* * *

 

She’d been gone so long that she didn’t have any emergency meds.

 

Even though he looked unharmed, she knew how hot he was.

 

Even if she couldn’t find a doctor right away, she had to get him some medicine.

 

Soon, Hae-Joo, who had gotten some fever-reducing medicine from the nearest house about three minutes away, reentered the courtyard.

 

Yi Ho was sitting in the large hall, leaning against a pillar and looking rather lazy.

 

Hae-Joo placed the medicine bag next to him and went straight to the kitchen to fetch a bowl of water.

 

“Take these pills first, then go back to your room and rest. Anything else?”

 

She waited a while for him to speak, but when he remained silent, she was about to turn away.

 

“What was it you wanted to say earlier?”

 

“What?”

 

“What you were going to say before the boy came in. After we kissed.”

 

She hadn’t expected him to bring it up while he was sick, so she panicked when he did.

 

“Tha-that…”

 

Her face heated up as if her hair was on fire at the memory of the situation.

 

But then she saw Yi Ho’s nonchalant expression and somehow felt the fever go away.

 

He didn’t seem as embarrassed or upset as she was.

 

“That thing before, the kiss we… shared, I wanted to ask you what it meant.”

 

“What does it mean?”

 

Yi Ho’s brow furrowed slightly, as if trying to gauge the intent of her question.

 

As the silence grew longer, Hae-Joo’s face slowly hardened.

 

‘What is this strange attitude? Did he just kiss me because he thought I kissed him first?’

 

It was then.

 

“I kissed you yesterday because I wanted to.”

 

Hae-Joo’s mind wandered, lost in another direct question.

 

“You did it because you wanted to, is that all?”

 

The corners of Yi Ho’s mouth turned up at the question and a grin crossed his narrowed eyes.

 

“Yes.”

 

“You didn’t do it because you… like me?”

 

“I like you.”

 

The answer came back without hesitation, and this time Hae-Joo’s heart skipped a beat.

 

His voice was so calm and nonchalant that she had a feeling it wasn’t the answer she wanted.

 

“How do you like me?”

 

“How? I already showed you. I like you enough to kiss you first.”

 

‘…Enough to kiss me first?’

 

But men are animals who can do anything as long as their libido is aroused, right?

 

Hae-Joo thought in vain.

 

She was inexperienced, but she’d picked up plenty of tips from her time in and out of the inner circles of Gyeongseong.

 

“Men, you know, are the most intimate of the sexes, even if they don’t have hearts, because no matter how high-minded they act, all you have to do is lean in and kiss them and their bodies will respond.

 

“Yes. Men, most of them play with their hearts and their waists separately. So, Hae-ja, never be fooled by a man who doesn’t give you assurances.”

 

The words of the entertainers surrounding her flashed through her mind.

 

For a moment, the words “You bastard!” almost jumped out at her.

 

But she quickly regained control of her thoughts.

 

This was Ban Yi Ho, the president of Song Yue, whom she had known all along.

 

‘Was Ban Yi Ho really a man whose heart and lower half played separately, as the entertainers said?’

 

Thinking back to the days she’d spent with him, she shook her head.

 

When she first met him as the owner of Song Yue, he was very cold, sour, and quarrelsome.

 

It was only after they shared a boat that they got to know each other a little better, and he often approached her first.

 

Therefore, he was not the beastly man the entertainers were talking about.

 

But why didn’t his “I like you” sound like her “I like you”?

 

Looking at the beautiful man’s face, Hae-Joo felt an indescribable sense of unease.

 

“…Boss, have you ever liked someone, as a man…have you ever felt that you want to treat someone as a cherished person, that you want to be with them, that you want to be with them in all their sad and happy times, that you don’t want to be without them?”

 

She asked and Yi Ho swallowed a laugh.

 

“How can you like someone like that when you can’t even like yourself?”

 

His answer left her speechless.

 

‘How can you like someone like that? Is that something that needs to be explained?’

 

Hae-Joo’s chest felt as full as if she’d eaten some raw yams.

 

“What about when you think of me? You said you like me. How do you like me?”

 

Yi Ho stared at her for a moment, then spoke.

 

“I like that you care about me, that you worry about me.”

 

“What?”

 

“It bothers me when something happens to you. You’re fun to be with, and seeing you do that to your sister made me wonder what it’s like to be important to someone. You’re the only person I’ve ever cared about so much in my life.”

 

Seeing Yi Ho looking at her with a grin on his face, Hae-Joo was confused.

 

‘That means he actually likes me!’

 

Hae-Joo shuddered.

 

‘Could this man be so emotionally unavailable as to be so handsome or…?’

 

“How can you like someone like that when you can’t even like yourself?”

 

Suddenly she remembered what he had said a few moments before.

 

‘…Or does he not even think he is capable of liking someone? Why not? You come from a good family, you’ve lived in the best of circumstances, why would you think that? As if you’ve never been loved by anyone before?’

 

Hae-Joo looked at Yi Ho with fascination.