As True as a Dream Chapter 99

It was a bold thing to do, not having to worry about being seen from the outside because of the cubicle.

 

“Just once, just a taste.”

 

Yi Ho, who had been tensing his brow slightly in reluctance, took one look at Hae-Joo, then lowered his head slightly and opened his mouth to eat the cake on her fork.

 

Feeling unnecessarily embarrassed by his natural behavior, she narrowed her eyes at him and asked.

 

“How do you like it?”

 

“Sweet. It’s all yours.”

 

Hae-Joo laughed out loud at his unflattering response, then scooped up the cake with her fork and brought it to her mouth.

 

The flavors of bread and fruit melted in her mouth, and a satisfied exclamation escaped her lips.

 

“I would have been in trouble if you hadn’t come. If it’s not enough, order more.”

 

“Yeah. I will.”

 

Hae-Joo replied coldly, without missing a beat, and took another sip of grape juice.

 

Then she leaned her upper body forward slightly, lowered her voice, and spoke to Yi Ho.

 

“I’ve been looking over the articles all night while waiting for you, right? There were a bunch of murders with missing blood, at different times, and that body I found in the Shantytown was one of them.”

 

“I see.”

 

Hae-Joo raised an eyebrow at Yi Ho’s nonchalant response.

 

“…So you already knew about it?”

 

“Because I skimmed the newspaper before you did.”

 

Hae-Joo glared at Yi Ho in disbelief.

 

If he had told her in advance, she wouldn’t have had to look through the newspaper so blindly!

 

As if reading her mind, Yi Ho curled one side of his mouth into a pout and spoke softly.

 

“Hong’ will find out about the people around the lady, you go find out. I’ll release the men and keep an eye on the whole place.”

 

“It would have been nice if you’d told me in advance.”

 

“I will in the future.”

 

He mumbled something under his breath, and Yi Ho didn’t miss it, choking back a laugh.

 

Hae-Joo pouted her lips, then cut off a piece of sweet cake and popped it into her mouth to get rid of the nervousness.

 

“I wish I could find the men who tried to kidnap me again, too. I’m sure they know about it.”

 

“Yeah. Mister Hongo will find them as well.”

 

“I think we’re putting too much pressure on Mister Hongo, he’s already busy with the Song Yue Pavilion.”

 

Yi Ho frowned worriedly as he answered that Mister Hongo would take care of it.

 

No matter how competent Hongo Wu was, he was still only one person.

 

“Is there anything I can do? Something I can help with?”

 

For Yi Ho’s sake, finding Guishan Dao as soon as possible was the key, so she wanted to help him in any way she could.

 

‘What else could I do?’

 

She frowned, and while she was thinking, Yi Ho extended his index finger and pressed it against her forehead.

 

“I appreciate your enthusiasm, but Mister Hongo is very good with people. I may have asked him to look into it, but he doesn’t run around on his own.”

 

“That’s true, but….”

 

Hae-Joo gulped down the grape juice in a bitter mood.

 

They were all worried about his health.

 

They were worried that his condition might suddenly worsen.

 

“How are you feeling these days?”

 

“Fine.”

 

“Really?”

 

Hae-Joo thought he looked tired when she saw him in the attic, sitting by the window with his eyes closed, but now she’s not so sure.

 

His complexion was always pale, so his words were the only way to gauge his physical condition.

 

He must have read the worry on her face, because he quickly took her hand and placed it on his forehead.

 

He locked eyes with her and asked, “Look. I don’t have a fever, right?.”

 

“No, but…”

 

She wanted to say that his illness can’t be judged by fever alone, but she swallowed the question in the back of her throat.

 

Instead, she studied his face closely.

 

Then Yi Ho suddenly kissed her lightly on the lips.

 

Startled, Hae-Joo covered her lips and glanced out of the cubicle to look at Yi Ho reproachfully.

 

But he merely raised his eyebrows mockingly.

 

“I’m not a fragile porcelain, you don’t have to worry about that every day.”

 

Hae-Joo’s hands shrank from her cake as she glared at him.

 

She remained silent for a moment, looking down at the tines of her fork in confusion, then spoke.

 

“You know my dream is to get out of this Joseon land and travel the world. Do you know why?”

 

“I don’t know, but I think I do.”

 

Hae-Joo smiled faintly in response to his answer.

 

“It was easy for me to decide that I wanted to leave, that I would leave, because there was nothing left for me to… care about… in this land of Joseon anymore. My biological parents who gave birth to me, my adoptive parents who raised me… they are all far away.”

 

In this land, Joseon, the heavens and the earth change many times in a single day.

 

People who were alive yesterday are no longer alive today, and people who were smiling and greeting you this morning are taken away by the police in the evening.

 

It was not uncommon for families to be separated, and for people to be taken to war against their will.

 

Spouses who promised a hundred-year marriage often disappeared, only to be found later to have children with someone else.

 

It was not uncommon for a family member who had traveled to a faraway land and worked hard to earn money to die without anyone knowing about it.

 

So she was not the unhappiest or saddest person living in this era.

 

Nevertheless, her own loneliness hurt the most.

 

She was disgusted with herself for being helpless in the face of the horrors she had to witness almost every day.

 

She was too cowardly to be angry without caring for her own well-being.

 

She wanted to do well and survive, even if it was injustice to her life.

 

All these contradictory feelings made her want to run away.

 

But now, here, she had a regret she couldn’t let go of.

 

Ban Yi Ho, this man, was the one.

 

“But now, I don’t feel like I want to leave so much anymore, because you’re here.”

 

Hae-Joo muttered, not looking at Yi Ho, and the tip of her nose twitched.

 

This man wouldn’t know.

 

A man who had been sick for so long might have been desensitized to his condition, but not her.

 

Every time he coughed up blood, every time he ran a fever as hot as Dale’s, her heart went cold and her vision went black.

 

The thought of what would happen to him.

 

“So I’m assuming…”

 

“I’ll be fine, I promise.”

 

Hae-Joo raised her reddened eyes and looked at Yi Ho.

 

“I’ll stay by your side for a long time, no matter what it takes.”

 

Frowning, Yi Ho reached out and rubbed the corners of her eyes.

 

“Don’t cry. I’m not leaving. I won’t leave you alone, I promise.”

 

The corners of her lips tugged upward at the sincerity in his voice.

 

***

 

After leaving the fruit parlor, they walked around the alleyways of Iksunjeong and came back to Hae-Joo’s house.

 

At Yi Ho’s insistence that she shouldn’t worry about him, Hae-Joo decided to finish the brooch first and locked herself in the attic again.

 

She wonders how much time has passed.

 

Hae-Joo checked the time on the pocket watch YiHo had given her.

 

It was past ten o’clock at night.

 

“…Why is it so quiet?”

 

Hae-Joo came downstairs after tidying up the attic.

 

She could see Yi Ho sitting on one side of the room, flipping through the few books she had.

 

When she came downstairs, he turned his head and lifted his chin as if he had finished.

 

“It’s getting late, I’ll take you home.”

 

Hae-Joo hurried to grab the keys to the Ford she was borrowing from Yi Ho and headed out.

 

“Where are you taking me?”

 

“What?”

 

Hae-Joo looked back as she picked up her keys from a low table in her room, the one with a mirror and some makeup on it.

 

“Boss, you should go home, it’s curfew in two hours.”

 

“Are you coming with me?”

 

“I have to come back, Eun-sil is coming tomorrow morning. Go before it gets any later…”

 

She grabbed her keys and headed for the door, but Yi Ho didn’t move.

 

“Boss?”

 

“Do you want me to go?”

 

Hae-Joo was stunned by his directness, and her mouth dropped open.

 

Then, as if to drive a wedge, Yi Ho added.

 

“I’ll go to bed. Put me to bed.”

 

Hae-Joo’s eyes narrowed at his directness.

 

Of course, she had stayed at Yi Ho’s house for days.

 

But that was because his house had only one bed, but several couches that could be used as beds.

 

But she had never shared a futon with him.

 

“…I only have one futon.”

 

“We can sleep together.”

 

Hae-Joo’s eyes widened and she looked at the smirking Yi Ho in bewilderment.

 

His joking reference earlier in the morning and his momentary indulgence in the attic this afternoon set off alarm bells in her head.

 

Blushing instantly, Hae-Joo took an involuntary half-step backward.