While everyone was enjoying tea at the tea house introduced by Namgoong Ruby, the topic of conversation turned to Ma Dongcheol, the one we fought earlier.
“That guy named Ma Dongcheol we fought earlier seems to be from the Heuksalim sect. How can the dark faction roam freely in front of the Murim Association?”
“Well, that’s because it’s not the Murim Association that effectively controls Chang’an, but the Ming Dynasty royal family.”
It was Samajak who provided the answer to my question.
“Huh…?”
I tilted my head in confusion, and Samajak elaborated to clarify further.
“No matter how powerful the Murim Association is in Chang’an, in the end, the emperor is the true lord of Chang’an. From the emperor’s perspective, regardless of whether they’re righteous or evil, they are all his subjects, so there’s no need to exclude them. To completely eradicate the dark faction from Chang’an, the righteous side must also have a strong justification, but the dark side wouldn’t provide such an excuse unless they went mad.”
Indeed, it’s a case where political interests lead to mutual disregard.
“But wouldn’t that mean only powerless ordinary people suffer?”
“That’s why everyone stays quiet about it.”
Neither the government nor the Murim Association thinks they will protect them.
“……”
I felt as if the common sense I held deep within me was being shattered.
“However, in cases like that man earlier, where there’s obvious damage to property, the government usually intervenes. If they ignore such cases, Chang’an would become a lawless land, but then again, they could also be looked down upon for being too scared to act.”
I was grateful for that point and sipped the now-cold tea in my cup while engrossed in the conversation.
It was slightly cold, but the tea was still delicious.
*
After finishing the tea and buying materials to make Dokgorin’s mask, the sun was already setting.
As I was walking towards the dormitory before it got too late, Dokgorin suddenly spoke up.
“Chilbok, are you hiding something from me?”
“What?”
Caught off guard by her unexpected question, I blinked, and Dokgorin looked back and forth between Samajak and me.
“There’s been a rumor among the female students in the academic building lately.”
“What rumor?”
“It’s that Chilbok and Samajak seem to have an unusual relationship.”
“……”
Could it be that I’m being suspected of being gay right now?
I felt incredibly wronged but couldn’t reveal that Samajak was actually a girl, so I immediately protested.
“That’s wrong! Where’s such nonsense coming from!”
“I thought so too. Besides, Chilbok really likes big breasts.”
Saying that, Dokgorin proudly thrust her big chest forward.
“In fact, our meeting outside today wasn’t a coincidence. I heard from Namgoong Ruby that you would be going out, and I followed just in case.”
“…You were tailing me?”
“That’s right. And thanks to that, I’m convinced. Samajak has special feelings for you beyond friendship.”
Namgoong Ruby looked at Samajak as she said this.
“You like Chilbok, don’t you?”
“……”
Samajak froze at Dokgorin’s direct question that caught her completely off guard.
I knew Dokgorin was perceptive, but I didn’t expect her to be this sharp.
She noticed that Samajak liked me.
Excluding the fact that she was actually a girl, everything I had kept hidden had been laid bare.
Immediately, Dokgorin crossed her arms and said.
“I’m saying this for your sake, but Chilbok is heterosexual. There’s absolutely no chance of him having those kinds of feelings for you, so it’s best to give up now. Besides, with a charming girl like me being his fiancée, there’s no way you would win.”
Her audacity to refer to herself as a charming girl.
But honestly, I couldn’t deny that Dokgorin was indeed outstandingly beautiful.
Next to her, Namgoong Ruby was also an incredible beauty by modern standards, but the fact that she’s an exotic mixed-blood would be a disadvantage in a culture centered on the Han Chinese.
In any case, hearing such a beauty say to give up was something.
Normally, one would feel intimidated and would be unable to retort, but Samajak wasn’t ordinary.
“No.”
With a determined expression, Samajak stood her ground against Dokgorin’s gaze.
“Huh?”
Dokgorin raised an eyebrow, as if she couldn’t believe what she just heard, but Samajak wasn’t intimidated and continued.
“No matter how much you’re Chilbok’s fiancée, you have no right to order me to give him up.”
Immediately, Samajak’s body began to change.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
As all her bones realigned, her body transformed rapidly.
Soon, once she returned to her original female form, she proudly puffed out her chest and said.
“And you say I should give up because I could never have a relationship with a man? Sorry, but I’m a woman. And the chest that Chilbok likes? Mine is bigger.”
Her absurdly large chest naturally accentuated.
Dokgorin’s size wasn’t something to scoff at either, but Samajak’s chest was something that seemed to belong to a different category.
“What, what?!”
Dokgorin’s expression was one of shock at Samajak’s sudden coming out and the sight of her larger chest.
“Hahaha! This is a masterpiece!”
Namgoong Ruby laughed heartily from a third-party perspective, finding the situation amusing.
“What will you do now?”
With flames of determination igniting within her, Samajak looked fierce.
The situation truly turned into a chaotic mess, causing me to involuntarily cover my face with my palm.
*
Samajak revealing her true identity was purely incidental.
It was a reaction driven by her resentment towards Dokgorin, who looked down at her with an air of superiority.
However, after liberating the secret she had struggled with all alone, she felt a sense of relief wash over her.
Since entering Cheonmu Academy, she had constantly worried about being discovered as a woman.
After Ichilbok discovered she was a woman, she felt slightly relieved, but spending most of her daily life under the gaze of others didn’t allow complete freedom.
“What, what?!”
Dokgorin seemed utterly flustered.
“Hahaha! This is such a masterpiece!”
Namgoong Ruby was just enjoying the situation, laughing uproariously.
“Ugh—”
And Ichilbok, clearly exhausted by the situation, covered his face with his palm.
Though I felt a bit sorry for him, who had desperately tried to protect her secret, she gathered her resolve and spoke.
“As you can see, I’m originally a woman. So even if I like Chilbok, there’s no problem.”
Upon hearing this, Dokgorin hurriedly protested.
“Chilbok is my fiancée!”
“We’re not married yet, are we? Have you and Chilbok done ‘it’?”
“D-done ‘it’?!”
Hearing her blunt words made Dokgorin’s face turn bright red.
I thought she was more naive than I expected despite her sharp tongue, while Samajak boldly continued the conversation.
“Not being married or having kids, you have nothing to hold Chilbok back. So why should I give up?”
“Ugh…!”
Dokgorin was increasingly pressed into a corner.
On the other hand, realizing she was a step ahead, Samajak landed the final blow.
“Besides, you were secretly tailing me because you didn’t completely trust Chilbok, right? You have no right to question my qualifications when you’re in that situation.”
“Ugh…!”
Dokgorin was completely defeated in her argument and could not say anything back.
Seeing this, Samajak felt a rush of exhilaration.
But just for a moment. After relishing her brief victory, the weight of her decision washed over her.
‘What now?’
The fact that she was a woman was still a secret.
But now that her core identity had been revealed, it would surely be reported up the hierarchy of the academy, and in the worst-case scenario, she could be expelled.
As her mind became complicated with concerns about the aftermath, Ichilbok suddenly interjected.
“Stop!”
He looked at the two of them, observing the whole situation unfold.
“If this continues, it’ll just hurt both of you. For my sake, can we wrap this up?”
With a pleading expression, Ichilbok asked.
“……”
Given that this wasn’t exactly a situation that could be resolved with mere words, Samajak readily accepted the ceasefire.
“Alright, let’s return to the academy before it gets any later.”
As she said this, she started to check on Dokgorin first.
Although I had won the argument, seeing Ichilbok prioritizing Dokgorin even after that made Samajak feel a surge of jealousy.
‘What is this painful feeling?’
It was an unfamiliar sensation.
She instinctively clutched her chest and quickly realized that the emotion was ‘jealousy.’
She was envious of the bond between Ichilbok and Dokgorin.
Dokgorin, who held all the advantages simply because she met Ichilbok first, was someone Samajak despised.
So,
‘I’ll take it away from you.’
The flame that had been dormant within her began to rage fiercely.
