“Is everything okay, Hwa-rin?”
I shook off my surprise at Hwa-rin’s sudden appearance and checked her from head to toe.
Is she really alright?
Hwa-rin’s appearance before me looked perfectly fine contrary to my worries. Her skin was as clear as before, and she didn’t look sick at all.
“Yes! I’ll be waiting outside. Get ready and come out.”
Hwa-rin answered cheerfully and left the room.
“What just happened?”
This feels unreal. If I hadn’t felt the cold winter breeze from the window Hwa-rin opened, I would’ve believed I was dreaming.
I couldn’t see her until yesterday, so what’s going on?
It feels bewildering. Like I’m in a situation where a beauty suddenly appears while dodging a rain of bullets and tells me to get in the open car if I want to live.
Could it be someone else disguising as Hwa-rin?
“Yoon-ho!”
As I was lost in thought, Hwa-rin popped her head back in through the door.
“Huh?”
“It’s for fun! So don’t just throw on anything! Dress nicely and come out!”
Considering she knows I usually dress casually, it really must be Hwa-rin.
“Did you get that?”
I could only nod in response to Hwa-rin’s query.
——-
“It should be fine.”
“…Yes.”
With a little help from the servants, I got dressed and came outside, where I found the Guard Unit Leader and Hwa-rin in conversation from a distance.
The Guard Unit Leader said he would arrange for Hwa-rin to meet me, so he really did pull some strings. I suppose I owe him a thank you.
“Eat this.”
“Yes.”
“I’ve told you multiple times…”
“Medicine? Hwa-rin! Are you sick? Are you not fully recovered yet?!”
As I approached, I realized the item Hwa-rin had taken from the Guard Unit Leader was a healing pill. Is her condition still bad? I asked her with a worried expression.
“Um, it’s not like that.”
Hwa-rin, why are you slightly avoiding my gaze? You look like you’re hiding something.
“What do you mean it’s not? You can’t even say it right.”
“I just woke up. The aftereffects are still lingering, so this is the medicine they’re giving me. So don’t worry too much.”
The Guard Unit Leader interjected in a reassuring tone as I was about to press Hwa-rin further.
“Hwa-rin, would it be better to rest a bit before going out? We don’t have to go today, you know?”
Hwa-rin had just woken up after being unconscious for a long time and took a poisonous substance right after. Thankfully, she woke up, but she had spent days resting.
Even a patient with muscles like a bodybuilder would become as frail as a deflated balloon after a long hospital stay. Hwa-rin, having learned martial arts, shouldn’t be in top shape either.
“No way!”
“What’s wrong?”
I was startled. Hwa-rin yelled with a surprised look.
“I just, I want to go out now!”
Hwa-rin’s eyes were trembling as they looked at me.
“The medicine will make it fine. I guarantee it.”
If the Guard Unit Leader guarantees it, maybe it really is okay.
“Then let’s go.”
“Yes!”
Hwa-rin’s face lit up at the suggestion to go out.
“The carriage and driver are ready, so we can leave right away.”
The Guard Unit Leader pointed to a luxurious carriage in front of us. Isn’t that a bit too fancy for us? Just looking at it screams expensive.
As I carefully opened the carriage door, the inside was just as luxurious. Hwa-rin would be amazed.
“You must return before it gets dark.”
Turning my head, I saw the Guard Unit Leader giving Hwa-rin a warning like a father wouldn’t let his daughter stay out late.
It’s not like this carriage is Cinderella’s pumpkin carriage; we’re coming back together anyway. Plus, when I asked my friends, they said you don’t necessarily need to create history only at night.
“…Yes.”
With a determined expression, Hwa-rin nodded at me and got into the carriage.
—————–
I feel uneasy.
Hwa-rin shows no signs of being unwell. Judging by her excitement, she seems to be completely recovered. Her skin looks great. But something weighs on my mind.
There was a moment of unease in the Guard Unit Leader’s eyes when he saw us, or Hwa-rin’s subtle evasiveness seems alarming.
Am I overreacting?
“Yoon-ho, are you just going to stare blankly like that?”
Maybe Hwa-rin noticed I’ve been gazing at her in silence in the carriage. She spoke to me with a slightly disappointed tone.
“Hwa-rin, it’s just…”
“And if you keep staring at me, don’t you have something to say?”
“Hwa-rin, just come back safely…”
“Something else!”
I thought I was failing to give her a heartfelt confession, but that wasn’t it.
Hwa-rin looked expectantly at my eyes, waiting for whatever words she wanted. What does she want to hear?
Seeing that I hesitated in answering, Hwa-rin lifted her chin slightly with a slightly frustrated look. Ah,
“Your face has cleared up. Congratulations, Hwa-rin.”
“It was similar, but you’re wrong!”
Hwa-rin showed her outfit as if to show off.
By this point, I should have known what Hwa-rin wanted to hear.
“Hwa-rin, you look beautiful today.”
“Excuse me? What did you say?”
Hwa-rin’s face bloomed like a flower. That was the right answer.
Though Hwa-rin heard me, she couldn’t hide her smile as she asked me for that answer again.
“You’re beautiful, Hwa-rin.”
“Say it again. Again. Again.”
Why is she blushing so much?
“Honestly, your looks can rival Xi Shi, Wang Zhaojun, Diao Chan, and Yang Guifei. The first beauty of Sichuan meant Hwa-rin of the Tang family.”
I said playfully, acting like a stage performer confessing to their lover.
“Haha! You’re crazy! Really!”
Hwa-rin seemed pleased with my joke as she kept poking my side with her elbow.
“Ouch!”
Even as a joke, it hurts, Hwa-rin.
“We have arrived.”
The driver announced in a mechanical voice as if he were a professional chauffeur, ignoring what we were doing, that we’d arrived at the marketplace Hwa-rin wanted to visit.
“Hahaha! I’d like to offer the first beauty of Sichuan to Master Kang.”
Hwa-rin extended her hand to me as if she were a great lady, speaking in a refined manner as if she were indeed the first beauty.
“It’s an honor.”
I should play along with this.
“Are those people from the Sichuan Tang Family?”
“What’s going on at the market?”
Seeing the high-end carriage stop at the marketplace felt like seeing a luxury limousine. As I took Hwa-rin’s hand and opened the carriage door, I could hear whispers from the crowd staring at us.
“Y-Yoon-ho.”
Hwa-rin’s voice trembled nervously. Her face was stiff with tension.
“Huh?”
“Today is the day I’m coming out for the first time without my veil. You have to lead me well, okay?”
As Hwa-rin stepped out of the carriage, even with her face cleared up, she bowed her head deeply. Hwa-rin’s hand tightly holding onto mine was shaking uncontrollably.
What was I worrying about?
As soon as Hwa-rin got better, she rushed to me. Now’s not the time to overthink; it’s time to enjoy the renewed, healthy Hwa-rin.
My anxieties about the future are meaningless. Hwa-rin’s anxiety right now is something I need to protect her from.
I squeezed her hand tight to reassure her and spoke.
“Just trust me.”
————————
“I feel like everyone is staring at me right now. What if I’m not really healed? I’m so anxious.”
Although Hwa-rin’s anxious expression faded a bit as we linked arms, she couldn’t stop glancing nervously around.
Hwa-rin, the people around you aren’t imagining it.
With the clear skin she has achieved, any passing man would stop and stare, stunned by her beauty. If they happen to look down just a little, they’d be stunned into silence by her lower half.
Hwa-rin is like a walking red light.
While I reassured her by telling her it’s just because she’s beautiful, Hwa-rin only squeezed my arm tighter whenever someone came near.
Of course, the more she squeezed, the more noticeable certain sensations became. I think I could even endure her anxiety a little longer.
“Let’s go see the circus first. They’ll be too busy watching the acts to pay you any mind.”
“Okay.”
The traveling circus, the “Performance Troupe,” had arrived at the market.
“How can a person’s arm stretch like that?”
“An elephant! Did it come from India?”
“That’s the martial arts of India! Yoga Fire!”
Wow, incredible. Sure, in this world where martial arts exist, acrobatic displays like these seem relatively easy, but the acts were amazing enough to leave both Hwa-rin and me gaping.
Even though both of us practiced martial arts, the focus of the circus performers, who mainly entertain, is entirely different from fighters in mixed martial arts competitions.
“Wasn’t that fun?”
After the performance ended, we ordered some street food from a street vendor and started chatting about the circus.
“Yeah! But the storyteller wasn’t as good as you, Yoon-ho. Hehe.”
I think Hwa-rin had fun, as her worries seemed to have flown away, and she answered me with a joyful face.
“Of course, the storyteller is the best at entertaining.”
If I, Master Kang Yoon-ho, were to join the circus and start a storytelling spree, I’d instantly become their ace, but since I’m a kind author who worries about the circus’s unemployment rate, I’ll stick to holding back.
“That’s right. The Donation Technique won’t be able to keep up with you.”
“Was it that?”
“Hehe. Did I disappoint you? You’re way better at storytelling than him.”
“No, not at all. But… is it really okay to give that much money?”
After the circus, Hwa-rin tossed a surprisingly large amount of money from her pocket, leaving even me stunned. So much so that everyone there thanked her profusely.
After staring at me for a while, Hwa-rin chuckled and then spoke.
“Thanks to you being a great storyteller, I was able to make it all the way to Yichang. That’s why we can stand here now. Since we received help, we can’t just take. We have to give back.”
Damn. That’s dazzling.
Some might think looking at Hwa-rin’s beautiful face gives them a reason to shy away, but she was a lady who didn’t extort others but rather lived by giving.
“Here are the sweet red bean fish-shaped pastries and cream-filled fish-shaped pastries. Thank you for waiting; I’ve also added a couple of extras for the ones that got burned.”
“Thank you.”
I was about to say something when a passerby glanced over, but I held back because they gave us extras.
We sat down in a spot where no one was passing by, and started to munch on the fish-shaped pastries. Delicious. The sweet red bean fish-shaped pastries are a winter staple. I wonder if Hwa-rin enjoys it too.
Turning to look, she was nibbling cautiously on the pastries with a careful demeanor.
“Why are you eating so primly? Is it not tasty?”
“Hey!”
“You must be hungry, so eat up!”
At my urging, Hwa-rin nodded and then downed the cream and red bean pastries in a flash.
I guess street food really suits a Korean in winter. I didn’t expect her to eat all of mine too.
“Yoon-ho, I wanted to eat something like this.”
After confirming her pastry was empty, Hwa-rin cautiously spoke to me.
“You’ve never had fish-shaped pastries?”
Could it be that fish-shaped pastries are a special treat from Sichuan?
“No. I just wanted to experience ordinary street food.”
“I see.”
For the Hwa-rin who had always worn her veil, street food must have felt like a daunting challenge.
“Even if I wanted to try street food, if I sent someone to buy it, it would get cold; my peers joke around and laugh while eating at the market, but I never got to experience something so trivial.”
Why’s she getting depressed again?
“From now on, let’s go eat together often.”
I firmly grabbed Hwa-rin’s hand, reassuring her.
“…”
Hwa-rin was silently looking at me.
“Hwa-rin?”
What’s wrong?
“I’ve had enough! I’ll gain weight!”
Hwa-rin playfully shrugged my hand off but smiled while saying it.
Wow. What kind of rhythm am I supposed to dance to with this girl?
—–
To quench Hwa-rin’s long-standing thirst, after buying all the street food she liked, I was led by her into a stationery store.
“What are you planning to buy here?”
“It’s important to buy good stuff, you know. Is it reasonable for the best author from Yichang to use cheap stationery?”
“I just need to write. Also, we can buy it when we go to Yichang anyway.”
“…I just want to buy it now? Shopkeeper! Please bring out the good stuff.”
“Oh! It’s Hwa-rin! I heard you were visiting from the Sichuan Tang Family. Let me bring out some excellent items that even the Tang Family Head uses!”
“Hwa-rin, those obviously look too luxurious…”
The storekeeper brought out items that even beginners would recognize as luxury goods. I forgot that Hwa-rin is a well-known rich girl from Daeheung County.
Hwa-rin, I know good stuff too.
But we have a lot of debts at the Tea Bookstore, and we are currently closed, so we’re lacking income. I have to bring this up since we’re about to become a shared destiny together.
Just as I was about to tell Hwa-rin that, she covered my mouth and revealed the most important fact.
“Today, I’m using the funds from the Sichuan Tang Family.”
“Shopkeeper!”
“Yes?”
“Is there anything better than this common thing?”
Why not bring out heirloom-level luxury goods passed down from the master’s grandfather?
Bring out the most expensive one!
