As expected.
Tang Hwa-rin looked at Kang Yoon-ho, who had a flustered expression. He must have been trying to avoid mentioning his childhood friend until they parted ways.
I understand. The situation is already overwhelming due to his poison problem. He didn’t want to burden himself with the issue of a childhood friend while having to face a sad farewell.
Yoon-ho always acts like he can handle everything with a smile, telling others not to worry, but Tang Hwa-rin couldn’t turn a blind eye to his childhood friend issue.
It wouldn’t be right to poke at his wounds in front of him, but knowing about his pain and turning her head away wouldn’t be the right thing to do either.
“The matter of that kid… You couldn’t eventually tell the Tang Family Head, could you?”
A failed poison. The Tang Family Head’s illegitimate child. Kang Yoon-ho’s close friend. Yoon-ho concealed her matter to become the fake illegitimate child of the Tang Family Head.
“How could I say anything?”
Kang Yoon-ho spoke to Tang Hwa-rin with an expression that tried hard to mask his sadness.
To save Tang Hwa-rin, Yoon-ho’s close friend had become a being that could not be revealed to anyone. It would have been nice if she could mourn and get angry. But Tang Hwa-rin’s face darkened with guilt.
“I’m sorry.”
Tang Hwa-rin said to him with an honest, apologetic expression.
“It’s inevitable. You don’t have to worry about it.”
You? You’ll care, right?
Tang Hwa-rin couldn’t bring herself to say it.
It’s a nonchalant face. But inside, he’s definitely hurting. He’s a good actor. He must be pretending to be okay to comfort himself.
If he deliberately avoided talking about it, he probably was contemplating burying it in one corner of his heart forever.
His close friend, first love of a lover. She wished desperately to become a substitute for her, but she didn’t want this ending.
Tang Hwa-rin felt as much joy from promising to reunite with Kang Yoon-ho as she felt overwhelming guilt inside her heart.
Just yesterday, that is.
Tang Hwa-rin decided to confess her absurd yet mystical experiences, hoping it would erase her guilt.
“I had a dream yesterday.”
“A dream?”
“A dream of a mischievous yet straight-laced little girl.”
A girl whose face she didn’t even know. A girl who, in five years, could make any man’s heart flutter.
She was definitely a face she had never seen before, yet somehow familiar. That couldn’t be helped. Ever since Yoon-ho met her, she had always been a person occupying a corner of her heart.
“……”
Kang Yoon-ho’s eyes widened in surprise as if he knew whom she was talking about.
She looked at her lover with affectionate eyes, as if conveying the gaze she received in her dream to Kang Yoon-ho.
“She said thank you. And she told me not to make things hard for you like she did.”
Tang Hwa-rin cried profusely in front of her. Guilt and debt weighed heavily on her.
“Are you glad you survived because of me? I will forever remain unknown to my father. Are you happy? Don’t try to take my man. To become happy with my death, I will curse you.”
She could have spat out harsh words, yet she thanked Tang Hwa-rin.
At her words, Tang Hwa-rin couldn’t bear it.
As Tang Hwa-rin cried, she laughed as if relieved and asked why she was crying. She kept saying thank you. Tang Hwa-rin cried even more because that expression resembled her stolen lover.
“Hwa-rin.”
“If there’s someone at the Tea Bookstore you really want to take as my woman, don’t refuse.”
“Hwa-rin. I told you.”
Did he misunderstand that she was saying to marry another woman like last time? Kang Yoon-ho said in a firm tone.
“What do you mean? I’m not saying to marry someone else.”
Tang Hwa-rin said confidently with a pouty expression.
“Then?”
“My seat beside you is mine. I’m just allowing you to keep the empty seat next to me.”
Tang Hwa-rin gave a small smile while looking at Kang Yoon-ho, who was bewildered.
Was she really Kang Yoon-ho’s childhood friend? Perhaps her sense of guilt caused her to dream about her.
No, it wasn’t just a simple dream. She must have truly appeared in her dream.
She would have done the same.
‘You’re telling me not to make Yoon-ho suffer, right?’
She could understand her words. Yoon-ho had suffered for over ten years after losing her. And now Yoon-ho could suffer waiting for her for the next ten years.
Thanks to Kang Yoon-ho and her, she stood here now. Feeling his warmth wrapped in his arms. She hoped that if she took him using her, he would not suffer in the same way.
She hated the thought of another woman being next to him. But she hated more the idea of making him suffer.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Kang Yoon-ho said to her, as if he didn’t understand.
“There’s such a thing.”
I’m not going to easily accept just anyone. As Yoon-ho’s lover and on her behalf, I will strictly scrutinize it.
“This is the document I prepared. Take it.”
Tang Hwa-rin handed over the prepared document.
“The Tea Bookstore Transfer Certificate? Hwa-rin, the Tea Bookstore is your maternal grandfather’s property.”
“I’ll be staying at the Tang Family for training, so if there are any issues regarding the ownership of the Tea Bookstore, you, just the shop owner, might face problems you can’t resolve. You’ll need this when that time comes.”
“But even so, Hwa-rin.”
“In ten years, it will be our property anyway. Think of it as a little pre-wedding gift.”
Tang Hwa-rin said, lowering her head shyly.
“Well, that’s true.”
“And Yoon-ho.”
Tang Hwa-rin looked up at Kang Yoon-ho’s side.
His side is always hers. She could spare a little, but she didn’t want to lose it.
To ensure she wouldn’t lose it, what should she do?
Keep making him think of her. So she gave the Tea Bookstore to him. If she worked there instead of going somewhere else, he would keep thinking of her. But that was a bit insufficient.
Isn’t there a saying that when the body distances, the heart distances too?
She needed to embed herself in his mind.
If she could offer him experiences that no other woman could, he would think of her in similar situations in the future.
So…
Tang Hwa-rin swallowed her saliva and carefully lowered her shawl from her shoulders.
“Hwa-rin?”
His eyes widened like before. Memories of Tang Hwa-rin’s struggles flashed through his mind. He’s really dense. She had mustered the courage several times before but failed each time. But what she was doing now was not seduction.
She was already Yoon-ho’s woman.
What she was about to do was imprint herself in his mind.
Tang Hwa-rin shed the black fabric blocking the space between them.
“Yoon-ho… Can I touch… your chest?”
Kang Yoon-ho had no thoughts of rejecting the overwhelming sight unfolding before him.
————————
“You’re boarding the carriage, are you, Guard Unit Chief?”
The Tang Family Head, Tang Baek-ho, looked at Kang Yoon-ho, who was boarding the carriage to leave the distant Sichuan Tang Family, and spoke to the Guard Unit Chief behind him.
“Yes.”
“Isn’t it funny? I sacrificed love to gain the clan. But that kid is leaving behind everything for the one she loves.”
He’s giving up the right to be a Deputy Head of Family and the opportunity to be a direct descendant of the Tang Family while his son is preparing to leave.
“You did what you had to do.”
“That’s even more of a regret.”
The Guard Unit Chief couldn’t speak for a while, looking at the Tang Family Head, who wore a sorrowful expression while gazing at the carriage.
“Is it alright if you don’t bid him farewell?”
The Guard Unit Chief cautiously asked the Tang Family Head, who looked sad.
“I’ve said everything a father could say.”
There were those who knew they would face punishment from the Tang Family Head but still spat venom at Kang Yoon-ho. To ensure the safety of the eldest son and quell disturbances in the Sichuan Tang Family, he had to endure this much pain.
“Hwa-rin’s treatment has completely removed all the poison from her body, and most organs damaged by the poison are recovering. After around a year of recuperation, she should be able to practice martial arts without any problems.”
“That’s a relief.”
“However, there is a concerning point.”
“A concerning point? What is it?”
“There could be issues with her fertility due to prolonged exposure to the poison.”
Most of Tang Hwa-rin’s organs recovered from the treatment of being a victim of poison. However, the one who poisoned the Deputy Head of Family was Tang Geoh, who wished to become the Tang Family Head.
Even if the Deputy Head of Family recovers, Tang Geoh had meticulously poisoned him to ensure a disqualification in the succession.
“Huh. How desperate was Tang Geoh to want the position of Tang Family Head.”
The Tang Family Head let out a deep sigh.
“We’ll have to monitor the situation, but regarding the succession issue…”
The Guard Unit Chief spoke, thinking of the other potential successor who would be in the carriage.
“As long as I’m alive, I have no intention of changing the Deputy Head of Family.”
“I have been unfaithful.”
The Guard Unit Chief immediately bowed his head and lowered his posture.
The Tang Family Head gazed at the Guard Unit Chief for a while before turning his gaze back to the carriage outside the window, speaking quietly enough for the Guard Unit Chief to hear.
“Things could change by the time our grandchildren are present.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“By then, surely anyone would be inclined to look at the child born between an absolute victim of poison and my bloodline, wouldn’t they?”
A child born between the Deputy Head of Family’s illegitimate child and a complete victim of poison. If the Deputy Head of Family cannot produce a successor, any member of the Sichuan Tang Family would look upon that child.
“I’ll keep the escort troops that are accompanying them stationed here.”
The Guard Unit Chief replied with a smile.
“For now, he’ll probably refuse. But if that kid needs help later on, I’ll be ready to assist. The Elders’ Council wouldn’t want to sever the lineage of the Tang Family Head.”
“Sir!”
“Don’t call me that, you rascal. Don’t use such words that don’t suit you when you’re fond of what I said.”
The two of them smiled at each other, having finally ended a painful incident buried for over twenty years and looked at each other as long-standing friends.
“Is there a problem with your hand? If you’re feeling any pain, I can take a look at it.”
As I stared blankly at my hand, someone from the Tang Family spoke in a concerned voice.
“I’m fine.”
“Is that so? You’ve been staring at your hand, opening and closing it repeatedly, and I thought something was wrong.”
“I just had an incredibly valuable experience in my life.”
I’m really glad to be alive.
“Yes?”
“That’s just how it is.”
I opened the carriage window and looked at the receding Sichuan Tang Family.
It had been a long journey.
Poison victim, Tang Hwa-rin.
A failed poisoner, crushed skin, a woman who would have lived a life of pain and died hating the world is no longer in this world.
Only the poison woman, who would continue her training for the reunion approaching, remains in the Tang family.
‘Is it a disappointing success or a regrettable failure?’
Whatever one thinks, hope was seen. It was not a farewell without a promise but a farewell with a promise of reunion.
No matter how one thinks, the sorrow and regret of parting do not easily settle.
“I need to become more famous.”
To reunite faster with Hwa-rin.
So as not to lose the women who have come into my arms again.
So I can save heroines trapped in tragic fates.
Let’s return. To Yichang’s Tea Bookstore.
