‘Am I dreaming right now?’
Im Ha-yeon imitating a cat?!
Inside and outside. Just a simple window separating the two views, yet it felt as unreal as the boundary between reality and TV.
Of course, it couldn’t be real. I must be really tired. Time to sleep. I closed the window.
“Why did you close the window?!”
A surprised voice came as soon as I shut it.
“Was it real?”
“Does it look fake?”
What about fake Shadowless Thieves? Standing still like a paused screen, I wondered if it was an illusion.
Im Ha-yeon stared at me for quite a while with a flushed face, then lowered her head and sighed softly.
“I-I thought this would work…”
Where on earth did she learn that?
A chilly autumn breeze crept through the open window, brushing against my face. It’s a place where the wind blows often, Wuhan. Im Ha-yeon looked like her cheeks had frozen in the cold wind.
“It’s chilly.”
She stepped back a few paces to let herself in through the window.
“Does that mean I can come in? Well… huh?!”
Did her hands freeze too? Im Ha-yeon couldn’t grip the window frame and flailed around.
“Come in quickly.”
I grabbed her hand and pulled her in. Her hands were indeed cold.
“Thank you. B-but why were you awake until now?”
“I was handling something important.”
I nodded toward the desk, where the lights were still on.
“Didn’t you say we were going to drop everything and play?”
“I also wanted to get rid of annoying stuff quickly so we could have more fun tomorrow.”
“Hehe. Now that you mention it, I did that too.”
Im Ha-yeon seemed to remember she had been working today too, and she smiled and nodded lightly.
I started to tidy up the unfinished letters on the desk and looked at Im Ha-yeon.
With the warmth of the room, her previously stiff face began to relax, and I realized something I hadn’t noticed before.
“Did you put on makeup?”
“D-do I look different?”
Did she just come back from an idol makeup session? Her eyelashes looked so defined. Is she waiting for my answer? Im Ha-yeon, with her face slightly flushed, twirled one of her pigtails with her finger.
“Hmm…”
She was already a beautiful woman, but now with professional makeup, I struggled to find the right words for compliments. And why is she wearing a cheongsam?
She wasn’t wearing Da-seo-gak’s uniform; instead, she had donned an extremely short cheongsam, showing her cleavage, which was totally my taste.
Her face was all dolled up, and looking down, I found nowhere else to gaze. Eventually, my eyes got lost, and I stared at the floor.
“Hmm.”
Did my reaction suffice? Im Ha-yeon let out a pleased hum.
‘No way she came to make a move today.’
I could feel her gaze on me as if she were watching intensely. Even a dense guy wouldn’t miss the signal.
An event that had never happened once in the history of Kang Yoon-ho. Even searching through my history yielded “No results. Please check if you entered a wrong keyword.”
If I were to write my epic tale, I’d have to dedicate at least a page to this impending event!
“What brings you here at this hour?”
Had I been misunderstanding all this time? Just to be sure, I decided to test the waters.
“What do you think I came for?”
“Hahaha.”
Alarm! Red alert! No! Green alert! Oh no! If it’s like this, it’s all green below! OLED above!
“Sit here.”
Im Ha-yeon smiled and gestured for me to sit on my bed.
No way. Once she sits next to me, it’s all over.
‘I need to keep my composure.’
一 A child embarking on a long journey. Shouldn’t it be a ship as big as Namsan?
Having prepared thoroughly with so many audiovisual lessons, I know how men and women should behave when lying in bed, but I had no clue about the preparatory stage before that.
If I had known, I would’ve studied harder during sex ed class. I never thought it would be this useful in my life.
Calm down. I need to keep my cool and convince Im Ha-yeon. I walked up to her with a serious expression.
“Im Ha-yeon. I understand your eagerness to hurry things, but I can’t just join Hao-mun’s general assembly like this. I need to become a disciple of Hao-mun’s master, and a fleeting night’s fun… Oh! Im Ha-yeon?”
I was immediately silenced.
Im Ha-yeon stood up cautiously and crossed her arms. Wait. Is this feeling? No way! Is she not wearing anything underneath? In my panic, she pushed me down onto the bed.
“I came to prepare, after all.”
Im Ha-yeon was sitting on my waist, looking down at me. Her face appeared ever so enchanting today.
Was my choice today between possibility and impossibility, or simply the number of times?
Im Ha-yeon’s face was coming closer.
Considering all the circumstances, was it right to refuse? My rational mind said to push her away, but my heart, facing a once-in-a-lifetime situation, was urging me to give in.
I had to refuse her. But my body felt like it was caught in a trap, unable to move easily. Im Ha-yeon’s breath brushed my face. Up close, I noticed that her eyes were trembling too.
The moment our lips touch would be the end. I could refuse no longer.
My heart was beating like a drum. Thump. Thump, thump, thump. Pssht. Thump. I succumbed to the irresistible flow…
Wait. Pssht?
That sounds like a firing noise!
“Huh?”
Something was launched above my head.
“Hmm!”
The speed surpassed my comprehension. Im Ha-yeon had already jumped into the air. Just like a Shadowless Thief!
一 Phew!
One projectile wasn’t enough. More mysterious objects were launched towards Im Ha-yeon, who was soaring mid-air.
She twisted her body mid-air to change direction. Indeed, a move from the Martial Arts of the Cloud Dragon Eight Styles carried in the Shadowless Body Technique!
It was a move that could make anyone gasp in admiration, but the room was small, and the firing sounds never ceased.
“Ugh!”
Eventually, Im Ha-yeon couldn’t overcome the sheer number of projectiles and got hit, crashing down onto the floor.
What’s going on?
As I examined the projectiles carefully, they seemed to be small balls. Words were written on them. I picked one up from the chaotic floor.
“…Alliance?”
Alliance. All the balls bore the same words.
“Y-you can ignore them!”
Im Ha-yeon, flustered, immediately pushed me down onto the bed.
“Wait a moment, Im Ha-yeon.”
“It’s fine, really!”
一 Creak.
Not fine! Something’s opening above the ceiling!
“Watch out!”
Water poured down onto the bed.
“Ughhh! Really!”
Im Ha-yeon and I barely managed to dodge to the floor, but the bed was already soaked, and we couldn’t lie down on it anymore.
“What on earth?!”
“It’s okay! Even if the bedcover gets wet, that’s all there is to it!”
Im Ha-yeon’s eyes were ablaze. I could scream “I’m Im Ha-yeon, the woman who doesn’t give up!” based on her amazing skills as she hastily changed the bedcover.
Once more, she laid me back on the bed.
“Ugh!”
“How many did you set up in here!!!”
This time, the bed spun around 540 degrees and flipped over!
———-
In an instant, the room was in total chaos.
It wasn’t even mid-winter, it wasn’t Christmas, and I wasn’t home alone either. How many traps did I have set up in my room?
“Did you have some secret deal with Miss Zhuge?”
The fired balls, the bucket that held the water, and even the back of the bed were all labeled ‘Alliance.’
“…”
So she did. Im Ha-yeon averted her gaze.
So they must have had a promise I was unaware of. Miss Zhuge must have set up these traps for ambush protection against the Tang family and modified them for tonight.
“Let’s clean this up.”
Thanks to Miss Zhuge, my mind finally returned. I opened the window to let the sticky air of the room out.
“Ugh.”
Im Ha-yeon. Don’t be too upset. This stuff is all about the mood. It’s open. It’s open.
“Im Ha-yeon.”
I called her with a mature expression, as if to say I had never acted like that before.
“…”
Could it be that we were interrupted just before a big event? Im Ha-yeon bit her lip and lowered her head.
“There’s no need to hurry, is there?”
“I feel like I’ll fall behind.”
Her small voice was filled with anxiety.
“I’ll be here. I’ll wait for you no matter when you come.”
Don’t rush. It’s not just today. And by my standards, we just set a new high score. Even though it shouldn’t need saying, I spoke softly to reassure her.
“…Okay.”
Im Ha-yeon glanced at me cautiously before nodding and bending down to pick up the balls.
“Let’s clean up together. We’ll also apologize to Miss Zhuge tomorrow.”
“Yeah. Sounds good. …Huh?”
Amid the mess in the room, Im Ha-yeon’s gaze landed on a piece of paper that had fallen from the desk.
“Oh. That’s…”
It was a letter I had intended to send to Hwa-rin.
Im Ha-yeon picked up one of the sheets of paper lying on the floor.
Familiar handwriting filled with incomplete letters. Despite needing to tear her eyes away from my personal letters, she couldn’t.
Every letter on the floor began with the same phrase.
— To Hwa-rin.
“You were writing to your fiancée?”
What I considered important was writing to my fiancée. The frustration of my courage failing soared higher than the shock stirring in her heart.
“I’ve been busy, so I couldn’t write often.”
Kang Yoon-ho felt something off as I quickly gathered what I wrote and organized it, but she couldn’t gather the pieces of what she had just seen.
“Then what about what happened in Wuhan?”
“A sick woman. I didn’t want to worry her unnecessarily, so I only wrote short greetings.”
I heard she needed ten years of recuperation. From Kang Yoon-ho’s words, Im Ha-yeon felt his intense affection for his fiancée.
“Was this one you were going to write now?”
“I need to, but the pen isn’t writing well.”
With a bitter expression, he nodded.
Such a woman could stop the mighty Ho Pil from writing. Usually, this would have been sleeping time, but was he awake because of his fiancée?
Even with dozens of sheets stacked, not a single letter was completed, leading Im Ha-yeon to feel a strange sense of defeat.
“Do you love that woman?”
To her surprise, the question slipped out without her realizing it.
“I love her.”
There was not a hint of hesitation in his answer.
‘What about me?’
She wanted to ask, but her lips couldn’t utter the words.
She didn’t doubt his love. How could she? But knowing I was the second woman in his heart made her feel small.
After gazing at her lover for some time, Im Ha-yeon nodded as if she made a firm decision.
Today was the day she would take the initiative.
“Im Ha-yeon?”
Im Ha-yeon sat him down in a chair and sat on his lap, facing him. It was another way for lovers to express their affection, but that was not her priority right now.
A flurry of thoughts raced through Im Ha-yeon’s mind. Ways to seduce men she learned from courtesans. Methods to lure the club leader she heard from club members.
Everything she had learned with a pounding heart to cross her beloved’s window faded away, leaving only one thought in her mind.
Im Ha-yeon carefully took his hand and brought it to her face.
“I’ve been told that simply sitting without learning anything since I was a child, I could become the most beautiful courtesan in Hubei Province.”
No one could deny the beauty of Im Ha-yeon, who had been adorned lovingly by courtesans, at this very moment.
“My woman’s beauty… H-ha-yeon?!”
But that wasn’t enough. Im Ha-yeon took his hand and placed it on a place she had never allowed anyone to touch before.
The spot closest to her heart. She prayed her lover would feel her racing pulse beneath his fingertips.
“You’re the only one who can touch here. I will not allow anyone else’s touch.”
Beyond mere silk. The lovers exchanged their touches and tremors. But Im Ha-yeon had no intention of stopping there.
Im Ha-yeon guided his hand down to her firm abdomen, letting it rest near her navel before gently pressing down on her lower belly.
“This is a place just for you.”
Perhaps the place where he would feel her today. The warmth of her lover seeped into her lower abdomen.
“…”
Im Ha-yeon raised her lover’s chin with her empty hand, gazing into his eyes with affection.
His confessions of love always made her heart race. They erased all her worries. They gave her the strength to rise again. But today…
“From the tip of my hair to the ends of my being, now, all of this is yours.”
Today was the day she would confess her love first.
“Im Ha-yeon.”
“Do you love me?”
“I do.”
His answer came without a trace of hesitation. It didn’t even need to be compared with the question regarding his fiancée.
“Do you love me more than that woman?”
With trembling eyes, she asked. Her confidence in his love was unshakeable, but every woman desires to be the first in her man’s heart.
“I love you like I love Hwa-rin, and I love Hwa-rin like I love you.”
Kang Yoon-ho replied unshaken. An unexpected answer.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“The day I mentioned responsibility was the day I made my decision. To love. To love my women desperately every day.”
It was the conclusion of a man who had pondered countless times. Having decided on responsibility, he chose not to prioritize any one of them over the others.
“You’re being foolish.”
To say you love me most. I thought you would at least lie to say so. His answer was utterly sincere, and Im Ha-yeon, feeling a bit empty, buried her face in her lover’s embrace and smiled.
“I know.”
“I must be foolish, too.”
A look of relief adorned Im Ha-yeon’s face.
He was the Kang Yoon-ho she knew. The man she loved. The dependable one. The one ready to give all he had.
“My selfish mistake.”
“I love you.”
Selfish? What did he mean? If he was truly selfish, she wouldn’t be allowed to hold him close like this.
It was because he poured all his heart into love that she was able to be here. She could leave knowing he would always be there waiting for her.
Im Ha-yeon held her beloved tightly until her overflowing feelings calmed.
———-
“My story. I’ll write it all to my fiancée and send it.”
Once her trembling settled, Im Ha-yeon said.
“I’ll have to prepare to kneel before the Sichuan Tang Family.”
Im Ha-yeon chuckled at Kang Yoon-ho’s troubled response.
“Back then, I’ll kneel with you. But first… you have to tell me about your fiancée.”
She intentionally brought up the topic of his fiancée that she had been avoiding.
“About Hwa-rin?”
Kang Yoon-ho replied, surprised.
“She’s your woman. I want to know now.”
At that moment, Im Ha-yeon realized what had been bothering her all along.
What she was most anxious about wasn’t about parting with him but about the woman in his heart.
“About Hwa-rin… Where should I start?”
Kang Yoon-ho scratched his head in confusion, seated Im Ha-yeon on the desk, and began to share the story of Hwa-rin with a nostalgic expression.
“She’s your age? Then she’d be like an older sister to you.”
“An older sister? Come to think of it, wouldn’t I have to call her oppa then?”
“You are… You are you.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Hmm. It’s just like that.”
Im Ha-yeon nodded at her bewildered lover with a face full of affection.
It started with “you” in a sharp voice and ended with “you” filled with affection. That’s the story shared between her and her lover.
Their tale continued until dawn, and their time together was running out.
The day of parting was approaching.
