“Im Ha-yeon? What are you doing in broad daylight?”
After telling Im Ha-yeon about Hwa-rin’s story all night and taking a quick morning nap, I walked into the living room, only to witness an unbelievable scene.
“Th-that’s…”
Im Ha-yeon, with a face full of tears, pointed at the sign hanging around her neck and lowered her head.
What does it say?
[I betrayed my ally. If I betray again, I’ll be with the Kang family, not the Im family.]
Betrayal?
“Im Ha-yeon!”
I was startled. A gloomy and sad voice echoed from behind, like someone crawling out from underground.
“I-I’m sorry! I’ll hold my hands up properly!”
Im Ha-yeon startled, raising her hands high.
What happened while I was asleep?
“Im Ha-yeon and Master Kang… No, it’s just because of me. I must be a nuisance.”
Miss Zhuge clung to the floor like a dried-up worm and looked back and forth between me and Im Ha-yeon with an aggrieved expression.
So it’s because of what happened yesterday.
“Miss Zhuge, it’s a misunderstanding! Really, it is!”
Im Ha-yeon and I desperately tried to comfort Miss Zhuge as if we were trying to revive a dying worm.
In the end, until we cleared the misunderstanding, Im Ha-yeon had to keep the punishment sign around her neck at home until we agreed to all go to Hwanghakru, the most famous tourist spot in Wuhan.
——
Hwanghakru, known for its breathtaking views in Wuhan, certainly lived up to its reputation. The problem was the completely different spectacle that awaited tourists.
“Ugh. T-too many people.”
As a stunning beauty appeared amidst the crowd, everyone’s attention instantly focused on her.
Unfortunately, Miss Zhuge couldn’t handle the sudden attention. Satisfied that she had seen Hwanghakru thanks to Master Kang, she returned to the mansion.
In the end, our outing, which started with three, became just the two of us again. It’s unfortunate, but it can’t be helped.
“The boat rental fee is 50 copper per person. You can paddle alone while sitting, and the calm lake will make it easy to navigate.”
The next place we arrived at was Dong-ho, a vast lake in Wuhan known for being a popular date spot.
“Isn’t there a couple’s discount?”
“I’d like to offer a couple surcharge, though.”
Tch. They hand you a tiny boat and charge way too much.
“Quit haggling and get on!”
As Im Ha-yeon shouted while getting into the small boat, I had no choice but to give up and board. This is why my friends, who are all about romantic business, keep complaining about being broke when they hang out together.
“I never thought a day like this would come for me.”
I murmured as I slowly paddled.
At this rate, when friends brought up the topic at drinking parties, I wouldn’t just get confused looks but have my tongue stuck out, too.
“A leisurely boat ride in the afternoon? I feel like I’m dreaming.”
Im Ha-yeon said as she sat on the boat, tidying her hair blowing in the wind.
“It feels a bit different in meaning, though.”
“Hmm?”
“Nothing.”
Back when my friends were campus couples paddling swan boats, I was just a captain navigating the online world, and this felt like a huge improvement.
“Alright. Let’s… go.”
As I paddled silently, Im Ha-yeon suddenly held something long towards me.
“What is that?”
“I’m not giving you anything to die from hunger.”
What is she putting in my mouth? I took a cautious bite with a suspicious gaze. As the unfamiliar feeling tore apart while chewing, a burst of sweet and savory flavors exploded, with the crunch of vegetables and the juiciness of meat spilling out.
A taste familiar to every Korean.
“……Beef bulgogi kimbap? Did you wake up early in the kitchen and do this? There wasn’t anything else but kimbap?”
Yesterday, she made kimchi dumplings.
“How is it?”
With a flushed face, Im Ha-yeon lowered her gaze, waiting for my response.
“It’s delicious. Just the right seasoning for my taste.”
I couldn’t believe the taste came from a courtesan who didn’t know a single recipe when we first met.
“Ah, I’m so glad the effort since morning paid off. Alright, let’s… go.”
As I ate the kimbap Im Ha-yeon handed me, I slowly paddled. I should be checking the scenery around, yet it felt strangely awkward to only see each other’s faces.
Just when I thought this was some sort of real date…
“Hmm!”
“Where’s that strange sound?”
A sound that was barely audible if I didn’t listen closely reached my ears.
Where could it be?
As I scanned the surroundings, at the edge of the lake, there was a boat floating with no one in sight under the shade of the trees.
Could someone be hurt and collapsed? Worried, I paddled towards the shade.
“Ah! Uh! Heh, someone’s coming.”
“It’s okay. I’m already aware.”
“Ugh, this is awkward.”
The groans weren’t from being hurt, but from something else! Do that stuff indoors! I couldn’t hide my embarrassment and quickly turned the boat around.
Once I managed to get far enough away that I could no longer hear the sound, Im Ha-yeon gave me a playful smile.
“Were you disappointed?”
What’s she even asking? There’s no need to ask again. No. Absolutely not.
“You don’t need to rush.”
I attempted to speak with a relaxed, mature smile.
“I won’t have two opportunities either.”
Im Ha-yeon looked away as she said that.
“Huh?”
What did she just say?
“Ugh. What’s with that disappointed expression!”
Im Ha-yeon shouted at me with a very incredulous look. Oops, I guess my expression slipped.
“No…”
It just means it’s not happening now. It can’t not happen later.
“I’m putting a lot of courage into this! T-You should tempt me next time…”
With her face burning red, Im Ha-yeon awkwardly confessed to me. So that was it. Thank goodness.
“I have to master mimicking a cat first.”
I muttered with a relieved expression.
“Ugh! You really! Are you going to do it!”
“Hahaha! That would be dangerous.”
As Im Ha-yeon lunged at me like a cat with a flustered expression, I gently embraced her and lay her down on the boat.
From winter to spring, summer, and now fully into winter, we had reached a moment of rest. Although brief, it was enough to be satisfying.
I patted Im Ha-yeon’s head and looked up at the sky.
A cloudless autumn sky. The sky is high, and it’s the season when horses get fat, but it’s quiet, so I guess I ought to eat some kimbap.
“Guhhk!”
“I can’t believe this! How can you eat lying down! Here, drink some water!”
I immediately choked.
———-
How is it that happy and joyful days pass by so quickly?
Only seeing what I wanted to see, eating what I wanted to eat, whispering about the future, the little time flowed away.
“Are you going by boat?”
In the end, even though I wanted to hold her hands endlessly, the day came when I had to let go.
“Yes. They say the Haowen Association is somewhere in the southern region.”
Our encounter was a harbor, just like our farewell was a harbor too.
Im Ha-yeon exchanged last goodbyes with Miss Zhuge, the people from the Hanyang Association, and the guests from the Haowen Association who had come to see her off.
While exchanging farewells, I should move Im Ha-yeon’s luggage first. As I headed towards the boat Im Ha-yeon would board carrying her things, an unexpected person greeted me.
“All the other luggage is already loaded up. Give me that too.”
“Father-in-law? Where are you going?”
The person stepping off the boat was Brother Wang. Why is he all dressed up like someone ready to leave?
“I plan to go with my daughter.”
“I thought you were just going to see her off without any further word.”
Im Ha-yeon’s escort representative said it hadn’t been decided till the very end. So it ended up being Brother Wang.
Brother Wang glanced at Im Ha-yeon, who was being sent off by a lot of people, smiled, and opened his mouth.
“Can I let my daughter go alone to a distant place? I plan to bridge the gap of ten years lost between father and daughter and stay by her side.”
“If Father-in-law is with Im Ha-yeon, I couldn’t be more assured.”
I was worried about what might happen if I faced the master of the Haowen Association alone. But with Brother Wang, I could trust him more than anyone.
Though it was an unexpected separation, I bowed my head with a happy heart.
“Thank you. Go say your farewells to your daughter, and come back.”
As I turned my body following Father-in-law’s gaze, I realized that no one was around Im Ha-yeon anymore.
She was waiting for me for one last farewell.
“Did you come?”
Im Ha-yeon, trying not to show a weak side with approaching footsteps for our farewell, didn’t turn around and asked.
“I hear you’re all set to leave.”
Her lover moved closer to her, signaling that the time for parting had come.
Now, what should I say? Im Ha-yeon lifted her head to look at her lover’s face.
We had spoken so much today, but there were still so many things left unspoken. But now was not the time for words; it was time to express feelings.
“Take this back with you.”
Im Ha-yeon took out a small box from her bosom and handed it to her lover.
“What is this? An ink dropper?”
Inside the small box was an exquisite ink dropper shaped like a mandarin duck.
“It’s to remind you of me while you write.”
Her lover looked at her in surprise and then smiled satisfactorily, nodding.
I’m glad he liked it. I had been worrying that I wouldn’t be able to give him even a single gift given my situation. I was really relieved to leave with a present in the end.
Im Ha-yeon hoped he would understand the meaning of the mandarin duck but decided not to explain any further.
“The truth is, I also have a gift for you.”
Kang Yoon-ho, after packing up his lover’s gift, took out an unexpected item before her eyes.
“This is… my prostitution record?”
What Kang Yoon-ho held out was the document revealing that Im Ha-yeon had been a courtesan.
“It’s just a useless piece of paper now.”
On the ledger that already had the name of the apprentice courtesan written down, Im Ha-yeon’s name was scribbled out in black. What Kang Yoon-ho presented was merely a formal piece of paper.
“Why are you showing this?”
Why would he show me a record that is now useless? With a curious expression, Im Ha-yeon asked her lover.
Kang Yoon-ho pointed towards a spot near the harbor with the campfire and suggested to her, frowning in confusion.
“Let’s burn it together.”
Even though it may seem trivial now, burning that piece of paper, which carried such meaning, together felt significant.
Im Ha-yeon looked between the document and the campfire with a shocked expression before smiling and nodding.
“Okay.”
It was the best gift, the kind of farewell that felt so much like him.
—
It was more than enough to burn something trivial, but insufficient to burn something meaningful. Im Ha-yeon added a few more logs to the fire.
“This is the first time a master of the Haowen Association becomes a disciple of the Haowen. You never know what might happen. Many challenges might await you.”
It’s a small concern but could become a big problem. Im Ha-yeon spoke as she watched the flames roar.
“Think of me every time. Remember what we’ve been through.”
He, who had always found a way out even in the most unfavorable situations. She had witnessed everything he had done by her side.
Meeting the master of the Haowen Association would undoubtedly be a small matter compared to the challenges they had faced thus far.
Even if problems arose, she would surely be able to overcome them by thinking of him. Im Ha-yeon nodded slightly.
The flames raged fiercely, but there were no growing anxieties at his words.
“The master of the Haowen Association is a renowned expert in the faction. His martial arts must also be considerable. It won’t be easy to learn.”
She feared the reunion with him would take too long.
“Even the master of the Haowen Association won’t be able to walk on water.”
“Ha! I suppose that’s true.”
Just like that, her final worry melted away in an instant.
Im Ha-yeon stared blankly at the heavy burden that had plagued her for a lifetime now resting in the palm of her hand.
The prostitution record felt so light. It had been so heavy but felt so light now.
The lovers held each other’s hands tightly. Im Ha-yeon cast aside the heavy burden her lover had helped her shed into the flames.
Sparks flew.
It was now nothing, but it had been everything in her life now vanishing in an instant as ashes danced away.
So empty and easy. But the road to come here hadn’t been easy.
Im Ha-yeon stole a glance at her lover, who was watching the flames. Her lover, sensing her gaze, looked at her affectionately.
“I’ll be back.”
Now, since they could understand each other just by looking at each other, there was no need for many words.
“I’ll wait for you.”
The two of them took flight like a single pair of wings, finally arriving at their destination. If they hadn’t leaned on each other, loved, and held each other, they wouldn’t have made it this far.
Now, it was just a moment to catch their breath after the long journey. They were going to become a little bit stronger to love more.
Im Ha-yeon boarded the boat.
To return to the place where her other half awaited.
She boarded the boat.
“She’s gone…”
Im Ha-yeon’s boat moved further away.
Although my insides ached with the sorrow of parting, unlike previous farewells, I could smile as I let her go.
‘Because we will meet again.’
While So-hee, due to the fate of Cheon-sal-seong, couldn’t easily promise a reunion, it was different from Hwa-rin, who had to wait ten years for the treatment of an independent person.
‘This time, I nearly succeeded.’
I rescued Im Ha-yeon from the fate of a runaway courtesan. I burned the shackles of my woman with my own hands.
She was the first heroine I ever saved.
Even though I ended up parting after proceeding my way of solving the problem, this time, I could really say it was a success.
The more her boat drifted away, the heavier the pain of parting weighed on my heart. Yet, I could still smile as I looked forward to the day we would meet again.
“Kang Yoon-ho!”
I heard a voice calling me from afar. Turning my body away from the boat that had now disappeared from sight, I replied.
“I have to go.”
I must go.
To make a name for myself. To accumulate wealth. For the place she can return to. For everyone to be happy.
Yeah.
Let’s keep moving forward.
