Cheon So-hee arrived at the inn first, moving at a pace Kang Yoon-ho couldn’t keep up with.
“You’re a bit late today!”
At this inn, a waitress named Jeom So-i greeted the Heavenly Killing Star with a particularly warm demeanor.
“Uhm.”
“It seems today’s performance went really well! Well, Kang Mo is such a great storyteller, I feel like I want to hear it every day!”
In fact, Jeom So-i was a passionate fan of Kang Yoon-ho. She often mentioned that she would definitely go see his performances on her days off.
“Yeah, it went well.”
If it were Kang Yoon-ho, he would have been friendlier toward Jeom So-i and would have tried to gain more from her, but she wasn’t that kind of person, and since her mood wasn’t great, she responded with annoyance.
“Then! Should I prepare the rose tteokbokki in advance?”
“……. Not today.”
Cheon So-hee hesitated for just a moment but declined.
“Huh? Why not?”
Jeom So-i exclaimed, her eyes widening in surprise. A guest like this rejecting rose tteokbokki? She always changed when it came to that dish!
“I don’t feel like it.”
Although the food could make even the Heavenly Killing Star reconsider, she truly had no appetite right now.
“Something must be wrong! Got it! Then just take this with you. Someone asked me to pass it on.”
Jeom So-i handed over a small note. Cheon So-hee immediately recognized where it was from.
“Uh-huh.”
“Alright! If you change your mind, I’ll get it ready right away!”
Why did she feel so certain that Cheon So-hee would order? Although she wondered about it, Jeom So-i approached another customer without a clue about her thoughts.
Cheon So-hee went to a corner of the inn and opened the note.
[New Mission. Go to the branch.]
After reading the note, Cheon So-hee pondered for a moment. Since it wasn’t an urgent matter, it should be fine to go when she had the time. However, Cheon So-hee found herself planning to leave.
She had said she was upset and going first, but Kang Yoon-ho would inevitably come to this inn too. After all, he had nowhere else to go.
——
Chilgok County, Salmak Secret Branch.
“You’re here.”
Cheon So-hee came straight to this place instead of the inn where she was staying with the man.
“Ah! You’re here, then. How’s the romance going?”
The middle-aged man, the head of the Salmak branch, welcomed her with a grin.
“I told you, it’s not that kind of relationship.”
“Stop emitting murderous intent as soon as you arrive. It’s a wonder how that guy is dating someone like you.”
“You…”
“An Hwi-seong. We’re headed to Jeongdeok.”
As Cheon So-hee’s expression twisted, the man hurried to the point.
“An Hwi-seong? Jeongdeok?”
It’s closer than the city he mentioned last time. It’s also the closest province from Hubei Province, Chilgok County. But that still doesn’t change the fact that it’s a long distance away.
Would he give up his booming performances just to follow her? If she asked him to go to An Hwi-seong, wouldn’t he just suggest they part ways instead?
“I’ll pass on this mission too.”
In the end, Cheon So-hee decided to drop this mission as well.
“Hmm. Well, I don’t really mind, but isn’t this getting a bit dangerous?”
The middle-aged man gestured with five fingers to his heart, waving them dramatically.
“I haven’t been slacking off in my training.”
Since arriving in Chilgok County, Cheon So-hee hadn’t felt her murderous intent rise. She still thought she could hold on.
“Isn’t it better to leave this guy here and just go for a bit? If you meet some bandits on the way, you could vent your frustrations by taking them out, and satisfy your cravings for assassination too, right?”
“I’m fine, really.”
“I won’t say anything more since you’re okay, but please don’t go all heroic and end up butchering a ton of people. I don’t want to hear about a serial killer appearing in Chilgok County.”
If she continuously killed while her murderous intent was building up, she could get consumed by it.
“Got it.”
“I’ll contact Salmak and ask them to give us some missions closer to the area.”
“Thanks.”
Cheon So-hee nodded her head in gratitude for the man’s consideration.
“Wow. Cheon So-hee can express thanks, huh? Love must really change a person.”
“I’m not in that kind of relationship with that guy.”
The man had said something rude about her mother. At that moment, anger bubbled up in Cheon So-hee’s voice, reflecting her annoyance about what had just happened.
“Wait, did you two have a fight?”
“No, it’s nothing like that.”
“Sounds like a fight to me. Is that guy still alive?”
The middle-aged man made a mocking expression, mimicking a choking gesture.
“I’m an assassin, not a murderer.”
For some reason, Cheon So-hee felt like she could become a criminal around this middle-aged man.
“Well, it’s normal for couples to argue. Fighting during the day means you’ll reconcile with more passion at night, right?”
The man said with a playful smirk as he looked at Cheon So-hee.
“……”
“Hey? No way, you didn’t? You two have been living in the same room for how many days now?”
The middle-aged man looked at Cheon So-hee with shock.
“I told you, it’s not that kind of relationship.”
“Wow. I thought when you took the Binding Technique, history would be made. Is that guy perhaps not into women? Like, he prefers men?”
The middle-aged man remembered the rumor that a man who likes men often carries a woman around as a cover.
“I like men.”
Instinctively, she defended the man.
He definitely liked women. Cheon So-hee recalled how the man had once grinned foolishly at a married woman.
As she thought of that expression, a feeling that was sharp and different from her murderous intent arose in her heart.
“Is there a chance he’s overly doting on you? I’ve heard stories about some oddballs who irresistibly seduce while sharing a room without ever laying a finger on the other person.”
“Yeah, he’s nice to me.”
Cheon So-hee answered immediately.
It’s true that he treats her well. Whether he is her childhood friend or not, there’s no doubt about that.
“Even so, you argued. Is it possible that he’s gotten bored with you?”
“Bored with me?”
She widened her lips and looked shocked at his question.
“Usually, if you just give, the guy gets tired fast. No matter how nice you are to them, if they think you don’t value them, they feel disappointment.”
“No, he made a mistake.”
Kang Yoon-ho could never get bored with her. He was the one who was in the wrong.
The idea that someone could get bored with you is common only among couples, but the shocking thought that Kang Yoon-ho might be tired of her left Cheon So-hee momentarily off balance.
“Aha! The guy accepted everything you said nicely, but you probably showed clear signs of being offended by his mistake!”
“…….”
Cheon So-hee bowed her head, unable to either agree or deny the man’s words.
“This is why rookie lovers are so clueless. Go show him you’re graciously accepting his mistake. Things will quickly get back to normal.”
“It was a big mistake.”
“Something so bad that you don’t want to see him again?”
“Not that much.”
Her words spilled out without a moment’s hesitation.
“See? See? If he’s someone precious enough to turn down a mission for, you can’t let a mistake like that slide? If you care about someone, the feelings should go both ways. If you keep taking and don’t give anything in return, that guy might leave.”
“Leave?”
Cheon So-hee repeated the man’s words with an anxious expression.
“Of course he will. So unless it’s a grave sin, you should go and forgive him, hold his hand, and buy him something he loves to eat. If you do that after he messed up, he’ll be moved.”
“Forgive…”
Cheon So-hee reflected on Kang Yoon-ho’s recent mistake.
Was it really a mistake?
Yes, it was. But she must have done something to upset him, just like what the Salmak man had said.
Did he ever get angry at her for it?
‘So-hee!’
‘Oppa believes in So-hee.’
In her heart, the kind face of the man who always smiled at her emerged.
Did Kang Yoon-ho insult her mother on purpose?
No, he said he didn’t know her mother’s name. She had heard before that he called her “So-hee’s mom.”
Then why did he say it was foolish?
For her sake. He didn’t want to see her in pain.
Was there really any reason not to forgive him?
Suddenly, the image of that man waiting in a room, looking sorry while dead emerged in Cheon So-hee’s mind.
She really didn’t want to see that face. No, thinking back, she felt like she couldn’t even bear to see it, which is why she had come here.
If she told him she forgave him, would he smile gently with his usual expression?
“I… I’ll go.”
She wanted to see that face.
The anger that had taken residence in her heart faded away.
“Wait, take this with you!”
The man threw her a small pouch.
“What’s this?”
“Mission fee. Though it’s late coming, take it and buy your boyfriend something nice.”
Cheon So-hee nodded, barely listening as she checked the money in the pouch.
“I’ll go.”
And with that, Cheon So-hee left the branch.
Once he confirmed that she had disappeared, the man quietly unfolded a letter hidden in the corner of his drawer.
[If it seems like a good relationship, I’ll definitely help.]
“I said I wouldn’t get attached to my disciples… but here I am, meddling. Well, considering that the disciples I raise usually return as corpses, that thought isn’t unreasonable.”
In fact, forming attachments to disciples is rare in Salmak. The middle-aged man sighed bitterly as he began to write a letter to Cheon So-hee’s master.
