TM | Chapter 21

“Give it here. You’ll get hurt if you do it wrong.”

He skillfully helped Lee Seol equip his weapon. Yoon Sung watched blankly and then tied the ribbon of Lee Seol’s jeogori. After getting dressed and tidying up their hair, a late breakfast was served, and the three of them sat in front of their respective small tables.

Lee Seol scooted closer and pushed his table next to Yoon Sung’s. Lee Seol offered him some soup. For some reason, it felt uncomfortable to be fed by him now, not under the influence of alcohol.

“I’ll eat it myself.”

He refused, but when the spoon was offered again, he opened his mouth. He accepted the refreshing bean sprout soup and took a spoonful of rice. Lee Seol looked at him with sparkling eyes and opened his mouth prettily.

After hesitating for a moment, he put the rice into Lee Seol’s mouth. As he pondered whether he should also give him side dishes, Cheongrok grumbled.

“He says it’s annoying, you brat.”

Cheongrok, giving Lee Seol a knowing look with his slanted eyes, switched places with him. He spoke to Lee Seol, who was gripping his chopsticks.

“Listen to me. To you, Sung-i is a sticky affection, but to Sung-i, you’re a clingy friend. Would you want to eat if I fed you? Take it easy. Don’t ruin a good thing.”

Lee Seol bit his lip and put down his chopsticks. His lips twitched in dissatisfaction, but then he showed his characteristic gentle smile.

Seeing Lee Seol hide his feelings and change his expression made Yoon Sung feel uneasy. On the surface, he seemed fine, but inside, he probably wasn’t.

“Don’t be too hard on Seol… we’re engaged.”

When Yoon Sung scolded Cheongrok in a timid voice,

“Oh~ so you’re Lee Seol’s husband now, huh? Look at you taking his side already. How can someone without a lover live?”

Cheongrok chuckled and winked with one eye. He nudged Yoon Sung’s side with his elbow and put an arm around his shoulder.

“If I were told to marry Seol, I’d kill myself.”

The faint scent of alcohol wafted from Cheongrok’s body as he joked. But there was a subtly different scent mixed in. Yoon Sung leaned in and sniffed Cheongrok’s collar.

“You have a scent too.”

“What?”

Yoon Sung remembered Lee Seol saying he had a scent and reached under Cheongrok’s nose.

“Seol says I have a scent. Is it me?”

“You smell like sweat, you brat.”

He asked out of pure curiosity, but Cheongrok glared at him with his slanted eyes, looking annoyed, and gulped down the refreshing bean sprout soup. A bean sprout tail dangled between his lips. Lee Seol kicked Cheongrok, who was chewing it into his mouth.

“If you put your arm around Sung-i’s shoulder one more time, I’ll rip that arm off.”

Lee Seol, speaking with a smile that masked his true feelings, made Cheongrok grumble to Yoon Sung about why he would marry someone like that. Yoon Sung silently ate his soup.

There’s no choice in marriage. I have to get married before Father passes away…

Swallowing the words lingering in his mouth, he took another spoonful of rice. Lee Seol added a side dish on top, and he ate quietly.

***

Kang Taegwon, who hadn’t been able to sleep all night, left the house at dawn. Even on his way to the training grounds, the image of Yoon Sung and Lee Seol embracing and kissing lingered in his mind.

Just like Yoon Sung had shown him, he would embrace Lee Seol with a face that looked like he was dying of happiness. That image kept playing in his mind, making the back of his neck ache unbearably.

Anger boiled deep inside him, contorting his face. He fiddled with the White Tiger Ring wrapped around his finger to calm himself. He needed to break off the engagement, and the quickest way to separate them was one thing.

To go to Lee Seol and speak honestly. He was now a man who had awakened to love. If he found out his fiancée had feelings for another man, he wouldn’t be able to hide his fury.

That would be conveyed to Yoon Sung, and the breakup would be a given. However, if Yoon Sung got deeply hurt and decided not to see him, or married someone else out of spite, that would also be a problem. The first person he might approach could be Cheongrok.

In case Lee Seol knew about his relationship with Yoon Sung and still didn’t intend to break up, that would also be a problem.

To calm his troubled mind, he headed straight to the training grounds upon arriving at the government office.

While waiting for his subordinates who hadn’t arrived yet, Kang Taegwon focused on training. Dust rose from the well-trodden ground as he kicked vigorously. After running dozens of laps, his breath came out in rough gasps.

The subordinates who arrived early clicked their tongues at the sight of Kang Taegwon training alone in the training grounds. The wooden sword he wielded made a sharper sound cutting through the air than usual.

With eyes wide open, he swung the wooden sword and moved his body like a general participating in a battlefield. The subordinates tensed up at the fierce energy he exuded.

“Damn… why is that demon acting like that today?”

“Exactly. I came earlier, but I couldn’t enter the training grounds. I don’t know if my bones will survive today.”

The subordinates, whispering complaints about Kang Taegwon’s notoriously harsh training, entered the training grounds.

Following Kang Taegwon’s commands, the subordinates lined up and trained under the guidance of the man known as the demon, cursing him silently.

The subordinates stomped their feet vigorously, running dozens of laps. The shouts echoing through the training grounds as they trained with wooden swords seemed to pierce the sky.

As the morning training was coming to an end, a man stood on the platform of the training grounds. The man, who seemed to be watching the training, waved lightly when he made eye contact with Kang Taegwon.

He regularly visited the government office and always watched the training at the training grounds after finishing his business. Kang Taegwon considered ignoring him, but he was the younger brother of his superior, Cheonghyeon.

Since he acknowledged him, he felt he should greet him and moved his steps.

“What brings you here?”

“I came to apologize for speaking recklessly while drunk yesterday. I thought you might have been offended by my thoughtless words, so I brought something to soothe your mind~.”

Cheongrok rummaged through his clothes and took out a silk pouch. He took out the hwagwa inside and offered it with both hands, winking with one eye. His actions, urging him to let go of his anger, left Kang Taegwon speechless.

It was a completely different demeanor from the sharp look he had given him with his slanted eyes last night.

Cheongrok narrowed his slanted eyes and grinned, showing his teeth. His eyes curved into crescents, full of mischief. When he smiled like this, there was a certain charm to it. If Yoon Sung had a fresh cuteness, Cheongrok had a mischievous cuteness.

Perhaps because he had the blood of the Lee Clan, Cheongrok appeared solid but had a slender build. Moreover, he was quite handsome. His slanted eyes ruined his otherwise good looks. If he had large eyes like Yoon Sung, he might have been as handsome as Lee Seol.

After finishing his internal assessment, Kang Taegwon took the hwagwa Cheongrok offered and turned his gaze to the subordinates training. Cheongrok also followed Kang Taegwon’s gaze to the soldiers. Watching the soldiers swing their wooden swords in formation, he snorted with laughter. When they leaped high, he shook his head as if in disbelief.

“How can they improve like that… They need to face challenges and spar to their limits to improve.”

“You speak as if you’ve trained.”

“Well, I don’t know nothing. You have to struggle for your life to improve, but they’re so complacent, how can they improve…”

Kang Taegwon looked at Cheongrok with displeasure. It was amusing to see him act knowledgeable just because he knew a little about swordsmanship.

“They might be able to block swords like that, but if attacked suddenly, their balance will collapse…”

Kang Taegwon scoffed at Cheongrok’s muttering. He was probably only capable of defending himself, yet his boastful words were irritating.

“If you’re that good, why don’t you take the military exam?”

A mere civilian who couldn’t even take the military exam was just flapping his mouth.

He swallowed the rest of his words and closed his mouth. Cheongrok, unaware of the underlying meaning, shook his head.

“I don’t like standing out.”

His narrowed eyes and smirk were irritating to the point of being annoying. Why did everything he said and did get on his nerves?

He didn’t want to talk to him anymore. He was about to leave but became curious about why he was here. He wondered if he was trying to get a position through a favor. He was of age, and he couldn’t just laze around like a loafer forever.

“What brings you here?”

“I came to play the role of an informant because of the Marriage Ban Decree…”

Kang Taegwon’s eyes widened at his nonchalant muttering.

“Marriage Ban Decree?!”

“Yeah… It’s going to be either the Lee Clan or the Kim Clan, so why issue a selection decree?”

“…”

His mind went blank. It felt like the lump that had been weighing on him suddenly crumbled. He spoke urgently without realizing it.

“When do you think the Marriage Ban Decree will end?”

“I don’t know… I think it’ll be over by autumn at the latest.”

As soon as Cheongrok’s indifferent answer ended, Kang Taegwon asked.

“The earliest?”

“…Three months?”

“Three months…”

Kang Taegwon’s eyes gleamed.

Lee Seol.

Yoon Sung.

They can’t get married.

His muddled mind seemed to clear up.