Vol. 1 - Ch. 9

“Ahem, ahem…”

After clearing the throat for no reason, I managed to separate my lips, thanks to the encouragement of Ja-hyun, who seemed to be saying with his eyes, ‘then why don’t you give it a try?’ while holding the glass of water in one hand.

“The introduction is a bit late, right? I am Ju Eun-ri. I turn 20 this year, and as I mentioned earlier, I am the guesthouse owner. Family members include an uncle and Eun-young, a younger sister who is 7 years old and about whom you don’t need to worry. Because it is better if you don’t know.”

At that time, I noticed Ja-hyun putting down the glass of water he had in his hand onto the table with a clattering sound.

For a moment, a strange tension rose between us.

I urged him to speak quickly and intended to end this business here.

“Well, what I want to say is that you can stay here, at least till your body heals. The reason is… I told you earlier, right?”

“Yes.”

Ja-hyun responded insincerely.

“From what I heard from the physician, it will take some time for you to be fully cured, so instead of lying down sick like you did today, lie down with hope, eat whatever I give you, sleep well, and just take care of yourself in peace.”

“…”

The eyes looking at me seemed like I couldn’t be trusted.

Well, even if I were in his place, I would feel suspicious of what I just said.

One might wonder what nonsense this is. Or, on the contrary, is this a buildup of a scammer trying to trick?

Even though I knew of his suspicion towards me, I didn’t care to explain.

In any case, it was obvious that he wouldn’t be able to leave the guesthouse for several months to recover and monitor the status of Blood Palace.

There was this belief in the back of my mind that our misunderstandings would get resolved quickly and without the need for traumatic justifications.

… and to be honest, I couldn’t see any intention to betray him, so I planned to speak as low as I could.

“Now that the story is done…”

I turned my gaze.

Before I knew it, I saw Ja-hyun holding the spoon and eating the leftover porridge.

‘He doesn’t like noise when eating either.’

Only my information was stolen, and I didn’t get any of the other person’s information, but I had no desire to do something that the other person disliked, so I sat in silence and watched where the MC was eating.

Contrary to my expectations that Ja-hyun might get angry at me for looking at him, I just glanced without making a noise, and he continued to eat without paying heed to my gaze.

Finally, the bowl was empty, and Ja-hyun put down the spoon with a thud.

Then, this subtle voice echoed through the room.

“Ja-hyun.”

Uh? What did you… When I looked puzzled at his words because I was appreciating his voice, Ja-hyun spoke again.

“My name is ja-hyun.”

“Ah…”

“Isn’t that why you have been speaking all this nonsense? Because you wanted to ask me that.”

Right.

“Ah, you knew?”

However, I pretended like I didn’t. It did that because I didn’t want the other person to find out that I was too conscious of him.

He was already cocky, and how much more cocky will he get once he realizes that I am weak? I didn’t even want to imagine it.

I, who had hit the nail on the head, rolled my eyes and looked around while Ja-hyun, who was done eating after a comfortable meal, waved the hand like swatting flies.

‘I guess that is enough? Now leave.”

“…”

“I gave you everything you wanted. I need to rest now, so go.”

He is a valuable piece-a very valuable one.

I grumbled inside, but I got up. I had a sour look on my face, thinking that even though I was pathetic, I couldn’t hold onto a sick person like him.

After not forgetting to retrieve the table on the bed, I looked down at Ja-hyun, who had long hair hanging down his eyes, and spoke bluntly.

“You are still feverish right now, so don’t think about moving around and sleep. Get it?”

“I was planning to do that even if you didn’t say it, so just get… leave, please.”

Get…?

Suddenly something occurred to me, so I opened my mouth but then closed it and stared at Ja-hyun.

Although he changed the words midway, he wasn’t so oblivious to think I didn’t realize what he meant to say.

‘Seriously.. Isn’t this too much for someone who saved his life?’

This felt unfair.

Who had been taking care of him, both materially and spiritually, since he had been abandoned by an unknown person whom he thought was the benefactor?

Wasn’t it me? Ju Eun-ri?

But despite his inability to treat me like a benefactor, he strangles me, threatens me, speaks informally, and tells me to get lost.

No matter how much I thought about it, I felt like he treated me like his lifesaver and someone way older than him in a rude manner.

Well, I knew what kind of person he was to begin with.

“Phew, forget it…”

“Later…”

I, who had given up on the slightest hope of Ja-hyun, was about to tell him the business that came to my mind earlier, but Ja-hyu’s next words stopped me from speaking.

“What are you doing instead of going out? Don’t think of spying on me while I sleep.”

“What…?”

What does this mean? Ja-hyun answered when I asked.

“Isn't that what you are good at? The evil one is nothing short of sinister.”

“Yah, it isn’t like that!”

I got angry and raised my voice.

No, I was being sneaky.

But what did he mean?

At one point, he claimed that I was spying on him. How many minutes ago was it when he was eating? Or when I spent the night in his room, watching him intently to see whether he opened his eyes?

It was unfair in any case. Additionally, the way he spoke, pretending to be older than me and trying to gain the upper hand, was annoying.

“I am an individual who has observed someone while I am out in public. I treated you in a similar manner and never stole anything. Do you think I am some kind of pervert?”

I gave this an unpleasant look.

"I was only trying to let you know that I will come wake you up when the doctor arrives later. I’m telling you this in case you get startled. Furthermore, I had something to say, regardless of what others may think.

As I grumbled and went silent, Ja-hyun, who had a sour look, nodded.

“I will keep that in mind.”

“…”

“Will you not go?”

“Uh, fine…”

Let alone an apology, there wasn’t even a thanks for caring.

Forget it. What can I expect from the former Heavenly Demon? I just walked out.

The door closed with a thud!

This time it wasn’t a mistake; I slammed it for one purpose.

‘Woah, I am exhausted.’

I think I stayed in the room for less than an hour, but it felt like I had been suffering all day.

I just rolled my eyes and looked back, holding the tray with both hands.

There was no sound beyond the closed door.

A little before starting the evening business, Wang Dae-geon arrived with the smell of alcohol still on his massive body.

At that moment, the workers of the store, which had been supplying the goods since the grandpa’s generation, were stopping in front of the guesthouse, pulling carts full of food ingredients, so as soon as Wang Dae-geon came to work, he would have to carry the bag into the warehouse in the backyard.

‘It should be hard… But if I don’t make him do something like this, where else can I use him?’

He also came only in the evening when there were many people, and he diligently moved materials to the kitchen shelves with the people who worked with the guest house.

“Ah, Eun-ri, isn’t that heavy?”

“Uh? Not at all.”

“I will take care of it, so don’t push too hard.”

“Ah, yes. Thank you.”

Was it annoying to see us working together so well?

“Yah, you there. Come here for a moment.”

Since he couldn’t carry even a couple sacks, Wang Dae-geon called in this fellow guy who was still working and asked for a trade of work.

Then, without even doing anything to change my opinion, he reached out for the things I held.

Ah, Eun-ri, this oppa will do everything for you, so stay still.”

He entrusted all the hard work to a kid who seemed just 16 and ended up looking good in the eyes of Eun-ri, who was also much younger than him.

My stomach was boiling, but I knew that I wasn’t the kind of person who could be cured by talking about it, so I just left it.

In the original work, Wang Dae-geon was unable to change the habit and was killed by Ja-hyun.

“So you know. These people on the back street are running around.”

I frowned as I looked at Wang Dae-geon’s thick lips, which were constantly moving.

I really don’t want to see him; I am dying. What is the original story of this damn guy?

A guy like this is good at his job, gets paid for work, and is friendly with the seamstress who comes in occasionally.

It was infuriating to even think about it, but I couldn’t help it.

Even though I am the owner of this guesthouse, it wasn’t easy to remove this guy against the will of Ju Cheol-rim.

Even if I decided to cut him, there is a strong chance of those two bastards cheating and pretending to not care. For some reason, I liked the original flow.

For that reason, the only thing I could do in this situation was to pray with both hands that the troops would come down as soon as possible.

“I heard that Mok-hyun Hyung is planning to take down the heads of those thugs, so don’t worry too much, Eun-ri, understand?”

After all, since I had tied my hair up, I could clearly see the hot breath of his mixed with the alcohol on the exposed nape of my neck.

‘Ugh, gross.’

I immediately showed my displeasure and stepped aside.

But Wang Dae-geon closed the distance and continued speaking with his smelly mouth.

Now, is this because Wang Dae-geon is the type of person who likes to speak? but that wasn’t the case.

Wang Dae-geon was a big, heavy man who resembled a squashed potato. His rough voice didn't go well with his looks; therefore, he didn't enjoy talking to people. In fact, he wasn't prepared.

Then the question comes up.

Why does he pretend to be quiet in front of everyone, speak to me so much, and put his sweaty body against mine in this already hot summer?

The answer was quite simple.

‘This bastard has a crush on Ju Eun-ri.’

It was like that in the original, and it's still like that now.

However, what I can say for certain is that the feelings that he, who was in his late 30’s, had for a 20 year-old Eun-ri weren’t pure.

Although it wasn’t directly described in the original work, in my opinion, Wang Dae-geon didn’t truly admire Eun-ri.

Because he was worried about Ju Cheol-rim, he couldn’t bear to touch the young and pretty Eun-ri and just stared at her endlessly.

When she caught the eye of the high-ranking person in the Blood Palace and got caught, he was so heartbroken that he didn’t know what to do.

And in the end, he tried to insult Ju Eun-ri for not accepting his feelings, whom he said he loved so much, for not accepting his true feelings, even though he never properly conveyed his feelings to her.

It’s just that- a trashy feeling that isn’t love or anything.

That was the true nature of his feelings for Ju Eun-ri.

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