Kofi thanks to: Dreaming V
The small boat rocked loudly in the wind.
“Marine Building.”
“Yes, I will take you there.”
The boatman, who was holding a long oar at the stern of the boat, balanced himself without difficulty. Although Muwon did not have a tattoo indicating that he belonged to Peira, there was no one in Cheonghwa Town who did not know him. With the fancy suit and all the piercings, even if you closed one eye, you could tell it was Tae Muwon.
Muwon sat with his back to the stern of the boat instead of the chair provided in the center. The boatman, now facing Muwon, rowed harder than usual. He did not even dare mention that it was dangerous to sit there.
It was said that the people of Cheonghwa Town were never in danger because they rode a lot of boats, but no matter how you looked at Tae Muwon, he looked far from a sailor. He had a handsome face, as if he had never been hit by the sea breeze, but his body was more menacing than those of the sailors.
“Is the bridge closest to here connected to District B?”
“Pardon? Y- yes, that’s right!”
The boatman who had been glancing at Muwon raised his voice in surprise.
“How long does it take to walk from here to the bridge?”
Muwon, who had looked in the direction of the bridge, fixed his head again on the boatman. At that moment, the small boat was swayed by a sudden strong gust, and the boatman was worried that if he fell into the water, he would cut his throat, so he hurriedly balanced the boat.
Muwon got up from the stern and approached the boatman. The smaller the ship, the more difficult it was to balance, but he looked no different from walking on land.
As he stared down at him indifferently, the boatman remembered his question.
“Yes! Cheonghwa Town is not that small, so it would take half a day to walk there.”
“Then he must have left a long time ago.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Ktf mbgcfgr bo atf wjc’r wbeat vgfk jc jgm. Ktf yijmx tjlg atja mjeuta atf iluta mgfjafv j wbgf yfilfnjyif rmfcf atjc atf kjnfr bo atf kjafgkjs.
“Qt- ktb jgf sbe ibbxlcu obg?”
“Tbe ublcu ab olcv tlw obg wf?”
Zekbc rtbkfv mbcrlvfgjyif lcafgfra.
“P mjggs qfbqif jgbecv, rb atf cfkr mbwfr ojlgis delmxis.”
The boatman looked at Muwon’s mood with an anxious look, wondering if he had crossed the line. But the latter just smiled as if he had heard something funny, and got off near the Marine Building, paying the boatman handsomely. He didn’t even mention who he was looking for.
***
Cheongyeon pressed his hat down firmly.
[Name: Cheongyeon
Features: It is the same as the picture, so you will recognize him at a glance.
If you find him, pass the word to anyone from Peira. Must be captured alive. Anyone who kills him will have three generations of their family killed. 5,000 hwan reward.]
On the poster, Cheongyeon’s face was drawn along with some insincere words. The face looked similar to the one seen in the mirror, as though they had hired a good artist. He was fortunate to have found it on the first day the posters started going up. Otherwise, he would have already been caught by Peira.
‘I never thought Tae Muwon would seriously chase after me like this.’
Cheongyeon crossed the bridge to another area and returned to District E because of the poster. Since he couldn’t find a job, he was short of money, but he couldn’t buy anything because of the poster.
He bought a fishing rod with what little money he had and tried fishing at night, but he couldn’t catch any fish. The plants listened to him well, but the underwater creatures did not.
Even in shabby restaurants run by elderly owners, the posters were hung everywhere. Starving, Cheongyeon returned to the apothecary before he ran out of money.
No one showed any interest in the apothecary, perhaps because they thought he was wandering around somewhere else. Fortunately, because not much time had passed, the medicinal herbs and dried tea bags were safe.
Even at the store, the only food available was rice and instant noodles. He couldn’t even turn on the light for fear of being caught, so he ate raw rice and raw instant noodles. Despite eating sparingly, the food diminished by the previous day. As hunger and resentment filled him to the brim, strangely enough, he developed a spirit that he had never had before. If he continued like this, he might starve to death, so dying one way or another was the same.
Cheongyeon, who was looking at the posters posted all over the building, pulled the hat down a little more to cover his face.
The Marine Building.
Cheongyeon lifted his head closely and looked up. The tree protruding through the rooftop hung its leaves in abundance as if protecting the building.
So many thoughts had been tormenting his mind before he came here that his whole body felt feverish.
‘Should I go back…?’ He kept trying to find his way to the apothecary again. However, Cheongyeon made up his mind and walked towards the front door of the building.
[Must be captured alive.]
Perhaps he was encouraged by that article.
‘It doesn’t seem like they have any intention of killing me. I can’t run away forever. They even put up posters like that…’
Cheongyeon thought, wouldn’t it make him look innocent if he proudly stood in front of Peira and asked them why they were looking for him? And it might be more believable if he made the excuse that he was only away on a trip for a while. Since he came in person, perhaps he should even tell them to give him the reward.
It was truly an insane idea. If that were the case, rather than sparing his life, Tae Muwon might actually take out an ax to his head.
Nevertheless, money was needed to obtain dried Boksu flowers. The more expensive the smuggling ship received the commission, the more reliably it handled the job.
He wondered if the distance from the back door where the garbage dump to the front door had always been this face. Cheongyeon’s heart was racing as if it was about to jump out all the way through his journey.
He should have never run away in the first place. No, it was the best choice at the time. Wasn’t it even more strange that Tae Muwon was this obsessed?
“Fuck, am I seeing things?”
Cheongyeon had rounded the corner of the building when he quickly raised his head at the low voice across from him. The man, backlit, towered in front of him. It was Tae Muwon, standing with his back to the sun. The scent of the Boksu flower that had been emanating from him had vanished, as if to indicate the passage of time.
Instead of the scent of flowers, he smelled of faint perfume, and his suit jacket was roughly folded and draped over one arm. Cheongyeon’s eyes were dazzled by the flowers in full bloom engraved on the jacket. He opened his mouth as he looked at the man who was more gorgeous than a flower that was fully photosynthesizing.
“You… found me.”
Although he had prepared his heart well, his voice was shaking badly as he faced Muwon directly. A hand reached out unavoidably fast, and snatched his hat off his head. Cheongyeon caught the falling hat with trembling hands.
Ha, Tae Muwon bared his teeth as he scoffed in shock. The aura emanating from him was fierce. If he made a mistake with his words, his head could have been chopped off. Cheongyeon held his hat tightly, trying not to be too nervous, which at least hid some of the shaking in his hands.
“I went on a trip for a while, and for some reason there was a poster looking for me- ugh!”
It was before he finished speaking. Muwon squeezed the back of his neck. The sudden pressure was followed by crushing pain in his neck.
He held onto Cheongyeon, who was gasping heavily, and walked shakily into the Marine Building. He stumbled a few times, but Muwon just dragged him away without mercy. The iron gates were wide open on both sides, feeling like the mouth of the entrance to hell.
Cheongyeon’s legs were tangled again, and he unconsciously grabbed Muwon’s shirt. He was startled and tried to let go, but he just glanced down at his crumpled shirt. At that moment, the thick trunk of the tree growing through the building caught Cheongyeon’s vision at first glance. It was his first time seeing the trees in the Marine Building this close. However, since Muwon headed straight to the elevator, he could only appreciate it briefly.
Cheongyeon was grabbed so roughly that the back of his neck was almost crushed and he trembled. Muwon also felt the other’s trembling through his palm. The nape of his neck, which was gradually becoming damp, started to stick to his palm.
The sight of his head hanging down like a fawn caught in a vital spot was extremely pathetic. As the light gray-brown hair tickled the back of his hand, Muwon’s grip became stronger.
“I wonder why you’re not as laid-back as you look.”
“…Pl- please let me go.”
As a thin voice escaped, the palm wrapped around his neck rang.
“You tremble, fool people, and go behind people’s backs in a way that doesn’t suit you. Even now, you’re racking your brain on how to escape, aren’t you?”
He was scared out of his wits two weeks ago, but he ran away with great vigor. And not just that, they couldn’t even find a single hair of it, but he came here on his own accord when they were getting exasperated. Perhaps the pitiful appearance of a baby animal was all just an act.
Cheongyeon seemed to be a Hwa clan person who took full advantage of his good looks. Was this also a habit of the Hwa clan? The only Hwa Muwon knew had been like that.
After getting down to the 5th floor, where the lower ranks lived, Muwon dragged Cheongyeon to the warehouse on the left. The subordinates greeted Muwon politely, but did not look at Muwon too curiously as he visited the lower floor. He opened the door to the warehouse, turned on the light, and only then did he let go of his neck. Cheongyeon fell halfway to the floor due to the force of the push.
Ah what a cliffhanger, thanks for the chapters
੭ ᐕ)੭*⁾⁾