After greeting the owner, Cheongyeon hung two plastic bags on one wrist while he held the chocolate in his free hand and gently peeled off the wrapper with his teeth. The price of this small snack was quite expensive. This was because there was no chocolate factory in Cheonghwa Town and no fruit of the cacao was produced.
It was a luxury he had tasted for the first time in almost a year. When he took a bite, the sweet chocolate melted in his mouth and the fishy smell of blood that had been bothering him until now was forgotten.
At this point, he wanted Tae Muwon to be completely erased from his memory. He let the chocolate melt in his mouth for a long time, hoping that the man would never come looking for him or run into him somewhere else. However, the smooth and sticky chocolate disappeared in an instant. Feeling ominous for no reason, Cheongyeon rummaged through the plastic bag and took out another chocolate.
As the sweet taste spread throughout his body, he felt much better. As he shook the bag of tofu and rice and greedily devoured the chocolate, he almost reached the apothecary. Cheongyeon was surprised by the sweet and cool scent that blew through the wind.
At the same time, his heart sank. It was someone he was hoping to never meet just a few minutes ago. This was why he shouldn’t trust Peira. Boss Tae Cheonoh even assured that Peira would not come to visit in the future, but he broke his promise less than a day later.
Tae Muwon, standing in front of his herbal medicine shop, had his hand in one of his pants pockets. He lit a cigarette with his other hand, which was covered in a white bandage. Cheongyeon just wanted to throw away the plastic bag hanging from his wrist and run away.
Who knows where he had left his fancy suit jacket, but despite the chilly cold, he strode forward wearing only a shirt.
He was probably moping around in the corner of the store, and it looked like he was going to accuse me of buying groceries with the money he gave me. Cheongyeon gently moved his hand, which was holding the bag, back.
“What kind of bastard did it?”
“…Yes?”
“Who is the bastard who took your money?”
Cheongyeon just shook his head without knowing what was going on. No one stole his money.
***
Cheongyeon’s sobs kept ringing in Muwon’s ears.
Tae Cheonoh’s words about being left alone at a young age came to mind again and again. He also grew up going through hardships since he was young, so what was the difference? Muwon was already smoking several cigarettes in a row.
The stars that were densely packed above the dome of the botanical garden disappeared as dawn broke. He had seen the sun, the stars, and the sea so many times that they didn’t inspire anything.
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.
The humid sea breeze gently caressed the plants in the botanical garden. Muwon glanced at something small shaking beneath his feet; it was a blue flower with six leaves that he had blown away. Half a day ago, there was no sign of it growing again, but before he knew it, a flower was in full bloom.
Lf atbeuta la ibbxfv fzjmais ilxf jc jqbatfmjgs jr la rkjsfv ogbw rlvf ab rlvf fnfc lc atf kfjx klcv.
“It’s still so… scary.”
Elq~ Zekbc qlmxfv atf yief oibkfg jujlc. Dea atlr alwf tf tfiv la alutais lc tlr tjcv gjatfg atjc ifaalcu la ois jkjs lc atf rfj ygffhf.
Ktf cfza wbwfca, tf ragbvf ragjluta bea bo atf vbwf klatbea fnfc atlcxlcu jybea ajxlcu tlr rela pjmxfa. Ktf oibkfg tf kjr tbivlcu kjr raeoofv lcab bcf qbmxfa. Zekbc fjrlis gfjilhfv ktfgf atf vlgas offilcu mjwf ogbw. Lf qfgrfmeafv atf qbkfgifrr jcv qbbg jqbatfmjgs ktb tjv cbatlcu yea j ojmf.
But since when did he start caring about things like that? If there were people who irritated him, he would beat them up, and there was also the time when he smashed the face of a guy who brazenly came for him while thinking he could rely on his pretty face.
After getting off the Peira, Muwon walked aimlessly instead of heading towards the Marine Building.
“Pfft! Where did that punk get that much money? He freaked out when I said I was not going to take it, oh I should just-”
“Eh, you scumbag, you’re sitting there bragging about stealing a kid’s money.”
“Ah, so what! You spit out the drink I bought you!”
Two drunk people walking with bottles of alcohol were giggling and causing a ruckus among themselves. The drunk, who was extremely excited, looked at Muwon coming from the opposite direction and widened his eyes, thinking that he had made another good catch. However, as soon as he saw Muwon’s face, he hurriedly lowered his gaze.
The drunk customer pushed his drunk colleague into another alley, saying he was going the wrong way. The colleague who was being pushed away had already seen Muwon as well, so he kept his mouth shut and started walking briskly. If you’re scared, you shut up and run away after all, not whine about how you’re scared like a man with no self-respect.
The sound of the apothecary sobbing once again touched his nerves. Muwon passed the Dandelion Bar and gradually went down and down District E.
Naturally, he arrived in front of the Cheongyeon Apothecary and peered into the unlit interior. Instead of trying to turn somewhere, he kicked the glass door of the apothecary with his foot. If he just avoided it, wouldn’t it seem like he was afraid of the apothecary just like the drunkards earlier?
He kicked again with his foot and there was a loud sound like glass breaking. However, the apothecary did not even show his face. Even if he was sleeping, it’s normal to wake up if the noise was this loud. He definitely had a record of saying that he was diligent.
A thought popped up, it was just a “what-if”; he wondered if he’s so anxious that he couldn’t come to his senses. Just thinking about how the other person was shaking so weakly, it felt like that was the case.
Muwon took out a cigarette, bit and lit it. He tried to pass by the apothecary without caring. He only had one cigarette.
At that moment, rustle, rustle, the sound of plastic rustling on the quiet road was heard. Someone was coming down from the hill he passed, carrying a heavy bag. Holding chocolate in one hand, it was the apothecary. Muwon blew a cloud of smoke out of his mouth. He was so dumbfounded that he couldn’t even swallow the smoke.
As soon as the apothecary saw him, he stopped dead in his tracks. He hid the empty chocolate paper in his fist and hid the plastic wrap around his wrist behind him. His face, which had been alert even when he was eating chocolate, became stiff as soon as he saw Muwon.
Now that Muwon thought about it, the money he gave must have been at least 20,000 hwan… It was four times more than the 5,000 hwan monthly salary of a low-ranking Peira underling. And that was taking into account that Peira was generous with its salaries, even for the lower ranks.
But at best, Cheongyeon bought things like chocolate and rice and came rushing back, although he had enough money to buy everything in the store.
“Pfft! Where did that punk get that much money? He freaked out when I said I was not going to take it, oh I should just-”
“Eh, you scumbag, you’re sitting there bragging about stealing a kid’s money.”
Recalling the encounter earlier, Muwon took a deep breath of smoke. He couldn’t even remember what the drunkards looked like. As he strained his hand, blood spread through the bandage again.
“What kind of bastard did it?”
“…Yes?”
“Who is the bastard who took your money?”
Cheongyeon shook his head as if he didn’t understand.
“The money… is fine.”
Suddenly, Muwon frowned. Cheongyeon looked back at the hill as if examining the retreat route, then looked at Muwon again.
“You set all that money and pigging out on that kind of stuff?”
“Have you perhaps… come to take the money?”
Cheongyeon’s face, which had been flushed when he ate the chocolate, turned pale. It was natural that he would treat Muwon like a scoundrel. Of course, saying it was natural didn’t stop Muwon from feeling bad. Meanwhile, he was also concerned about the red scratches on his neck.
“The money you gave me… I already spent everything.”
Where on earth did he spend all 20,000 hwan in one night? Of course it was a lie. He was shaking the pieces out of fear that Muwon might take them back.
“Where?”
Muwon picked at Cheongyeon’s words, wondering what kind of excuse he would come up with this time.
“…I’m signing a contract for a house to move into.”
“Oh, is the real estate agency open 24 hours?”
“Mr. Oh of the real estate agency does whatever it takes day and night to make money.”
Cheongyeon responded impatiently.
Anyway, if you want to live in Cheonghwa Town, you had to have that level of courage. Nevertheless, a tingling sensation rushed to the back of Muwon’s head. The guy who was scared and sobbing earlier was now talking loudly.
“And… Peira’s boss promised that Muwon… that Peira would never come for me again.”
Cheongyeon openly implied why he didn’t keep his promise. The sound of a cigarette sizzling rang out from Muwon’s mouth.
“Hey, what are you?”
Since he couldn’t figure out what the other meant by asking, Cheongyeon chose silence.
“Fuck, where did the guy who said I was scary go?”
It’s not like the Hwa clan was showing off in front of him because they hid their identity well. In the heat of being beaten, Muwon pressed the bone of his bandaged hand against his temple. Since he wasn’t just a stubborn old man, he had to admit what he had to admit. His instincts were dead, and he knew that that guy was not from the Hwa clan.
Nevertheless, Muwon took out the blue flower he had put in his pocket.
Oh man, is he going to lose his sh*t when he sees the flower?!? Thanks for the chapter!! 💜💜💜
He’s thinks he’s not Hwa just cause of the blood? He gave him blood when he was kid in the same way and that’s probably why it didn’t affect him. This is such an interesting story already I love it!
Never mind he didn’t give him blood I don’t think
Me encanta Muwon con todo y su saco de flores, gracias por la traducción
Cheongyeon was really all alone after his mom then nanny died, Muwon may have been through a lot of hardships since young but he had his “brothers” and people around him.