Although he was an unexpected buyer, Cheongyeon was in no position to be picky about selling products.
“Huh, seriously! Does this person come looking for me and suddenly buy something?”
Cheongyeon moved the lotus tea bundled up in soft cloth into a small wooden box. Despite Hwang Ran’s reprimands, Saturn did not budge. Since he was a merchant from the 1st Continent, he must be a valuable customer.
“Soak them in warm water one at a time, the dried lotus flowers will unfold.”
It would have been a big problem if the man poured it all out and ate them thinking that since the flower was small. In Cheongyeon’s hands, the plants were more potent than they were in nature.
“The dosage is one flower per day.”
Cheongyeon once again gave a firm warning. He received 300 hwan first and placed the box on Saturn’s outstretched hands. Now, not only Saturn’s face but also his thick neck had turned red. Hwang Ran, who was watching this at the side, blurted out.
“So there is a reason for all the profiteering, huh?”
Hwang Ran snarled that Cheongyeon preyed on unsuspecting humans with a straight face, then, Saturn suddenly grabbed Hwang Ran by the collar.
“Y- y- you lunatic!”
“The apothecary is not that kind of person.”
Hwang Ran’s servant grabbed Saturn’s wrist quickly, but it was so thick that he couldn’t hold it properly in one hand. In defense, Hwang Ran lifted his heel and kicked at his smooth, polished shoes. Seeing the fight that was breaking out in front of his store, Cheongyeon started to seriously wonder if he should stop doing business for the day. Sure enough, the guests nearby who recognized Saturn from Peira started to walk away.
“The ship! The ship is coming in!”
Just at that moment, the rough man’s voice spread throughout the market.
“The whale ship is coming in now!”
Cheongyeon crouched down and raised his head. Both Saturn, who was being grabbed by the collar, and Hwang Ran, who was also being grabbed by the collar in turn, turned their gaze towards the sea simultaneously. The servant took advantage of that opportunity to separate the two. Hwang Ran glared at Saturn with eyes full of anger, but he only shook off his crumpled coat silently.
The ship approaching the dock was still as small as a dot.
“Our ship is carrying the sperm whale!”
The owner of the voice was a sailor from the whaling ship who returned in a speedboat to deliver the news. The vendors all flocked to the area near the dock.
The excitement was palpable. The people of Cheonghwa Town shrugged it off as if they had caught the sperm whale themselves. They felt proud of the fact that merchants from the great 1st Continent flocked here like a pack of dogs.
Cheongyeon was worried that someone would steal the medicinal herbs, so he just looked out at the sea from the same spot. As expected, theft was rampant while the owners were away. There were also people robbing stores belonging to the Merchants’ Association. A commotion broke out again between the owners who came back late and the thieves.
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.
While some were caught and beaten, there were also others who quickly hid in an alley. When the whaling boat arrived, the market’s attention would turn to the sperm whale again. As the vessel gradually came into view, Cheongyeon arranged the medicinal herbs he had laid out. With the sale of the expensive lotus tea, he was done for the day.
Lkjcu Ejc jcv tlr wfc tjv jigfjvs tfjvfv ab atf vbmx, yea Vjaegc kjr ralii lc atf rjwf rqba. Vlcmf la rffwfv ilxf atfgf kjr cbatlcu wbgf ab yes, Jtfbcusfbc jrxfv njuefis.
“Qts vbc’a sbe ub jcv ajxf j ibbx?”
“P’w… Qfii, P’w cba qjgalmeijgis lcafgfrafv rb P vbc’a tjnf ab kjamt atf ktjif.”
“…I see.”
“If you’re closing up shop, can I buy everything?”
He had already put all the medicinal ingredients into one bag and tied it up. Cheongyeon stood straight towards Saturn, who looked bashful.
“Do you need anything?”
The reason he couldn’t just say yes and sell everything was because of Hwang Ran’s words.
Not only did the higher-ranking person in Peira treat him, a mere apothecary, with respect, but whenever he opened his mouth, his face turned bright red. Just like before, Saturn seemed to have more than a certain level of favor towards him. It wouldn’t have been very pleasant to take advantage of such a person.
“If you don’t need something, you don’t have to force yourself to buy it.”
“Um, something good for hangovers…”
He didn’t seem to remember which medicine was good for hangovers. Relieving hangovers was an effect posted on a sign on a branch of a Siberian ginseng.
“Then just buy some Siberian ginseng.”
Cheongyeon unpacked the bag again and put the branches into a paper bag.
“Boil this in water and drink it. 5 hwan please.”
Saturn searched his pockets for a one-hwan bill. Even when he turned them inside out so that the lining came out, only 100 hwan bills appeared.
“I’ll just give you this as a freebie, since you bought something expensive.”
Cheongyeon said, intending to leave before the harbor got busier and busier.
Saturn shook his head in a motion sickening way, saying that he couldn’t do that, and held out a 100-hwan bill.
“I don’t have any change either.”
Cheongyeon handed the paper bag to Saturn, insisting he just take it. When he refused to accept the bill, Saturn shoved his hand into the still-open bag. When his hand came out, there was no bill in it.
“No need for change, then.”
Cheongyeon hurriedly took out the bills that were in the bag. It was so deep that it took up to his elbow to find it. Cheongyeon, holding a bill, chased after Saturn, who was going back the way he came.
“Excuse me…!”
Just as Cheongyeon raised his voice, in front of Saturn who was bowing, a man standing a head taller than the other man appeared. He usually seemed to enjoy wearing a jacket with red flowers on it, but today it was embroidered with dark blue hydrangeas.
‘Tae Muwon…’
Cheongyeon echoed the man’s name in his mind. It was the owner of Peira that he was seeing for the first time in almost two months. He quickly tried to turn around, but his gaze met Muwon’s bright yellow eyes.
“Coming to whale watch?”
Tae Muwon smiled as if he had met someone he was ecstatic to see. It was a very friendly attitude. Cheongyeon didn’t understand why he was like that, but he was such a capricious person anyway.
“…Hello.”
Cheongyeon bowed and handed out 100 hwan to Saturn, who just then turned to look at him.
“I said I would give it to you as a freebie, so take this money.”
Saturn hesitantly accepted the 100 hwan and looked at Cheongyeon and Muwon alternately, making a bewildered face. Muwon also looked down at the paper bag in Saturn’s hand. Inside the paper bag was also a wooden box containing lotus tea.
“What did Saturn buy?”
Seeing Muwon’s grinning face, Saturn quickly opened the paper bag. The other person didn’t even check the inside of the bag.
Muwon walked past Saturn and got closer to Cheongyeon. Cheongyeon gradually felt his head rise upward. Just as the small dot-like whaling boat grew larger, the man appeared even more gigantic as he approached.
“I got really scolded by the boss.”
“Yes?”
“So I haven’t been anywhere near the apothecary.”
“…”
Cheongyeon didn’t know what to answer and couldn’t even choose his words.
“You must have lived a long life since you didn’t see me, your face is in full bloom. Fuck, are you a flower?”
The man was still smiling, so it was unclear whether he was in a good mood or a bad mood. Cheongyeon responded, looking at him with wary eyes.
“There was a lot of money given that day, so I took care of various things.”
It was a relief to not have seen Peira or Muwon recently. But as long as they were in the same area, they were bound to run into each other someday, as they did today.
“Shall we go whale watching?”
Muwon asked abruptly. Cheongyeon had to look up at him again to make sure what he asked him was correct. The only person in front of him was Muwon, and Saturn was still behind him.
“Is the whale there?”
Feeling the gaze that was directed behind him, he muttered and looked back at Saturn. Saturn, who had suddenly turned into a whale, still had his eyes wide open.
“The whale I told you about is over there.”
He pointed to the dock toward the sea as though he was giving a confirmation that Cheongyeon was the person whom he asked to see the whales with him.
“I…”
Cheongyeon tried to say that he had to go back to the apothecary, but Muwon had already started walking to the dock. He was walking first, but as Cheongyeon didn’t follow him, he shot over a look that asked what he was doing. In the first place, there was no option for him to refuse Tae Muwon.
“I need to take my bicycle and a bundle of medicine. There are a lot of thieves.”
At that, Muwon just grabbed Saturn’s neck next to him.
“Yes, hyung-nim. I will take it to the apothecary for him.”
“I can just…”
Muwon’s eyes, which resembled the light of the sun yet did not feel any warmth, felt cold on one’s skin. Cheongyeon regretted it belatedly, thinking that he should just follow along quietly for now and go home when the other man lost interest.
However, he was not caught by his hair for talking back. Muwon stood still in the same spot. The only thing passing by was the sea breeze that shook his fine hair.
“Then 10 seconds is enough, right?”
It was an impossible distance to cover in that amount of time. No, but running would do the trick.
Muwon smirked as he nervously measured the distance.
“I’m kidding.”
Hehehe Muwon trying to fake nicey nice and Cheongyeon like wtf is going on?!
Saturn is such a kind man I wonder how that dynamic is going to go later on when Muwon gets his hands on Cheongyeon.
I kinda feel sad for Saturn. Man has been nothing but nice to the MC 😭😭. Also with what I have read so far, I’m a 100% sure that the ML would simply ask him to get over his infatuation, and Saturn would suffer.
Second male read syndrome… ( ╥ω╥ )