Kofi thanks to: Alilyana
Neptune bowed his head as if offering his neck. Unlike Venus, who wore a turtleneck, Neptune’s bare neck clearly displayed a vivid red aster tattoo above his sleeveless shirt.
“It’s not Neptune’s fault. It was me who asked to have dinner… since Muwon hyung-nim was also there…”
Venus, with a large bald spot on one side of his head, spoke with slightly slurred speech, covering for Neptune. Basically, they had lost track of Cheongyeon because they were negligent in their surveillance while Muwon was with the apothecary.
Neptune stepped in front of Venus as if to tell him not to proceed further.
“We went to the apothecary’s place, but it seemed he hadn’t arrived yet as the door was closed.”
It had been nearly an hour since Cheongyeon left, enough time for him to get home even if he had crawled.
“The last person who saw him said he was staggering a lot…”
Even as he spoke, Neptune trembled. While it might have been possible to lie to avoid punishment, if he was caught trying to find a way out, punishment would be merciless, even for clan members. Jang Hocheong, a Peira advisor who conspired with smugglers and betrayed them, was also from the Kwon clan. Now, he no longer existed in this world.
“Could he have fallen into a waterway or something?”
Venus mentioned Cheongyeon’s death quite casually. Nachata, who had been slow to grasp the situation due to the alcohol, suddenly stood up with determination.
“I will! I’ll find Cheongyeon!”
Nachata stumbled as he rushed out, nearly falling, but managed to regain his balance and sprinted out. Following his departure, sounds of collisions echoed from outside. Muwon, too, stood up after looking at the empty glass Cheongyeon had left behind.
“Where was the last place he was seen?”
“At the entrance to the alley leading to the apothecary’s from the fish market.”
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.
In that direction was a canal flowing towards the waterway. It seemed unlikely that Cheongyeon would have taken a boat. To reach Cheongyeon’s apothecary shop from there required walking further and turning left, where no canal was present.
“Tbe oemxfgr, sbe uesr ub ab atf jqbatfmjgs’r rtbq. Po sbe olcv tlw, rtbba j rlucji gluta jkjs.”
Vlucji oijgfr kfgf rbwfatlcu fnfgs Uflgj wfwyfg jikjsr mjgglfv klat atfw. Ktfs kfgf erfv lc mjrf bo qfgrbcji vjcufg bg jc jaajmx, yea cbk kjr cba atf alwf ab kbggs jybea remt qgbabmbir.
Muwon immediately left the inn and headed towards the waterway where Cheongyeon was last seen. The thought of a body floating down the dark waterway sent shivers down his spine. Was he worried that Cheonghwa Town might sink if Cheongyeon was indeed from the Hwa clan? Was that why his neck felt tingly?
But if Cheongyeon was dead and Cheonghwa Town didn’t sink…
Fuck…!
Muwon’s steps were faster than ever before.
***
“What right do you have to tell me not to make a deal?”
For some reason, Cheongyeon was extremely upset. Unable to find his bicycle, he had no choice but to walk. It took at least 30 minutes to walk from the inn to the apothecary. Under normal circumstances, he would have headed straight to the apothecary, but perhaps due to the effects of alcohol, he kept wandering down the street.
Although he wasn’t particularly bad at handling liquor… Maybe it was because he had consumed a significant amount of high-alcohol whiskey, he felt increasingly dizzy the more he walked.
He didn’t expect Nachata to have persuaded Muwon. Thus, he planned to visit Hwang Ran before 10 a.m. the next morning to finalize the deal.
What if Tae Muwon threatened Hwang Ran? And so what if he said he wouldn’t sign?
As negative thoughts multiplied, Cheongyeon felt increasingly resentful.
“Just because you’re strong doesn’t mean you’re right. You bad guy, I’m the reason you can even live here.”
Cheongyeon muttered to himself as he walked. If he had drunk on an empty stomach, he might have vomited, but his stomach was full, leaving him feeling just tipsy. It reminded him of when he first worked at the Dandelion Pub, where he had reluctantly drunk beer offered by customers several times because the boss told him to increase sales no matter what.
That was also unfair. He had made every effort to connect with a captain of the stowaway ship, but all his efforts had been in vain. From beginning to end, it was all because of Tae Muwon.
Until not long ago, Cheongyeon had a certain liking for Peira. Their presence had reduced pirate activity in Cheonghwa Town. However, ever since he became entangled with Tae Muwon a few months ago, he was suspected of being from the Hwa clan and even threatened. Cheongyeon’s once peaceful life had become a mess. He had intended to live quietly until he found a successor.
The unwritten rule of Cheonghwa Island: Do not get involved with Tae Muwon.
It couldn’t be more accurate. Ever since becoming involved with Tae Muwon, nothing had gone right.
“…Still, I’ve earned 20,000 hwan.”
Cheongyeon felt the texture of the banknotes rolled up in his socks on both sides. It was unsafe to leave the money at the apothecary, so he always carried it like this when going out. Since he always washed his body thoroughly and carefully laundered his socks as well, the banknotes remained as clean as when he first got them.
But now, he had a big problem. Now that he knew such delicious food existed, he wondered if he could ever go back to mixing rice with ramyeon broth. Cheongyeon had set aside one day a month as his “eating out day.” On that day, he planned to eat something very expensive and delicious.
“Don’t you know how you were treated at the restaurant today?”
“You were ignored, weren’t you.”
He resolved not to tolerate such treatment next time.
“Didn’t you ignore me, too?”
Cheongyeon recalled how Tae Muwon had ignored him. Or rather, he tried to recall, but all he could remember was how Tae Muwon had harassed him by insisting he was from the Hwa clan.
Although he was from the Hwa clan.
A snicker escaped him.
“Iyiot.”
He intended to pronounce it as ‘idiot’ but the word stumbled and it sounded like a babble. Nonetheless, it was essentially a victory for him. Tae Muwon had lost to him. Being wary of potential Peira underlings who might be watching, he tried not to speak unnecessarily. However, he couldn’t help but continue to giggle. It seemed to be a drunken habit he wasn’t aware of.
‘This isn’t the right way…’
The apothecary was located far from the waterway. Cheongyeon nervously looked at the dark, rippling waters of the canal. The waterway during the day was a gentle flow that transported blue flowers to the main waterway, but at night, it seemed like a mysterious river that bordered the worlds of the living and the dead. Unlike the sea, the water here didn’t even froth white, staring too long could feel like being sucked into darkness.
Though Cheongyeon lived by the sea, he had never left Cheonghwa Town. He was vaguely concerned about how terrifying it must be for those navigating the sea at night. The only place to stand in the vast ocean was on a ship.
He was scared just looking at the waterway at night. If he accidentally slipped, he might fall into the water, so he stuck close to the closed shops as he walked.
‘I need to turn left here soon.’ Finally, Cheongyeon spotted the alleyway leading to the apothecary and turned his back on the canal. Then, he heard footsteps approaching from afar.
Glad for another human, he looked up to see a man walking towards him from the opposite alley, smirking and staggering, clearly intoxicated. His initial relief quickly turned to wariness. Also drunk, Cheongyeon prepared to avoid the heavily intoxicated man as best as he could.
Despite Cheongyeon moving further aside, the man managed to block his path while staggering. Trying to evade on the other side resulted in the same.
In Cheonghwa Town, where the law and order were poor, incidents frequently occurred at night. It was common that fights between drunkards led to death. Therefore, Cheongyeon avoided going out at night whenever possible, especially after closing the apothecary.
“Wow fuck me! I’ve never seen someone as pretty as you. But why do you keep avoiding me?”
The stench of alcohol was overpowering. Cheongyeon didn’t recognize the man, he didn’t seem to be from this neighborhood. Knowing it was best not to engage with a drunk, Cheongyeon kept his mouth tightly shut.
“You smiled at me first. Why avoid me when you were seducing me first?”
As Cheongyeon shifted sideways, the drunkard suddenly reached out for him. Cheongyeon narrowly avoided him, his heart racing. Thanks to that, he was sobered up.
‘Huh? Why wasn’t he caught?’ The man, who was looking down at his empty hands, stretched out his hand again, this time aiming directly for Cheongyeon’s hair. Cheongyeon stepped back, scanning the surroundings.
“Hey, fuck. Did I do something to you?!”
Angered by being close to catching him yet not being able to, the man was clearly agitated. As Cheongyeon looked for an escape, he suddenly started running to avoid the man who was closing the distance.
Pr: Sasa
😰😰😰
Cheongyeon is so cute and spunky! Btw.