Kofi thanks to: Alilyana
He said threateningly, treating him like a pervert. Cheongyeon shook his head vigorously, clutching the banknotes tightly before quickly entering the bathroom. Then, the sound of the wooden door slamming shut echoed. Muwon had recognized it from the moment he was being chased by that drunk bastard; Cheongyeon was surprisingly quick.
Earlier, Muwon had spotted Cheongyeon from across the waterway, but there was still a long way to go. He had leaped across the rows of rowing boats, crossing the waterway in one swift motion. Then, he threw whatever he could grab at the man punching Cheongyeon, only realizing later that it was a bottle. After all the trouble of rescuing Cheongyeon from the water…
Click.
The sound of the door being locked timidly brushed past Muwon’s ears. Suddenly, Muwon’s neck veins bulged as he burst into a fierce laugh.
“Well done, apothecary. That’s right, you should protect your own body.”
Muwon slammed the door with a bang. The thought of Cheongyeon being startled like a rabbit drew a snicker from him.
He decided to skip the advice to take a bath and just took out clothes from the opened wardrobe to wear. Without a separate jacket, he casually shoved on a dress shirt over suit pants.
Having grabbed his room key, he stepped outside and locked the door. Considering Cheongyeon wouldn’t crawl back to the apothecary at this late hour, he planned to let him sleep on his own and leave the next day. Muwon tucked the inn key into the back pocket of his pants.
Just then, as he was heading towards the stairs, he encountered an employee climbing up the stairs with a blanket in her arms. The employee’s gaze naturally reached Muwon’s waist due to her shorter height. The prominent long outline protruding in the pants was excessively provocative. It was odd to see a man agitatedly leaving the inn room. Wondering if he had been stood up by someone, the employee lifted her head even more.
Upon seeing his face under the wet hair, she swallowed her breath. It was her first time seeing a man with such features. She had thought her ideal type was a dependable and silent man, but standing in front of a truly handsome man, she realized that ideal types fade.
“It’s been a while since I’ve been blatantly ogled like this.”
Muwon was dumbfounded as he tried to go downstairs. The reprimanded employee peeked at him while burying her face into the blanket, deliberately slowing her steps as she climbed.
“What’s with that look, kid?”
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.
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“I’ll be done in 10 minutes.”
Ignoring him and going downstairs, the employee grabbed him. As a result, the cleanly washed blanket dragged on the floor.
“Kid, 10 minutes is definitely not enough.”
He stepped on the stretched blanket with his shoes. It meant the laundry had to be done again, but that was hardly a concern.
“Why are you so clueless? It’s not like you don’t know what I’m talking about, right?”
“Oh, let’s fuck?”
She had to tilt her head far back. He was so tall that her head barely reached his chest. Perhaps that’s why she didn’t feel bad being called a kid.
“Oh my goodness. Why do you talk so cheaply?”
“I’m a cheap guy; talking fancy would be a scam.”
The employee, momentarily lost in his smiling face, opened her eyes wide in astonishment.
“Well, honestly. I don’t mind if it’s cheap.”
“Go and ask the kid in my room if we can fuck in here.”
“What?”
Muwon pulled out a key from his back pocket. The flat wooden tag hanging on the key had ‘302’ written on it. The employee inhaled sharply, this time for a different reason.
“Tae Muwon-nim is staying long-term at our inn, but it’s rare for him to actually stay over. Still, he does come by occasionally, so behave well, got it? His room is 302.”
“I’m telling you, don’t get charmed by his looks. Why do you think there are rumors about him being crazy? I’ve seen several people who slept with Tae Muwon trying to act like the hostess of Peira and ended up being screwed over. There was even a time we had to clean up a corpse in our inn. Tae Cheonoh said that woman tried to assassinate Tae Muwon, but who knows the truth?”
The innkeeper’s advice passed through her mind, and the employee stiffened her face upon realizing the identity of the handsome man. She was well aware of the rumors about Peira and Tae Muwon but had seen his face for the first time today.
“I’m sorry. It was my mistake.”
The employee quickly bowed her head and scampered up the stairs as if running away.
Seeing that she’d bolt at the mention of room 302, the owner must have warned the employee in some way, given his cautious nature. Muwon looked at the key he was holding and then shifted his gaze towards room 302.
Now that he thought about it, was it necessary to give up the room to Cheongyeon and leave?
“Wow, I was so fucking sweet.”
Muwon chuckled and put the key back in his back pocket. Normally, he wouldn’t have stopped any woman from coming on to him, but for some reason, he didn’t feel like it today. His arousal had also subsided. Cracking his neck with a snap, Muwon languidly went downstairs.
***
The dock was bustling early in the morning.
Cheongyeon, holding onto the balcony railing connected to his room, gazed fascinatedly at the dock. From the height of the inn, which was built higher than the usual three stories, he could see a ship belonging to Nok, marked with its flag.
A green flag fluttering in the wind featured the side profile of a shark with sharp teeth. Below on the deck lay a massive sperm whale carcass. The useless giant squid had been removed and thrown into the sea, no longer visible.
The relatively smaller ambergris must have been stored somewhere on the ship. Cheongyeon rolled up his sleeves, which were fluttering in the wind. He had washed and dried his wet clothes, but they were still damp, so he had no choice but to borrow Muwon’s clothes.
Whether he liked flowers or just floral patterns, the shirts in the wardrobe were emblazoned with various flowers. Cheongyeon chose the most modest-looking forsythia-colored daffodil shirt. It was still flashy, though.
Looking at the wall clock in the room, it was 8 a.m. He saw Hwang Ran giving various instructions to people in front of the ship carrying the sperm whale.
“What about the contract…”
Cheongyeon leaned back against the railing and fixed his gaze on the bills drying on the floor. Honestly, if it weren’t for Tae Muwon yesterday, he would have been dead. No, he might not have died, for the aquatic plants under the waterway might have broken through the current and saved him.
However, unlike on land, the plants in the sea were mostly soft and floppy like seaweeds, so even if he had been pulled out of the water, he might have already been in a drowned state.
It was a paradoxical situation that the person who persecuted him saved him. If he went ahead and made a deal with Hwang Ran, would he see him as trash? But then, advising against making the contract in the first place was an overstepping act.
‘Thinking about it, he doesn’t seem as bad as the rumors…’
Cheongyeon thought of Muwon, who had given up his room to him and left. He even prepared a warm bath without using it himself. For the first time, Cheongyeon experienced soaking in a bathtub and learned how cozy and soft a bed could be. He also discovered that the inn provided breakfast.
The plate brought by the employee had crispy, well-cooked sausages and thick, golden bacon. Cutting into the plump egg dish revealed it was filled with cheese and vegetables. The freshly squeezed orange juice was incredibly sweet and delicious. Cheongyeon, though feeling shameless, finished his breakfast with barely any leftovers.
Apart from a slight headache at the temples, there was no hangover from the expensive alcohol. After drinking beer to his heart’s content due to the tavern’s sales, he usually had to suffer in a corner of the room the next day. Perhaps it was because he worked until sunrise at the Dandelion Pub, leading to accumulated fatigue.
As his stomach settled, Cheongyeon picked up the remaining sausage with a fork. Stepping out to the balcony again, he saw the Peira ship on the opposite side where Hwang Ran’s ship was.
Pr: Sasa
Thanks for the chapter!
Yah Muwon really isn’t that bad to Cheongyeon anyway 🤭