“……Really strange.”
He had pulled me by the arm and tried to drag me off somewhere, but somehow I felt as sad as when I saw Madam crying herself to sleep. Maybe it’s because Moyong Hwa resembles Soseo? Well, first of all…. I put down the refreshments and approached Moyong Hwa. He said while keeping his eyes closed.
“Don’t come near me, you lowly bastard.”
I took a handkerchief out of my pocket. He continued.
“Seems like it wasn’t enough for you to be stupid, turns out you’re not sensible as well. I guess you want to ask me why I behaved like that before, but you probably should get out of here before I really cut you down.”
When I didn’t answer, Moyong Hwa slowly opened his eyes and watched my actions. I laid a handkerchief next to him and said.
“Don’t sit on the dirt, sit here.”
“…… what?”
“Oh, now I feel relieved. I can’t help but be a RoFan fan. I felt satisfied after laying down a handkerchief just like the male lead does for the female lead in a RoFan novel. On other hand, Moyong Hwa looked at me with a ridiculous face.
“Are you actually being serious right now?”
“It’s good to sit in a clean place.”
“…….”
“Then, I’ll be on my way.”
All right, let’s go now. I left Moyong Hwa sitting with a blank face behind and headed to Soseo’s room. The door was firmly closed. I stood there and called out to Soseo.
“Soseo, I’m here.”
“…….”
There was no answer. I called Soseo one more time.
“Soseo, are you sleeping?”
Before long, I heard a faint voice.
“…… No.”
“Can I see you for a second?”
“…No. Go back. I don’t want to see you now.”
Hasn’t this happened before? I put down the refreshments.
“Then I’ll just say this and go back.”
“…….”
“Soseo.”
I called out his name one more time, and confessed.
“It seems like I like you more than I thought.”
Even if someone asks why I’ve come this far just to say this, I have nothing to say. But I really wanted to tell Soseo this. Feeling relieved, I turned my back.
“Then I’ll get going…”
Boom. The door loudly opened before I even finished talking. My eyes opened wide. He pushed it so hard the door flew far away. Soseo, who was red up to his neck, asked nervously.
“……What did you just say?!”
……I thought you didn’t want to meet me now? For a moment, I was confused, but I didn’t miss this opportunity and grabbed Soseo.
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.
“Jjc P mbwf lc? P kjca ab ajix ab sbe mbwobgajyis.”
“Helmxis afii wf ktja sbe wfjca ys atja, jt.”
Vbrfb’r tjcv, ktlmt kjr tbivlcu atf vbbgkjs, rilqqfv. Lf wegwegfv.
“Yo mbegrf la’r cba ktja P atlcx la wfjcr.”
“Let?”
“P’w rb raeqlv. Jbcrlvfglcu sbeg qfgrbcjilas, atf jcrkfg lr bynlber. P ibra ws wlcv obg j wbwfca…”
Soseo turned around.
“Go back. I don’t feel like talking to you.”
“…….”
Thanks to the door flying open, I could now see the inside of Soseo’s room. It really was in a terrible condition. The bed had been broken in two, and the desk had completely lost its function and collapsed. The bookshelf was in pieces, and all the decorations had been smashed. Everyone says Soseo doesn’t look like he belongs to the Peng Family, but judging from his strength, he definitely is from here. The corners of his mouth went up sharply when he noticed me looking at the room. I didn’t know Soseo could smile like that. It was new to see him coldly smiling instead of his usual gentle smile.
“What, are you disappointed, too?”
“…….”
“Do you think I’m crazy just like Mother is?”
Soseo came closer to me.
“Do you regret following me to Hebei? Do you want to leave now?”
Soseo gripped me by the shoulder.
“But what should we do? It’s too late. You’re already here, you can’t get out anymore.”
“… Hey, Soseo.”
“You’ll stay by my side for the rest of your life…..!”
I lightly held Soseo’s cheeks. He stopped what he was saying and looked at me. With his face turned towards me, I said.
“I’ve never said I was disappointed with you, so why are you overthinking it?”
Soseo’s vicious face instantly became blank. I rubbed his cheeks up and down.
“If you want to know what I’m thinking, just ask. Don’t imagine strange things.”
“……Then, what are you thinking about now?”
I recited what I was thinking.
“Wow, even Soseo’s angry face is pretty.”
“…….”
Suddenly, Soseo crouched down. No way, was he so dumbfounded he lost strength in his legs? I stretched out my hand to help him up, but Soseo didn’t even budge. Soseo asked in a trembling voice as I pulled at his arm and struggled to put him up.
“Really?”
I looked at him and nodded at the sudden question.
“Mn.”
“You’re not disappointed in me?”
“Not disappointed.”
“You don’t regret following me here?”
“I’m still really grateful to you.”
“……Thank God.”
Tears streamed down Soseo’s cheeks.
“Really, thank God.”
“…….”
I silently waited for Soseo to stand up.
* * *
We left the messy room and headed for the garden. After reaching the stone steps to the pavilion, I put the snacks down, but Soseo shook his head.
“You eat them.”
“Thank you.”
I took a bite out of a rice cake. Soseo was silently sitting next to me when he suddenly opened his mouth.
“……The Moyong Family is the perfect place for people to go crazy.”
“What?”
“The Moyong Family’s current Family Head, so my maternal grandfather, is a terribly greedy person.”
Soseo’s maternal grandfather wanted the Moyong Family to rise to an even higher place.
“That’s why he was very disappointed when Mother was born. He thought he was having a son, but a daughter was born instead, and a frail one on top of that.”
I nodded and Soseo continued.
“My Mother married my Father and left that house as if she was running away from it. But all of the sudden, the Moyong Family, who had always treated her coldly, became interested in Mother and asked the Peng Family to have frequent exchanges with her.”
“Why?”
“Because of us. I still remember what my Grandfather said as he stroked my head.”
Soseo self-mockingly said.
“‘You should have been born in the Moyong Family.’ Putting anger aside, was that really something that needed to be said?”
“…….”
“The more he interacted with the Peng Family, the more Grandfather coveted us, and the harder it was for Mother again. But Father thought the reason Mother was sensitive was because she wasn’t feeling well. Thus, he got her an elixir. But was that enough? He obtained and gave her all kinds of things that could be good for the body. But did that really make her feel better?”
“No. The fundamental problem hadn’t been solved yet.”
“Mother became more and more nervous and her obsession with us grew stronger. When everyone was getting exhausted, Grandfather suddenly suggested.”
“……What did he say?”
“To take her home. He said Mother would get better if she rested there. But did he really make that suggestion because he was worried about her? He was just ashamed to keep his daughter here. But did Father, that simple and ignorant man, understand Grandfather’s hidden intentions?”
I shook my head right away.
“That’s right. My father believed Grandfather’s words straight away.”
“You opposed that decision, right?”
“Yeah, but Father was stubborn. He thought Grandfather was really worried about Mother, and that she was so obsessed with us it was a good thing for her to leave for a while…. What an absurd thing to say. I would’ve tried to understand if he stopped there. But his last words completely ruined it.”
“What did he say?”
Soseo spoke, while mimicking the Family Head’s voice.
“There is no way to break family blood ties, and there is nothing that can sever the connection between parent and child, so we should give Grandfather a chance.”
In that instant, my true thoughts came out of my mouth.
“What a scumbag.”
“…….”
Soseo stopped talking and stared at me. I hurriedly bowed my head.
“Sorry.”
“No, I think so, too.”
Soseo continued with a smile.
“I still don’t understand. Why are you giving him that chance? Shouldn’t Mother be the one to give it?”
“But how did Madam come back here?”
“I hate to say this, but it’s thanks to Hwa. My Grandfather is stuck with my maternal aunt.”
“Why are they stuck together?”
“Actually, my maternal aunt is a very wealthy person. Hwa may have brought Mother here on purpose to provoke us, but it’s a good thing for me. I can have her back here again.”
“…… Maybe Moyong Hwa did that to me, too.”
Soseo shrugged his shoulders.
“I go crazy sometimes when I meet with Grandfather, but how many times must that guy who has to stay with him all day long go crazy? He should be anxious to surpass me.”
“As expected.”
“Honestly, I feel a little sorry for him…”
Soseo picked up a snack and put it in my mouth.
“But I don’t have to like people who don’t like me, right? It’s not my fault that Grandfather prefers me.”
He is right. What is wrong is wrong, and what’s done wrong is done wrong. I chewed on the snack and nodded. Soseo watched me and opened his mouth again.
“There is one rumor circulating among the servants.”
“What rumor?”
“The rumor that those who inherit the Moyong Family’s blood end up going crazy.”
I remembered the conversation the kitchen ladies were having earlier. Soseo’s breathing was roughened.
“They say that Mother, me, and Hwa are proof of that. Soyu is unmistakably part of the Peng Family, looks like my Father, and follows him well, so he was lucky not to turn crazy.”
“…….”
“I have no intentions to deny that rumor. It’s not very wrong, honestly. But others will never understand.”
After a while, Soseo regulated his breathing and covered his face with his palm.
“Why we have no choice but to go mad.”
thank u for the chapter !!
Ooh mystery
Thanks for the chapters
My boy is raising this fish really well.
I have mixed feelings about the situation, however I am sure Soseo’s dad is a scumbag through and through.
+1.
Thanks for the chapters <3
So your wife is being abused by her father and your solution is to send her to live with her abuser? How awful. Soseo’s dad and maternal grandfather are the worst.