“Never mind, so tell me what’s your business.”
Jaegyeom suppressed his irritation and shot back at him.
“Are the preparations for moving going well?”
He glanced at Yoon Taehee with an expressionless face. He hadn’t said anything, but Yoon Taehee was already reading his movements. He was indeed a good judge of the situation. He realized early on the fact that, of course, they would be relocating, and only then would they be safe.
“You probably heard about it from the ginseng child, but at that time, those exorcists will be quiet for a while. Their memories are definitely gone. I checked just in case, but no one remembered you. Nothing you said will ever leak out.”
The first team of the Ceremonial Instruments Department was being purified day and night in the Naryecheong treatment room. They were undaunted and devoted to being treated, saying that they would recover their bodies and search for the wild ginseng child again, but by that time, his tracks would have already been cut off.
Jaegyeom nodded bitterly.
“Why are you telling me that?”
Yoon Taehee said that he was an exorcist himself, but he referred to the others as ‘those exorcists’ as if he was distancing himself, and although he did not ask, he claimed to be a spy and kindly watched the exorcists’ movements.
“Just because. I want you to rest assured that I have kept your secrets well.”
“So I’m asking, what do you want and what are you talking about?”
Jaegyeom stared at him with narrowed eyes. Of course, it was definitely helpful for Jaegyeom to inform him of the situation on the other side that he would not know. But it would be foolish to take his word for granted and be relieved. He still distrusted Yoon Taehee.
“I was just saying this purely to ease your worries…”
Yoon Taehee jerked his chin at an angle and continued his words.
“I have no other intentions. Why? You don’t believe me?”
“Put yourself in my shoes. If you were me, would you trust you?”
“Me? Of course I would trust me. I should.”
When Yoon Taehee replied with a smile, Jaegyeom raised his eyebrows.
“I made it clear in the morning. I let you off the hook once doesn’t make everything you did go away. Don’t think you can get away with pushing the line.”
Jaegyeom coldly drew a line. Even though they were sitting face to face like this, that didn’t mean that there was any trust between them. It would be a mistake to assume they were on the same side. He had no intention of accepting the guise of an unworthy ally.
“You tricked me from the beginning and you want me to trust you? I don’t even know where you came from and how you got there, just because you helped Mesani?”
When Jaegyeom shot at him sharply, Yoon Taehee readily agreed.
“Ah, yes. Is there too little information for you…”
With a new look, Yoon Taehee straightened his upper body. Then, sitting with his long legs crossed, he seemed to be intently contemplating something. After being silent for a while as he kept his head down and gently tapped his feet, but then he slowly spoke up.
“My name is Yoon Taehee, and on paper I am 26. I belong to the Team 1 of the Naryecheong Exorcism Department. Rank is chief. I own my house, and drive a sedan. Average annual salary is about 200 million, including the basic salary of 80 million, risk insurance, special activity expenses, perks, and various bonuses. Hm, and no family ties.”
“…”
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.
What ‘sedan’ and ‘bonus’? The sudden personal details listed by Yoon Taehee were simply incomprehensible to Jaegyeom’s ears. Breaking a brief silence, Yoon Taehee tilted his head and said.
“Gb sbe kjca wf ab afii sbe ws tfluta jcv kfluta?”
Lbk mbeiv la yf?
“Ktfc ktja firf jgf sbe meglber jybea?”
Pa’r yfaafg cba ab ajix. Ajfusfbw mibrfv tlr wbeat jcv aegcfv tlr tfjv jkjs. Ktf nlulijcmf jcv afcrlbc atja tjv yffc tbivlcu tlw eq jii ja bcmf wfiafv jkjs. Tbbc Kjftff rwlifv,
“No? Then it’s my turn now.”
“What.”
“You said you didn’t have any questions about me.”
“Yeah.”
“I have a lot of questions about you.”
Before Jaegyeom had time to say anything, the question flew right in.
“I don’t have dongti. Do you know that?”
Asking that, Yoon Taehee pointed with his chin at his own right shoulder, which had been pierced by the arrow. Jaegyeom hesitated and stared at him. It was a topic that had come up before. He had been hit by an arrow, and his skin, which should have been black, was clean, Mesani had said.
“I know.”
Jaegyeom replied with a lukewarm reaction.
“Why?”
“Don’t know. Me neither.”
Jaegyeom replied bluntly.
“You’re the one who shot the arrow yourself, how could you not know?”
“I really don’t know. Don’t make me say it twice.”
Yoon Taehee’s eyebrows crooked at the cold answer that didn’t even feel sincere. With a pensive look in his eyes, he tapped the table with his fingertips. Repeatedly opening and closing his mouth abruptly, he spoke up finally after hesitating.
“Did you perhaps let me off the hook?”
It was a question that was filled with a strange sense of anticipation.
“No, I shot with the intention of killing.”
As if he didn’t know what he was talking about, the boy answered vaguely.
“I was going to shoot you in the forehead, but you moved one step.”
“…”
“If you’re really curious, would you like to be hit one more time? Just say the word, I’ll shoot you again anytime.”
“…”
This time, there was a strange anticipation in Jaegyeom’s eyes. No, it’s not really necessary… Yoon Taehee made a puzzled face. Jaegyeom was more experimental than he seemed. It was the spirit of experimenting all the way to the end.
“How is it? Would you like to try it?”
When Jaegyeom urged him to answer, Yoon Taehee turned his gaze away and pretended to look at the clock once again. The sound of the second hand was unusually loud. Yoon Taehee tapped his toes and quietly touched the tips of his eyebrows.
“By the way, where did you get that bow from?”
Before the silence deepened, he changed the subject.
“It really doesn’t look like something that belongs in human hands.”
When the topic changed, Jaegyeom’s momentum visibly subsided. As soon as he asked where the bow came from, the atmosphere in the library felt a bit chilly. Yoon Taehee stared blankly at him.
A clumsy wooden bowstring that had been pulled out by cutting off his arm. He was startled at first, thinking he was taking out his bones. It was an arrow that was born spontaneously from his blood, and he couldn’t believe it even when he saw it with his own two eyes, the scene where the arrowhead dug in was scarred as if ink were spreading.
“That’s the bow my master used.”
Yoon Taehee’s eyes widened slightly at the answer that flowed from Jaegyeom’s mouth. It was because he did not think he would readily answer even if asked. However, Jaegyeom plainly answered unexpectedly, and the source of the bow was also surprising.
“Your master… wasn’t human?”
Yoon Taehee asked, leaning his upper body closer.
“No. He was human.”
Jaegyeom shook his head slowly.
“So, how did your master get that bow?”
“He said he got it as a gift.”
Yoon Taehee furrowed his eyebrows.
“Got it as a gift… From whom?”
“I don’t know the details. He didn’t tell me.”
Jaegyeom added dryly.
“Then he passed it on to me later.”
“But why did you keep that bow in your arm?”
“As you said, it’s something that shouldn’t be in human hands.”
He wanted to throw away all traces of his master, but the reason he couldn’t throw away the bow was because it was too dangerous. To incur a scar was the realm of divine punishment, in other words, it was a power that humans cannot possess. Therefore, this bow was not something anyone could afford. If it fell into the wrong hands, it would surely create disaster.
It would have been nice to get rid of it, but even though the bow his master gave him was rather thin for a normal bowstring, it didn’t break no matter how hard he tried, and even if it was put in fire, it remained fine. There was absolutely no way to get rid of it. However, it could not be stored anywhere, and he had no use for it on a regular basis. This left him with only one option.
“Are you saying it’s okay to have it in your hands?”
Yoon Taehee asked, resting on his chin.
“Well, anyway, I am the owner of this bow.”
“So where is your master now?”
Jaegyeom’s face, which had been insensitive, went cold for an instant.
“It’s a silly question.”
At his answer, Yoon Taehee smiled.
“If your master was an ordinary person, it would of course be a stupid question to ask where he is. But you said he put a curse on you, so I think it’s a fair question for someone who left his disciple in this world as an immortal…”
It would be foolish to ask about the whereabouts of someone who lived hundreds of years ago. However, the subject was the boy’s master. It wouldn’t be strange if he was still alive and not dead. It was absurd in common sense, but the boy in front of him was a living witness.
“Besides, it’s not just anyone, the teacher who taught you would have been a strong gwijae, so even if he died, there’s still a chance he’d become an intelligent ghost.”
It was a rational and sharp point. Jaegyeom stared at Yoon Taehee.
“You… have a good head on your shoulders.”
Yoon Taehee smiled wryly and wrinkled his nose.
“I hear that a lot.”
“…”
Jaegyeom sourly glanced sideways and opened his mouth.
“My master is dead.”
“He died?”
“He didn’t even become an intelligent ghost.”
“Are you sure? How do you know?”
Jaegyeom replied with an expressionless face.
“Because I killed him with my own hands.”
Yoon Taehee paused briefly and looked at him with strange eyes.
Killed with his own hands? Indeed, he knew because he had seen it himself…
“As expected of our lord.”
It wasn’t long before a charming smile spread across Yoon Taehee’s face.
Thank you for d update….I didn’t skip a single day without checking for ur update.
hmm what if his master actually didn’t die?(@_@)
thank u for the chapter!!
eeh this is supposed to be my comment, not a reply:)
😄 hmm hmm
I get goosebumps each time I read “my lord” in Taehee’s lines
Tyfc. Hope all is well.
Thank you!
I was hoping they would talk about the fact that Taehee wasn’t scarred but I guess for now it remains a mystery!
Taehee is so silly. I kinda like him( and it totally has nothing to do with the fact he earns 200 grand a year, has bonuses and insurance, Jaegyeom might not even know what all that means, but it is actually very atractive in a person)