Episode 208. Negotiation (4)

“How far did you go with Sister Tang???”

“What?”

Seol Lihyang’s sudden, piercing question caught me completely off guard. I flinched without meaning to, stunned by the unexpected content.

She licked her slightly dry lips briefly with the tip of her tongue and continued.

“If you went that far… then I’m allowed too. Right?”

Her face was right up against mine, arms wrapped around my neck. Her cool body temperature had turned slightly lukewarm at some point.

Whether it was my warmth being transferred to her, or me cooling down from her chill, the only certainty was that our body heat was starting to blend.

Normally, Seol Lihyang kept her feminine energy in check… no, to be exact, she was now showing a more honest version of herself. From her, I could feel an odd kind of sensuality.

Somehow, in this moment, she began to overlap with the version of Seol Lihyang I remembered from before my regression—mostly the version I saw in bed.

“Hey, Cheon Hwi. So just how far did you go with Sister Tang?”

“How far, you ask.”

I quietly looked down at her. I wondered if she even realized how she looked right now. How incredibly attractive she was to me.

A mix of nostalgia, a flicker of impulse, and the subtle sense of guilt underlying it all stirred a singular thought:

She’s beautiful.

It was something I already knew in my head, and something I’d grown dull to after spending so much time around our companions.

But now, Seol Lihyang, nearing the age I remembered from before my regression, was coming into her beauty in full bloom.

Still, I swallowed all those thoughts down and spoke with deliberate calm.

“We kissed.”

“Hmm?”

“I said, we went as far as a kiss. And that was back during the Thousand Poison Gate incident.”

Seol Lihyang froze mid-head-tilt. Then her black eyes widened as her voice shot up.

“That’s it?!”

“That’s it, you say? We’re not even married yet. I’d say that’s already pushing it.”

“No way! That’s barely anything! You two are always stuck to each other, rubbing shoulders all the time, and all you’ve done is kiss?!”

“‘Rubbing shoulders’… that’s a bit of an exaggeration…”

I must have looked a bit sulky, because she unwrapped her arms from my neck and sat up straight.

As I quietly watched her pull away—somewhat regretful of the loss of contact—she suddenly raised her index finger with a snap and continued.

“Think about it. If two people are supposedly head-over-heels for each other, but only just kissed recently? Isn’t that absurd?”

“You and I might be street-born, so it feels slow to us, but Tang Sowol is from a prestigious clan. Of course she’d be more reserved in that area.”

“Sure, Sister Tang’s a proper lady and all, but that has nothing to do with it. Remember that Peng guy and that Yeon girl you dated before?”

“You mean Peng Woojin and Yeon Ga-hye? At least remember their names.”

“If I’m not interested, I forget quickly. Anyway, they’re both from prestigious clans too, right? But what happened?”

“What happened? They lived tiresomely because of their families’ strict rules.”

“And?”

“In that sense, I was lucky. Despite everything, I still became Tang Sowol’s fiancé without much opposition.”

“Cheon Hwi, you dummy! What matters is that even while being chased by time and others’ eyes, they still did everything they wanted to! Focus on that part!”

“Oh.”

Now that she mentioned it… right. They bought a small house and even lived together briefly, or took boat trips just for the two of us.

“It’s been four years since you and Sister Tang got engaged! You two might have had a few minor fights, but you were always so lovey-dovey that I thought my teeth would rot from the sweetness!”

“What do your teeth have to do with it?”

“Because it was so sweet! Painfully sweet!”

Seol Lihyang shouted, clearly frustrated, then panted as she tried to calm herself. I gently patted her back and replied.

“I had my reasons too.”

“Don’t tell me… are you impotent…”

“I figured if her father caught us, we’d have to settle things in a life-or-death duel.”

“Ah.”

Now it was Seol Lihyang’s turn to go silent.

A moment of awkward stillness passed between us. Then she let out a deep sigh and spoke again.

“Huu. Anyway, I get it. So, a kiss is all I need to match that, right? Just a kiss?”

Mid-sentence, she flinched, stiffly lifting her head to look at me.

Her gaze locked on my lips. The way she stared made me realize—despite all her bold talk, she was actually very nervous now that it was her turn.

Seol Lihyang’s lips twitched as if she wanted to say something but held back, or as if she were rehearsing something.

Just earlier, she had exuded enough seductive energy to remind me of her former self. But now, she’d returned to her usual demeanor.

Maybe it was pure shyness or hesitation. But more than likely, it was because she couldn’t control the sudden surge of yin energy within her.

I chuckled quietly, then gently lifted her chin so she’d face me again.

“Anyway, I get what you’re saying. A kiss is enough, right?”

“Y-yeah, but…”

“If it’s just that, then I don’t need to feel guilty. Sowol already told me what to expect.”

I slowly leaned in. Her gaze wavered, darting around uncertainly, but soon she closed her eyes.

And then—

“W-wait!”

Thump.

She blocked my mouth with her palm. Soft and squishy.

“W-mmmp.”

“What’s wrong?”

Even though my voice was muffled, the meaning got through. Seol Lihyang hesitated, then mumbled.

“It just feels… meaningless, doing it so suddenly like this!”

“Mmm?”

“Oh, right. I’ll let go now.”

She pulled her hand back. I stared at her, and she stammered, continuing her explanation.

“I mean… it’s my first time, so I want it to be more… romantic, or justified, you know?”

“I’d say the mood right now is good enough.”

“But still…”

“But?”

“If we do it like this, I’ll just seem like some weird woman who barged in at night for a kiss and ran off.”

“Don’t worry. The moment you barged in at night, you were already a weird woman.”

Seol Lihyang said nothing and tapped my chest lightly with her fist. Normally, she’d use the heel of her hand like a massage. But this was a straight punch form.

She must’ve been learning something lately. The martial arts of the Ice Palace often included techniques to release cold energy through the hands.

I let her hit me a bit, then caught her hand and pinned it in place.

This time, I smirked as I said:

“If you’re going to be a weird woman anyway, does it matter if you kiss or not?”

“What kind of logic is that…”

“And what’s with provoking me like this only to suddenly back off?”

“Ugh.”

She lowered her head, unable to answer, guilt all over her face.

As I leaned in again, her nape trembled from tension and excitement.

Watching that small reaction, I whispered:

“Still, you’re right. Mood matters.”

I leaned in—not to her lips, but to the snow-white nape of her neck—and kissed her there.

“Hnngh.”

She flinched like she was holding back laughter. I sucked firmly, hard enough to leave a mark.

Smooch.

As I slowly pulled away, a deep red mark remained. Seol Lihyang slowly opened her eyes, dazed.

She looked completely confused, as if she had no idea what just happened.

“Uh… um, just now…”

“As you said, we’ll save the lips for next time. This should be enough, right?”

“Yeah…”

“Then stop making that dumb face and, since we brought it up, let’s decide when to actually do it.”

“Geez! You suddenly being all aggressive just surprised me, that’s all! And the next time… I guess when I’ve fully stabilized my qi.”

“You’re not talking about after reaching Sub-Perfection, are you?”

“Of course not. Just when I’ve fully made this new inner energy mine.”

“So you do realize it.”

“That I’m being swayed by my yin energy? I’ve noticed… a bit.”

She gave a small nod, then flopped backward and lay down, casually kicking her feet.

“I originally came here to ask you for acupressure help. But seeing you sleeping like that… I kind of just… yeah, that happened.”

“Hah…”

I shook my head briefly. But Seol Lihyang wasn’t finished.

She tapped my thigh lightly with her toes and went on.

“Also, watching the people from the Ice Palace lately… I’ve been thinking more about my roots.”

“For people like us, that’s something we can’t avoid.”

“Maybe. But it feels like you already figured it out long ago.”

She was right. After Seol Lihyang and Seo Mun-Hwarin’s deaths, I learned that even someone like me could love.

And after meeting Tang Sowol, I considered her my place to put down roots.

Seol Lihyang must’ve been the same. Bringing this up now… she probably wanted to say it was okay to put her roots in me too. That she was ready to try.

Of course I knew. How could I not know her feelings?

Instead of answering, I shrugged, grabbed her fluttering leg, and pinned it gently to the ground.

“It’s a secret. But I’ll give you that acupressure session anytime.”

I lightly straddled her hips, positioned my hands, and channeled qi into my fingertips before pressing firmly on her shoulder blade.

“Aaahk…?”

Seol Lihyang let out a half-melted moan. Oddly enough, this felt more intimate than when I kissed her nape.

Stifling a laugh, I continued the acupressure session.

Eventually, I finished one side. As she adjusted her posture, Seol Lihyang tilted her head and said:

“That’s weird. I’ve been getting this from Sister Seo Mun lately during training. It’s not bad, but…”

“But?”

“Strangely, when you do it, it feels way more effective… and nicer, too.”

She muttered the last part, then covered it up by speaking louder.

“What’s the difference? Do you have some secret trick?”

After a short pause, I focused my qi into my fingers again and placed them on her waist.

“That’s a secret too.”

***

The next morning.

Seeing the mark on Seol Lihyang’s nape, Tang Sowol cautiously leaned in to sniff.

Then she gave a satisfied smile and a thumbs-up.

“Well done, Young Master Cheon!”

“It’s kind of scary how you figured it out just from the scent.”

Well, she trained in poison arts. She probably honed her sense of smell to identify poisons.

Seo Mun-Hwarin, having witnessed this bizarre scene, also circled around Seol Lihyang and sniffed.

Then she tilted her head in confusion.

“My dear. There’s a bruise on Lihyang’s neck… but what does the scent have to do with that?”

“That’s enough, Senior Seo Mun.”

I lightly patted her head as if brushing it.

She didn’t seem to hate it.

Thus began a new day with a bit of commotion. But those peaceful days didn’t last long—

—for Tang Sowol had succeeded in developing a new poison.

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