Chapter 43
—
Hwang Bo-chung was relentless.
Even after I refused once, he wouldn’t miss a chance to persuade me.
What seemed like his agreement to my words earlier was merely a ruse to lower my guard.
“Young man, isn’t there an old saying that heroes are also lovers of beauty? The more I think about it, the more I realize—why does a man need to limit himself to just one wife?”
“Pardon?”
“Isn’t having multiple women also a testament to a man’s capability? What do you think?”
“You still haven’t given up!”
Grandfather continuously scolded him, but Hwang Bo-chung didn’t seem inclined to change his mind. He persistently tried to win me over.
When repeated attempts to send him away failed, he played his final card—dining together.
“Young man, how can you turn me away without offering a meal after I’ve come all this way?”
“Do you think I can eat while looking at your face?”
“You keep boasting about family traditions, but I guess I’ll have to spread the word that the Namgung Family is terrible at hosting guests!”
“Sigh…”
He had remembered Grandfather’s remarks about family reputation and held onto them. Hwang Bo-chung’s pettiness was surprising.
Although he seemed genuinely offended, Grandfather couldn’t bring himself to rudely kick him out after that.
And so, as we prepared to eat together—
“Gaga, so this is where you were!”
“Yeon-hee? How did you know I was here?”
“I noticed your room was empty, so I asked the attendants.”
Yeon-hee arrived.
“Ah, Elder Hwang Bo is here too. Hello, Elder. How have you been?”
“Ah, yes, Yeon-hee. You’ve grown even more beautiful since the last time I saw you!”
“Really? Thank you. But Elder, why are you sweating so much?”
“Perhaps I’m a bit drained. It just so happens we were about to have lunch. Would you like to join us?”
Hwang Bo-chung appeared flustered.
The man who had brazenly suggested making me a son-in-law of the Hwang Bo Family now had cold sweat dripping down his face with Yeon-hee right before him.
“Well, were you planning to send Yeon-hee away without inviting her to eat?”
“Can’t you keep your mouth shut?”
And so, the four of us ended up having lunch together.
***
Despite grumbling here and there, Grandfather didn’t seem to have any intention of kicking out Hwang Bo-chung.
The extravagant food brought out by the attendants seemed to have been prepared ahead of time.
“Go ahead and eat.”
“You’re acting like this is your own house!”
“Raising your voice at the dining table won’t do.”
“Hoho, you two still get along so well.”
“How do you figure that!”
“Isn’t showing mercy to the weak also a virtue?”
The atmosphere at the table was lively, to say the least. Grandfather grumbled constantly, while Hwang Bo-chung brushed it off as nothing, and Yeon-hee observed with a smile, as though this was all familiar to her.
“By the way, Yeon-hee.”
“Yes, Elder?”
“I was wondering—have you regained your strength?”
“Huh?”
“Your talent in Go is unmatched. Ah, no, now that I’ve met this young man, I’d say you’re the second most talented. I knew it the moment I saw you. With a bit of training, you could surpass that old man faster than anyone else, hahaha!”
“I surpassed you long ago, you fool!”
As Hwang Bo-chung casually brought this up during the conversation, Yeon-hee hurriedly corrected him.
“Ahaha, I don’t know what you’re talking about, Elder.”
“Have you been avoiding playing Go recently?”
“I’m completely ignorant about Go. I only played a little to amuse Grandfather when I was a child.”
“Hmm? But the talent I saw back then was… Ugh!”
“Stop talking and just eat!”
Thud.
A dull sound echoed under the table. It seemed Grandfather had kicked Hwang Bo-chung’s leg.
“Yeon-hee, have you really learned Go before?”
“Huh?”
“If Elder Hwang Bo acknowledges your talent, you must be quite skilled.”
“No, Elder is just being kind. I only learned a little while staying by Grandfather’s side as a child. Elders always find children’s efforts endearing, don’t they?”
“That’s not true, Yeon-hee. Your talent in Go is undoubtedly—ugh!”
“Just eat already!”
Yeon-hee looked visibly distressed.
Undeterred, Hwang Bo-chung continued to speak, only to receive another kick from Grandfather. Judging by Grandfather’s fierce glare, it wasn’t hard to piece together the situation.
Yeon-hee had insisted she was unfamiliar with Go, yet the atmosphere suggested otherwise.
“There’s no need to hide it. I think I understand why you’ve been keeping it a secret.”
“Gaga, that’s not it. The truth is…”
“You wanted to impress me, didn’t you?”
“Huh?”
“It explains how quickly you grasped the basics when you first started learning. You hid your skills because you wanted to catch my attention. Even Grandfather stayed quiet about it, so I completely fell for it.”
“…”
“Isn’t that right?”
“Y-Yes, that’s right. I just wanted to impress you because you’re so good at Go.”
“I figured as much. Why are you so embarrassed? It’s not a big deal. I’ve done the same—pretending not to know something to get used to it faster. But I won’t tell you what.”
“That’s mean!”
Yeon-hee sighed in relief at my words.
‘Sometimes it’s better to play along.’
I wasn’t oblivious. How could I not understand what was happening?
When it came to Go, Hwang Bo-chung was as strict as Grandfather. If he acknowledged someone’s talent, it meant they were exceptionally skilled—likely capable of crushing most professional players.
Yet Yeon-hee had chosen to pretend she was unskilled.
The reason was simple: to create excuses to spend more time with me.
It was a common tactic. Pretending to need help with something you already knew to get closer to someone you liked. Like asking someone to open a jar because it was “too hard.”
‘She fooled me!’
Still, there was no need to call her out on it.
Wasn’t it adorable? The best excuse she could think of was that.
Though clumsy, it was endearing. Imagining how embarrassed she must have been while doing this brought an involuntary smile to my face.
So, I decided to let it slide. There was no need to nitpick and dismantle her logic point by point.
Sometimes, a man should pretend not to notice a woman’s mistakes.
That was one of the invaluable lessons my master had personally drilled into me.
“Why don’t you just eat quietly? What do you have so much to say about?”
“A meal is meant to be a time for conversation. If it’s just for eating, I might as well face the wall while I eat.”
“Really? If you enjoy conversation so much, fine. Let’s continue the earlier topic.”
“What?”
“Yeon-hee, do you know the nonsense this old man was spouting earlier?”
“Ahem. There are things that should and shouldn’t be said in front of a child!”
“Oh my. What could it be? What kind of amusing conversation were you two elders having?”
This wasn’t the first time the two bickered over something trivial, so Yeon-hee listened intently with a cheerful expression, clearly expecting some nonsense. If she heard the truth, she wouldn’t be smiling like that.
“You two seem so close that even the smallest things amuse you.”
“Hearing Gaga say that makes me even more curious.”
I tried to intervene and stop it, but it was too late—the words were already out.
As if he had been waiting for this, Grandfather began his exposé.
“This old man called me to ask if I would adopt Se-woong as my Adopted son.”
“Adopted son?”
“He doesn’t have any family to lean on. I thought that might be why he wasn’t pushing for the engagement, so I wanted to help.”
“Isn’t that a kind gesture?”
“I might as well have handed a fish to a cat! Do you know what this fool said? He asked if Se-woong would consider becoming the son-in-law of the Hwang Bo Family instead!”
“?”
“Yeon-hee, this is a misunderstanding—”
“Misunderstanding my foot!”
“Oh, what an entertaining conversation you’ve been having.”
Her tone was icy.
I wasn’t eager to get used to it, but once again, I faced that familiar chill.
Yeon-hee was smiling, but…
There was a sharp edge to her smile, as though a single strand of frost ran through it.
“Elder, isn’t it improper to try and separate a couple who’ve promised their future together?”
“Yeon-hee.”
“I’m not finished yet. I never imagined that Elder Hwang Bo-chung, whom I respected, would do something so outrageous.”
“…”
Grandfather muttered under his breath, realizing his mouth had caused trouble again.
If left alone, Hwang Bo-chung looked ready to crawl into a hole.
“Well, if you want to behave like this, I have no choice.”
“Huh?”
“I suppose I’ll have to dredge up some memories from the depths.”
“W-What do you mean?”
“Last June, you went on a trip with my grandfather and some knights, didn’t you? You told your wife you were assisting with family events.”
“How do you know about that?”
“In April the year before, you went fishing under the pretense of inspecting a business. In September, you claimed to have a meeting with the elders but indulged in a drinking party instead.”
“You wouldn’t dare tell my wife about that, would you?”
“Well, that depends on how you behave from now on. Let’s see…”
With a sharp tone, Yeon-hee began listing all of Hwang Bo-chung’s transgressions. Despite his frequent coughs, which seemed as though he was on the verge of spitting blood, she showed no signs of stopping.
When she finally brought up how he used money from the estate to buy jade Go stones, he couldn’t take it anymore and cried out:
“Alright! I was wrong! I won’t say anything ridiculous to this young man again!”
“I’m glad you’ve had a change of heart.”
He had surrendered.
Seriously, just how much had this man done behind his wife’s back? It seemed like too much even to confess.
Was this the tragedy of married life? The thought left a dry lump in my throat.
“Elder, you look unwell. Please have some water. You might upset your stomach.”
You’re the one who made him like this.
Yeon-hee, who had been ruthlessly scolding him just moments ago, now spoke gently as she offered him water. That, somehow, was even more terrifying.
“By the way, Gaga, are you planning to have Master act as a witness to our engagement?”
“Ah, yes.”
“That’s wonderful!”
“But he’s always wandering aimlessly, so it’s hard to reach him.”
“Should we send the Secret Shadow Squad?”
No, even though the Secret Shadow Squad is under the direct control of the Alliance Leader, it’s not appropriate to use an intelligence unit for something like this.
It might have been a joke, but Yeon-hee looked deadly serious.
For her sake—and to prevent her from going overboard—I needed to figure out a way to contact my master soon.
—
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