1440 - Chapter 43

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 43
41
Sang Hyeong let out a hollow laugh, as if dumbfounded by the remark. He then led Yeon Su back to the sofa and sat him down, muttering the whole while.
“A fresh-faced seventeen-year-old kid shows up at my detective agency out of nowhere, says he wants to network, promises he’ll make me rich. And now here’s that same person playing the innocent country boy—where’d that come from?”
“I don’t know. Who are you talking about? Was some Yeon Su from the Baek Family ever that sharp as a teenager? Right now this Yeon Su just has a terrible headache. Please, handle some of the work for me, will you?”
“Well, well.”
Yeon Su handed over a stack of documents to Sang Hyeong. With a light sigh, Sang Hyeong flipped through them quickly, then fed them into the shredder. As the papers churned through with a grinding sound, Sang Hyeong tapped Yeon Su’s shoulder lightly.
“Does he know you act this childish?”
Yeon Su laughed awkwardly in response, then bit his plump upper lip with his lower teeth before letting go.
“He can never see me like this.”
Just then, the office door swung open and Deok Woo came in. Fresh from work, he had a makeup kit slung heavily across his shoulder.
The moment he entered, Deok Woo’s brow furrowed at the sight of Yeon Su. He’d noticed that Yeon Su had put on weight.
“Jesus, man. Did your brother do this to you?”
“Yeah. You can tell it’s sloppy work at a glance.”
Yeon Su laughed at ease and shrugged. But Deok Woo’s expression didn’t soften.
Clumsy kicks, if they keep coming, will eventually break your knees. Of course Yeon Su would be careful himself, but it still didn’t sit right.
“You’re going to burn through your stamina or your Divine Power that way. It’s not infinite, Yeon Su.”
In the face of his sibling’s genuine concern and advice, Yeon Su finally dropped the tough-guy act. The accumulated fatigue was undeniable; even without his brother’s constant draining, the headaches would have been severe.
Yeon Su was handling more than twice the workload of a typical curse-breaking job. It was absolutely necessary to achieve his goal, but it was also true that the sheer volume was nearly impossible for Yeon Su to bear as a human being.
And it wasn’t just physical labor. He had to continuously expend his Divine Power, which formed the core of his being.
“Then just push through and help me out more.”
At Yeon Su’s brazen remark, Deok Woo snorted.
“How am I supposed to push harder than this? I told you not to overdo it—was I asking you to abandon your conscience?”
Deok Woo spoke flatly and went to sit on the office sofa. Sang Hyeong brought over a paper cup of cool green tea and handed it to him.
“That’s our smart Deok Woo, articulate as always. This one here won’t listen no matter how many times I tell him not to overdo it.”
“Exactly. Sigh—but what can you do? Can’t just abandon him either.”
“Our kindhearted Deok Woo.”
“…If you’re going to help, just help.”
Yeon Su glared hard at the two of them, who were volleying back and forth in perfect sync, and ground his teeth.
The two paid him no mind and toasted with their cold green tea, celebrating their rare success in silencing Yeon Su.
Yeon Su clicked his tongue outwardly, but he was thinking that without these two, he couldn’t have gone this far. The fact that he had two people he could trust this deeply filled him with gratitude toward them.
Gathering up the documents to shred again, Yeon Su sat beside Deok Woo and asked Sang Hyeong a question.
“So, is the doctor who issued this Death Certificate keeping quiet?”
“Tight-lipped. As long as the money comes through properly, there’s no one more trustworthy than this guy. Besides, it’s not like we’re doing anything wrong.”
That settled it. Yeon Su relaxed and leaned his head back against the sofa. Then Deok Woo, sitting beside him, frowned as he looked at Yeon Su’s cheek.
“Ugh—that bruise is really bad, huh?”
“Yeah. Still, I’m lucky it ended here.”
“I guess… but if it were me, I would’ve half-killed you. At least it didn’t swell up too much?”
Deok Woo pulled out concealer and asked if he should cover it, but Yeon Su shook his head and declined.
“He rubbed it for me all night, so the swelling went down completely. Originally, my eyes were so puffy I couldn’t see properly, but now…”
At Yeon Su’s words, Deok Woo’s eyes went wide and he let out a teasing “ooh.”
Only then did Yeon Su realize he’d spoken with a note of pride. The words had come out unbidden, which embarrassed him. He’d bragged like a child, and it mortified him. His cheeks, already marked with the blue-purple of bruises, flushed red.
“Hey, why’s your face getting red? Did he stroke somewhere other than your cheek?”
“Are you insane?! Why would he stroke anywhere else?!”
Of course, there were days when the man did stroke his shoulders or back, but that wasn’t what Deok Woo meant just now. There was a sexual undertone to it, and Yeon Su jumped up frantically to deny it.
Deok Woo found it amusing. Yes, that’s right—someone who’s never dated is truly hopeless. The guy jumps around as if he’s being sexually harassed just because the man touched his cheek a little.
Tsk tsk. So when’s the progress going to happen? When’s he going to start dating?
It felt strange that his friend was becoming romantically involved with something that wasn’t human, but it was a love his friend had been suffering through for years, and he wanted it to come true. Deok Woo quietly sipped his cold green tea and watched Yeon Su’s reddened face out of the corner of his eye.
“That guy is really something though. He has Healing Power, doesn’t he? Not even a Divine Vessel or a Shaman or anything. Right?”
“No. He’s been that way since I was little, and from what’s written in the Family Records, that’s how it’s always been. He first appeared roughly fifteen hundred years ago, and according to the portraits in the records, he looked exactly like that back then too.”
He recalled the image of the man drawn in the Baek Family genealogy documents he’d secretly glimpsed the day he learned the meaning of a blood debt.
That man lying gracefully near the roots of a Divine Tree that had suddenly sprouted forth. He who had been revered as a sacred presence when first recorded.
“So he’s definitely not human.”
“Right. I’m still curious why he can’t leave the Separate Building… Makes my head hurt.”
As Sang Hyeong and Deok Woo murmured to themselves, Yeon Su was thinking.
His heart was pointed steadily toward that man, whether he was human or something else entirely—it didn’t matter.
Your affection and my love may not be the same, but if we could at least be bound together under the character of “feeling,” that would be wonderful.
After spending some time at O Sang Hyeong’s Heungsin Detective Agency, Yeon Su headed to Sindang-dong instead of going straight back to Hongcheon. He needed to buy candles for the Buddhist Temple Hall, and he wanted to offer more Lantern Offerings.
Should he try folding Paper Folding Offerings from scratch? Yeon Su, who had good manual dexterity and folded offerings quite often, was considering it. Back when he was a Child Disciple, he’d been frequently tasked with twisting rope, folding offerings, making ritual vessels, and other handmade work.
Remembering those days when he’d desperately scraped together money doing all sorts of odd jobs, he smiled. Still, thanks to all that hard work back then, it was proving immensely helpful now as he carried out his current task.
Browsing through every corner of the shop for items to place in the Buddhist Temple Hall, he happened upon a Go Board.
Seeing the weighty board sitting there so matter-of-factly in a shop that wasn’t even a Go supply store piqued his curiosity. And as the request from Nam Du Sung Gun came to mind, it felt almost like a fateful encounter.
“Do you sell this?”
When Yeon Su asked, the owner—who had been polishing brass—approached with a smile and ran his hand lightly across the board’s surface.
“Yes, I do sell it. I won it in a bet, but I don’t know Go at all, so I just put it out. Still, this is a very high-quality piece, you know?”
The board was made of Kaya wood, the owner emphasized several times—a solid, one-piece board of this thickness was truly difficult to find.
He claimed not to know Go, yet he seemed quite knowledgeable about Go Boards. He had probably studied the subject a little to help sell his wares.
Even Yeon Su, who had no great expertise in Go, could see it was an excellent piece. It had no knots, the surface was smooth as silk, and the stones rang out with a pure, clear tone when placed upon it.
Though the price was dreadfully steep, when he considered it was an offering for Nam Du Sung Gun, there was no reason not to buy it.
A piece of this quality would surely please him. And since he’d specifically asked for something wooden, it was perfect. With that thought, Yeon Su paid for both the board and the Go Stones.
Upon arriving home, Yeon Su cradled the weighty board, piling the Go Stones and paper for folding Paper Folding Offerings upon it, and made his way to the Separate Building. Partway there, an employee approached and offered to help, but Yeon Su declined. He still disliked anyone entering the Separate Building more than necessary.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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