An Advertising Genius Falls into the Joseon Era - Chapter 63

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

Episode 63
“Where in the world is Song Do-hyeon, and what is he doing?”
Im Ha-yun muttered the words with her lips thrust out in an exaggerated pout.
The last leaf clinging to the tip of a zelkova branch trembled precariously in the cold wind of early winter.
“If he’s alive, he’s alive. If he’s dead, he’s dead. He should send word, shouldn’t he? Word.”
For all her grumbling, her voice was heavy with worry.
Even Dae-bang and Han Seong-deok claimed not to know when asked.
Where he’d gone.
What he was doing there.
No one had heard from him.
Nearly a month had already passed since he vanished.
“What kind of vacation lasts a whole month anyway….”
Im Ha-yun kicked at a small pebble irritably.
It rolled away and stopped against the wall of the compound.
“If this is what a vacation looks like, he might as well have resigned.”
No news is supposed to be good news.
But no matter how she tried to console herself with such platitudes, the frustration wouldn’t go away.
Just one letter.
Or if only he’d left even a brief word before he left—then she wouldn’t be this worried.
The fact that he’d departed one day without warning or explanation made her even more uneasy.
“Oh!”
That was the moment.
The last leaf, barely clinging on, slipped free and fell to the ground with a whisper.
And watching it fall, a sudden dark thought crossed her mind.
“What if something’s happened to him…?”
Im Ha-yun stood right in front of Song Do-hyeon’s Lodging.
This was the only place where she might find some trace of him, now that nearly a month had passed without word.
“No, it can’t be.”
Im Ha-yun shook her head deliberately.
It was impossible.
Even as she told herself this and tried to turn away, something about the quiet, melancholy door kept drawing her back.
“Better to be safe than sorry….”
After that, Im Ha-yun lingered before Song Do-hyeon’s door for a long while.
Push it away as she might,
worry kept gnawing at her.
At some point, he had settled deep in a corner of her heart.
“…If he walked into my room uninvited, then I suppose we’re even.”
Having finally made her decision, Im Ha-yun grasped the door handle.
“Here goes.”
Im Ha-yun stepped boldly into Song Do-hyeon’s room, and her eyes went wide.
“…What?”
It was barren.
No—it was more than just bare.
A bed.
A table.
That was all.
Beyond that, there was not a single piece of furniture or personal possession to be found.
She even stepped back outside to double-check the nameplate, wondering if she’d wandered into the wrong room.
It was definitely right.
It was Song Do-hyeon’s room.
“Is that… all there is?”
Im Ha-yun murmured, scarcely believing it.
There was no trace of anyone having lived here at all.
It felt like nothing more than a space to pass through, a room for the temporarily displaced.
“Unbelievable.”
A hollow laugh escaped her.
“What is this, a hotel?”
Deflated, Im Ha-yun looked slowly around the room.
There were a few books, so she examined them, but they all concerned commerce and trade.
There was nothing like the books about that woman he’d mentioned once before.
“A woman from a book?”
Im Ha-yun let out a dry laugh.
“You’re joking. You don’t even read books like that.”
Her interest evaporated as quickly as it had surfaced, and she set the book aside.
Then she flopped back onto the bed without ceremony.
“Oh, to hell with it. I don’t know anymore.”
White dust motes swam through the shafts of sunlight, drifting lazily through the air.
“What difference does it make whether that bastard is dead or alive?”
She forced the words out, her tone deliberately flat.
But her heart told a different story — it was consumed entirely by thoughts of him.
“When did I ever start caring about that guy, anyway?”
At first, it hadn’t been like this.
The first week or so had passed without much thought.
She’d actually been relieved when the nuisance disappeared from her life.
But then a second week passed. A third. A fourth.
The longer the time stretched, the more her unease grew.
What if he really had left?
What if he wasn’t coming back?
These thoughts circled endlessly in her mind.
“He didn’t actually quit, did he?”
Had she somehow done something wrong?
Had her words, her actions, hurt him?
She found herself replaying moments over and over, alone.
Her mistakes multiplied.
Wrong orders, mismatched quantities — small errors that had never happened before began cropping up.
How could work proceed properly when her mind was elsewhere?
For the first time since she’d started, she even received criticism — gentle, but unmistakable.
“Damn it, this is all because of that guy.”
Im Ha-yun tossed irritably in the bed.
“If he’d just never found out who I was, I wouldn’t be this worked up about it.”
Why did it have to be Song Do-hyeon?
Why did he have to discover her secret?
Why had he protected her,
and why was she still lying here tormented by it all?
The truth was, she already knew the answer.
She just didn’t want to admit it.
That’s when it happened.
She inhaled deeply.
A sweet, delicate fragrance tickled the tip of her nose from somewhere, subtle and intoxicating.
“What is that smell?”
Im Ha-yun sat up as if entranced.
Slowly, she brought her nose toward the bedding.
A soft, gentle scent drifted from it — like plum blossoms on a spring day.
“Plum blossom?”
As her face drew closer, the fragrance grew richer.
It was definitely coming from the bedding itself.
“Some kind of fabric softener?”
It was a scent that inexplicably calmed the nerves.
Without thinking, Im Ha-yun buried her face in the quilts.
“Hm, not bad for a man’s room…”
Honestly, it was quite nice.
More precisely, it was clean.
Not too heavy, not too light — a perfectly balanced scent.
The kind you don’t notice in passing,
but once you’ve smelled it, you can’t forget.
And now she had caught it.
“Come to think of it, this is my first time in a man’s room…”
Im Ha-yun looked around the space with curious eyes.
It was the same sparse, empty room as before, and yet somehow it no longer felt bare.
She realized now that it was filled with the subtle warmth of plum blossom fragrance.
“Hmm…….”
Im Ha-yun clutched the blanket and drew another deep breath.
The scent of plum blossoms rose up, and her mind settled once more.
“I’ll have to ask what cologne he wears when he gets back.”
She was still buried face-first in the blanket when it happened.
Bang!
The door flew open, and a familiar figure appeared.
It was Song Do-hyeon, the room’s owner.
“……Huh?”
Im Ha-yun froze, her face still pressed into the blanket.
Song Do-hyeon stared at her, equally startled.
“…….”
“…….”
An awkward silence stretched between them.
Seconds.
Or perhaps minutes.
Then Im Ha-yun spoke first, voice uncertain.
“…You’re back?”
“…What are you doing there?”
Jolt!
Reality snapped back into focus.
Im Ha-yun bolted upright in the bed.
“Oh! Well, you see…!”
As the blanket fell away, her flushed face was fully exposed.
Im Ha-yun began babbling, words tumbling out in a desperate rush.
“Actually I was trying to go to my own room, you know? But somehow your door was open, right? So I was just going to close it, but then dust started flying everywhere, and I thought maybe I should clean it up a bit, so I came in, and then you showed up right——!”
Nothing she said made any sense.
Even Im Ha-yun herself had no idea what she was saying. All that mattered was smoothing over this moment, and it showed painfully clearly.
“Heh.”
Song Do-hyeon let out a soft laugh at the sight.
In fact, this worked out perfectly.
He’d saved himself the trouble of seeking her out.
Slowly, Song Do-hyeon began to move.
Toward her.
One step. Then another.
“Wh-what?”
With each step forward, Im Ha-yun’s heartbeat quickened, thudding wildly against her ribs.
“What are you—what are you doing?”
She couldn’t move, as if paralyzed.
The air hanging in the room.
The intent gleam in Song Do-hyeon’s eyes.
An indescribable atmosphere pressed down on her entire body.
Before she could think, he was directly in front of her.
Squeeze.
Without meaning to, Im Ha-yun squeezed her eyes shut. For some reason, it felt necessary.
“Hah.”
With her eyes closed, she could hear his breathing clearly.
He too seemed tense, his breath coming slightly ragged.
“……!”
She felt his hand rise to her shoulder.
Then a low, gentle voice tickled the edge of her ear.
“I missed you.”
“……What?”
The sudden words in Qing Dynasty speech made her eyes snap open.
“…What did you just say?”
Song Do-hyeon held her gaze for a moment.
The corner of his mouth curved up ever so slightly.
“I said thank you for caring about me.”
“Tch, and here I thought——”
Why was it, she wondered.
A note of regret colored Ha-yun’s words.
Belated embarrassment washed over her, and she looked away.
In that instant,
Whoosh!
Song Do-hyeon suddenly seized her wrist.
“What?”
Ha-yun stared at him with confused eyes.
“Let’s go.”
“Right now?”
“There’s somewhere I want to take you.”
In the month they’d been apart, Song Do-hyeon had transformed beyond recognition.
Confidence blazed in his eyes, and his manner toward Ha-yun held no hesitation.
He’d only understood it after they parted.
How irreplaceable she had become to him.
So he’d resolved now to lay bare his heart without reserve.
“Why—why should I go with you?”
Ha-yun tried to hold firm, but her voice carried no conviction.
Being pulled along like this felt strange, yet somehow not unwelcome at all.
…….
Song Do-hyeon regarded her steadily for a moment.
Then he reached into his robe and drew something out.
A single sheet of paper, folded with care.
It was the Goblin Talisman—the grand prize he’d won at the Goblin Market all those weeks ago.
Ha-yun’s eyes widened at the sight of it.
The talisman came with a condition: it could grant any wish.
“Surely not…!”
Song Do-hyeon held the Goblin Talisman up before her eyes.
“A wish.”
Then he spoke.
“For today, you’re mine.”
……!
Ha-yun’s pupils trembled.

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