Formless Poison
The moon had already begun its descent, yet the sky remained dim, like ink spilled across the dawn.
Seomun Hwi crossed the training grounds and took his place at the center.
A faint chill drifted around him like mist, and the dew clinging to every blade of grass trembled as though one breath of wind might shake it loose.
"Hoo..."
He closed his eyes and drew in a slow breath. As the dawn air sank deep into his lungs, the ache in his chest seemed to scatter, if only a little.
And yet, however hard he tried to empty his mind, Cheongwol's tearful face kept rising before him again and again.
What on earth could be so important that she had to suffer like that and still leave him behind?
She seemed so near he could reach out and touch her, yet the moonlight was something he could never catch, no matter how far he stretched.
His head was full of thoughts, but times like this made the proper course of action very clear.
Whatever anyone else might do, when he was in pain, he swung his sword until exhaustion drove him to the ground.
"Hoo..."
Seomun Hwi exhaled slowly and drew his sword, turning its point toward his own turmoil.
When the qi flowing through his meridians reached the eight extraordinary channels, the inner energy gathered in his dantian began to stir.
The instant the dew clinging to the grass finally fell to the ground,
-Shwick!
The thumb meridian, Sohang Sword.
His blade flashed out like a bolt of lightning, tearing a point in the empty air.
The index finger meridian, Sangyang Sword.
He lowered his shoulder, locked his elbow tight, and cut through with only a flick of the wrist, raising the line of the sword.
If Sohang Sword was contraction, then Sangyang Sword was release.
As the cunning line of his sword straightened, his momentum surged ahead while his body followed behind.
Then, in one motion, the middle finger meridian, Jungchung Sword.
Though its method resembled Sohang Sword, it did not seek to gather but to pierce and overwhelm.
He drove the tip forward with nothing but the force of his fingertip, and the hiss of cutting air rang out through the dawn.
As the forms riding the three meridians of the hand flowed into one another like water, Seomun Hwi did not hesitate to draw strength into the ring finger meridian.
The fourth channel burned as though it were blazing hot, but if he withdrew his force here, he would only injure himself from within.
He took in a short breath and, on the exhale, struck downward with the sword tip.
He gathered his energy to one point to make the enemy recoil, then immediately released it again to leave behind an unexpected wound.
Time and again he stabbed and ground forward, preserving the subtlety of the center with the barest movement, just as he was about to sever an opponent's breath—
A pain as though each knuckle of his fingers were being torn apart crashed over him, and at last he lost his grip on the sword.
"...!"
Had he pushed too hard, too impatient to glimpse the next realm?
Clutching his aching wrist, Seomun Hwi collapsed onto the floor of the training grounds.
He had always been confident in his ability to swing a sword for a long time, more than anyone else.
A bitter smile touched his lips.
Without question, he had not been like this when he first formed his bond with Cheongwol.
Her frail appearance, hardly believable for a man, and her past, which sounded heartbreaking even at a glance, had made him pay her more attention than was necessary.
And yet he had never thought he would give himself away so completely that he became nothing but a useless fool.
He remembered Cheongwol emerging from under the quilt, smiling shyly at him.
Looking back now, he wondered if his heart had already begun leaking away little by little even then.
And after enough of that, friendship must have changed into love before he ever noticed.
How could he feel such a thing for a friend who had once been a man?
Some would point and curse him; others might shake their heads and call him mad.
But even the woman said to have coined the phrase beauty that topples kingdoms would surely have hidden herself in shame before Cheongwol.
What was he supposed to do when someone who had already been special became a woman like that, and then looked only at him?
His thoughts tangled together as he lifted his head and stared up at the sky.
Before long, pale dawn light rose over the dark heavens, and the stars gave their final, fading breath.
Then light began to spill slowly over the eastern ridge, and in no time at all, the whole world was bright.
If only his own darkened heart could become this bright someday.
He was sitting there dazed, watching the sun rise, when a voice he had grown familiar with came up beside him.
"You're making a whole tragedy of yourself here. Don't worry. You look exactly like someone who's been dumped."
Her face was hidden by the sunlight behind her, but even without seeing it clearly, he could tell at once who it was from the tone alone.
The Tang Clan's precious jewel.
Dang Sohye was looking down at him.
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The dew on the ground might still have been soaking the earth, but Dang Sohye did not seem to care as she walked over and sat down beside him.
Only then did Seomun Hwi begin to recall, one by one, the things he had done yesterday.
Not only had he failed to control his temper in front of her, he had left her alone all day and never even gone to look for her.
"I have nothing to say for myself, no matter how many mouths I had."
As Seomun Hwi lowered his head deeply, Dang Sohye leaned her face closer.
"You should. You had your face set like stone the moment you heard the engagement news from your old flame, right in front of your own fiancée."
"..."
"Still, it was unexpected. I really thought Cheongwol-ssi must still have feelings for you, Young Clan Leader."
When Seomun Hwi looked at her, Dang Sohye shrugged.
"Don't ask me how I knew. It was just that obvious from her eyes. Didn't your brother say the same thing?"
Cheongwol's face came to him, calling his name with eyes overflowing with affection.
She had smiled like that, yet all the while she had someone else in her heart?
Dang Sohye's gaze slid briefly over Seomun Hwi.
What a foolish man.
Even she, standing back and watching from the sidelines, could see how hopelessly careless he was.
She did not like the sight of him, blinded by love, suffering alone.
Why exactly was that woman making such an honest, helpless man suffer like this?
If nothing else, she might as well collect the price of yesterday's rudeness while she was at it, so she quietly rested her head against his shoulder.
"What was it about Cheongwol-ssi that you liked so much?"
At the somewhat abrupt question, Seomun Hwi flinched.
"Was it her face? Or maybe..."
Dang Sohye's eyes drifted slowly downward, to the area beneath her own neck.
"This?"
If this had been any other day, it would have been a wicked joke he could have ignored without a thought, but not this time.
Because, unbidden, the image of Cheongwol in clothes that exposed the area around her chest flashed through his mind.
"I only meant it as a joke, but you do have a manly side after all, Young Clan Leader. Oh, I'm not blaming you."
When Seomun Hwi failed to answer and could not hide his embarrassment, Dang Sohye lifted one corner of her mouth.
"That's not it."
He tried to explain in a hurry, but by then it was already much too late.
"Then you don't like it? That's fine. It's natural for a man. In fact, that's a relief. At least I know you're no different from other ordinary men."
Taking advantage of the moment, Dang Sohye shifted a little closer to him—
And then Seomun Hwi spoke with an expression she had never seen on his face before.
"...I simply liked Cheongwol's smiling face."
One sentence, and yet it carried more sincerity than anything he had ever said to her.
He had no intention of taking anything by force, but now that the one who had come before him was gone, he had tried to seize the chance once for himself.
Whether Cheongwol herself understood it or not, he at least had not yet managed to drag himself out of the mire.
Should she force him out of it?
Or pretend not to notice and leave him be?
In truth, the answer was simple.
Whatever she did, if his heart was not there, then it would all be useless.
After a brief silence, Dang Sohye let out a low murmur.
"Young Clan Leader, you've been poisoned."
Long ago.
She had heard that the Tang Clan once had a man like Seomun Hwi.
Though he was a rising talent of the orthodox path, he had fallen for the daughter of the Guandong Jin Clan, a woman who used the same poisons and hidden weapons.
That woman, it was said, had already been in love with someone else. And yet, after laying everything aside, he had finally won her heart.
How badly had she admired that story when she first heard it?
Even if he could never set foot in Sichuan again, Dang Sohye was certain he would have had no regrets until the very moment he closed his eyes.
He would have been poisoned by the vicious, formless poison of love and slowly died in happiness for the rest of his life.
"It's a pity, but there isn't really a way to cure it. It's a terrifying poison."
Seomun Hwi blinked at her, unable to make sense of what she meant, and Dang Sohye gave a dry laugh.
"You really don't get it. I can already see how much Cheongwol-ssi is going to suffer from this."
"...That won't happen anymore. Cheongwol is..."
The moment his expression began to darken again, her hand pinched hard at his upper arm.
The sudden pain made him frown, and Dang Sohye went on with a faint smile.
"You were the one who formed the bond with Cheongwol-ssi first, weren't you? Are you really going to give her up to some faceless nobody? Think about it once. Cheongwol-ssi in that man's arms."
He bit his lip and closed his eyes tightly.
It was only a thought, and yet it felt as though a fierce heat were rising in his chest—one even he could not bear.
"You don't need to feel guilty toward me. There are more than enough men I've driven off to fill all of Sichuan. One more won't make any difference. So do whatever your heart wants."
"...Dang Sohye."
When he opened his eyes again and looked at her, Dang Sohye wore a slightly awkward expression.
"If you get rejected one more time, then come back. I hate the idea of being anyone's replacement, but if it's you, I suppose I can live with it."
Perhaps because she had said something so unlike herself, her face had turned a little red.
She tried hard to hide it, but the hopelessly oblivious man had to go and ruin it for her once again.
"Ugh...!"
The instant his firm hand closed around her slender one, the strange lift in her emotions sent Dang Sohye's heart racing wildly all on its own.
Seomun Hwi, as though he had made up his mind, showed no trace of darkness anywhere on his face.
"Like you said, I won't carry guilt in my heart. However..."
His gaze gathered, clear and steady, on Dang Sohye.
"I will not waste the chance you gave me."
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