The Apple
Baek Yuseong had one person who was almost as familiar as his grandmother after death, the frequent faces of his family, and the servants who crossed paths with him every now and then. That person was Tang Harin.
She was the female branch relative in charge of disposing of useless poison. Whenever she researched poison human, the two of them ended up meeting quite often.
Almost all the knowledge Baek Yuseong possessed had been gained through conversations with her. From a young age, Tang Harin had been deeply interested in marriage. The questions she had thrown at her were mostly about relationships between men and women, and none of them touched on understanding the feelings of others. That was why.
Now, going to apologize to Physician Cha felt very unfamiliar. ‘Yurin said I must have done something wrong. I need to apologize, but… how do you even apologize?’
The clinic, brimming with worry, emitted Baek Yuseong. She spotted her and received another icy stare. “Why did you come again?”
Tang Harin’s heart sank. She did not want to be hated by Yuseong. When she had arrived at the Murim Alliance, her dreams had been swelling. The plan she had made from the very beginning—to confirm that Yuseong was her destined partner and to claim him by any means—was on the brink of collapse. ‘In truth… looking back, even without immunity to all poisons it would have been fine… I survived the poison blood poison even without that constitution.’
She should have just shown some affection. Instead, this regret gnawed at her for inflating the situation. The stares she received felt unfair. ‘I never even noticed.’
She hid her bitter expression as best she could and spoke cautiously. “I’m not here looking for you right now. Could you call for Physician Cha? I came to apologize.”
“Hmm?”
A look of surprise appeared on his face. Then he gave a slight nod, and Tang Harin breathed a sigh of relief. ‘…I guess Yurin’s words were right.’
Yuseong turned his gaze to one side and opened his mouth. “Physician Cha left work earlier today. I’m on duty.”
“Then at least tell me where he lives. I’m really sorry, that’s why I came to apologize.”
***
“Aigoo, what are you apologizing for over such a trivial thing! I’m fine, I’m fine. I shouldn’t have worried you over something so insignificant!”
“…?”
Receiving forgiveness from Physician Cha was surprisingly easy. He had been seen in casual clothes, like he was resting, but as he came out he greeted Tang Harin with no trace of annoyance or displeasure. “I’m sorry for the incident yesterday. For putting that prank in the food you shared with the doctor. You must have been shocked. By the way, thanks to me yesterday you probably lost your appetite, but I bought a bottle of your favorite liquor.”
He had also bought one bottle of the liquor Physician Cha had ordered from the teahouse they had visited yesterday. It was Namgung Yurin’s advice. ‘She said buying a gift would make it better… really.’
Physician Cha accepted it and jumped up, claiming he felt not the slightest bit offended. ‘I was worried he wouldn’t accept it easily…’
Did he really accept a sincere apology so easily, or was this person unusually generous? Since she had never apologized to anyone in her life, Tang Harin still did not know. But one thing was certain—Physician Cha showed no sign of being hurt by her in the slightest. “But… I personally enjoyed yesterday’s gathering very much. How about having a drink together occasionally?”
Physician Cha made a gesture of tilting his cup, and his mouth curled into a smile. ‘He seems like a simple person who just likes alcohol.’
Originally Physician Cha was weak to alcohol. But thanks to Yuseong’s concern yesterday, he had been able to enjoy fine liquor without getting drunk. Thanks to Tang Harin, he had also eaten free high-class liquor and even earned extra money as change. He had plenty of good memories to keep. Tang Harin had also calculated the situation. If they were close enough to have separate meals, Physician Cha must clearly be close to Yuseong. From the position of someone who had slightly annoyed Yuseong, having someone beside him who spoke well of her would be helpful. Forming good relations seemed to hold no downside. “Of course. I was also looking forward to yesterday’s gathering, but I messed it up and I’m sorry. I’ll try to arrange gatherings with Yuseong often.”
“If that’s possible, I look forward to it. You won’t overdo it, will you?”
“Not at all. In fact… I also want to become closer to Yuseong.”
“Huh? Weren’t we already friends? I definitely heard that…”
Tang Harin lowered her voice to the astonished man. “I want to become closer than friends.”
“…?”
Physician Cha’s mind spun rapidly. ‘Closer than friends?’ If a man and woman of the same age became closer than friends, what would they be? Lovers, of course. ‘So that’s why he wanted to follow me to yesterday’s gathering.’
The Tang Clan of Sichuan belonged to the Five Great Clans. The daughter of that noble family had developed feelings for Yuseong as a woman? If Physician Cha had received affection from a woman like Tang Harin, he would have felt he had the world in his hands. And Yuseong thought the same would be true for him. ‘The Medical Pavilion chief has many suitors.’
Tang Harin had briefly caught the information that she was a poison human, but among Physician Cha’s knowledge about poison humans there was no mention of infertility. With no one remembering it in three hundred years except for major Murim clans. ‘The lady Tang is a big-hearted person, so she won’t abandon me later.’
Physician Cha finished his calculations and gave Tang Harin advice on various matters. “The Medical Pavilion chief…”
Even if things went well with her, or if they did not, he would suffer no loss.***
The next day. Physician Cha arrived early at the clinic and approached Baek Yuseong. “Last night the lady Tang came to see me.”
“As expected, was there any problem?”
Yuseong, who already knew, looked at Physician Cha. After Tang Harin had gone to meet him, he had been curious about how things had gone. When he received Yuseong’s gaze, Physician Cha waved his hand. “Ah, don’t misunderstand. She just came to apologize for the incident at the teahouse.”
“Apologize… how did she do it?”
Tang Harin had probably just said sorry in a perfunctory tone when she met Physician Cha. Anyone who knew her would have expected more. Yuseong had found a way to answer that she must have apologized to someone else first, but when had she ever lowered her head to anyone? He had assumed Physician Cha, who was good at social life, would have accepted it easily. “Aigoo, what do you mean? She apologized repeatedly, saying she was truly sorry. Lady Tang turned out to be a really nice person! I did make a mistake, but maybe I just forgot that she was there. I’m a bit lacking in presence, after all.”
“…?”
Was that really a line that could be said so casually? Watching closely, Physician Cha seemed to have little pride. If necessary, he did not hesitate to speak like the tongue of a young person. ‘That’s why even in the Luoyang clinic he treated me so well.’
Back then, when people in the Luoyang clinic debated whether Physician Yang or Baek Yuseong was superior, Physician Cha had taken the side of both without losing any favor. Even when he was remembered enough to be chosen as Medical Pavilion chief, he had been thought of. On the other hand, he was an amazing person. “In any case, I feel much better now, don’t I?”
“Much better. Since I’m having another drink, how about you take some time too?”
“Together?”
“Of course. Since there is no accumulated resentment between us, we should mend our friendship.”
The person who had felt most hurt had come out like this, so Yuseong answered appropriately. ‘This is a good chance to sharpen your mind.’***
Tang Harin admitted to herself that she had been too hasty. When she had given advice to Namgung Yurin using only the knowledge she had overheard, she had thought that Namgung Yurin, with her beautiful face and figure, could easily captivate Yuseong with nothing but physical attack. Seeing Namgung Yurin’s slow approach had left her frustrated. ‘Maybe Yurin’s way is right.’
After seeing how Yuseong treated her this time, she judged that a physical attack would be too much. Even though something like that had happened in the poison blood, he had shown an indifferent attitude. “The Medical Pavilion chief doesn’t give his heart easily. You need to melt it slowly. But once affection takes root, he doesn’t easily throw people away.”
Following Physician Cha’s advice, Tang Harin found a natural excuse to spend time with Yuseong. ‘That’s right. Let’s research together. The atmosphere was still good when we researched together.’
There had been research she wanted to do. She had planned to proceed without him to show off her abilities, but this time she changed her thinking to accept his help. ‘There are other things I can research too.’
Tang Harin met Deputy Strategist Tae Jeong-heon. If she wanted to do something with the Medical Pavilion chief, she needed his approval as the person in charge. The busy-looking Tae Jeong-heon, who looked like he had no time for even a blink, somehow managed to set aside time for Tang Harin’s request. For several days he had not been able to go home, his clothes wrinkled, but his attitude as Deputy Strategist remained unfettered. “You said you needed the Medical Pavilion chief for researching the antidote to an unidentified poison?”
The unidentified poison that had poisoned Physician Yu and King Do. Researching the antidote for it would help the Murim Alliance. “Yes. As you know, this research is quite important. If we stock the antidotes in the branch offices of the Murim Alliance, master-level warriors who have been poisoned by the same poison won’t need to come to the Murim Alliance.”
Tae Jeong-heon nodded. ‘It really is a necessary study.’
If things had gone according to plan, he would have approved it cheerfully. Solving the problem with a poison human from the Tang Clan of Sichuan was something to be grateful for. He could simply adjust the Medical Pavilion chief’s working hours. But. Seeing Tang Harin’s face, he felt he could not approve it. A young woman who could turn hundreds of people into blood with a single thought—it was hard to believe, but Tae Jeong-heon’s focus was on something else. ‘She’s become too beautiful.’
His instinct, sharpened by recent events, warned him not to handle a problem involving a beauty on his own line. Even though he held the authority over the clinic, after Namgung Yurin had been specially hired, Jegal Yeong-yeong’s attitude toward him had changed for the worse. Now documents for overtime work were stacked on his desk. ‘If I continue to anger him…’
Tae Jeong-heon shuddered and told Tang Harin, “I’m sorry, but that is not a problem for me to solve. I will report to the Supreme Commander and inform you again.”
When Tae Jeong-heon reported, Jegal Yeong-yeong wanted to meet Tang Harin directly.