The Contract
“This’ll definitely sell well. I’ll give you that. But if you’re talking about selling this—”
“You mean tricking people and bleeding them dry for money… that’s what you were about to say, right?”
The man’s eyes turned icy.
“So you know it yourself. Such drugs run counter to righteousness. Their purpose is base.”
“So you’re saying you don’t want to make money?”
The man cut him off flatly. “I don’t want to earn even a thousand gold, or ten thousand, by vulgar means. Repaying a lifetime’s grudge like that would mean nothing.”
“Then what, you’re going to kill me?”
“I’ll knock you unconscious and dump you in some distant village. So long as you keep your mouth shut, your life won’t be in danger.”
Baek Wontae let out a sigh.
He had no attachment to this house.
There was no reason to stay somewhere that wanted him dead.
But now that he’d fallen into this strange world, he didn’t exactly have anywhere else to go. If he died an anonymous, miserable death, that alone would count as a lucky break.
And, honestly, he was drawn to the alchemy hall.
More than anything—
Base?
Drugs were his identity.
They were the thing that had first made him feel truly alive.
That was practically an insult to everything he was.
“…Whose conscience are you talking about?”
“Conscience is the blade that separates man from beast. It is not a pretense meant to be shown to others, but the nature a human ought to possess.”
Baek Wontae snorted.
Annoying bastard.
Conscience. Morality.
To him, those were illusions—frills worn for show.
He briefly replayed the household’s conversation in his mind, then finished his calculation.
This man wouldn’t be able to refuse.
Sure, his life might be a little endangered.
Baek Wontae clicked his tongue. “You said you had a lifetime grudge. You really think it’s that easy to settle something like that if you keep worrying about every little thing? Wow. I thought this was some huge deal. Guess I’m the one who has no choice here.”
Venous cords bulged on the man’s forehead.
“If you value your life, watch your mouth. I could kill a wretch like you before you even blink.”
“Sure, you could kill me easily. One swing of your hand and bones would separate from flesh. But would your precious grudge be that easy to settle too?”
“You little—!”
“You’re the one who knows better than anyone. So how long are you going to keep pretending to care about face and decorum? If you want to gain one thing, you have to give up another. That’s how the world works.”
“Even when pressed against a cliff’s edge, there are things I cannot abandon.”
Baek Wontae nodded with a sneer.
“Let me ask you something. When you collapsed earlier, do you know who ran up first to try to kill me?”
“…Ihwa, I suppose.”
“Wow. You really trust your son.”
He paused, then smiled thinly. “But no. It was your daughter.”
“What did you say?”
* * *
Outside the main hall, in the courtyard.
Dang Ihyeon leaned against a wall, while Dang Ihwa crouched nearby.
No one spoke between the siblings.
It was the younger sister who finally broke the silence.
“…Why did you stop me earlier?”
“Stop you from what.”
“That man. He brought Father down. With some strange drug.”
“You said earlier not to kill him recklessly.”
“I didn’t know then. But… Father collapsed.”
Her voice trembled.
Head lowered, she muttered, “I thought Father might really die because of my judgment. I believed he was innocent… do you know how shocked I was?”
“Everything you do is like that. Not my problem.”
“You….”
She narrowed her eyes and glared at her brother, but soon drew a breath and forced herself to relax.
“If this had been the old you, you’d have shoved a blade into him before I even got close. But instead, you saved his life.”
“…What are you trying to say?”
“Do you really think he’ll bring in a thousand gold?”
“….”
Silence stretched between them.
At last, Dang Ihyeon spoke.
“Have you ever seen Father in the throes of poisoning?”
His tone sharpened.
“It was only two swallows. Father collapsed on the spot. I don’t know if he fainted or fell asleep, but do you understand what that means?”
“…That drug is truly powerful.”
“It’s not some cheap scam drug floating around the market. It doesn’t need some complicated secret formula or rare ingredients like a hidden family medicine. It was only Hyeonrihwa—nothing but Hyeonrihwa. And with a quantity no bigger than a fingernail, that crude little drug took down Father, who has Mandokbulchim. That means it’s real.”
“Do you think Father would ever allow a thing like that?”
Dang Ihyeon’s words cut off.
Dang Ihwa pressed on sharply. “The reason you kept that man alive. It’s because you thought he might help raise the ‘capital’ for our family’s grudge, isn’t it?”
No answer came.
Her eyes wavered.
“But I can’t even imagine Father accepting money earned through a method like that.”
He couldn’t deny it.
Even he instinctively felt disgust rising in him.
Money that dirtied one’s conscience.
There was no way their father would use it for the grudge fund.
But—
I have to.
His resolve had hardened.
Even if the means were unclean, if he wanted to keep up with the appointed date that was drawing near, he had no choice.
The amount they needed was something they’d never reach in a lifetime through the medicine shop and odd jobs alone.
He knew that all too well.
That was why he had made his decision.
Dang Ihyeon let out a heavy sigh.
“Dang Ihwa.”
“What?”
“Look at the situation. Do you really think we can gather all that money through the work we’ve been doing? There isn’t even a year left.”
“That’s….”
“If we’d been able to do other work with our own strength, we might already have secured the funds.”
His voice turned cold.
“But because of a lot of circumstances, we’ve only been choosing work we could do quietly. There were outside reasons… and internal ones too.”
“You’re blaming Father?”
“Who, me?”
Dang Ihyeon pointed at himself, a bitter laugh in his voice.
Dang Ihwa lowered her head.
“That’s not what I meant. I recognize how much effort you’ve poured into this for Father.”
“…Father will refuse.”
“He will. Because he’s Father.”
“Then I’ll persuade him. I’ll make him hold onto it.”
“…Why go that far?”
Malice crept into Dang Ihyeon’s eyes.
“We have to face reality. At this rate, we’ll never repay the grudge.”
Dang Ihwa fell silent.
She disliked that man’s drug too, but she wasn’t ignorant of reality’s cruelty.
“We don’t have the luxury of clinging to morality anymore.”
Dang Ihyeon pressed on, faster now. “I want Father freed from pain as soon as possible. Even so, he’d never use a method like that himself. So I’ll be the one to dirty my hands.”
He looked straight at her.
“Dang Ihwa, you should be the same. If you can’t help, then don’t get in the way. But open your eyes a little too. If you stay indecisive, you won’t accomplish anything.”
Dang Ihyeon clenched his fist hard.
“I don’t know whether that thing is poison or medicine… but whatever it is, I’ll swallow it.”
* * *
“It was Dang Ihwa, wasn’t it? Your daughter was the one who came at me with a blade. She must’ve thought it was her fault Father had collapsed. And yet I’m alive and well. Why do you think that is?”
“Don’t tell me….”
“That’s right. Your son stopped her. The one who’d once wanted to kill me as your enemy opened a path for me to live.”
“Why would Ihyeon… do something like that….”
“Your son, you know. Just moments ago he was the one saying he’d kill me because of you, but the second money came up, his attitude flipped on a dime. You don’t get what that means?”
“…He was merely momentarily beguiled. To expect the virtue of a gentleman from a child who has only just passed the age of thirty is absurd.”
“Hah.”
Baek Wontae felt stifled.
“You said I’m somehow tied to that Heavenly Killing Star or whatever, right? If some dangerous bastard like that shows up right in front of you, shouldn’t you naturally kill him? But after a few words about money, you changed your tune. You went from wanting to kill me to wanting to let me live. Does that make any sense?”
Snap.
The man seized him by the collar.
“How dare you speak of my son!”
His rage rolled off him in waves.
But Baek Wontae didn’t even blink.
“To repay your grudge, you need money, right? But it sounds like you’re in a tight spot. You’re even reaching out to a foreigner like me.”
The corner of his mouth curved. “Without money, you can’t settle your grudge. That’s what it comes down to, isn’t it?”
The man’s brow twitched.
“Then what if, no matter how much time passes, you still can’t raise the funds?”
The cold words slid in, sharp as a knife.
“Are you planning to pass that grudge down to your children as well?”
The man’s eyes trembled.
Baek Wontae didn’t let the moment slip away.
“Your son understands it. He knows that if things continue like this, the grudge will never be repaid in his lifetime.”
He lowered his voice and whispered near the man’s ear. “That’s why he’s trying to seize this chance, no matter what. To save his family from pain in place of his father, his younger sister, everyone. He’s willing to dirty his own hands for all of you. What an admirable filial son.”
Baek Wontae’s hand slid from the collar and gripped the wrist that held him.
“If you refuse my help, how is that any different from yesterday? You’d keep scraping by day to day, and when this generation fails to avenge the grudge, you’ll pass the burden to your son and daughter. Do you really think they’ll be able to finish it? At this rate, it’ll go on to the grandchildren. No—more likely the line will die out before you even see grandchildren. You’ll cling to revenge until you lose every important moment of your life… and disappear pathetically while your enemies live well and laugh.”
The man’s eyes wavered.
Baek Wontae didn’t stop.
“If it were me, I could do it. I could earn more than enough to repay that grudge—more than enough for your descendants to live in comfort for generations.”
Gradually, the strength in the hand gripping his collar weakened.
Baek Wontae slowly pried it away.
“Picture it. The day you finally bring an old hatred to its end. Then picture the wealth and freedom that come after it—the lives your sons, daughters, and grandchildren could live, laughing instead of suffering.”
The iron man finally began to crack.
Baek Wontae leaned in with one last, poisonous whisper.
“If you’re the head of the family… if you’re a father… shouldn’t you be handing happiness down to your children? From where I’m standing, the two of them—no, you too—look like people who’d suit a smile pretty well. Even though I’ve never actually seen it.”
It was insulting.
But he couldn’t get angry.
Because the words had been the very shape of his own desire.
Head of the family… father…
His chest churned.
When had he last seen the children smile with genuine joy?
The memory was already blurred.
He could no longer smile himself.
But the children must not be allowed to end up that way.
Never. He could never pass the burden of this grudge on to them.
Revenge had to end with him.
Baek Wontae stood before the closed door and met the man’s gaze head-on.
“The simplest way would be to call your son in and ask him directly. Do you want it or not?”
He paused, then twisted his lips.
“But… I don’t really want to do that. For both your sakes.”
“…What do you mean?”
“A son treats his father’s words like heaven itself. If you oppose it, he’d force himself to obey. But inwardly… he might resent you for throwing away the chance to earn a fortune and settle the grudge. Of course, that’s just speculation, so don’t take it to heart.”
The man narrowed his eyes.
“On the other hand, if you permit it, what then? He earns the money, uses it to repay the grudge, and lives a wealthy life. Later on, your son will remember today’s decision and praise your insight. He’ll think of you as a father who respects him, and the bond between you will only deepen.”
“…You’re forcing a choice on me.”
“At the very least, it’s a choice no one in this house loses by.”
Baek Wontae picked up a blank sheet of paper from the side and held it out.
“If you agree, just write two documents.”
“Documents?”
“Contracts matter, don’t they?”
“Why don’t you write them yourself, then?”
“I don’t know this world’s writing yet.”
“…So your claim that you came from another world doesn’t seem to be a lie.”
“A scam’s still a scam, but I keep an eye on the details.”
The man took the brush and wrote Baek Wontae’s words onto the paper.
Scratch— scratch—
Baek Wontae watched the characters closely.
Are those Chinese characters? But weirdly enough, they read as naturally as Hangul.
The script and the language felt familiar, as if he could have written them himself.
“Is this enough?”
“More than enough.”
“Contracts can’t be broken. They’re sacred promises made in one another’s names. Of course… I don’t think you’re the kind of man who’d break one.”
“Don’t worry. You, too, must achieve your goal no matter what.”
“I’ll get there far faster than you think. I can guarantee that much.”
A cold glint flashed in his eyes.
“We should sort out how to address each other too. As for me, Baek Wontae or Baek, Wontae—whatever works. I don’t care.”
He passed over the brush.
The man wrote down his name.
“…Call me Clan Head.”
At the bottom of the paper, the names were written side by side.
Baek Wontae.
Dang Hogyeom.
Dang Ihyeon.
Dang Ihwa.