Chapter 94
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 94
Chapter Title: The Reason for Pulling an All-Nighter
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Two days passed, and until the day of departure arrived, Namgung Seheon didn’t so much as show his face.
It was the day the Murim Alliance conference—the largest one held up to now—came to an end. The area in front of the alliance headquarters’ guesthouses bustled with people exchanging farewells.
I was one of them.
“Sorry, Biyeon. I couldn’t even imagine those words would burden you and Seoryun like that.”
“Yeah, yeah, you get it.”
I nodded half-heartedly at Paeng Haran’s soft-voiced apology. A little ways off, Jin Seoryun stood watching us. She glanced at him before lowering her voice.
“But you’ll hear me out, right?”
“You’re so damn stubborn.”
I let out a hollow laugh as I met her smiling face. It was because her selfish devotion—her refusal to give up on dumping Jin Seoryun, who’d have to endure yet another loss, onto me—came through loud and clear.
Damn it, no wonder they call her the true heroine. I clicked my tongue as I recalled all those “true heroine” comments that never failed to pop up whenever “Rana” showed up in Jin Seoryun’s flashbacks.
Memories are such strange things. Useless crap like that sticks around crystal clear for ages, while helpful stuff fades away.
“He’s lucky. Having a friend like you.”
Reading the real answer hidden in my reply, Paeng Haran beamed.
“You’re my friend too.”
Sure you are. A spare friend you’ve got stashed away for your real one. I gave Jin Seoryun a casual wave hello in my head.
Sacheon Tang Family members walked past Paeng Haran. I returned Tang Hakyung’s nod of greeting, then curled my lip in a mocking sneer at Tang Haeun’s glare.
Spotting Namgung Seheon in the crowd at last, I started toward him—only for Paeng Haran to grab my sleeve.
“One bit of advice as payment, Biyeon.”
I was about to crack a joke about trying to buy me off with that, but her serious red eyes killed the words in my throat.
“Don’t take Namgung Seheon too much to heart.”
It could mean a lot of things, but something about it made my gut twist anyway, and I furrowed my brow while sputtering nonsense.
“Why the hell would I? Guy’s got a fiancée and all. Besides, Mount Hua’s a no-marriage sect anyway.”
“Good, then that’s a relief. Wasn’t quite what I meant, but…”
The gentle look in her eyes held lingering worry rather than relief.
“But why bring it up all of a sudden?”
“The heavier the weight you carry in your heart, the bigger the void it leaves behind when it’s gone.”
“No, I’ve never—”
“Loss doesn’t always mean romantic rejection, Biyeon.”
Paeng Haran cut off my frantic protest and patted the top of my head. Hadn’t realized it, but she’d gotten pretty tall. Pretty sure she used to be shorter than me—boys really do shoot up fast.
“From everything I’ve seen so far, that idiot’s going to turn down even his final fallback. Right up to his last shot at carrying the Namgung name.”
Paeng Haran spoke with cold sarcasm as she eyed Namgung Seheon—who’d spotted me, scowled fiercely, and was now stomping right over.
“Succession fight?”
“Yeah. He’s been prepping for it a long time. Not some pushover.”
She’d left out the subject, but a quick glance at where her eyes flicked told me exactly who she meant.
A sharp jawline framed by a knife-edge bob cut, a face that took after his father the family head more than Namgung Seheon. His older sister—and in the original story, the one who ends up heading the Namgung Family—Namgung Seeun.
“Even if Namgung Seheon’s got no interest in the spot?”
“You wouldn’t get it, but once you’re born the direct eldest son, interest or not, you get dragged in. That’s why he’s got his knife out like that. Hell, even I almost ended up as a chess piece.”
Which meant I’d been thinking way too mildly about it. All the successor-style scraps I’d seen were just the backroom politicking and posturing over the senior disciple seat at Mount Hua.
Even martial brothers without a drop of blood between them kept it to that level—so how vicious could blood siblings really get, no matter how much one hated the other? That’s what I’d figured.
“So that’s my advice: don’t get hurt too bad later.”
Paeng Haran winked, then headed off toward Jin Seoryun just as Namgung Seheon planted himself in front of me.
I clicked my tongue as I took in his hollow eyes, the dark circles standing out even more against his pale skin.
“Still not over the shock of your first loss? Pathetic. Took me less than a day to shake it off.”
Instead of replying, Namgung Seheon clamped both hands on my shoulders.
“Hey, you…”
His voice came out rough and cracked, like he’d been up for two straight days.
“Don’t spar with anyone else.”
That’s the first thing out of his mouth? No vow to win next time, no childish whine to only ever spar with me?
“Did that one defeat rattle your brain loose or something? You think that’s even possible?”
“Oh… right.”
Namgung Seheon nodded blankly along with me before switching tack.
“Then don’t smile like that after sparring with anyone else.”
“You never heard of freedom of expression, you bastard?”
“Then…”
He blinked slowly, then stared straight down at me with those pitch-black eyes.
“Smile like that only when I beat you.”
What the hell happened to this kid’s ego after one loss? Why’s he suddenly so damn meek? But telling me not to smile after other spars and to smile only when he wins—it’s all the same crap, isn’t it?
How’d I even smile to set him off like this? I remember smirking down at him while he was rolling on the floor.
Never gotten a complaint like that before, though. I’m no peerless beauty like Bi-ryeong, captivating everyone with a single smile—my grin’s nothing special.
‘Ah, I’ve never really smiled after a spar before.’
Beating Namgung Seheon was a lifelong goal of mine, so of course I grinned like an idiot the second I pulled it off. But all my wins up till then? Routine. Dull, even.
“Anyway, you pull an all-nighter or what? Nightmares messing up your sleep?”
I’d been there. Jerking awake at dawn with defeat scenes replaying in my head. Now it was his turn.
I chuckled with vicious delight, and Namgung Seheon rubbed his brow while muttering.
“Yeah… Felt wrong that you were the only one who hadn’t seen me lose. Maybe I should’ve thrown a match once…”
“What? Because of my smile?”
No matter how I twisted the context, that’s where it landed.
I looked up at Namgung Seheon—who neither denied nor confirmed it—and smacked his forearm.
“Hey, quit feeling sorry for yourself. I never smiled after spars before now.”
“…For real?”
“You whine about the dumbest shit. Not nightmares from the defeat shock—just hung up on some guy’s face…”
Feel sorry over that bone-deep loss, you punk. Don’t drag me down over stupid crap like that. Don’t kill the vibe for the guy who finally scored a win after seven years.
But what was that? Throw a match once? No matter how I sliced it, that tacked-on line pissed me off, so I kept poking.
“And now you couldn’t throw one even if you wanted to, right? That wouldn’t be throwing—it’d just be losing.”
Namgung Seheon grimaced, covered his mouth to yawn, then wiped the tears from his eyes with the back of his hand. After the all-nighter, his dark, unfocused gaze sharpened back to life.
“What’re you on about? You think I’m gonna sit on my hands till we meet again? I’ll punch through first-rate by then—so wait up.”
He pressed down on the top of my head with his palm, flashing that trademark crooked, arrogant smirk. Seeing it again made me breathe easier—he was back to his old self.
“Hey, if you’ve got nowhere to go later, come to Mount Hua. Don’t just wander the streets like an idiot.”
“What, performing an exorcism to get kicked out of your clan?”
I scowled at the snide comeback to my generous offer.
“Even offering gets me shit.”
“Fine, got it. If I ever get booted, I’ll tag along with the future Mount Hua’s top swordsman and play bodyguard or whatever.”
Namgung Seheon tossed out the casual reply, then undid the hair tie from his wrist and held it out.
“Here. Take it.”
It was beat to hell, proof of how rough he’d been with it.
“Was gonna give it back next time we meet. I’m a man who keeps his word, looks or not.”
I snatched it from his hand as he shook it teasingly for me to grab.
My eyes drifted to his right eye—the one that always half-closed whenever he grinned—before settling on the hair tie now back in my hands, which he eyed with complicated emotions.
Even with it returned, a corner of my heart felt oddly empty. Then I saw his bare wrist, where my tie had been looped like a bracelet until just now, and I got why.
Only after getting it back did I realize I’d been treating this hair tie like a link to him. Pretty damn funny.
That was when Namgung Seheon’s hand shot toward my head. Too distracted by the tie, he beat me to it—untying the one holding my hair up before I could even grab his wrist.
“Take a fresh one instead!”
I gritted my teeth as I felt my hair tumble down over my shoulders and back. Figures. Of course he’d zero in on the one day I’d switched to a new tie.
He shook the new one at me like a trophy as he bolted back toward his retainers. I bellowed after his retreating back.
“No—take it back! Don’t come! Show up and I’ll kill you at Mount Hua, you fucker!”
Even as the words left my mouth, I had no idea why a snickering laugh slipped out.
Still… could that total road idiot even find his way to Mount Hua? It’s not like Anhui and Shaanxi share a border.
Next time we met, I’d probably have to shove a map in his hands. With that thought, I retied my hair using the worn-out tie.