Why Am I With You? (1)
[Late night, Moyong Sega Medical Hall, 3rd floor.]
While Yugoein kept watch over the fainted Yugiyeon in the ward below, observing her condition, I climbed up to the upper floor, spread out a sheet of paper, and picked up my brush.
"This is truly inexplicable."
Yugiyeon had undergone rejuvenation.
In the martial world, rejuvenation usually meant an old person returning to their youthful days, but Yugiyeon's case was a bit different.
"This is driving me mad."
Two things were certain, at least. Since Yugoein, her father, had personally checked her meridians, I could clearly write down my diagnosis for this situation.
1. Yugiyeon's Blocked Meridian Syndrome has been 'completely cured' by the Geukyang Jihwan.
2. As a side effect of the Geukyang Jihwan, there is a possibility of rejuvenation to youth.
These two points. They were phenomena that were hard to accept on multiple levels.
"...What the hell is this?"
First, the fact that Yugiyeon was completely cured. This was different from Moyong Seol's symptoms.
'Is it a matter of sequence? Or the presence of yin-yang union?'
Moyong Seol's Blocked Meridian Syndrome hadn't been fully cured. In contrast, Yugiyeon had shed her outer shell like a phoenix molting, undergone a complete transformation of bones and marrow, and her Blocked Meridian Syndrome had vanished entirely. No more yin energy could invade her body, and Yugiyeon had become a perfect virgin once again.
No, could I even call her a virgin? Her body had returned to its virginal state, but her mind and experiences weren't virginal anymore, were they?
'Her partner must be thrilled.'
Yugoein had already attempted yin-yang union to save Yugiyeon. Precisely, he'd arranged for her to consummate with her fiancé, attempting to treat the Blocked Meridian Syndrome through that union.
'Now, not for treatment but in true love, he'll get to do it once more. Her fiancé must be over the moon.'
Yin-yang union meant copulation. It was a physical relationship, but fundamentally one of the expressions of love between man and woman.
In that sense, if Yugiyeon returned to the Black Sword Sect and consummated with her fiancé again, that night could truly be called their 'wedding night.' In a more poetic setting. In an environment where they could whisper sweet nothings.
"Kinda jealous."
"Jealous of what?"
Oh no. Had I muttered that aloud without realizing?
Moyong Seol came over and sat beside me as she asked.
"Yugiyeon and her fiancé."
"......."
"Their first time was probably out of desperation, but now they can leisurely exchange love without that urgency."
"Ah."
Moyong Seol turned her head away with an 'oh crap' expression.
"Hm."
I immediately pulled her outer shoulder to turn her back.
"Little Snow. Speak. What are you thinking right now?"
"Ah, nothing at all?"
"Lying isn't good. If you're lying, then tonight..."
"Tonight?"
"I'll just lie there and do nothing."
"Ah, no!"
At my threat, Moyong Seol jumped in surprise and shook her head.
"Last night you were so aggressive...!"
"So spill it."
"Ugh, urgh...."
Moyong Seol groaned for a moment.
"...Don't you want to marry Yugiyeon?"
"What nonsense is that?"
"Instant denial...?"
"Of course. Why would I marry Yugiyeon? Even a passing cow would laugh."
It was absurd.
"Yugiyeon has a fiancé, and even if she didn't, I have no reason to take her."
"......."
"What, you didn't think I want her body as payment for treating her as a physician, did you?"
"Uh, well...."
Apparently so.
"Little Snow."
I pulled Moyong Seol close and buried my face in her shoulder.
"I'm a man too, so when I see a beauty, things build up here and there."
It was only natural.
'If a woman I could have is right in front of me and I don't get hard, then I'm not a man.'
"So if something builds up, I'd resolve it with the woman I love."
I lifted my head and gripped her chin.
"So if you don't help me out..."
"Then, you'd take another woman?"
"No. I'd handle it myself or wait until you spread your arms wide and let me release what's built up."
"......."
Moyong Seol blushed and looked down.
"That...."
"It's fine. I've gotten used to it over three years."
I'd suffered in various ways over those three years. Not every day like a routine, but while treating Moyong Seol, I'd often vent my frustrations to the world.
-Master, um, did you empty the trash while cleaning my room?
-Disciple. No need to be embarrassed. It's proof of your health.
Sometimes my master would clean up the evidence before I could dispose of it myself, but it wasn't a big deal.
"Last night, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say I unleashed three years' worth on you."
"Ugh...."
"Sorry. Was I too rough?"
"You were rough... but it was actually good... Ah, no, that's not it."
Moyong Seol grabbed my shoulders and nodded firmly, as if resolving something.
"I'll make sure nothing builds up."
"Huh?"
"Even if you feel that way about another woman, you can't because I'm here. Got it?"
"That's a misunderstanding."
Moyong Seol was wrong.
"If I see another woman and think 'I want to do it,' it's not that I want her—it's that I want you."
"Uh...."
"Could I do it with Yugiyeon? No."
Why bother?
"The world's greatest beauty is right here, ready to relieve what's built up inside me. Why would I go to another woman?"
"......Don't worry."
Moyong Seol clenched her fist and smiled.
"Even if it builds up, I'll drain it every day."
"...Drain it?"
"Ah. ...Ehehe. Slip of the tongue. Anyway, I'm relieved."
Moyong Seol hugged me.
"I was worried you'd accept the Black Sword Sect Lord's proposal."
"Ridiculous."
After Yugiyeon's rejuvenation, the Black Sword Sect Lord had made a proposal.
"Giving me his daughter as repayment for the treatment. Insane."
A moment later.
"Physician. Will you accept the proposal?"
"As I said again, I refuse."
I'd gone downstairs to check on the patient, and it seemed the Black Sword Sect Lord had lost his mind too.
"Why? Because my daughter fainted? Isn't this even better?"
"How can you, the Black Sword Sect Lord, offer your daughter to an outsider like this?"
"Obviously because you're Physician Seok Mu Wol, who didn't just treat my daughter but performed a miracle for her!"
There was something off about the Black Sword Sect Lord's eyes.
"Her body is already opened anyway. Even if it's renewed, breaking it again changes nothing. Compared to that guy..."
"That guy?"
"Ahem. Nothing."
Aha. I got it.
"It seems you don't like Yugiyeon Little Miss's fiancé much...."
"Especially when compared to you!"
"I'm sorry, but I'm not a martial artist."
I lightly thrust a straight punch into the air beside me.
"The internal energy I have is barely first-rate—no, not even second-rate."
"Your internal energy may be lacking, but your techniques seem more than sufficient."
"It's just part of my medical arts. No big difference between thrusting a fist or a needle."
"Hm...."
The Black Sword Sect Lord crossed his arms and groaned.
"Physician Seok."
"Yes, Sect Lord."
"If you ever want to take my daughter, come to the Black Sword Sect anytime."
"......."
"If you want her in her current body, I'll tell her to preserve it carefully. I'll have her sort out things with her fiancé too."
"No need. I won't do it for the rest of my life."
"What... does that mean?"
"!!"
My answer was directed at the Black Sword Sect Lord, but Yugiyeon responded with a question.
"Giyeon!!"
"F-Father. Am I... right now...?"
"Look in the mirror! The mirror!"
The Black Sword Sect Lord hurriedly pulled out a mirror, and Yugiyeon tilted her head as she gazed at her reflection.
"Huh...?"
She looked about four years younger, and those four years made a significant difference.
"What... is this...?"
"It's not exactly a side effect of the Geukyang Jihwan...! Physician Seok returned you to your twenty-year-old self!"
"......Is that even possible?"
Exactly what I wanted to say.
"Twenty years old...."
Yugiyeon squeezed her eyes shut.
"Those four years after becoming an adult, just waiting for death... to get them back like this...."
"Yes! Those four years of suffering are gone! Even if the world calls you twenty-four, you're now twenty with a new life! And...!"
Yugoein pointed downward.
"The physician restored your 'first time' too!"
"!!"
"Now you don't have to force yourself with just anyone for treatment—you can share your first time with someone you truly love!"
"Ah, ahh...."
Yugiyeon reached down with a trembling face.
I didn't need to see that, so I started to look away—
Throb.
My heart... pounded.
Something squeezed my heart like a vice, sending sharp pain like a signal.
"......."
It wasn't extreme pain. Just like a muscle cramp. But since it was my heart, I couldn't ignore it for a moment.
'What is this?'
Is Godok reacting? No, that couldn't be. The suppressant I'd newly made with my master's formula wouldn't suddenly lose effect.
But the sharp pain kept coming. Like a warning of something serious and horrific about to happen—like I needed to evade or prepare, or something tremendous would occur if I didn't.
No way.
'Cheonma?'
Is Cheonma, who harbors the parent strain of the Godok in my heart, approaching?
'The suppressed Godok is raging due to the medicine. This is survival instinct.'
Or a warning about something else. Knowing it dies if I do, it was detecting something and sending intense signals.
'Are this father and daughter scheming to drag me out of Moyong Sega by force? Abandon the original fiancé and kidnap me? Or worm their way into Moyong Sega to force a concubine position?'
If that's the warning—
"Physician."
Moyong Seol called me from outside the door.
"That."
She pointed toward Moyong Sega's main gate with a somewhat flustered face.
"Geomhu just arrived at the main gate."
"...Geomhu?"
Suddenly?
Thump, thump, thump.
"The Geomhu of Haedong Geomgak... I saw her with the Alliance Leader before...?"
Thud, thud, thud!!
The moment my heartbeat accelerated even more—
BOOM──!!
"......!!"
From Moyong Sega's main gate. A jade-green sword shot up toward the sky.