Chaeeum Boyang (1)
“Ugh, how the hell did it come to this...”
“I-is it that bad?”
Jin Seoryeong kept her eyes fixed on Baek Jincheon, who lay motionless on her bed, as she asked the physician. Hwang Baekju, the renowned healer from the Murim Alliance whom she had personally invited while establishing Jinhyup Gaekjan, released the pulse he had been checking and replied to her.
“Leader Jin, it's not a good situation, to put it mildly.”
“No...”
Before Hwang Baekju arrived, Jin Seoryeong had examined Baek Jincheon's pulse herself, so she already knew he had suffered deep internal injuries. But hearing it straight from the physician's mouth made her heart seize with terror all over again, despite already knowing the truth.
“Ugh, let me explain this young man's condition first.”
Hwang Baekju, who had known Jin Seoryeong for a long time, tilted his head at her unusually hypersensitive reaction. She hadn't so much as glanced at a man in nearly seven years... Just what was her relationship with this youth? He thought her father would surely raise hell if he found out, but proceeded to explain his diagnosis.
“His internal injuries worsened because he circulated his internal energy multiple times despite already being hurt. It was already severe enough that he'd need a full week of bed rest just to move again, but he pushed further. The wound in his dantian has torn wide open.”
“The... the dantian wound has torn open...?”
“Yes. His dantian isn't functioning as a vessel for qi anymore. Even just breathing is leaking energy. How he managed to move around in this state...”
Hwang Baekju clicked his tongue several times, his face darkening as he delivered the conclusion to Jin Seoryeong.
“His life force is leaking out along with the energy. If left as is... this young man won't survive the night.”
“...Ah.”
Thud!
From the moment Baek Jincheon collapsed until now, Jin Seoryeong had stood by his side. At the words that he would die, her legs gave out, and she crumpled to the floor.
No way. We just reunited after seven years. Die? He's going to die? Baek Jincheon dies? That Baek Jincheon, just like this? Suddenly? Why?
In the seven years since they'd parted, Jin Seoryeong had never once imagined Baek Jincheon might die. It wasn't just a wish—it was a grounded certainty. Among all the people she'd met, he was the least likely to die. Indeed, during the Demon Church uprising eight years ago, countless masters had perished, yet he had survived.
“How can he die like this? This isn't right. Why, why? We finally met again, so why...”
Baek Jincheon, who had proudly survived that horrific time, dying like this? Jin Seoryeong couldn't accept this cruel reality.
“Baek Jincheon... You were fine just yesterday. Your complexion was great, your steps light. We promised to keep meeting, to see how much we'd changed. We did. So why... What the hell happened in just one night?”
Just yesterday, after exchanging greetings with Baek Jincheon, Jin Seoryeong had withdrawn all the surveillance... no, informants she'd assigned to him. She feared the backlash if he later discovered she'd tailed him. They'd reunited, exchanged formalities, and promised to meet often—no need for watchers anymore. She could just excitedly anticipate their future days together.
But that complacent decision had led to this.
“Who? Who did this? What kind of bastard did this to you...”
Jin Seoryeong reached out with trembling hands and grasped Baek Jincheon's hand, covered by the blanket. In her memories, his hand was large, firm, and warm, always reassuring. Now, it was just cold. As if he might slip away at any moment.
“Ah... ahh...”
Feeling his energy, far weaker than before, seeping through his skin, Jin Seoryeong clutched her chest as if her heart were being shredded, swallowing her sobs. Watching her anguish, Hwang Baekju hesitated, lips twitching, before sighing and speaking up.
“Haa... There is one method. A way to save the young man.”
He hadn't planned to mention it, given his friendship with her father, but he couldn't bear seeing her suffer like this. As her father's friend, she was like a niece to him. What uncle could watch his niece grieve like that?
“...What? What is it? Tell me, please! I'll do anything I can...!”
At his words, Jin Seoryeong whipped her head toward him, pleading desperately. The moment he'd spoken of a method, it was too late to take back—like spilled water. Hwang Baekju sighed again, hoping her doting father learned of this as late as possible.
“Hoo. It's something only Leader Jin can do. No one below your level of mastery could even attempt it.”
“Really? Then great! If it saves him, I'll do anything!”
“Umm, before I explain, one question. Leader, what is your relationship with this young man?”
“Our... relationship...?”
Asking about that amid talk of saving him? Jin Seoryeong flustered for a moment but trusted Hwang Baekju wouldn't spout nonsense now. Blushing, she averted her eyes shyly and answered timidly.
“W-well, that is... We're, um, lovers.”
It was her one-sided love, but one-sided love was still love, so it wasn't wrong. Soon enough, it'd be mutual. Her brazen reply drew a relieved sigh from Hwang Baekju.
“Phew, that's fortunate. The method I'm about to explain is extremely difficult without a true lover.”
“...Huh? What do you mean?”
Hwang Baekju continued to the puzzled Jin Seoryeong.
“Chaeeum Boyang. That's the only way to save this young man.”
The sole method to save Baek Jincheon, whose dantian was critically wounded and on the brink of death, was Chaeeum Boyang.
Chaeeum Boyang: a bedroom art where a woman's yin replenishes a man's yang. In simple terms, intercourse.
“Chaeeum... Boyang?! Why, why does it lead to that?!”
“This young man has a massive wound in his dantian, causing his internal energy and life force to drain away. You just heard that, right?”
As Jin Seoryeong blushed furiously at the sudden term, Hwang Baekju calmly continued.
“Y-yes, I did... You said he'd die if left alone.”
The grave atmosphere made Jin Seoryeong compose herself.
“He's dying because his energy is depleted. To save him, replenish it. Hence, Chaeeum Boyang.”
“If it's energy he needs, I have spirit elixirs—couldn't those...”
“He can't handle the energy in elixirs right now. It's like placing a shattered vessel under a waterfall—it'll shatter completely. Only Chaeeum Boyang allows controlled, steady supply from a person.”
“Ah, ahh...”
“And only a female master of your caliber can perform it.”
“U-uuah...”
Sudden Chaeeum Boyang hit Jin Seoryeong like a bolt from the blue. In her plans, mingling bodies with Baek Jincheon was for after marriage. She'd even plotted their wedding night perfectly, to make him unable to live without her.
All that, ruined. But no choice. If Baek Jincheon died, she'd follow.
“Hoo, fine. I'll do it. I'll fill this man up with my yin.”
“Yes. Remember, Leader—this is treatment. Healing his dantian with energy. Tend the wound meticulously, and he'll live.”
“Got it, Uncle Hwang.”
“Then... I wish you good results.”
Hwang Baekju offered blessings to the pair and left her chambers.
With him gone, only Jin Seoryeong and Baek Jincheon remained.
“...S-so, my first time starts like this, huh.”
Only she could speak in the room now, making the sudden silence deafening.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
“Hoo, hoo... gulp.”
The heavy quiet amplified her pounding heart, ragged breaths, and dry swallow. She was more tense than ever—and more aroused. Dreaming of intercourse with Baek Jincheon was becoming reality.
Though far from her original plan. She'd envisioned their wedding night: playful flirting in a sweet newlywed mood.
Reality: her unilaterally ravishing an unconscious Baek Jincheon.
“Hah.”
At the gap between ideal and reality, Jin Seoryeong let out a hollow laugh. To begin Chaeeum Boyang for his treatment, she lifted his blanket and untied his sash.
Flutter—whoosh.
“Th-this is to save you, okay? Don't complain if I take your virginity. Like how you unilaterally saved me that day eight years ago. I'm saving you unilaterally too. Got it?”
Undressing an unconscious man embarrassed even the bold Jin Seoryeong.
“And I'm a virgin too. No loss for either of us. Yeah. S-so, I'm undressing you, Baek Jincheon!”
She made pointless excuses to the comatose man, pulling down his pants and undergarments together.
“...Ha?”
Thus, Jin Seoryeong beheld it: Baek Jincheon's massive member, covered in a woman's lipstick marks.
Bang!
“...That crazy bitch dares!”
Crash!
At that moment, the chamber window flew open, and a white-haired woman burst in. Not a ninja—Baek Jincheon's disciple, Yeon Wol.