Chapter 28 — A Woman Falls for a Man
‘How can a man be that good-looking?’
Baek Ha-young couldn't stop staring in astonishment.
She had always believed the most handsome man in the world was her father — and yet here was a man even more handsome than her father, sitting at a table in this little inn. That gorgeous man rose from his seat and greeted her father.
“Welcome, honored guests.”
Not just the face — even his voice was deep and resonant, without a single flaw to pick at.
“It's been a while, Young Hero Samryong.”
At her father's greeting, the handsome man called Samryong showed a flicker of panic.
Ahaha...
“My... my name isn't Samryong, it's Yang Jeong.”
“Ah... so I've made a mistake. I am Baek Won-young.”
“Young Master Baek, is it? Please, have a seat.”
The handsome man offered her father a chair, and in that moment Baek Ha-young realized that if she didn't speak now, she might never get the chance to introduce herself at all.
“I'm Baek Ha-young. I'm his younger sister.”
At her hasty introduction, the man gave her a fresh, bright smile.
“I'm Yang Jeong. Welcome, Lady Baek.”
Polite and impeccably courteous, the man was now turning his gaze toward her senior martial sister.
The senior sister gave her own name as well.
“I'm Yeon Ja-seol.”
“Yang Jeong.”
From his tone alone, it was clear that the senior sister held no particular interest in that handsome man.
Jiang Zhou and Baek Won-young stared quietly at Yang Jeong and Baek Ha-young.
Hahaha............!
Baek Won-young burst out laughing, while Jiang Zhou allowed himself a small, amused smirk.
“Didn't I tell you the most handsome man under heaven was here?”
“Father, honestly...”
Baek Ha-young flushed red and took her seat.
Once Yeon Ja-seol had sat down as well, Jiang Zhou glanced at Yang Jeong.
“Tie the horse our guest brought around to the backyard.”
“What a fine-looking horse it is, too.”
Yang Jeong moved toward the mare standing idly outside — but Baek Won-young shot to his feet.
“That horse listens to no one but me. I'll take her myself.”
Worried, Jiang Zhou asked Yang Jeong, “You tied that beast down properly, didn't you?”
Before Yang Jeong could answer, Baek Won-young smoothly cut in. “I'll check on it myself.”
Ja-seol and Baek Ha-young watched him go with puzzled expressions.
Why would he insist on leading the horse himself?
Ja-seol turned her head, and her eyes met Jiang Zhou's. In that instant, she quickly looked away.
Jiang Zhou, thinking nothing of it, simply waited for Baek Won-young to return.
“Today we have both pork noodles and chicken noodles available. Which would you like?”
When Baek Won-young came back, Jiang Zhou asked. Baek Won-young smiled.
“Then please bring two bowls of each. And some liquor as well.”
“Very well.”
Having taken the order, Jiang Zhou headed into the kitchen.
That was when Baek Ha-young, who had been waiting for her chance, looked into Yang Jeong's face and asked, “Young Hero Yang, is your home here originally?”
At her question, he answered in a subdued voice.
“No. My family home is elsewhere, but I'm fond of my eldest brother, so I've settled here.”
“What does your family do?”
“We run a small escort agency.”
At Yang Jeong's answer, a faint smile brushed across her lips.
Even if the family only ran a small escort agency, it was still far better than keeping an inn.
“Then... have you trained in the martial arts as well?”
Hahaha...
Yang Jeong let out an easy, graceful laugh.
“Nothing worth showing off in front of others, but I've polished my swordsmanship a little.”
At that answer, Baek Won-young was inwardly startled.
For someone who had trained in the martial arts, the aura he let seep out of his body was remarkably ordinary.
“You've truly trained in the martial arts, Young Hero Yang?”
“Yes. My swordsmanship is unremarkable, but my feet are a bit quick.”
Ah...........
Only then did Baek Won-young understand why the sect leader of the Beggars' Sect had been chasing after Yang Jeong.
With the most handsome face under heaven, the man would never starve — and with those quick feet, he was perfectly suited to be the Beggars' Sect's errand-runner. If the sect leader simply passed his martial arts on to him, he really might become the successor.
While Baek Won-young was thinking this, Baek Ha-young could not tear her eyes away from Yang Jeong's face.
What if his martial arts were powerful as well? How wonderful would that be?
Just as she was falling deeper into her daze, Jiang Zhou's voice came from the kitchen.
“Stop standing around like a post and bring out the seasoned wild greens.”
If he left that fool out there any longer, he seemed bound to spill every last thing the two of them knew about each other.
Baek Ha-young turned her head and glared at Jiang Zhou.
Haha...
Yang Jeong forced an awkward laugh.
“Of course — I must serve the dishes for the young ladies.”
At that, Jiang Zhou shot him a venomous glare from the kitchen.
“Keep muffling your voice one more time, I dare you.”
Ahaha........
Yang Jeong laughed uneasily and retreated into the kitchen, and Baek Won-young finally let loose the laughter he'd been holding back.
Hahahahaha....................!
Slurp... slurp...
The three of them busily shoveled meat and noodles into their mouths.
Most people at least tried to keep up appearances with even a moderately delicious dish, but this food rendered such pretenses utterly meaningless.
Jiang Zhou set Dongpo Pork down before them as well. Had they been any other customers, he would never have put it out for free — but Baek Won-young was different from the rest.
“Have it as a drinking snack.”
“Thank you.”
Baek Won-young picked up a slice of Dongpo Pork with his chopsticks and placed it in his mouth. It was his first time tasting the dish at this inn.
The springy, tender meat melted in his mouth and slid smoothly down his throat, and a smile bloomed across his face all on its own.
“I honestly... can't fathom how you made something taste like this.”
Moved as he was, Ja-seol and Baek Ha-young each took a piece of Dongpo Pork as well — and the expressions on their faces as the meat hit their tongues were hardly any different from his.
“It's really... delicious.”
“How can any food be this good?”
Yang Jeong's mood lifted at their exclamations of delight.
Hee-hee-hiing..............!
Just as he opened his mouth to say something, a horse's whinny suddenly rang out from the backyard.
“That damn beast, again—”
Jiang Zhou and Yang Jeong, startled, hurried to rush out to the backyard — but Baek Won-young's voice stopped them in their tracks.
“It's quite all right. Just leave them be.”
Jiang Zhou and Yang Jeong stared at him, dumbfounded. Baek Won-young flushed faintly and looked aside.
“Who is a man to stand in the way of the ways of the world?”
Hee-hee-hiing.......!
The horse's whinny rang out once more.
“Are you truly sure it's all right?” Yang Jeong asked, worried.
Hahaha........
“Pay it no mind. Could I trouble you for another bowl of Dongpo Pork?”
Baek Won-young steered the conversation elsewhere with practiced ease.
“Brother Jiang, Young Hero Yang — won't you join us at the table?”
Baek Won-young, emptying his cup, invited them to sit. At the invitation, Yang Jeong stole a glance at Jiang Zhou.
“Come, sit down already, Young Hero Yang.”
Baek Ha-young, her cheeks flushed pink with drink, urged him on.
“W-well, then...”
Yang Jeong sat down as though he were merely humoring them — but Jiang Zhou could not bring himself to do the same.
“I have cooking to do.”
“The table is already laden with plenty of food, so it's fine. Don't stay cooped up in the kitchen — come join us here.”
Just as he said, three bowls of Dongpo Pork were sitting on the table. Jiang Zhou reluctantly took a seat at one side.
“Let me pour you a drink.”
Baek Won-young lifted the bottle — and Yang Jeong immediately darted into the kitchen to fetch cups.
Baek Ha-young watched him with evident displeasure.
This inn belongs to Jiang Zhou — so why should Young Hero Yang be the one fetching cups?
But she couldn't voice the complaint. Her father sat right in front of her, and above all, Jiang Zhou was Yang Jeong's sworn elder brother.
With the cups brought over, Baek Won-young filled Jiang Zhou's and Yang Jeong's cups in turn.
Glug-glug...
Jiang Zhou accepted the bottle and filled Baek Won-young's cup in return.
“Shall you drink?”
When he offered the liquor to Ja-seol, she swiftly raised her empty cup.
Glug-glug...
“Shall you drink?”
Having filled her cup, Jiang Zhou turned to Baek Ha-young — but she was busy sneaking glances at Yang Jeong.
“I'll take that, Brother.”
Yang Jeong quickly took the bottle from him. And with that, Baek Ha-young carefully lifted her cup with both hands.
Hahaha...........!
Watching the scene, Baek Won-young burst into laughter once more.
It seems my little sister has fallen for Young Hero Yang.
“My father asked me to deliver this to you, Brother Jiang.”
Baek Won-young drew a promissory note from his breast and handed it to Jiang Zhou. Jiang Zhou took it and slipped it away into his clothes as though it were nothing.
Baek Won-young asked nothing, and Jiang Zhou offered no explanation.
“Drink up.”
At Baek Won-young's word, Jiang Zhou and Yang Jeong — and Ja-seol and Baek Ha-young too — all drained their cups.
Kkuh...
“Good.”
Setting his cup down with hearty satisfaction, Baek Won-young asked, “What did you do when you were young, Brother Jiang?”
He was quite curious about Jiang Zhou. Judging by his bearing, the man was rough-edged yet cheerful — hardly the sort one would expect to cook. And yet he produced the finest food imaginable, which made it seem as though some deep story lay behind him.
“When I was very young, I believe I was a study-boy.”
A seo-dong — a child attendant who served at a scholar's side, reading and copying texts for him.
Ja-seol and Baek Ha-young were considerably surprised, but Baek Won-young showed no sign of it. The most shocked person of all, unexpectedly, was Yang Jeong.
“Brother, you studied? Then why am I only hearing about this now?”
Baek Won-young and Ja-seol looked at him with disbelief.
How can you be sworn brothers and not know a thing like that?
But Baek Ha-young's thoughts ran differently.
Hmph.
Well, of course. The son of an escort agency and the keeper of an inn couldn't have been born brothers. They must have met later in life and become sworn brothers, that's all.
Hahaha..........
“I've held a sword since I was a child, myself. But what came after that for you?”
Baek Won-young shared his own story and pressed on with his questions. At the next question, Jiang Zhou hesitated to answer.
It was something he kept buried in his heart — a memory he wished to forget, just as his master had told him to. But memories one wishes to forget are always the ones that refuse to fade.
“I'd rather not talk about that.”
In the end, Jiang Zhou could not bring himself to open up about his past. Then Yang Jeong stuck his neck out.
“Come on, Brother! Tell us what happened to you before you met Master!”
At his words, Baek Ha-young's eyes sparkled.
“What kind of person is your master, Young Hero Yang?”
Yang Jeong paused thoughtfully for a moment, then spoke in a measured tone.
“Well, let's see... he was tremendously eccentric, and tremendously fond of eating. As for how eccentric — he once had me rolling boulders all the way up a mountain, and...”
“Got a death wish?”
At the weighty rumble of Jiang Zhou's voice, Yang Jeong clamped his mouth shut at once.
Heoheum..
“In any case, our master departed this world riding a crane.”
Ah...
“So your master has passed away.”
Baek Ha-young received the words with a note of sorrow.
Neither Baek Won-young nor Ja-seol read anything unusual into the phrase “riding a crane into immortality” — it was the customary way of speaking of a beloved master's or honored figure's death.
This time it was Ja-seol who spoke up.
“Then did you also learn the martial arts from your master?”
At her question, Baek Won-young's eyes took on an odd light.
Oh-ho......
Could my junior sister, perhaps...........
As though he had discovered something thoroughly entertaining, he glanced between Ja-seol and Jiang Zhou. When Jiang Zhou stayed silent, Yang Jeong stepped in yet again.
“Never mind the martial arts — Master was terrified of Brother. Every single day he'd say that with the temper on this brat, he'd die of anger before his time.”
Haah......
Jiang Zhou let out a long sigh.
Apparently, guest or no guest, he was going to have to sort this fool out.
“Come here for a moment.”
When Jiang Zhou rose to his feet, Yang Jeong felt cold sweat trickle down his back.
I got too carried away and blabbed too much, didn't I.
With two beauties sitting right there, his spirits had been far higher than usual. He'd talked a little too much, and now his brother's mood had clearly soured.
Kkeuhum..
Yang Jeong straightened his expression and put on his most solemn face.
“I'm afraid I was simply so delighted by the presence of these beautiful young ladies that I lost my head.”
Hoho...
“Oh, don't say such things. Everything you've said has been terribly entertaining, Young Hero Yang.”
Baek Ha-young was already completely lost in Yang Jeong's face.
Hahahahaha.................!
Baek Won-young could no longer hold back his laughter.
What a truly entertaining pair of brothers these two are.