Chapter 163
Chapter 163
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 163
Chapter Title: Unexpected Counseling
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We relocated to Im Chun-sam's residence.
In response to the request to prepare lunch, a lavish spread of dishes soon piled up on the table.
Fortunately, it seemed he wasn't treated like a nobody in the family, just by his wife.
"…Hmph."
Im Chun-il must have sensed it too, as he let out a small snort but otherwise showed no reaction.
"P-Please, eat."
"Sure, thanks for the meal."
After that, we silently filled our stomachs for about the time it takes to eat a meal. Then, Goon Ja-seong's counseling session officially began.
…What the hell am I doing?
I forced down my bewildered feelings and opened my mouth.
"You already know this, but please explain the reason for your constant fighting again, precisely. Starting with you, brother."
"Why? Everything's a problem, that's why. Starting from meddling in this crazy family's affairs—everything."
Im Chun-il began grumbling his story.
But if it started from there, it would drag on endlessly without end.
Under my gaze pressing him to get to the point quickly, Im Chun-il clicked his tongue briefly, let out a frustrated sigh, and continued.
"But the biggest problem among them is this guy. That pushover bastard who sides with that wench who won't even treat him like a husband."
His brow twitched with veins bulging, as if just thinking about it made him furious.
Unaware of the sight, Im Chun-sam immediately pushed back against his brother's words.
"Th-That's not something for you to w-worry about, brother…! It's a problem between me and S-Seo-ryeong…!"
"See? Look at this! Even facing death, he sides with that bitch!"
"Stop, stop!"
As their voices rose again, mine did too.
This wasn't going to work.
If I kept them together like this, they'd just keep bickering till the end. So, I sent Im Chun-sam outside first.
We'd hear them out separately.
"Now, it's just us two, so spill it all out frankly."
But the man who chattered away fine with Im Chun-sam there was now hemming and hawing, barely able to speak properly?
Wondering what was up, I tilted my head, and a deep sigh came with self-deprecating words.
"…Honestly, I know. I have no right to say this."
What followed wasn't anger or resentment, but regret and guilt.
"After our Byeoksan Sect was wiped out by those Paecheonsung bastards, I didn't give a damn about the youngest while looking after the surviving family members. I just vaguely thought, 'He's married into a good family, so he'll manage fine on his own.'"
Regret settled on his face, half-covered by his scruffy beard.
I quietly listened to his brother's unfiltered honest feelings.
"Truth be told, I didn't come here out of worry for my brother. I was fleeing pursuit from the Paecheonsung guys, my funds ran dry, so I came hoping to borrow some money."
"Ah…."
An involuntary exclamation escaped me.
Fleeing pursuit—must be because of that false charge they pinned on him?
Feeling cold sweat trickle down my back, I steered the conversation elsewhere.
"S-So? You came like that, but your brother's situation was completely different from what you expected?"
"Yeah, that's what I'm saying. He was always a bit of a timid pushover, but not to the point of being that cowed."
He nodded vigorously in agreement, then let out a heavy sigh and added.
"For some reason, it feels like this is all my fault."
With that self-blaming remark, my talk with Im Chun-il ended.
Next up was naturally the younger brother, Im Chun-sam.
"Honestly, I d-don't want to speak so h-harshly to my brother."
Im Chun-sam, who had switched places with his brother and come inside, stammered out his true feelings.
"Wh-When my brother, who I thought might have d-died somewhere, came back alive, of course I was g-glad and happy."
For brothers who raised their voices and fought every time they faced each other, their feelings toward one another weren't bad.
Yet they still fought because there was something absolutely irreconcilable between them.
Namely, Im Chun-sam's wife, Jegal Seo-ryeong.
"So? What's exactly going on between you and your wife?"
"…Honestly, it's true she doesn't like me much."
Im Chun-sam answered glumly.
I probed deeper into the reason their relationship was bad.
"Is it because it was a forced marriage against your will?"
"N-No, I don't think so. S-Seo-ryeong was the one who first requested marriage to me."
"Pardon?"
This was news to me.
Hearing the details from Im Chun-sam, it turned out his original marriage partner wasn't a direct descendant like Jegal Seo-ryeong, but a collateral daughter of the Jegal family.
"Our B-Byeoksan Sect was considerably inferior to the Jegal family. N-Normally, marrying into their direct bloodline would be unthinkable."
…Come to think of it, yeah.
Compared to one of the Five Great Families, the Jegal clan, a mid-tier sect like Byeoksan was indeed outclassed.
I nodded inwardly and spoke up.
"Then, there's another reason your marriage is rocky… Anything come to mind?"
"W-Well…."
Im Chun-sam looked uncertain, as if he had no clue, then cautiously suggested one possibility.
"Is it b-because I'm such a coward?"
"Uh…. I doubt it's something that trivial."
Even after that, Im Chun-sam proposed various possibilities, but they were all things that made me tilt my head.
"No idea at all?"
"Yes…."
"You wouldn't have stepped up to marry someone you didn't like…."
"……."
Im Chun-sam clamped his mouth shut like a mute who ate honey.
Scratching the back of my head, I racked my brains, then suddenly recalled the drunken ramblings of the uncles in Goon Gang-hyeon.
-A woman treats her husband poorly? No other reason. He can't perform in bed. Half-kill her at night. The breakfast table will be different come morning, mark my words.
Hmm, could it be that…!
I glanced at Im Chun-sam.
A bear-like massive build, muscles bulging to the point of bursting despite his timid shrinking.
…His physique was perfectly capable for bedroom duties?
Tilting my head, I cautiously broached it.
"By any chance, is there a problem… with bedroom matters?"
"Pardon?"
Im Chun-sam, who didn't get it at first, soon realized and flushed beet red.
"Wh-Wh-Wh-What do you…!?"
…What's with that reaction?
"Why so flustered? You've already had the wedding night, right?"
"……."
Awkward silence.
Suspecting the worst, I asked again.
"By any chance…?"
"…Yes."
Seeing him nod faintly, I let out a hollow laugh.
Whoa, he volunteered for the marriage himself but refused the wedding night?
That's not right.
I couldn't help sympathizing a hundred times with Im Chun-il's feelings, but Im Chun-sam shook his head vehemently.
"N-No, it's not that. That's not it."
"What's not? No matter what, refusing the wedding night is…."
"Th-That's what I'm saying isn't true…."
What exactly isn't true?
Bewildered, I tilted my head, and Im Chun-sam, after hemming and hawing, finally confessed the truth.
"It was I-I who refused the wedding night."
"…What the hell are you saying?"
…What did I just hear?
It was the kind of statement that made me suspect something wrong with my ears.
What do you mean, how?
"…Why?"
Pulling myself together from the absurdity, I asked.
Im Chun-sam stammered out the circumstances.
"B-Because I love her! I want to p-protect her!"
"……."
…Is this guy insane?
Purity and all that has no place here.
I was at a loss for words.
Not knowing what to say, I just gaped, then opened the door and called Im Chun-il back in.
"What, done already? That was quick."
I sat the still-clueless Im Chun-il down and explained his youngest brother's situation.
After hearing it all, Im Chun-il wore the same dumbfounded look as me,
-Smack!
and soon smacked his brother on the back of the head.
Then he said,
"You can't eat it even when it's given to you, you idiot!?"
"That's not the point!"
The brother side hadn't grasped the crux either.
No choice, I took both back to Hwaryeon's guest hall.
"Young Hero Goon, what took you so lo—…?"
Hwaryeon, who had been waiting in the courtyard, flinched at the two hulks following me.
Come to think of it, this was their first meeting?
"Hwaryeon, these are the Im Chun-il and Im Chun-sam brothers. I already told you they're joining us?"
"Ah, yes. But why bring them he—…?"
After a brief introduction, Hwaryeon asked why I'd brought the brothers, and I laid out the whole story.
She started with a what-the-hell-are-we-doing expression, but after hearing Im Chun-sam's side, her face hardened coldly.
"So, you're already married, officially husband and wife, but you refused the wedding night to 'protect' her?"
"Y-Yes…."
Clearly the elder, Im Chun-sam cowered and answered politely.
Hwaryeon's face was that intimidating.
Staring at Im Chun-sam with near-contempt, Hwaryeon let out a small sigh and softened her expression.
"First, let me ask. Why did you think that?"
"I-I heard that women need a lot of m-mental preparation for the wedding night…."
…Not entirely wrong, I guess.
"How many years have you been putting off the wedding night?"
"F-Five years…."
At that point, the rice would have rotted from all the delay.
Under our cold stares, Im Chun-sam shrank back, and Im Chun-il, unable to stand it, stepped forward.
"No, the kid's just timid! It happens, why make such a fuss…."
"Where'd that guy go who was just calling him a pushover bastard?"
"C-Cough…!"
Im Chun-il, now knowing the marital issues stemmed from his brother, switched stances immediately.
Still embarrassed, he kept fake-coughing and averting his eyes.
The unintended standoff ended with Hwaryeon's sigh.
"…Hero Im."
"Y-Yes…."
Hwaryeon looked straight at the flinching Im Chun-sam and explained the situation in a voice soft by her standards (chilly to others).
"From what I heard, your wife requested the marriage with you herself."
"Yes, yes."
"I don't know her, so I can't say her mindset, but the result is she chose you herself. Wouldn't her resolve have been set by then?"
"Ah…!"
Im Chun-sam widened his eyes in shock.
More surprising that he hadn't realized it till now.
"But you, her husband, refused even the wedding night, so her feelings must be deeply hurt. Her pride as a woman wounded, and she'd think you're rejecting her."
"N-Never would I…!"
"Have you ever conveyed your feelings to your wife?"
"……."
Im Chun-sam fell silent.
Hwaryeon and I sighed in unison.