Uninvited Guest - 3
“Even drinking’s work, huh.”
Somehow the evening with the Daseo Society crowd had turned into a full-blown company dinner. Of course I just wanted to go home and write my novel, but then came the usual chorus: Why aren’t you coming to the second round? Why do young employees these days duck out of a good time? It was one of those rare pleasant drinking sessions free of the “back in my day” bosses who always claimed they poured the seniors into taxis, walked home at dawn just to sober up, slept three hours, and still clocked in first the next morning.
After trading a cup with every single member of the Daseo Society, we finally stepped out of the restaurant. The night sky looked like it was swaying.
“I told you to drink in moderation.”
Hwarin scolded me, her voice thick with worry.
“These people stamp in at Daseogak every single day. How am I supposed to refuse them?”
Now that I looked, the ground was rolling too. Would I have to surf my way home? If it rocked just a little more I might even manage the shrinking-the-earth technique.
“Careful.”
The moment I staggered, Hwarin lunged and caught my arm.
“Thanks.”
Yeah… I was pretty far gone.
“Did the Daseo Society people deliberately pour you the hard stuff just to get you wasted?”
She shot a furious glare back toward the restaurant, clearly unhappy that I could barely stay upright.
“They ordered good liquor because they said they couldn’t possibly make Hopil’s confidant drink cheap swill. It really was excellent. I just got carried away by the atmosphere and had too much.”
“I’d love to visit that pleasure house Dang Jeong used to go to.”
“Do you even have the money, my friend?”
“Wanting to go and being able to go are two different things.”
“Come now—when Dang Jeong was active, did he only ever visit that one house? He helped people in other pleasure houses and taverns too, didn’t he?”
“True enough.”
“Then tonight I’ll cover the bill at the tavern I always frequent. It’s not expensive, but everyone will be satisfied!”
“Ooooh! Tonight this fellow actually looks like Dang Jeong.”
“My friend! Me, Dang Jeong? I’m nowhere near resembling him!”
“Then buy three more rounds and I’ll call it a resemblance.”
“Hahaha!”
Standing outside the restaurant, I could hear not only the Daseo Society members but complete strangers chatting about Dangga Pungun. My novel was already being talked about on the street. The corners of my mouth lifted of their own accord.
“Happy?”
Hwarin asked softly, watching my expression.
“Of course I am.”
When I first started working as a Maedamja I felt like I had finally stood on my own two feet in this world. Now it felt like I had taken the first real step toward my destination.
“That dream of becoming famous… you really did it.”
She spoke with open admiration, remembering how I once said I wanted to become famous through stories.
“Still not enough. Nowhere near enough.”
Yichang is the second-largest city in Hubei after Wuhan. The success I’ve found here is about as impressive as becoming famous in Busan instead of Seoul back in Korea. Hubei itself is roughly twice the size of South Korea, and the Central Plains contain nearly twenty administrative regions just like it. If you think of each province as a nation, you have to succeed in about twenty nations before your name can truly shake the world. I’ve finally managed one step, but the great leap still lies far ahead.
“How famous do you want to get?”
“I told you. Famous enough that my parents and friends in the afterlife can keep hearing news of me. That means making sure there’s not a single person in the entire Central Plains who doesn’t know Hopil Kang Yunho.”
“Right… you did say that.”
Hwarin looked at me with a faintly bitter expression. Did she think she had carelessly poked an old wound? There was no need.
“Haha. Besides, I have to get famous fast if I want to pay back Hwarin’s debt too.”
I laughed a little too loudly and put on a careless face. Don’t worry, Hwarin—I don’t get hurt talking about that. There was never any wound to begin with. But she didn’t seem to see it that way.
“Hey… Yunho. Once you’ve paid everything back…”
She started to say something in an uneasy voice.
“Hm?”
“Never mind.”
“You were going to say something, weren’t you?”
“No I wasn’t. Let’s go!”
Apparently it hadn’t been important. Hwarin slipped her arm through mine to support my drunken self and started away from the restaurant.
“Hey. Pull me gently. I’m dizzy.”
“Hehe. Then hold on tight.”
The dazzling, noisy night streets of Yichang. Hwarin half-dragged me toward Daseogak with rough kindness. I was too drunk and her support was a little too forceful for comfort, yet I couldn’t complain. The magnificent sensation coming through the arm she had linked with mine made it impossible to think of anything else.
“Uuuugh.”
I shoved the lingering feel of that arm into the back of my mind and collapsed onto the bed the instant we reached the room.
“Yunho! At least brush your teeth before you sleep!”
Hwarin, fresh from washing up, yelled at me.
“I’m just gonna sleep.”
My head had cleared a little, but the room still spun. If I tried to wash up in this state I’d probably just lie down on the floor and stay there.
“Then go sleep in your own bed. That one’s mine!”
No wonder it smelled better than mine.
“Dunno. You come sleep too.”
I stared at the swirling ceiling and beckoned to her.
“W-what?”
“Sleeping.”
“Ugh, seriously! Wait a second. If you can’t get up tomorrow with a hangover we’re screwed. I made a hangover cure earlier—take it and then sleep.”
“Fine. Hurry up and give it to me.”
Hwarin perched on the edge of the bed I was lying on and began rummaging through the small drawer beside it. I stared blankly at her. Even with a faintly irritated look she was clearly worried about me; I could see her face up close.
Wait… is this what I think it is?
“Found it.”
She pulled something out and turned toward me.
“Hwarin, hold on.”
I caught her wrist and pulled her closer.
“Hey… why, why are you suddenly sticking to me?”
Ignoring her startled voice, I sat up and settled right beside her on the bed. My head was hard to keep upright; it ended up resting against her shoulder. A pleasant scent. Did she change soap? Now that household finances were better, little differences like that were showing up.
—Gulp.
Somewhere a loud swallow. Right. This wasn’t the time.
“Hwarin…”
I lifted my head, looked at her, and brought my hand to her face.
“Huh? Uh-uh?”
She looked puzzled, yet she no longer flinched away the way she used to when anyone touched her complex.
“Hwarin. Honestly, if people just dropped their prejudices, yours would be a really charming face.”
I carefully stroked the mottled patches on Dang Hwarin’s face as I spoke. Other people saw them and immediately thought of some contagious disease, but up close they were just a lot of spots. When I felt carefully, the texture of the discolored skin was a little different.
“Y-you… are you drunk? No, of course you’re drunk.”
You’re the one who dragged the drunk here and now you’re asking if I’m drunk?
—Thud!
Whatever had been in Hwarin’s hand went flying somewhere. Didn’t matter—she hadn’t thrown it at me. I cupped her face with both hands and gently kneaded.
“Hwarin. Lift your face a little.”
“For your… convenience?”
“Yeah. For my convenience.”
“Mm…”
She seemed to understand my intention and tilted her chin up as high as she could to match the angle of my face. Why close your eyes just because I asked you to lift your face? The light made her cheeks look strangely red. I needed her to turn her head just a little more. When I applied a bit more pressure her face trembled. Was my guess right? Hard to tell.
“Hwarin.”
“Yeah?”
“Undo the front of your clothes a little.”
“Whaaaaat?”
She jumped, eyes flying wide, and shrieked.
“My ears hurt.”
“Hey… these things need a process. Do you know how much courage I’ve already… No. Wait. I mean, we aren’t that kind of couple yet… are we? Or are we? It’s not like it’s wrong or anything. First we should know each other… Wait, do we already know each other? Still, at the very least, if we’re going to do it you should be the one… No, is that wrong too?”
Hwarin completely short-circuited.
Was asking her to loosen the front of her clothes that outrageous a request?
“Then I’ll do it for you.”
I reached for the tightly closed front of her clothes.
“Hiek!”
The second my fingers touched her she let out a piercing scream. The high-pitched cry stabbed straight into my eardrums and blasted through the fog filling my skull, slamming into my reason.
Oh crap.
“Sorry, Hwarin. My mistake. That’s not what I meant.”
The alcohol must have fried the brakes in my brain. Huge screw-up. One scream from her and the drunken haze that had ruled my body evaporated.
“Huh?”
She stared at me with wide, bewildered eyes.
“I only wanted to look at the collarbone area a little. You don’t have to. I’m sorry. Really sorry.”
I was so embarrassed I couldn’t look at her. I turned my head and stared at the floor with a mortified face.
“No, it’s not that… Uuuugh. What even is this? Wait.”
Rustle. The soft sound of fabric sliding over skin. Wait—was she actually…?
I sneaked a sidelong glance. Hwarin, face burning with shame, carefully loosened the front of her clothes with demure hands.
“There. I don’t know what you want, but look.”
“Uh… uh-huh.”
I turned back to her. I had only asked for a glimpse of the collarbone, but apparently the clothes weren’t structured that way. Using both hands she barely managed to keep the fabric from sliding off, presenting her upper chest to me.
And there it was.
A Grand Canyon forged of human flesh.
Could a human body truly create such scenery? Would the real Grand Canyon or Niagara Falls even compare? There were skin patches on her upper body too, but they were utterly irrelevant beside this breathtaking vista. If I didn’t clench my jaw my mouth would fall open.
Between the magnificent, almost shout-worthy grandeur of her chest lay a gorge so deep it made me dizzy.
No—this wasn’t a gorge. This was a sinkhole.
If I fell in I might discover a lost world. Inside, a giant gorilla with an axe was probably locked in battle with a dinosaur that breathed radioactive fire.
“Hey. Yunho?”
Hwarin called me, sounding uneasy.
Snap out of it. The world I’m looking for isn’t the lost world—it’s the surface world. I leaned a little closer and studied the collarbone area.
“Just as I thought.”
The remaining alcohol and my shock vanished at once; my head cooled completely.
“Huh? What’s ‘just as I thought’?”
“Hwarin. I have something to tell you. Stay calm and listen.”
I looked at her with a serious face.
“W-why?”
“Take a deep breath first. This is important.”
Gulp. Another loud swallow. She drew a deep breath and looked at me.
“Okay. I’m ready.”
First I gently pulled her clothes back up over her shoulders so they wouldn’t slip. She might be shocked. I gripped her shoulders firmly; I could feel them trembling faintly under my hands. Looking into her shaking eyes, I spoke.
“Hwarin. Your face is healing.”