Winged Lovers, Entwined Branches — 3
"Go in and rest. From tomorrow on, we're going to enjoy ourselves properly."
Once Ha Yeon had calmed down, I escorted her all the way to the inner room where she slept.
"……."
"Ha Yeon?"
Why was she staring toward my room without a word?
"Oh—nothing. You should get some rest too."
I watched her close the door behind her, then headed straight to my own room.
Yes. Starting tomorrow, I'm throwing everything aside and having fun. That's why I hired all those managers in the first place, isn't it? Now that I actually thought about playing, my heart began to flutter with anticipation.
I opened my door with a light step—and a mysterious silhouette was perched on my desk, waiting for me.
"You scared me! Brother Wang?"
The man waiting for me was Brother Wang. If he'd come, he could've just said something. No wait—I was off hugging someone else in the courtyard. It would've been awkward to interrupt, I suppose.
"So. Did you finish talking with my daughter?"
"Yes."
Brother Wang nodded at my answer with a bittersweet expression, then rose from the desk and said, "Care for one more drink?"
"Let's go."
"Master Kang! You've come! Word arrived you were on your way, so we laid out a modest table of refreshments in your office."
The place we headed to in the dead of night was the inn I ran.
"This is the father of your sister-in-law. Ask the cook to put his best into the spread."
I introduced Brother Wang to the members of the Joseon Hometown Association.
"What?! You mean he's Master Kang's father-in-law?!"
"Hey! What are you all doing! Master Kang's father-in-law has arrived!"
At the news that Ha Yeon's father had come, the delivery workers and shop hands who'd been dozing off in the middle of the night all came flocking.
"We can never repay all the kindness you and your daughter have shown us!"
"When my wife gave birth, it was your daughter who personally brought us seaweed soup and beef! You raised a truly wonderful daughter!"
"There isn't a single member of the Joseon Hometown Association who isn't in her debt! You are truly blessed!"
"Heh heh."
No parent is ever unhappy hearing their child praised. Brother Wang was flustered by the sudden crowd, yet a pleased smile crept across his face at the chorus of compliments for his daughter.
"I'll be up to check on the food shortly."
"Right away, Master Kang! We'll bring it up with the greatest care!"
I dispersed the swarming association members and entered my inn's office with Brother Wang.
"You've made something of yourself, haven't you."
Seated at the drinks table, Brother Wang spoke with genuine admiration.
In his memory, I was a street storyteller scraping together each day's meal from each day's earnings. Now I was leading people and running an inn and a bookshop, so his astonishment was only natural.
"Hard work attracts a bit of luck, I suppose."
Truth be told, I'd brought him here deliberately. Wasn't this the perfect chance to show off a son-in-law's capabilities?
"My daughter is loved like family by everyone here, too."
"She's a woman with more depth than anyone."
"……Let me buy you a drink."
Brother Wang raised the bottle.
"Allow me to pour first."
I caught the bottle in his hand and raised a cup to my father-in-law.
"How long have you been learning the Shadowless Body Art?"
After wordlessly trading a few cups, Brother Wang finally brought it up.
"I began studying under Ha Yeon early this year."
"This year? You look to be at the second stage already. You have talent."
He raised his eyebrows slightly, as if surprised.
"I was always on the run, so I learned it out of sheer desperation. And I had the finest teacher in the world right beside me."
With the greatest talent in this world giving me personal, hands-on instruction, how could I not improve? I refilled Brother Wang's empty cup with all the humility I could muster.
He watched the cup I'd filled in silence for a while, then drained it and spoke.
"……I had talent too. Of the wrong sort."
"I never dreamed you were someone famous throughout the Central Plains."
"Why did a thief cling to that kind of fame at my age? I'd wager no thief in the Central Plains was more renowned than me—but looking back in my old age, it was nothing but an empty name."
Brother Wang let out a hollow laugh at himself.
"……."
Those are words only a man who's stood at the very summit of his craft could say. When a living legend says them in person, it's genuinely impressive.
"One day, when I was hollowed out by life, I met my wife. She was the first woman who ever made my heart tremble. And soon we had a daughter. Tell me, do you know what it feels like to have a child?"
"Not yet."
"A child that didn't exist in this world a moment ago is wailing its lungs out at me. And suddenly—ah, I must live for this child. I must live for my family! I felt reborn. That's the moment a man becomes not a man, but a father."
Brother Wang showed me a smile unlike the one he'd worn when he spoke of being the most famous thief in the Central Plains—a smile filled to the brim with everything.
"I can only imagine."
"You will, someday. The moment my wife conceived, I went to buy my wife's freedom from the registry. But that damned former Gi-mun Hyangju somehow found out and started interfering. Every problem began right there."
Im Hayeon's mother had remained a registered courtesan until her death. Ha Yeon had once resented her father for never buying her mother out—so it had been a power struggle all along.
"I've heard about the rebellion."
"Yes. I was already the Tu Gate's Hyangju by then. Even if I'd wanted to set everything down and walk away, events had already grown beyond anyone's control. The rebellion against the Haoxumen Master erupted, and an internal war over the Mangju seat broke out too. I had to choose."
"You had to make an impossible choice."
The future of the Haomun he led, or the future of his family. What kind of agonizing he must have gone through between them, I could hardly fathom.
"I had to pull my family out. I moved personally. The Wushan Gi-mun was already under surveillance. I bragged to myself that there had never been a more flawless plan in my whole life. And the result……. I lost my wife. Along with a letter from an unknown enemy, saying it wasn't over yet."
Across Brother Wang's face flickered a pain that neither drink nor years could wash away.
"……."
"Who found out? Who is my enemy now? The Tu Gate? The Gamblers' Gate? The Courtesan Branch? I spent whole nights drowning in tears and liquor, thinking it over. I couldn't stake my daughter's one and only life on another gamble. So I resolved to withdraw from the world."
"So that was the full story behind Ha Yeon's resentment of you."
It had been a power struggle far too complicated for a girl not yet ten years old to understand.
Brother Wang nodded with a pained expression.
"Whatever the reasons, the fault was mine. A worthless father's fault. Then one day, while I was living in seclusion, I met the Cheon-gi-ja."
"That's where I come in."
"I paid a hefty divination fee. I asked whether I could go see my daughter now. And do you know what he said?"
Brother Wang chuckled, like a man retelling a joke he'd heard a hundred times.
"What did he say?"
"He said: you're keeping the only man in this Central Plains who can save your daughter right by your side—and you're asking me how she'll die?"
"He must be a remarkable seer."
He predicted Sohee's fate, and Ha Yeon's too. Impressive.
I should ask him about my love fortune someday, when the chance arises. Pardon my rudeness, but how many shares of a husband am I projected to become? No—scratch that. Please tell me how to survive without becoming shares at all.
"He spoke in riddles of starlight and fate, but it all came down to one conclusion. It's impossible now, he said—but if you forge a strong bond, the two will be drawn to each other on their own."
A strong bond? Don't tell me. I pulled out the black coin I kept on my person.
"So that's why you gave me the Black Money."
Brother Wang nodded.
Come to think of it, that's true. Even if I had found Ha Yeon and wanted to keep her by my side, without the Black Money our relationship would never have come this far.
The Black Money really did serve as the medium that drew us together.
"I heard about everything you suffered in the meantime."
"Brother Wang?"
Why are you suddenly kneeling on the floor?
"I'm sorry. Truly sorry. I'm so grateful that if I could open my chest and show you my heart, I would do it."
Brother Wang bowed his head and apologized to me over and over.
"Brother Wang. There's no need to kneel."
"There is. This much barely scratches the surface."
I rose from my seat and tried to lift him, but he wouldn't budge an inch.
I understand. Even though I saved Ha Yeon in the end, she had to face death's edge again and again. From his point of view, it must feel as though he had driven his own benefactor into mortal danger.
But still.
"If you're truly grateful, then pour me a drink. My cup is empty."
I rattled the empty cup and smiled with not a shred of resentment. Brother Wang stared at me for a long moment, then finally chuckled and rose from the floor.
"Our son-in-law. Hah. I was so busy talking I didn't even notice your cup was empty."
Our son-in-law? Did Brother Wang just call me son-in-law?
"Father-in-law……."
Brother Wang raised the bottle.
"Son-in-law. Thank you. Truly, thank you."
And so, for the first time, I received a cup of liquor not from Brother Wang—but from my father-in-law.
"So, if you're the Defier of Destiny…"
Once the liquor had warmed both our faces, my father-in-law opened his mouth about my secret.
"Yes?"
"It's……. my understanding that my daughter isn't the only one."
"Aha, hahaha."
He wasn't actually going to ask that, was he?
"And that Heavenly Killing Star girl—things are, ah, complicated between you two as well?"
"Ah, well, Sohee and I……."
This world is a difficult place. What son-in-law in his right mind could confess to his father-in-law's face that he's also involved with another woman? Even in a world where polygamy is everyday life, some things are awkward.
And I couldn't exactly deny it. He clearly remembered us sharing a room together.
"Say—back in your storyteller days."
While I was still agonizing over how to answer, my father-in-law struck first.
"Yes?"
"Do you know why not a single woman stayed after your performances, throwing flirtatious looks your way?"
"The show was over, so of course they went home?"
"Tsk, tsk. If that were true, there wouldn't have been women who came running to gawk at you instead of the performance."
My father-in-law clicked his tongue, sounding a little exasperated.
"Women like that actually existed? Then why did none of them throw flirtatious glances at me?"
Digging through my memories, I suppose there had been some. But weren't they just reacting because the show itself was entertaining?
When I looked at him with a puzzled expression, my father-in-law gave an utterly unexpected answer.
"The Heavenly Killing Star. That girl drove them all off."
"Whaaat?"
"Any woman who showed you overt interest—she'd slip behind her without a sound and issue a warning. The moment one tried to approach you, she'd flare her killing intent until the thought evaporated. The women who still wouldn't give up, she'd knock out cold in advance and haul off to the fabric shop. Do you have any idea how much trouble that caused me?"
"Haha……."
Sohee. So you were doing all that behind my back during the performances, too.
When she'd trudge toward me after a show with that deadpan face, and I'd think, should we get gukbap tonight, and her face would soften into that scowl only I could read—I miss it.
When the day's earnings were decent, and I'd think, rose tteokbokki with extra glass noodles tonight?, and she'd pivot on her heel without a backward glance and march straight for the best rose tteokbokki joint in town—I miss that too.
I should write Sohee a letter, one of these days.
"And yet you sit there making that face and tell me the only woman you love is my daughter. If you're going to lie, don't say anything at all. I've heard the stories about the Defier of Destiny as well."
"There are other women I've bonded with, besides Ha Yeon."
Had I worn too wistful an expression thinking of Sohee? I nodded honestly.
"Don't be ashamed. I have accepted you as my son-in-law. No matter what happens, I will stand behind you from now on."
Uncle Wang let out a small sigh as he looked at me, then continued with a grave expression.
"Father-in-law."
"Don't wound Ha Yeon—or the others either. Gather them all together, talk it through properly, make them understand. That's all I'll say."
"I will, when the chance comes."
My father-in-law said the other women would understand too, not just his daughter. What could I possibly say to that? All I could do was bow my head.
"Good. But, you see……."
Brother Wang looked at me as I lifted my head, then averted his eyes and asked,
"Yes?"
"Exactly how many are there?"
"Um……. do you really need to know all of them?"
Even with his blessing, hearing it spelled out directly was a bit much.
"I know roughly already. I won't say a word, so tell me."
Brother Wang thumped his chest as if it were no problem whatsoever.
Fine. He said he'd accept me as his son-in-law no matter what. I'll be honest.
"Well then, starting with Ha Yeon……"
One lover. One wife. I spread open my palm and folded down two fingers.
"……Two?"
My father-in-law's voice was surprised. I'm sorry. This is only the beginning. One childhood friend. I folded a third finger.
"Three? No. Right. That's plausible. And you did hear only what I'd heard, so……"
And one fiancée.
"Four?!"
And my arranged-marriage match is, ah……. Just as I was about to fold my remaining little finger—
— a flinch.
My eyes met my father-in-law's frozen face.
"Y-you're going to fold it?"
I nodded immediately.
The five fingers that had been spread open moments before became a fist clenched tight. There we go. Any man should be able to take responsibility for five.
I was even feeling rather pleased with myself, when—
"Son-in-law."
A voice came through, thoroughly bitter.
"Yes."
"Would it be possible to take back what you just said?"
Father-in-law. A man cannot waver like this.