Chapter 59
Translator: uly
Chapter: 59
Chapter Title: The Assassination Star of Chilgok County - 2
Cheon So-hee arrived at the inn first, at a pace Kang Yun-ho couldn't possibly catch up to.
"You're a bit late today!"
The one greeting the Assassination Star at the inn with an unusually warm attitude was Jeomsoi, the only one here who treated them that way.
"Hmm."
"Looks like today's performance went really well! Well, of course! Master Kang is such a great storyteller, I wish I could go listen every day!"
In fact, Jeomsoi was an enthusiastic fan of Kang Yun-ho. She always said she went to see his performances on her days off.
"It went fine."
If it were Kang Yun-ho, he would have responded warmly to Jeomsoi to try and get something extra, but she wasn't that kind of person, and her mood wasn't great, so she answered with an annoyed attitude.
"Alright! Shall I prepare the Rose Tteokbokki in advance?"
"……. Not today."
Cheon So-hee hesitated for a very brief moment but refused.
"Huh? Why?"
Jeomsoi was startled and asked back with wide, round eyes. This customer refusing Rose Tteokbokki? She always had an expressionless face, but she usually became a different person in front of that dish.
"Don't feel like it."
It was a dish that could make even the Assassination Star feel something, but right now, she truly didn't feel like it.
"Something must have happened! Understood! Then, just take this. Someone asked me to pass it to you."
Jeomsoi held out a small note. The Assassination Star could tell at a glance where it came from.
"Hmm."
"Alright! If you change your mind, I'll prepare it right away!"
Why did she feel so certain she'd order it? The Assassination Star wondered, but Jeomsoi, unaware of her thoughts, immediately approached another customer.
Cheon So-hee went to a corner of the inn and unfolded the note.
[New mission. To the branch.]
After reading the note's content, Cheon So-hee pondered for a moment. It wasn't an urgent matter, so she could go whenever she had time. However, Cheon So-hee decided to go out.
She had said she was leaving first because she was upset, but ultimately, Kang Yun-ho would also come to this inn. After all, he had nowhere else to go.
Rather than staying in the room and seeing the man looking at her with an uncomfortable expression, Cheon So-hee chose to go to the branch of the Murim Alliance.
The secret branch of the Murim Alliance in Chilgok County.
"You're here."
Cheon So-hee had come here instead of going to the inn where she was staying with the man.
"Ah! You came. How's the love business going?"
The middle-aged man, the branch leader of the Murim Alliance, welcomed Cheon So-hee with a smiling face.
"I told you it's not that kind of relationship."
"Stop radiating murderous intent as soon as you arrive. I'm amazed that man is even dating a woman like this."
"You……."
"Anhui Province. Go to Zhengde."
Seeing Cheon So-hee's face begin to contort, the man hurriedly got to the point.
"Anhui Province. Zhengde?"
That's closer than Jiangxi Province, which was mentioned last time. It's also the closest other province from Chilgok County in Hubei Province. But it's still a long distance.
Would he give up his increasingly popular performances day after day and follow her? If she said to go to Anhui Province, wouldn't he just suggest they part ways?
"I'll pass on this mission too."
In the end, Cheon So-hee decided to decline this mission as well.
"Huh. Well, it's not a problem for me, but... isn't it getting into dangerous territory?"
The middle-aged man pointed towards his heart with five fingers and shook them exaggeratedly.
"I haven't been training idly all this time."
Since coming to Chilgok County, there hadn't been a time when her killing intent surged. Cheon So-hee thought she could still hold on.
"Wouldn't it be better to just leave the man here and go for a bit? On the way, if you encounter bandits, you can kill them to quench your thirst, and assassinate your targets thrillingly to satisfy your urges, right?"
"I'm still fine."
"If you say you're fine, I won't say more, but just in case, don't go cutting down a bunch of people at once while playing bodyguard. I don't want to hear news of a serial killer appearing in Chilgok County."
If you keep killing people recklessly while killing intent is accumulated, you can get drunk on that killing intent and be consumed by bloodlust.
If it happened deep in the mountains, maybe, but if such a thing occurred in Chilgok County, it wouldn't be a murder case but a massacre. The man was worried about that.
"I'll keep that in mind."
"I'll also contact the main alliance and ask them to assign missions as close as possible."
"Thank you."
Cheon So-hee obediently bowed her head at the man's consideration and expressed her gratitude.
"Wow. The Assassination Star knows how to express thanks too. Love really changes a person, huh?"
"It's not that kind of relationship with that man."
The man who called her mother's name old-fashioned. For a moment, anger from the recent event seeped into Cheon So-hee's voice.
"Huh? Did you two fight?"
"Nothing like that happened."
"Looks like you did fight. Is that man's neck still attached?"
The middle-aged man made a chopping motion with his hand in front of his neck with a mischievous expression.
"I'm an assassin, not a serial killer."
For some reason, Cheon So-hee felt like she could become a serial killer just for this middle-aged man.
"Well, couples fighting is everyday life. Since you fought during the day, you'll make up more passionately at night."
The man spoke to Cheon So-hee with a sly smile.
"……."
"Huh? Don't tell me you haven't? How many days has it been since you started living in the same room?"
The middle-aged man looked at Cheon So-hee with an astonished expression.
"I told you it's not that kind of relationship."
"My goodness. I thought history would be made the day you took the 'Seven Nights Ascetic' with you. Is the man's sexual preference perhaps strange? Does he like men?"
The middle-aged man recalled rumors about men who preferred homosexuality traveling with women as a cover.
"He likes women."
She reflexively defended the man.
He definitely likes women. Cheon So-hee recalled the man's face from a while ago when he made a foolish expression at a married woman.
As soon as she remembered that expression, she felt something sharp, different from killing intent, springing up inside her heart.
"If it's not a sexual issue, is the man perhaps treating you too preciously? I've heard there are weirdos like that who won't lay a hand on you even if you seduce them in the same room."
"Yes. He treats me preciously."
Cheon So-hee answered immediately.
It was undeniable that the man treated her preciously. She didn't know if he was her childhood friend, but that wasn't even worth doubting.
"And yet you fought? Did the man perhaps get tired of you?"
"Tired of me?"
At his question, her lips parted slightly as she made a surprised expression.
"Usually, if you only give, you get tired quickly. No matter how preciously you treat someone, if you don't feel like they value you, it's natural to be disappointed."
"No. That man was wrong."
Kang Yun-ho couldn't have gotten tired of her. Kang Yun-ho was the one in the wrong.
To begin with, getting tired is something said in ordinary lover relationships, but shocked by the possibility that Kang Yun-ho might have gotten tired of her, Cheon So-hee momentarily lost her ability to judge properly.
"Aha! The man accepted whatever you said well, but you're clearly showing that you're upset by his mistake!"
"……."
Cheon So-hee hung her head, unable to affirm or deny the man's words.
"This is why rookie lovers, tsk tsk. Go and pretend to generously accept the man's mistake. Then the mood will get better quickly."
"It was a big mistake."
"Big enough to never want to see his face again?"
"That's not it."
Her words came out without a moment's hesitation.
"See? See? Someone so precious you'd even refuse a mission, can't you accept a mistake of that level? If you receive affection, you should give affection. If you only receive and never give, that man will leave."
"Leave?"
Cheon So-hee repeated his words with an uneasy expression.
"He'll leave, of course. So, if it's not a capital offense, go forgive him, hold his hand once, and buy him food he likes. If you treat him well even though he was wrong, he'll be moved."
"Forgive……."
Cheon So-hee replayed Kang Yun-ho's mistake in her mind.
Was he wrong?
He was wrong. But she, too, must have done things that hurt Kang Yun-ho's feelings, just as the Murim Alliance man said.
Did he ever get angry at her then?
'So-hee!'
'I believe in you, So-hee.'
The affectionate face of a man who always smiled at her surfaced in Cheon So-hee's heart.
Did Kang Yun-ho insult her mother on purpose?
No. Kang Yun-ho said he didn't know her mother's name. She had heard him call her mother 'So-hee's mother' before.
Then why did he say it was old-fashioned?
For her sake. Because he didn't want to see her in a difficult situation.
Was there any reason she couldn't forgive him?
Suddenly, the image of the man's face, probably waiting in the room with a sorry expression as if he'd died, flashed in Cheon So-hee's mind.
For some reason, Cheon So-hee didn't want to see that face. No, to begin with, she couldn't bear to see that face, which is why she came here.
If she said she forgave him, would he smile affectionately with his usual face?
"I'll go."
She wanted to see that face.
Before she knew it, the anger that had taken root in her heart had vanished.
"Wait a moment, take this!"
The man tossed her a pouch.
"What's this?"
"Mission payment. It's late, but take it and buy your boyfriend something delicious with it."
Cheon So-hee nodded while checking the money in the pouch, only half-listening to what the man said.
"I'm going."
Cheon So-hee left the branch just like that.
After confirming Cheon So-hee had disappeared, the man quietly unfolded a letter tucked away in a corner of a drawer.
[If it seems like they'll have a good relationship, make sure to help.]
"You said you'd never get attached to your disciples……. You're quite the busybody. Well, every disciple you raise returns as a corpse, so it's understandable to feel that way."
On the contrary, getting attached to a disciple is unusual in the Murim Alliance. The middle-aged man smiled bitterly and began writing a reply letter to the Assassination Star's master.