The Loch Ness Monster
Lying naked in the same bed with her, we spent the night sharing this and that. And every so often, whenever Jeoktoma raised its head again, we naturally returned to the position we had been in before.
...
Thanks to that, I learned a few facts. First, the energy of the Blood God Constitution was barely generated when released in the conventional way. However, when her most sensitive spots were in direct contact with my body, a very small amount of the Blood God Constitution energy began to form after the release. And as that energy flowed into my dantian, Jeoktoma also began to stabilize little by little. Its excessively massive size was returning, however slightly, to a normal range, and the bulging veins that used to throb were slowly beginning to subside.
...
Honestly, I also felt a certain conviction. The moment I let Jeoktoma enter her, there was a high probability that this entire process would be resolved in one go. But every time that thought crossed my mind, that voice echoed from deep within my head.
Tear it apart.
...
I looked down at Baek Ri-seol, who was sleeping silently. The small body held in my arms. Her slender waist and skin still flushed red. Above all, her deepest part was too small and delicate. I knew instinctively that her petite frame would never be able to handle Jeoktoma as it was now. That much, I was certain of.
...
In the end, there was only one answer. Even if it took time, for her sake, I had no choice but to proceed slowly like this. Eventually, I ended up staying awake for the entire night. Every time Jeoktoma stirred again, I had to carefully hold the sleeping Baek Ri-seol and release my energy by myself, over and over again. Whether it was fortunate or unfortunate, she was the type to fall into a deep, oblivious sleep once she drifted off.
...
Thanks to that, my arms were dead by morning.
...
Last night, Baek Ri-seol had quietly told me her own circumstances. That she was effectively the only one left of the current Blood God Sect. But the problem was elsewhere. There were those who called themselves the descendants of the Blood Sect, and groups tracking her down, aiming for the Blood God Constitution and the sect's secret manuals.
"Those bastards..." Baek Ri-seol fiddled with the edge of the blanket for no reason. "They don't see the Blood God Constitution as a human being." Her red eyes sank into darkness for a moment. "They think of me as nothing more than a tool or a sacrifice."
...
The room went quiet for a moment. I silently held her hand. Baek Ri-seol wiggled her fingers for a while, as if feeling the warmth of my hand, before saying in a very small voice, "That's why it's dangerous to stay in one place for too long." She lowered her gaze for a moment. "Even Sehwahu... will eventually become dangerous."
...
And a moment later, Baek Ri-seol spoke with difficulty. "If you don't want me to, Gaga..." Her voice was trembling. "I'll just disappear quietly."
...
In the end, it seemed I would have to quit Sehwahu.
When morning came, I rose from my bed as usual. My body felt tired from tossing and turning all night, but strangely, my mood felt oddly light. Baek Ri-seol was still fast asleep.
...
She really sleeps well. I chuckled and headed quietly to the kitchen. I began to slowly prepare food for her to eat during the day. After setting out simple side dishes, soup, and freshly steamed rice, I covered them with a cotton cloth so they wouldn't get cold.
...
A while later, I walked toward Sehwahu as I always did. But today was a little different. I intended to bring up the subject of my resignation before the day was out.
...
I doubt there's any unemployment insurance. Damn this medieval China...
...
A bitter laugh escaped me for no reason. I suddenly missed my homeland, where social safety nets existed.
"You can't!"
"You absolutely cannot leave, Chef Jin-woo!"
Sehwahu was turned completely upside down from the morning. The problem was the reservations. There were already three days' worth of banquet reservations booked solid. On top of that, recently, there were even guests who specifically requested "Chef Jin-woo."
"No, what are we supposed to do if you quit so suddenly!"
"What about the 60th birthday banquet?"
"What about the banquet for the Gangnam Merchant Guild?"
"The Head Chef is crying right now!"
...
It was absolute chaos. In the end, I had to argue with the people of Sehwahu for a long time. After intense negotiations, we reached an agreement on the condition that I would work for three more days to clear out the reservations. In return, I decided to hand over some of the recipes for the dishes I had developed to Sehwahu. What I received in exchange was a fairly generous severance pay. And—
"You must come back whenever you can."
"The doors of Sehwahu will always be open."
...
I couldn't help but chuckle. Since falling into this world, it was the first time I felt like I had gained a place to "return to."
That afternoon, after finishing all the reserved banquets I was in charge of, I was finally able to leave Sehwahu late in the day. Just as I was about to step out the back door, rotating my tired shoulders, someone grabbed my wrist from behind.
"Are you really going to quit?"
When I turned around, a woman was standing there, accompanied by a familiar fragrance. Seol-hwa. The star courtesan of Sehwahu and the most famous entertainer in the vicinity. Thanks to her flashy appearance and exceptional talents, it was said that half of the nobles who came to Sehwahu came just to see her. In a way, she was as much the face of Sehwahu as I was.
Seol-hwa held my wrist lightly and smiled with a slightly regretful expression. "Will Sehwahu even function without Master Jin-woo?"
"Well, it'll work out somehow," I replied with a chuckle. "I have some urgent matters to settle."
For a moment, Seol-hwa's slender eyes curved slightly. "Without even drinking with me once?"
...
She had often said things like that for a long time. That we should have a drink when work was over. But I was always busy. After the banquets, I would be exhausted and head home immediately, and Seol-hwa never had a break from entertaining guests either. In the end, we had never once sat face-to-face properly.
I chuckled and shrugged. "You're always busy, Seol-hwa."
Then Seol-hwa retorted, as if she couldn't lose. "You were the one who disappeared every day at dusk, Master Jin-woo."
...
I couldn't refute that. I cleared my throat and looked away. "Then when are you free?"
Her lips curled upward for a moment. "Well, for me..." Seol-hwa covered her mouth with the tip of her fan and laughed languidly. "I can just make up an excuse and take a day off. If I say I'm not feeling well, everyone will believe me, right?"
...
For some reason, the last part sounded intentionally meaningful. I chuckled and nodded. "Then tomorrow? All the reservations are for lunch. Let's have a drink in the afternoon."
Seol-hwa's eyes narrowed into crescents. "Sounds good."
....
After happily making plans for a farewell party, I stopped by the market and bought various things to eat. Meat, vegetables, and even dried nuts to use as snacks for the drinks. I found myself unconsciously picking only the things Baek Ri-seol would like. I chuckled, adjusted my load, and headed slowly toward home.
...
Suddenly, the surrounding scenery caught my eye. When I first came here, I only thought of it as a space to lay my body down. But before I knew it, it seemed I had grown quite fond of this house.
...
I'll probably be leaving soon. It was time to start saying goodbye to my first home.
...
I returned home long after the afternoon had passed, but surprisingly, Baek Ri-seol was still sleeping. Was it because we pushed ourselves too hard last night? Perhaps due to the several attempts at resonance, she looked much deeper in sleep than usual. She was wrapped only in a blanket over her naked body, breathing softly. Even her snow-white shoulders revealed between her disheveled red hair...
...
At that moment, Jeoktoma began to raise its head again. "Oh, come on..." I pressed my brow and sighed. "Let's take it easy, seriously..."
...
In the end, I lifted the blanket and took another shot while admiring her sleeping body. A deep sense of self-loathing washed over me. This body was truly becoming a sex maniac. Suddenly, I became afraid of the farewell party scheduled for tomorrow. It couldn't be... surely not.
...
Before long, Baek Ri-seol slowly opened her eyes. Red eyes still filled with sleepiness. She stared at me blankly, and the next moment, without any hesitation, she lifted the blanket and burrowed straight into my arms. A small body clinging to me, completely naked. Warm body heat and a familiar scent permeated my chest in an instant.
"Gaga..." Baek Ri-seol mumbled my name in a half-asleep voice.
...
At that moment, I realized it. This woman really likes me without any conditions. Strangely, one side of my heart felt heavy. "My facial skin keeps feeling so tight..." Baek Ri-seol said, touching her cheek with a troubled face.
...
That was to be expected. Because last night, I had— "Ah." I felt a pang of conscience and looked away. "Gaga?" "It's nothing." I cleared my throat and got up. Eventually, I went to the kitchen and filled a large basin with warm water. Then, I stepped into the basin with her just as she was.
"Ooh, it's warm..." Baek Ri-seol snuggled into my arms with a pleasant expression. White steam rose slowly over the hot water.
...
It seemed I would have to give her a proper bath today.
...
Inside the tub, I held Baek Ri-seol slowly from behind and shared this and that. Her body, submerged in the hot water, melted languidly in my arms. I honestly confessed about quitting Sehwahu and the farewell party scheduled for tomorrow.
"Alone with a courtesan named Seol-hwa?" For a moment, Baek Ri-seol's eyes narrowed.
...
It seemed she was a little jealous. "It was a promise made a long time ago, so that's how it turned out. Besides, the day after tomorrow is the last day..."
"Hmm..." Baek Ri-seol hugged my arm tightly with a strange expression. And a moment later, I sighed and muttered, "Honestly, I'm a bit worried."
"About what?"
"This bastard, Jeoktoma." I let out a deep sigh. "I don't know if I'll be able to control it if it has another seizure."
At that moment, Baek Ri-seol's gaze naturally drifted downward. "How is it usually?"
"It reacts to some extent. It moves quite sensitively even to trivial things..." I glanced down somewhere in the water. "But it's not as severe as when I'm with you. It doesn't grow this ridiculously large either."
...
Already inside the tub, Jeoktoma was lazily poking its head out above the water. ...Like the Loch Ness Monster I saw in my previous life on Earth. Inside the steaming tub, it was showing off its presence with a very dignified appearance.
...
Baek Ri-seol eventually couldn't hold it in and burst into laughter. "Gaga..."
"Yeah?"
"It's really too big..."
It was truly a hopeless bastard. "If you really can't stand it..." Baek Ri-seol quietly fiddled with my fingers in the hot tub. "It's okay to do it with another woman."
For a moment, I frowned slightly. But she was looking at me with unwavering eyes. "Because I know well that it's not Gaga's will..." The red eyes revealed through the steam shone particularly clearly. "And anyway, we're bound by the same Blood God Constitution."
She slowly burrowed deeper into my arms. "We can't be separated forever."
...
Strangely, those words were oddly reassuring, yet heavy at the same time. Baek Ri-seol leaned her cheek against my chest and whispered very softly, "Rather... it will help stabilize Gaga's internal energy."
...
At that moment, the Loch Ness Monster in the tub seemed to raise its head even more confidently. I eventually let out a deep sigh. "Seol-ah..."
"Yes, Gaga."
"Let's take a shot..."
Baek Ri-seol's red eyes widened roundly. "Here...?"
"Yeah." I looked down at Jeoktoma floating on the water and muttered with a resigned face. "This guy is truly hopeless now."
...
In the end, Baek Ri-seol couldn't hold it in and burst into laughter.
