🔊 TTS Settings
CHAPTER 17
The sudden rush of heavy energy made Baek Seon feel suffocated, as though his breath had been stolen away. The pressure that weighed on his body was different from Man Yugang’s—far heavier.
“Cheo, Cheonrang. You must be misunderstanding something. Please, calm down first…”
As Baek Seon tried to continue speaking, Cheonrang tightened his grip on his wrists, unwilling to hear another word.
“Ugh!”
Agonizing pain shot through his wrists, as though they might break, and his body was yanked forward. His back slammed against the wall.
“Calm down—!”
Just as Baek Seon raised his voice, their eyes met. He instinctively sucked in a breath.
Cheonrang’s once jet-black pupils now flickered with a blood-red glow, brimming with killing intent.
Why… why is he acting like this?
Even if Cheonrang thought of him as a friend, this reaction was far too extreme. He looked more like a husband catching a cheating wife than a comrade.
“I think I know what you’re imagining, but nothing like that happened. How long do you think I was even gone?”
“…Nothing happened? Then why is your body radiating this kind of heat?”
Cheonrang pressed a hand against Baek Seon’s lower abdomen. Baek Seon let out a hidden sigh, clasped Cheonrang’s hand, and spoke.
“…I met a mysterious person.”
“A mysterious person?”
“I came across someone I thought was dead. He pitied me and infused me with energy. He even used the same method you always do. I swear it’s the truth.”
Baek Seon’s calm tone carried no signs of fluster. Cheonrang silently searched his glowing green eyes—eyes so warm, so familiar.
It looks exactly like the face my master always showed me…
But unease crawled up his chest, gnawing at him from the inside.
“Mysterious person… I see.”
Cheonrang muttered, lowering his gaze as memories flooded back.
He had been eating while listening to Baek Seon’s voice drift in from outside—until suddenly that voice grew distant. Alarmed, he had hurriedly chased after him, only to see—
“The Blood-Rain Sword Demon… it’s really the Blood-Rain Sword Demon!”
It was none other than his master, whom he believed had died.
…No. Something was wrong.
Cheonrang hadn’t rushed forward. Not because this man, who wore his master’s face, greeted Baek Seon like an old acquaintance. Not because, even when their eyes met, he pretended not to know him.
It was the eyes.
The way Man Yugang had looked at him for a fleeting second. Those were not the eyes of the master he had known all his life.
His master’s sky-blue eyes had always gazed upon the world with warmth and beauty. But the ones he saw earlier were icy cold, sharp, and indifferent—like an ascetic who had transcended all attachments.
What was that…?
He had buried his master’s corpse in Ennae Mountain, concealed under layers of barriers. Nothing should have entered or left.
Could something sinister have possessed him?
But there had been no foul energy.
What did they talk about? Why did he take Baek Seon with him?
Unanswered questions swarmed him until his head threatened to burst.
“Haa…”
Cheonrang had never been good at thinking deeply. Now, unable to tell who was the real master, he felt as though he’d go mad.
Then—
“Cheonrang?”
The voice was identical to his master’s—intonation and all. Cheonrang’s fingers twitched as he lowered his head, only to meet those gentle eyes again.
“…Ah.”
He almost called out Master before quickly covering his mouth.
“Why are you like this all of a sudden? Are you hurt somewhere?”
As Baek Seon leaned closer, Cheonrang flushed crimson and took a hurried step back.
“…Don’t ever go anywhere alone again.”
“I already spend most of my time alone.”
“Not anymore. Don’t leave my side even for a moment. Even if it’s just stepping outside, I’m coming with you.”
I’ll go crazy if I don’t. I don’t even know where this anxiety comes from… but if I don’t do this, I’ll break apart.
Cheonrang entwined their hands tightly. Baek Seon looked down at the heat seeping into his palm and softly spoke his name.
“…Cheonrang.”
Up until recently, he hadn’t understood why Cheonrang reacted so sensitively whenever he thought Baek Seon had been with another. He had assumed it was just wounded pride because Baek Seon hadn’t asked him.
But now, he knew exactly what this feeling was.
Obsession.
Cheonrang had always been greedy with what he considered “his.” Having grown up deprived, his possessiveness ran deep.
Realizing this, Baek Seon carefully pulled his hand free and said:
“No matter how close two friends are, they don’t spend every moment together. In childhood, you must have been with the Blood-Rain Sword Demon. After parting with him, you spent years alone in caves. Besides me, you’ve had no other companions.”
“…So what. Are you saying you don’t want to be with me?”
“I don’t want to stick together every second.”
His firm refusal made Cheonrang’s face twist in shock—he clearly hadn’t expected such words.
This is the right approach.
Cheonrang had never had real friends. He probably didn’t even understand what friendship meant. If so, it was Baek Seon’s duty as his “friend” to teach him.
“Haa…”
Cheonrang let out a laugh, one corner of his lips curling up.
“Fine. Better to act on instinct than strain a brain that doesn’t work.”
He suddenly grabbed Baek Seon by the collar.
“Don’t delude yourself. I’ve never once thought of you as a ‘friend.’”
“…What?”
Before Baek Seon could react, he was yanked forward. Warm breath brushed his lips.
“Cheon—mmph!”
Cheonrang pressed his lips against Baek Seon’s. In the blink of an eye, his thick lips parted Baek Seon’s mouth.
“Wait—”
But the moment Baek Seon opened his lips to protest, Cheonrang’s tongue slipped inside, brushing against his rigid flesh before pressing insistently against his tongue.
“Mm—ugh!”
It felt as if lightning struck through his head. He knew he should push him away, slap him even—yet…
Why is my heart racing… at his scent, at those dark eyes devouring me?
“Dang Baek Seon.”
Cheonrang briefly broke the kiss, his fingertip brushing Baek Seon’s swollen, glistening lips.
“This is what you mean to me.”
His searing gaze burned into Baek Seon.
Baek Seon’s mind went blank. He couldn’t understand why he had opened his heart so much to Cheonrang, a man he had only recently met. Why it was him—and not Song Jeok-rim.
“Cheo, Cheonrang. I—”
“YOU SCOUNDRELS!”
A thunderous roar cut him off.
It was Dang Jinmyeong, face flushed with fury.
“You return without a single achievement… and now I find you indulging in dan-su (cut-sleeve) debauchery?!”
“Ah!”
Baek Seon’s eyes widened as he realized their location. They weren’t hidden away inside the pavilion—no, they had been kissing in plain sight, out on the street. Passersby were openly staring.
…It’s over.
Baek Seon coughed awkwardly, but Jinmyeong barked again, his face red as a beet.
“Come with me at once!”
Baek Seon quickly pushed Cheonrang away and hurried after Jinmyeong. Naturally, Cheonrang tried to follow—
“You are not welcome here. Begone!”
Cheonrang had been banished on the spot.
