Beast, Blue Blood - Chapter 119 - END

Chapter 119

“Si-woo!”  

Ha-yeon shouted as she entered. Her eyes became moist upon seeing Si-woo awake.  

“Miss….”  

Just as Si-woo reached out to call her, Ha-yeon shouted.  

“How could you think of dropping something like that on your head? If you thought of me, how could you…!”  

Her words seemed to choke as her emotions surged.  

“I’m sorry.”  

Si-woo said obediently.  

“I couldn’t think of any other way.”  

As Si-woo smiled softly, like a child admitting wrongdoing, Ha-yeon pressed her lips together to appear resolute.  

“Who would smile like that….”  

She said that much before her voice caught, wrapping her arms around herself and collapsing into Si-woo’s embrace. Si-woo held her close.  

It was warmth he never wanted to part with again.  

“That’s good, that’s good.”  

Joo-hwan said as he placed the hat he had been wearing on top of Si-woo’s head. Si-woo, in a daze, didn’t even realize what Joo-hwan was wearing until he noticed the hat and picked it up.  

Then, he saw a portable clothing rack a little away from the bed, with an unfamiliar white robe hanging. It didn’t seem to belong to anyone; it looked like it had just been tailored.  

“What are these…?”  

When Si-woo asked, Ha-yeon took the hat and adjusted it properly on him, saying,  

“It was because you had trauma from not being able to wear Joseon-era clothes. I thought maybe now you could wear them.”  

“I see.”  

Si-woo pointed to the top part of the hat and said.  

“The hats from my time had a rounder shape.”  

“Really? Maybe because you’re used to it, but this one looks sexier.”  

She then gazed at Si-woo.  

Although he was wearing the hat carelessly without a proper headband, her eyes on him were gentle…  

“I’m leaving.”  

At that moment, Joo-hwan, already heading for the door, said.  

“I’m leaving.”  

He repeated, but it seemed the two were no longer listening. Joo-hwan shook his head in disbelief. As he was about to leave the room, Si-woo suddenly turned to him, as if remembering something.  

“Thank you, Duk-man.”  

Joo-hwan waved his hand and disappeared outside the door. Ha-yeon frowned in confusion.  

“What kind of name is that? It sounds just like a person from the Joseon era….”  

Then, a sudden thought seemed to cross her mind. She pointed at the place where Joo-hwan had disappeared, looking at Si-woo, who had just taken off the hat and placed it aside.  

“Could it be…?”  

Si-woo nodded.  

“He was my servant.”  

Ha-yeon was taken aback.  

“Your servant got infected too?”  

Then she seemed to remember something and asked again.  

“Wait, but does Lee Seong not know his face?”  

“Do you think Lee Seong would remember the face of a mere servant?”  

Of course, that was true…  

As Ha-yeon pondered, Si-woo added.  

“Duk-man approached a few times, but he didn’t remember.”  

And since he had been secretly dating Eop-ji while mostly keeping Duk-man away, Duk-man had only gone to Lee Seong’s house a couple of times at the very beginning.  

Even if that hadn’t been the case, it didn’t seem likely that Lee Seong would remember a young servant.  

“Above all, Duk-man was young back then. His face changed quickly. Do you remember? I mentioned that I returned home once after being infected.”  

As Ha-yeon nodded, Si-woo spoke.  

“Though my parents weren’t around, Duk-man was. He was watching from a distance, and somehow he knew to run to me.”  

‘Master! It’s you, right…! I knew you were alive!’

Si-woo looked at Ha-yeon.  

“I guess he always blamed himself for my cross-dressing, thinking it was his responsibility.”  

“It must have been quite troubling for him to see you like that.”  

Ha-yeon had no choice but to agree.  

Since Duk-man had known Si-woo since he was young, he would have been the one most distressed about Si-woo dressing as a woman.  

“Still, to have lived without revealing his existence until now?”  

“It’s not that he was hiding; Duk-man wandered a lot. Even when he lived on the ISLE, he would go out and not come back for a long time. Even when he did return, he often hid away in the basement to sleep.”  

It felt as though he came back not to return but because there was nowhere else he could safely sleep for decades, apart from the ISLE. Of course, he also returned when he ran out of money.  

“What a troubled son.”  

Ha-yeon mumbled, and Si-woo replied.  

“He’s like a son to me.”  

His affection for Duk-man was evident.  

“And Duk-man…”  

As he began to speak, Si-woo seemed to be choosing his words carefully.  

“He’s the only human I’ve killed.”  

“What?”  

It didn’t seem like he had chosen his words correctly.  

Ha-yeon couldn’t help but ask in surprise.  

“Duk-man followed me. It wasn’t a life a human could endure, but even when I told him to go home, he wouldn’t.”  

The person who followed Si-woo, who had lost his rationality and was half out of his mind, wasn’t just Ah-eun. Duk-man had also been there beside him.  

“Ah-eun always stayed close to Duk-man, probably worrying about his safety, but there was a brief moment when she stepped away. I guess Ah-eun thought it would be fine for just a moment since Duk-man posed no threat.”  

And the accident happened in an instant.  

“It’s ironic, but it was the clearest moment I had after being infected. My mind snapped back into focus.”  

‘Duk-man.’

The voice he uttered trembled for the first time since being infected.  

Duk-man lay on the ground with his throat torn, looking up at him.  

His expression was so wounded that it was impossible to tell who had bitten whom, and at that moment, Duk-man thought.

‘Ah, I must never die.’  

“That’s how I infected Duk-man.”  

Ha-yeon rubbed her forehead.  

“Is that all? You’re not going to bring me another heart-wrenching story that I can’t hear without tears, are you?”  

Si-woo smiled faintly.  

“This is all of it.”  

He seemed relieved to be able to say that this was all.  

“Oh, speaking of which, I kissed Joo-hwan…”  

Ha-yeon inadvertently said it before clamping her mouth shut. Si-woo smiled broadly.  

“Maybe I should just kill him.”  

Realizing she had said something unnecessary, Ha-yeon changed the subject.  

“How are your wounds?”  

* * *

Si-woo looked up at the sky. It was a clear and bright sky.  

“Ah, this feels awkward.”  

At that moment, he heard a grumbling sound from behind. Turning around, he saw Duk-man, dressed in a robe, approaching while grumbling.  

Si-woo smiled.  

“It suits you well.”  

“I’d rather dress as a woman; it feels more like wearing my clothes.”  

With a displeased expression, Duk-man asked. 

“Do we have to wear these clothes just to come to Gyeongbokgung?”  

The two stood in front of the Heungnye-mun gate of Gyeongbokgung.  

Beyond Heungnye-mun, Yeongjae Bridge was visible. On the other side, Ha-yeon, along with the clan members, spotted the two men and waved with a smile. Ha-yeon was also wearing a traditional hanbok.  

As they approached, a few of the clan members spoke to Si-woo.  

“It’s interesting how everyone around here is in hanbok.”  

With the men leading the way, Ha-yeon looked back at Duk-man.  

“But to think you were a servant with that face, your life must have been exhausting.”  

As they entered, Duk-man shrugged his shoulders.  

“When I was young, I was small and round, you know. I blossomed into beauty as I grew up. Everyone said it felt like Si-woo was back from the dead.”  

He understood that it wasn’t about looking alike but rather the atmosphere.  

Duk-man watched Si-woo walking ahead.  

“Even if you didn’t mean to, it felt like your cross-dressing was a way of mocking me.”  

Then he turned to Ha-yeon.  

“And while I was out and about, a lady was born, and when I returned, she was already quite grown. It was after I had left for Africa.”  

That was why Ha-yeon had never seen Duk-man.  

Climbing a short flight of stairs and passing through Geunjeongmun, the view opened up. Ha-yeon naturally stood beside Si-woo. The scenery was beautiful.  

“Emily would have loved it here if she had come.”  

Si-woo gazed silently at Geunjeongjeon. In the meantime, the wind blew, as if Ah-eun were walking between them.  

At the end of the feeling that Ah-eun was walking, the clan members standing there turned around.  

As Ha-yeon took Si-woo’s hand and walked, she suddenly remembered something and asked.  

“By the way, about that record. The one where Gap-sa Chu Si-woo supposedly clashed with the guards under the pretense of making a statement. I heard you even commuted the death sentence, so it seems like quite a serious issue. What was the reason? Did you get drunk and act up?”  

Although it seemed entirely out of character for Si-woo…  

“That wasn’t me.”  

But Si-woo replied.  

“It’s a case of homonym. In the records, the characters are different. Coincidentally, that person was also a Gap-sa.”  

“Oh… so that’s how it was?”  

It felt like there was nothing to it.  

Ha-yeon turned to look at the scene of the main hall under the blue sky.  

“I love you, Si-woo. No matter what form you take…”  

And she added.  

“Even if we can’t have children.”  

Suddenly, Si-woo looked at her, seemingly puzzled by her words.  

“We can have them.”  

Ha-yeon was bewildered.  

“Really?”  

“Didn’t I tell you that ‘the regenerative ability is good’? When I say regeneration, I’m not just talking about simply coming back to life.”  

It’s a relief, but…  

Ha-yeon rolled her eyes, briefly looking up before confirming that Alex was far away, then turned back to Si-woo and asked in a small voice. 

“But haven’t we been using contraception this whole time…?”  

Si-woo smiled with a twinkle in his eye.  

“Still, it’s not something that happens easily.”  

From behind, Duk-man murmured in a low voice, but loud enough to be heard.  

“Isn’t that intentional?”  

At that moment, Ha-yeon grinned and suddenly pulled on Si-woo’s ear.  

“Do you think I’m that young?”  

Alex, watching the scene from a distance, shook his head in disbelief.

[END]

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