Episode 1240 Who came? (5)
Grumble.
The glass is filled with alcohol.
A drunken voice came to Yugong’s ears as he looked at the cup that was almost overflowing at any moment.
“Aren’t you drinking?”
“⋯⋯.”
Yugong raised his head and caught a glimpse of Cheongmyeong, who was smiling, then brought the glass in his hand to his mouth and drank it in one gulp.
“oh. Are you eating well? good.”
I feel a burning sensation in my throat. However, Yugong did not even lift an eyebrow and poured all the alcohol in the glass down his throat.
widely.
Then he sets down the cleanly empty glass.
“Come on, you should have another drink.”
Cheongmyeong chuckled and poured alcohol into a glass. And Yugong just stared at Cheongmyeong pouring the drink.
There were so many things I wanted to ask.
There were so many things I wanted to say.
But now he has long since become a person who says what he has to say, not what he wants to say.
Yugong lightly lifted a glass full of alcohol, pretended to take a quick look around, and opened his mouth.
“I was surprised.”
“huh?”
As Cheongmyeong tilts his head slightly, Yugong smiles slightly.
“I don’t know if you know, but by nature, we Haenam people do not have very good feelings toward mainland people.”
“Hmm?”
“Of course, it might be a bit strange for others to hear. Haenam is a huge sect that occupies a place among the old sects, both in name and reality.”
“⋯⋯.”
“But no matter how much Haenam’s reputation has grown, it does not cover the history of the years of living as lowly islanders.”
Cheongmyeong looks at Yugong in silence.
“There… “With the Yangtze River Non-aggression Treaty taking place, those feelings became even more intense.”
Yugong chuckled.
“Everyone was probably thinking about it deep down, even if they didn’t say it. If we had been people from the Central Plains instead of islanders, and if the faction isolated by the Gangnam invasion had been a group of old factions other than Haenam, would we really have been so thoroughly shunned? But…”
Yugong slowly turns his head and looks at the people lying around.
“Just like that, the people who didn’t feel good about the people on the mainland mixed in with the foreigners who arrived today and drank alcohol, and then they all spread out.”
“⋯⋯.”
“Although Hwasan is a sect with strong secular tendencies, if you think about it, he is an orthodox Confucianist with a longer history than that shaman, and it seems that they are not wrong. “When I see you using this kind of magic.”
Yugong’s eyes look at Cheongmyeong as if searching.
“No… Maybe that’s not the case. If you don’t mind, I’d like to ask you: Is the Taoist art of volcanoes noble? Or is the Hwasan Sword Association’s Yonginjutsu really that great?”
Cheongmyeong chuckled after hearing that. And Yugong also tried to smile as much as possible to match that smile.
Until I heard the next words.
“hey.”
“yes?”
“Stop talking nonsense and drink quickly. That’s three drinks. “You’ve had one drink now.”
“⋯⋯.”
“drink.”
Yugong coughed loudly and brought the glass in his hand to his mouth.
Then, just like the previous glass, he drank the full drink in one go.
“If you get caught using my skills, I’ll make you pay for the expensive drinks, so take care of it.”
“⋯⋯.”
“Now, one more drink.”
Cheongmyeong smiled and poured another drink into the empty glass. Yugong’s face looked a little tired when he saw the alcohol rising.
I don’t want to lose the momentum, so I drink it, but originally, Haenam’s alcohol was not Takju, which was poured from a glass like this, but a strong liquor that had to be drunk carefully from a small glass.
Even though he was a warrior, it was quite a burden to drink this strong drink repeatedly while not being able to use his inner strength.
“Do you want to hear the answer?”
“⋯⋯Yes?”
“Then drink it. “I’ll deal with you after three drinks.”
“⋯⋯.”
Hearing those words, Yugong slightly stiffened his face, looked at Cheongmyeong, and began to drink his third glass.
“oh. “You drink well?”
Jump up! Jump up!
Yugong endures the burning sensation in his throat and forces down the drink, removing it from his mouth as if throwing the glass.
“Tsk!”
A scream-like exclamation escaped my lips.
Every time I opened my mouth, a strong strong scent flowed out of my mouth, and my stomach felt hot as if I had swallowed lava. The blood in my whole body heats up and it feels like it’s running twice as fast.
“Good.”
Cheongmyeong chuckles and pours alcohol into his glass. Then, as soon as the alcohol was full, I grabbed the glass and drank it down.
“Keuuuuu!”
Percussion!
The drinking glass, which should be called a bowl rather than a glass, was placed on the floor with a clear sound.
Cheongmyeong, who wiped his mouth with his sleeve, spoke while looking at Yugong, who was trying to control his rapidly rising intoxication.
“so.”
“yes?”
“What did you say you were curious about?”
“That’s… Uh…”
Yugong was momentarily embarrassed and stuttered. Looking at that, Cheongmyeong grins.
“There’s no way I could think of it. “I’m probably just asking things that come out of my mouth that I’m not really curious about.”
Yugong’s face heated up.
Is it because I’m drunk or because I can’t help but feel embarrassed?
“I’ll give you the answer though. “I didn’t do anything in particular.”
Cheongmyeong turns his head and looks at the people lying around.
“I just told him to bring me a drink and I drank it. “The rest took care of it and they just took it and that’s how it ended up like that.”
“⋯⋯.”
Yugong sighed.
“Although Haenam’s disciples have a simple side and are proud of it, they are not stupid enough to behave like that in front of the guests who arrived today. “It seems like the Hwasan Sword Association must have done something.”
“But this guy was just deceived. “That’s because I didn’t do anything.”
“yes. That could be possible.”
Yugong quietly nodded.
“But if you think about it, it’s even greater. “Even if you don’t do anything, the atmosphere around you naturally changes.”
“hey.”
Yugong frowns slightly at the sound of Cheongmyeong’s voice interrupting him.
“I emptied my glass. Would you like one more drink?”
“⋯⋯I stop⋯⋯.”
“why? “Is there anything you shouldn’t say when you’re drunk?”
“⋯⋯.”
“drink.”
Cheongmyeong pours alcohol into Yugong’s glass again.
Yugong looks at Cheongmyeong and the glass of alcohol alternately with a complicated face. Cheongmyeong shrugged his shoulders after filling up his glass.
“Oh, well. Don’t misunderstand. Because I’m a person who really hates forcing alcohol on people who don’t want to drink. Why are you giving this wasteful alcohol to someone who doesn’t like it? “I don’t even have enough to eat.”
“Then…”
“You are free not to drink. But if you’re not going to eat it, I’d like you to get out of the way. “I’m doing a masterpiece here, not having a conversation.”
“⋯⋯.”
“What should I do? Is it a masterpiece you want? Or is it a conversation?”
Yugong sighed at those words and grabbed his drink. Then, this time, he starts drinking slowly, without rushing. Seeing that, Cheongmyeong grins.
“Still, we can communicate somewhat.”
“nice.”
Yugong puts down his glass. His hand trembled slightly as he set down the glass. His face is so hot that it looks like he might catch fire at any moment.
“Uh huh. They told me not to use my skills. “It’s a waste of alcohol.”
Cheongmyeong clicks his tongue, fills his glass with alcohol, and starts gulping it down.
As soon as Sunbae drank, Cheongmyeong continued the conversation.
“Am I great?”
Cheongmyeong laughs.
“You don’t understand. “I really didn’t do anything?”
“⋯⋯Then.”
“This isn’t a scene that happened because I’m amazing. “In fact, it’s the opposite.”
“yes?”
Cheongmyeong points to those who fell with his chin.
“How does it look?”
“⋯⋯It looks ugly.”
It was an honest feeling. At least that’s not what a guest would look like.
Although we may not have the right to criticize him for leaving Haenam, wouldn’t we be able to give him a review?
“okay?”
Cheongmyeong smiled and poured alcohol into his glass again. He then presented a review that was contrary to merit.
“It looks amazing to me.”
“⋯⋯.”
Yugong closed his mouth. This was partly because I was drunk, but also because it was difficult to understand Cheongmyeong’s words.
“Like you said, no matter how young and simple they were, they wouldn’t have been thoughtless enough to fall down drunk in front of people who were visiting Haenam for the first time today.”
Yugong nods with open eyes.
“But why do you think that is? “Is it because I scratched it so skillfully?”
“⋯⋯.”
“no. I really didn’t do anything. It’s just that everyone was already crowded in. In a situation where you don’t know when or what will explode, you have endured by pushing yourself to your limit. “I am under pressure that tomorrow may be my last day alive.”
Cheongmyeong’s eyes sank as he looked at those who were drunk.
The sights he knew overlapped with the images of those who had fallen.
When they returned from battle, they drank too much and fell asleep as if they had fainted.
These are the images of those who drank alcohol in fits and starts to somehow cut off their consciousness due to the sense of guilt and relief that they came back alive after not being able to die along with those who died today, and the fear of having to go to the battlefield again tomorrow.
okay. It was really painful.
But at least at that time, they were people who could fully take responsibility for themselves. But the people here now are still too young compared to the people he knew in the past.
so.
“It’s amazing that you’ve survived this far.”
“⋯⋯.”
“It is not something big that causes those who are holding on to collapse, but a small sense of relief. “It’s not a relief that I don’t have to endure any longer, but a trivial relief that I might be safe for tonight, at least for a few more hours.”
“⋯⋯.”
“That’s all I gave them.”
Yugong parted his lips as if to say something, but then lowered his head. A moan-like voice came out of Yugong’s mouth, who was silently lowering his head.
“⋯⋯I’m not holding on.”
“huh?”
“There was just no place to run to. “Anywhere in the world.”
Cheongmyeong lifts his gaze and looks at the ceiling.
“⋯⋯Okay. that.”
know.
I know it terribly.
“So leave it alone. As a human being, there are times when you want to let go even though you know you shouldn’t. “When you wake up tomorrow, you’ll wrap your head around it and regret it, but sometimes that gives you the strength to get through tomorrow.”
Yugong’s eyes turn to Kwak Hwanso’s festering face. Recently, his face, which had always been as hard as a rock, looked a little more relaxed for the first time in a while.
Maybe what Cheongmyeong said is right.
What they needed might not have been a clear answer or goal, but just the freedom to sleep without thinking about the day.
But… they can, but he…
“drink.”
Cheongmyeong suddenly holds out a glass of wine in front of Yugong’s face.
“⋯⋯.”
As Yugong stares at his glass, Cheongmyeong speaks harshly.
“No matter what your position is or what your story is.”
“⋯⋯.”
“Even if we don’t know whether we will become allies or enemies tomorrow, it is the same as they have endured until now.”
“⋯⋯.”
“I am also a person with a position, so I won’t be able to say everything I want to say when tomorrow morning comes. So, let me tell you in advance.”
Cheongmyeong puts a faint smile on his lips. Then he looked at Yugong and spoke in a slightly soft tone.
“It held up well. “Sweetheart.”
“⋯⋯.”
Yugong’s shoulders were shaking slightly.
That’s extremely arrogant. And it was an extremely arrogant statement.
But strangely enough, when Yugong heard those words, he did not feel bad at all. No, he was not in a bad mood, but rather…
“drink. And faint. “It’s enough to do things like take care of things starting tomorrow.”
Yugong looks at Cheongmyeong with blank eyes.
“Aren’t you drinking?”
“⋯⋯.”
My slightly trembling hand takes the glass. Yugong, who received the alcohol with both hands, began to drink the alcohol in the glass slowly, very slowly.
“Good.”
Cheongmyeong slowly poured alcohol into his glass. Then, he brought the drink to his lips as if he was playing a masterpiece with Yugong.
The alcohol so far was for them, but this alcohol right now is entirely for him.
‘every.’
The image of Hundred Thousand Mountains passing by as if nothing had happened appears in his mind.
‘Don’t criticize me too much. ‘Someday I will go too.’
The strong drink goes down my throat.
The memories of the past that had been creeping up were washed away by the alcohol that Cheongmyeong was forced to swallow and settled into a deep place. But…
The only thing that remained in that place, Zhou Hyang, did not disappear and hovered around Cheongmyeong.
Like those days long ago.
