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.
“Now, you should have another drink.”
Cheongmyeong laughed 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 originally, we Haenam people don’t 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 the 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 shunned so thoroughly? 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 mainland people mixed in with the foreigners who arrived today, 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. It seems that they are not wrong. When I see you practicing 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 a question. Is Hwasan’s magic art noble? Or is it the Hwasan Sword Association? “Is Yongin’s skill really that great?”
Upon hearing those words, Cheongmyeong burst out in laughter, and Yugong also tried to smile as best as he could,
until the next words were heard:
“Hey.”
“yes?”
“Stop talking nonsense and drink it quickly. That’s three drinks. You’ve already had one drink.”
“⋯⋯.”
“drink.”
Yu Gong cleared his throat and lifted the glass in his hand to his mouth.
He then drank the full drink in one go, just like the previous glass.
“If you get caught using my skills, I will make you spit out the money you wasted on drinking, so you can handle it.”
“⋯⋯.”
“Here, one more drink.”
Cheongmyeong grinned and poured alcohol into the empty glass again. Yugong’s face looked a little tired when he saw the alcohol filling up. He didn’t want to lose the momentum, so he drank it down, but
originally, Haenam’s alcohol is not Takju, which is poured from a glass like this, but poured from a small glass. It was a strong drink that had to be drunk carefully.
Even though he was an unmanned person, it was quite burdensome to drink such a strong drink repeatedly while he could not use his inner energy.
“Do you want to hear an answer?”
“⋯⋯Yes?”
“Then drink. I’ll deal with you after three drinks.”
“⋯⋯.”
Hearing those words, Yugong’s face hardened slightly and he looked at Cheongmyeong and started to drink his third glass.
“Oh. You drink it well?”
Hurt! Hurt!
Yugong suppresses the burning feeling in his throat and forces down the drink, taking it out of his mouth as if he were throwing the glass.
“Huh!”
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 heated up and it felt like it was spinning twice as fast. “It’s good.
”
Cheongmyeong laughed and poured alcohol into his glass. Then, as soon as the alcohol was full, he snatched the glass and gulped 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, wiping his mouth with his sleeve, looked at Yugong, who was trying to control his rapidly rising intoxication, and said,
“So.”
“yes?”
“What did you say you were curious about?”
“That’s… uh…”
Yugong was momentarily embarrassed and stuttered. Seeing that, Cheongmyeong grinned.
“There’s no way he could have thought about it. He probably just asked something he wasn’t that curious about.”
Yugong’s face heated up.
Maybe it was because he was drunk or because he couldn’t help but feel embarrassed.
“But I’ll give you an answer. I didn’t do anything in particular.”
Cheongmyeong turns his head and looks at the people lying around.
“I just told them to bring the alcohol and I drank it. The rest took care of it and they just ate it up and that’s what happened.”
“⋯⋯.”
Yu Gong sighed.
“Although Haenam’s disciples have a simple side and are proud of it, they are not stupid enough to show such an indecent act in front of the guests who arrived today. After all, the Hwasan Sword Association has done something. “I guess.”
“But this guy was just deceived. He said I didn’t do anything.”
“Yes, that might be possible.”
Yugong nodded quietly.
“But if you think about it, that’s even more amazing. 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?”
“⋯⋯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 alternately with a complicated face. Cheongmyeong, who has filled the glass with alcohol, shrugs his shoulders. “Oh well. Don’t get me wrong.
I don’t like drinking. “I’m a person who really hates force-feeding people. Why would you feed a person who doesn’t like alcohol something that’s a waste of money? I don’t even have enough to eat.”
“Then…”
“You’re free to not drink. But if you don’t want to drink, I’d like you to get out of the way. I’m doing a masterpiece here, not having a conversation.”
“⋯⋯.”
“What should I do? Do you want a masterpiece or a conversation?”
At those words, Yugong sighs and grabs the glass. This time, he doesn’t rush and begins to drink slowly. Seeing that, Cheongmyeong grins. “Still, we can communicate well.
”
“nice.”
Yugong puts down the glass. His hand as he puts down the glass trembles slightly. His face heats up and looks like it might catch fire at any moment. “Uh huh. I told you not to use my energy. It’s a waste of alcohol.
”
Cheongmyeong clicked his tongue and poured a glass full of alcohol and started gulping it down.
As soon as Sunbae drank, Cheongmyeong continued the conversation.
“Am I amazing?”
Cheongmyeong chuckles.
“You don’t understand. I really didn’t do anything?”
“⋯⋯Then.”
“This isn’t a scene that happened because I’m great. Quite the contrary.”
“yes?”
Cheongmyeong gestures to those who have fallen with his chin.
“How do they look?”
“⋯⋯It looks ugly.”
It was an honest feeling. At least that is not the way a guest would appear.
Even though I have no right to criticize him as he leaves Haenam, wouldn’t I be able to give him a review?
“Really?”
Cheongmyeong chuckled and poured another drink into his glass. He then offered the opposite opinion of Yugong:
“It looks amazing to me.”
“⋯⋯.”
Yugong kept his mouth shut. Not only because he was drunk, but also because it was difficult to understand Cheongmyeong’s words. “As
you said, no matter how young and simple these children are, they were not thinking enough to collapse drunk in front of the people who visited Haenam for the first time today. “I guess they weren’t there.”
Yugong nods with open eyes.
“But why do you think it’s like that? Because I scratched it so skillfully?”
“⋯⋯.”
“No. I really didn’t do anything. It was just that everyone was already crowded in. I was holding on by pushing myself to my limit in a situation where I didn’t know when or what would explode. Under the pressure that tomorrow might be my last day alive. at.”
Cheongmyeong’s eyes sank as he looked at those who had fallen asleep.
The sights he knew overlapped with the images of those who had collapsed.
When they returned from battle, they drank too much and fell asleep as if they had fainted.
Those who died today. The images of these people who drank alcohol in fits and starts to somehow cut off their consciousness due to the guilt and relief of not being able to die together and coming back alive, and the fear of having to go to the battlefield again tomorrow. Yes, it was really painful
.
But At that time, they were people who could at least take complete 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 they’ve survived this far.”
“⋯⋯.”
“What causes those who hold on and hold on to collapse is not something great, but a small relief. Not a relief that they don’t have to hold on any longer, but a small relief that they might be safe for at least a few hours tonight.”
“⋯⋯.”
“That’s all I gave them.”
Yugong parted his lips as if he was about to say something, but then lowered his head. A moan-like voice leaked from Yugong’s mouth, who was silently lowering his head. “I didn’t hold on.
”
“huh?”
“There was just nowhere to run to. Nowhere in the world.”
Cheongmyeong lifts his gaze and looks at the ceiling.
“…Yeah. That.”
I 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 can give you the strength to endure tomorrow.”
Yu Gong’s eyes turn to the sleepy face of Kwak Hwan-so. 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
Cheongmyeong is right.
What they need is not a clear answer or goal, but just today. It might have been the leisure to fall asleep without thinking.
But… they could do that, but he…
“Drink.”
Cheongmyeong suddenly holds out a glass of wine in front of Yugong’s face.
“⋯⋯.”
As Yugong stares intently at his glass, Cheongmyeong says 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 starting tomorrow, it is the same as they have endured until now.”
“⋯⋯.”
“I’m also a person with a position, so I won’t be able to say everything I want to say tomorrow morning. So, I’ll tell you in advance.”
Cheongmyeong put a faint smile on his lips, then looked at Yugong and said in a slightly gentle tone,
“You endured it 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, I don’t feel bad, 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. Yu Gong, who received the alcohol with both hands, began to drink the alcohol in the glass very slowly.
“Good.”
Cheongmyeong slowly poured alcohol into his glass. Then, he brought the drink to his lips as if he were 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 blame me too much. Someday I will go too.’
The strong drink goes down my throat.
The memories of the past that were creeping up are washed away by the alcohol that Cheongmyeong forced himself to swallow and settle 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.
– 2022.05.24 –
