Chapter 15: 15. Putting the Nightmare Customer to Bed

"Nooooooooaahhhhhhh?!"

I had never heard such a heartrending scream in my life.

As I stood there blankly with a stupid look on my face, the proprietor grabbed my shoulders and trembled all over.

"W-what do you mean, Ryu-o?! O... oh... oooooh..."

"I’m quitting the shop after today."

"You can’t, you brat! How am I supposed to live without you?!"

What was that supposed to mean...? The proprietor spoke as though she would die if I was not here.

I thought she was overreacting and was about to push her away when...

Rattle! Creak!

"Eek! You’ve arrived!"

At the sight of Cheon Hwayeong entering the shop, which had not even opened yet, the proprietor bent nearly in half at the waist.

Cheon Hwayeong stared at me for a moment, left me with a single remark, then headed upstairs.

"You’re here. Come up."

"Hello, miss. Unfortunately, I—mmph!"

The proprietor covered my mouth just as I was about to say that today was my last day.

"Hahaha, I’ll send him right up!"

"...?"

The proprietor gripped my shoulders and looked at me like someone who had just made the decision of a lifetime.

"Ryu-o! Just once! Just one more time! Please serve this customer one last time."

"But I have a lot to do..."

"Three gold coins!"

"I’ll be right up."

Hm, I had to do this.

As I changed clothes, I thought to myself.

‘Hm, should I tell her I’m quitting? No... who do I think I am?’

It was not like that nightmare customer came here because of me. What would be the point of telling her?

After changing, I headed to the third floor and knocked on the same room as yesterday.

Knock, knock.

"May I come in?"

"Come in."

When I opened the door and entered, Cheon Hwayeong was looking at me in the exact same pose she had been in when I first saw her.

"..."

"Hello?"

"..."

Since she did not say anything, I simply sat down in front of her and stared blankly back.

"..."

"...? You look a little better today."

"I do."

"Did something good happen?"

"I don’t know."

"Okay..."

Hm. I thought we had gotten a little closer, but conversation was still completely impossible with her.

After a stretch of silence, Maksoon set out the food as she had yesterday, then hurried away.

"Sit."

"I am sitting..."

"Beside me."

Cheon Hwayeong pointed to the seat beside her with her eyes.

‘Ugh... feeding her is such a hassle.’

Still, it was better than having some dark, grimy old guy do it.

I obediently sat beside her.

As soon as I did, Cheon Hwayeong stared at my face as if she could bore holes through it.

"Hm... Have you eaten?"

"No."

"What do you usually eat first when you start a meal?"

"You choose."

Should I start calling Cheon Hwayeong an absolute nightmare instead?

I swallowed a sigh, scooped up a spoonful of soup, and blew on it.

"Hoo... hoo... Here, eat."

"How do I win your heart?"

What was that out-of-nowhere nonsense in the middle of a meal...?

Still holding the spoon, I tilted my head.

"My heart?"

"Yes. Your heart."

"...Do you like me?"

"No."

"Then why do you need my heart?"

Cheon Hwayeong stared at the spoonful of soup, then looked back at my face.

"I don’t know either."

If she were not a customer, I would have flicked her forehead...

Cheon Hwayeong looked at me, then began to snicker.

"Heh heh heh. Yes, that face."

"Do I look funny?"

"Yes. You do look funny."

Being told to my face that I looked funny... that stung a little.

"Sigh, whatever... Eat the soup before it gets cold."

And so began a service that was hard to tell apart from nursing care.

Gulp!

"Pfft..."

"...Have some rice too."

"All right, heh heh..."

"Tch, have some liquor too."

Gulp!

"Hehe..."

I finally decided I could not take it anymore and shot her a glare.

"Are you going to keep laughing?"

"Yes."

"Sigh, do whatever you want."

Cheon Hwayeong curled up the corners of her lips as she spoke.

"Yes. I want you."

I wished she would say things in a way I could understand.

She was already a woman of few words, and now she was suddenly saying she wanted me?

"You want me?"

"Yes."

Her straightforward answer made my face grow a little hot.

"You said you don’t like me."

"Yes."

I seriously, seriously could not take any more of this.

"Ugh! Miss! What are you trying to do here?"

"Bwahahaha! Heh heh heh heh!"

Cheon Hwayeong burst out laughing, then wiped her tears and looked at me.

"I want your heart even more now. Tell me how to get it."

Was this Labyrinth City flirting? No, if she wanted to win my heart, was it right to demand that I tell her how?

I did not know anymore.

I unfolded my knees, which had been politely tucked beneath me, and sat comfortably.

"Let’s drop the formalities. That’s okay, right, Hwayeong?"

Cheon Hwayeong’s eyes widened for a moment before she grinned.

"Insolent brat."

"I don’t care! You keep calling me this brat and that brat! I’m going to call you comfortably too."

"Heh heh heh! Fine! Will calling me whatever you please win me your heart?"

"That depends on you. My arm hurts, so feed yourself."

Cheon Hwayeong’s eyes narrowed at once.

I was a little intimidated, but I did my best to ignore it.

"Then will you give me your heart?"

"Not exactly..."

"Then feed me."

Three gold coins... three gold coins...

"Sigh... What kind of friend has someone spoon-feed them?"

Cheon Hwayeong chewed on a piece of glistening fatty meat and tilted her head.

"Hm...? Friends?"

"If we’ve dropped formalities, we’re friends. Judging by your face, you’re in your early twenties..."

"I’m twenty-seven."

"I’ll call you big sister from now on..."

"Heh heh heh... Just call me Hwayeong. It sounds nice."

It sounds nice... As someone who had never dated even once, there was no way that would not make my heart race.

Still, the Confucian dragon inside me said that speaking casually to someone five years older was a little much...

"Then... Hwayeong, big sister?"

Hwayeong, who had been chewing the stir-fried eggplant I put into her mouth, blinked her eyes and gave me a deep smile.

"Yes, for some reason, I like that even better."

Wow... She was damn pretty when she smiled.

"Wow... You’re damn pretty when you smile."

"...?"

"...?"

"What did you just say?"

Ah... I think I had just made a huge mistake.

But this was exactly when I needed to be confident. It was not like I had said anything I should not have.

"I-I said you’re incredibly pretty! Friends can compliment each other, can’t they? Why are you looking at me like that...?"

Cheon Hwayeong suddenly grabbed my chin and looked straight into my eyes.

"Say it again... What did you say about my face?"

Wait, did I have to say I was just giving her lip service because she was actually ugly as hell?

Whatever. Friends could talk about each other’s looks.

And me? I was quitting today. No one could stop me.

"Your eyelashes are long, and your red eyes are pretty. Your nose is high, and your lips are red, so they’re pretty too."

Cheon Hwayeong’s eyes glimmered faintly. Then she smirked and held out her cup to me.

"Insolent brat."

When I poured her a drink, Cheon Hwayeong kept smirking as she downed it.

"You’re going to laugh anyway, so don’t scare me... Drink plenty, big sister, so I can get off work early."

"Denied. Stay until the Hour of the Rooster."

Gulp!

I did not know what the Hour of the Rooster was, but it sounded like she was telling me to stay for quite a while.

Last time, she had eaten briefly before passing out, but today it seemed she intended to get every last bit of service out of me.

This would not do. I needed to put her to sleep quickly.

"Drink this, big sister."

Gulp!

"Eat this too."

Munch.

"Here, bottoms up~"

Gulp.

"Know this: I won’t fall asleep so easily today."

Damn... I think she had caught on.

As I rolled my eyes around and watched her reaction, Cheon Hwayeong began laughing.

"Heh heh heh heh! You’re so easy to read."

Since she had caught me, I decided to tell her what I really felt.

"After work, I need to buy supplies. I’m going into the labyrinth."

Cheon Hwayeong’s hand, holding the cup, froze.

"Did you say the labyrinth?"

This time, a low voice I had never heard from her before sent a chill through my guts.

The heavy atmosphere made my throat close up, and as I stayed silent, Cheon Hwayeong spoke softly.

"Denied. Do not go."

Cheon Hwayeong frowned and tipped back her cup. I spoke to her.

"Are you worried about me?"

I expected her to sneer again, but Cheon Hwayeong answered calmly.

"I am. It is a dangerous place. All the more so for a man."

So was she saying women were safe or what?

"I’m still going..."

At that moment, the cup in Cheon Hwayeong’s hand crumbled with a spine-chilling sound.

Crunch!

"I said it is denied. Is it for money? Fame? If it is for such worthless reasons, obey my command."

Her words were arrogant, but I could feel her concern. Her expression looked angry, yet somehow frightened too.

I had seen that expression before. It was the expression my only friend had worn...

At times like this, it would be better to meet sincerity with sincerity rather than get angry and ask who she thought she was.

I placed a new cup from the table into Cheon Hwayeong’s hand and poured her a drink.

"It’s not for reasons like that. I have a reason I absolutely must climb it. I want to see my family."

Trickle...

Cheon Hwayeong looked at me intently.

"I at least want to send word to my family, who are so far away right now."

"..."

"Do you have anyone like that, big sister?"

Cheon Hwayeong drank silently and closed her eyes.

"I do..."

"I disappeared rather suddenly... It keeps weighing on my mind..."

Glug, glug, glug.

"..."

Gulp!

"I want to try something... anything..."

Cheon Hwayeong closed her eyes and drank another cup.

"Foolish brat. But you are a lucky one."

"Foolish—mmph!"

Cheon Hwayeong shoved her finger deep into my mouth.

The urge to vomit rose slightly, but I forcibly held it down and looked at Cheon Hwayeong.

"Urk! Wha?"

"Do not die."

Something unidentified was forcibly pushed down my throat.

The instant I frowned at the foreign sensation, a bright chime rang in my head.

Ding!

[You have acquired the skill [LV.1 Poison Resistance]!]

[Stamina +3]

"????"

I had suddenly obtained a fortuitous encounter.

When she pulled her finger out, Cheon Hwayeong asked me as I coughed and choked.

"You, are you Arin’s disciple?"

"Cough! Hack! How did you know?"

"I see... How interesting."

No, I was asking how she knew... More importantly, I was even more curious what she had fed me.

"What did you just feed me?"

Without a word, Cheon Hwayeong held out her cup to me.

I poured her a drink and asked again.

"Big sister, what on earth did you feed me...?"

"You need not know."

If it had not been a fortuitous encounter, I would have flicked her forehead... No, I could not do that. Was she actually a master?

Cheon Hwayeong looked at my face and laughed.

"Heh heh heh heh! So, when are you coming back to Chwihyangru?"

Gulp!

"Today’s my last day, though?"

"What?"

Cheon Hwayeong’s eyes slowly closed.

"Sleep... Snore..."

"...? What?"

She had said she would not go to sleep easily today, yet she had fallen so deeply asleep that she would not notice even if someone carried her off.

I had planned to give her the full service to commemorate her feeding me something good, but...

"What a steal."

Three gold coins, get.

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