Chapter 14
##14fury. What is a birdcage?
“……I wasn't planning on sending it away..”
After the meeting was over, I sat across from my father on the bench..
All the onlookers had left, and it was just the two of us in the spacious Baekmugwan..
My father said, crossing his arms and glaring at the teacup in front of him..
“Because I know for sure what will happen if I go. I tried to hold on even if it meant breaking my limbs..”
“Still, I wish I would go to the end?”
“……I probably followed along, pretending I couldn’t win..”
actually knew.
I saw my father secretly packing his luggage a few days ago..
After all, he is a man who is weak towards his son..
I said calmly, sipping my tea cup..
“Now that I've won, I can't stop you or follow you..”
“……Can't you follow me??”
“No.”
I shook my head firmly..
Personally, I am grateful to him..
But from now on, it was better for me and his future to move alone..
“I will come back after earning a lot of money and becoming successful. Until then, please take good care of Baekmugwan so that it doesn’t fall apart..”
“A noble bastard.”
My father pouted his lips in an unusual way for his age..
If the widows in this village had seen it, they would have been horrified, but in front of me, it was a no-brainer..
“If you go to Cheongryong Academic Center…….”
After hesitating for a moment, my father let out a long sigh and said:.
“Your maternal grandfather will be there..”
“yes?”
By maternal grandfather, he meant my mother's father, that is, my maternal grandfather..
It was the first time I had heard of this story..
Now that I think about it, I've hardly ever heard a story about my mother's side of the family..
My father continued speaking hesitantly..
“that… … He is the student leader of Cheongryong Academic Hall..”
“yes?”
“Your maternal grandfather..”
“……No, why are you telling me that now?!”
When I asked with a puzzled expression, my father slightly avoided my gaze and said,.
“Didn't I tell you? I wasn't planning on sending it. I never thought you would really beat me. Honestly, if I just used my strength, I would just win.…….”
“Now, stop making excuses. If you had such a connection, you should have told me about it sooner. Then the entrance exam will be easier.……”
I stopped talking excitedly and saw my father's expression fade away..
no way?
“……I don't have a good relationship with my maternal grandfather.?”
“Me too, but it's been a while since Yakbing disowned his father-in-law..”
Mae Yak Bing.
It was my mother's name. I asked with anxiety.
“why? How much?”
“……Ever since Yakbing and I got married,?”
“Ah, it's been about 30 years. So you said that was enough. At that point, you just call me Nam, why do you call me father-in-law??”
It seemed like my father decided to pretend he didn't hear me at all..
“I don't know how my father-in-law will view you. I think people will like it because it resembles Yakbing… … or not.”
“or not?”
“They might try to kill me for looking like me.”
“…….”
With a frown on his face, his father said, “He’s such a brat, but do you really need to kill him?” I muttered..
I sighed, touching my throbbing forehead..
“Anyway, be careful. If you meet a gentleman whose last name is Geuk (極) or Ryeom (廉), you run away for a hundred miles.…….”
“I'll stop there.”
It was a story that wouldn't help at all even if I worried in advance..
It would have been better to go and see it in person..
……I really have to kill you?
“Would you like me to go with you too? Still, if I go with you, he will try to kill me first. You can run away then too…….”
“How much hate are you getting from your father-in-law??!”
I took a deep breath and got up..
The longer the breakup, the more regret you will have..
It was right to leave when I felt moderately sad..
If I procrastinate any longer, the sun will set..
“Then father. Soja, I will leave on my way. Take care until you return from success..”
“What's wrong with bowing? Okay, go now..”
After bowing deeply to my father, I stood up, bowed my head once, and turned around..
“…….”
I carried my luggage on my shoulder and looked around..
Lastly, I caught the sight of Baekmugwan..
For months, the gymnasium, the old building, the signboard with the letters yellowed with age, the balls and toys that the nosy people left on one side of the gymnasium..
The dorms and buildings I lived in when I was a blood religion instructor were much larger and grander, but I liked the earthy smell of the training ground here better..
Maybe it's because it's the first 'home' I've had in my life..
‘I have to come back too.’
It might take a few years or longer, but I promised myself that one day I would return here..
'Cause this is my home now.
“Be sure to send a letter once a month! If you don't contact me, I'll chase you, so I know that, you bastard.!”
“Yeah yeah.”
Leaving behind my father's shouts coming from behind me, I crossed the main gate of Baekmugwan..
And then I took a step towards the Blue Dragon Science Museum..
* * *
“…….”
Baek Mu-heun stared endlessly at his son's shrinking back..
He stood motionless in place until he became a small dot and disappeared..
“……He seems like a heartless guy. You don’t even look back until the end..”
My son has changed significantly since he died and came back to life, but I still worry about him..
I thought he admired Kang-ho, but he had no idea about his heartlessness..
“You should be especially careful with women.…….”
Although he looks more like himself because he is a boy, his sharp nose and long eyelashes make him look exactly like his dead wife..
If you go to the Blue Dragon Science Museum, there will be an uproar because of that face..
Because I was like that in the past too.
Baek Moo-heun recalled the moment he first met his wife at Cheongryong Academic Center..
-Are you a Okmyeon Confucius? hmm… … . I don't think he's that handsome..
-What are you doing? Why do you show up and argue about someone's facial features when you're having a good time drinking??
-But since we’ve met like this, will you buy me a drink??
-what…….
I remember that our first meeting wasn't very good..
He looked so sickly that it looked like it would break if he was hit, so he boldly raised his eyes and looked at me and asked for a drink..
But before I knew it, I found myself in love with the woman who seemed like she would break if I touched her..
-Yak ice. please marry me I will reform my past behavior and live my whole life looking only at you.!
-……I am weak and may not live long. Still good?
-It doesn't matter!
-……The calculation is that I will die anyway and go to the new home.?
-What! I don't have any feelings like that.!
The two pledged their marriage in front of a moonlit lake..
However, she faced opposition from her father-in-law, who loved his daughter immensely..
-You son of a thief! How dare you ask permission to associate with someone??
-Come on, father-in-law.…….
-Who is your craftsman! I will kill you with a single blow!
-Stop it, father! If you kill this person, I will die too.!
-You, you! how did you!
Baek Mu-heun trembled as he remembered his father-in-law at that time..
“……I really managed to survive.”
In the end, my father-in-law announced that he was disowning his wife, and the two ran away from Cheongryonghakgwan as if they were being kicked out..
-Yak ice! I will definitely make you happy! I will find a way to cure your illness!
-Don't talk nonsense, just enjoy the river cruise. I really wanted to do this when I found a man I loved..
Baek Mu-heun wandered around Gangho with his wife..
It was hard, but it was the happiest time..
And a few years later,
A child was born between the two.
-Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah!
-Yak ice! Yak ice! Come to your senses!
-……Are you a guy? It's my daughter?
-A boy! A boy who looks just like you.!
“Yak ice. That little boy grew up like that..”
The white water dragon has not been seen for a long time..
But Baek Mu-heun looked helplessly in the direction his son left..
“I was going to live with it for the rest of my life until I die... … They said they don't need it anymore. So I sent it to you.”
I felt like I could hear my wife's voice from somewhere..
-Because I look like you, I will make a lot of women cry..
“haha. I guess so..”
Baek Mu-heun's expression, which had been laughing alone, slowly hardened..
“……Should I chase after you now??”
It's the only gift my wife left behind..
He looked exactly like her, so it didn't hurt when I put it in his eyes, he was bold, and he often got into trouble.…….
He is a relative who would give up his life if he could cure the disease..
“If you just follow me secretly and watch from afar…….”
-Quit it. What are you doing out of shape? Even though I lost in the competition.
Baek Mu-heun laughed awkwardly at his wife’s words..
“haha. yes.”
I burst into laughter. My wife was right..
Who protects whom when they lose in a competitive match?.
Even though he didn't use his inner strength and didn't give his all in that dance..
Still, what you lose is what you lose.
“I lost to that kid. ha ha ha… … . ha ha ha.”
weird. I'm obviously laughing because I'm happy, but tears are coming out..
Laughter slowly turns into crying.
Even though I try to hold back, there is no way to stop the tears from flowing helplessly..
“Yak ice. That kid... … I mean.”
Baek Mu-heun gritted his teeth and muttered while holding back his tears..
“I said it wasn't my fault. He said it wasn't my fault you died, and it wasn't my fault you were born weak..”
-Until now, I thought it was your fault.?
“of course. If you hadn't met me, you wouldn't have died so quickly. And that kid too…….”
His wife spoke for him what he could not bear to say..
-You mean you were never born? I'm serious.?
“I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. That's not what I meant..”
-I was truly happy to meet you. What was the point of living a few more years of misery??
Yao Bing is dead.
The voice I hear in my head right now is an auditory hallucination I created, and in a way, it is a deception..
-The same goes for my son. You heard what I said earlier, right? I'm all grown up now.
But it's comforting.
“That's right. When did you grow up like that?…….”
-Now leave our embrace and let me do what I want..
“Hehehe…….”
The tears he had been holding back poured out, and Baek Mu-heun began to cry like a child..
So, he cried there for a long time..
“Phew…….”
After pouring out everything, Baek Mu-heun finally calmed down and felt much lighter..
-What are you going to do now? Since you don’t have a son to look after you, are you going to get a cage??
Baek Mu-heun smiled as he remembered his wife's clear voice..
“What is a birdcage? I'm thinking of learning martial arts that I haven't been able to learn properly..”
A red sunset was cast over the training ground, where the sun had already set..
Baek Mu-heun stood lightly holding a sword beneath him..
“Phew…….”
Today, I practiced the Hoifunggeombeop, which I have been practicing without missing a day for decades..
But something was different now.
Following his gesture, dust rose up from the training ground, and the leaves that had fallen on the ground rose into the sky in a spiral shape following the whirlwind..
His sword became infinitely free..
How much time has passed.
Baek Moo-heun, who had used all of the techniques of Hoe-pung Sword Technique, stopped in his tracks..
-congratulation.
“……Thank you.”
Baek Mu-heun, with a calm smile on his lips, looked at his sword..
Even though I wasn't conscious of it, there was a clear sword energy on the sword..
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