Things You Must Never Dare Touch (1)
Look at this bastard.
Those annoyingly reddened cheeks, those annoyingly trembling eyes, that annoyingly averted gaze.
Judging by the behavior of that handsome bastard, it was obvious at a glance that he had fallen in love at first sight.
And no wonder. Wi Seol-a, with her slightly damp hair and anxious gaze, was devastatingly attractive.
Unless one was a worldly sophisticate hardened by the passage of years, or someone who had layered cultivation in the Daoist or Buddhist traditions upon themselves, she possessed the dangerous beauty to break through one’s walls and burrow straight into one’s heart in an instant.
Even I felt light-headed, so how could that bastard possibly endure it? In the end, he had been conquered by Wi Seol-a in a single blow.
“Tsk.”
Not knowing what was going on, Wi Seol-a looked at me with vacant eyes.
I was inexplicably displeased, so I pulled Wi Seol-a toward me and drew her farther behind me.
Seeing that, Gu Jeol-yeop hurriedly schooled his expression—as befitted a member of the clan—but there was nothing he could do about his reddened cheeks.
The Elder beside him also failed to hide the twitching corners of his mouth as he stared at Gu Jeol-yeop.
‘Look at him desperately holding back his urge to tease him.’
He really was one ill-tempered old man.
“Ahem! Ahem!”
Perhaps the atmosphere had grown awkward, because Gu Jeol-yeop repeatedly cleared his throat. Not that it seemed likely to improve the mood.
“L-Let me say it again. I, Gu Jeol-yeop, request a spar with a blood relative of the main family.”
‘Look him in the eye when you talk, you bastard….’
His gaze kept subtly drifting toward Wi Seol-a. It was completely obvious. I waved my hand dismissively, making it clear that he should go back.
“What spar? I’m not interested, so go on home.”
Anyone could see that this was going to be a troublesome affair. Showing up out of the blue to demand a spar wasn’t exactly a polite thing to do, either.
If anything, it was closer to an act of blatant disrespect.
I had plenty of justification for refusing. Perhaps displeased by my attitude, Gu Jeol-yeop’s tone changed.
“Are you afraid?”
“Yes, terribly afraid.”
“You are still so weak. To run away over something as trivial as this….”
“Yes, yes, I’m terribly weak. Of course. Naturally.”
I employed the technique of letting words go in one ear and out the other, and Gu Jeol-yeop’s eyes began to twitch more and more violently. His breathing had grown rough; he looked rather furious.
So what are you going to do about it? I said I wasn’t going to spar.
A relative who had come to the main family first thing in the morning to demand a spar—by any reasonable standard, I was in the right.
Perhaps reaching his limit, the panting man was approached by the Elder, who asked him,
“Jeol-yeop, why are you insisting on a spar? Is it perhaps because of the First Elder?”
‘The First Elder?’
Gu Jeol-yeop flinched at the Elder’s question, but did not answer.
Still, the words I gleaned from Gu Jeol-yeop’s silence were sufficient as an answer.
‘So it’s just some pathetic political maneuvering.’
So that was why this had suddenly happened.
‘I really shouldn’t have caused a stir by sparring with Gu Yeon-seo.’
Everyone in the clan knew that the First Elder was ambitious. Even so, the reason the main family could do nothing about his ambition was none other than me.
A blood relative of the main family with a lowly disposition and no talent.
Someone woefully unqualified to become the clan head simply because he was the eldest son. To make matters worse, he was the son of a concubine.
The First Elder’s ambition had been a sort of contingency plan for the clan. He had steadily sought to turn that contingency into certainty.
But that contingency had begun to waver.
All because I had defeated Gu Yeon-seo in a spar.
Most people dismissed it as nothing more than a stroke of luck, but the ripple of uncertainty that followed could not have pleased the First Elder.
“So that’s why you’re resorting to such childish tricks.”
Feeling disgusted, I was about to ignore them and return to the training hall when the Elder spoke to me.
“He came all this way, so why not indulge him once?”
When I looked at the Elder after hearing that ridiculous suggestion, his face was filled with the two characters ‘interest.’ He seemed to be plotting something strange again.
“Elder, do you want me to get beaten and end up sprawled on the ground? Why do you keep doing this to me?”
The Elder slowly looked back and forth between Gu Jeol-yeop and me, then laughed as he spoke.
“This old man does not think you will be laid out on the ground so easily, Yang Cheon.”
What a sly old snake.
I glared at Gu Jeol-yeop.
Even from our brief exchange of glances, I could tell.
‘This is going to be difficult.’
There was no doubt about it. This irritating bastard was stronger than Gu Yeon-seo.
I lacked the means to accurately gauge the amount of energy he possessed or the level of his martial arts, but—
My instincts were telling me so.
Gu Yeon-seo probably possessed more internal energy and greater proficiency in martial arts.
But that did not mean Gu Yeon-seo was stronger.
It was precisely because of that difference that I had been able to evade Gu Yeon-seo’s attacks and defeat her.
“Regardless, I’m not sparring. I don’t want to get caught up in some tiresome political maneuvering.”
At that, the Elder pushed out his lips as though disappointed.
Seeing an old man as massive as a mountain make that expression was slightly—no, extremely—unnerving.
Gu Jeol-yeop also pouted when things failed to go his way. The expression suited his disagreeable face perfectly.
Then he spoke to Wi Seol-a.
“And you, standing beside him—are you a servant of the main family?”
He did not stammer, but he could not hide the slight tremor in his voice. At Gu Jeol-yeop’s words, Wi Seol-a, wrapped in a blanket, tilted her head.
Gu Jeol-yeop staggered as though he had been struck hard.
Why was that bastard suddenly sparring with himself?
“That’s right! I’m a servant!”
At Wi Seol-a’s answer, Gu Jeol-yeop straightened his wavering body. Then he looked at me and said,
“Miss, rather than serve such a weakling, why not come with me? I can treat you far better in a much better environment.”
What the hell kind of fucked-up proposition was that supposed to be?
How exactly was he planning to treat her better? Perhaps he was embarrassed by his own words, because his cheeks were growing redder by the moment, which only irritated me further.
Even I thought this was going too far, so I cut him off to intervene.
“What kind of bullshit—”
“I like Young Master.”
It was the first time since my regression that I had heard such a firm tone from Wi Seol-a. The Elder, Gu Jeol-yeop, and I all stared at her in surprise.
“I don’t want to go to anyone except Young Master.”
My chest gave a sharp pang at her words.
‘…This is bad.’
This was a bad situation. I rubbed my chest frantically with one hand. It was definitely a bad situation.
This was a curse different from the one the Heavenly Demon had placed on me—perhaps even a more vicious one.
I had thought I had escaped it through death, but it could not happen again now that things had come to this.
Wi Seol-a was looking at me. What emotion filled her eyes? One thing I knew for certain was that I could not look into those eyes for too long.
I shifted my gaze to Gu Jeol-yeop. Perhaps he had been shaken more than he let on, because he could no longer maintain his composed expression.
I felt sour.
I let out a deep sigh and rose from my seat. Dragging my stiff body along, I walked past Gu Jeol-yeop.
“Follow me. I’ll give you your damn spar.”
From behind me came a strange sound—“Oh!” I did not need to look to know it had come from the Elder.
Gu Jeol-yeop ground his teeth, then followed me. Perhaps he was happy to have someone to vent his anger on.
‘Why do I always get dragged into troublesome situations?’
Why else? Because I always go and cause them myself. Right! That was it.
…Fuck.
******************
“Should I not have done this?”
That was the thought that came to me the moment I entered the training hall for the spar. Why did I always regret things only after I had already done them?
I had never liked myself.
Crack, crack—
As I loosened my body from side to side, every joint gave a sound. While stretching, I asked the Elder, who was watching me strangely,
“Why did you tell me to spar with him?”
“This old man did not. You, Yang Cheon, said you would.”
“Didn’t you suggest it in the first place? And you came along without trying to stop me, acting pleased about it. That makes you partly responsible too.”
I had simply thrown the Elder’s own words back at him—the same words he had said to me after I had beaten the Peng bastard senseless at the Nine Dragons Gathering.
Perhaps recognizing that, the Elder laughed heartily.
“Yes! You are right. It is partly this old man’s fault.”
“So why did you suggest it to me?”
[Because of the First Elder.]
Perhaps it was not a pleasant subject, because the Elder used Transmitted Voice to speak to me. It had been a long time since I had heard Transmitted Voice, and perhaps because of that, my head began to ache slightly.
“What do you mean?”
My current self was not capable of replying through Transmitted Voice, so I answered aloud with sheer nerve. The Elder looked dumbfounded.
[No, even if you cannot use Transmitted Voice, shouldn’t you at least answer more discreetly?]
“It doesn’t matter anyway, does it?”
…Ugh.
The Elder let out a small groan.
[The First Elder is an ambitious man. You already know that to some extent, do you not? A certain degree of ambition is acceptable, but using even his own bloodline to achieve it does not seem beneficial to the clan.]
As the Elder had said, this spar was clearly one move in a political game.
If I lost here, Gu Jeol-yeop’s standing in the clan would rise. Conversely, if Gu Jeol-yeop lost to me—
‘The damage would be enormous.’
From Gu Jeol-yeop’s perspective, it was something he could not even imagine.
The reason the First Elder had sent him to me despite knowing that, forcing him to do something so unreasonable, was probably because he believed Gu Jeol-yeop could never lose.
‘He’s simply growing desperate.’
I could not understand why the First Elder had resorted to such a clumsy and unreasonable scheme.
Was there some reason for him to be in such a hurry? I listened quietly to the Elder, then spoke again.
“…Hmm. Since I’m going through all this trouble, shouldn’t I get something out of it too?”
[What did you say…?]
“If I beat that bastard, grant me one request.”
[If you win, why should this old man grant you a request…?]
“If you refuse, I’ll roll around on the floor and deliberately lose right now.”
[You spout the strangest things. Having come all the way here, if you, Yang Cheon, lose, it will leave a blemish on your future prospects of becoming clan head….]
“Elder, you keep assuming that I want to become clan head.”
Having more or less finished stretching, I rotated my wrists as I approached Gu Jeol-yeop.
“I have no particular desire to become clan head.”
[…!]
The Elder swallowed a startled breath at my shocking declaration. Had everyone assumed that I wanted to become clan head?
‘That kind of ambition was left behind in my previous life.’
I repeated the thought inwardly. Was it ambition? Or was it because I believed the position too far beyond my abilities? No. It was simply because it was useless to me.
What exactly was a clan head? What did one have to carry in their heart to live as one?
My current self knew all too well—so well that it was nauseating.
“Have you finished warming up?”
“More or less.”
Gu Jeol-yeop greeted me with a wooden sword in hand. As expected, seeing him face-to-face made it even clearer.
This bastard was far stronger than Gu Yeon-seo.
As we prepared for the spar, Gu Jeol-yeop suddenly apologized.
“I feel sorry toward the First Young Master.”
“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”
“Last year, I went too far in our spar.”
“Have we already fought?”
“We have. You were bedridden for a month because of it.”
You were bedridden for that long…? Why didn’t I remember that?
“You are too weak, First Young Master.”
“Now you’re insulting me, too.”
“I heard that you defeated the Second Young Lady, but that was merely a coincidence.”
“Right, I think so too.”
“However, my grandfather does not seem to think so. That is the problem.”
“Right, right. I think so too.”
At my answer, Gu Jeol-yeop narrowed his eyes at me like a flounder. Damn it, had he realized I was answering without really listening?
Gu Jeol-yeop quickly shook his head from side to side, then continued.
“I do not wish to bully the weak, but I dislike the thought of a weakling becoming clan head even more.”
“You do realize you’re saying that directly to a member of the clan head’s direct line, right?”
It was a dangerously reckless thing to say.
Whoosh!
Heat brushed across my cheek. It was radiating from Gu Jeol-yeop. It was different from the Nine Flame Wheel Technique, which was passed down only through the direct line of the clan head.
The cultivation method Gu Jeol-yeop had inherited was the All-First Flame Technique.
It likewise contained heat, but unlike the destructive power gained from the Nine Flame Wheel Technique, it was a profound art that emphasized compression and speed.
‘His martial arts… three-star?’
His level appeared to be on par with Gu Yeon-seo. The scorching heat pouring from Gu Jeol-yeop clearly said as much. Ah, should I just concede now?
[About what you said earlier.]
As though he had been waiting for this moment, the Elder’s Transmitted Voice reached me.
[If you win this spar, this old man swears on his name that he will grant your request.]
‘At this rate, conceding won’t be so easy.’
…This was always how things ended up for me.
With a resignation that was not quite resignation, I began circulating the Nine Flame Wheel Technique within me as well.
The cultivation method beginning to circulate through my body slowly pushed back Gu Jeol-yeop’s internal energy.
A strange light appeared in Gu Jeol-yeop’s eyes.
“Elder.”
It was Gu Jeol-yeop who called out to the Elder.
“Why do you call me?”
“If I take victory in this spar, there is something I wish to gain as well.”
This bastard must have heard what we were saying earlier.
He had sharp ears, at least….
The Elder glanced at me, then answered Gu Jeol-yeop.
“Very well. The conditions should be equal. What is it that you want, Jeol-yeop?”
Only then did Gu Jeol-yeop point at something with his hand.
There stood Wi Seol-a, discreetly slipping a medicinal sweet into her mouth.
“I want that servant.”
What filled Gu Jeol-yeop’s eyes was unmistakably desire. It might not have been mere lust, but rather something closer to obsession.
But hearing him say it now was—
“Haha.”
—really fucking disgusting.
“You fucking bastard.”
The next moment, I felt something inside me snap cleanly in two.