WWD 20

Chapter 20: Flower Meets Flower

“Hey.”

Seohyo had never kissed anyone before.

She didn’t want her first kiss to be wasted so trivially.

“I’ll drink the penalty shot!”

“Huh? No, you can’t. Absolutely not.”

Everyone reacted in shock, trying to stop her.

“Taking consecutive penalty shots is troublesome. It ruins the mood.”

“It would have been fine if it were the one after next, but since it’s immediately next, there’s no way.”

Who even made these rules?

Why do you all get to set rules amongst yourselves?

She wanted to at least know what she was getting into.

While Seohyo was thinking about how to get out of it politely, someone placed a long card on the table and spun it with a flourish.

It spun with such momentum, but only for a moment.

The side marked with the penalty stopped pointing at one person. It seemed they were to choose a partner to perform the penalty with.

The person smiling as they received everyone’s applause was an actor from the troupe, fairly handsome and refined.

Over the past few days, whenever the drinking mood got lively, he’d perform on a section of the yard as a makeshift stage.

Switching from a heroic, larger-than-life character to a stunning beauty in a flash, he kept Seohyo entertained despite her fatigue.

He was talented enough that Ahee could proudly parade him around.

Yes, it was impressive. And okay, he was undeniably the most handsome among Ahee’s group.

Seohyo didn’t know what to say to the young man who smiled at her.

“That doesn’t mean I’m going to kiss you!”

The young man filled a cup and moved it next to Seohyo. He clearly had no idea what kind of game this was.

In fact, no one at the table seemed to care much.

They only squealed and screamed in delight.

“I’m sorry, but I really don’t want this. Can I not drink the penalty twice? Or could we replace it with something else?”

“Oh my, Seohyo. Aren’t you satisfied? I’m a bit hurt,” the young man said dramatically, hand on his chest.

“Don’t worry. Just stay still.”

“I’m not worried—”

“I won’t tangle my tongue or anything,” he added.

Tangle… his tongue?

While Seohyo raised her eyebrows in disbelief, everyone else cheered. They called his name repeatedly, urging him to carry out the penalty.

She looked at Ahee, hoping for intervention, but Ahee just seemed puzzled about what the problem was.

Seohyo tried to stand abruptly, but the young man pulled her back down.

“Don’t run away. Now, stay still.”

The alcohol in the cup disappeared into his mouth.

With a smiling face, he leaned slowly toward Seohyo. She tried to rise, but he was surprisingly strong, and she couldn’t pull her arm free.

No… he’s getting closer. Is my first kiss going to be carried off with the alcohol?

Seohyo twisted her body as much as she could and squeezed her eyes shut.

Then she covered her mouth with her hands. She couldn’t help it if the atmosphere became awkward.

“Seohyo, take your hands away.”

“Where do you think you’re cutely escaping?”

Since the young man had alcohol in his mouth and couldn’t speak, someone nearby called out the rule violation. As if expecting this, he lowered her hands.

Now she couldn’t move at all.

Closer… closer… touching.

At that moment—

“Kyaa!”

Someone shrieked sharply.

Seohyo, still expecting the kiss to happen, opened one eye. Before she could open the other, she gasped in shock.

It was Cha-eon.

She didn’t know when he had arrived, but he had stepped between them, twisting the young man’s hair and snapping his neck back.

He was drawing in the alcohol from the young man’s mouth.

Like someone in the group had said, not a drop would be left. The young man, caught off guard, could do nothing.

Seohyo could see the young man’s Adam’s apple bobbing clearly.

“Wow… that’s a lot of alcohol.”

Was it the sheer amount he held, or had time itself stopped?

Seohyo stared, dumbfounded, at the scene unfolding before her.

“Pfft!”

The moment Cha-eon released his lips, the young man gasped for air as if he hadn’t breathed in ages.

It was over.

Cha-eon roughly let go of his hair, wiped his wet lips on his sleeve, and scanned the crowd.

No one dared to speak under the ice-cold glare that said, try to argue with me.

Instead, they clapped.

Clap clap clap.

Voices cheered and celebrated the unexpected scene. Someone even blew a horn.

“Cha-eon, you’re the best! Incredible!”

“Cha-eon, Cha-eon, turns out you’re quite the character!”

“I never imagined this, haha!”

Their laughter almost seemed dangerous.

‘Hey, guys. Just because it’s exciting and entertaining, is that enough?’

Seohyo blinked, staring at Ahee’s group in bewilderment.

Meanwhile, Cha-eon, the one who had caused all this, looked as if every shred of his patience had evaporated. His eyes sharpened, and a cold aura that made his coat flutter radiated from him as he disappeared.

Frozen for a moment, Seohyo followed him after a brief pause.

She only thought about not leaving her butler alone.

Where is he? How far has he gone?

No matter how far he disappeared inside the modest house, Seohyo found him at the willow-shaded well.

Cha-eon was bent over, violently retching.

It was as if he might throw up his own insides. If the young man had seen him, he would doubt whether he truly was that disgusting.

Nothing else could be done.

The butler skipped dinner, claiming he couldn’t handle the smell of oil.

After drinking the cold well water, he sighed as if the ground beneath him had caved in. It wasn’t despair or disgust, just irritation.

Seohyo considered sticking a sign on her forehead saying, I’m the sinner, but simply approached. Heaven and earth knew this was all her fault for trying to console Ahee, lonely a hundred years ago.

Ahee had only been sad that one day, but Seohyo had jumped to conclusions.

That day marked the beginning of the two goddesses’ bond.

A bond that would resurface every now and then to drain all her energy.

Yes, Cha-eon must know this. There was no need to remind him; it would only fuel his anger.

Seohyo hesitantly spoke.

“…Ahee leaves in three days.”

“Three days? I should be gone from this land in the time it takes to breathe three times,” Cha-eon said, staring at the void before turning to her.

“You didn’t want your reputation to be sullied, whether by choice or not. I need to correct myself. I was foolish.”

A gleam shot from his eyes.

“I should have been more selective in my desires.”

He even muttered ‘Should I wipe it out?’

A storm, a lightning strike, overturning the earth, throwing it to the ends of hell…

Seeing him contemplate such things, Seohyo realized now was the time to be cautious.

Our butler only knows how to choke people…

He was furious enough to crave power he didn’t have.

Seohyo stayed quietly by his side, waiting for his anger to subside. Thanks to his bold action, she could finally escape.

It was something to be grateful for.

Yet, the image that kept spinning in her mind refused to leave. Eyes closed or open, she couldn’t get it out of her head.

Cha-eon, kissing someone.

Technically it was the penalty, but his actions were deeply imprinted in her memory.

Wet lips, the hint of red, the wrist exposed when he wiped his mouth with his sleeve…

It all struck her with strange intensity.

Seohyo’s gaze unconsciously lingered on him.

She had never imagined Cha-eon kissing anyone, let alone so forcefully pushing it.

She remembered a similar startling moment from returning from Yahwaru before.

‘Pressed against the wall, lifted high until you gasp.’

He had said it without changing expression.

‘You know what I mean?’

The cold yet composed Cha-eon was completely different in that moment. Thinking of it made Seohyo feel a strange flutter.

“Such reckless behavior in the name of safety…”

The distance was short.

One step, then another, and she was by his side. Observing him still simmering with anger, Seohyo instinctively reached out.

To the lips she couldn’t stop thinking about.

Her slender fingers touched his moist lips.

“…Miss?”

They were soft, slightly cold, and smooth.

So this was the feeling.

The lips she had almost reached at Yahwaru, belonging to Cha-eon, felt like this.

Her vision blurred, and she immersed herself in the sensation. Strange, yet not unpleasant.

Just a little more.

The inexplicable yearning…

“I drank the penalty myself.”

“Mm.”

“Do you realize how dangerous this situation is?”

“Perhaps,” Cha-eon said in a low voice.

“Flower meets flower… I thought the name was funny, but surely, if it’s you, you’re a flower indeed.”

“Eh?”

Seohyo snapped back to reality.

She realized she was about to slip her finger into Cha-eon’s mouth and hurriedly withdrew it. Heat surged through her, and she couldn’t lift her head.

What on earth was I about to do?

Touching his lips, and then…

Had Cha-eon not spoken, she didn’t know how far she would have gone. She was flustered and didn’t know where to look.

“Ah, maybe the alcohol is hitting me.”

There was no time to apologize. She mumbled that she had to leave and quickly departed.

She wished the god of wind would help her escape faster and farther, or even the god of night and darkness to hide her flushed face from Cha-eon.

Crazy, crazy… what was I thinking?

She fled, cheeks burning, leaving Cha-eon behind. A strong sense of déjà vu washed over her.

“Only three cups?”

Cha-eon muttered quietly as she disappeared.

“I saw it. I really saw it.”

Seohyo, folding towels, looked up at the playful voice of the festival goddess.

Ahee, unusually awake in the early afternoon, stood smiling in front of Seohyo’s door.

“What did you see?” Seohyo squinted, and Ahee approached.

“It’s loyalty, I’d say—willing to kiss a man for your sake.”

“Oh.”

It was about Cha-eon.

Seohyo couldn’t respond cheerfully; it had been on her mind since last night.

Ahee sat across from her, stifling a laugh.

“I was genuinely surprised. Cha-eon’s expression would terrify anyone, and I was scared stiff, but thanks to our clueless friends, it all worked out.”

Seohyo realized at least Ahee could judge the situation properly.

If it were up to cooking, maybe they’d end up boiled in the cauldron themselves.

Seohyo recalled Cha-eon’s muttering from the previous night, and though she couldn’t entirely deny Ahee’s words, she remembered something about oil and a cauldron.

“Indeed, it was a major ordeal for everyone.”

Seohyo tried to laugh it off, but Ahee kept the topic going.

“So, after marriage, what will you do with Cha-eon?”

“…What do you mean, what will I do?”

A typical sudden question from Ahee.

Seohyo had never considered it before.

Ahee’s eyes sparkled; perhaps this was the real question she wanted to ask.

It was separate from her usual curiosity, and Seohyo’s answer was simple.

“What does my marriage have to do with Cha-eon?”

“Will you continue living together?”

What did she mean by that?

Seohyo paused folding towels, staring at Ahee. She had never imagined living apart from Cha-eon.

There was no reason.

It was just the most natural pairing since the beginning of time.

Recently, she had reconsidered their relationship due to the matter with Lord Ga, worrying if Cha-eon might change.

But she never imagined letting him go.

Why would I separate from Cha-eon?

If we marry, why can’t we live together?

Ahee didn’t get a reply but seemed to gather enough from the silence.

“Think about it. Your husband would be uncomfortable with Cha-eon always sticking to his wife, and Cha-eon would feel your husband might not be enough for you. Could two men under the same roof be peaceful? Answer: no.”

Seohyo’s mind tangled further. Ahee was probing an angle she hadn’t considered.

Her marriage and Cha-eon.

Even though Ahee was twenty years younger, she had already been married.

She couldn’t ignore the advice of someone experienced.

“Did your husband also get uncomfortable with your companions? There are many handsome actors, and plenty of men around Ahee. Did your husband feel that too?”

When Ahee mentioned her husband, Seohyo thought, How could that be the same?

“I spend every day with my companions, but I don’t play with just one. And let’s be clear, Seohyo: among my subordinates, none are as handsome as Cha-eon. He’s the kind of man who makes others wary.”

“Wary…?”

Seohyo repeated slowly, like a child learning to speak.

Ahee nodded enthusiastically.

“You’ve never lived in the capital, have you?”

No, they hadn’t.

The two, who disliked noise and crowds, had lived mostly in rural villages.

“If you take Cha-eon to the capital, it’ll be a disaster,” Ahee said, half teasing.

Seohyo’s pupils trembled.

Yes, he was handsome, always cold, and spoke with a low, deep voice. But she had never considered how others would view him.

His focus was always on her.

That was enough, she believed. A simple, straightforward relationship.

But now, new complications seemed to rise between them.