Vol 4 Chapter 43

His master's opinion was that if this was the result when they tried to contact Seung-jo, what would happen if he contacted him alone, while his master's wife's opinion was that she would keep trying to contact him first and connect him to Mu-heon when she succeeded. He had tried to persuade them little by little for weeks, but it was of no use, so today he had to settle it somehow.

Words are often useless if not said at that moment, at that time. He thought it was similar to an expiration date. If things continued like this, he felt that the already seemingly passed expiration date would be almost discarded due to the accumulating years and increasing periods.

He resolutely raised his head and looked at his master and his wife, putting strength into the hands neatly placed on his knees.

"Jeong Seung-jo and I never had a chance to directly express our opinions to each other after that. I know you're worried about me, but if this is delayed any further, I think we might never have the chance to talk face to face in our lifetime. If I want to live without shame in my future life, and for him to live that way too, I think we need to meet again at least once. So please... help me."

As he finished speaking, bowing his waist and head while tightly clenching his hands on his knees until he felt his nails digging in, he felt blood rushing to his face, perhaps because he had spoken with such tension that his voice trembled.

"..."

How long had he been waiting with his head bowed in the living room where an icy silence had fallen? Just as it seemed like it would continue to be frozen like that, he raised his head in surprise at the sensation of his master's wife embracing him tightly but gently, as if he were still a child. Then he heard his master's voice, who had turned his head away.

"You probably know this, but... we think of you as both your parents' child and our child."

"...Yes."

They had taught and raised him so preciously that when he was young, he actually thought he had four parents. Even after learning that wasn't the case, his love and trust for these two had never been less than for his biological parents.

For about two years after the accident, he had avoided going out because he didn't want to show his miserable appearance to his master and his wife, but even when he avoided them, they never forgot to leave messages and contact him.

In fact, he already knew that even when his master had given up trying to help with his rehabilitation exercises and picking up the sword again, it was because it was difficult for them to see him hurt and afraid of a problem that couldn't be solved further.

"Then you know, Mu-heon. How could we stop you from doing what you really want?"

At that moment, he felt a sharp pain deep in his chest.

"We've grown old and worried unnecessarily, forgetting what's really important. I'm sorry."

"Ma'am..."

"Mu-heon. We don't know why you went there at that time, or what you talked about with Seung-jo. But we thought it wasn't right for you to approach him first, even if you had good intentions to save him and had an accident, when he ran away without saying a word. We didn't say it, but we were as angry as your parents, and we were scared too. We were worried about what would happen if you... ended up like that again..."

"Dear."

As his master called to his wife as if to soothe her trembling voice, she calmed her trembling after a moment and continued speaking calmly.

"But you're right. Everything has its time, both talking and meeting... things become difficult if it's not the right time."

Her quiet voice reached his ears. After gently patting his back, his master's wife released the embrace, and his master coughed a few times as if choked, then made a gesture to his wife and casually lifted his teacup to cover his mouth.

"Ahem. ...I was already getting angry at constantly contacting that stubborn guy. Fine, I'll give you what you want, but know that even you will get a spanking if you don't resolve this cleanly. Understand?"

Resolving it cleanly... he wasn't sure about that...

"Yes... Thank you."

As he bowed his head two, three times, he closed his eyes to calm his mind, tumultuous with thoughts about the unspoken feelings of the two and about Jeong Seung-jo.

The man was lying on the sofa with his eyes covered. No sound could be heard around him. This had become his daily routine lately - lying like this, impulsively logging into the game, wandering around aimlessly while postponing what he had to do there, and then logging out again due to the unrelenting chest pain.

"Ugh..."

He got up with difficulty, frowning, and unconsciously glanced out the window, only then realizing it was daytime. The sky was surprisingly clear and cold.

"Today is..."

The man was about to ask what day it was, but he closed his mouth, surprised by his own voice that sounded hoarse even to himself. However, the computer faithfully recognized its task even at that small voice and displayed the current date and time. It was just past noon.

The man approached the refrigerator and poured cold water to drink, showing no reaction even after seeing his haggard face reflected in the glass window. As the cool liquid moved down his throat, he finally felt like he was coming to his senses.

"Any missed calls since yesterday?"

[ There are 7 missed voice call attempts. 1 voice message exists. ]

"Open the voice message list."

[ Opening the voice message list. ...There is 1 voice message from 'Cheongui-gwan Master'. ]

For a moment, the man's eyes widened and then turned icy cold.

"...Play it."

[ Playing the voice message. ..."Seung-jo. Even if you don't want to meet, you two must meet at least once. These aren't my words, but Mu-heon's. We won't contact you anymore after this. But let me make one last request. First, understand that you two haven't even had the chance to understand each other yet." ...Playback complete. ]