1158 - Childhood Friend of the Zenith

“......" Gulp. I swallowed my dry spit. Seeing my father appear had that effect on me. And furthermore. 'Why did he bring that person here?' The human who had escaped earlier was now in my father's grasp. It's strange to hear that person is the daughter of this household. Though she dangled and struggled to get free, my father's grip remained unrelenting. "Hey! Let me go!" Gu Seon continued to shout, yet my father showed no change. He simply alternated his gaze between me and Gu Seongyeol with wide eyes. No matter what Gu Seon said, he seemed completely untroubled. Or more precisely, he seemed too preoccupied to pay any mind. "What did you just say?" Gu Cheol-wun spoke with eyes ablaze. His words left both Gu Seongyeol and me speechless. "......Cheol-wun." Jin Yeon-ryeong addressed my father, her gaze directed at him with astonished eyes. "......I greet my mother." In response to that gaze, my father gave Jin Yeon-ryeong a formal courtesy. "I couldn't visit right away due to some matters, but upon hearing about your collapse, I came as quickly as I could..." My father's eyes grew sharp, and he turned his gaze to look at me. "I don't quite understand what I just heard, Head of the Household." A hint of sharp emotion flickered in his voice. At that moment, "What’s so hard to understand?" Gu Seon, still clutching my father’s hand, chimed in. "You heard it all, didn’t you? Apparently, we have another sibling now. After hearing everything, why are you asking again—? Kyahh!" Gu Seon screamed. "It hurts! It huuurts!! I'm sorryyy!!" It seemed my father was tightening his grip on her neck. As she began to apologize, her screams gradually subsided. "Ughhhh......" "Head of the Household." Ignoring Gu Seon's cry, my father turned to Gu Seongyeol. "Is what I heard true?" "......" Gu Seongyeol couldn't bring himself to respond to my father's question. A simple denial would have sufficed. Yet, he couldn't do so likely because... 'He knows my circumstances...' In addition to my being his son's child... '...and the glare from his grandmother.' The look Jin Yeon-ryeong gave him clearly said she wouldn’t tolerate anything but the truth. It's a classic case of being caught between a rock and a hard place. Even if he felt wronged, Gu Seongyeol couldn’t answer properly. And so, the one troubled by this was none other than myself. 'Blasted old man...' I resented Gu Yoon. Why couldn't he have left well enough alone instead of creating such a tangled mess? Just as frustration began to overwhelm me, Gu Seongyeol exhaled deeply and spoke up. "......It's true." In the end, he admitted it. It seemed he couldn't deny it any longer. "That boy is my child..." Gu Seongyeol said with closed eyes. Despite the evident sense of injustice, he seemed to have no choice. "......" My father's gaze pierced through me. What he was thinking behind those fiery eyes was inscrutable. "No wonder." When Gu Seongyeol confessed, the shackled Gu Seon spoke up, looking at me. "Those insolent eyes, they looked like they belonged to our family. I thought something was off from the start. The fierce look in your eyes is just like our Head of the Household. Aaaah!" Her words stretched out into another scream. This is driving me insane. "Baek Yangcheon." My father halted his tormenting of Gu Seon and called for me. "Yes, Deputy Leader." "Did you know?" "Yes, well..." With Gu Seongyeol having acknowledged it, I had nothing left to say and simply agreed. "So that’s why you came to Shanxi?" "That’s...also correct." It was true I had business with the Gu family, albeit not this type of matter. "......" Gu Cheol-wun took in my answer quietly. Thud! "Ugh...!" He let go of Gu Seon, who grunted while clutching her neck, now finally free. “Aow... His grip’s really strong for real...” Just as Gu Seon was about to complain, my father made a slight movement. "Eek! I’m sorry!" Her startled reaction came swiftly, but my father merely turned his back to us. "I need time to think. I will come back later to complete the rest of the greetings." With a swift movement enveloped in flames, he vanished. Gu Seongyeol did not attempt to stop him. "Cheol-wun..." Only Jin Yeon-ryeong watched her son with pitying eyes, before turning her sharp gaze towards Gu Seongyeol. "...we need to talk." "......" At her chilly tone, Gu Seongyeol rubbed his forehead. "Young Master Baek, I'm sorry, but could we continue this conversation tomorrow? I think I need some time to talk with someone..." "...Ah, understood." It was a relief for me. Standing in this tense atmosphere was exhausting. While nothing had been resolved, things were moving forward, and fleeing now seemed like the best course of action. "It's probably a good idea to move you to a different place to stay. I’ll arrange for someone to guide you." "Ah, no. I’m perfectly comfortable where I currently am..." "Then I can guide him! I'll do it, Mother!" Gu Seon beamed and raised her hand enthusiastically. Jin Yeon-ryeong seemed dubious but relented. "...Alright, Seon-ah. Will you please handle it?" "Sure, you know I’m great at stuff like this." "..." Decision made without my say. “Let’s go, sibling.” Gu Seon grabbed me by the wrist and started leading me away. I could have resisted, but I chose to let myself be led by her. “Come on in.” “Yes...” I wasn’t equipped to endure the pending confrontation between Jin Yeon-ryeong and Gu Seongyeol. * * * We left the infirmary and walked along a path leading slightly uphill. I knew exactly where it was heading. ‘...the residence my mother lived in.’ The residence where my mother and I had lived briefly in my past life. We seemed to be heading there. After walking silently for a while, she suddenly stopped. “I’m sorry.” “......?” Gu Seon suddenly apologized to me. "What?" "For picking a fight out of nowhere. I'm sorry." "All of a sudden?" I was taken aback because she didn’t seem like the type to ever apologize. Oh, so she can apologize too? It was rather surprising. "I lied about thinking you were an intruder. Honestly, I thought Mother brought home another guy." "...What do you mean?" Jin Yeon-ryeong bringing home another man? That sounded ominous. "Recently, she’s been looking at guys to marry me off. I thought you might be one of them." "...Ah." Thankfully, it wasn’t the chaotic scenario I had initially feared. 'Wait a minute...' A thought crossed my mind. When I first met Jin Yeon-ryeong... '...her questions were a bit...' She had inquired about family relations, trying to confirm something even when I asked her why. 'Goodness, could that be it?' If that's the case, it's quite eerie. "I'm just so tired of it all. I figured it’d be easier to ruin it before it even starts." "Is that why you did that to me...? What if I got hurt?" "You didn’t seem like you’d get hurt. And you didn’t, did you?" "..." Was her intuition perceptive, or was she just reckless? There wasn't much to ponder. "I thought you were one of those guys. But what’s going on? Turns out you’re my little brother. How marvelous." "...Why am I the younger one?" "How old are you?" "...Old enough." "Don’t be silly. I heard from Brother you’re of age. So, I’m the older sister." "..." When did she find out about that? Damn. "I always thought having a younger sibling would be nice... but now that I do, it’s a bit troublesome. You look too much like Father. Just like him." "...Do I really look that similar?" "Go check your reflection in the pond. You wouldn’t be able to tell who is who." "..." "If I have to say, generally..." Gu Seon looked at me and spoke. "I didn't think Father would do such a thing. I wanted to believe he wouldn't with Mother around, but seeing you... it's undeniable." "..." Damn. That sounded almost like an insult. Do I really look that similar? Resembling that man with the intense glare? 'Well, of course, there's familial resemblance.' Saying I look more like him than Father is oddly unsettling. "Anyway. Let’s get along now that things have turned out this way. Oh, do you have any interest in the head position? That's a bit troubling." "...No." "Good. My brother isn’t very human-like. Competing against him would just tire you out for nothing." "..." Listening to Gu Seon, a sudden curiosity arose. "Aren’t you bothered by all this?" "By what?” "That an illegitimate child has suddenly appeared." “...Should I feel something about it?” "...Normally, yes." Gu Seon chuckled at my words. "They’ll handle it." "What?" "Looking at you, it doesn’t seem like things will fall apart. It’s just Father who’ll be wrecked. Brother seems thoughtful, but it doesn’t concern me much. They’ll sort it out themselves." "..." "I don’t particularly dislike you or anything. You just seemed a bit pitiful. But not all that pitiful... just that’s how it is." She was indifferent to a fault. She seemed like someone who lived life as it came, never overthinking. In a way, it appeared as though she had a wide perspective. "We're here." Gu Seon stopped. Ahead was the living quarters. It was precisely the place I thought it would be. "Stay here. Whether you continue to stay or not is up to you." "..." "Oh, Mother said she wants to have breakfast with everyone tomorrow morning. I’ve conveyed the message, so I’m off." Gu Seon patted my back before strolling away while whistling. "What a truly peculiar person." Out of everyone I’d met recently, she was surely the most bizarre. They say I am the only normal one among the Gu family bloodline, but she seemed exceptionally odd even among them. '…Tsk.' Only after Gu Seon vanished did I run my hand through my hair. 'What a mess.' Things got tangled. I had merely intended to keep to myself and complete what I needed to do. Somehow, I ended up being declared the child of my grandfather. 'Quite the headache.' Matters kept getting more complicated with deeper involvement accumulating. '...I must act quickly.' Procrastinating might lead to even more bewildering tangles later on. To avoid that, I'll need to wrap things up as quickly as possible. 'I must also deal with matters on the front.' With even the classified instructions given, I must address those quickly too. Contemplating such, I walked towards the living quarters. 'First, a bit of rest...' I planned on beginning to move by the following morning. Given Jin Yeon-ryeong's words as well, a break was first and foremost. That was the intention as I entered, but then— Halt. '...What is that?' I sensed something. Turning around, I saw— "Huh?" There was a somewhat unkempt pond in the residence. Someone stood by it, and upon closer inspection... "Lady Hyun...?" It was Hyun Soyeon. Why is she here? She had her head tilted upward towards the sky by the pond. Following her gaze, the only thing visible was the moon. What’s going on? "Lady Hyun, what are you doing there?" Puzzled, I asked again. Only then did Hyun Soyeon turn to look at me. I widened my eyes in surprise. "......" Her eyes, as they looked at me, were different. 'What is this...?' They were blue. Hyun Soyeon's eyes shone with an unusual shade of blue. And within them was... '...Lightning energy?' It was unmistakably the qi of lightning.