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After the war, where everyone had been pushed to their limits, they all wanted at least a little distraction from everything that had happened.
And that's how this came about. Surprisingly, Jo Geol proposed the idea, and Tang Soso immediately jumped on it.
Spoiled rich brats.
But in any case, even the Sect Leader and the elders liked it, so they quickly got the green light and permission to move around freely.
"...What is this box supposed to be?"
"It looks weird with all that crooked red paper on it."
"Is there explosives inside?"
Yun Jong rubbed the bridge of his nose and offered up prayers to all the gods. He needed more headache pills.
"You idiots... It's an anonymous confession box for Valentine's Day! Throw in your gifts with a confession note, and with the help of our slave– ahem.. Baek-A, we'll deliver them."
"Oh... But what if my... ahem... crush isn't from our sect?.."
"Good point. What's the point if you can only send gifts within the sect? And where am I supposed to get a gift anyway..."
"What is Valentine's Day?"
Baek Cheon, whose eye was already twitching, stepped forward.
"First, we'll collect all the gifts from the sect, then we'll head to Hwa-eum, where there are enough people from every alliance sect right now, and collect from them as well. Then we'll distribute them to people from the sects so they can pass them along."
"Oh! That's a different story then!"
"Quick, someone get me paper and ink! Ah, where am I supposed to get a gift... Oh! I'll give sweets!"
"..Guys, I forgot how to hold a brush, can someone write for me please."
"Just write the name and sect of who you want to send the gift to!" Please, just try to act even a little bit human.. Baek Cheon's prayers, as always, went ignored.
In the end, they collected just over a quarter of the gifts from everyone. This wasn't surprising– many simply didn't have a significant other, and some had partners who weren't affiliated with any sect. Some even signed their confessions.
"Huh? That's it?" Cheong Myeong looked skeptically at the small pile of gifts. Everything from chocolate to books and... a wild boar? Oh, creative. Wait, is that just a chunk of wood?
It might have seemed huge to others, but for people from Mount Hua, who were used to carrying practically mountains, it was small.
"Well, we'll get about the same amount from each other sect. Besides, we still have to carry this all to Hwa-eum."
"That's the problem. I wanted you all to train, and we're practically going on a leisurely stroll!"
Bastard. You just sit in the cart the whole time anyway...
But no one voiced their thoughts. No need to provoke the devil unnecessarily.
"Hurry up! We need to be back by sunset!"
"Ow! AY! You're not supposed to hit someone for their opinion!"
Everyone ignored Jo Geol and started their journey. The day promised to be quite eventful.
There probably won't be more than a hundred confessions anyway? People in the alliance are very busy right now they hardly have time for this.
* * *
They had never been so wrong.
When the number of confessions and gifts started exceeding three hundred, the Mount Hua disciples– along with the monk Hye Yeon, of course, let him suffer too– began to wonder just what the hell they had gotten themselves into. They'd even been given an entire house just for this.
"Soso, this is for you... from some brat from the Namgung clan."
"Burn it."
"Oh beautiful maiden clad in jade, your eyes are like two big!.."
A sword flew into Jo Geol's cheek, and not even from Tang Soso.
"Sago! I was just joking! Put the sword away!" But he kept laughing despite Tang Soso's murderous glare.
Yun Jong, paying no attention, continued opening letters without gifts. Just love confessions. He tried not to read the contents, but sometimes when the letter wasn't properly folded, his gaze involuntarily slid over the text. Every time, his brow twitched.
They were now sorting through this mountain of various gifts. It felt like it would never end.
"Baek Cheon Dojang."
"...Yes, Hye Yeon."
"...This is for you." The monk, trembling, handed the deputy sect leader a nice-looking book with a piece of paper attached.
Baek Cheon stared blankly at Hye Yeon, who was completely red and whose shoulders were shaking, definitely not from sobbing.
This wasn't the first gift Baek Cheon had received, so he already knew what to expect.
Without hesitation, he threw the 'gift' into the pile they'd set aside to burn later. Each of them had received at least one gift – which wasn't surprising – since they were the most prominent figures in Gangnam.
Even the monk Hye Yeon had received three confessions, he didn't know whether to cry or rejoice. Preferably both at once.
Baek Cheon looked around and didn't spot the familiar short figure. The day was nearing evening, and they were almost done– only distributing them to the sects remained.
"Where the hell did Cheong Myeong disappear to again?"
Yun Jong looked up from his work and nodded toward a figure sitting outside, drinking some kind of wine. When had he even managed to find that?
Baek Cheon frowned. Lately, Cheong Myeong had looked too depressed and distant. But now, it seemed like all the world's worries were pressing down on his shoulders even the empty bottle beside him no longer concerned him.
As soon as Baek Cheon stood up and headed toward the tree where Cheong Myeong was sitting, a voice sounded from behind. The voice of someone who only spoke in the most extreme moments.
"To Cheong Myeung."
"..."
The air seemed to thicken. Everyone abruptly stopped their tasks and looked at Yu Iseol.
"What."
Cheong Myeung instantly, unnoticed by anyone, appeared next to Sago and disinterestedly examined the wrapped chocolate and envelope. Where had this child even managed to get this in such a short time?
"Hm. Looks expensive.. Actually no, it's bitter chocolate, ugh. Who eats this? Even a dog wouldn't touch it. They should've just given wine, I swear to god."
"..."
Before Cheong Myeong could open his mouth again, Baek Cheon snatched the envelope and started reading. As he read, his eyes widened, and his face began to redden, then blue, then green, and finally turned gray. Thankfully the gift was anonymous, otherwise, he would've gone and thrown the sender off Mount Hua right then and there.
"Sasuk, move aside." Before the Five Swords could approach, all their faces went blank. When Tang Soso started pulling arm-length needles from her sleeves, Yun Jong quickly stopped her.
At the same time, Hye Yeon and Jo Geol were trying to hold back Yu Iseol, who was climbing out the window with the determination to kill the bastard.
Cheong Myeong looked at them all with a gaze full of disgust and pulled the gift from Baek Cheon's hands. The note didn't specify the exact name of the sender, but it mentioned the Tang Clan. Cheong Myeong hummed to himself.
"Give it back." Cheong Myeong flinched in surprise and turned around.
"Hm? Why? This is my gift."
"You're too young for this."
"I can't receive gifts now?"
"You're still little."
"..." Cheong Myeong froze, not knowing what to say to that.
I'm older than your grandfathers! I'm literally your ancestor! Inside, Cheong Myeong was screaming in despair, but thankfully no one heard him.
It wasn't that Cheong Myeong was too young on the contrary, at his age, many were already married and starting families. But to them, he was their sajae, whom they still remembered as that little beggar.
...And besides, Yun Jong couldn't believe anyone could like Cheong Myeong in a romantic sense. It was impossible. Sorry, Cheong Myeong, but it's true. You're the Asura incarnate.
"..Do you really think this is the first time I've received a love confession?"
"Really?"
"..I don't want to know why you're so surprised. Of course I've received confessions before, it'd be strange if I hadn't at my age."
The strange thing is that you got one at your age.
Cheong Myeong was the youngest in the sect, and as far as Yun Jong could remember, he'd never received anything for Valentine's Day. Which meant this was from before he joined the sect. And he'd joined around age fifteen.
Yun Jong felt an unpleasant sensation in his gut. He looked around at the other disciples, they all wore the same expression.
"Who was it?"
"Hm? What difference does it make?" Cheong Myeong looked at Yu Iseol uncomprehendingly.
"Who was It."
"No, really, what difference does it make?"
"Who.was.it."
"..."
Had there just been a hint of jealousy in her voice? Or what was that? Cheong Myeong didn't want to know.
Cheong Myeong glanced at the rest of the Five Swords and Hye Yeon and snorted. He looked away as he always did when saying something unpleasant.
"Hm, it was a long time ago. One very persistent leech latched onto me for dear life. No matter how much I beat him, he always came back with even more enthusiasm. He was always there, so much so that I forgot it could be any other way."
Cheong Myeong's voice grew quieter toward the end, as if he'd said too much, and his gaze became somehow empty.
"..."
.
.
.
"Dosa hyung-nim." Tang Bo spoke from within the memory. His back was turned to Cheong Myeong, but the swordsman could still feel his smile.
"Hm?..Why the sudden subject change?" The hair of the person in front fluttered as he walked toward the cliff's edge. Cheong Myeong didn't remember exactly, but he thought they had just defeated some Magyo bastards and decided to retreat and rest before the next battle.
They'd chosen the nearest large mountain and drank themselves into oblivion. Back then, Tang Bo had driven himself to unconsciousness with some special kind of enthusiasm.
"Haha.. Don't get me wrong, I just wanted to ask. Do Daoist sects celebrate Valentine's Day?"
"Officially no, but it's not forbidden either. Though it's a stupid holiday. Why designate a specific day to celebrate some feeling?"
"..." Tang Bo fell silent. Back then, Cheong Myeong thought he was contemplating his words, but now he understood it was something else entirely.
In silence, they approached the edge, which offered a view of countless snow-capped mountains against a red sunset. He no longer remembered the exact scene. From that day, he only remembered one thing. Or one person.
Before, Cheong Myeong thought Tang Bo had chosen this spot by chance.
Maybe not.
Finally, Tang Bo turned around. Almost all of his face was blurred.
«I'm slowly forgetting his face.» Such a simple, yet so heavy thought flashed through his mind.
Cheong Myeong only remembered his smile. Those upturned corners of his lips and those dimples on his cheeks.
"Then dosa hyung-nim won't mind if I give him something?"
"If it's not alcohol, I'll throw it off the mountain," Cheong Myeong from the memory snorted, knowing perfectly well he'd keep the gift anyway. Liar.
"Well... It's not just wine. Anyway, I think you'll like it! You lost yours somewhere, so.. here." Tang Bo reached into his sleeves and pulled out a jar of wine– looked expensive. A green ribbon was wrapped around it, and some folded note was attached.
Cheong Myeong didn't even look at the gift – his suspicious gaze was fixed solely on the blurred figure of the man. His brown hair and long green robes fluttered against the backdrop of the red sunset and white snow, creating a beautiful picture. Probably. Cheong Myeong didn't remember.
Cheong Myeong reached out and casually snatched the gift.
"Read it only when you're..!"
Cheong Myeong immediately crumpled and threw away the note, then started drinking straight from the jar. "Ha, didn't expect you to celebrate this holiday. Besides, you're supposed to give gifts to your significant other, not your senior martial brother."
"..."
Back then, Tang Bo remained silent. After almost a minute, when Cheong Myeong had finished drinking, he spoke again.
"I'm glad dosa hyung-nim liked it."
And he was smiling then.
Cheong Myeong unconsciously smiled. Both in the memory and in the present. But their smiles were parallel worlds apart.
.
.
.
"...I've almost forgotten your face." Cheong Myeong didn't notice the worried expressions of the people around him.
He turned to Tang Soso, and she flinched at his gaze. Cheong Myeong tried to overlay her face onto his and vice versa, but nothing worked. They were so similar, yet simultaneously so different.
He remembered almost everything.
His nearly blackened fingers, his manner of speaking, his hair with streaks of gray, his favorite foods and alcohol. His techniques and habits, he remembered... remembered... remembered...?
Ah.
No.
He remembered almost nothing. All memories of him had become blurry and gray. He didn't remember his voice, their first meeting, nor his hands on his own. He didn't remember his expression before he left.
Though. That was probably to be expected? He left first, so it was predictable that Cheong Myeong would forget him first.
Cheong Myeong shifted his gaze from Tang Soso to the expensive chocolate in his hands.
"Tang Soso."
"..Yes? What is it, Sahyung?"
The next moment, Tang Soso blinked and automatically caught what he threw to her. She looked at him uncomprehendingly, but after a second, something clicked, and she nodded decisively.
She had always been a smart kid.
"I'm going to burn this."
"What? Why?!"
"It's too much trouble."
Cheong Myeong tilted his head, but then accepted this and nodded.
"Do what you want." Tang Soso nodded decisively, but immediately after, her face took on an expression that would have made even Jang Ilso flinch.
"But first, I'll find the sender. Looks like in his past life he was a sinner who reincarnated just to atone for his sins." This is someone from the Tang Clan, in case you didn't know..
"Truth."
"Amitabha. For sins, punishment must follow. Or retribution."
"Yay! Let's go break his head! I didn't think anyone would suggest it!"
"I give official permission to crack his skull open. Not a second to waste! Hurry, or he might slip away!"
"Baek-A, fetch! Find the dead man!"
"..."
Maybe I did something wrong in this life.
..He knew the sender was from the Tang Family, so may he rest in peace.
"Good luck in the afterlife. Bo-ya will help you."
–I will kill him again and again. He dared to desire my Dojang hyeong-nim, so he deserves a fate worse than death. Cheong Mun Dojang won't tolerate this either. He'll smash his head through the gates of heaven and send him down to hell.
"Ah, those voices in my head are acting up again."
Cheong Myeong lowered his gaze and looked at the remaining confession note in his hands. Chuckling strangely, he read it carefully, then finally crumpled and threw it away.
These are definitely his genes.
"..Maybe I should have read that note instead of throwing it away immediately."
But Cheong Myeong dismissed the thought. When they meet, he'll ask in person what was written there.
He'll wait.
If, of course, he doesn't forget that too.