Chapter 160
“You shouldn’t be doing this within the Shaolin Temple groun–dehek…!”
A pathetic noise trailed off at the end of my sentence.
Yes. I bit my tongue.
An awkward silence settled in the air for a moment.
But it didn’t last long—because Seol Lihyang burst into laughter.
“Ahahaha!”
She slapped the thigh where her hand had been resting just moments ago, still laughing uncontrollably.
Naturally, the faint tension between us vanished, along with my mental stamina.
In fact, I felt more exhausted than I had after discussing martial arts with Gakjeong for hours.
“Haa…” I let out a sigh without realizing it. Seol Lihyang, still snorting with laughter, began wheezing like she might choke.
“Uhhut! I was wondering what you’d say with that usual deadpan face, and then–Ahaha! You said ‘dehek’... You bit your tongue! Ahahaha!”
“Hey, people bite their tongues now and then. You don’t have to laugh that much.”
“But why now, of all times? Huh? What were you imagining that made you panic like that? You weren’t thinking something weird, were you? Huh? Cheon Hwi, say something! I’m really curious!”
“Could you shut your mouth for a bit…”
“Nope! I won’t! If you want me to be quiet, then why don’t you shut it yourself, Cheon Hwi?!”
With that, Seol Lihyang puckered her lips out like a duck.
She even wiggled her head and puckered them more, clearly trying to provoke me.
I snapped.
Grab.
“Ughb?!”
I grabbed her lips as they were and gave them a light shake.
“Bbph?! Uhuhbb!”
“What do you take me for? I’m human too, you know. When I see something pretty, I think it’s pretty. When the mood suddenly shifts like that—even more so when I know I’m already betrothed—I get nervous too.”
“Mmmbph?! Bbbhuhp!”
I figured that was enough. She was trying to say something, but I couldn’t understand her anyway, so I let go.
Pwah!
Finally free, Seol Lihyang spoke again, her voice still tinged with laughter though a bit less intense than before.
“It’s all because you always act like a rock, Cheon Hwi.”
“Me?”
“You were fine when we were kids, but once I grew up a bit, and especially after Sister Tang said something, you started acting all stiff when you deal with me.”
“Oh, and don’t misunderstand—that wasn’t a dirty joke just now.”
I hadn’t taken it that way at all.
Smiling wryly, I reflected on my recent behavior.
She was right. I had been a bit awkward around her lately.
Not for any great reason, really. It was just... Seol Lihyang was starting to resemble her pre-regression self.
Her smile looked the same. The way she flicked her fingers out of habit. Her voice. The way she teased me whenever she could... Even how she liked me.
It was no wonder I sometimes found myself thinking of her past self without meaning to.
Just like earlier, when I’d caught myself staring when she was humming on the porch.
Though I snapped out of it quickly, I couldn’t deny these instances were becoming more frequent.
Maybe it was because this Seol Lihyang—unlike her broken, wounded former self—was more honest and open in her emotions.
There were times when I saw her now and finally understood things I couldn’t back then.
Still, I thought I’d been handling it well. But from the other person’s perspective, that might not have been the case.
Just like how Tang Sowol had sensed that I sometimes overlapped the present with memories of the past…
Seol Lihyang might’ve sensed my subtle reactions too.
The difference being that while Tang Sowol thought I saw a ghost of someone lost…
Seol Lihyang probably thought I saw Tang Sowol herself.
“Haa... Sister Tang said it’d be fine as long as I kept to the right order, but… Honestly, Cheon Hwi, do you just not like me?”
“There’s no way.”
“Huh??”
“How many men in this world do you think wouldn’t like someone like you, Seol Lihyang? I’m certainly not one of them. I’ve got perfect eyesight, after all.”
“Ah...”
Finally smiling in satisfaction, Seol Lihyang flopped backward onto the porch.
“Well. This is fine then. Even if Sister Tang bothers me, it bothers you too, right? Then it’s fair. Yeah.”
She muttered to herself.
Maybe because she’d already taken off her shoes while waiting, her bare feet shifted naturally toward me as she lay down.
In the darkness of night, her pale skin almost glowed as it drew my eyes.
After a moment’s hesitation, I reached out and gently lifted her foot.
“Hyak?!”
Seol Lihyang flinched and peeked up.
“W-What was that all of a sudden?”
“I just figured I should finish what I started earlier.”
“Mm?”
“I promised to give you a reward for winning your match. We never settled on what it would be.”
“Ah!”
She’d brought it up herself, and yet she reacted like it had just occurred to her.
“Wasn’t that what just happened?”
“What?”
“You said I was pretty…”
Even she blushed a little as she said it. Was a simple compliment really enough for her to consider it a reward?
“What do you take me for?”
“A martial arts-obsessed log who gets flustered at crucial moments?”
“That’s slander of the highest order.”
Feeling slightly wronged, I tugged gently on her foot.
The round little ankle bone pressed against my palm. Seol Lihyang slid toward me like she was being reeled in.
“W-Why do you keep grabbing my foot?! What are you trying to do?”
“Just a simple pressure massage. I’ll add a bit of internal energy, of course.”
“Internal energy? Don’t tell me you’re going to use Chugung-Gwahyeol...!”
Her voice trembled faintly—probably out of anticipation.
Seol Lihyang had liked Chugung-Gwahyeol even before regression. Especially on her feet.
She had small feet and a slightly flat arch, so her fatigue often built up there.
I gently but firmly secured her foot on my thigh.
“W-Wait a sec! You’re doing it here?!”
“That was the plan.”
“Can’t we go inside? My room, or yours! Everyone will hear us like this!”
“They should all be asleep by now.”
“They’re not, I’m telling you! Sister Tang maybe, but Sister Seo? No way! She’s definitely watching us through a gap in the door or some hole she poked in the screen!”
“What kind of grudge do you have against Seo Mun-Hwarin to paint her like a voyeur?”
“I’m serious! Do you have any idea how complicated her face gets when you and Sister Tang are being all lovey-dovey?”
“…That might be true.”
Seo Mun-Hwarin held a quiet longing for the youth she had sacrificed for vengeance.
Given that, it wouldn’t be strange for her to take an interest in the sight of me and Seol Lihyang joking around—not quite flirting, but close.
“Still, she wouldn’t go so far as to spy. She’s probably just looking because it’s visible.”
Clatter.
A door in the distance rattled—maybe from the wind. But Seol Lihyang’s frustrated voice quickly buried it.
“Ugh! You’re so hopeless! …Fine. Just be like that forever. It suits you.”
Even while lying down, she pounded her chest—small as it was—with exaggerated pride.
I shook my head at her.
Same in the previous life, same now—Seol Lihyang seemed to genuinely like Seo Mun-Hwarin, but she still got petty like this sometimes.
Or maybe it was because they were close.
Pushing that thought aside, I gently wrapped my hand around the top of her foot.
When I pressed my thumb to the center of her sole—
“Hik!”
She hiccupped involuntarily and quickly clamped a hand over her mouth. I smiled faintly and pressed deeper.
Squeeze.
“Huuh…!?”
Her toes curled instinctively. Then, as I injected a measured amount of internal energy into the pressure points, her foot spasmed like she’d gotten a cramp.
“You’re pretty stiff. Looks like there’s a lot of tension built up. This will be worth it.”
“W-Wait! Let’s take it slo–”
Press.
“Hiiiieek?!”
Her cry was muffled as she quickly covered her mouth again.
I focused on the spots she used to complain about before regression and massaged them thoroughly.
Unlike the casual massages I gave sometimes, this was a reward—so I was more meticulous.
“Nhk! Hrrk… Ahp!”
Like a fish flopping out of water, she twisted and squirmed all over the place. But soon enough, she’d relax.
I secured her foot more firmly and continued applying pressure, pressing and gliding with my thumb.
“W-Why are you so good at this?!”
“Because I’m stronger now, obviously.”
Thanks to fully reaching Sub-Perfection, my internal energy control had improved dramatically, as had my sensitivity.
“C-Could you just… be a little gentler…? I’ll try to hold it in, just don’t make me yelp…”
Heek?!
“If I don’t do it properly, it’s not a reward.”
Mouth clamped shut, Seol Lihyang glared at me—but her eyes had no strength left in them.
“Don’t worry. You’ve been traveling since you left for the Yongbong Meeting. You must’ve built up a lot of fatigue. I’ll take care of all of it tonight.”
Press.
Seol Lihyang shut her eyes tightly like she’d given up.
After the massage was over, she lay limp, staring blankly up at the sky.
Her black hair was a mess, clothes loose and disheveled from all her squirming.
With her mouth agape and eyes half-lidded, she looked completely dazed—someone could easily get the wrong idea.
“…Didn’t you say we shouldn’t do this in the Shaolin Temple?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Seol Lihyang glared weakly at me, barely able to lift her head.
She couldn’t keep it up for long. Her head drooped again, and she rolled lazily toward her room.
Once she reached the door, she used the wall to stand, barely.
“J-Just wait! Next time…!”
Biting her lip, she muttered that and stumbled into her room.
I blinked, unsure what just happened.
Well, it took longer than expected… but I suppose she should get some proper rest now.
Tomorrow, it’s my turn to spar with Shaolin’s warrior monks.
***
The next day.
As I stepped outside, Tang Sowol was already waiting, smiling with her usual gentle expression.
“Brother Cheon.”
“Mn?”
“Did you enjoy yourself last night?”
The morning air felt strangely chilly.
Looks like winter is coming.