The Lazy Young Master of the Jin Clan

Where did it go wrong?

Why had the most beautiful and noble flower of the Cheonhwagak come to find her?

And with the furious Neung Gap in tow.

The question in Yuha’s mind did not last long.

“Today is the day you become a true courtesan, isn’t it? That’s why you’ve put on so much makeup.”

Baekhwa caressed Yuha’s chin and cheek with her slender fingers.

The touch was soft, but every time her nails grazed her skin, it felt like a small, sharp dagger was grazing it.

As the hair on her skin stood on end, Baekhwa smiled faintly.

“Yuha.”

Yuha was not surprised that Baekhwa knew her name.

In any case, the Bongrugak she belonged to was already playing in the palm of Baekhwa’s hand, so finding out the name of one courtesan would have been nothing to Baekhwa.

“The waiter at the Jahong Inn.”

Baekhwa lifted Yuha’s chin with the tip of her thumb.

“What’s your relationship?”

“N-no relationship at all.”

“Really? Then why… did you tell him that the Heungno Gang was coming?”

“Th-that’s… because…”

She had to make some excuse.

But her head was dizzy, and she couldn't think of a suitable excuse.

As Yuha stuttered, Baekhwa let out a light sigh.

“Sigh. Neung Gap.”

“Hehe!”

Neung Gap, who was standing like a wooden statue behind Baekhwa, grabbed Yuha’s hair with a rough hand.

“Spit it out when I’m being nice. Otherwise, you’ll never forget tonight for the rest of your life.”

“It’s true! I really don’t know him! Just… just…”

“Just?”

“I was worried he would get hurt…”

“What does it matter to you whether that waiter gets hurt or not? You said you don’t know him?”

“…”

That's right.

The handsome waiter at the Jahong Inn and Yuha didn't even know each other’s names.

“Aren’t you going to talk!?”

Neung Gap, whose pride had already been hurt as much as it could be, unleashed his accumulated anger toward Jin Sohyun without reservation.

His rough hand grabbed Yuha’s head and shook it.

“Kyaak!”

Yuha shed tears at the pain, as if all her hair would be pulled out.

And in the end.

Snap—!!

Yuha’s hair, which could not withstand Neung Gap’s rough handling, broke off.

And due to the rebound, she fell to the floor.

Hair that was cut haphazardly and disheveled.

Makeup that was smudged due to tears.

Even at Yuha’s wretched appearance, Baekhwa looked down at her with a cold gaze.

Neung Gap had a disappointed expression.

“It looked better just now. Well, this isn’t bad either.”

“You really don’t know that waiter?”

“Yes… I really don’t know.”

“Then why did you risk danger to help the waiter?”

At Baekhwa’s question of why, Yuha closed her eyes tightly.

No matter how much she thought, she couldn't think of a suitable reason.

Just.

“Just…”

“Just?”

“Just… I just did.”

“…”

Baekhwa’s eyelids trembled.

“Just… like that?”

“Yes. There’s no reason. I just wanted to help. In the hope that he wouldn’t get hurt…”

“Ha! Really? I made a mistake.”

Baekhwa, who had bent her knees to meet Yuha’s eye level, stretched out her hand again.

Her white and soft hand caressed Yuha’s cheek.

“I’m sorry. I misunderstood. I didn’t know, and I made such a pretty face a mess, didn’t I?”

Baekhwa smiled brightly.

‘Is it over now?’

Yuha also smiled back.

Although it was unfair, this was enough.

She could just grow her hair back, and she could reapply her makeup.

She wouldn't be able to work until then, but she could just sing as she usually did.

So she thought.

“And don’t worry. Today, Great Master Neung here will be your guest, so even your shabby appearance will be forgiven.”

“Y-yes…?”

“I asked the Bongrugak Master. To have you entertain Great Master Neung tonight. So have a good time.”

“Thank you.”

As Neung Gap conveyed his thanks and slowly approached, Yuha crawled on the floor.

“No… no…”

“You ill-mannered wench! When a guest comes, you should be ready to entertain them. Isn’t that right!?”

“I don’t want to… I don’t want to!”

Yuha tried to bite her tongue and commit suicide.

But at that moment, as she was about to bite her tongue, the youthful face of her one and only younger sibling came to her mind.

‘If I die, who will… take care of Soga?’

As her younger sibling, who would be left alone, came to mind, Yuha gave up on everything.

“Hehe. That’s how you should be.”

While Neung Gap was taking off his upper garment, Baekhwa turned away coldly.

“Should I ask the brothel master?”

As Baekhwa reached out her hand to open the closed door, the closed door opened on its own.

And a familiar face appeared in front of the open door.

“You are…”

“We meet again.”

“Why are you… here?”

“I’m the type who can’t live with a debt.”

Jin Sohyun passed Baekhwa and walked toward Neung Gap, who was standing in his undergarments.

Neung Gap, who was engrossed in Yuha, didn't even notice that Jin Sohyun had appeared.

“Come here.”

“You come here.”

Jin Sohyun grabbed the back of Neung Gap’s head.

“Aak!”

Neung Gap, whose hair was grabbed just as he had done, panted and shouted.

“Who is it! Which bastard dares…!”

“It’s me.”

Neung Gap tilted his head back and met Jin Sohyun’s gaze.

In an instant, as if he had met the grim reaper, Neung Gap’s face turned pale.

“You, you… you are.”

“I was wondering what you were doing… it seems you’re no good.”

“Iik!!”

Neung Gap, as befitting a master of the early peak realm, gave up his hair without any lingering attachment and made himself bald.

A part of his flesh was torn off, and blood trickled down, but Neung Gap gritted his teeth and endured the pain.

“I was caught off guard at that time! But not this time!”

Neung Gap brought his hand to his waist.

But all that could be felt was his thick side fat.

‘Oops!’

Neung Gap’s face turned white once again as he belatedly realized that he had put down his scabbard along with his clothes.

“Need a sword?”

“…Yes.”

“Here.”

Jin Sohyun kindly kicked Neung Gap’s scabbard, which was lying on the floor, with the top of his foot and handed it to him.

‘What’s his scheme?’

Now that the sword was in his hand, he couldn't draw it.

The reason was simple.

‘If I draw it… I’ll die…!’

Jin Sohyun was empty-handed.

Moreover, at this distance, he could strike Jin Sohyun’s neck at the same time as he drew his sword.

Nevertheless, Neung Gap could not draw his sword.

Because his instinct was warning him not to draw the sword.

‘Bastard!’

“What are you doing? Aren’t you going to draw it?”

As Neung Gap hesitated and couldn't do either, Jin Sohyun’s brow furrowed slightly.

“In any case, you’re holding a sword, so you’re not bare-handed, right?”

“W-wait!”

As if to mock his shout of ‘wait,’ Jin Sohyun’s right fist struck Neung Gap’s upper body at high speed.

Peok—!

The sound heard by the ear was one, but the points of impact were five.

Neung Gap, who was hit in both shoulders, ribs, and chin, flapped his body in the air and then collapsed.

Both his shoulders were completely shattered, and his side was also in pieces.

Above all, his chin was completely twisted, and even if he recovered with great difficulty over a long time, he would never be able to chew meat again.

‘So easily, a master of the early peak realm?’

Baekhwa blinked her eyes, surprised at Jin Sohyun’s level of martial arts.

Although she was a courtesan, Baekhwa had come to know about the common sense and knowledge of the martial world by naturally forming connections with numerous masters of the Central Plains.

As far as was known, Neung Gap was a master of the early peak realm.

It meant that he was a master of a level that would be quite recognized even in this wide Central Plains.

Such a Neung Gap had been turned into a rag and had collapsed in a single move.

And by a young martial artist who looked to have just come of age.

“Don’t live a life of sin from now on.”

Jin Sohyun, who had finished his short sermon, approached Yuha, who was leaning against the wall and still hadn't come to her senses.

“Are you okay?”

“Why… why did you come…?”

At Yuha’s stuttering question, Jin Sohyun smiled faintly.

“Just because.”

Jin Sohyun, who had finished his answer, wiped the tears from Yuha’s face with his hand and then stood up.

“Are you… the one who instigated this?”

At Jin Sohyun’s question, Baekhwa shrugged her shoulders.

“What if I am?”

“It’s a bit much to hit a woman… what should I do.”

“Ha? Hahahaha! It seems you’re not an ordinary waiter.”

“I am a waiter. Even if it was only for a short time.”

“You’re not from Honggang, so I’ll explain.”

Baekhwa smiled bewitchingly and gave a crescent-eyed smile.

“Here in Honggang, no one can touch me. No one! Because no one can treat me, the flower of the Cheonhwagak… carelessly.”

Her slender fingers now caressed Jin Sohyun’s chin.

Baekhwa whispered sweetly into Jin Sohyun’s ear.

“Do you understand?”

***

“You damn bastard! Untie this right now!?”

The unbreakable flower of the Cheonhwagak.

The courtesan most cherished by the master of Honggang.

The queen of courtesans.

Baekhwa of the Cheonhwagak, who was praised with all sorts of modifiers, was being dragged by a man with her hands tied.

At that rare sight, which could not be seen even with money, not only the courtesans of Honggang but also the residents and customers rushed out to the streets.

“Isn’t that Baekhwa?”

“Why is Baekhwa in such a state?”

“Th-that bastard dares!”

Most had faces of incomprehension, and the majority of the men burst out in anger at the man who was dragging the flower of the Cheonhwagak like a criminal.

Of course, not everyone was angry.

“Oh my! To think Baekhwa would end up in such a state?”

“Wait… that man, isn’t he that handsome waiter from the Jahong Inn?”

“Oh! You’re right! Don’t tell me Baekhwa tried to make a move on him and failed?”

“The great Baekhwa couldn't seduce a single man and is being dragged around like a criminal? Hohohoho! This is a jackpot!”

The courtesans of Honggang, who had a lot of pent-up feelings toward Baekhwa, covered their mouths with their hands, laughed, and mocked in a low voice.

‘This son of a bitch! To put me in such a state… I’ll definitely kill him!’

Baekhwa, who had been subjected to a humiliation she would never experience again in her life, bit her lip and glared at Jin Sohyun as if to kill him.

As the back of his head tingled, Jin Sohyun scratched the back of his neck.

“Is this the Cheonhwagak?”

The place Jin Sohyun had arrived at was a huge tower located in the center of Honggang.

The name of the tower was Cheonhwagak.

It was the most luxurious and huge brothel in Honggang.

It was 10 stories high, and each floor was equipped with secret and luxurious rooms for VIPs.

As Jin Sohyun stood in front of the Cheonhwagak, dragging Baekhwa, the closed door opened smoothly, and a man in a red silk robe walked out from within.

The man, who was holding a red folding fan, looked back and forth between Baekhwa and Jin Sohyun with an interested gaze.

“Master!”

At the appearance of the man who looked to be the master of the Cheonhwagak, Baekhwa collapsed on the spot and began to shed tears.

“This heinous ruffian dragged me through the streets of Honggang like a criminal!”

“It looks that way even if you don’t say it.”

“Please save me from the hands of this ruffian!”

“Why should I?”

At the Cheonhwagak Master’s question, Baekhwa’s face hardened.

“M-master? I… I’m Baekhwa. The flower of the Cheonhwagak! I’m Baekhwa!”

“Just last night, you were the unbreakable flower of the Cheonhwagak. But look at yourself now. How are you the flower of the Cheonhwagak?”

“Th-that’s… this ruffian who deserves to be chewed up and spat out…!”

“Be quiet.”

The Cheonhwagak Master brought his fan to his mouth and said coldly.

“What kind of language is that to a VIP.”

“A VIP? Th-this ruffian is a VIP!?”

“Our courtesan has been rude. Please come inside. Young Master.”

The one who was flustered by the unexpected development was not only Baekhwa.

Jin Sohyun, who had only come to the Cheonhwagak to question Baekhwa’s crime, also felt very burdened by the Cheonhwagak Master’s hospitality.

As Jin Sohyun did not move readily, the Cheonhwagak Master even called people to guide him.

“Uh… uh… no, I…”

“Don’t refuse. Young Master.”

As the famous courtesans of the Cheonhwagak grabbed his arms and led him, Jin Sohyun had no choice but to go inside.

In the meantime, Baekhwa clung to the Cheonhwagak Master’s feet.

“Are you abandoning me! You know how hard I’ve worked for you, Master!?”

“Don’t worry. I will not abandon you. However, you are no longer the flower of the Cheonhwagak. A wildflower, perhaps. Take Baekhwa away.”

“Master! Master!!”

The flower of the Cheonhwagak must always be noble.

A broken flower no longer had value as a commodity.

The Cheonhwagak Master, who had coldly pushed Baekhwa away, waved his fan and ordered.

“Close the gate. We will not be receiving guests today.”

“Yes!”

The main gate of the Cheonhwagak, which had been locked only once since it was built, was locked again today.

“Is that true!?”

“Yes, it probably is.”

Beomgang, who had found out Jin Sohyun’s whereabouts through a courtesan who had come out to watch, trembled with anger.

“I didn’t see you that way! To leave this older brother behind…!”

Beomgang was so angry he couldn't stand it.

He had made him chase away the cat-like men in black, and he himself had gone into the Cheonhwagak, the most famous brothel in Honggang?

“I… I’m going in too!”

It was by no means out of envy.

It was just to scold his little brother who had abandoned his older brother and gone into a brothel alone.

“Let me in too!”

Beomgang’s loud shout echoed through the center of Honggang.

(End of Chapter)