The Terminally-Ill Side-Character Inside of a Martial Arts Novel

Hyuk Dojin rubbed his finger and opened his eyes vertically. His eyes, which had been glaring at Harang still in my arms, came up and met my gaze.

He smiled awkwardly, then glared at Harang again. Harang, not to be outdone, glared back at Hyuk Dojin.

“That little thing dares to…”

Hyuk Dojin glared while rubbing his finger with two clear teeth marks.

“Kyaagh!”

Harang also bared his teeth and growled at Hyuk Dojin.

Hyuk Dojin exhaled as if exasperated and reached out his hand towards Harang’s head, but Harang threatened to bite that hand too, clattering his teeth.

Hyuk Dojin’s eyes flashed. As his hand finally headed towards Harang’s head, I slightly twisted my body to pull Harang away from his hand.

Hyuk Dojin’s hand sliced through the air. He hurriedly looked at me.

“Wife?”

“What are you doing to a child?”

Harang kept baring his teeth at Hyuk Dojin from my arms.

Harang in my arms giggled as if saying ‘look at this’ and showed his finger to Hyuk Dojin.

Hyuk Dojin opened his eyes wide at Harang’s finger pointing at him and bared his teeth as if to bite.

“Dojin!”

Hyuk Dojin, who had been baring his teeth, flinched at my call and turned to look at me. I stared blankly at his face, then sighed.

I took Harang’s finger in my arms and put it in my mouth instead. Harang’s eyes turned round as he looked at me.

I pressed my brow firmly while looking at Harang’s chubby cheeks and chin. Harang closed his eyes tightly and pushed his neck inwards.

Are you a turtle? I chuckled at how cute he looked and opened my mouth.

“If you keep teasing my man, it’s not good. If you continue, I won’t give you my finger.”

“Kihing…”

At my words, Harang lowered his head with a crestfallen face. I stroked his head and smiled brightly.

I turned to look at Hyuk Dojin. He was staring at me blankly. I tilted my head.

“What’s wrong?”

“…It’s nothing.”

Hyuk Dojin slowly shook his head, then looked ahead.

By the way, there are really a lot of people in Luoyang. Even though it’s a mountain path, the footsteps didn’t stop.

After walking for a while following Hyuk Dojin’s side under the bright afternoon sun, a huge rock cave appeared.

“It’s the Longmen Grottoes.”

“I’ve heard of it. They say there are over a thousand caves?”

“Yes. They’re numbered from north to south, and it takes several days just to look around. It’s impossible to see everything, so let’s just go in for a moment and take a look.”

I slowly entered following him who was leading the way. By the time we passed through the cool Binyang Cave after going through the Zhanjiasi Cave, which was the first cave, and came out again, quite some time had passed.

Hyuk Dojin checked the setting sun, then started walking down the mountain.

“It was an amazing scale. I was impressed.”

A faint smile escaped at his words. The reason the character ‘kyō’ (教) is included in ‘Demon Cult’ (魔教) is because its foundation is based on Zoroastrianism that originated in ancient Persia.

As time passed, those traces diminished and now it’s difficult to distinguish the origin, but strictly speaking, the Demon Cult was a religious group.

It was somehow funny that the Young Cult Leader of such a Demon Cult was impressed by the statue of Sakyamuni Buddha.

“Why are you laughing?”

“Hehe, it’s nothing. I just thought Dojin really likes art. It seems there are still many sides of you I don’t know.”

“Hmm hmm…”

Hyuk Dojin cleared his throat as if embarrassed and turned his gaze away.

In the sunset sky where night had not yet arrived, the evening star, Venus, was twinkling its light as if welcoming the night from far away.

Harang in my arms was already asleep. His back rose and fell quietly as it breathed lightly in its nap.

“Sowol.”

I turned my head at the voice quietly calling my name.

Hyuk Dojin was looking down at me. The sunset had settled on his face, coloring it like a blush.

That faintly smiling expression was so beautiful that while I was slightly dazed, his hand approached.

He lifted a tree branch stretching across the path I was walking on to help me pass safely.

“He’s sleeping well.”

I nodded slowly with a smile at his gaze glancing at Harang in my arms.

Harang was a child that required a lot of attention, struggling fiercely whenever he was held in Hyuk Dojin’s arms, and if put down, it would somehow escape, so I inevitably had to carry it around.

In the past, carrying him around would have been burdensome, but now I could carry three or four more Harangs without any problem.

“I didn’t know Sowol liked children.”

“I don’t like them.”

I answered plainly to his words. Hyuk Dojin raised his eyebrows as if surprised. I stared quietly at his gaze, then looked down the sloped path.

“They cry, throw tantrums, don’t listen, break things here and there, and above all… they’re dangerous because you don’t know where they’ll jump to.”

Not children, but me. Once, a very chubby child was playing on the roadside and bumped into me.

At that time, I fell backwards and cracked my ankle. Children’s actions were unpredictable and difficult to control. So, I disliked them.

“Besides, having a child is like giving up part of my life. There might be things gained, but I lose everything. When I was sick, it was difficult for me to have a child, let alone love someone or walk together. If I forcibly love someone and have and give birth to a child, isn’t that too selfish?”

For others, what they give up might be time, or money, or even just the sweet moments of being just a couple, but for me it was everything. It was like giving up my life. So I didn’t even think about it.

“Gawoo…”

Harang in my arms purred softly and stirred. I carefully adjusted Harang’s position and held him, then turned my head to look at Hyuk Dojin.

“Do people around you pressure you? To have a child?”

The Hyuk family was short on hands.

If Hyuk Dojin suddenly died or something, Cult Leader Hyuk Muhyeol would have to reconsider his successor.

But time was woefully short. Because of that, I had often heard speculations about when we would have a child.

Especially when we didn’t have a marital relationship, I heard it a lot.

I knew Hyuk Dojin’s position. I understood. If I wanted to be with him, if I didn’t want to see him take another concubine and enter the bedroom with another woman, I had to give birth. That was my duty.

Instead of answering my question, Hyuk Dojin turned his head with a calm face.

“Sometimes I think about it. If I become someone’s father and that child resembles the person I love, it would be very nice.”

“…”

“The moment I saw Sowol smiling happily holding Harang in her arms, I remembered my childhood memories. My mother held me in her arms and told me to find a pretty bride when I grow up and have cute children like her. Every time, I used to cling to her and say I’d show her grandchildren, so she should stay healthy until then.”

The wind blew slowly. The trees shaking in the wind awakened the silence of the mountain birds.

A gentle smile hung on Hyuk Dojin’s lips. As if the sound of the wind was his mother’s voice, as if he had just heard that voice, he looked up at the sky with a calm face.

I slowly lowered my eyes at his quiet appearance as if conversing with the wind.

Looking at Harang sleeping in my arms, I slowly began to speak.

“To be honest, I’m not sure. About having a child… Why I should sacrifice myself for it.”

His gaze returned to me. I smiled slowly while meeting his eyes that showed no trace of wavering.

“But I think like that sometimes. That if it’s a child resembling Dojin, it might be okay to have one. Isn’t it strange? When I see other people’s children, I don’t particularly feel they’re lovable or cute, but when I vaguely think of a child resembling you being held in my arms like this, just that thought makes me feel good.”

I don’t know how to express it, what words are appropriate.

But other people probably don’t know how overwhelming it is to think that I could give up everything just for that imagination.

Hyuk Dojin quietly looked at me like that, then held a faint smile.

“I feel the same.”

“Is that so?”

I smiled brightly, and he nodded his head greatly.

“Actually, I receive suggestions, but I’m not particularly concerned. We can have a child anytime, and I think it’s not too late even if we have one when Sowol’s body is perfectly healed. I don’t want a child born while extinguishing its mother’s light. Even if time passes and we have a child, the most precious person to me is Sowol, and the person I cherish more than my life is also Sowol.”

The blowing wind carries his voice and whispers in my ear.

“I love you much more than you think, very deeply.”

* * *

On the way back, after having a light dinner at a quiet restaurant, the return path was still bustling.

Luoyang’s night streets were full of lights, making it hard to believe we had just walked through quiet streets and mountain birds.

As I walked the streets with my hair covered by the bamboo hat I had taken off, I could see commotion arising around.

Martial artists were drawing swords and fighting each other.

“These incidents have been frequent lately.”

“As there are many who tried to succeed by achieving good results in this martial arts competition, there are also many whose pride was hurt by falling. Because of that, there are many cases of people swinging swords at their opponents who eliminated them, seeking revenge. Even if not that, since our cult is participating, there are many disagreements, and there are also some who pick fights as soon as they see our people.”

I nodded, recalling the Demon Cult members who were surrounded by hundreds of people a week ago and received mad criticism tantamount to life threats.

“It’s fortunate that there haven’t been major problems due to conflicts with the Righteous Sect.”

“We’re deliberately not punishing small conflicts that lead to fights. If we control even that, those hot-blooded people might cause bigger accidents.”

I smiled back at his grinning smile.

Passing through the chaotic streets, we arrived at the Jinhua Pavilion located somewhat on the outskirts, and I took off my bamboo hat as we entered. Only then did I stroke Harang’s head as he woke up from sleep.

“You woke up…”

“Young Cult Leader!”

As I was smiling brightly at Harang, a loud shout echoed through the Jinhua Pavilion.

I was startled and threw my gaze inside.

Despite the late hour, most of the Demon Cult members were gathered on the first floor of the Jinhua Pavilion. And they were injured.

As I stood next to Hyuk Dojin and looked around the interior after closing the door, Man Do approached and clicked his tongue lowly.

“You’ve returned?”

“Martial Uncle. What’s going on? What about those injured people?”

“What else could it be?”

Man Do looked back briefly and frowned as if finding it pathetic.

“It’s the result of young people unable to control their hot blood and emotions.”