As True as a Dream

Her heartbeat was as dizzying as the panic in her head.

 

‘What the hell?’

Hae-Joo swallowed hard.

 

Her eyes searched Yi Ho’s white face as if hypnotized, but soon she closed her eyes and bowed her head.

 

An inexplicable feeling of embarrassment washed over her and the hairs on the back of her neck stood up.

 

He let go of her hand and capped the blue porcelain bottle.

 “What are you doing?” 

Hae-Joo’s forehead was lightly slapped.

 

She opened his eyes to see Yi Ho’s hand.

 “…I’m just a little tired.” “Then get some sleep.” 

Yi Ho got up, turned the chair around and left the room.

 

Hae-Joo quickly lay on her side on the bench chair, curled up in a ball and closed her eyes, feeling uncomfortable and embarrassed to be alone.

 

She thought this strange feeling would pass after a nightmare or two.

 

And it wasn’t long before she actually fell asleep.

 

But just as she was drifting off, Hae-Joo woke up with a vague thought.

 

She was so distracted that she forgot to ask him about the crow.

 

***

 

Meanwhile, back in the chamber, Yi Ho returned the celadon phial to the display case and turned around with an ethereal face.

 

The phial was a medicine that could be applied to a sore spot and quickly heal it, one of the few precious items he possessed that could benefit a person.

 

Using it felt like using a cattle prod to kill a chicken.

 

“Are you better? How did you get so clean?”

 

“Medicine is good.”

 

Yi Ho thought for a moment, then rejected the idea.

 

Remembering that Hae-Joo was very surprised, it would be easier to silence her if she could see that Yi Ho’s

“good medicine”

really existed.

 

As he left the room, he saw Hongo standing in the middle of the study.

 “What happened to them?”

He asked.

 “Half dead.”

Hongo answered briefly.

 

The crows that had swooped down on the thugs earlier were Hongo’s.

 “You mean they’re not dead?” “The mood in Jingsheng Province is terrible these days. The timing is not good. I think it’s best to settle this after some time.” 

Yi Ho sneered coldly.

 “Master Hongo, If you can’t kill them outright, you can almost kill them. Half dead is too insignificant, and every moth in his mouth will only make you more tired. Have you been so busy with Song Yue that you’ve forgotten what you are?” “No, I’m just… Okay, I’ll just hold my breath.” 

It wasn’t a satisfying answer, but Yi Ho nodded.

 

He and Hongo had watched the mountain fall and rise for hundreds of years.

 

Most of the powerful demons that terrorized the people had died for one reason or another every time the heavens and the earth opened.

 

Overconfident in their power, they killed each other, were hunted down and killed in wars, and starved to death for lack of food.

 

As one of the few youkai to have survived, Hongo has lost much of the ferocity that characterized his nature.

 

Instead, he became more obsessed with blending in with human life, jumping on the bandwagon, and using his wits and calculations to his advantage.

 

He was no different from any other human except that he could transform into a crow and use nearby crows as his limbs.

 

Yi Ho also blended into human life, but unlike Hongo, he remained indifferent and aloof.

 

As long as no one touched him, he didn’t care about anything.

 

But if someone did, it was a different story.

 

The only thing he could compromise on was not trespassing on each other’s territory.

 “It’s so annoying every time a new one comes, whether it’s a governor or whatever.” 

Hongo, whose irritation was clearly visible, spoke up suddenly after a long silence.

 “Oh, that… I thought Ms. Hae-Joo was in the salon.” “Yes.” 

After answering briefly, Yi Ho looked at Hongo, who was still standing in the distance.

 

He licked his lips curiously but couldn’t keep his mouth shut.

 

‘What’s wrong with him? Do crows get old?’

 

As long as he could remember, Hongo had lived longer than him, four hundred years, so it was no wonder he was getting old.

 “Anything else?” “No, I’ll go.” 

Hongo said goodbye with a face that looked like he was about to laugh for some reason, and walked out onto the porch.

 

Then he turned into a crow, flapped his wings and flew towards the office.

 

***

 

Yi Ho sat in his study, shuffling through his books, then went back downstairs to get some water.

 

He turned from the kitchen to the living room.

 “Hmph…! That’s enough…!” 

A sob sounded from somewhere.

 

In the darkness, he could see Hae Joo lying in the corner of the parlor window.

 

Yi Ho, his irises turning gold, rekindled the extinguished lamp and approached the chair.

 

He looked down and saw Hae-Joo groaning, a cold sweat forming on her forehead.

 

This must be another one of her nightmares.

 “Oh, I… I…!” 

Yi Ho was about to turn around when he froze.

 

Hae-Joo was about to rub her eye sockets with the back of her medicated hand.

 

What kind of medicine did he give her today!

 

He reflexively grabbed Hae-Joo’s hand and pulled it down.

 

Then her ice-cold hand turned around and grabbed his hand.

 

Her grip was too strong for a 20-year-old woman.

 

Just by looking at her white knuckles, he could tell how strong she was.

 

Yi Ho pulled her hand away, looked down, frowned, and called out her name.

 “Hae-Joo.” 

He could pull her hand away with his strength, but he didn’t know if he should break the lock.

 “Hey, Hae-Joo. Wake up. Open your eyes.” 

Hae-Joo just let out a pained whimper and clung even tighter to his hand.

 

Yi Ho stared down at her, his mouth open.

 

Again and again he tried to let go of her hand, but it didn’t work.

 

‘Why not just break her fingers?’

 

A flicker of irritation flashed through him.

 

Yi Ho leaned down beside the chair and grabbed Hae-Joos head with one hand to steady her.

 

Then he leaned close to her ear and spoke in a gruff voice.

 “If I say something nice, you can either get up or let go of my hand.” 

Feeling his ferocity, Hae-Joo soon opened her eyes and looked at him.

 

Her red, bloodshot eyes were no longer sharp, only dull.

 “What’s so scary about nightmares?” 

Hae-Joo stuck out her lower lip as if she resented his words.

 

Yi Ho was stunned by her childish reaction.

 

‘Do you think this is still a dream?’

 

He let go of Hae Joo’s hand.

 

Hae Joo clenched her fists and lowered her eyes in humiliation.

 

She looked very helpless and disheveled, unlike the cunning and calculating side she had shown so far.

 

Yi Ho frowned.

 

If Hae-Joo continued to have nightmares like this and couldn’t rest properly, it would definitely hinder their search for Guishan Dao.

 “What about your nightmares?” 

Instead of leaving, he sat down on the floor next to the chair.

 

Then, resting his chin on his hands, he asked Hae-Joo.

 

Chewing her lower lip, Hae-Joo looked down at him.

 “Tell me.” “…It’s not funny.” “I know it’s not funny. It’s a nightmare.” 

When he blurted it out, Hae-Joo smiled faintly, but then spoke up.

 “I’m talking about… that night.” “Huh?” “The cemetery on the northern outskirts of the city.” 

Yi Ho’s mind flashed back to that night when Hae-Joo had slipped a few coins into his pocket and promised to take care of the old man’s expenses.

 “That night… I keep dreaming about the bodies I saw there, crawling, rolling, jumping, trying to tell me what to do… and pulling at me, screaming in words I can’t understand, and the people doing this are crushing me… The blood drips and runs down my body and becomes a puddle…” 

Hae-Joo’s voice faded.

 

A harsh sigh escaped from between her lips.

 “Boss, have you ever had nightmares about that day… about what happened? You were there.” “No.” “Why not?” “Well, I don’t know. Even if you ask me why…” 

A stammering Yi Ho looked at Hae-Joo, who looked as vulnerable as a child.

 “If you ask me, the corpses in there aren’t scary, they’re just bad.” “The bad side…” “One day, when you least expect it, you’re dead, and who wouldn’t be? It’s pathetic and unfortunate.” 

Yi Ho turned away from the dazed Hae-Joo and opened the middle drawer of the three-drawer dresser.

 

When he didn’t find anything, he opened the next drawer.

 

He found the blanket Hongo had brought and tossed it lightly to Hae-Joo.

 “Be sad instead of afraid. If you see things differently, you’ll feel differently. Maybe the nightmares won’t be nightmares anymore.” 

Hae-Joo pulled the blanket over her face and gasped as she pulled it down.

 

Under the blanket, her face no longer had the pallor of someone just waking from a dream.

 

Yi Ho looked into her eyes and turned her over.

 “Sleep.”Visit my Ko-fi for discounted advance chapters!!