Chapter 26

The courtyard lay quiet beneath the night sky, filled with nothing but the chirping of insects.

“Mm… so sweet.”

As if entranced, Ja-yeong refilled her empty glass. Tonight, she could barely taste the alcohol. Instead, the sweet aroma of black raspberries lingered on her tongue, leaving her pleasantly dazed. She had started drinking to ease her awkwardness, but before she knew it, she had already emptied three or four glasses.

“That’s enough. You said you were starting work tomorrow. Do you really want to suffer through a hangover?”

Eden casually took the bottle from her hand. Then he picked up a piece of perilla seed brittle from the basket and held it to her lips.

“Eat something with your drinks, too. Pouring alcohol into an empty stomach will only upset it.”

“Hehe… What are you worried about? If Han Eden makes me tomato soup tomorrow morning, my hangover will disappear in no time.”

“Weren’t you the one who said you never ate breakfast? You’re a terrible liar.”

Ja-yeong opened her mouth like a baby bird and accepted the brittle he offered her. Its rich, nutty flavor spread across her tongue with a satisfying crunch. She enjoyed the sharp crackling sound it made in her ears with every bite.

“Hey, Mr. Han Eden.”

“Yes, Ms. Hwang Ja-yeong.”

Grinning foolishly, Ja-yeong filled Eden’s glass with black raspberry wine, right up to the brim of the water glass. He downed it in one go.

Ja-yeong watched his Adam’s apple bob conspicuously as he swallowed, as though she were witnessing something extraordinary. Then, slowly, she spoke.

“The truth is… I knew you were coming to Mount Worak.”

With the alcohol going to her head, words she had kept buried deep inside slipped out on their own. Eden wiped his lips with the back of his hand and looked at her.

“You knew?”

“Yeees. The CEO of Ijobyeongga called me. She said a very, very extraordinary chef was coming down here. And his eyes were… like he could eat people alive.”

“Is that so?”

Eden chuckled and rested his chin on his hand. An extraordinary chef, huh? That wasn’t exactly wrong.

“So is that why you tried to drive me away? Because you didn’t want to be eaten alive?”

“No…”

Ja-yeong shook her head vigorously. Her unfocused eyes wandered up to the night sky, as if counting the stars, before carefully settling on Eden’s face.

“The truth is… I was kind of happy.”

“……”

“That someone other than the clients who’d been buying from our family for generations… wanted our pottery, too.”

Her voice trembled faintly. It was the pride she held as a potter, along with her longing to be recognized. Burdened by her grandfather’s shadow and the reputation of Cheongso-yo, Hwang Ja-yeong had been struggling alone under the weight of it all. The arrival of Han Eden, an outsider, had been an unexpected source of encouragement.

“It’s a secret, but… I was really, really happy.”

Whether it was the alcohol or the relief of finally speaking her mind, her smile had softened into something utterly unguarded. Eden’s gaze wavered quietly.

Though it was still early summer, the air grew chilly as midnight approached. Ja-yeong, dressed in a thin T-shirt, hunched her shoulders and began to nod off.

After tossing back the last of his black raspberry wine, Eden watched her for a long moment. He wanted to reach out and wrap an arm around her rounded shoulders. He wanted to warm her skin with his hand and brush the loose strands of hair away from her face.

But…

Instead of reaching for her, Eden clenched his fist tightly.

This was dangerous.

When he hadn’t felt anything for her, he’d grabbed her wrist or waist without a second thought. Now, with these unpredictable emotions constantly springing up inside him, he was actually afraid to touch even a fingertip to her.

He felt as though he wouldn’t be able to stop once he touched her.

He already had his hands full thinking about that one bowl, to the point that his head felt ready to burst. If this woman wormed her way into his heart, too, he was done for.

“Go inside and get some sleep.”

So, in the end, stopping here was his only option.

“Mmm…”

“You’ll catch a cold if you sleep out here.”

Ja-yeong ignored him and rubbed her forehead against the table instead. Sighing, Eden bent down toward her. As he brought his face close to hers, her breath, sweet and slightly cloying with the scent of black raspberry wine, tickled his nose.

“Get up.”

“Mmm, nooo…”

“They say even dogs don’t catch summer colds.”

“……”

“Do you want to be worse than Dusik, Seoksam, and Neoguri?”

Eden’s gaze fixed on Ja-yeong’s red lips. The soft, yielding sensation he’d felt beneath his fingertips flashed through his mind. Suppressing the impulse, he issued a threat.

“If you’re not up by the time I count to three, I’m going to kiss you.”

“……”

“One.”

“……”

“Two.”

Their faces drew so close that the tips of their noses nearly touched. Their warm breaths mingled.

“Three.”

Ja-yeong’s eyes flew open as an intense thirst jolted her awake.

Pitch-black darkness surrounded her. Only the faint light of dawn filtering through the window allowed her to make out that she was in her own room. She moistened her parched lips with her tongue and tried to piece together the fragments of her alcohol-blurred memories.

“The truth is… I was kind of happy.”

“It’s a secret, but… I was really, really happy.”

“Mmm, nooo…”

Hwang Ja-yeong, have you lost your mind? What kind of embarrassing nonsense did you spout while you were drunk? You were happy? You were glad? You practically turned yourself inside out in front of that arrogant man! You showed him everything!

Ja-yeong clapped a hand over her mouth to stifle the scream threatening to burst out. Beyond the paper-thin wall was the tiny room where he slept. She didn’t want to scream in the middle of the night and wake him from his peaceful slumber.

And if he came over to ask what was wrong… I don’t know. I absolutely cannot answer that…

She moved the hand covering her mouth to her burning eyelids.

Thump, thump, thump.

Her heart was racing like crazy.

“……?”

Just then, a strange sensation came over Ja-yeong, making her twist restlessly.

Ever since yesterday, she’d kept feeling a ticklish sensation below her navel. It was soft and peculiar, like a feather gently brushing the inside of her belly.

Was it the black raspberry wine?

Suddenly, she remembered something Grandma Raspberry had once told her, half joking and half serious.

“When my Ja-yeong gets married, I’m sending her off with a big bottle of black raspberry wine. This stuff from Mount Worak is twice as potent, you know. Do you know what bokbunja means? It means ‘turning over a chamber pot.’ Why would a chamber pot turn over, you ask? One glass of this, and a man’s manhood stays at attention all night long. His wife can kiss any hope of sleep goodbye, and then she’ll have to do everything in her power to…”

Her grandfather’s thunderous scolding had drowned out the rest, but she’d gathered that the combined efforts of Grandma Raspberry, a master of growing black raspberries, and Grandma Geum-ryong, a master of brewing liquor, produced something that made a person’s body… excited.

That must be it. It’s the black raspberry wine’s effects. That’s why my heart is going wild like this…

Ja-yeong was just about to kick off her blankets, unable to bear the stifling heat, when—

“Haaah…”

A low, rough exhalation, like someone scraping the floor with their breath, seeped through the thin wall.

Ja-yeong’s ears perked up.

Mr. Han Eden…?

She turned to look at the pale wallpaper.

Shhk. Shhk.

Along with a growl-like groan, she heard the steady sound of fabric rubbing against fabric.

“Fuck…”

At the short, forceful curse, Ja-yeong’s eyes widened.

What was he doing? Was he in pain? Was something bothering him?

Curiosity and concern stirred within her at the same time. Carefully, making as little noise as possible, she sat up and brought her ear close to the wall.

Thump. Thump. Thud.

Something blunt and solid, yet somehow almost soft, struck the floor with a dull thud. Ja-yeong racked her brain, trying to work out what it could be.

A book? No. Clothes? Obviously not. There was a sound of fabric rubbing together, but whatever it was also seemed heavy and firm.

“……!”

A vivid image suddenly flashed through her mind.

The silk pillow embroidered with mandarin ducks and peonies that Han Eden had taken because he needed a high pillow for his broad shoulders. Its smooth silk cover concealed a firm filling packed with buckwheat hulls.

But why on earth would he be…?

Was he really feeling so unwell that his head had fallen off the pillow? If so, the sounds coming through the wall were far too rhythmic—and far too explicit.

Growing increasingly alarmed, Ja-yeong pressed her ear flat against the wall.