No regrets

A copious amount of alcohol slid down Cheong Myeong's throat.

He held the neck of the bottle in his right hand as he finally relented and sat down cross-legged on the ground.

Usually, he'd be scolded by what felt like every single person alive for drinking this much alcohol, but not tonight.

Except for one person, of course.

"Sahyung, it seems you think you're a god, hm? No, I think even a god would be less shameless than you. Is it fun? Having your guts outside instead of inside your body, I mean."

"...Soso, I think that's one of his least serious injuries, though. Wasn't his arm hanging on by a thread that one time?"

"You shut up. Are you the doctor, or am I?"

"...Soso, I'm still your sasuk."

Immediately, Baek Cheon was glared at by 4 people. As if they might knock him out on the road back and throw him off the cliff if he were to say or do anything more to anger Soso.

Baek Cheon looked away glumly, and Cheong Myeong noticed the moonlight reflecting on something in his eyes.

...tears? Perhaps.

It didn't matter, though. Cheong Myeong would be the one with tears overflowing in his eyes if he had to listen to one more minute of Soso's nagging.

He realized the most terrifying thing about families. Even after a hundred years, he could never escape that guy's insistent nagging.

After a few long, awkward seconds of avoiding Soso's terrifyingly familiar eyes, he heard a long sigh come from her mouth.

"Eh, who cares? If sahyung dies, he dies. I will have done everything I can anyway, at least I will be able to proudly meet the ancestors."

"With needles and poison in your hands, no doubt. Soso, I really think something went wrong with you. Back then, when we first met you, you were still so sweet--"

"Gol-ah, you shut up, or I'll do it for you."

Jo Gol, who had been so cruelly smacked over the head with the hilt of Yun Jong's sword, was nearly brought to tears.

"Sahyung, you used to be kind to me... I remember..."

"Must've been a dream."

Ignoring Jo Gol's indignation, Soso, who had been sitting behind Yu Iseol while braiding her hair, spoke up again.

"But sahyung, when sago and I went running an errand for the sect leader at the merchant guild, I heard an interesting rumor."

Cheong Myeong, who had almost brought the bottle in his hand to his mouth, put it back down again.

"Sure, merchants know nothing but how to swindle people's money and tell rumors, so I'm not surprised. What rumor did you hear from those unreliable bastards?"

In the corner of his eyes, he saw Jo Gol's hand tremble with the urge to throw a rock at his face, and Yun Jong's stare promising a painful death fixed on Jo Gol.

"Apparently, during this time of the year, there's a small chance the gods are feeling lucky, and they might even let an equally lucky person send a letter to a place anywhere in this world, and to any time. Even the past or future."

"Really? Then I'll send one to monk Hye Yeon of the future," Cheong Myeong glanced sideways at the half-dead Hye Yeon lying on the ground, staring up at the sky, "...but I doubt whether he'll live to see it."