Chapter 22
“Kid, are you subtly mocking me?”
“I was complimenting you.”
Dokgo Ryung, muttering to himself, glanced at Eun Sowol, who was staring at him. She seemed a little irritated.
“Uncle, what’s my name?”
Dokgo Ryung shot her a confused look, wondering why she was asking such a strange question. Eun Sowol immediately shouted, urging him to answer.
“Eun Sowol.”
“Right!”
“Then why don’t you know?”
“I know, but why do you keep calling me ‘kid’?”
“I…”
Dokgo Ryung hesitated as he recalled his own words.
‘Kid.’
‘Hey, kid.’
‘Stay still, kid. Always so small.’
Had he said that? It seemed that he only called her “Sowol” on rare occasions.
“I’m not a kid! My name is Eun Sowol!”
“Eun… Sowol…”
Dokgo Ryung couldn’t finish his sentence. Eun Sowol looked at him, puffing her cheeks, and with a hint of defiance, she urged him to call her by name. There was something oddly awkward about it. He didn’t want to say her name; it felt almost embarrassing, if not uncomfortable.
“Ugh!”
“You’re just a little pest! How dare you boss me around? Whatever way I call you is my choice, kid.”
“Why hit me! And stop calling me ‘kid’!”
Eun Sowol rubbed her sore forehead and grumbled, but Dokgo Ryung paid no attention to her complaints. She looked at his indifferent face and sulked.
She didn’t ask him to call her anything special, just her name. Was it really that hard to say it? The frustration and annoyance welled up in her, and she muttered under her breath.
“Uncle is such a fool. What’s so hard about just calling my name…”
Dokgo Ryung sighed deeply at the incessant chatter.
It was so noisy that he almost wanted to put his hand over her mouth. Just then, his eyes caught a street vendor.
“I’ll buy this for you, just please be quiet.”
Eun Sowol’s eyes immediately brightened as she looked at the food.
‘Tanghulu! The taste that blocks your veins!’
Eun Sowol swallowed her saliva and jumped out of Dokgo Ryung’s arms, eagerly walking toward the vendor.
“I’ll take this and this!”
“…Who said you could order two?”
“Won’t you buy it for me?”
With her irresistible puppy dog eyes, Dokgo Ryung sighed and bought two skewers of tanghulu for her.
“Wow!”
Eun Sowol happily stuffed her cheeks full of the sweet candied fruit.
“Is it good?”
“Mm! Uncle, do you want some?”
“No, you eat all of it.”
Dokgo Ryung wiped the sugar that had smeared on Eun Sowol’s lips and then put it in his mouth. He grimaced.
“It’s so sweet, it feels like my tongue’s going numb. How can you eat this?”
“This is the best! You’re the one who doesn’t know the taste. You’re so pitiful~”
Dokgo Ryung shook his head in disbelief, still unable to understand, and started heading to the Huayu Inn, where he had spent a few days drinking.
“You’ve arrived.”
At Huayu Inn, Pyodu greeted them. Eun Sowol smiled brightly at him, while Dokgo Ryung awkwardly cleared his throat.
“Hmph, it seems you have some foresight.”
“It’s not foresight. I just predicted what you’d do as a parent would for their child.”
“I’m not their parent.”
“Then let’s say I’m the guardian.”
The two exchanged a knowing glance and chuckled. Eun Sowol, not understanding the conversation, tilted her head.
“Ah, my little Sowol has arrived!”
“We were going to leave after finishing some tasks, but I was worried you might not come.”
As soon as Eun Sowol got down from Dokgo Ryung’s arms, the friendly servants of the inn gathered around and patted her head.
At the Dokgo family, she was treated like an outsider, but here, she was loved and spoiled, and it made her feel a little taller.
Eun Sowol smiled brightly at them.
“I missed you guys too!”
“Such a cutie!”
“This uncle bought some candy for you, do you want to eat it?”
“Wow!”
Eun Sowol’s smile grew even wider as she received candy, jewelry, and small trinkets.
She had so many candies in her arms that she couldn’t stop smiling. After a moment of wondering how to eat them, Dokgo Ryung took the candy bag from her.
“What? You want me to eat some too? I’ll let you have one, but only one!”
Just as Eun Sowol was about to generously offer him some candy, Dokgo Ryung interrupted.
“What do you mean ‘let’? It’s been confiscated.”
Eun Sowol froze as if struck by lightning at his words.
“Why, why…! The uncle gave this to me! It’s mine!”
“If you eat all of it, your teeth will rot. Eat only two per day. After you’re done, clean your teeth with salt.”
“Ugh… Uncle, you’re so petty! It’s mine!”
“Don’t like it? Then eat only one per day.”
“Who said I don’t like it?! Fine! Then, give me one now.”
“No.”
“Why again?”
She held the half-eaten tanghulu skewer in her hand from earlier.
Dokgo Ryung took the candy bag from her and hid it somewhere, then placed her in the cart.
“Alright, now let’s go!”
And with that, their journey to Nanyang began, with one sulking child.
“Thank you very much! Thanks to you, we made it to Nanyang safely.”
Pyodu expressed his gratitude to Dokgo Ryung. Along the way, they had encountered bandits and even a bear, but as always, thanks to Dokgo Ryung, they were able to get through without much trouble.
“I’ve had an easier trip because of you. If it weren’t for you, I’m sure I would have lost this child by now…”
Dokgo Ryung’s silent gaze turned toward the cart, where Eun Sowol was sleeping.
“It must have been a tiring journey for her. But if she sleeps too much, she won’t be able to sleep tonight. I think you should wake her up now.”
“I was thinking the same. Thank you for looking out for the child until the end.”
“It’s nothing. It was the right thing to do.”
Dokgo Ryung approached Eun Sowol and gently shook her shoulder.
“Kid, wake up. We’ve arrived.”
“Mmm…”
Eun Sowol scrunched her face, pulling the blanket around her tighter. Dokgo Ryung tried waking her several more times, but she showed no signs of waking up. In the end, he gave up and simply picked her up.
‘Has it always been this warm?’
He hadn’t noticed before while they were traveling, but today, for some reason, her body felt warmer than usual.
Just as he was about to touch her forehead, Pyodu approached and spoke.
“As expected, you’re good with children.”
“You sure act like you know everything. Is it really the same as that friend I mentioned before?”
“Friend? Ah, you mean someone who lives differently from their parents?”
After a moment of thought, Pyodu smiled warmly.
“Actually, that person is me.”
Dokgo Ryung’s eyes widened in surprise. He never would have imagined that Pyodu had gone through such hardships in his childhood.
“When I was young, my father was always lost in drinking and gambling, never taking care of the family. Tired of him, my mother left, and I was sold to pay my father’s gambling debts.”
Pyodu spoke lightly, as if it were just an everyday matter.
“I’ve been through it all. There was a time when I almost went down the wrong path. But then I met the woman I loved, started a family, and decided to change my life. I promised myself I wouldn’t pass on the pain I experienced to my children.”
He smiled and waved his hand.
Dokgo Ryung followed his gaze, seeing a woman holding a child and a boy around Eun Sowol’s age running toward them.
“Dad!”
Pyodu beamed with joy as he scooped up his son, kissing his round cheek.
Then he turned to Dokgo Ryung, smiling.
“I don’t think there’s anything you can’t do, just like me. Think of this as advice from someone who’s lived a bit longer.”
“I’ll take that advice to heart.”
Dokgo Ryung parted ways with Pyodu and continued on his path, holding Eun Sowol in his arms. Today, she felt heavier than ever in his embrace.
