Chapter 522: Side Story 22

Chapter side_22

It had been a long time since the Hunan Dan family was bustling with noise.

It was because Jang Sam-tae, who had headed to Gansu, along with Dan Woo-hyun, Namgung Cheon, and Sa Do-hak, had returned.

Despite the fact that Jang Sam-tae hadn’t even properly relieved the fatigue of the journey, whatever put him in such a good mood, he was constantly cooking with a smile on his face.

“Try eating this, So-mi!”

“It’s really delicious.”

Dan So-mi, who was watching from the side, sparkled her eyes. The moment a piece of well-stir-fried vegetable entered her mouth, it felt like a melting taste.

Dan So-mi revealed that indescribable feeling on her face and smiled, and whenever she did that, Jang Sam-tae became even more triumphant.

“Khehehe, is it really that delicious?”

“Yes, of course. The food Uncle Jang makes is truly delicious.”

“Uhaha! Yes, right! I’m the best!”

Dan So-mi smiled brightly as she looked at Jang Sam-tae laughing loudly. Then, as if showing off, she moved the hem of her skirt back and forth and asked.

“It really suits me well, right?”

“Yeah, yeah! It suits you well! It was worth it for me to buy it in Gansu!”

“Hehehe.”

“Uhaha!”

Dan So-mi knew.

Where Jang Sam-tae had been, and why he had bought such clothes.

Since he had handed it to Dan So-mi while thinking of his dead younger sister, she thought that just wearing it would comfort Jang Sam-tae’s heart.

Even though she was still young, her heart that thought of others was admirable.

“By the way, wasn’t there anything else interesting that happened?”

“Ah? Ah, right! A lot of things happened. This Uncle Jang…”

Dan So-mi didn’t leave Jang Sam-tae’s side.

Even if he repeated the same things all day, she listened with a smile. It might be because of her beautiful heart, or in a sense, because she truly liked Jang Sam-tae.

Mae-hyang, who was watching from the side, looked rather more sorry.

“Phew… please stop. How many shijins have you been holding onto the child? You should do that to your own daughter…”

“What are you talking about! So-mi is my daughter too!”

“Hehe, Uncle, I only have one dad.”

“…”

Dan So-mi bluntly cut him off.

She would listen to everything else, but it seemed she didn’t want that much. Jang Sam-tae’s face, which had been smiling for a long time, hardened stiffly, and he made a dumbfounded expression, lost for words.

However, whether Dan So-mi knew that or not, she stood up from her seat while still smiling.

“Then I’ll get going now. My dad is waiting for me.”

“Y-Yeah… B-But So-mi.”

“Yes?”

“Do I really not seem like a dad?”

“Of course, hehe. What are you talking about? Uncle Jang is hmm… like a friend.”

Jang Sam-tae stiffened with a shocked expression.

Mae-hyang, as if unable to continue speaking, was just quietly checking the back of Dan So-mi, who was leaving the place with quick steps.

“F-Friend…”

“It means you’re immature.”

“I know that too!”

At Mae-hyang’s words that hit the bone, Jang Sam-tae suddenly lost his temper.

* * *

Leaving the kitchen where Jang Sam-tae was, Dan So-mi slumped her shoulders with a crestfallen expression, unlike how she was smiling just a moment ago.

It was certainly a good thing that the people had returned, but because the name of the Hunan Dan family had been constantly going up and down throughout Yueyang lately, it was impossible for her to even go out properly.

Even strange people were hovering around, and there were even cases where people she had never seen before approached her kindly and talked to her.

These situations were heavily bearing down on the still young Dan So-mi. It wasn’t something a child could easily endure yet.

However.

‘Dad just wanders around leaving me behind…’

Dan So-mi pouted her lips as if she was sulking.

He talked as if he would always be by her side, but since some time ago, he often went out of the house.

Because he repeatedly left without a word and came back, from Dan So-mi’s perspective, who was always looking for Dan Woo-hyun, she couldn’t possibly like that.

“What are you thinking so deeply about again?”

“Huh? I wasn’t thinking about anything?”

“It shows on your face. Saying ‘Please pay some attention to me’…”

Yeo Eun-wol, who had appeared out of nowhere, smirked and spoke.

Startled by that single remark, Dan So-mi stroked her own face. Wondering if her emotions were showing that much, she soon frowned and sighed.

“Is it obvious?”

“Yes, you know you aren’t good at hiding your emotions, Young Lady.”

“But Uncle Jang didn’t know?”

“He’s naturally… a fool.”

“…”

Dan So-mi once again realized anew just how bad Jang Sam-tae’s reputation was in this Hunan Dan family. Although his martial arts were strong in their own way and he was versatile, his reputation was poor, perhaps because of his personality.

“You shouldn’t say such things in front of Uncle Jang. He’ll get hurt.”

“It’s better than you saying he’s like a friend.”

“…Was it obvious?”

“Yes, I definitely understood it as meaning he was immature.”

Dan So-mi grabbed between her eyebrows and slumped down.

She had spoken after thinking about it in her own way, but was it that obvious? She belatedly regretted, thinking she should have beaten around the bush a bit more.

But what could she do?

She couldn’t stop her inner thoughts that had just popped out.

“Phew- Can’t be helped. By the way, where is Father?”

“He is currently sitting in front of Dongting Lake.”

The moment she heard those words, Dan So-mi’s eyes sparkled brightly.

She quickly reached out, grabbed the hem of her skirt, and threw her body. Yeo Eun-wol made a dumbfounded expression as she watched Dan So-mi shoot forward in an instant.

“What incredible lightness art…”

That was unmistakably Jang Sam-tae’s lightness art.

It wouldn’t have been easy to master just by learning it, but Dan So-mi had grown to the point where it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say she had reached great achievement.

‘It isn’t just simple lightness art…’

Yeo Eun-wol shook her head back and forth.

It wasn’t just that her lightness art was fast.

She was practically strong enough not to need an escort named Yeo Eun-wol. Even if she were to fight the masters who were said to be flying and crawling around here, probably no one would be able to subdue her easily.

Yeo Eun-wol fully understood the feelings of Gwon Mu-jin or Namgung So-hye.

Feeling herself becoming increasingly useless, she thought she should swing her sword a bit more.

‘Let’s not be abandoned like them.’

Yeo Eun-wol clenched her fists tightly and made a resolution.

That no matter the situation, she wouldn’t end up like them.

* * *

“Dad!”

“You’re here.”

“Hehehe.”

Dan So-mi, who had run with all her might, took a seat next to Dan Woo-hyun. Seeing her naturally cast down the fishing rod she had brought from her room at some point, it seemed she had come looking for him for this purpose from the beginning.

“It’s fishing after a long time.”

“Haha, right, we haven’t done it recently.”

“It’s not that we haven’t done it, it’s that you couldn’t because you kept going out and coming back until now.”

“…”

At the tone that seemed to have thorns, Dan Woo-hyun shut his mouth. When he glanced sideways, Dan So-mi was smiling brightly.

He couldn’t figure out if she was smiling or angry.

“Did nothing happen?”

“As I said yesterday, So-mi was fine. Except for strangers talking to me… lingering around the house, and people I usually knew bowing down.”

“…”

Dan Woo-hyun let out a groan.

Whether she really wanted to say nothing happened, or she was angry because something happened but was annoyed that he didn’t notice it, listening to her expression and tone, he couldn’t figure it out at all.

“I’m not angry.”

“It… seems… so.”

“Hehe, right? So next time you go somewhere, please make sure to take me with you too. Since I’m guarding the house, I feel like a dog guarding the house.”

Dan So-mi, who was saying such things, made eye contact with Dan Woo-hyun and then clapped her hands together.

“Ah, that’s right! Did you hear?”

“Hear what?”

“There’s a rumor going around the streets of Yueyang. Like the people of the Dan family annihilated some place. What does annihilation mean?”

“…”

Dan Woo-hyun firmly shut his mouth.

He was at a total loss on how to talk about it.

What he felt looking at this child right now was somewhat like seeing Mi-ho when they first met.

Was it because she absorbed that child’s bead?

It felt vastly different from when she was younger.

“Hehe, So-mi is fine. I don’t care about such rumors. But it is a little uncomfortable. Why do people subtly avoid So-mi?”

She asked for an answer with sparkling eyes.

Since that was truly a gaze and tone filled with reprimand, the one who eventually raised both hands in defeat was none other than Dan Woo-hyun. He smirked and stroked Dan So-mi’s head.

“I’m sorry. Because it feels like I made you suffer.”

“Hehe, it’s fine as long as you know.”

“…”

In the end, she had been angry.

Dan Woo-hyun swallowed a groan and broke out in a cold sweat.

He had heard that children became unmanageable at this age, and wondering if this was that, he felt inexplicably bitter.

“By the way, can we go somewhere after finishing fishing today?”

“Is there a place you want to go?”

“Yes, leaving everything behind, just you and me, Dad.”

“That’s fine… just the two of us after a long time, haha.”

Dan Woo-hyun didn’t think it was bad.

It had been a long time.

Even though she grumbled, she didn’t leave his side, and she looked like she wouldn’t let go of the hand she had grabbed at some point. As a father, he couldn’t pretend not to notice her acting like a spoiled child.

“Okay, where do you want to go?”

“Hmm… I do have a place in mind… U-cha! Ah, I already caught one!”

Dan So-mi, who had been contemplating for a moment, quickly lifted her fishing rod. Seeing a large fish dangling on the line and flapping about, Dan Woo-hyun laughed in disbelief.

That strong luck of hers still seemed to rarely disappear.

“So?”

Dan Woo-hyun asked while slowly handling the fish Dan So-mi had caught. He even became anew curious about where she wanted to go to say such things.

“Hehe, it’s a secret. But it’s not that far.”

“Hoh… I’m really curious about that. Is it a good place?”

“Should I say it’s a good place… or a slightly special place… or a place I wanted to go to but didn’t have the courage to go…?”

Dan So-mi giggled.

A shadow was cast on her face for a moment, but she soon showed a bright smile and clenched her fists.

She then stood up forcefully and folded her fishing rod.

“And it’s also a place I thought I would definitely go with you, Dad, even if I did go.”

“I’m looking forward to it.”

“Fufu, I’m sure you will like it too, Dad. If not… you might be sad.”

“Hahaha, you say interesting things… Sad?”

“Now! Let’s hurry up and go before the day gets dark. I’m sure she’ll be very happy to see you, Dad.”

Dan So-mi reached out and grabbed Dan Woo-hyun’s hand.

She clung to him as if she really liked that warmth and wouldn’t easily let go.

Dan Woo-hyun didn’t easily erase the smile on his lips as he looked at such Dan So-mi, and gently stroked her head just like that day he first saw her.

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