Chapter 67: Oseong Lee Hangbok [2]
Hangbok opened his mouth to speak only when he could not see Ryu Seongyong, Lee Sunshin, and the other servants anymore. He glanced in all directions to check if there was anyone left. It seemed that he would talk about some unpresentable stuff for sure.
As a result, Ganghyuk’s suspicion turned into confidence. ‘This one might be wanting Viagra.’
Why did many people in Joseon have problems in there? Ganghyuk thanked the Chairman who put Viagra in this home visitation bag.
However, Hangbok’s problem was not this. First of all, he was not the patient.
“Do you remember I talked about my wife?”
How could Ganghyuk forget it? He was a man of good memory. Even though he had some liquor, it could not make him dumb.
“Yes, I do.”
“That is not a joke.”
“Pardon? I don’t understand.”
He had talked at cross-purposes. He made jokes, and then talked bout international situations, and then the face of his wife…
‘Geniuses tend to talk at cross-purposes.’ Ganghyuk did not have a deep knowledge about that, but that was something a psychiatrist friend of his told him at a drinking party. At that time, he thought it was nonsense.
But, it seemed that he was saying the truth, and this here was a good sample.
“My wife resembles my father-in-law too much.:
“Okay.” He could not sympathize with his words because he did not know about the face of Gwon Yul. But, he could understand Hangbok’s feelings when he remembered faces of professors in Chungmu Hospital.
‘The daughter of the president of the hospital looked exactly the same as her father.’
It was not important if she was pretty or not; but of course, she was not pretty. He could not bear the times when she smiled or laughed. Her smile or laughter reminded him of the president, and he just could not stand that.
If she smiled while they were making love, he would remember the president. He did not even want to go down that dark, dark road.
“You must not know what I feel. But, I am tortured.”
“I think I can guess, even though I do not know what you feel exactly.”
“Therefore, I would like to ask if you can change her face with your medical skills.”
“Pardon?”
What an embarrassing demand it was! It seemed that Joseon people took Ganghyuk as some kind of a demigod.
Plastic surgery?
He had had no experience in taking the scalpel to the face.
“It seems that there were some cases in the old books.”
“Is there a record in the old books?”
Plastic surgery during ancient days? Ganghyuk held his breath. If that were true, there must be high-tech surgery technology which had been forgotten.
“For example, metamorphosis in the old martial arts.”
“Ah, you meant that!”
The next few words did not satisfy his expectations. Ganghyuk had read a lot of martial art books that were full of supernatural phenomena. But, they were not based on the reality. It was pure imagination.
It seemed that Hangbok was talking about those martial arts books. However, he did not give up. “If not a similar thing, there could be some other methods, I believe.”
“That is…It is a really difficult operation to change the shape of the face.”
“I don’t want much. If she can have a smaller chin, she would look quite different.”
“But, it is really difficult operation, and I think the intentions of the patient is the most important.”
He could not do an operation after kidnapping a noblewoman. Unwanted operation was a torture. As he had done it many times recently, he knew it very well.
The bandits all had operations against their will, and truly felt tortured. However, they were necessary for experimentation and practice, so he had to do it. If not for the justification, he would have had felt guiltier.
“She might want it, I am sure. She gives a sigh whenever she looks at herself in the mirror.”
He seemed to remember his wife while talking about her, as his eyes showed some feelings. It seemed that he indeed loved his wife.
‘Does he make this fuss because he does not want to see her father on her face?’ Ganghyuk was confused.
‘Anyway, he is Lee Hangbok.’ He could not give a flat refusal to his proposal.
Seongyong was already fully recovered, and would not relapse if he did not use straws to clean his anus after stooling.
“I see…Okay then, I will see her.”
“Really? If you make it, I will reward you generously.”
“But, I cannot guarantee the result. As I told you before…”
“Yes, I know. It is not easy to change the appearance. It is really difficult for humans to change the things that heaven gives.”
“Yes, it is fortunate that you know it already.”
“But, I think you may be able to do it anyway.”
Having finished with this conversation and getting the desired response, Hangbok went to the room that he was given. Clearly, all he wanted to talk about was his wife.
Ganghyuk sighed as he came back to his room.
“Sir, you are late today.” Yeoni, who had been waiting for Ganghyuk, greeted him. Seongyong thought that Yeoni and Yeoju were male. Therefore, he gave two rooms only: one for Ganghyuk, and the other for all the others.
But, Ganghyuk was a modern boy, and could not let two men and two girls use the same room. Thus, he shared the large room with Dolseok and Makbong, and gave the small room to Yeoni and Yeoju.
However, this distinction became nominal soon.
“What are you doing? It is already late at night.”
“We were having a drink”
“Only you?”
“Yes.”
In the large room, two men were drunken and already asleep. It seemed Makbong and Dolseok had been playing wrestling, as they were sleeping intertwined. It seemed that they had gone to sleep a long time ago, given the sound of their snores.
‘What is their relationship? Are they friends or enemies?’ They were always fighting, but they slept together side by side; of course, except when Makbong went out for his ‘night business’.
‘She is a vicious drinker.’
Yeoju was holding a brush in her hand, but her eyes were closed. She might have gone asleep while drawing. Nevertheless, the drawings were all good. The problem was that she did not draw on the paper, but on the wall and floor.
‘She is not sober, either.’ Ganghyuk looked at Yeoni, who was almost drunken as well, and her hair were loosened.
“It seems that you are drinking nearly every day.”
“Would you like to drink some?”
“No, I drank too much already.”
Ganghyuk knew that Sunshin was a heavy drinker. But, Seongyong got abreast of even Sunshin. He could not drink for a while because of the hemorrhoids, so he drank all that he had wanted to drink during the period of abstinence.
And after Hangbok joined, Ganghyuk could not maintain his pace at all.
‘Next time, I should suggest a drinking game. I will die drinking all they give me.’
On seeing the drink that Yeoni gave him, he lost the last appetite he had. He had just drank a good drink that Seongyong gave. The one Yeoni offered was no way comparable to that.
“Hey, have a drink.” She must have been seriously drunken, considering her language and pronunciation.
“Eo, you are about to collapse….”
“Me? No, I am perfectly ok!” Yeoni tried to show Taekeyon steps after jumping. She thought she was perfectly fine, but her steps were a mess. Ganghyuk thought that even he could win against the current Yeoni.
“You are not ok.”
“Yes, I am.”
She did not like to lose a game. He could understand her because she had to find her position among men and became Eoreumsani in the group. But, he wanted to pull her legs more as he watched her staggering.
“No, you are not. If you fight now, you cannot win against me, not to mention the Japanese bandits.”
“What?” Yeoni answered back with harsh voice. After Eotanmyeon, she had exercised even more severely in order not to be defeated. Besides the morning exercise, she practiced with her wooden sword whenever possible.
“What I mean is that in your current status, you cannot win against anyone.”
“I can! I can win against you, sir. I am Yeoni!”
Ganghyuk was not much interested in martial arts, but he was a man. Sometimes, he watched UFC highlights on TV, and when he saw a Jiujitsu banner, he had even thought of learning it.
Anyway, it was difficult to endure as a small girl provoked him.
Ganghyuk had previously drunk some alcohol, so he was feeling quite brave.
‘I have been doing the morning exercise regularly.’ Although, he did not do the exercises hard. But, he was far better than himself when he had first met Heo Jun.
“No, I don’t think so.”
“Ok then! Let’s try!”
He was tempted by the word ‘try’, so he nodded his head unknowingly.
“Ok, let’s do it!”
“Don’t regret it later on.”
The place that was given to Ganghyuk and his group was a detatched building. There were no other buildings for other servants. Hence, nobody would come even if they made some noise.
“It will be you who will regret it.” Ganghyuk started to take some steps. At that moment, he realized that he was drunk too!
‘I am more drunken that I thought.’ He could not move as he wanted. Meanwhile, Yeoni ran to him as he was thinking of calling this off. Her unexpected steps disturbed his gaze.
“Eo Eo…”
While he was hesitating, Yeoni came near to him, and he got struck by a blow suddenly. It was not a kick, but a hand blow.
“It is foul. We are playing Taekyeon.”
“I am using the ‘Drunken Master’ style martial art.”
“My god!”
He defended it with his right hand, but it must have been a fake, as he could not feel any blocking force. At that moment, her left hand hit his solar plexus.
“Eok!”
If she were not drunken, she might have taken back some force from her blow to prevent from hurting him. However, she was seriously drunk right now; or, she was angry because of his provocation.
“Hey…”
He had had a lot of drinks food, so he started to vomit.
Wack!
“Oh, sir. Are you alright?”
Wack!
“Oh, my God!” Yeoni tapped his back as he vomited all he had eaten in the backyard. By the time all of the things in the stomach came out, his mental state became clearer.
‘I had too much today.’ Ganghyuk checked what he had vomited, which was mainly because he could not stand up due to the pain in the solar plexus.
‘Meat…more meat…here is more meat again.’
He could not find any vegetables at all in his regurgitated stomach contents. It must be because of Seongyong’s wish, who could not have meat for a month.
“Are you ok?”
“Do you think I am ok?”
“Can you stand up?”
“No, I am sick.”
“Then, will you lie down here?”
Yeoni offered her knees as a pillow; it is a good example of ‘Giving disease and then medicine’. He really wanted to lie down, and there was no special reason to reject her offer. Therefore, he rested his head on Yeoni’s lap.
“I am dying!”
“I am sorry!”
“How can you kick that strongly?”
“I am really sorry! I will massage the place.”
Yeoni touched his solar plexus with her hand. It was quite strange; her fist was a weapon in the fight, but seemed very soft right now.
However, Ganghyuk was not a romantic guy to be sentimental about this stuff, and was not in a situation to think of that anyway.
“You remember what you have learned very well.”
“Pardon?”
“It becomes more sensitive when it goes to the outer part. If you rub my stomach like that, I will forget the pain in the organs.”
“Ah, yes…”
He was a born teacher, so he tried to teach whenever possible. While Yeoni rubbed his stomach and chest, he was lost in thought. He had become quite sober after vomiting.
‘I told him that I would perform a plastic surgery as I was little drunk. But, what can I do with her chin? Cut it? Can I even…?’
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