Chapter 155

The next morning.


Jang Sam-i stretched and left Yeonghwa’s room.


“Ugh…”


It wasn’t that the conversation with Yeonghwa and Poong Ran was boring, but he was tired for various reasons.


Perhaps because he had lived roughly since childhood.


He preferred the trivial banter with Sima Mantian.


‘Come to think of it, has the Young Master not returned yet…?’


Judging by the time, it was before lunch. Maybe he could have lunch at the Jiegal Family before coming back.


Somehow, the already wide hallway felt even quieter.


He muttered to himself for no reason.


“Ha… When I was young, I was a good kid who would come back obediently when it was time to eat.”


Jang Sam-i tilted his head for a moment after saying that.


Was he a good kid? He was a cute troublemaker, though.


More importantly, why am I feeling lonely over the Young Master who hasn’t come home, as if I were his wife?


Actually, it’s good that I don’t have to work.


A slight tension formed between his brows. Jang Sam-i lightly massaged his temples with his index and middle fingers.


…I’ve gotten too used to taking care of him.


In fact, I feel uneasy when he’s not around. How useless.


Well, what can I do?


Currently, Jang Sam-i is twenty-three. Sima Mantian is eighteen.


They met when Sima Mantian was a ten-year-old kid, and they’ve been together for eight years.


“Hmm…”


Jang Sam-i stretched again, twisted his waist, and loosened his stiff body.


“Enough with the useless thoughts. Maybe I should take a bath.”


Yeonghwa was still in dreamland after chatting with Poong Ran late into the night, and Sima Mantian probably wouldn’t be back for a while.


Jang Sam-i leisurely headed to the bathroom to soak in the bath and relieve his fatigue.


“Hmm~ Hmm~ Hmm~.”


However, Jang Sam-i, humming a tune as he headed to the bathroom, didn’t know.


As the saying goes, speak of the devil and he shall appear.


Sima Mantian had already returned to the estate.


And he was currently heading towards the tiger taking a bath.


‧


‧


‧


Jang Sam-i thought that Sima Mantian would naturally look for him first upon returning home, so he assumed Sima Mantian hadn’t returned yet.


But Sima Mantian heard from another servant that Jang Sam-i was still asleep.


“No way, this guy is still sleeping? He must have been tired.”


He quietly entered the house.


“The Jiegal Family has a bath too, but it’s still better to soak leisurely at home.”


He entered the bath to relieve some fatigue in the warm water.


Before the servant could collect Sima Mantian’s clothes from the basket in front of the bathroom and bring new ones.


Jang Sam-i arrived at the bathroom and opened the door.


“There’s no one to use it. Is that the sound of water? Are they cleaning?”


Click~.


The timing couldn’t have been worse.


Or perhaps it was perfect.


In any case, the door opened helplessly, and Jang Sam-i’s eyes were met with Sima Mantian’s half-exposed naked body in the bath.


A sturdy body visible through the steam from the bath.


Water droplets flowed down his sharp jawline, down his neck, over his collarbone, and onto his firm chest.


His body wasn’t sculpted. It was a body with many scars from rolling around and rough fights.


But that’s why it had a different kind of beauty…


‘Wow… damn… look at that collarbone… and that chest.’


It had a wild beauty.


He had felt it before when he wiped his back. But now, with a demeanor that could no longer be treated as a child, heat rose to Jang Sam-i’s face.


His cynical gray eyes widened, and he was so focused that he stopped breathing.


A sensation as if time had stopped.


And just before Jang Sam-i’s gaze slowly moved further down.


Sima Mantian adjusted his posture to cover his important parts.


“Haha… I showed you something unsightly.”


He leaned his elbows and upper body on the edge of the bath and smiled slightly awkwardly.


“Uh… so you’re my father’s subordinate, right? It’s been a while since you nursed me back then.”


He was the one who didn’t lock the bathroom door.


He didn’t know his name, but he was someone he knew.


And since he had something to say, he thought he wouldn’t leave, so Sima Mantian tried to ease the awkward atmosphere.


“It’s good to see you again. …It would have been better if it wasn’t in the bathroom. Haha!”


He smiled warmly and greeted him.


“……….”


Jang Sam-i couldn’t immediately respond to the greeting directed at him.


Something was boiling inside.


That smile was a critical hit. It was a deadly smile.


Jang Sam-i knew. He had been with Sima Mantian for a long time, so he knew.


That smile wasn’t a flirtatious one but a pure, unconscious smile.


But that’s why it was irritating.


Even if it were another female servant here instead of him, he would have acted the same way.


‘With that attitude… this girl… that girl, isn’t she going to fall for him!?’


From Sima Mantian’s perspective, he didn’t know if Jang Sam-i, who revealed his true self, was the Jang Sam-i he knew, but he felt a strange familiarity and treated him more warmly.


But since Jang Sam-i didn’t know that, it was very annoying.


‘Without knowing how much I’m struggling…’


Without understanding people’s feelings, he just gets more charming every day and unconsciously flirts.


This is the Young Master seducing me. It’s wrong.


So I’ll just act on my feelings a little, just a little.


Jang Sam-i closed the bathroom door and said to Sima Mantian.


“…I’m your bodyguard.”


“Huh? Bodyguard?”


He would act according to his feelings. Click- He locked the bathroom door from the inside.


For a moment, the faces of Yeonghwa and Poong Ran, who had joined him last night at the ‘First Meeting – Gathering of People Who Like Sima Mantian,’ flashed through his mind.


But the quiet cat climbs the stove first, and the early bird catches the worm.


“Recently, there have been attacks from the Blood Church, so the Master has strengthened your security.”


He created a private space for just the two of them, even if only for a moment.


“Originally, Jang Sam-i should be by your side… but since he’s absent, I’ve been assigned as your bodyguard instead.”


Jang Sam-i hid his true feelings and lied naturally with a stern face.


…Well, it’s not entirely a lie.


After all, it was Sima Bu who ordered Jang Sam-i to guard Sima Mantian.


And Sima Mantian thought that if it was his father, it made sense, so he didn’t show any suspicion.


Instead, he leaned his face against his arm and joked warmly.


“Hmm, even if you’re a bodyguard, coming into a place like this~ You’re a bad noona.”


Jang Sam-i hid his face, red from the heat of the bath, and replied.


“…I’m just performing my assigned duties, Young Master.”


But contrary to his official words, Jang Sam-i’s eyes carefully scanned Sima Mantian’s naked body.


It’s not like he’s trying to look on purpose.


But his eyes keep drifting.


“Haha~ I was being mischievous. Sorry. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”


Sima Mantian’s laughter shook his heart.


“No, it’s fine.”


He pursed his small lips and bit them gently.


…Don’t smile.


Why do you smile so well?


“By the way… I didn’t catch your name. What’s your name?”


“I’m just a shadow following the Sima Family.”


Jang Sam-i couldn’t reveal his identity, so he answered vaguely.


“Hmm~ Then what’s your favorite food?”


“…I don’t really have any particular dislikes.”


Various conversations continued.


A short but long bath time passed.


***


I lay down on the bed, feeling refreshed.


Although the unexpected visitor made it impossible to soak leisurely.


The mood itself wasn’t bad.


“…It’s strangely familiar. The atmosphere is similar to Jang Sam-i’s.”


The father’s subordinate I met again in the bath.


An older noona who called herself a shadow, fitting my taste, came to mind.


Is she perhaps Jang Sam-i’s family? I thought I was quite close to him, but he doesn’t talk much about himself, so I don’t know.


“…Should I ask him later?”


As I muttered to myself for no reason, feeling concerned.


Knock- Knock-.


A knocking sound was heard at the same time.


I thought it might be Jang Sam-i, but the person knocking was none other than my father.


“Mantian, I’m coming in.”


Sima Bu, who had been holed up in his room saying he had things to think about, came to find Sima Mantian and entered the room.


I jumped up from the bed, and Sima Bu, perhaps feeling awkward about talking to his son after a long time.


Or perhaps unsure how to bring up what he wanted to say, started the conversation by lightly asking about his well-being.


“…How’s your health?”


“The injuries from the fight with the Blood Church have healed. I’m fine.”


Sima Bu nodded and looked at Sima Mantian’s right leg.


“That’s good. How’s your leg lately?”


“…My leg’s fine too.”


There was no need to hide it anymore, so I smiled awkwardly and said.


“After learning martial arts, the condition of my right leg has improved a lot. You don’t need to worry.”


I had been meaning to tell them, but I hadn’t revealed to my parents that I had learned martial arts until I won the Dragon and Phoenix Association.


It sounded like I was being interrogated, so Sima Bu sighed.


“I’m not interrogating you. It’s just…”


He continued in a soft or hesitant voice.


“You and I, father and son, have secrets we haven’t told each other.”


My pupils shook at my father’s words.


I didn’t expect my father to bring it up first.


“Just as you noticed that our family isn’t an ordinary merchant family, I also noticed your secret.”


Sima Bu said bluntly.


“I’m telling you in advance, but I’m not interrogating or blaming you.”


Seeing him speak like this, he must have noticed long ago.


“…You knew all along.”


Yes, I had to tell my father eventually. I couldn’t hide it forever.


I spoke to my father with a trembling but firm voice.


“Even though she’s an adopted daughter, I’m in love with my sister… Yeonghwa.”


Knowing that Yeonghwa wasn’t just an adopted daughter but a half-sister by blood.


Sima Bu’s pupils shook wildly.


He had heard reports and knew, but hearing it directly from his son was even more shocking.


“I had noticed that too… We’ll talk about that separately later.”


But that wasn’t the main point.


“The secret I’m talking about is something else.”


I was bewildered and had a question mark above my head.


‘Huh? That’s not it? Then what secret is it?’


And then my body stiffened at my father’s next words.


“Mantian, the fact that you are a reincarnated person with memories of your past life.”


My pupils shook wildly.


‘What!? How, how did you know that!?’


The little Mantians in my mental world were startled and fell backward.