Chapter 380
Wei Jeong-han poured wine into his cup without giving any answer.
The inconsiderate sound of rain was seeping into the dark, gloomy room.
Wei Yan-ho also didn't rush Wei Jeong-han. He seemed to think that if he waited, the man would speak.
No, perhaps the one who feared most hearing an answer come from Wei Jeong-han's mouth right now was Wei Yan-ho himself.
The answer he wanted to hear.
The answer he had to hear.
But it was the answer he least wanted to hear.
Perhaps because he understood Wei Yan-ho's heart, Wei Jeong-han quietly brought the wine cup to his lips as if Wei Yan-ho wasn't in front of him, as if he had never been asked such a question.
His Adam's apple bobbed greatly.
Wei Yan-ho turned his head away.
It was hard to look at the truth that had arrived before him, but watching his father like this was also not an easy thing. His father had always been a dignified person.
Someone who had nothing to be ashamed of in this world, nothing to fear in this world.
Because he had lived upholding righteousness and chivalry, he was someone who had no need to bow his head to anyone.
Seeing such a person's shoulders drooping like that was a very heartbreaking thing.
"Brothers…"
Wei Jeong-han smiled faintly.
A bit forlornly.
"What is needed to become brothers?"
"…"
"Bonds? Memories? Chivalry? Or perhaps… blood ties?"
Wei Yan-ho closed his eyes.
He hadn't heard a direct answer. But his father had already answered.
"Can't we just bury it?"
"…"
"There are things in this world that are better not known. And there are things that are better to pretend not to know. So…"
"Father."
Wei Yan-ho opened his eyes.
"I'm sick and tired of my brother."
Wei Jeong-han quietly looked at Wei Yan-ho.
"It's been that way since childhood. My brother was good at everything. He excelled at everything. People would applaud when they saw my brother, and point fingers when they saw me."
A quiet sigh.
An inevitable sigh escaped.
"I used to think, 'What kind of person is that in this world?' The truth is, I didn't curse him because he was my brother, but if we weren't brothers, I would have gone around cursing that bastard as an inhuman, damned son of a bitch."
"That's understandable."
Because excessive excellence breeds envy.
"Now that I have one thing I'm better at than my brother, I don't think I've surpassed him. Honestly, I don't think I could surpass that bastard even if I lived my whole life."
Wei Jeong-han listened to Wei Yan-ho's words without saying anything.
Had there ever been a time like this?
Wei Yan-ho was a child who didn't reveal his inner thoughts. He was always a child who would vaguely change the subject and turn away whenever serious words were about to come out.
That child was now revealing his hidden inner thoughts in front of him.
"I used to think such thoughts. Why are that person and I brothers? Why do I have to live my whole life in that person's shadow?"
"…"
"There were times I was angry. There were times I was annoyed. So there were times I thought it would be good if he just disappeared. But I couldn't hate him. Because we're brothers. Yes, because we're brothers. And…"
Wei Yan-ho pressed his lips tightly together.
Because anyone could tell.
How much his brother had cherished him. Sometimes to what seemed like an excessive degree, Wei San-ho had cherished Wei Yan-ho. He cherished and cherished him again.
"Father is right. There are things in this world that are better not known. There are things that are better covered up."
"Right."
"But if that's the case, it should have been hidden perfectly. A secret that's been revealed even a little is no longer a secret. You know that too, Father."
Wei Jeong-han sighed quietly.
He had spent half his life trying to hide that secret. But having it revealed like this was beyond his capabilities.
"So please, tell me."
Wei Yan-ho spoke with firm eyes.
"Whether we're brothers or not, the relationship between my brother and me won't change. But I need to know the truth at least. I don't want to look at that person's face while carrying some unknown uneasiness in my heart."
Watching Wei Yan-ho speak with conviction, Wei Jeong-han smiled bitterly.
'He's all grown up.'
Perhaps the person who had been ignoring Wei Yan-ho the most… and the relationship between Wei San-ho and Wei Yan-ho was Wei Jeong-han himself. The boys who had grown up in his embrace were now leaving his embrace and walking their own paths.
Trying to protect such children by pulling them back into his embrace again was not for the children's sake.
'And perhaps I'm not the one who should resolve this matter.'
Wei Yan-ho had grown too big to be kept in his embrace. He was still an unreliable and anxious child, but aren't children always such beings to their parents?
Now it was time to acknowledge and let go.
"I don't know where to start the story."
It was back to square one.
The only thing that had changed was that now he had the will to tell Wei Yan-ho all the truth.
"You and San-ho are brothers. I guarantee that."
Wei Yan-ho's eyes shook slightly. Wei Jeong-han was speaking with conviction now.
But any faint hope was mercilessly crushed.
"But you're not brothers who share blood."
Wei Yan-ho's eyes sank deeply.
He had known.
With the situation having flowed this far, he couldn't not know that fact. It was something even the stupidest fool could guess.
But hearing those words from Wei Jeong-han's mouth was still a different feeling. Even though he thought he had steeled himself sufficiently, it felt like his heart was sinking.
"My brother is…"
What should he ask?
Why not?
Then whose child is my brother?
Or…
Who among us is not Father's child? Is it my brother, or is it me?
He couldn't ask any of it.
The moment those words came from Wei Jeong-han's mouth, Wei Yan-ho's entire body was drooping endlessly like cotton soaked in water. His lips wouldn't lift as if they were made of heavy iron, and his eyes couldn't find where to go.
'Not?'
He and Wei San-ho aren't brothers?
Ridiculous.
Knowing Wei Yan-ho's shaking heart, Wei Jeong-han sighed. Wei Jeong-han reached out to grab the wine bottle and poured wine into Wei Yan-ho's cup.
Glug glug.
Looking at the rising wine, Wei Yan-ho ended up laughing.
Ah, so this is why.
This is why people drink alcohol.
Because their insides burn.
Because their chest burns more than the alcohol they taste in their mouth, so they drink alcohol.
Wei Yan-ho quietly looked at the wine cup filled with alcohol.
His face was reflected in the transparent liquor.
The face of Wei Yan-ho reflected in the wine cup was making an expression he had never seen before. Whether it was because it was distorted by the swaying alcohol, or whether Wei Yan-ho was really making such an expression… the current Wei Yan-ho couldn't tell.
"I raised both of you as my children."
"…"
"Not because I thought I should. Because you are both my children. If someone asked me whether you are my children, I would answer yes without any hesitation."
Wei Jeong-han continued bitterly.
"But if they asked whether we share blood, I couldn't say yes. Because that's not the truth."
"Then…"
Wei Yan-ho's voice became a little colder.
"Is that true?"
"What are you talking about?"
"About being the child of the Mad Blood Demon."
"…"
Wei Jeong-han didn't open his mouth easily.
This was too heavy a matter.
"So you took my brother away for that? To raise him as a descendant of the Mad Blood Demon? And that stupid bastard followed along thinking it was good?"
"Your words are harsh."
"Harsh?"
Blood vessels appeared in Wei Yan-ho's eyes.
"What's harsh about it?"
"…"
"So if he gets dragged away like that with the promise of being spared, who's supposed to be grateful?"
"It's better than dying."
"What's better!"
Wei Yan-ho's voice was closer to a scream than a shout. No, it was rather a cry of anguish.
"Damn it! If you beg for your life like this, who's supposed to bow in gratitude?"
"Yan-ho!"
"You said it yourself, Father! That it's better to die maintaining your pride than to live in disgrace. Are you telling me I should be happy that he survived by selling out his brother?"
Wei Jeong-han bit his lips.
"I taught you that way. Yes, you're right. I told your brother the same thing. Not to be servile, not to submit. Yes, your brother violated my teaching."
"…"
"But should I be angry at that boy for not following my teaching? No. I want to bow to that boy in gratitude. Thanks to him, everyone lived. You too, and San-ho too. As long as you're alive, there's always an opportunity someday, there's always possibility. So…"
Wei Jeong-han spoke with a firm face.
"Righteous Hero Sword… Yes, Righteous Hero Sword. I couldn't throw away my children's lives for that meaningless title and useless chivalry."
"But…"
"You're here, aren't you?"
Wei Yan-ho raised his head to look at Wei Jeong-han.
"Your brother isn't dead. And he didn't go somewhere he can't return from. San-ho wouldn't have worried. Because you would come to save him."
"…Who goes to save some man?"
Wei Yan-ho clenched his fists tightly.
'Who's blaming whom here?'
He shouldn't resent. He shouldn't be angry.
All the cause lay with himself. If he had defeated the Mad Blood Demon, this wouldn't have happened.
All of this happened because he was weak.
His master's words were right.
"Chivalry? Righteousness? Don't make me laugh. The martial world is survival of the fittest. The strong have, and the weak are robbed. That chivalry is ultimately nothing more than mercy that the strong can bestow upon the weak. If you want to have chivalry, you must be strong, and if you want to have righteousness, you must also be strong. In the end, it's strength. The martial world is that cold a place. If you don't become strong, you'll only be robbed. Of everything. Don't be the one who's robbed, become the one who robs. That's the best advice I can give you."
'Because I was weak.'
Because I was weak, I was robbed.
The opportunity to not have to beg for my own life.
My brother.
And even the truth that should have been buried.
'I must become strong.'
More, much more.
So that no one dares take anything from him.
Wei Yan-ho slowly rose from his seat.
He had heard all the words he needed to hear. Now both he and Wei Jeong-han needed time alone.
"Are you going?"
"Yes."
"What will you do?"
"I need time to organize my thoughts."
"Yes, that would be good too."
Wei Yan-ho, who had slowly turned around, walked toward the door. Wei Yan-ho, standing in front of the door, quietly opened his mouth.
"Father."
"…Yes."
"Until today, I had never once thought that my brother might not be my brother."
"…"
"At least Father was the best. So… No, this should be enough."
Wei Yan-ho opened the door and went outside.
Wei Jeong-han quietly poured wine into the empty wine cup.
Glug glug glug.
Only the sound of wine filling the cup echoed along with the indifferent sound of rain.
Gloomily.
A little gloomily.