Chapter 149 - Hye Seong

Mr. Ahn showed all the dishes and silverware. Eun Ha found them too delicate and expensive to put in use. Some of them were definitely antique pieces! Mr. Ahn also ended up telling, because of the young fairy's insistence, that the Master used only a portion of the big house and lived there for a long, long time. After that he closed himself up like a shell and revealed nothing more, keeping only his smile matching his slitlike eyes. Eun Ha doubted that he could even see anything with those slits covered by drooping eyelids.

Eun Ha left him in the kitchen, and tried to return by herself to where Hunter Shin was, with her mind full of new questions. 

Attracted by a room not yet explored, the stylist strayed from the path and came across a reading room with a fireplace and exquisite decor. Above the fireplace was a framed painting on silk, actually a Joseon-style portrait, of considerable size.

Eun Ha blinked. Was that "THE" Hunter Shin? Totally Joseon style?

"I should have guessed that a sly creature like you wouldn't come straight back," Eun Ha heard the voice behind her, and turned around hiding her hands behind her body as if she were being caught stealing,

"Professor Shin ... Is that you?"

"You are not going to tell me you are suddenly myopic," he had his hands in his pants pockets, and looked up at the ceiling, as if thinking about something. "Besides, I already explained that our people live much longer than humans ... in a sense."

"But you still haven't explained why you don't age!" Eun Ha turned around, narrowing her eyes accusingly. But of course, her threatening expression didn't even make him respect her the slightest. The Hunter took two steps forward and placed his hand flat on her forehead, pushing it slightly back. Eun Ha tried to keep her stand, but even that little pressure was too much for her, and she became unbalanced. In order not to fall backward she grabbed the other fairy's free arm with both hands.

"I would have explained it if you stopped talking," he raised an eyebrow, apparently not intending to lose this 'argument'.

"If only you'd speak! It's so hard to get information from you!" Eun Ha didn't let go of his arm.

"And don't listen to me when that happens," he shook his head.

"When did the Professor tell me his age? And why don't you get old? And that your name is Shin Hye Seong?" she didn't forget he told Ye Rim his name without little effort from her part.

"No, 'Jung'. I don't have a surname. Only humans have surnames. My name is Hye Seong."

Eun Ha looked at him, static. She remembered when they met, and she introduced herself with her full name. The Hunter was quite ironic in calling her Jung at the time. She also remembered that no other fairy had a last name. The fairy who had lost her powers, In Jung. Or the owner of the candy store, Chil Won.

"Why?"

"Well, because, about 500 years ago, there was a war between some fairy clans, here in the east. There was an idea of ​​aristocracy, and there was royalty. At the end of the war, a council was formed, and family names were extinguished, to avoid hubris, and loser and winners sides."

"So 'Shin' is arbitrary?"

"Uhm ..."

"And why don't you call me by my name?"

"Jung?"

"No, Eun Ha."

He took a deep breath, showing impatience, and was going to free his arm and walk away, she realized. But she clung more tightly to the arm she was holding.

"Jung! What is it?! Let me go!" he snarled.

"No! Our conversation is not over!"

"You can't tell me when I'm done talking!" this time the Hunter actually turned his back to her, but Eun Ha remained clinging to him. Resulting in Hunter Shin dragging the little fairy as she dragged the Persian rug and slid behind him across the room, stubbornly,

"When am I going to stop aging?" she insisted.

"When you have a deep trauma," he gave her a usual laconic response.

"What happened to me, the allergy. It's very rare?"

"No. Everyone has some type of allergy." 

"Even you, Professor?" she recently discovered the side effects of ingesting anise, and didn't want to repeat.

"Yes. I have a chocolate allergy," he mumbled, looking back and seeing that she didn't seem willing to let go of his arm.

"OH! So that's when..." Eun Ha remembered when she put the ganache on his mouth, 'Poor thing!'

Then Shin stopped walking and tried to run away from her, and turned to the young fairy again,

"And you also react to the yellow color. Your magic does not work if you are in contact with the yellow color."

"Why?" she also remembered her sweatshirt was stained with yellow paint when she ran from Hong Gi mobsters. She probably touched some freshly painted surface. And that's why her wand didn't obey her commands when she needed the most. Knowing how it affected her magic was important.

"It is a complex part. Jung…"

" Eun Ha. "

Hunter Shin looked at her seriously, clearly holding back what he would say next when they heard Mr. Ahn's call near the door,

"Excuse me. I prepared a simple supper, which awaits you in the dining room."

After Ahn left, the Hunter asked,

"Are you still going to need my arm?"

Eun Ha released him, sulking, following behind Shin to the dining room.

There were soup and fish, and it was delicious. Eun Ha waited to see if the Hunter, as a host, would have a pleasant conversation, but it didn't. Shin just ate in silence, 'I don't even know why I'm surprised.'

"Your house is beautiful."

"Thanks."

"Is it your family's home? ""

"No. My family's home was destroyed many years ago."

"So the Professor lived here with his wife?" her second theory, while painful, seemed the only likely alternative.

"Yes."

Eun Ha crushed a bean in the soup, biting her lips, 'Couldn't he just play dumb ?!'

"A long time ago?"

"Hm."

"Your strategy of keeping the garden unattended and that sign outside very smart."

"Thanks."

"Why did the Professor offer his home to me?"

"Because it will be free. So you use the money to pay people."

What I mean is that ... This is your home. Wouldn't it be easier… lend me the money so I can find a good place? "

"I already said that I will not lend you money."

She sighed. It was true. He had said that.

"I can't feel the magic here. That place …"

"The magic that once existed here has been consumed for a long time. The humans who come here don't stay long enough, except Ahn. But it's not enough to leave and i.m.p.r.e.g.n.a.t.e the place."

So Eun Ha understood. Unlike her home, where Ye Rim constantly produced magic, Professor Shin's home was empty and even those works of art had been emptied from magic. She was itching to touch the delicate subject of what would have happened for the Hunter to be without his magic. But she thought it would not be a good time. He was quite wary now.

"How can I thank you for everything you have done for me, Professor Shin? Like teaching, and saving, and lending me your home?"

"Do you think it would be possible?"

"Mm, well ... Maybe I'm not the best fairy in the world, but sometimes I have good ideas."

"Like the Fashion Ball?"

"This will still revert to the good of all, you will see. But I'm talking about other ideas, especially the time I opened the door to the candy store. In fact, the Professor shouldn't have been alone that day. The chocolate thing, I mean."

"It wouldn't solve much, if you had stayed. In fact, it would probably be talking and talking and would hinder my investigation."

"I would have given you a hug, like you did when I was scared."

"Ahem!"

"What is it, Professor?! These are other times! I thought you acted like an old-fashioned man! " she revealed with a smile. She just didn't foresee he'd have a bad reaction,

"Call me whatever you want! Don't expect me to behave like a 'modern man', like your 'friend' Baek Woo Geun! You don't touch a young single woman as if…" he only stopped when he saw Eun Ha's amused look.

"I thought you didn't care about me that much."

"I didn't want to, but I have to care. You are an uneducated orphan, a wild fairy! It needs to be recognized by society and…"

"And…?" she was undoubtedly interested in knowing what else he would have said before he found himself talking too much.

"Find a real teacher."

'No! I don't want another teacher! Only you!' she held her breath to control the reaction that was going through her mind,

"I am happy with the teacher that I have. She held up her wine glass, "To Professor 'Shin' Hye Seong. He's grumpy, but he offered me his home to make my dream come true," she smiled sweetly at Shin. He remained impassive,

"Then listen to me. Don't let yourself be seduced by that preening kiddo. He's fickle and judges people for what they can offer. It will not last over nine months."

"Nine months ... Is that a Joseon's old measure?"

"Hm, do you think I'm kidding?"

"Well, the Professor also measured me for what I could offer. Magic. Will it also last nine months?" Eun Ha felt compelled to return in kind. Did he really think she was that silly?

"Ha, you're right. And that is why I say that it sucks. Because I can recognize a similar one."

'Aishh. When will he admit that we're meant to be a couple?'