When the boy regained consciousness, he realized he was on Myojeong’s back.
“You’re awake?”
Myojeong was carrying him up a mountain path on the way back from the magistrate’s office. Still dazed, the boy looked around blankly.
He rembered the magistrate slapping him. He rembered the surge of blinding rage afterward.
Everything beyond that was hazy.
“Myojeong, where are we going?”
“Ho. Where else?”
“That magistrate hit .”
“Yes. So I nearly beat him to death for it.”
The boy fell silent.
This had happened before.
Slowly loosening his arms from around Myojeong’s neck, he reached up and touched Myojeong’s forehead.
“...”
Just like before, blood stained his fingertips.
“Don’t lie to . You begged again, didn’t you?”
Myojeong only smiled quietly.
“Why don’t you just kill them? Why do you always bow your head to weak ordinary people? You’re stronger than they are. They’re the ones in the wrong. So why do you always...”
The boy’s voice trembled.
Hot tears threatened to spill over.
“Then at least tell what I did. I can’t rember.”
“What did my disciple do? You stripped naked and danced around like a lunatic.”
“Don’t joke around. I’m serious.”
Myojeong chuckled under his breath, then eventually answered after a long silence.
“It’ll get better with ti. One day, everything will return to normal.”
So I lost control again.
I must’ve hurt people. Broken things in a fit of rage.
“Myojeong.”
“Hm?”
“I’m sorry.”
Myojeong gently shook his head.
“It isn’t your fault.”
The thought of Myojeong humiliating himself because of him made the boy’s chest ache.
Without a sound, tears soaked into Myojeong’s shoulder.
In response, Myojeong rely adjusted him higher on his back and silently continued up the mountain path.
I really am a burden to him.
***
The following morning, after waking—
“Gyeom-ah, where are you going this early?”
The boy was packing his belongings.
Myojeong looked at him in confusion.
“...”
The boy said nothing.
Once he finished packing, he slung the bundle over his shoulder. Then he carefully folded up the black robe he had spent days secretly nding and held it out.
“Hm? This is...”
Myojeong stared at it with widened eyes.
The robe he’d lost was right in front of him.
“The tie was cut before. I stitched it back together.”
Looking down awkwardly, the boy added in a small voice,
“I’m leaving now. You don’t have to keep wasting your life taking care of anymore.”
A faint scar still lingered across Myojeong’s forehead.
“What?”
“You should get married, have children, and live properly. Thank you for everything until now. People always treated you like a widower dragging around a child because of . I’m old enough to survive on my own now.”
Myojeong’s expression turned strange.
“I genuinely can’t believe what I’m hearing.”
For the past few days, the boy had been gloomy, withdrawn, and strangely cautious around him. Myojeong had wondered what was wrong.
Now he finally understood.
He burst out laughing.
“You little brat. I can’t get married.”
“...What? Why?”
The boy looked up, frowning.
“Well...”
Myojeong hesitated for a mont, then trailed off.
The boy muttered darkly,
“What, is there sothing wrong with you? Or can’t you perform—”
“...”
This insolent little bastard.
Myojeong let out a hollow laugh, dumbfounded.
“In any case, I’m never getting married. So stop thinking ridiculous things and spend the rest of your life serving your master properly.”
Grinning, he sat down cross-legged.
The boy stared at him blankly.
“My precious disciple will take care of for the rest of my life. And when the day cos, you’ll carry my funeral bier when I leave this world. When I grow old and my back bends, you’ll carry around on yours too. So don’t you dare abandon then, understood?”
Then Myojeong spread the robe open with a bright smile.
“It’s a beautiful leaf.”
“On the day I die, I’ll wear this into my grave.”
The boy clenched his fists tightly.
“...”
He thought he’d cried himself dry yesterday, yet tears welled up again.
Silently, he rubbed at his eyes with his sleeve.
Myojeong had just said they would stay together until death.
This is where I belong.
His chest overflowed until it hurt.
See?
Myojeong won’t abandon .
He plans to stay with forever.
At that mont, the boy truly believed he had nothing left to wish for.
***
Imrsed in mories of the past, the boy who had finally found a place to belong spent his days in happiness.
Several peaceful days passed with Myojeong.
Every trivial thing brought him joy.
As always, they ate together and climbed the mountain path side by side for training.
I wish every day could stay like this.
Sotis there were days like that.
Days when everything felt perfect.
The sky was clear blue. Sunlight poured down warmly, and a cool breeze drifted in from afar.
Humming to himself, occasionally teasing Myojeong, the boy walked along happily.
“Ow.”
Suddenly, sharp pain stabbed through one of his ears.
The boy flinched and grabbed at it.
Myojeong, who had been faintly smiling, blinked in confusion.
“Gyeom-ah? What’s wrong?”
“M-my ear hurts.”
The boy lowered his head, grimacing.
“Are you alright?”
An inexplicable unease began creeping over his body.
His head throbbed violently.
Then—
Sothing suddenly sprang out from behind a large tree.
Startled, both the boy and Myojeong instinctively stepped back, thinking it was a wild animal.
“My lord.”
But it wasn’t a beast.
It was a small child.
The child blocked their path and looked up at them with shining eyes.
Since the child had called soone “my lord,” the boy glanced at Myojeong.
“Do you know this kid?”
“No. This is my first ti seeing him...”
Myojeong shook his head.
At that mont, the child walked closer with a bright smile.
“My lord, where are you going?”
The child stood right in front of the boy, looking up at him innocently.
The boy froze in confusion.
The child wasn’t talking to Myojeong.
He was talking to him.
...What?
Why is he calling my lord?
“Who are you?”
Standing on tiptoe, the child bead brightly.
“It’s ! !”
“So who are you?”
The boy snapped irritably.
“You gave my na, my lord!”
Squirming bashfully, the child giggled.
I gave him a na...?
The boy stared at him blankly.
No matter how hard he looked, the face was unfamiliar.
And yet...
Sothing about him felt strangely familiar.
As though he should rember.
What was his na again...?
Frowning deeply, the boy ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) slowly spoke.
“... san... san?”
The child’s face lit up like a full moon.
“Yes! That’s right, my lord! I’m san!”
san bounced up and down, clapping excitedly.
“Don’t you rember? The first ti we t, I said, ‘I’m a great being! As tall as Mount Tai!’ Then you laughed and said, ‘Mount Tai? Don’t be ridiculous. Nothing’s higher than the sky. Tiny thing like you should just be called san.’ That’s how I beca san!”
The child chattered nonstop before suddenly hugging the boy around the waist and rubbing his cheek against him.
Startled, the boy looked down at him blankly.
“My lord, are you coming ho late again tonight?”
Caught off guard, the boy answered without thinking.
“Huh? Ah... yeah...”
“When you co ho tonight, can I show you how I play gonggi?”
“Uh... sure...”
The mont the boy nodded absentmindedly, san’s face lit up with delight.
“Okay! Then I’ll wait with Jeongju!”
With that, san dashed off sowhere in excitent and vanished almost instantly.
The boy stood there staring blankly after him.
“...”
What was that?
Still bewildered, he slowly turned toward Myojeong.
Myojeong looked just as confused.
“Gyeom-ah. Let’s go.”
Without another word, the boy started walking after him again.
After only a few steps, he abruptly stopped.
That strange unease from earlier still clung to him like a shadow.
The boy glanced toward the direction san had disappeared, then suddenly turned around.
“Gyeom-ah? Where are you going? The path’s this way.”
Confused, Myojeong grabbed his wrist as he started walking the opposite direction.
“Myojeong... I... I need to go ho...”
Myojeong stared at him.
“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”
Blinking slowly, the boy slipped his wrist free.
“I need to... go ho...”
“Hm? Did you forget sothing?”
“Huh? No, it’s just... well...”
His thoughts tangled together chaotically.
Then suddenly—
A splitting pain tore through his head.
The boy clutched his forehead and began muttering in confusion.
“When I left... I didn’t tell Jeongju or sani anything...”
The words spilled out awkwardly, pieced together from fragnts floating through his mind.
“I-if I disappear without saying anything... they’ll worry...”
Myojeong silently watched him for a mont before sighing quietly.
“Gyeom-ah. What are you talking about?”
Ah.
Wait.
The boy’s expression slowly stiffened.
Jeongju and san...
I t them after Myojeong abandoned .
Slowly, he lifted his head.
His eyes t Myojeong’s.
“...”
Cold sweat suddenly broke out across his skin.
The world spun violently around him.
His breathing beca ragged.
Staggering backward, the boy clutched his forehead as painful mories crashed through his mind all at once.
Realizing sothing was wrong, Myojeong imdiately crouched in front of him.
“Gyeom-ah, are you alright? What’s wrong?”
His expression had completely changed.
But the boy couldn’t answer.
Myojeong quickly dropped to one knee so their eyes were level and gently grabbed his shoulders.
“Where does it hurt? Can you walk?”
Only then did the boy barely force the words out.
“Don’t... touch ...”
“What? I couldn’t hear you.”
The boy violently shook off his hand.
“Gyeom-ah, why—”
Just as Myojeong reached toward him again—
“Don’t touch !!!”
Startled by the sudden scream, Myojeong froze.
The boy collapsed to the ground clutching his ears, eyes squeezed shut.
“You abandoned ! You betrayed —!”
The mont the words left his mouth, the boy’s eyes flew open in shock.
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