“...Suhyang?”
Jaegyeom stared blankly at the Commissioner, his eyes widening.
No, that made no sense. Why was Suhyang sitting in the director of the Office of Narye’s seat? Before that, how could Suhyang still be alive? Nothing about this situation made sense from beginning to end.
“So, you did recognize .”
The Commissioner’s eyes curved gently.
The mont Jaegyeom saw the familiar smile crinkling the corners of her eyes, certainty struck him. Those eyes always looked as though they could see through everything. He had definitely seen that gaze before sowhere. A strange mixture of dissonance and déjà vu swirled together, throwing his thoughts into chaos.
Jaegyeom hurriedly searched through his mories of Suhyang.
The Suhyang he rembered had been a man. In those distant mories, Suhyang had worn a horsehair hat and traditional robes.
But the person before him now was unmistakably an old woman.
Disbelief filled Jaegyeom’s eyes.
As though she had read his thoughts, Suhyang smiled softly.
“Haha. Yes, that’s right. You must have thought I was a man.”
She raised the porcelain teacup to her lips and let out a quiet laugh.
“Yes, back then, I disguised myself as a man. It was a very long ti ago, of course. Those were the kinds of tis we lived in. Unless soone was particularly familiar with won, it was difficult to tell. It wasn’t even especially unusual in those days. There were many won who lived disguised as n. It was a difficult world for won to survive in. I never expected you to recognize , but you have a sharp eye.”
For a mont, Jaegyeom couldn’t say a word.
Was this really Suhyang?
He had thought Suhyang seed sowhat thin and delicate for a grown man, but never once had he imagined she might actually be a woman.
Jaegyeom abruptly rose to his feet.
“You... how... h-how...”
His mind felt completely blank.
It wasn’t rely the shock of having mistaken Suhyang’s gender all this ti.
Before coming here, he had agonized over what expression he should wear and what he should say when facing the director of the Office of Narye. The director was Yoon Taehee’s enemy. eting such a person alone was deeply uncomfortable for Jaegyeom as well. He had resolved not to reveal his anger or hostility carelessly.
But the director turned out to be Suhyang, soone he had believed dead long ago.
That was why, before entering this room, Jaegyeom had repeatedly told himself to stay calm no matter what happened.
But now, he could not keep himself from wavering.
The shock of Suhyang’s unimaginable identity left him at a complete loss.
Was this truly reality?
It felt almost like a dream.
Why had Suhyang been waiting for him? How had she survived all these years? How had she beco the director of the Office of Narye?
Everything was a mystery.
“Thinking back on those days really makes one realize how much the world has changed. It is the sa land, yet it has transford beyond recognition. It has beco incomparably better than it once was...”
Unlike Jaegyeom, who could not conceal his confusion, Suhyang remained perfectly calm.
“I love this land very much as it is now. But in those days, I despised it. Every day felt suffocating simply because I had to set foot upon such land.”
Suhyang had been born into a prestigious noble family.
Had she lived an ordinary life in that era, she would likely have married, borne children, and lived quietly as a woman. But that was not the life Suhyang wanted.
Suhyang possessed ambition.
Yet it was an age that placed endless restraints upon won. A world where won were forbidden from harboring ambition at all.
And so, in pursuit of that ambition, Suhyang stepped into the harshness of the world herself.
“You look as though you have many questions.”
Suhyang smiled gently as she spoke.
“Well, I suppose this must be quite shocking for you.”
At that mont, sothing unfamiliar erged from behind the folding screen at Suhyang’s back.
Jaegyeom, who had been standing stiffly frozen, flinched and turned his gaze toward it.
A cat with jet-black fur stepped out from behind the screen.
“It seems happy to have a guest after so long.”
Suhyang reached out naturally and stroked the cat’s head.
From the way she treated it, it was clearly a cat she had raised for a long ti.
The cat studied Jaegyeom for a mont with sharp, assessing eyes before padding over and brushing its cheek against his knee as it passed by. Its tail trembled faintly as it yawned.
Amber eyes stared intently up at him.
The cat glanced back toward Suhyang and let out a soft ow.
“It seems to like you.”
Suhyang smiled as she t the cat’s gaze.
“The entire universe exists within these eyes.”
Her hand continued gently stroking the cat before her gaze drifted toward the window.
“This child has lived a very long life as well. By all rights, it should have died more than a century ago. But selfish though it may have been, I could not bear to let it go. I used loneliness as my excuse.”
A nostalgic shadow settled across Suhyang’s face.
“You, too, must understand the loneliness of remaining behind after everyone around you has disappeared. Sotis it feels as though I alone remain in this world.”
Her voice softened slightly.
“The one thing I regret is that there is not a single person before whom I can truly lower my guard and be accepted exactly as I am.”
After lingering in those emotions for a mont, Suhyang lifted her gaze back to Jaegyeom.
“That is why I am so happy to et you ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) again like this.”
She was genuinely welcoming him.
“Though I always knew we would et again soday.”
Jaegyeom’s eyes widened slowly.
He could not believe Suhyang’s words.
How could she have known they would et again?
But Suhyang truly had known.
She simply had not expected it to take this long.
She had assud Jaegyeom would co searching for her not long after Myojeong left this world. Instead, far more ti had passed than she anticipated.
Jaegyeom, wounded so deeply that his entire life had been overturned, had shut the doors of his heart and hidden himself away from the world for many years.
Unaware of this, Suhyang had once tried making inquiries here and there in search of the boy’s whereabouts. But he had concealed himself so thoroughly that not even a trace of him could be found.
Eventually, Suhyang stopped searching for Jaegyeom.
She was never anxious.
The boy who could not die had to still be alive sowhere. And as long as he remained alive, they would inevitably et again soday.
Whether by his own will or by another’s, Jaegyeom would eventually co searching for her.
And in the end, Suhyang’s prediction had been correct.
“H-how have you... survived until now?”
Jaegyeom finally managed to ask, unable to hide his bewildernt.
“Yes. Naturally, that would be what you are most curious about.”
Suhyang smiled faintly.
“Though the sa could be said of you. To be honest, I am curious as well. Curious how you managed to survive all this ti without aging.”
She seed to be genuinely enjoying this reunion with Jaegyeom.
“But there is no need to rush. Now that this long-awaited eting has finally co to pass, tonight will be an especially aningful night for us.”
Her smile deepened softly.
“The night is long, and there is no one here except the two of us. So let us slowly untangle all the things that have piled up over the years.”
As she spoke, Suhyang turned her gaze toward the window.
“eting you again like this brings back old mories.”
Beyond the wooden lattice window stretched a vast, clear night sky.
Looking out at it with eyes steeped in reminiscence, Suhyang spoke quietly.
“I have been counting the days until this eting. I always knew such a day would eventually co.”
Her gaze slowly returned to Jaegyeom.
“To so, a body that cannot die is punishnt. To others, it is a blessing. Once the will to live disappears, life itself becos unbearably tedious. Even more so when one’s youth never fades.”
She paused briefly.
“Still, I never imagined you would stand before as a Naja.”
“......”
“So tell . What exactly brought you here?”
“...What?”
“The child’s na was Taehee, wasn’t it?”
The mont those words left her mouth, Jaegyeom felt his heart plunge.
“Was he the one who dragged you back into the world after you had hidden yourself away so thoroughly?”
Jaegyeom’s pupils trembled violently.
Unbothered by his reaction, Suhyang rested her elbow against the table and smiled with open interest.
“So?”
Her eyes curved faintly.
“Did he tell you he would steal the Bangsangsi’s mask and kill you?”
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