It was a night when the moon was blooming.
The endlessly sinking clouds felt especially close.
The grass spread out below seemed somehow clear, as if the moon had been set free.
It was that kind of day.
Because the moon was bright.
Because the sky was beautiful.
Because the wind was lovely.
And.
“Isn’t it pretty?”
Because I like you.
A day when the two of us were looking at the moon.
That was today.
“Yeah, it’s pretty.”
It wasn’t something I said while gazing at the moon.
If we must be precise, it was something said while looking at the night sky.
A sky full of blooming stars.
The fields were blooming with life, flowers were blossoming everywhere.
Flowers bloomed in the sky like stars.
So what is that blooming on your face?
I often thought this as I looked into her eyes.
“Oh?”
The woman chuckled at my words.
“…Even as time goes on, you still say things like that.”
“What bad thing did I say?”
Even thinking back, I couldn’t recall anything bad.
I looked at her as if feeling wronged, but she smiled her signature smile and said to me,
“That was bad.”
“…What?”
“Because those words you say keep me alive. Truly, they’re cruel and wicked words.”
I couldn’t understand.
She often spoke such incomprehensible things.
And she said it with such a sad expression.
“Why are you crying?”
I asked, gently caressing her white cheeks.
“I’m not crying.”
The woman replied, grasping the back of my hand.
Her touch was cold.
Her body was always like that.
So she often came to me and would embrace me.
Saying because I was as hot as she was cold, hugging me felt a bit more comforting.
That’s how she could live for tomorrow.
The woman said this.
“You know.”
“Speak.”
The woman in my arms pointed at the sky with her hand.
“What do you see?”
I looked up at the sky. Was she asking me to name everything I saw?
I stared quietly for a moment and then said,
“I see the night.”
“And?”
“There are stars in the night, and I see the clouds wrapping around them.”
“And?”
“I also see the moon that has risen above them.”
“And what else?”
“I don’t know.”
I stated everything I saw. Honestly, if she asked me to find anything else, I wouldn’t have known what to say.
Hearing that, the woman rolled her eyes.
This was something she did when she had many worries.
I liked watching her do that quietly.
“Well, then, I guess it will have to be about the night.”
The woman suddenly said something unexpected.
I frowned and asked her.
“…What do you mean?”
“You saw the night first.”
“…”
Well, isn’t that what you see the moment you look up?
I was going to say that.
“And then, I guess I should do what I saw first.”
The woman sometimes said such strange things, so I thought it was just like that this time too.
“…What do you mean by that?”
Suddenly, what does the night sky mean?
I couldn’t comprehend.
“I’m going to be your night from now on.”
“…What?”
“If that happens, every time you see the night, you will think of me.”
“…”
“Maybe you’ll think of me when you look at the sky itself.”
What is the night? What is the sky?
The woman continued to mention things I didn’t get.
“Please don’t forget me, even if that’s what it takes.”
“…”
After hearing that, I stared at her blankly.
It wasn’t as if I wanted to nitpick the absurd tale.
Maybe it was just that her expression seemed somehow desperate.
“…Okay.”
So I promised.
“You are my night.”
I promised I would think of you every time the dark night came.
That’s what I promised.
“Really?”
The woman smiled at my words.
But I felt something strange even while looking at that smile.
‘Why?’
Why are you still crying?
I thought as I gazed into the eyes of the woman who was trying to smile.
“I’ll believe you.”
I felt sorry for her trembling shoulders as she spoke, so I pulled her in close.
“As always.”
For some reason, I didn’t feel like I was holding her.
It felt like holding a void-like fog in my arms. Sadly, it felt like it would just disperse.
If I held on longer, I felt like she would break.
It felt like she would vanish if I let go.
“…I’ll try to believe you this time too.”
The woman said under the sky.
“…Okay.”
That was all I could respond.
That was all I could do for the woman in my embrace.
As we held onto each other for a little while,
“…You know.”
The woman said to me.
“Call my name.”
“…”
I chuckled slightly without realizing it at that request.
Is this really what you call a request?
I could do something as small as this. Be it for a moment or an eternity, if you wanted it, I would give it.
With those feelings, I opened my mouth to speak.
“…”
Suddenly, my mouth felt jammed and it stopped.
I couldn’t remember.
What was the woman’s name?
Why can’t I remember? I glanced around in a panic, feeling something was off.
“…Huh?”
My arms held nothing.
The woman I had just embraced had vanished.
“…What…?”
What was I just holding? I was sure I had something in my grasp.
Why couldn’t I remember anything?
With trembling eyes, I looked up at the sky.
“…”
And all that was visible was the night, with nothing left behind.
“What’s wrong with you?”
I said, tightly gripping her small shoulders.
“What the hell happened here?”
I glanced down at my chest.
Not only were my clothes torn all over, but blood was also flowing from there.
‘…Sword wound?’
Looking over the state, it was indeed a sword wound. It looked like it was cut rather sharply.
‘What the hell.’
Where on earth did you get those injuries?
I had gone out saying there was something to see—what kind of predicament is this?
I focused intently, checking Cheonma’s body.
“…It hurts…”
Cheonma winced slightly as she spoke.
Hearing that, I snapped back with irritation.
“Of course it hurts, you fool! How could a state like this not hurt?”
“…No… My arm… hurts.”
“What?”
After hearing that, I looked at Cheonma’s shoulder.
My hands were firmly gripping her shoulders.
As soon as I realized, I quickly recoiled my hand.
“…”
Why was I holding on to this?
I frowned.
“…Why are you hurt?”
What on earth had you been doing that led Cheonma to this state?
I couldn’t understand and asked.
“…”
Cheonma did not answer.
She merely stared at me.
“What are you doing? Why aren’t you answering quickly?”
As I grew annoyed and pressed, Cheonma tilted her head as if confused and said,
“Why?”
“What?”
That response made my furrowed brow even deeper.
“Why?”
“Why do you ask?”
“Why are you asking that…?”
Indeed.
Why had I even bothered posing that query? My question seemed off. This isn’t what I meant.
Rather than asking why she was hurt, I should’ve asked what she had experienced.
I corrected my speech and spoke again.
“What happened…?”
“Are you worried?”
“Worried…?”
She suddenly stopped mid-sentence as if her voice had broken.
Cheonma stared intently at me and asked.
I gazed into her purple eyes. The moment I met her gaze, my expression, eyebrows, everything twisted in confusion.
“Stop saying crazy things.”
“…”
“It’s not that I’m worried about you. I told you not to cause trouble, and now I’m just annoyed seeing you in this state.”
True, I didn’t worry.
Since I had work to do here, I needed to finish it quickly. It would be a real mess if this troublesome situation escalated.
That was just how it was.
“So, speak clearly-.”
“You are worried.”
“Just pay attention when I speak.”
Why was she interpreting my words in her own way? My temper flared.
Amidst all of this, Cheonma seemed unexpectedly good-humored, with the corners of her mouth slightly lifting.
That was even more ridiculous.
“Why are you smiling?”
“I’m not smiling.”
“It’s not funny; you’re clearly smiling right now.”
“I’m not smiling.”
“This is ridiculous.”
I aimed to grab her collar but hesitated. I was confronted with her battered and mangled form.
“Damn it.”
I withdrew my hand and asked Cheonma again.
“Stop spouting nonsense. Just tell me what happened straight.”
“…”
Cheonma mulled over her words for a moment.
“Speak quickly.”
“I went to see someone.”
“What?”
What kind of absurd statement was that?
“Who do you think you’re going to see here?”
Is there anyone in the world that Cheonma would know? That sounded unbelievable.
However, showing up injured left me baffled too.
‘It means you came back after a fight.’
Who in the world did you end up fighting to arrive like this?
When I pondered this, Cheonma responded to me.
“It was the one I saw last time.”
“…Last time?”
That idea flitted through my mind.
That meant Cheonma had gone to catch someone wandering around the Hwasanpa.
But.
“That guy was here too?”
“Yep.”
“And you ended up like this after fighting?”
“I made a mistake.”
Cheonma says it as if feeling wronged.
Yeah, I think so too.
The fact that Cheonma was hurt was already strange.
“I won’t lose next time.”
“…Next time and all that…”
I raked my hand through my hair.
The irritation brewed.
‘What the hell.’
It’s annoying how this keeps happening, be it around the volcano or here.
“Then how did you know and find me?”
How did you find the watcher?
“Ah.”
At that, Cheonma made a fist and tapped her palm, responding:
“I found it while following you.”
“…Following me?”
“Yeah.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s interesting.”
“…”
What should I do? Should I really hit her? Could I even bring myself to do that?
I contemplated earnestly.
“Anyway… so you found the thing that was watching us and fought it?”
“No.”
“What do you mean? You just confirmed it… What are you talking about?”
Cheonma was pointing at me with her finger.
What was this all of a sudden?
“What’s going on here?”
“It’s you.”
“What?”
“I was watching you.”
Upon hearing that, I turned around. There was Gubong, who appeared to be utterly confused in the current situation.
‘So that’s it.’
Right now, Cheonma’s words suggest that while she was hanging with Gubong, the watcher was only paying attention to me.
“How can you be so sure?”
Gubong and Cheonma had been together the whole time.
I hadn’t noticed where the following and surveillance began.
So, was Cheonma lying to me?
‘Or is she just so stealthy that I didn’t notice?’
It had to be one of the two. Either way, it was a troubling conclusion.
If it’s the former.
‘I already didn’t trust Cheonma.’
If she went so far as to lie to me… the situation became a real mess.
And if it’s the latter.
‘How annoying.’
It could mean either she was using powers I couldn’t comprehend or that she was just immensely skilled.
That alone made things incredibly complicated.
‘And then.’
I looked at Cheonma’s body.
‘Enough to injure a heavenly horse.’
Though she claimed it was a mistake, that didn’t imply she lacked ability.
Who could that have been? And if it’s a power, where did it come from?
As I pondered this, one presence came to mind.
‘…Mother.’
A mother who knows nothing about me.
I wondered if she might be involved somehow.
“Tsk…”
While biting my thumb in discomfort, I sank deeper into thought.
“By the way.”
Cheonma spoke up.
“That person was a bit strange.”
That was an unexpected comment.
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