TBML 64

A pitch-black path. It was as black as ink, yet Yiyeon recognized it as a path. Just as a black trail remained where a brush has passed, Yiyeon ran, following the ink marks left behind by the brush.

After running for some time, at some point, pale white pillars began to brush past Yiyeon. With white pillars lined up densely with just enough space to squeeze in, and passing by so quickly that their shapes were difficult to distinguish, Yiyeon instinctively knew it was a birch forest.

Although he had nothing to go on besides the white pillars that caught his eye, he naturally assumed this was a birch forest because it was a fragment of a landscape he had seen countless times before.

Yiyeon concluded that he was now running through a pitch-black birch forest. He should be gasping for breath. Running this fast, he should at least hear the wind whistling past his ears, but it was as if all sound in the world had vanished. He could hear nothing.

Why was he running in the first place? As he ran, feeling as if his lungs were about to tear and his heart was about to burst, Yiyeon was struck by a fundamental question. I can’t see anything, and I can’t hear anything, so what am I running away from?

As this thought suddenly occurred to Yiyeon, he brought his stride to a halt. Only when he stood still did the scenery surrounding him come into view.

A space as black as ink, filled only with dense rows of birch trees. And nowhere was there any sign of anything chasing him.

Feeling a strange sensation, Yiyeon glanced around and saw something. A jet-black pupil stood out against the pale white bark. It wasn’t just a shape. It was an eye.

The moment he made eye contact with that single eye, the shapes – which had each been looking in different directions – all turned into eyes and stared at Yiyeon in unison.

As hundreds of eyes on the birch bark turned toward Yiyeon, he froze in his tracks. When the hundreds of birch eyes began to move, sounds also began to carry on the wind.

The sounds rode the wind through the birch trees and began to converge ​unauthorized copy​on Yiyeon. Whispering, murmuring. Countless voices and eyes whispering about Yiyeon.

Only then did Yiyeon realize he was running away from them. Once again, Yiyeon ran down the path through the birch forest, without knowing where the ink-drawn path led. He suddenly collapsed to the ground from an intense impact he felt at the back of his head.

It felt as if he had turned into a birch tree. Strictly speaking, it felt as if he had become an eye attached to the bark of a birch tree. He felt suffocated as a pitch-black border appeared around his field of vision, as if he were seeing the world through a single eye. Feeling stifled, he tried to struggle, but his body wouldn’t budge, as if he had truly turned into a birch tree.

Yiyeon looked at the rest of the world through one eye. Something pitch-black had climbed onto his body, which had stiffened like a log, and no matter how hard he stared, he couldn’t make out its shape.

Even when he peered into that pitch-black darkness, nothing existed there. But it was a human being. Though he couldn’t see it, Yiyeon sensed that it had eyes, a nose, and a mouth. And that it was smiling.

Facing that smile made him feel as if his body were burning up, as if it had been set ablaze. Was this how a birch tree felt after being turned into firewood? Birch trees, with their naturally oily bark, burned uncontrollably.

It was Yiyeon whose body was burning, yet the thing perched atop him writhed.

Unable to scream or resist, rendered helpless like a tree without hands or feet, Yiyeon could only watch as it writhed. He wondered if he might eventually discover its true identity if he kept staring at it. 

He spent some time staring into eyes that weren’t even there. Suddenly, a bright yellow light flickered over the pitch-black shadow. Just as he wondered where that light had suddenly come from, “Grrr!” the jaws of a tiger with massive fangs swallowed everything whole.

It swallowed everything: the creature straddling Yiyeon’s body, Yiyeon himself pinned beneath it, the whispering voices, and the eyes chasing after him.

‎

‎

After confirming that Yiyeon had fallen asleep, Hyunhak quietly stood up. Perhaps because of the feline blood running through his veins, Hyunhak moved through the darkness without making the slightest sound.

It was time to set out on his nightly stroll. Today, he had to hurry, as there was something more important than filling his own empty stomach. Last time, while going to fetch medicine for Yiyeon, he had spotted a few humans camped roughly halfway between his territory and the white thing’s.

They weren’t ordinary villagers, but a band of bandits who made a living by stealing. Occasionally, such groups would roam the mountains in packs, plundering travelers and committing all manner of crimes; until now, he had considered them nothing but a nuisance that served no useful purpose.

But now that he thought about it, they seemed to be useful. Hyunhak planned to raid that band of bandits tonight. From what he’d seen coming and going, they’d established a solid foothold and seemed to have amassed a haul of loot. He intended to pay them a stealthy visit under cover of night and take only what Yiyeon might need.

He should have been working as quickly as possible, but waiting for Yiyeon to fall asleep had delayed him. Just as Hyunhak double-checked that Yiyeon was asleep and was about to leave, Yiyeon began to toss and turn n.

Wondering if he had woken up, Hyunhak looked back and saw that his previously peaceful face was now contorted. He kept tossing and turning as if he were caught in the throes of a nightmare. No sooner had Hyunhak thought he could sense the anguish in Yiyeon’s sleeping face than Yiyeon’s lips parted, and a stifled sound escaped.

“Ugh… ugh… ugh.”

Yiyeon twisted his body while sobbing, as if his tongue had stiffened and blocked his throat, even though he wanted to say something. The action, which had started with a small movement, began to grow increasingly intense.

When Yiyeon once again tried to inflict wounds on himself, Hyunhak stopped and sat down briefly in front of him. He gently coaxed Yiyeon’s right hand – clenched so tightly it had turned deathly pale – open, then carefully tucked the blanket back around him, which had slipped off.

Although Yiyeon had been briefly disoriented when he awoke, he quickly had regained his composure. Although the process of sorting through his confusion had been shocking, Yiyeon thandled the situation with calm. His demeanor, in stark contrast to his unhealed wounds, made him – who was clearly far from alright– appear somewhat better.

It was only natural that he couldn’t possibly be fine. Hyunhak stayed by his side for a moment, afraid that if he left, Yiyeon might stop breathing properly or even slit his own throat.

Tears glistened in the corners of Yiyeon’s eyes even in the darkness. Little by little, those salty tears formed, and before long, unable to bear their own weight, they trickled down his bruised cheekbone and dampened his hair.

Once again, a single tear traced the path of the ones that had come before, and Hyunhak wiped it away with his finger. As the teardrop touched Hyunhak’s fingertip, it seeped into his skin.

Should I endure it just for today, even if it causes a little inconvenience? Hyunhak’s concern wasn’t for his own sake. If he didn’t raid the bandits’ hideout today, it would be Yiyeon who would suffer tomorrow, and it was Yiyeon who was struggling right now. The foundation of all Hyunhak’s actions lay with Yiyeon at this very moment.

“……Why are you crying so much? What is so upsetting?”

“Sniff…… Ugh……”

Even though he knew there would be no reply, Hyunhak asked in a gentle voice as he stroked Yiyeon’s face. He was as cautious as someone wiping the surface of a pristine white porcelain vase with a soft cloth, afraid that even a single speck of dust might settle there or leave a mark.

As Hyunhak’s hand cupped his cheek, half of Yiyeon’s face was hidden. He was so small. It pained him that he couldn’t do as he pleased with this tiny creature.

“Yeon-ah, I wish you wouldn’t cry. I wish you weren’t in pain.”

His heart was of unparalleled purity.

Perhaps thanks to Hyunhak’s sincere feelings, Yiyeon’s struggles gradually subsided, and his labored breathing began to return to normal. Hyunhak continued to soothe and caress Yiyeon’s cheek until his breathing settled like gentle ripples on the water.

After some time, once Yiyeon had calmed down, Hyunhak finally stood up and hurried [unauthorized copy]to get ready. As he opened the door and stepped outside, a jet-black crow was perched right in front of it. Hyunhak gave a nod to Zao, who was looking at him.

“Keep a close watch on him.”

–You should worry about yourself instead.

After entrusting Yiyeon to Zao, Hyunhak gazed at the half-moon and brought his fingertips to his nose. From the fingertips that had touched Yiyeon’s tears, he thought he could smell the fresh, pure scent of bluebells. It was so delicate, almost as if the trace were there yet not there.

Hyunhak stroked his fingertips, nodded, and somersaulted twice. Hyunhak quickly crossed the yard. His eyes glowed yellow as he transformed into a tiger before disappearing into the forest.

Zao gazed in the direction Hyunhak had disappeared, earnestly praying that the clumsy tiger would return safely before dawn.

***

Caw, caw, cawww, cawwwww.

That fellow sure did make a racket. Yiyeon blinked his heavy eyelids at the sound of the crow’s cawing, which rang clearly even in his muffled ears. He had thought he wouldn’t get a wink of sleep with Hyunhak by his side, but to his surprise, he had fallen into a deep slumber. He must have slept so soundly that it felt like he’d been dreaming, though the details of the dream were hazy.

“Today is better than yesterday,” he thought. Although he still wasn’t feeling quite right, he was definitely better than he had been the day before. As the dim morning sun illuminated the previously dark room, Yiyeon took a deep breath. Hyunhak’s scent and the smell of winter permeated every corner of the room.

“Ah, My Lord.”

He slowly sat up, his body still weak. It was early, ​stolen content​so he thought he should get up before Hyunhak woke up and do whatever he could to help.

But as soon as he sat up, he realized the spot next to him was completely empty. It was still early, just as the sun was rising, yet there was no sign of Hyunhak anywhere in the room.

Confused, he looked around the room and saw that several items had been newly brought in that he hadn’t seen last night. They weren’t entirely new, so it felt as if they had been stolen from someone else’s house.

“Hong did I sleep? I can’t believe I overslept… how shameless…”

Thinking he’d overslept, Yiyeon hurriedly tidied his disheveled hair and clothes before peeking out the door.