Chương 100: S.05 Time to Fly 05(04)

Scene 07. Yeon-su was climbing a road steeper than she'd expected. As if unsure the car could hold up, she kept it in the lowest gear and pressed deep into the mountains. The sunlight scarcely reached into the thicket. Though it was early spring, ice still clung here and there along the stream. When Yeon-su brought the rattling car to a brief halt and let a troubled look settle over her, Hee-jin, riding in the passenger seat, spoke to her with a smile. Hee-jin: Just get us this far and that's enough. It's fine.

Yeon-su: No, sis. Who are you even meeting, coming all the way out to a dark place like this? With all the bright spots out there. As if to unbuckle the seatbelt of Yeon-su, who'd offered her listless reproach, Hee-jin leaned in with a smile and drew close to Yeon-su's ear. Sleep for just a little while. The moment the whisper reached Yeon-su's ear, Yeon-su—who had been about to wave off Hee-jin's help and unbuckle the belt herself instead—froze her body for a moment and did nothing at all.

Lowering Yeon-su's stiffened hands with care, Hee-jin settled her into a comfortable posture, then turned Yeon-su's head to rest against the side of the driver's seat. Having delivered her whisper, Hee-jin stepped out of the passenger seat. Keeping her sound to the barest minimum, Hee-jin came out and waited for the one she'd arranged to meet, who seemed not yet to have arrived. A moment later, sensing a rustling presence, Hee-jin bent at the waist lightly toward the direction it came from and offered her courtesy.

Hee-jin: It suits you far better than I'd imagined. The Guide. So-hui: Ji-young sis — Returning the greeting, So-hui straightened up and slipped her hand into the thick pocket of her 두루마기(Durumagi_Traditional outer coat). At So-hui's step settling over the rustling fallen leaves, Hee-jin, watching So-hui make her way down, let a bright smile form and offered her voice. So-hui: — sent Yeon-su on purpose, it seems. So that I'd read the road. But if you put her to sleep like that...

It was a 한복(Han-bok_Traditional Korean dress) she'd been forced into at Si-yeon's nagging. She hadn't shaken the awkward feeling yet, but she had no intention of letting it show. So-hui stepped carefully over the leaves and drew near to Hee-jin. Hee-jin: Yes. But had that been so, I would have taken even half of the whisper left within that worthless lump of stone, and I'd not have hidden myself this deep. So-hui: Fair enough. Hee-jin: The reason you asked to see me — So-hui: There was much I wanted to ask.

Ever since you became impossible to read, you've become the one I fear most. Hee-jin: It's a resolve carried down from the distant past. To walk the path, to lose the path — I made that promise to the former The Oldest and to the four of you as well. So-hui: I'm not here to blame you for that. Hee-jin nodded carefully. So-hui: How much is left, do you think? For the Strategist, and for all of us. Hee-jin: I'm certain you've seen it. If anything, I don't understand why you ask.

So-hui: I wanted a clear answer on whether you're all right. At So-hui's words, Hee-jin kept her smile and offered nothing in reply. So-hui: I'm absolutely not saying don't do it. I just wanted to ask. You're already doing it, but still — whether you're all right. Hee-jin: Did you see it as a path? So-hui: I'm not all that gifted. It's instinct. The kind that's easy to pick up on. Ji-young sis isn't one to get hurt so easily, after all. I knew it watching Ji-young sis collapse like that at the Black Doctrine.

Sis — she's already been gotten to by the Strategist. Hee-jin nodded and slowly slid her hand into her coat. Hee-jin: The Guide. So-hui: Yes. Hee-jin: You are finer than any Guide before you. For you to claim you're not gifted would only hold if I hadn't cravenly hidden myself in a whisper. You found me out to the very end, even after I'd become a lost child. Above all, the Guide — Jo So-hui — unsettles me. I am wary of those who are soft and gentle yet unyielding.

Those two — for whatever reason — stand as the ones who unsettle me most. So-hui: So — I'll ask you. Hee-jin: Yes. So-hui: Are you truly all right? Hee-jin: Even if I'm not all right, I have no choice. I did away with it myself. By the choice I no longer have, along the path I've lost, I will do away with the four of you's choices too. So let me ask you instead. Hee-jin looked at So-hui with a smile turned faintly chilling. Hee-jin: The four of you — will you be all right? So-hui: We'll be fine.

Because we'll help each other. Because we'll face it together. Without letting her smile fade, Hee-jin nodded slowly. Hee-jin: That alone is enough for me. So-hui: No. You still haven't answered. Slowly letting her smile fade, Hee-jin gazed blankly at the stream ahead. The ice along its bank had cracked and was being swept away in the trickling water. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Hee-jin: Because it's true that I, too, once wished to become a butterfly. So-hui only listened to Hee-jin's voice, like words spoken to herself. Hee-jin: But there was no place for me. I made none. Already, on the day Doe Yeon-hui tore open Kang Ji-young's heart — no, in that long-ago time when a small Doe Yeon-hui shielded a small Kang Ji-young. By then, I had already been left with no choice but to surrender every place.

And yet I blamed that small child who, vowing to protect my life, kept standing before me to the very end — even as her small hands stained themselves with blood, even as her hand was gashed. The back of that small Kang Ji-young is something I still remember vividly. And so, the place for me to dwell was never the gap among the butterflies. If you ask me whether I'm all right — Hee-jin turned her vacant gaze and looked quietly at So-hui. On the face she turned sat a smile.

Keeping that smile, she shook her head faintly. Hee-jin: Did Yeon-hui, too, go in knowing what would come to pass? So-hui nodded slowly. So-hui: I know that the moment Yeon-hui sis opens her eyes, she'll have to set out to find Ji-young sis. Hee-jin: Fair enough. So-hui: Does Ji-young sis know the details? Hee-jin: There's no way she doesn't. No — she believes it with something close to conviction. I merely follow that expectation and command.

As for having grown dull, The Oldest, Kang Ji-young herself, would know it better than the Guide or I — being the one it concerns. So-hui nodded. Hee-jin: Has Si-yeon finished preparing to face Si-yeon's past? So-hui: No. But she won't refuse it. Hee-jin: Then now — all that remains is everyone's choice. The Guide's and Si-yeon's, The Oldest's and mine. So-hui: The choices of others remain too, of course. Hee-jin: That goes without saying. It's a choice more important than anyone's.

Only — I wish to be the one left alone. I wish to become the sole being remaining in the field. I wish that the four butterflies could not so much as carry off a flower seed to scatter without me. And so, this is a careful threat I offer — With a fierce gaze and a courteous smile, Hee-jin looked at So-hui again. Hee-jin: Should I vanish, I will do away with the butterflies' worth of existence as well. So do not take me lightly, to the very end. If I am about to be broken by them, step forward and protect me.

But in doing so, do not try to sway me with emotion under the pretense of placing me in your debt, nor to pin me down with feeling. That is something even the former The Oldest never did to me, and something The Oldest cannot do either. This is a request, and a warning. At Hee-jin's steel-edged plea, So-hui turned something over for a moment. Setting aside the voice she'd chewed over, So-hui let an easy smile form. Nodding, So-hui let her voice grow a touch more relaxed. Her smile opened wide.

So-hui: I've got to do the shopping before I head back today — could you give me a ride down to the market? It was a fair walk getting up here. Scene 08. Just as she was, looking over the documents, Ji-young burst out laughing inside the door hung with a 주식(Jusik_Incantation Guard). The Incantation Guard Hee-jin had shaped from her ink ringed the door and windows of Ji-young's quarters. The conversation the two of them traded did not spill outside; it circled only between the two of them.

Ji-young: Wow, Jo So-hui — now I can't tease her for being a spineless little coward anymore. At Ji-young's banter, Hee-jin smiled carefully and nodded. Hee-jin: Before the title of Guide, she is The Oldest's younger sister. It weighs on me that I was rude. My apologies. Ji-young: I imagine you found it a bit unsettling too, Strategist. Hee-jin: Yes. Someone soft yet unyielding, like Yeon-hui, is the most difficult sort for one like me.

The Guide usually keeps a coarse edge raised, but I'd always thought that, more than anyone, inside that blade she was dull and tender — and I believe that was my mistake. Ji-young: And So-hui will have gotten what she wanted. More than she expected. Hee-jin: Yes. This time it felt, rather, as though I were the one who gave a great deal away. Ji-young: Anyway, what's she buying at the market? Hee-jin: I heard she's going for tonight's side-dish ingredients.

The internal emotions over on the Black Doctrine's side seemed to be settling better than expected, too. As if tidying her thoughts for a moment, Ji-young calmly settled her smile and nodded. As though she'd finished all she had to say, Hee-jin, to draw back the Incantation Guard she'd spread, waved her arm lightly from where she sat. The Incantation Guard left on the door and windows faded in an instant. Ji-young: Anyway, thank you for the report. Go on ahead and get some rest. Change your clothes, too.

You came a long way. Hee-jin looked outside for a moment. The daylight had stretched out a good deal. Ji-young, too, was watching the dusk settle in. With little of the work shift left, full night had already deepened outside. Hee-jin bowed to Ji-young, seated on the 보료(Bo-ryo_cushioned mat), and rose carefully from her place. When Ji-young answered with a light nod, Hee-jin withdrew and sent Yeon-su in.

Around the time the two of them traded places, an 인불(In-bul_Ghost Light) kindled in the oil lamp beside Ji-young and lit up her quarters. Sorting the documents in her hands, Ji-young lightly rubbed her temple. Straightening up with a small sigh, Ji-young quietly asked Yeon-su, now seated up front in Hee-jin's place. Ji-young: Secret Agent. Yeon-su: Yes, The Oldest. Ji-young: What did they say at the clinic? Yeon-su: Um, just a migraine, they said. I got some painkillers.

Ji-young: Ah, the deputy doctor must have been in. Yeon-su: That wasn't it. Yoon-ji was off at school, so the doctor prescribed it directly. Ji-young pursed her lips. Having sorted the documents, Ji-young looked at Yeon-su and asked. Ji-young: Are you feeling a bit better now? Yeon-su: Honestly, the headache wasn't that bad — it settled the moment I got to the clinic. Ji-young: That's a relief. Ji-young swept the documents left beyond the side table over all at once and reordered them.

Mid-sorting, she asked Yeon-su again. Ji-young: Doesn't it feel awkward? Yeon-su: What is it you're asking about? With a smile, Ji-young looked over the documents she'd sorted for a moment and spoke to Yeon-su. Ji-young: That the one sitting here is me. Yeon-su only rolled her large eyes this way and that, giving no answer, as if she didn't even know what to say to Ji-young's question.

Ji-young: Ah-ni, I don't mean it that way — it's awkward to me too, but the Secret Agent's been away from here following my orders since that day. For quite a long while. Yeon-su: Even — so. It's just. Ji-young: It's awkward, isn't it? Yeon-su couldn't answer. At that long silence, Ji-young pressed no further; she finished sorting all the documents and gave a light nod. Ji-young: Ah, seriously. I'm not trying to scold you, just — The phone that had sat quiet in Ji-young's pocket sounded an alarm.

Ji-young took it out and silenced it. At the signal that the work shift had ended, Ji-young offered Yeon-su a casual address. Ji-young: I figured Twig must have had a hard time of it. All this while. Yeon-su: I didn't have a hard time. No — it was hard, but I could endure it. You gave me hope, The Oldest, that my sister, the Executive Secretary, could come back. I'm all right. Ji-young: That's good. Still. Yeon-su: But — why bring that up all of a sudden? Ji-young: Ah, it wasn't 'sudden.'

I'd been meaning to tell you all along — there just weren't many chances for the two of us alone. Ah, of course, the Captain stays around the whole time, but she's not one to carelessly mention it elsewhere. Chae-rim: I am hearing nothing. Ji-young: See? Like that. Yeon-su: The Oldest. Setting the documents off to one side and pushing even the low table aside, Ji-young turned her head at Yeon-su's call. Yeon-su: The Oldest — are you all right? Ji-young: Hm. Yeon-su: So-hui s — ahem ahem.

The, the Guide said that the one who'll have it hardest is, in truth, The Oldest. Ji-young: How does it look to Twig? Yeon-su: Honestly, more than hard — you look weighed down. Ji-young: You mean something else by that, right? Yeon-su: Yes. Ji-young: It's not that it's hard, but — yeah. You're right. It is heavy. A bit. Maybe that's part of why I wanted to say that to you. For no good reason, the seat I'm sitting in feels like it isn't mine. Stepping out more, reading the room more — there's that too, I suppose.

Yeon-su: I will simply help. The calamity that's only just been brought to a close — I'll see that it goes no further. Ji-young: Just don't get hurt. I'd rather not lose all face before Yeon-hui. Yeon-su: Understood. Don't worry. So long as it's not the Captain, I don't lose. Chae-rim: And what's the reason for dragging me into this? Yeon-su: Because the one who personally taught me just how much blood I've got in this body was the Captain. Chae-rim: I had no idea you'd been holding onto that all this time.

Yeon-su: It's not that I held onto it. It just made for resolve enough. Chae-rim: Am I supposed to thank you for that? Ji-young: Aigo-go. My aching bones. As if cutting off the two's playful, light sparring, Ji-young stretched out her limbs and flopped flat onto the cushioned mat. Ji-young: Ah, it's a problem how much I already love lying down. And what age am I even, to be like this. Yeon-su: Ah, The Oldest, come to think of it, this year you're twenty-ni — Ji-young: Hey!! Shut it!!!

At Ji-young's fierce resistance, Yeon-su flinched and couldn't carry her words to the end. Sprawled flat, Ji-young quietly asked Chae-rim, who'd been offering only her voice from atop the roof tiles under the outer eaves. Ji-young: Ah, Captain. Did you get what you wanted last time you went to the market? Chae-rim: Yes. As it happened, a suitable one had just come in. Ji-young: Then you should go on the outing you didn't get to this weekend, too, Captain. Chae-rim: Uh, um. Well.

Ji-young: I'll be heading out this weekend too. This time I thought I'd take Twig along in the morning. Yeon-su: Hm? Where are you going? Ji-young: If you've got things to do, you don't have to come. Yeon-su: Ah! I didn't mean it like that at all. I was just curious. Ji-young: Where do you think I've been going on weekends? Yeon-su: Ah. Right, since we saw her every week. Ji-young: See? You knew all along. Yeon-su: Understood. Then I'll come to fetch you tomorrow morning.

Ji-young: Hey, you sleep right out front anyway, so what's this about coming to fetch me. If I wake up first I'll go rouse you, and if you wake up first you come rouse me. Ah! Anyway. Ji-young sprang up from where she lay, opened the wardrobe, and rummaged out some clothes. Yeon-su rose belatedly to help her, but Ji-young waved her off with a listless gesture and motioned with her chin. Ji-young: Just go change and come out. Something comfortable. Let's go grab a bite.