Chương 109: S.05 Time to Fly 07(01)

Scene 01_01. Ji-young reviewed the documents in silence. Even before the mountain of paperwork, she pressed on without a single word of complaint, examining, checking, marking, and recording. Adjusting her glasses, she worked through the scrolls one by one, a thick book and a dictionary as her only companions. Yeon-su opened the door and came in, setting refreshments down near Ji-young. Marveling at Ji-young's concentration, she sat still and watched her. Ji-young: Secret Agent.... Why do you watch me so intently?

Without lifting her eyes from the documents, Ji-young sent the question in a low voice to Yeon-su, who had been boring a stare into her. Yeon-su: You truly are something, I think. A bashful little smile caught in Ji-young's mouth, and she raised only the corners of her lips. Ji-young: Thank you. Yeon-su: Ah, so I figured — maybe only people who grind this hard get into that university and that company.

Ji-young set the documents down for a moment, took off her glasses and laid them on the tea table, then shoved the 수정과(Sujeonggwa_Korean cinnamon punch) and honey pastries Yeon-su had brought into her mouth. After washing it down with the cinnamon punch through her still-chewing mouth, she set the cup back down. Ji-young: I didn't study as much as you'd think. No — I didn't want to. Yeon-su scrunched up her face like someone who'd eaten salt and scolded Ji-young. Yeon-su: That sounds like one tremendous deception.

Ji-young laughed, pulled out her phone, and scrolled through the screen. She left something up on the display and slid the phone over to Yeon-su. Yeon-su: Hm? Isn't this a photo of Si-yeon sis? Ji-young: It's me, though? Yeon-su: Why would the Oldest wear makeup this heavy, and a cigarette, even. No, wait — then could the Oldest possibly be a genius. Getting into a school and a company like that without even studying. No, this. This is a bit of a brutal sense of deprivation. Ji-young: Hey!!

Yeon-su: Ah-ni, but it's true, isn't it. Normal people don't get into school slacking off like this. Ji-young: You work when it's time to work. When you play, you just shut your brain off and play. Yeon-su: No matter how long I tried, the moment I opened a book all I could picture were combos. Ji-young: That was me too. Yeon-su: But then, why the gap in schools between us? Ji-young: Well. Sure, maybe not quite a genius. But I got out what I put in. Still, honestly — you, or Yeon-hui, or the Strategist, or So-hui.

You all went to the same school, didn't you. That one ranks within the top three in this country too. Yeon-su: Even so, it's not on the level of that school. And I know the Oldest finished a double major and a bachelor's on top of it. While holding down a company job, no less. Ji-young: The paths were just different. I tried to do what suited my path.

And sure, it's not like I had it easy — but I didn't want to whip myself as the most miserable, pathetic person alive just because I'm fated to have someone trying to kill me, nor did I want to hide behind that fact like a shield. I had a mother who cared for me with all her heart, and I had So-hui too. I had your sis, who protected me to the very end. And I had Si-yeon, who suffered in my place. I truly lacked for nothing, never once felt I was wanting. I just acted accordingly.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Yeon-su: The Oldest. Ji-young: Hm? Yeon-su: I envy you. Ah, it's not the life I envy. If I were told to live a life like that, I'd have dropped dead long ago. I'd just tell you all to sort it out yourselves. Or run off. But the way the Oldest thinks, the way you judge — how do I put it. It's everything I always wish I could be. Si-yeon sis was the same. The two of you are clearly different, yet the same.

Ji-young: Si-yeon was like that too? Yeon-su: Yes. She said if she'd spent her time digging up her shortcomings and comparing herself, she'd have dropped dead long ago. She wasn't content living carelessly like before, but she only tried to live in a way that suited her. Getting angry when she got less, making sure to get back as much as she put in. I heard that Si-yeon sis's life and the Oldest's life sit at opposite poles and protect each other.

The opposite poles might mean rank, but one point of those poles, in the end, seemed to be temperament, a way of thinking. A deep thought settled over Ji-young at Yeon-su's words. Ji-young: That's why I'm sorry to Si-yeon. If it weren't for me, she might have lived a different life — a life like mine, no. A life even better than mine. I might be Si-yeon's mirror. Even so, it wouldn't have been a time as hard as what Si-yeon went through.

I keep wondering whether I shoved the time I should have suffered onto Si-yeon. Yeon-su: I — I can hardly even dare to imagine it. Ji-young: Right. Makes me wonder how she got through it all. Now that I look at it. I suppose that's part of why I want to treat Si-yeon even better. Setting aside the deep talk they'd just shared, Ji-young turned her gaze back to the documents on the side table. As she put her glasses back on and looked at the papers again, Yeon-su rose without a word.

She meant to step outside and guard Ji-young's person; just as she reached the paper-paneled door, a presence stirred from beyond it. Jeong-in: The Oldest. The Director of the Inspectorate and the Director of Knowledge are here. Ji-young lifted her head, looked at Yeon-su standing by the door, and nodded. Yeon-su opened the door and let Soo-a and Jeong-in inside. The two carried mountainous stacks of scrolls. Ji-young twitched her nose and let out a sigh. Yeon-su gave a cough, ushered the two in, and stepped out.

Wearing sheepish looks, Soo-a and Jeong-in carefully set their 버선(Beoseon_Korean Traditional socks)-clad feet down and came deep inside. Scene 01_02. So-hui and Lee Yeon laid out a calm tea table. Across the broad yard, blades of green grass had crept up little by little. It was an afternoon where the dusky light stretched long. Out in the outer yard, Si-yeon and Jeong-seon—their swords lowered—came into view, loudly bickering and blaming each other.

Sitting across from each other with teacups in hand, Lee Yeon and So-hui read each other's faces and carefully broke the silence. So-hui / Lee Yeon: Um.... So-hui smiled first and offered Lee Yeon the chance to speak. Lee Yeon: Guide, are you all right? So-hui: All right about what? Lee Yeon: I heard it well from the Former Bishop. That this whole path will only grow harder the closer it draws to its destination. So-hui propped an elbow on the table, leaned in, and brought the teacup to her lips.

Nothing came readily to mind to say. All at once, the words Ji-young had once spoken came back to her. So-hui: Ji-young sis always said that if you don't give it your all, it'll stay with you as regret. Now it's just a matter of how I think and act — just the decisions, just the choices left. It is hard, though. Every day is hard, and aching. I want to be closer to her. I want to treat her better. I want to curse her out more. I want to tell her everything she keeps refusing to hear. I wish she wouldn't stop me.

Lee Yeon: Back then, she said everyone has their role. The Former Bishop did too. She even said she was sorry, that she wouldn't be able to remain for that course of events. So-hui: It seems the Former Bishop cherished them deeply. All of the Stewards. Lee Yeon: Honestly. The Former Bishop, as the Master who taught us, was not a particularly warm person. As she raised Jeong-seon and exchanged words often with the Former The Oldest, she gradually changed. Blaming herself for why she hadn't done these things sooner.

But, like in some ordinary film, that's when I felt it. Ah. Preparation must be done slowly. Perhaps the one I now serve had already begun her own preparations before us, without our knowing. So-hui: I heard too that the former Guide passed many words on to my mother before she left, but I could only imagine how it changed everyone back then. And after that, Ji-young sis, and after that, Yeon-hui sis. Me. Si-yeon. Embracing us one by one, she always gave her all. I don't know whether I should say it's hard.

Because if you asked me — am I keeping everyone safe right now? — I couldn't answer. If anything, it's closer to no. Lee Yeon: Soon, you'll be able to. It'll come to be. Carrying on her last will isn't the task of the current Oldest alone, nor the Guide's alone, but the share of everyone who remains. So-hui: There are so many who lighten my burden that I'm always grateful and sorry. I don't even think the load I carry is all that heavy, yet everyone strains to shoulder even the little there is.

Lee Yeon: That only means the Guide is strong. You simply don't know it yourself. That's why you think it isn't heavy. So-hui: You think so? Lee Yeon: Of course. So-hui nodded without a word and only then let her body unwind. The teacup, gone cold, seemed to give off a flat, watery taste, so she lifted the still-warm kettle from the table and filled it again. Lee Yeon rose from her seat and took up the sword she'd stood beside her.

Bowing in silence, she moved toward Si-yeon and Jeong-seon, still squabbling outside. The moment Lee Yeon left her seat, the phone in So-hui's pocket buzzed with a loud, short rattle. So-hui pulled it out and let out a small sigh. Wearing a troubled look all to herself, she scratched roughly at her hair, sprang to her feet, and approached the two who'd been bickering outside. So-hui: Hey. Lee Si-yeon. Si-yeon, locked in a war of words with Jeong-seon, glared at So-hui with a huffing face. Si-yeon: What.

So-hui: I'm heading to the mart — come with me? Si-yeon fixed her face in an instant and twitched her nose. Si-yeon: Yeah? Then — you. Let's finish this fight after I get back. Jeong-seon: Hmph. I'm not scared, you know? Si-yeon: Argh!! Seriously!! She won't back down to the very end?! So-hui: Argh! How long are you going to squabble like children over such trivial nonsense! If you're coming, hurry up, change, and get out here. Let's get there and back quick before it gets any later.