Chương 16: S.04 Memory of the Clock 04(01)

Scene 00. A stretching warmth lingered. Beside the lingering warmth, a coolness sharp enough to make the skin shiver lingered too. There was no wind. But it was not still. It was hushed, yet tumultuous, and serene. A voice drew near. It was a place where nothing had been. A place where even I had not been. A place deemed the beginning. And a place deemed the end. A place where the very definition of "there" rang hollow. 나를 따라나선 목소리에, 내가 나설 걸음을 찾아봤습니다.

At the voice that had followed me, I searched for the steps I was to take. 더듬거리던, 나의 겁많은 발길을 마다하고 내디뎌준 그대의 목소리에, At your voice, which spared my fumbling, fearful footfalls and stepped forth in their stead, 내 겁과 두려움은 뒤로 물러나며 목소리를 찾아보려 뒤를 돌았습니다. my fear and dread drew back, and I turned to seek out that voice. 뒤로 오지 말라며, 나선 걸음 이어가라며, 나의 뒤에서 읊조렸던 그대의 목소리는 어느새 나서려던 길에 서 있었습니다.

Your voice, which had whispered from behind me not to come back, to go on along the path I had set out upon, was, before I knew it, standing on the very road I had meant to walk. 함께 걷길 바라던 걸음, 마주한 목소리를 따라, 모든 게 비어있던 그곳을 향했습니다. The steps I had hoped we would walk together — following the voice I had met face to face, I turned toward that place where everything had been empty. In a place where nothing could exist, a small stirring took shape. A single finger twitched, if only faintly. It was a slightly dry hand.

Not delicate, but not coarse either — a slender hand. That one twitching finger brought everything in that place-where-nothing-could-exist to a halt. The warmth and the coolness. The tumult and the serenity, too, were briefly stilled. 비나이다. 비나이다. I beseech. I beseech. 저를 불러준 그 목소리, 부디, 정처 없이 사그라지지 않길 비나이다. Let the voice that called me not, I beseech, dwindle away without a resting place. 비나이다. 비나이다. I beseech. I beseech. 걷는 내 걸음 다 하기 전, 목소리에 닿아 함께 서길 비나이다.

Before the walking of my feet is done, let me reach that voice and stand together with it, I beseech. 비나이다. 비나이다. I beseech. I beseech. 목소리가 품은 모든 설움, 제게 놓으시길 비나이다. Every grief the voice carries, let it set down upon me, I beseech. 비나이다. 비나이다. I beseech. I beseech. 목소리에 담긴 모든 원망, 제게 남기시길 비나이다. Every rancor the voice bears, let it leave with me, I beseech. 비나이다. 비나이다. I beseech. I beseech.

따듯함과 차가움, 설움과 웃음 모두 품은 우리네 삶, 곁에 두고 끝까지 함께 하길, This life of ours that holds warmth and cold, grief and laughter all at once — let it stand beside us and walk with us to the very end, 비나이다. 비나이다. I beseech. I beseech. All that had stood still faded at once. It did not burst. It did not detonate. It was silent and hushed and clamorous and tumultuous. It was cold and cool, yet warm and tender. Scene 01. From the ceiling of Jeong-hyeon's quiet dwelling, black water burst down as though poured.

Su-jeong, who had dragged Ju-hee — still seeing only phantoms under So-hui's 주술(Jusul_Incantation/Sorcery) — from 소희(So-hui)'s working, stood with the look of something tiresome, watching Ju-hee collapse face-down into the spilled 검은 물(Geomeun-mul_Black Water). Still unsettled by the unfamiliar summoning, Ju-hee coughed out a long racking cough and at last forced her body upright. She peeled the 청사(Cheong-sa_Blue Thread) from her neck with a fit of irritation.

Having confirmed everything, Su-jeong began walking slowly out of Jeong-hyeon's dwelling. Ju-hee, hurriedly shaking every trace of Black Water from herself, chased after the indifferent Su-jeong. Hearing Ju-hee hurrying up behind her, Su-jeong halted her slow stride. Ju-hee, reaching just behind her, pressed her with a question. Su-jeong's arm and a portion of her head, both severed earlier by 시연(Si-yeon), were still formed of Black Water and had not returned to their true shape.

With an expression faintly darkened, Ju-hee stepped up and barred Su-jeong's path. Ju-hee: So what do we do now. At the question blocking her way, Su-jeong let out a light sigh and answered in a voice submerged beneath water. Su-jeong: About what. Ju-hee: We couldn't take Kang Ji-young. The Headquarters is solid, you said. So what the fuck are we supposed to do now. Even you look like shit. Just sit still?

Su-jeong turned the face masked in water and cast her eyes across the inner courtyard of Jeong-hyeon's estate, the one they had just stepped out of. More people filled it than before. Not people of the Headquarters. The courtyard of Jeong-hyeon's estate, spacious though not quite the scale of 유석(Yu-seok)'s, was now crowded with uglier, more menacing faces. Su-jeong: Hand out some of the Derived Relics. The portion I set aside in my own estate a while back — I'll fetch every last one of them.

After Su-jeong passed down the brief instruction, she tried to slip past Ju-hee, but Ju-hee had no intention of yielding the path. Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. Ju-hee: And then? Su-jeong: We erase. Every last one. The Guide can't look past dead eyes anyway. So the ones of us who have only the dead left are better off. So — move quietly. Without the living bitches catching on. Without even Doe Yu-seok knowing. Quietly. Scene 02.

Before the sun that now held only its burning-red tail at the horizon, she stood still. In the same posture So-hui had held in silence, Si-yeon came up from behind and spoke. So-hui: Did you sleep? Si-yeon: Yeah. You? So-hui did not turn her gaze from the outside. A slight, stiff tension she could not quite hide clung to her. With a small sigh she shook her head slowly. So-hui: Didn't come at all. Guess they really are scared. Si-yeon: Don't push yourself. So-hui: I'm not the only one hurting. Si-yeon: Still.

The dawn-colored light carried a warm hue, but with not a single blade of grass growing, it held the full aspect of cold winter. The five snowmen still stood in the corner of the apartment's parking lot. She thought the cold was bitter enough that they would not even melt. Si-yeon: You told them. Everything? So-hui: Yeah. Si-yeon: Good. That's good. So-hui turned her body at last and faced Si-yeon, who had been watching her with worry. So-hui: Thank you. For believing me, from the beginning.

Si-yeon: What, is that something to thank me for? It was just that you and Mom and the sisters were all good people, so it could go that way. So-hui: Still. Thank you. So-hui nodded, a deep smile settling on her face as she took Si-yeon's cold hand. Si-yeon: I miss Mom. So-hui: Me too. Si-yeon slowly folded So-hui's warm hand into hers, a smile softening somewhat on her lips. Si-yeon: I miss the sisters, too. So-hui: Yeah. Still holding So-hui's hand, Si-yeon pursed her lips and threw a light jab at So-hui.

Si-yeon: Hey. Once this whole thing ends, let's sleep good and deep. Even for one day. Seriously, fucking look at you, even wide awake your eyes are gonna stain pitch-black the way they're going. Scene 03. She did not want to go inside. Yeon-su, now changed into 소복(Sobok_White mourning garments), had her back to the distant 인불(In-bul_Ghost Light) of the Headquarters visible far off. A café at the entrance of a hushed market.

Not wanting to look at the Headquarters drawn in the distance any longer, Yeon-su sat with her back turned, in a café chair that looked down over the deserted market road. In front of Yeon-su, a presence in mourning garments dropped heavily into the seat. Yeon-su, without so much as glancing at the presence sitting across from her, began to rise again. She wanted to leave. As Yeon-su was moving to go, the presence spoke. Gyeong-seo: Sit. Doe Yeon-su.

Gyeong-seo, with her sharp-edged eyes, reprimanded Yeon-su — who had been leaving her seat — in a composed voice. Yeon-su could walk no further. From where she had stopped, the Ghost Light of the Headquarters lay draped in the distance. The Headquarters looked no different from any other time. Yeon-su, unable to turn her eyes away, stood still. When she was simply standing there, Gyeong-seo spoke again. Gyeong-seo: Sit down.

Yeon-su, with steps that refused to lift themselves, lowered her body back into the seat she had been sitting in. Gyeong-seo stared at Yeon-su in silence. A fully cold coffee sat before her. Gyeong-seo slid the new coffee in her own hand across to set it before Yeon-su. The cold coffee that had been before Yeon-su she pulled to her own side. Yeon-su kept her head bowed in silence. Gyeong-seo: You. Did you eat? Gyeong-seo's question was ordinary. So ordinary that Yeon-su could not answer.

There was no way she had told her to sit down only to ask her such a thing. At Gyeong-seo's cool warmth, Yeon-su let tears drop with her head still lowered. On an ordinary day Gyeong-seo would surely have cuffed Yeon-su hard on the head with her fist. But Gyeong-seo, in silence, slid her hand into the thick 두루마기(Durumagi_Traditional outer coat) of white 삼베(Sambae_Hemp cloth) and drew out a handkerchief. She pushed it to the far edge of the table so Yeon-su could see it.

Yeon-su did not take the handkerchief; her shoulders only shook. The weeping did not stop. Gyeong-seo: How many days has it been since you ate. Yeon-su shook her head. Gyeong-seo glanced around. It was the second floor of an empty, quiet café, with no one else there. Gyeong-seo shook out her sleeves as though unbinding them, and in every direction loosened the white hemp cloth. 주식(Jusik_Incantation Guard) settled in on every side.

Having created a small gap through which she could tell if anyone approached, Gyeong-seo called to Yeon-su in a calm voice. Gyeong-seo: Doe Yeon-su. Yeon-su could not answer; she only managed to nod. Each time she nodded, a heavy tear dropped. Gyeong-seo: Don't resent anyone. Not a soul. Above all, don't resent yourself. It was not something she could do. Yeon-su just barely shook her head. That was, truly, a thing she had no confidence she could honor. Gyeong-seo: All of this. Former The Oldest herself wove it.

Sooner than expected, yes. But I knew. Faintly. At least I did. Yeon-su: Knew what. Gyeong-seo: That Yeon-hui sis needed strength. That she needed strength enough that she would not be wounded any further — strength to protect you, to protect everyone at the Headquarters. Yeon-su: What does that have to do with anything. Gyeong-seo: The Chronostump was Yeon-hui sis's own choice. Yeon-su, whose shoulders had been shaking, began to still them.

At Gyeong-seo's confession — no different from everything she had already heard from So-hui — Yeon-su drew a calm breath and let out a low, submerged voice. Yeon-su: I heard. Me too. Gyeong-seo: You must be wondering and resenting why no one said a word and now, all of a sudden, everyone's telling you. Truth is, I didn't want to say anything to you to the very end. Yeon-su: Why. Gyeong-seo: Because I fucking suck at comforting people. I don't even know when I'm supposed to do it.

Yeon-su: That's why you asked about food first? Gyeong-seo: That's right. You catch on. Twig. Yeon-su: I. I hate my sister too. Knowing all that and not saying a word — I hate her. She didn't help me, so I hate her more. I-seon sis, who dragged her into the Chronostump, I hate that one the very most. That motherless piece of shit — I want to fucking kill her. Gyeong-seo: Hate whoever you want. But right now I need your help. At Gyeong-seo's words, Yeon-su finally began to lift her head.

Yeon-su raised her head slowly and looked at Gyeong-seo with eyes swollen thick. The moment she saw Yeon-su's small face — smeared with tears and snot — Gyeong-seo could hold the serious expression no longer and hurriedly crumpled her brow. Gyeong-seo: Hey. SSibal. Fucking filthy. I gave you the handkerchief! Use it!! As though unable to resist Gyeong-seo's badgering, Yeon-su snatched the handkerchief before her and wiped at the snot and tears.

Only then did Gyeong-seo let the crumpled brow go, slipping back into the exasperated face she always wore, and slowly revealed a grief she had been carrying. Yeon-su looked at Gyeong-seo with swollen eyes. Gyeong-seo: For not helping. I'm sorry. At Gyeong-seo's words, Yeon-su's tears fell again. Hurriedly wiping them with the handkerchief, Yeon-su gathered her choked voice, took a sip of the hot coffee, and set the cup back down. After letting out a breath, she began a long account.

Yeon-su: Yeon-hui sis said everything is in the Decree. And then I remembered something Former The Oldest had said to me, not long after I was placed as a Secret Agent. Gyeong-seo: What did she say. Yeon-su: That the one I would serve as The Oldest was not only her. I thought — just later, far later, when The Oldest passed from old age — I thought it was about another The Oldest I was to serve coming after. But once I saw the Decree, I realized it wasn't.

Former The Oldest had, from the start, been thinking of passing it on to Ji-young sis. Gyeong-seo was visibly taken aback. Gyeong-seo: Before this whole thing. You already knew? Kang Ji-young — I mean, The Oldest? Yeon-su: I'd met her. When Yeon-hui sis was tortured, they said she was staying at Ji-young sis's home. I just took it, simply, that Former The Oldest had some private reason and that Ji-young sis was a hidden daughter of hers. Gyeong-seo: Ah, I see.

Yeon-su: That sis — I mean, now, truly, The Oldest — was a good person. Really. She called me Twig without putting on airs, spoke to me easily. I thought, truly, this must be Former The Oldest's daughter. The way she teased me was exactly — exactly — the way Former The Oldest teased me. And I figured it out through this business. The one who had always stood behind Yeon-hui sis, watching over her and protecting her, was Ji-young sis.

That's why, with something going wrong for Ji-young sis, Yeon-hui sis ended up like this. And what's in the Decree — it means Ji-young sis is already The Oldest. Ji-young sis, The Oldest — will put my sister back the way she was. I was relieved that what the Guide showed me and what I had expected weren't different. Gyeong-seo: Then why are you still moping like some pitiful wreck. Yeon-su: Because she told me my sister would come. Because I'm a coward and I can't stay inside.

Because if I stay inside, I — I — Yeon-su returned to the tremble of tears and spoke the apology she had kept deep inside. Yeon-su: I, who couldn't protect anything — I feel so worthless. Watching Yeon-su's childlike tears, Gyeong-seo put on the put-upon face again and leaned on the table with her arms folded. Gyeong-seo: Then you already know what it is I'm asking you to help with. Yeon-su: That's why I'm stopping the crying.

I want to cry more, and I fucking want to beat the shit out of my sister too, but I'm holding it. Gyeong-seo belatedly twisted her lips and jabbed at Yeon-su. Gyeong-seo: Ya, Twig, cry a little and you can't see shit in front of you now, huh? You wanna get a bone broken somewhere?