RPPL C32

Only after they had completely disappeared did Bipa let out a sigh. Then, he immediately spread his arms and lay down, looking up at the ceiling.

“I hate seeing them because they only spout such nonsense every time they come. Do you remember the last time they came? They said an Ijo had appeared, so I went to see, but it was just a Judungidatbal-kkongjidatbal (T/N: an expression which meant ’quick to talk, quicker to disappear’).”

“If it’s an Ijo, that was the bird said to predict ominous events for the country, right?”

Muyun effortlessly recited the characteristics of one of the many monstrosities he had learned about so far.

“Exactly! But what did I actually see? Just that beak-faced creature that brings me bad luck. Next time, even if they come, chase them away.”

Muyun promised he would as he took off Bipa’s shoes. After all, if not for Bipa, they weren’t people he would let into the house or exchange words with anyway.

“Master. Let’s go inside now. Hurry.”

“Muyun, your master is too tired. Just push me all the way in there. Or give me a piggyback ride.”

Even knowing those words were a joke, Muyun bit his lip tight. In his heart, he wanted to carry him on his back, but he didn’t want to use that precious opportunity just to go to a room right in front of their noses. Muyun wanted to carry him on a much longer path after he grew a bit more and became completely bigger than Bipa. After all, there is only one ‘first time’.

“You know I can’t do that. Master, please act like an adult.”

“The disciple is mistreating his master.”

Even while saying that, Bipa grinned and rolled his body over. However, his hand reaching for the doorknob fumbled in the air for a moment. Truly the appearance of a drunkard. Except he was drunk on sleep, not alcohol.

“Oops.”

“I’ll open it for you.”

Muyun caught Bipa’s fumbling hand. Then he opened the door with his free hand. Seeing him flailing about, it looked like he was going to fall into a deep sleep again.

When he first returned from his wandering that wasn’t quite wandering, Muyun hadn’t been this calm either. After traveling to the west, north, and east—making their effort to come south seem pointless—Bipa would be unable to regain his energy for a long time like this.

It wasn’t that he had a specific illness. Because Muyun worried excessively, he eventually confessed; it was that he barely slept when Muyun wasn’t around.

‘I was originally like that. Strangely, after meeting you, I’ve been sleeping a lot more.’

Whether he should be happy about those words or feel sorry.

‘Then don’t go.’

He tried begging subtly, but Bipa would say he couldn’t give up the good things that the Sky Three Brothers, Jangseung, and other spiritual creatures brought him if he did some errands for them.

‘Then take me with you.’

When he negotiated differently, Bipa firmly shook his head.

‘You still have a long way to go before you can perfectly pretend not to see or hear anything.’

Because Bipa, having become his master, was very strict only at times like this, Muyun could not beg any further.

Bipa, who had closed his eyes as if already half-asleep, squeezed the hand he was holding and asked in a sing-song voice.

“Did you have fun playing while I was gone?”

“Of course not.”

Muyun replied, furrowing his brows. Without even looking at Muyun’s expression, Bipa chuckled and continued speaking.

“Our Muyun, you must have been bored staying only with your master without any friends. I wondered if you went out to play a lot, taking this opportunity.”

He didn’t understand the meaning of such a question in the first place. Muyun wasn’t lonely, and naturally, he didn’t need friends either. He only needed Bipa.

“I think your sleeping comes before worrying about me, Master. Here. Please lie down.”

Eventually, Muyun got up first and opened the door. Then he hurriedly spread out the bedding on one side. Bipa rolled over to that spot and let out a satisfied sigh.

“Hah. Now I can live.”

“Please get some sleep.”

Bipa suddenly grabbed Muyun just as he was about to leave. Muyun, who had been standing with his back turned, had a strange look in his eyes for a split second, but soon turned around with his usual impassive and quiet gaze.

“Stay a little longer before you go. It’s been days since we saw each other. Are you just going to leave without telling me how you’ve been?”

“Would there have been anything special?”

“Still. Talk a little by my side.”

Bipa mumbled with his eyes already half-closed.

They say you may not notice someone’s presence, but you certainly notice their absence. He hadn’t known before, but now Bipa understood what that feeling was like. When he left home and was alone, he wondered if silence had always been this heavy, this tough and sticky.

Then, he missed him. Muyun. Not a resonance that gave him a sense of déjà vu like Haesol, but a voice similar to his own. A child who, like Bipa himself, didn’t fit in with others, and therefore could stand side by side and spend time with him.

He felt a pang of regret seeing him grow day by day whenever he returned after being away for even a short while. It felt as if the time they could be together was shrinking. So, even though he hated leaving, the beings that came to him with so-called requests were so stubborn that listening to them was actually the fastest way to be done with it.

Bipa recalled the warmth he had held moments ago and sought out Muyun’s hand to hold. The knuckles that were dragged over stiffly were hard, and the size was already similar to his own.

“You’ve grown again in the meantime. Grown again.”

“You speak as if I am some kind of weed.”

“You are a weed.”

Bipa chuckled. Growing tall and thick all on its own without being planted—he resembled a weed exactly. Before he knew it, Muyun had grown thick within Bipa.

“Muyun. I brought something for you to play with. It’s a jujube tree branch. Go draw pictures in the yard with that and play.”

“Master. Am I at that age? Just a moment ago you said I had grown again.”

Muyun grumbled at Bipa’s words, which were clearly meant to tease. Yet, he did not let go of the hand holding his. Rather, he squeezed firmly with every knuckle, as if to warm Bipa’s cold hand.

“No? I thought you were six years old….”

“We hadn’t even met when I was six. Just go to sleep.”

“Stay by my side until I fall asleep.”

“I will. Has there ever been a time I didn’t?”

“True…. Since I can’t remember the days without you. It’s quite fascinating….”

With that, Bipa’s voice faded into silence.

“…….”

Muyun stayed by his side for a long time before slowly withdrawing his hand. Then he stood up and unpacked Bipa’s bundle. Quietly and skillfully, he placed each item where it belonged.

Then, he discovered the item packed most preciously among the things in the bundle, albeit clumsily. Tree branches wrapped in traditional socks and tucked between clothes. They were peach and jujube branches.

Since this was a village slaughtered by a plague, spirits who didn’t know why they died or even that they were dead wandered everywhere. Loneliness called out to loneliness, spirits called other spirits, and they tormented Muyun. Although, as Bipa had instructed, he had never once answered them.

Knowing this, whenever Bipa went out, he would bring back branches that ward off spirits. Sometimes secretly, sometimes with permission.

Muyun went to his room and placed them by the door and the window respectively. Then he gently stroked the smooth bark with his fingertips. As if it were someone who appeared in his dreams.

What tormented Muyun wasn’t that nonsense about being lonely or scared. He wasn’t afraid of shapeless spirits at all. What truly tormented Muyun was….

‘Muyun.’

Perhaps it would appear in his dreams today as well. While anxiously waiting for it to do so, yet hoping on the other hand that it wouldn’t come, and eventually resenting why it hadn’t come….

❀࿐

No matter how much he dug into the frozen ground, only black soil appeared. It shouldn’t be like this; red and moist clay should be coming out, but here, only dead soil continued to appear.

Around him, the remains of burnt trees were spitting out sounds of resentment, and the wind, with no branches to brush past, fiercely scratched at Muyun.

Just as Muyun was about to spit on the wretched black soil and curse, arms reached out from behind and embraced him.

‘……!’

Hugging his waist, lightly leaning a face against his shoulder, and that breath sweeping across the nape of his neck.

Muyun let out a low breath. Neither spit nor curses came out. His tongue went dry and his throat constricted. The person he dared not embrace first was embracing him. Where this place was, or what he had to do—nothing mattered in this moment.

Hands wrapped around him like snakes, winding around his waist and gradually groping up to his chest. Muyun hadn’t shed a single tear since the day he was dragged away to become a Saetani, but whenever he had this dream, he wanted to cry.

He lifted his rough hand and covered the hand wrapping his body. A familiar warmth. The shape he could vividly trace even with his eyes closed was beneath his hand. Let alone that sensation digging between his fingers…….

His chin lifted into the air of its own accord, and his lips trembled. His spine tingled, and ragged breaths burst forth. He wanted to turn around right then, but it was too clear what he would do next, so he couldn’t.

‘He must be like a father to him.’

Seeing that the words spoken by the three brothers chased him even into his dreams, those three were surely tiresome interrupters. Like a father…. Muyun could not agree with those words. Who would have this kind of dream about a father? Who would do this regarding their master….

Perhaps that is why he wanted to cry so much. Muyun hung his head.

Something hot surged from within. It was like a pent-up fire. The fire, said to bloom in the heart and eventually burn the whole body, swallowed Muyun piece by piece. It was intensely hot. A dream could be this vivid.

A pond was visible in the distance. Muyun barely managed to run over and collapsed in front of it. The moment he thrust his head towards the cold water, he saw it. His own reflection in the water. It closely resembled those things that one must pretend not to see even if seen, and pretend not to hear even if heard.

Opening his eyes, Muyun paced the room frantically. The surroundings were too desolate. All his nerves were directed towards one place. It was a silence so deep that he felt he could even hear the sound of breathing from beyond the wall.

No.

Muyun clutched his throbbing head, pacing in circles, then grabbed the tree branches he had placed by the window and door.

The branches said to ward off evil things. Bipa must have thought of him while breaking these off. That fact made his nightmare even more vivid. Muyun pressed his clenched fist against his forehead. His throat burned with an agonizing yearning that he could never voice.

Even knowing this, he couldn’t shake it off. Even knowing…….

What Bipa truly needed to ward off was this very heart.