THIFSGSTW CH 49

Chapter 49: Because It Remains in Memory

I looked straight into Park Yul’s eyes and spoke.

“It’s a gift, hyung.”

Even though I had mustered the courage to say that, the quest window remained silent. Earlier, the quest instructed me to give a present to the heroes, so maybe I needed to give it to everyone, not just Park Yul.

Park Yul smiled brightly and gently ruffled my hair.

“Sure. Thank you.”

“Hey, Sun Yi-han. What about me?”

Min Joo-hyuk immediately asked from beside me. Of course, I planned to give him one too.

I placed a flower in Min Joo-hyuk’s hand, then handed another to Song Ha-gyeon, who was unpacking behind us. I also pressed a flower into Raen’s hand as he stood in front of a map, lost in thought.

Even then, the success notification didn’t appear.

Why? I gave them all out. Just as I thought that, the quest window popped up in front of me.

<Unexpected! Quest> The Flower Rain Plains

You can’t just receive gifts! Give a flower to your fellow Hero filled with “sincerity.”

There was an additional phrase, neatly enclosed in quotation marks.

Of course, adding conditions afterward wasn’t very considerate. Couldn’t it have told me from the start?

I quietly walked to the window. Flowers were still pouring down like a sudden shower. I felt a bit lost.

‘What does it mean to give a gift filled with sincerity?’

The criteria was too vague. Did I just need to put in effort? But making something with the flowers myself was impossible. There were no stems or leaves, so I couldn’t even make a simple flower ring.

“This is hard….”

“What is?”

I had muttered absentmindedly, and Raen’s voice suddenly chimed in from beside me. He stood next to me, gazing out the window.

Should I ask him what he thinks a heartfelt gift is? But considering I had just handed him a single flower and called it a present, it felt a bit embarrassing to ask now.

In the end, I could only give a vague response.

“I Just… realizing something too late.”

Thinking about it, that was true. If the system had told me all the conditions from the start, it wouldn’t have felt this difficult.

Mindsets are best determined from the beginning. If I had known it was a hard quest from the start, I would have mentally prepared myself before beginning.

As I was lost in thought, Raen spoke beside me.

“It’s impossible to know everything from the beginning.”

“But then, we can’t prepare our minds.”

“You’re right, Yi-han. When you realize something suddenly, it’s not easy to accept it.”

Raen turned to look at me. The wind blew, making his red hair sway slightly.

“But sometimes, there are moments more meaningful precisely because we weren’t prepared for them.”

A faint smile appeared on his face as he slowly reached out toward me. His long fingers brushed lightly against my neck, making my body freeze for a second at the ticklish sensation.

“Isn’t it nice to realize something unexpectedly sometimes?”

His soft-spoken words drifted in the air. Raen’s hand withdrew, revealing a small flower nestled between his fingers. It must have been caught on my collar. Raen gazed at the pink blossom in his hand for a moment before lifting his head toward me. His voice carried a hint of amusement.

“You look like you’re deep in thought.”

“Hyung, have you ever realized something unexpectedly?”

“Well, I wonder… what did you realize just now, Yi-han?”

Everyone needed to establish some rules. A rule whenever a question was asked, the other person had to answer first.

I had realized something. The system had added conditions to my quest. But I couldn’t say that.

Raen extended his hand out the window, releasing the flower into the wind. It blended with the other petals in an instant. Watching it disappear, I spoke my thoughts aloud.

“That flower rain exists. It’s fascinating. And a little strange.”

“Of course. It must feel unfamiliar since it’s your first time seeing it.”

“What about you, Raen hyung?”

“…Me too. I never expected to see it at this time of year.”

There was a brief pause before he continued speaking as if his answer had changed at the last moment. But I let it slide. Because his words had made me realize something.

Maybe unexpectedly realizing things wasn’t so bad after all. Just like this quest, it made me reconsider what it meant to give a truly heartfelt gift. Thinking about it, nothing in this world is meaningless. Some things just feel unfair at the moment.

Maybe preparation wasn’t necessary. After all, the world doesn’t wait for us to be ready.

“It’s beautiful. Too bad we can’t go outside.”

Following Raen’s gaze, I looked out the window. “You’re right, hyung.”

The flowers continued to pour down endlessly, as if they wanted to dye the whole world pink.

◇

I opened my eyes at dawn. I fell asleep surrounded by the rich scent of flowers. Since the window was completely open without glass, it felt like I was buried in a pile of flowers.

I got up and walked over to the window. The night was pitch black. A large, round moon hung in the sky, and beneath it, flowers continued to pour down. Each blossom shimmered in the moonlight.

I wondered where they all came from. As I quietly gazed at the soft pink hue of dawn, I sensed movement behind me.

Huh? I thought everyone was asleep. I turned my head back.

At that exact moment, he suddenly stepped toward me.

“…Ha-gyeon hyung?”

In an instant, the scent of grass rushed over me. His deep eyes gleamed in the dark.

“…Why are you awake?”

Song Ha-gyeon brushed my bangs aside, as if checking my condition.

“I just woke up. What about you, Ha-gyeon hyung?”

Song Ha-gyeon didn’t answer. Instead, he silently conjured a blanket in midair and draped it gently over my shoulders.

“…I was watching.”

“Huh?”

“I was asking… Were you watching outside?”

Song Ha-gyeon spoke in a calm tone. His violet hair, draped over his shoulders, caught the faint glow of moonlight. I nodded in response.

“It feels different at night.”

“…What does?”

“The atmosphere outside. Maybe it’s just because it’s darker.”

Song Ha-gyeon placed a hand on my shoulder. Then he slowly moved closer to me. My body was gently pushed back. Before I knew it, I was sitting on the edge of the open window.

“Hyung?”

Song Ha-gyeon, standing next to me, extended his hand outside. When he withdrew it, three large blossoms rested in his palm. I thought I heard him whisper something softly. At that moment, the flowers floated into the air and landed gently on my wrist.

A soft glow flickered around the flowers before deep green stems sprouted, intertwining to form a loose bracelet around my wrist. It felt soft against my skin.

“A bracelet… There’s magic like this too?”

I murmured absentmindedly, and Song Ha-gyeon’s voice followed.

“…It won’t last long.”

A gust of spring wind blew past. The flowers loosely tied to me brushed against my skin, tickling me. I knew the flowers would disappear soon. But that wasn’t what mattered.

“They’ll remain in my memory.”

As I spoke, I suddenly recalled a past conversation. The reason Park Yul giving us disappearing gifts every year. Perhaps Park Yul had similar thoughts. I raised my wrist to my face. The floral fragrance was so bright that it made me smile involuntarily.

“Thanks, Ha-gyeon hyung.”

“…Mm.”

Song Ha-gyeon, who had answered absentmindedly, suddenly pulled my arm. He stood up abruptly.

“Now, sleep.”

His voice was firm. He watched until I lay back down before returning to his spot. Lying still, I lifted my wrist toward the ceiling. The pink flowers glowed softly in the moonlight.

I had an idea.

If I gave a gift like this, it would be full of sincerity. This was more than enough to be a gift full of sincerity.

…But I couldn’t use magic. What should I do? Should I ask someone to cast the magic for me? But giving a gift made with someone else’s magic didn’t feel quite right either….

My thoughts began to drift slowly. It felt like I had just closed my eyes for a moment…

When I opened my eyes again, it was already morning.

The room was bright. The first thing I saw was Park Yul’s face, quietly watching me.

“…Yul hyung. Did I oversleep again?”

“You were never overslept, Yi-han. You woke up at the perfect time.”

I reached for the hand Park Yul extended toward me. His gentle touch slowly helped me sit up. Thankfully, it seemed the sun hadn’t been up for too long. Looking around, I noticed everyone had already packed their things.

I jumped to my feet. Min Joo-hyuk, fixing my hair, spoke casually.

“Looks like you slept well. We just finished packing up.”

It seemed we were about to move to the next location. Raen lightly placed a hand on my back.

“Shall we go now?”

A gust of wind blew. The scenery changed in an instant. The scent of flowers still lingered. Like a setting sun, bright red petals drifted down from the sky. The ground looked as if it had been dyed entirely in red. A flower, fluttering like a red butterfly, brushed against my cheek before landing gently on the ground.

“The flowers here are red?”

“…Because we’re in the west.”

Oh, I see. So this is the western side. But what does that have to do with the color? As I tried to piece together the connection, Park Yul continued.

“I mentioned before that this area is divided into two sections, right? On the western side, red flowers fall like this.”

“Is it different in the east?”

Park Yul nodded. As he walked, he glanced at me and asked, “What color do you think the flowers there are?”

“White, maybe?”

“Oh? Why do you think so?”

“Because it’s the opposite color.”

Min Joo-hyuk suddenly chimed in from the side.

“Is white the opposite color, though?”

“…Isn’t it?”

“Well, technically, a cyan-like shade is the complementary color, but… I mean, everyone sees things differently. Thinking it’s white isn’t wrong.”

Park Yul smiled softly and added,

“That’s true. But the flowers aren’t white. Keep thinking about it.”

He wasn’t going to give me the answer right away. Park Yul tended to let me figure things out on my own. Raising his hand, he pointed toward a distant building. I followed the direction of his gesture with my eyes.

“That’s where we’re heading now.”