RPPL C25

He must have wondered if he had asked something he shouldn’t have, and raised his head. Fortunately, Bipa, who was looking down at him, did not seem angry.

“It was so long ago that I don’t remember it well.”

“It was only a dozen or so years ago, wasn’t it?”

“I can barely remember what happened yesterday, how am I supposed to remember when I was a child?”

Bipa suddenly snorted. Then he patted Muyun’s shoulder and said it was time to go.

Bipa was like this, never talking about himself. Muyun didn’t talk about his life before becoming a Saetani either, so it wasn’t unfair.

But… he was curious. What was Bipa’s childhood like? Since when could he see these things, and since when did he live as a wanderer? How did he meet Haesol, and what did he do before he met him?

“Even if we stay here after the shoes are finished, we probably can’t stay for long.”

Bipa muttered, looking at the cluster of thatched roofs. His hand fumbled in the air before taking Muyun’s. It was dinnertime, and a savory smell wafted from every house, making the air taste delicious. It was a warmth that had returned once the vengeful spirit of the Gwisomok had been sent away.

“Is the reason we keep wandering, unable to find a place to stay, perhaps because of me…?”

Muyun, looking like a child his age in these moments, asked with wavering eyes. When his own reflection filled the child’s characteristically large pupils, Bipa unwittingly squeezed Muyun’s hand.

His own image was still the only thing in those eyes. A look that said the only meaningful thing in the world was his master…. He had wondered if Muyun might be envious watching Moksun’s harmonious family, even after misfortune had befallen them, but Muyun was not.

Bipa hesitated, then smiled.

“We are a master and disciple who are just alike, so people don’t welcome not only you, but me as well.”

Even though he was saying that no one welcomed them except each other, Muyun somehow felt relieved. He carefully leaned his head against the arm of Bipa, who held him.

The two slowly made their way to Moksun’s house. To a place where they would stay for just a short while before leaving.

❀࿐

The cotton shoes were finished. Muyun’s were made a little large.

“Because it looks like you’ll grow quickly.”

When Jiseok said this with a grin, Muyun saw that the spots where his canine and small molar teeth should have been were empty inside his mouth.

“It’d be nice if you could stay longer.”

Moksun murmured, her voice full of regret. But Bipa was not swayed by such looks or voices. Rather, he looked relieved to finally be able to leave.

No matter where he went, Bipa was an outsider. And an outsider stands out more, even when doing nothing. If even an ordinary traveler is bound to attract attention, how would it be for Bipa?

When he didn’t know any better, he had once stayed in a place for several years. But people soon noticed that Bipa did not change with the passing of time. From then on, Bipa was no longer a person like them, but a beast, a monster, or something that should not be touched.

“No, it’s alright. We were just passing through anyway.”

“Where are you headed?”

Jiseok asked.

“Well. We’re thinking of going at least to the far side of Toryongsan Mountain.”

“Past Yeounangol?”

“I suppose they call that place Yeounangol?”

Partly because the name was different from the one he knew, and partly because he had bad memories associated with foxes, Bipa smiled in a way that looked like a frown.

“It’s different from the last name I remember….”

“Is that so? It must have been quite a while since the name changed….”

Realizing his slip, Bipa hastily added.

“My grandfather had a friend there, so I must have heard the old name more often.”

The lie seemed to have worked, as the couple showed no further suspicion.

“Travel safely. We will not forget your kindness.”

After exchanging farewells with Jiseok, Jiman, and Moksun one by one, Bipa adjusted his bundle. Then he suddenly looked down at Muyun.

Muyun looked up with wide, clear eyes, wondering why he wasn’t leaving and was looking at him instead.

“……”

He had learned over their short time together that this family was the first not to regard Muyun as ominous. They taught him games, showed him their craftsmanship, and even if the child got sick, they wouldn’t panic and would help him get better. It was an ideal place for Muyun to grow up.

But the words, do you want to stay here, simply would not come out. Should he do it when the child didn’t want it? Even if it was for the child’s own good….

No. The truth is, I’m the one who doesn’t want it.

I want to go with him. If Muyun said he wanted to leave, he couldn’t stop him, but Bipa could no longer bring himself to send him away first.

Muyun, who had been looking up at the hesitating Bipa, reached out and grabbed the hem of Bipa’s clothes.

“Let’s go now, Master.”

Bipa hesitated, then asked.

“Are you really… sure it’s okay to go?”

“Of course?”

“…You’re right.”

What on earth was he thinking? He was truly a coward.

Still, he felt relieved. They could be together a little longer. Even if it was an illusion that would one day shatter when Muyun grew up, just a little longer like this…. Was the feeling of being desperately needed by someone this addictive?

Bipa let out a faint smile and took Muyun’s hand. And once again, he said his farewells to the three of them.

Behind the departing Bipa and Muyun, Deokseok, who had been lying down, slowly sat up.

The last trace of the ominous misfortune that had clung to the village completely vanished.

As they were leaving the village, Muyun asked.

“The villagers were the ones who cut down the Jangseung, weren’t they?”

“Yes.”

“And that’s why the Gwisomok had two voices.”

“Teach you one thing and you know ten.”

Unused to praise, Muyun lowered his head as if embarrassed and muttered. It was an excuse along the lines of, I just said what I saw, you didn’t really teach me anything. Bipa let out a soft laugh and left it at that.

After walking for a good while after that, Muyun murmured again.

“Still, Master, I think the vengeful spirits went to the wrong person. They should have gone after the person who made him cut it, not the person who did the cutting.”

“How would they know such complicated circumstances? They are, in fact, as ignorant and innocent as children. But… as you say, it is pitiful that the ones who deserve resentment are elsewhere, while it’s always others who are condemned as wicked and evil.”

Just then, a small spiritual creature emerged from the overgrown grass on the side and cried, kii. It seemed to want to follow Bipa. Noticing it, Muyun stuck close to Bipa’s side and glared at it.

‘He’s my master.’

His lips moved on their own. The creature cowered as much as it could, then hid.

Master, I don’t feel sorry for them at all. Not one bit.

Muyun hugged Bipa’s arm tightly and blinked his eyes slowly.

There was still a week’s journey left to Yeounangol. The wind blowing from Yeounangol tickled Bipa and Muyun’s ears.

❀࿐

Muyun’s pain did not get better easily. It was difficult even to pretend he wasn’t in pain. He could hide his expression somehow, but he couldn’t hide his limping leg.

Today too, when he opened his eyes, he felt a stuffiness in his arms and legs. Ever since leaving the leatherworker’s house, Muyun would discover that Bipa had tied knots around his limbs during the night on the morning after a bout of sickness.

Unaware of anything, he simply thought it was a relief that he hadn’t been dreaming of Bipa lately. Every morning when he saw the knots, the thought of Bipa having watched over him as he slept would come to mind, and a cold sweat would run down his spine, wondering if he had blurted out any nonsense in his sleep.

And yet, the thought of Bipa having woken up at dawn to take care of him made him feel strangely elated and proud. In those moments, it wasn’t pain but a kind of bliss that coursed through his bound limbs.

And, finally, it was Yeounangol.

“The snow is coming down something fierce.”

Bipa looked out the window and sighed.

The rather large village just before the mountain pass was bustling with travelers stranded by the “snow guest.” Peddlers, a couple on their way to their wedding, a servant on an errand for his master to a village over the mountain. A variety of people were clicking their tongues, fretting over the indefinite wait.

Muyun thought it was for the better. It was because of the hope that if he rested here for a bit, this blasted pain might subside. At the same time, he foolishly worried that if the pain ended too soon, he would stop growing. How pathetic.

Bipa was preoccupied with other thoughts. His gaze was constantly fixed on the sky, which was unusually dark. It was snowing, but should it be this dark? For some reason, he had a bad feeling.

The name Bipa had known for Yeounangol before it was so named was Haman. It was a place he had visited with Haesol long ago. It certainly wasn’t like this back then.

It was a good location that even Haesol had admired. There are none better than Dokkaebi at judging a place’s energy. He had said that this village received a lot of sunlight, so even the shaded areas weren’t gloomy. The overflowing yang energy was said to enter the mountains and keep the yin energy of the valleys in check, but now, a gloomy and damp energy billowed.

“Muyun. Wait here for a moment.”

“Where are you going?”

“Just for a walk.”

“I’ll go with you.”

“What do you mean, when you’re in pain? Helping me is resting up here.”

Behind Bipa, who was putting his feet into his cotton shoes, Muyun clenched his fists in anxiety. Whenever they stayed in a village, Muyun tried to stick to Bipa’s side even more tenaciously. For fear that Bipa would just up and leave him behind.

A child who was abandoned does not forget being abandoned. That fear would always follow Muyun. Like a shadow.

“Master…!”

“If you’re there, you’ll be a distraction. Don’t mess around and get hurt; it’s cold, so stay inside.”

Bipa cut him off firmly, leaving no room for further argument. Muyun couldn’t even talk back to Bipa’s way with words, always treating him like a child even while saying he was all grown up.