RPPL C26

When Bipa came out to the street, he thought it was a truly good decision not to have brought Muyun with him. The weather was terribly cold, and heavy snow was fluttering, making it difficult to see ahead. Dressed in a straw raincoat and a wide-brimmed hat, he walked forward aimlessly.

There was not a single person on the street. Only a few dogs, excited by the snow, were running around with their tongues hanging out, panting with their heads lifted towards the sky. Bipa saw one of them and muttered.

“Why is that here.”

The dog, which had been staring at Bipa, grinned and then once again raised its head to the sky and spun around.

It was a Byeokhwa-gu (Mural Dog). A dog that lives in murals, which, in truth, is not a good omen. They were mischievous and had a rather mean streak, so they were classified as ill-fated. It seemed to have jumped out from a mural in some old temple or village shrine.

Still, judging by its antics, it seemed it really had come down, thrilled by the snow. Seeing that the creature had no intention of causing harm, Bipa smiled faintly. As he passed by, he quietly extended his hand, and it licked his fingertips. It wasn’t saliva, but ink that stained Bipa’s fingertips black.

As he got closer to the canyon, an eerie energy undulated. Standing at the entrance of the mountain, Bipa saw a shadow reaching out as if to grab his feet at any moment and recoiled in disgust. He rubbed the tips of his cotton socks against the dirt ground, shaking it off far away.

“With something like this here, no sunlight can get in, and the yang energy is blocked.”

He fought a terrible urge to look up and slowly turned his gaze to the right. There, he saw what looked like a moss-covered rock, but it was a toe. The owner of the shadow.

Bipa let out a deep sigh. Fortunately, it was still small. But it would be difficult for him to drive it away. There was a way, but it was hard.

As he was lost in thought, snow softly piled up on his feet.

The snow is coming down harder. Shaking his feet, Bipa shook off the train of thought along with it. It seemed he could only do something about the blocked entrance after this subsided a bit.

“Hah…”

Passing through this place was a problem, but so were the people waiting to cross this valley right now. He got a little annoyed, thinking how noisy and bothersome it would become.

But he couldn’t live inside the village. He had to get beyond this place before winter came. Either cross the mountain, or go live in it.

One way or another, he concluded that he had no choice but to cross that valley.

❀࿐

When he returned to the inn, Muyun was waiting for him in the exact same posture as when Bipa had left. As soon as he opened the door, Bipa found Muyun standing stock-still and clutched his chest in surprise.

“What are you doing? You scared me.”

“…Master’s footprints were disappearing, so I…”

His deepened gaze slowly returned to its usual light. He didn’t regret not taking him along, but he felt sorry for Muyun, who had been so frightened. Bipa soothed him, shaking his head.

“Where would I go? With the snow coming down so stubbornly.”

“But Master, you can go anywhere…. I, I keep feeling anxious.”

When it snows, time seems to flow exceptionally slowly. Perhaps he got suddenly scared while watching the flurries and waiting for his master. Perhaps he thought Bipa had vanished for good, as even his departing footprints were covered up. Bipa deliberately made light of it with a cheerful tone.

“I thought you were all grown up, but you’re still a child, a child.”

As he said this, he brushed off his collar with a touch even lighter than his voice.

“I’ve lived with you for nearly three years, where would I go now?”

“……”

“Still don’t trust me? You’ll grow up and not even give your master a second thought anyway. So get some rest.”

Bipa spread out the bedding and pulled Muyun’s wrist. After forcing him to lie down, he lay down on his side to face him. Following Bipa, who had folded his hands and rested his head on them, Muyun folded his own hands and said,

“For me to not give you a second thought, Master. That day will never come.”

“I’m sure it won’t.”

Anyone could tell from his tone that he didn’t believe it.

“It’s true…”

At his crestfallen voice, Bipa found himself wanting to believe him. Even though he knew that since even families cannot be together for a lifetime, the chance of them being together forever was remote.

He didn’t want to needlessly make Muyun understand, step by step, that you are different from me, so you will find someone you like, and then you will want to leave.

Muyun, who was holding Bipa’s cold hands, suddenly asked.

“By the way, what did you go see?”

“That canyon over there.”

His body, melting into the warm floor, had grown languid, and Bipa closed his eyes.

“I hope it snows a lot tomorrow at dawn.”

“Why is that?”

“It’s really not good to set off now. If I wake up late tomorrow morning,”

“You always do.”

“Exactly. If I wake up late, you tell the people to go slowly. Tell them to go when the snow melts….”

“Will they believe me?”

“Well. If they don’t… I guess that’s their fate. It’ll just be me who has an uncomfortable night’s sleep….”

Understanding the words that were almost a mumble to himself, Muyun nodded.

The tip of Bipa’s nose was red. It was because of the cold weather. But not long after, his cheeks also flushed rosy, as if his frozen skin was thawing. The gradual coloring of his face was so fascinating that Muyun couldn’t take his eyes off him.

It felt as if time, which had stopped just a moment ago, was finally beginning to flow. Muyun let out a long breath he had been holding as if he were dead. The fear that had been gripping his throat had vanished without a trace.

Muyun shifted his body slightly and lay down closer to Bipa. It seemed the paper on the windows hadn’t been repaired in a long time, as the sound of the winter wind crying through the window frame simmered low. Wooo, wooo. Despite the eerie sound, Muyun did not tremble.

As long as Bipa was by his side, he was afraid of nothing.

Dawn broke. The snow had not fallen any further, and the day was dark. Still, people who knew the time of sunrise through a sense they had honed in their bodies were already out and preparing in advance.

At the sounds of their presence, Muyun also opened his eyes. As expected, Bipa was not awake.

Recalling Bipa’s request-that-wasn’t-quite-a-request, he slowly sat up. Then, to look even a little bit extraordinary, he covered one of his eyes.

When he went outside, he saw a few men stamping their feet.

“Aigoo, I absolutely have to deliver my lady’s letter.”

“We can’t cross today. Maybe tomorrow.”

“And isn’t it impossible to cross even then if the piled-up snow doesn’t melt?”

“You have to work on the bottom of your shoes. What can you do when you’ll get a beating if you don’t go. Is it urgent?”

The man who appeared to be a servant nodded his head, his face crestfallen.

“It’s urgent. Of course, it is. I’m illiterate so I don’t know the contents, but I do know how many times my lady stressed that it was urgent and that I must hurry back and forth.”

“Well, that could just be something she says…”

The men who looked like merchants scratched their cheeks and trailed off. It was because there were more than a few masters who were simply impatient and urged their servants on with lies.

Muyun stared at them blankly for a moment, then carried out Bipa’s errand a little early.

“I don’t think it’s a very good time to leave now.”

At the voice that suddenly cut in, the people all turned their heads at once. They had been momentarily tense due to the heavy, low resonance, but upon seeing that the person who interrupted was just a boy of about fifteen, they let out a snort of laughter.

“Ah, what is ‘the time’? The time is when your superior tells you to go.”

“That’s right. He’s speaking the truth.”

They each nodded their heads. They all seemed to be people who lived around this area, so they were used to the heavy snow in winter and acted as if a snowy road like this was nothing.

Muyun thought about trying to stop them further, but decided against it. There was no reason to, and he didn’t think he would get scolded by Bipa for it.

“Well, I’ve said my piece. Only those who want to listen should listen.”

“What makes you so sure when you say that? What, are you some little boy shaman?”

“I am not a shaman.”

His face hardening instantly, Muyun quickly went back into the room.

As Muyun went inside, half of the men who had been bluffing exchanged glances, and the other half yawned.

“I’m going to sleep a little more and leave when the sun is up.”

The yawning men shufflingly left their spots. The people who had been standing next to the servant, likewise saying their business was urgent, also suddenly changed their tune.

“I’m, uh, I’ll also go when the sun’s a bit higher.”

They had mocked Muyun to his face, but there is such a thing as intuition. That boy seemed to have a disquieting air about him, so wouldn’t it be fine to wait a bit, assess the situation, and then go?

However, the servant who had to go to the apothecary to get the medicine he was ordered to fetch was getting anxious. He spun around in place and finally turned on his heel. Towards Yeounan-gol. Towards that dark and damp valley.