THIFSGSTW CH 32

Chapter 32: What Kind of Fate Awaits You?

Facing Sun Yi-han directly, I opened my mouth. “Let’s go together.”

For a moment, Sun Yi-han’s eyes seemed to glimmer. The sunlight pouring in was too bright. It was dazzling.

My eyes closed on their own but quickly opened again. Sun Yi-han, still standing there as if glowing alone, entered my view. He was smiling. As if reassured, or as if he had expected this. It was a bright smile.

Without realizing it, I reached out my hand. For some reason, it felt like Sun Yi-han was too far away. As if I wouldn’t be able to reach him. Even though that couldn’t be true.

Rustle.

My fingers caught on Sun Yi-han’s soft hair. I lightly tousled the jet-black strands. Sun Yi-han lifted his head and met my eyes. I stared blankly at my reflection in his clear pupils, like a mirror. Then, suddenly, I wondered if my expression had been too stiff this whole time.

I drew a deeper smile on my face than usual. And I thought—

‘Yihan-ah, what kind of fate awaits you?’

When Sun Yi-han said he couldn’t die yet, his expression was serious. It wasn’t the lighthearted words of youthful arrogance. It wasn’t an unfounded belief, either. Sun Yi-han was certain. That it really wouldn’t happen. He firmly believed that his death hadn’t yet arrived.

How could he be so sure? Because he knew he was safe for now? Or, perhaps… because he knew exactly when his life would end?

A chilling thought dropped heavily in my chest, but I couldn’t bring myself to voice it. I swallowed down my words in silence. Sun Yi-han was looking up at me without a hint of wavering. Still with that bright, unwavering smile.

I wanted to ask him. Had he seen his fate, too?

‘What do you know? How much do you know?’

The question surged to my throat, but I forced it down. Because I knew I wouldn’t get an answer. Even if Sun Yi-han asked me the same thing, I wouldn’t be able to answer him either. Not that he would ever ask.

‘If you’ve seen your fate, too…’

Had he ever thought about it? This is ridiculous. If everything is predetermined, then what meaning does my life have?

Had he struggled with that for a long time, only to eventually give up and accept it?

‘Maybe that strange feeling I sometimes get from Sun Yi-han…’

When I was chosen as a hero at the temple, the god’s voice that pierced through my mind had been eerie and chilling. There were moments when Sun Yi-han gave me a similar feeling.

Each time, my face would involuntarily harden. As if the dark chamber from that day had opened before me again. As if the terror of realizing the fate imposed upon me was washing over me once more.

‘But I have no solid proof that Sun Yi-han has seen his fate.’

People see others through the lens of their own past. Maybe I was projecting that moment onto Sun Yi-han. Maybe I was simply being swept up by his poised and devout demeanor from the temple, or momentarily shaken by his occasional fragile side.

‘……Or maybe I just wanted someone else to have experienced something similar to me. ‘

Whether Sun Yi-han knew his fate or not, it didn’t matter. Even if breathing itself seemed exhausting at times, he always tried not to show it. That meant he was truly giving his all, living every moment to the fullest.

So if he really had seen his fate—

‘I’ll watch over you, Yi-han.’

Every choice you make, every step you take.

For the first time, I was curious about someone’s fate.

For the first time, I saw someone whose fate seemed unbearably heavy.

And for the first time, I saw someone who, despite that weight, continued to push forward.

‘When I was chosen as a hero, I was exactly Sun Yi-han’s age.’

Sun Yi-han looked just as unstable as I had been back then.

Even though standing up and moving forward was ultimately his own burden to bear, I wanted to stay by his side. No, I wanted to be there. At the very least, I didn’t want him to endure that time alone. Because if he could hear the sound of someone walking beside him in the darkness, it might give him the strength to rise again.

…At least for as long as I was allowed.

The spiral of my thoughts broke. Thankfully, Sun Yi-han didn’t seem to notice my brief awkwardness. I took a deep breath.

Right in front of me, Sun Yi-han was still standing tall. I took in his form as if engraving it in my memory. His white robes seemed to flutter lightly as if a breeze had passed through, though all the windows were shut.

The sunlight streaming in wrapped around him as if embracing him. Everything in my view was overwhelmingly bright. I couldn’t look away.

◇

It was after we arrived in the Nightfall Forest with everyone. While the others had gone off to explore, only Sun Yi-han and I remained by the campfire.

“Yi-han, are you sleepy?” At the sound of my voice, Sun Yi-han’s head snapped up.

Sun Yi-han had been dozing off, cupping a glass of cocoa in both hands. His eyes, which looked up at me, were unfocused, nearly asleep. He stayed still for a moment, seeming to process my question, then slowly opened his mouth. His voice was thick with drowsiness.

“…I think… I’m a little sleepy.”

By now, I understood. When Sun Yi-han said ‘a little,’ it actually meant ‘quite a lot.’

I gently took the glass from his hands before it could slip from his grip. When I asked if he wanted to go to sleep, he obediently nodded.

‘If I’d waited any longer, I might’ve had to let him sleep right here.’

It was a good thing I hadn’t been too late. We walked toward the tent together.

“Yul-hyung, this place is….”

As soon as he stepped inside the tent, Sun Yi-han widened his eyes in surprise. His voice was suddenly clear again, as if the walk had shaken off his drowsiness.

Maybe I should’ve just carried him here. He had seemed ready to pass out just moments ago. I thought so and shook my head lightly.

Still, once he lay down, he would probably fall asleep right away. He seemed like the type who slept a lot—he was always the first to fall asleep and the last to wake up.

Except for Raen. Since he spent more time awake than actually sleeping at night.

‘Is that even okay?’

Not being able to sleep was worrisome, but so was falling asleep too easily. My gaze landed on Sun Yi-han’s frail frame, wrapped in his fluttering robes.

I asked if he wanted me to stay with him until he fell asleep, but Sun Yi-han looked startled and quickly shook his head. As if to say there was absolutely no need.

But he doesn’t like being alone in the dark. Maybe it was his subconscious. If that was the case, there was no need to bring it up. I simply replied with an easy alright and stepped outside.

“Rest well.”

Sun Yi-han, lost in thought, gave a slow nod. He waved a hand at me.

Good. He’ll fall asleep soon. Smiling faintly, I stepped out of the tent. A rush of cold air swept in. The sky was stretched with deep black darkness.

Not too far away, a campfire burned, its flames flickering beneath the night sky. White smoke curled upward. A small flame, yet bright. A dark winter, but all the more luminous because of it.

I moved to sit on a neatly placed log and stared at the crackling fire for a long time. The scent of burning wood blended subtly into the cold air. I didn’t dislike the smell.

I waved my hand lightly, gathering the stick we had used to roast marshmallows and the glass cup that Sun Yi-han had used for his cocoa. The sweet scent still seemed to linger faintly at the tip of my nose. The image of Sun Yi-han, startled with a large marshmallow stuffed into his mouth, surfaced in my mind. One of his cheeks had puffed up like a balloon.

Just as I was about to chuckle quietly, mindful of the sleeping Sun Yi-han, I caught the faint scent of blood from somewhere. All of my senses instantly sharpened. The instincts that had honed themselves after becoming a hero immediately tracked the direction from which the scent was coming.

‘A rift? No, that’s not it. This direction is…’

I started moving toward the tent. Carefully, I lifted the fabric at the entrance—

“Yihan-ah”

The name slipped out before I even realized it. The metallic scent of blood was thinly permeating the air. And there he was, Sun Yi-han, his white sleeve stained a deep red.

His head was slightly tilted upward, his gaze lost in the air. I couldn’t tell what he was looking at. His eyes were unfocused, vacant. 

At the sound of my voice, Sun Yi-han slowly turned his head toward me. His blue eyes, which had been hazy just a moment ago, gradually regained their clarity, as if his mind had finally returned to the present.

My gaze dropped to the sleeve covering his mouth. The fabric was soaked in blood, a significant amount of it. Sun Yi-han blinked slowly, then raised his other hand, gently pressing it over his lips once more. His expression remained unbothered, as if none of this was surprising in the least.

For a second, it felt like my heart had slammed down into my stomach with a loud thud. Or maybe that sound was just my own heartbeat. Shaking myself out of my daze, I hurried toward him. Sun Yi-han silently watched me approach.

“…Yul-hyung.”

“Keep your head down.”

He was coughing up blood, yet he was keeping his head up? I suddenly remembered what he had told me before, that he occasionally coughed up blood. But the fact that he wasn’t even following the simplest measure to deal with it properly…

‘Is he not even paying attention to his own condition?’

Sun Yi-han had repeatedly told me not to worry, that he was fine.

But did he really believe that himself? Did he truly think he was okay right now?

That couldn’t be possible. There was no way someone who was coughing up blood could be in good condition. I reached out, pressing gently against the nape of his slender neck, guiding his head downward.

His skin was ice cold. I slowly rubbed his back, trying to warm him up even slightly.

When I asked if he was feeling worse than usual, Sun Yi-han flinched. A long silence stretched between us before he slowly lifted his head. His expression was calm—composed, even.

“I’m going to stay together with all of you.”

His voice was unwavering, without the slightest tremor.

Did he mean in this moment? Or was he speaking of a more distant future? I couldn’t tell. It was difficult to guess the meaning of that word.

It sounded less like a simple statement and more like a vow—like something he desperately wanted to believe himself.

“Yihan-ah, you… . ”

The words slipped out before I could stop them.

Why would he say something like that? Questions rose to my throat, but I swallowed them back. Now wasn’t the time to ask.

Instead, I shifted the conversation naturally, checking his condition once more. The bleeding had stopped, but his complexion was still ghostly pale.

Lying down, Sun Yi-han slowly let his unfocused eyes drift shut. And then he slipped into sleep, as if he had simply lost consciousness. His steady breaths echoed softly in the silence. For a long time, I couldn’t bring myself to move from his side.