UR Chapter 125

Chapter 125

The old, weathered wooden sign had “Entrance to Manwol Mountain Trail” written in a formal calligraphy font on one side, and “Entrance to Gangwol Mountain” on the other.

Fortunately, it didn’t seem like he had wandered too far off course—the Manwol Mountain trail entrance matched the direction he’d been heading. He figured maybe this wasn’t a well-traveled path, so only the old signage remained. Tilting his head, I-bom resumed walking in the same direction.

“Meow.”

“…Huh?”

A clear cat’s cry rang out in the stillness of the snowy field. I-bom instinctively turned his head, scanning the surroundings. A cat living this deep in the mountains? Without meaning to, he thought of Weoong.

“Weoong?”

Following the sound, he heard a rustling close by.

The cat that emerged from the brush was nothing like the large, powerful Weoong—this one was slender and elegant, with a coat of white fur.

Silently approaching, the white cat fixed him with deep, lake-blue eyes.

“Uh… hi.”

I-bom bent down slowly toward the gaze that was fixed on him. Having petted cats before, he felt confident in how to approach—his eyes and hands moving with practiced ease. Blinking, he spoke softly to the cat.

“This is the first time I’ve seen you… What’s your name?”

He knew that after Weoong had driven the hyena beastmen out of Manwol Mountain, cats had begun coming and going freely, but a cat of an unidentifiable breed like this was only the second he’d ever encountered. I-bom held the white cat’s gaze, his own light brown eyes meeting the piercing blue irises, where a narrow pupil glinted dark against the vivid color. As if it understood him, the cat reached out a paw and tapped lightly against his knee. The soft pads brushed his leg, tickling faintly.

“Hm? Do you have something to say?”

“Meow.”

The cat tilted its chin, gesturing toward the opposite direction from where he’d been heading. Was it telling him to go that way? He couldn’t be sure, but it definitely seemed like it wanted him to change course.

“That… way?”

When I-bom glanced toward the other direction, the cat nodded and stretched out its paw toward the signpost. The white pads pointed clearly at the side marked “Gangwol Mountain.”

“Why? I need to go down to the base of Manwol Mountain to catch the bus.”

“Meoww.”

The cat batted at his knee again, its eyes carrying a firm, insistent look.

“You want me… to go to Gangwol Mountain? I was planning to take the bus from Manwol’s base straight to his company…”

“Mrrrow.”

The cat shook its head again. Though he kept glancing wistfully at the “Manwol Mountain Trail Entrance” sign, I-bom found himself following the direction the cat pointed to—drawn along as if under a spell.

* * *

Could something be wrong?

As I-bom descended in the direction of Gangwol Mountain, he couldn’t help but question whether this was a mistake.

The cat had looked him straight in the eye and beckoned him to follow, so he did—but the path down Gangwol Mountain was gentler than he’d expected.

Thinking about it, it was strange that he’d changed direction just because of a cat he didn’t even know. Realistically, it wasn’t as if a cat could guide someone down a trail. He couldn’t quite understand why he had so easily followed its lead.

“Wow… the fog is thick.”

Whether he had gone the wrong way or not, the fog had grown dense. Unlike Manwol Mountain, with its thick forest cover, Gangwol Mountain had many rocks and boulders. The snow was piled deep along the path, making the descent slippery and dangerous.

I-bom waved a hand in front of his face to part the white haze. The fog grew so thick it obscured his view, as if there might be a river nearby. He could barely see what was close to him, let alone farther away. The thought that he might get stranded out here began to gnaw at him—he’d left home carrying only clothes, with no food.

He opened his eyes wide, scanning the area, then sighed deeply and stopped in front of a large tree.

“I was hoping to get there before you finished work… I’d better call.”

In winter, the sun set quickly in the mountains; better to ask for help before it got too late.

“…What? No signal?”

He pulled out his phone and raised it high, but the signal bars flickered at one or two. When they vanished completely, the call button disappeared, replaced by a message: “No service in this area.” Then the bars blinked back to one or two again, only to fade in and out repeatedly.

“Uh… maybe if I get to higher ground?”

He slowly climbed onto a boulder beside the tree. The fog made it hard to get his bearings, and the spotty reception was a real problem. Lifting his arm high, he muttered to himself—

“Ah…!”

The moment he raised his arm, his phone vibrated. Through the blinking screen, Eun Beom-ho’s number appeared clearly.

“Hello…!”

He quickly pressed the button to answer.

—Where are you? Why haven’t you been in touch?

No greeting, just an abrupt question. Unlike I-bom’s relief at hearing his voice, Beom-ho’s tone was urgent and tense. There was a faint, quickened breath behind his words. Feeling slightly embarrassed, I-bom hesitated.

“I’m… on the mountain…”

—What?

“Well, um… I was going to surprise you by showing up at your office…”

—I-bom.

“And then, when I was on my way to the bus… I guess I… got lost.”

—You’re lost? Right now? Where exactly are you?

Even over the phone, I-bom could hear the slight tremor in Beom-ho’s voice. For a moment, he was taken aback—he hadn’t thought it was such a big deal.

“Ah, I’m not on Manwol Mountain. I’m on Gangwol Mountain—the one next to it.”

He glanced around, stammering as if making excuses.

“It’s just… the fog’s really thick. And my phone barely works here.”

—…I was worried because I couldn’t reach you.

His voice, though calm, was low and heavy.

“Ah, yeah… Are you mad at me?”

I-bom blinked, a trace of unease in his tone at the unfamiliar calmness.

—I’m not angry. Why would I be angry at you?

“Next time I’ll call before I go. I usually know the way even with my eyes closed, but today I just couldn’t find it for some reason.”

—You said Gangwol Mountain?

“Yes…”

—Then I can be there in five minutes. I’ll come get you right away.

“F-five minutes?”

Startled, I-bom repeated it. He remembered Beom-ho once saying that in the mountains, he could find him no matter where he was—but could that really be true now, too?

“Is… is that possible?”

—If it’s within range, yes. Don’t move, just wait.

After hanging up, I-bom sat quietly on the boulder, stretching his legs out and staring blankly around him. The fog was so thick it felt more like a dream than reality. Still, he wasn’t too afraid—he believed Beom-ho when he said he’d be there in five minutes.

Bzz—

Three minutes later, his phone rang again. Had he really found him that quickly? Trying to steady his nerves, I-bom answered.

“Hello.”

—Stand up.

“Oh, you’re already here?”

I-bom got to his feet and turned his head. With the fog this heavy, how could he possibly have found him? He widened his eyes, scanning the surroundings, but there was no sign of golden eyes in a tiger’s face—or of Eun Beom-ho.

“But I can’t see anything through this fog…”

—You can’t?

A thoughtful hum, then a pause.

—How about now—can you see the path?

Almost without thinking, I-bom rubbed his eyes. While they were talking, the thick, white fog began to thin, drifting away slowly. A moment ago he couldn’t see a single step ahead; now, the steep mountain path stretched down toward the faint outline of city buildings below. It was as if the fog had never been there, and the mountain around him had returned to the familiar landscape he knew.

“Uh… yeah, yeah! I can see fine now. What happened? The fog just disappeared!”

—Then… can you see me?

“…Huh?”

—I can see you.

Crunch.

The sound of deep snow being stepped on carried through the clearing fog, and a dark figure appeared far in the distance. I-bom instinctively held his breath. In the quiet, snow-laden winter mountain, a man dressed entirely in black stood out starkly. The sight was so unreal that for a moment, he wondered if this was a dream.

Step by step, the once-blurred silhouette sharpened into clarity.

“…H-how—”

I-bom’s brown eyes glittered like starlight. Far off, their gazes met.