DEB 71

“Answer me, Yasha.”

…Where did he learn such arrogance?

Grabbing my wrist and speaking so harshly is not only annoying but also disrespectful. 

When he called me Mok Huiyun, it was something I could overlook. 

But calling me Yasha and speaking so imperiously was insubordination I couldn’t ignore.

I can’t just command him to kneel again.

Suppressing the growing irritation inside me, I considered using the command again once the cooldown period was over, while I tried to twist my wrist out of his grip.

But Jiwook’s grip was stronger than I had anticipated, making it difficult to pull away easily. 

My effort to pull free ended up in a futile tug-of-war.

Nothing is going right.

I frustratedly glared at the blue-eyed man.

Damn Vina.

He’s grown up and just gotten stronger…. I missed the days when the young Blue Dragon looked up at me with innocent and reverent eyes.

“…No matter what I say, you’ll think what you want, so there’s no point in answering.”

“Are you saying that no matter what I ask, you won’t just give a pre-determined answer?”

“It’s the opposite. No matter what I say, you won’t listen and have already made up your mind.”

This was a meaningless exchange. 

Even though I knew that, I kept pushing my argument. 

Even if my cards were shown, I couldn’t simply say, ‘Yes, I am Yasha.’ 

But I wasn’t the only one holding firm.

“So you’re saying you’re not Yasha?”

Jiwook was someone who wouldn’t bend even if he broke. 

The result was the same old argument coming back again. 

I showed my frustration, tired of the endless questioning. 

I couldn’t understand why he was so determined to hear from my mouth that I was Yasha.

Even without saying it, everyone knew it. 

The fact that I was lying about not being Yasha was already an established fact among the disciples. 

They already knew, and mocked my feeble attempts to hide it, so why is he so stubborn like this?

“Yasha.”

The voice that suddenly cut through my thoughts was lower and softer than usual, almost pleading.

It even sounded somewhat sorrowful. 

The reaction wasn’t mine; it was as if my body responded instinctively, trembling slightly. 

Jiwook, who had caught every bit of my reaction with his blue eyes, curled his lips coldly as if mocking him.

“You tremble just at hearing your name. If you’re going to lie, at least make it believable. Oh, I guess you’re too great to understand that.”

“Vina.”

The voice that interrupted his mockery was Juan’s. 

I turned to see him leaning against the wall of the training room, looking displeased. 

He ran a hand through his hair, sighing deeply, showing his distress.

“Enough. We all know Huiyun is Yasha. No one here doesn’t know it. So let go of his hand. He’s already not in good shape after returning from the demon realm.”

“Enough?”

Ignoring everything else Juan said, Jiwook repeated the word with a bitter laugh. 

His grip tightened, doubling in strength, making me wince in pain. 

Seeing me wince, Nameless grabbed Jiwook’s shoulder, trying to pull him back, but Jiwook shook him off angrily, his eyes showing betrayal.

“Does everyone think I’m overreacting? If you had any sense, you’d know this is the best chance to get a straight answer from him. I’ve been waiting for days. If we miss this chance…”

Jiwook’s voice wavered, revealing his instability. 

The situation reminded me of the confrontation with Jiwook in my hospital room days ago.

I checked the expressions of the other disciples. 

Juan looked conflicted, Nameless slightly subdued. 

Zenith and Vita were watching the escalating situation from a step back.

As I met Vita’s eyes, he shook his head slightly. 

Then Zenith spoke up.

“How long do we have to listen to these ridiculous lies and wait?”

It was the same as Jiwook’s question.

But now it wasn’t directed at Juan. 

Though their gaze remained on Juan, I knew the question was for me.

“Yasha.”

The returned voice confirmed my suspicion.

Jiwook, still holding my hand, brought it close to his face. 

His forehead touched my loosely clenched fist. 

The sensation of his hair felt like a spider web.

I realized then that this feeling was the same thing that strongly bound me and my disciples together.

My words were correct.

Relationships aren’t easily made or severed, not even over eras, as they keep binding existence and life together.

The same overwhelming emotion from comforting a crying Ash washed over me again.

Could only Juan have felt this way?

Was it only Juan who wandered, feared, and felt confused?

“I’ve already waited too long.”

All my disciples had their vulnerable points.

Could it really have been only Juan?

“I’ve searched for thousands of years, unable to sleep, always remembering you, searching for you every moment. Now that I’ve finally found you, why do you avoid me?”

“…”

“I’ve painfully realized over the past ten thousand years how little I knew about you. So now, can you…?”

Jiwook gripped me tightly, his arms trembling. His shaking transferred to me through his grip.

“Now, can you please tell me? Even if you say it’s because your disciple was incompetent, or that I couldn’t serve you well enough… even if those harsh words hurt, I want to hear them.”

The sturdy pillar that was Jiwook crumbled in an instant.

Just like that day when he climbed on top of me and cried, showing his vulnerability, Jiwook now gently kissed my hand, trembling. 

His act of barely pressing his lips to my hand resembled an act of worship. 

As I faced Jiwook’s tear-streaked face, I held my breath.

My vision cleared, and I saw the faces of everyone in the underground training room.

Vina, Ash, Moot, Vita, Zenith. 

Over them, other faces appeared.

Some familiar, some not, from a previous life. 

The forms they had as dragons.

My chest tightened, and my throat felt blocked. As the heat rose to my eyes, Jiwook’s voice echoed in my ears.

“…Please tell me. Every time you turn away, I still feel like I’m searching for you. Don’t leave me like that night anymore….”

The whisper-like words were almost a soliloquy. 

At that moment, I realized my mistake.

It wasn’t just Juan I needed to tell.

Just as he suffered, trembling and fearing while clinging to me, so did the other disciples of Yasha.

They were also trapped in that night when I left and disappeared.

Ten thousand years.

What a long and lonely time.

For the disciples who lost their master, it was a time like punishment.

“Yasha.”

-Yasha!

-Master.

-Yasha!

-Master Yasha.

-Yasha.

-Master Yasha.

Multiple voices overlapped in a single call. 

I made a mistake.

The moment I realized it, my breathing eased, and the heat I had suppressed burst forth. 

I stared blankly at the tear mark that formed.

-Ha. You call me every day. What will you do without me?

-Yasha won’t disappear, right?

-I don’t want to hear that even as a joke.

-Hm. I’ll disappear faster than Yasha naturally. So it won’t be Yasha disappearing but me. But I’ll return, so don’t worry too much, Yasha.

-Master Yasha. Your other disciples are all crazy, so please don’t say such things. I can’t control the other disciples.

-Haha. It looks like we’ll have to stay with us forever, Yasha.

-Right. Why live without Yasha?

The countless voices and words filled my ears. 

As memories flooded in, using him as a medium, I stared blankly as a second tear fell.

-Yasha.

“Ah….”

My unfocused eyes stared into the void. 

There, I saw Yasha.