HIF 48

Plains of Falling Flower Rain

It was bright around me. I could feel it even with my eyes still closed.

Is it morning already? It feels like I haven’t been asleep for long.

My eyelids were heavy. They wouldn’t open. Through my drowsy, swaying consciousness, I faintly heard voices.

“…He can’t wake up. Let’s just do it tomorrow…”

“Seems like that’s…”

No, wait. That won’t do. My mind was still hazy, but I couldn’t accept that.

I’ll go.

I said that. I wasn’t sure if I properly made a sound.

“…Sleep more…”

I thought I heard a voice tinged with laughter, though I couldn’t tell whose it was.

I don’t want to.

Trying to make a clear voice, I stretched out my hand.

Someone grasped my hand as if holding it, then let go. Then, they slid their hand under my arm and embraced me, facing me. A rich scent wafted over. I couldn’t tell what kind of scent it was.

My body was lifted up. It seemed like they were taking me.

Thank you.

As I said that, I felt a hand gently stroking my hair. Warmth radiated from the body touching mine. My own body grew warm too.

Whoosh, wind blew around us. It seemed we had moved now.

Someone quietly covered my eyes. The pouring sunlight faded. It was a darkness perfect for falling asleep.

And so, I fell asleep again.

◇

My eyes fluttered open. The gentle spring breeze tickled my cheek.

“Yi-han-ah, are you awake?”

Park Yul’s voice came from right above. The scent of flowers wafted around. What’s this?

The surface my head was resting on was strangely firm yet soft. I was lying with my head on Park Yul’s thigh.

“Hey, you slept well.”

Min Joo-hyuk chuckled and poked my forehead with his fingertip.

“…Grab it.”

A neat hand extended towards me. I grasped the hand. Song Ha-gyun pulled me up in one swift motion. In an instant, I was sitting up.

“You could rest more. Are you okay?”

Raen’s voice was heard. Raen’s robe was draped over me. No wonder I felt warm. I nodded.

“Thank you…”

My mind still seemed a bit fuzzy. I raised both hands and slapped my own cheeks.

Smack.

A more crisp sound than expected rang out. From beside me, I also heard Min Joo-hyuk’s voice lightly laughing, saying, “What are you doing?”

A flower fluttered down and landed on my face. It was a pink flower.

“…Wow.”

Only then did my surroundings come properly into view.

It was a vast, open plain. From a cloudless blue sky, pink flowers were slowly falling.

The ground was also completely covered in flowers. Even though they were all the same pink, each was slightly different, making it seem like pink waves were crashing. Scattered patches of green grass were also visible.

I lowered my head. The spot where I was sitting was also full of flowers. So that’s where the floral scent was coming from.

Looking closely, the flowers seemed to have fallen cleanly, without stems or leaves. Their sizes varied too. Only now did I understand the meaning of the phrase “flowers falling like rain and piling up.”

I stared blankly for a moment before snapping back to attention.

“Did I sleep long?”

“No. You just woke up.”

Park Yul smiled brightly and ruffled my hair. The breeze whispered softly. Song Ha-gyun, beside me, instantly created a glass and placed it in my hand.

“Thank you, Ha-gyeon hyung.”

“…Drink slowly.”

I took a sip of warm water. Perhaps because the surroundings were full of flowers, the water also seemed to carry a faint floral scent.

“Do the flowers keep falling like this all the time?”

“Yes. Every day.”

“But it doesn’t seem like they pile up on the ground as much as I’d expect.”

“After a certain time, they crumble and disappear. Without a trace.”

It felt wondrous, like dreaming. Park Yul continued with a gentle smile.

“Shall we get going now? We’re spending the night here today. Since we used Teleport right away.”

“Weren’t we supposed to make contact here?”

“Seon Yi-han. You remembered everything.”

Min Joo-hyuk’s voice sounded almost approving.

“I heard properly, Min Joo-hyuk.”

“Yeah, you heard well. This is the very center, and it’s further divided into eastern and western zones. We’ll deliver the messages after going to those two zones. Isn’t that right, Raen hyungnim?”

“That’s correct. Very accurate.”

Beside me, Song Ha-gyun quietly placed a hand on my shoulder.

“…Want a piggyback ride?”

It had been a while since I’d heard that offer. I shook my head lightly. Song Ha-gyun stared at me for a long moment before looking away.

We started walking. The flowers underfoot cushioned our steps softly. Even as we stepped on and passed over them, the flowers remained undamaged, retaining their vivid color.

After walking for a while, a small, white building came into view. Its walls were cylindrical in shape, rounded all the way to the ceiling. Square windows were neatly cut into it. The windows had no glass panes, just empty frames.

“Are we sleeping here today?”

“Right. We just need to check one thing and then we can unpack.”

We all moved inside the building. Looking at the interior structure, it seemed this building was a tower. A spiral staircase wound up the center.

After climbing about three floors’ worth of height, there was a large space above.

In the center stood a tall white pillar, and on top of it rested a round, transparent crystal ball. It was a pink crystal ball, the same color as the falling flowers outside.

Park Yul brought his hand close to it. A light flashed briefly.

“Hmm… Seems it’s today.”

Park Yul’s voice sounded troubled. Min Joo-hyuk and Raen immediately responded.

“Isn’t it still not the time?”

“That’s right. The timing is a bit early. If it’s today, around when would it be, Leader?”

Park Yul shifted his gaze to the wide-open window. His light green eyes didn’t even flicker. I also turned my head, following Park Yul’s gaze. Pink petals were still fluttering down from the sky.

Park Yul’s words continued.

“Right now.”

Raen, standing beside me, smoothly covered both my ears with his hands. His robe lightly draped over my back. A sweet scent arose. The rustling sound of his palms brushing against me reached my ears.

“What’s happening today?”

At my question, Song Ha-gyun slowly opened his mouth. Perhaps because Raen was covering my ears, Song Ha-gyun’s voice sounded small.

“…A downpour.”

Simultaneously, a BOOM sounded from outside. It was a sound like the sky collapsing.

I hastily shifted my gaze from Song Ha-gyun to the window. Pink flowers were pouring down as if dumped from a bucket. The blue sky, peaceful just moments ago, was now completely obscured by the flower petals.

“A flower… downpour…?”

Raen slowly lowered the hand that had been covering my ear. Then he continued speaking slowly.

“It usually falls around the tail end of spring. This year is quite early.”

A thick floral scent filled the air from all directions. I walked to the window. Petals fell, stirring a breeze toward us. Min Joo-hyuk came and stood to my right.

“We’re leaving by Teleport tomorrow, so it doesn’t really matter. But today, we can’t even go outside at all.”

“Yi-han-ah, you won’t get bored staying only in here, will you?”

Park Yul’s voice came from beside me. I turned my head to the left. Park Yul had one hand stretched out the window. Flowers were brushing against his neat hand as they fell.

I looked up at the sky. It seemed as if clusters of flowers were falling from some unseen place high above. The patches of visible sky were still a deep, clear blue.

“It’s fine. It’s pretty, so I like it, hyung.”

When I was at the temple, I always saw only monotonous white buildings. Being able to see a scene like this before my eyes, there was no way I could be bored. On the contrary, I liked it even more.

The soft, rustling sound of petals brushing against each other as they fell vividly entered through the window. It wasn’t a dull sound like raindrops, but clear, almost like the sound of wind. Park Yul’s voice layered over it.

“Yi-han-ah.”

I turned my head toward Park Yul. Park Yul, eyes crinkling as he smiled, slowly reached his hand toward me. Park Yul’s hand lightly brushed past my ear.

“You’re right, it is pretty.”

I raised my hand and felt around that area. Something soft caught on my fingertip. I gently pinched it in my hand and looked. It was a small pink flower.

Just as Park Yul said, there wasn’t a single flower cluster that wasn’t pretty. It was a shame they would naturally disappear over time. Just as I was thinking that.

Ding.

A blue window floated before me. I blinked a couple of times. Even so, the Quest Window remained before my eyes like a foreign object.

No, gifts…

Of course, I didn’t want to just receive. But there was no need to force it like this.

Moreover, the reward and penalty were unclear. Just looking at that, I couldn’t tell clearly what they were.

‘Still, succeeding is better than failing.’

Seeing the ‘1 use’ condition attached to the success reward, it seemed this was also something where I could decide whether to use it or not, like the rewards I’d received so far.

“Then let’s unpack and rest now. We’re leaving tomorrow.”

Park Yul slipped away from the window and turned his body toward the back.

“Yul hyung. Just a moment.”

I firmly grabbed Park Yul’s wrist. Park Yul stopped moving. The wrist I had wrapped my hand around was firm. Park Yul slowly blinked, capturing my reflection within his light green eyes.

Ah, I was too hasty. I got carried away, wanting to quickly succeed in the quest.

I subtly released Park Yul’s wrist that I was holding. Then I lightly grasped the very end of his sleeve above it. Park Yul stared intently at my hand.

“Do you have something to say?”

“That’s not it. I have something I want to give you.”

I slightly lifted Park Yul’s sleeve. Even though I didn’t use much force, Park Yul lifted his arm following my hand’s guidance.

“Just stay like this for a moment, hyung.”

I released Park Yul’s wrist and leaned my body out the window. Flowers were plentiful. I stretched my hand straight out toward the falling flower clusters.

“Hey, hey. Be careful.”

Min Joo-hyuk wrapped one arm around me as if to support my body.

No matter what, was there any chance I’d fall from here? Min Joo-hyuk tended to look after me a bit like a child. But I couldn’t free myself from Min Joo-hyuk’s firmly wrapped arm. In the end, I said nothing and snatched a flower cluster.

I gently placed it on Park Yul’s palm. But before my eyes, no Quest Window appeared indicating the quest was successful.

Why? Was this not enough?

Then I had no choice but to use a slightly more blatant method.