HIF 62

An Important Matter

Park Yul blinked slowly, as if waiting for my answer. His pale green eyes sparkled in the crimson glow of the sunset.

I couldn’t tell what he meant by being ready, but I nodded again anyway.

At the same time, my body was lifted up. And in that state, I moved out the window. There was nothing beneath my feet.

‘No, I wasn’t ready for this kind of preparation.’

A warm wind swirled around me. My body slowly descended.

Though I was suddenly floating in midair, it wasn’t that scary. The speed of movement wasn’t fast, and most importantly, Park Yul wouldn’t drop me.

The moment the wind enveloping my body dissipated, I was able to set my feet down right beside Park Yul.

“Yul, what did you want to say?”

“You didn’t get startled, Yi-han-ah.”

Did you want me to be startled? With that thought, I looked up at Park Yul. I never expected Park Yul to be like this. Park Yul squinted his eyes, smiled, and ruffled my hair.

“You seemed to have a lot on your mind.”

What does that have to do with anything? Park Yul opened my hand and placed the watering can he was holding into it. Then, supporting the bottom of the watering can, he slowly tilted it.

A thin stream of water slowly poured onto the earthen ground. Each drop was tinged with the sunset’s glow.

I could feel tiny droplets splattering and gradually soaking into the hem of my clothes. Park Yul’s gentle voice came from right beside me.

“Because when too many thoughts pass through, nothing remains. If you become that dazed, you won’t even know what to do next.”

Park Yul removed his hand. The watering can in my hand remained tilted. The sound of the water flowing out could be heard. A faint, moist breeze blew near that spot.

“So you shouldn’t stop and think. You need to have something small in your hand, or someone by your side. Only then can you move forward again.”

Park Yul turned his head toward me. He was smiling brightly with his eyes squinted.

“That’s why I called you over to my side, Yi-han-ah.”

Park Yul lightly patted my back. Then he turned his gaze back toward the garden ahead. Perhaps that’s why Park Yul was always standing here.

No further words came from Park Yul. Only the sound of water droplets scattering in the hot, dry air could be heard. From the garden came the scent of flowers and the strong smell of summer grass.

After standing like that for a while, I was the one to break the silence and speak up.

“Hyung. There’s something I want to ask.”

“Sure. Go ahead.”

“Did you really have nothing to say?”

Park Yul is contemplating whether to bring it up now or not. I could tell from the atmosphere because I’m always pondering such things myself. As I expected, Park Yul quietly opened his mouth.

“Actually, there’s something I wanted to talk about.”

“Okay. I’m ready.”

What could it be that made him hesitate so much? With a nervous heart, I gulped. Park Yul continued carefully.

“We don’t know what the atmosphere of the village we’re going to tomorrow will be like. So we can’t know what kind of things we might hear either.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about the possibility that there might be people who react sharply.”

Startled, I turned to look at Park Yul. Park Yul still had his gaze fixed forward. As always, he wore a faint smile.

“Why? Is there a reason for that?”

“Because dangers that aren’t immediately visible can’t be felt. If nothing happens, it might just seem like we’re needlessly spreading ominous talk.”

Park Yul reached out and lightly brushed a petal. Water droplets trickled down along his hand. Park Yul’s words continued slowly.

“And when danger becomes visible, they think it’s too late. They might say, ‘What were you doing all this time that you arrived a step late?'”

“That’s absurd. What right do they have?”

I reacted vehemently without realizing it. I couldn’t accept it. You all are sacrificing yourselves, wearing yourselves down. How dare they speak to you like that?

Park Yul turned his head toward me. Then he lightly brushed my cheek. A cold water droplet transferred to my cheek, and I felt it slowly trickle down.

“Good thing I brought it up beforehand. No need to be so surprised.”

I’m not surprised right now. It’s not that I’m not used to expressing myself, but this is anger. I couldn’t believe Park Yul’s calm reaction either.

Park Yul continued calmly.

“If it’s a situation where no one was harmed, there’s no need to worry. It means we did well.”

“What if someone was harmed? Does that make it your fault? No, it doesn’t.”

“At that point, determining right and wrong isn’t important. What’s important is how we can salvage the situation, even a little.”

“That’s…”

“So what I mean is, in any situation, what other people say isn’t really that important.”

I don’t understand. I was confused. It’s not important? Then, in a world like that, why do you all sacrifice yourselves so wholeheartedly?

Right. You all were strong people. I knew that. But does that mean you have to bear such things? I couldn’t accept it.

There were too many things I wanted to say, all jumbled together. Before I could even organize my thoughts, Park Yul spoke again.

“Yi-han-ah, listen carefully. What I really wanted to say wasn’t that, it was this.”

“…Okay. I’m listening.”

“If someone says something harsh to you…”

Park Yul brushed my bangs up. Then he bent down to meet my eyes.

“That is a very, important matter. So tell me, without fail. Understood?”

Park Yul enunciated each word carefully. Even though he still wore a bright smile on his face, there was a strange force in his voice. Unconsciously, I tensed up for a moment.

I nodded. Only then did Park Yul lower the hand that had been brushing up my hair.

“Alright. I think I scared you too much. Don’t worry. That kind of thing probably won’t happen.”

Park Yul neatly rearranged my disheveled hair. Then he gently took the watering can from my hand. Inside was already completely empty, not a single drop of water remained.

“The sun’s about to set now. Yi-han-ah, should I send you back up?”

Park Yul slightly raised his hand as if to swirl it through the air. I hurriedly grabbed that hand and pulled it down.

Park Yul looked at me, who was desperately clutching his hand, and smiled faintly. It wasn’t something to smile about. I was serious right now. Perhaps my feelings got through, because fortunately, when going back, I was able to walk.

Click.

Entering the room, as Park Yul had said, the sun had already almost set.

Inside the room, Song Ha-gyun was sitting leaning against his bed.

Multi-colored flasks floating in the air were entering a wooden bag one by one in front of Song Ha-gyun. As soon as Song Ha-gyun saw me, he opened his mouth.

“…Alright. Now.”

“The sun hasn’t completely set yet, hyung.”

“We leave early tomorrow.”

That made sense. Without another word, I got under the covers and lay down. As soon as I closed my eyes, I heard the sound of the curtain closing from over there.

Soon, the faint resonance of liquid sloshing inside the flasks lightly permeated the air. Listening to the sound rippling near my ears, it felt exactly like being submerged in water.

My thoughts were a bit complicated. Park Yul’s words floated chaotically in my head. Unconsciously, I frowned.

Then, I felt a hand calmly covering my eyes. I took a breath. A faint grassy scent came through the warm air. It was a scent perfectly suited to a summer night. Song Ha-gyun gently brushed my eyes.

“…Don’t worry.”

Does he know what I’m worried about? It wasn’t worry for myself. It was worry for you all.

But listening to that low, languid voice somehow made the tension in my body seem to ease.

Thank you. It felt like I might have said it out loud, or maybe I just swallowed it down inside.

I faintly heard Song Ha-gyun’s voice telling me to sleep well. My consciousness gradually grew hazy and sank.

◇

A new sun dawned brightly. The day was clear.

“First, let’s head to the village entrance.”

“Okay. And then I think we should find the village representative, Leader.”

They said finding the Cloud-Flowing Valley would be planned after talking with the village representative. For now, since contact was lost, they said we needed to find out what happened.

“Shall we go now, Yi-han?”

Raen gently placed his hand on my shoulder. I met Raen’s eyes and nodded.

Whoosh.

Wind swept past my body. I opened my closed eyes.

The village entrance came into view. A large tree was planted on each side of the entrance. Dust rose from the ground. The bright summer sun piled thickly above it, creating a heat haze.

As I’d heard, it was a small village. The moment I took a step inside, something came flying toward us.

Min Joo-hyuk had already stretched out his hand. A pale blue barrier rippled around us.

Thud, rumble rumble.

A round ball bounced off the barrier and rolled away again. It was the kind of ball children play with.

What’s this all of a sudden? As I was blankly staring at it, someone hurriedly approached. It was a middle-aged adult.

“Oh my, I’m sorry. The child accidentally threw it toward where people were…”

“Ah, no. I overreacted reflexively.”

He hurriedly picked up the ball with one hand and bowed his head in apology. Min Joo-hyuk waved his hands even more flustered. He soon raised his head and cautiously opened his mouth.

“Um, but who are you…? What brings you here?”

Park Yul immediately took over and explained. Even to my ears, it was a concise explanation of only the key points. It seemed familiar. So this has happened quite a lot.

But why doesn’t that person know the faces of the Heroes? Even though they’re people saving the world. It seemed like they really don’t even care unless it’s something right before their eyes, which made my heart ache a little.

When Park Yul finished speaking, he opened his mouth in surprise.

“Ah, the contact… I thought the village representative couldn’t handle work due to personal circumstances right now, but I didn’t know they couldn’t be contacted either. I’m sorry.”

“There’s nothing for you to be sorry about, sir.”

“It seems difficult to meet the village representative right now. You asked if something happened, right? Something has happened. Please, come inside and we’ll talk.”

At the mention of something happening, everyone’s expressions hardened. He threw the ball he was holding back to the child in the distance and then walked ahead, leading the way.

I looked around. Just until yesterday, I was very worried, but seeing this person, fortunately, the atmosphere didn’t seem like they disliked or resented us.

No, it’s not fortunate, it’s only natural. Get a grip.

After walking ahead for a short while like that, he stopped.

“Please come in.”

Before our eyes was a two-story wooden building. It seemed to be the largest building in this village.

Entering the building and listening to the explanation, I learned that since this village is in a remote mountain area, making travel difficult, merchants who come to sell daily necessities mainly stay here. He said occasional travelers or visitors also stay here.

“There aren’t many rooms, but I hope you can rest comfortably.”

Unfortunately, that wasn’t just a polite remark. In the two-story building, there were only four rooms. And each room had only one bed.

This can’t be. If things stay like this, two people will have to share one bed.