A Night of Misty Rain (7)

With more than four hours still left before sunset, Ji-won headed straight for the hotel the moment they left the café. Gaon said it was fine if he grabbed a quick nap in the car, and that with so much time to spare, a trip to Yeongwol wouldn't be a bad idea either — but his resolve to let her rest properly, even for a little while, was simply unshakable.

"Since I brought you here on my own initiative, if anything goes wrong for you, Boss, it's entirely my responsibility. There's no telling how long the work on-site will take, so please rest properly while you can."

"All right, I understand. I say this every time, but Director Cha truly is so attentive and tender-hearted."

No. I am not like this with just anyone. Ji-won's face flickered with something subtle for a fleeting moment before snapping back to normal. Tender-hearted…? I've never once heard my aunt call me that. In all conscience he could never agree with the description, but pointing it out would win him absolutely nothing, so he kept his rebuttal strictly to himself.

While Ji-won flung the windows wide open to air out the room, Gaon finished brushing her teeth, stacked two large pillows one atop the other, and settled against them at an angle. She gazed absently out at the view beyond the glass, and then, quite suddenly, remembered the question Ji-won had asked her the day before.

"Director Cha."

"Yes, Boss."

"You asked how much of my term was left."

Ji-won, who had been neatly arranging the shoes Gaon had taken off, raised his eyebrows slightly and straightened up slowly. He appeared to consider something seriously for a moment, then gave a short shake of his head.

"I'd rather hear it later. You should rest now."

"I am resting. After what you said yesterday, I did the math for the first time in ages. I have thirty-one years left."

"…!"

"When my term ends…. I've been forcibly extending a lifespan that should have ended long ago from carrying out my duties as Jungcheonju. So the moment my term is up, I'll be standing before the Scale of Judgment."

Thirty-one years? I'll be turning sixty in thirty-one years. It was a relief that it wasn't something imminent, but by modern life expectancy, that wasn't exactly a long stretch. No — that's my measure. This person has already lived far too many years. Enduring all that time alone couldn't have been easy. Was there ever anyone to hold her, even for a moment? Even a single soul to comfort her when she wanted to run away crying? Ji-won burned with curiosity, but he couldn't bring himself to ask, afraid of the answer he'd receive.

"…I see."

"Anything else you're curious about? It's a rare leisurely moment, so ask away and I'll tell you everything."

"Then may I ask one more thing?"

"Go ahead."

"Why did you try to send me back, in the beginning?"

In the beginning… why was that again? Come to think of it, half a year had already passed. Time truly did fly. As Gaon studied Ji-won's face, the image of a boy surfaced in her mind — a boy clutching a golf club like a lifeline, his eyes brimming with venom — and her expression dimmed slightly.

Yes. Even back then, seeing that, I knew I couldn't leave him in Jungcheon.

"When Director Cha was young, your ability to see the dead brought you great hardship. At the hands of your father's siblings."

"Yes."

"There must have been many times when even you couldn't be certain you weren't insane."

"…Yes."

"So I worried that if you came and went from Jungcheon, you might lose your grip on reality. Among Guides, such cases do exist now and then. They're treated as mad outside, but the moment they enter Jungcheon, everyone acknowledges them — so some of them want nothing more than to stay there forever. Most of them were people without families."

In Gaon's eyes, Ji-won's circumstances had closely resembled theirs. Even a Jungcheonju could not see into a person's heart, and at the time she had no way of knowing he was someone capable of balancing both worlds so skillfully and conducting himself with such wisdom.

"Because I didn't know you, Director Cha."

"Then why did you ultimately allow it?"

"You talked back to me."

"…I beg your pardon?"

"I thought anyone with that much backbone could hold their own center and never be swayed by others' words. And I believe that judgment proved correct. What about you, Director Cha? Do you regret stepping into this world?"

The instant Ji-won opened his mouth to answer, his phone buzzed violently. He glanced at it, then flipped it face-down on the table — and Gaon's eyes sharpened.

"Answer it."

"I can call them back later."

"The gallery?"

"…Yes."

"I told you not to neglect gallery business. Answer it now."

Wearing an expression of sheer exasperation, Ji-won finally picked up the phone and rose, walking toward the window. Only then did Gaon's expression soften again. She watched for a while as Ji-won stood at the window speaking in a low voice, and slowly her eyelids began to droop. The sound of his voice — discussing matters of a world she knew nothing about — gradually blurred into something like a lullaby, and before she knew it, her eyes had drifted shut.

"…Right. Good work. Keep it stored safely for now. No, we're not selling it even after the autumn exhibition closes. I have a separate use for it…. Well, that's none of your concern. Yes. Yes, understood. Let's talk tomorrow. I'm hanging up."

Ji-won ended the call as quickly as he decently could, discovered that Gaon had fallen fast asleep without his noticing, and switched his phone to silent. Then he settled himself on the windowsill. Part of him wanted to go closer and watch her sleeping face, but he was afraid of what other desires might stir if he did, and he couldn't bring himself to leave the window. Honestly speaking, his pulse had already exceeded healthy limits the moment he'd first walked into this room.

So we can't be sharing a hotel room like this anymore. Because London went so smoothly, so effortlessly, I trusted myself far too much. Ji-won let out a long, soundless sigh and turned his gaze out the window. He'd assumed a good deal of time had passed, but the sun still hung high, blazing away with relentless intensity.

Still, the hours did flow on, and soon enough night had deepened. Relying on nothing but a single flashlight, Gaon and Ji-won climbed the pitch-dark mountain with no streetlamps to guide them, and came to a halt before the waterfall they had seen that morning.

Ching. Having confirmed not a soul was near, Gaon extended her right arm, and with a sharp ring of metal, a beautiful sword appeared — a shimmering blade scattered with dancing droplets of water.

"Director Cha."

"Yes, I'll withdraw. And I will absolutely not step within your radius of activity, Boss."

Smart as ever. Gaon smiled faintly and, once she'd confirmed Ji-won had put a proper distance between them, began slowly swinging the sword, her face grave. In an instant, the chattering birds and droning insects all held their breath at once. The mountain fell into an eeriness so still it raised the hairs on the neck — and then came the whistle of a savage wind, whipping up an enormous gale.

At that very moment, patches of warped, twisted space began to glow a bluish hue. Ji-won had just registered that something enormous was surging upward when — astonishingly — a man in strikingly archaic dress tore through the space itself and appeared, scowling in disdain.

What is that? Not a person… and not a ghost either. Ji-won was thoroughly flustered, but when he stole a glance at Gaon's face, his shock redoubled. The moment she laid eyes on the man's face, Gaon's eyes went wide as if they might pop out of her head. Never once had he seen her display such violent emotion.

"Hayul."

"Say something, Gaon. Dragging me out like this without warning — really, how could you."

"Why did you come out of there?"

"Hm? What is that supposed to mean? Did you not know it was a trap I set? Some criminals recently fled Myeonggye for the mortal realm, so I sent word to Jungcheon that I would be closing that passage for a time."

"I received no such letter."

"Dear me. Then you must have been badly startled. Haha, I imagine you thought, whatever monstrous evil spirit is this?"

Chattering away with theatrical flourishes, the man approached Gaon, who was exhaling a hollow sigh, and gave her shoulder a gentle pat. Ji-won, who until then had been quietly observing the exchange between the two, ground his teeth with an audible crack the moment the man so casually closed the distance to Gaon. Who the hell is this bastard? Where does he get off putting his hands on her?

Only then did the man sense Ji-won's presence, and he turned his gaze from Gaon for the first time. The smile that had rippled like a spring breeze when he looked at her turned glacial the instant it touched Ji-won.

"What is that?"

"My employee."

"Ahh…. An employee. You always traveled alone — I suppose now you travel with your staff?"

"He's capable in any number of ways. Director Cha — this is the King Yeomma. You'll cross paths now and again from here on, so commit the face to memory. But ours is not a friendship that benefits from longevity, so see that it goes no further than that."

"Oh, how cruel. An employee of Jungcheon is practically a colleague of mine. Come now, Mr. Employee. It seems we'll be seeing each other often — shall we exchange introductions? I am Hayul, King Yeomma. And your name would be?"

"Cha Ji-won."

The two men, standing face to face, understood at once that they were rivals for the same heart. Each wore the perfunctory smile of courtesy, conscious of Gaon's gaze, but in the eyes appraising each other, sparks flew without restraint. And neither of them made any effort whatsoever to hide it.

"It's because you were needed that it was made. Now then, I'll be on my way."

"After so long apart, you're leaving just like that?"

"I'm not a half-idle layabout like you. I'm busy."

"Fine, fine. Get home safe, then."

Walking back down the mountain beside Gaon, Ji-won decided the back of his head itched terribly. But it somehow felt like losing, so he never once looked back.

Screech! A creature burst from the darkness and charged headlong at the car, and Ji-won had no choice but to slam on the brakes, then anxiously checked Gaon's complexion first of all.

"I'm so sorry, Boss. Visibility was so poor I couldn't see the water deer leaping out."

"It's fine. It wasn't your fault, and I wasn't badly frightened."

The instant the two reached the foot of the mountain, the sky, which had darkened rapidly, began flinging down thin slants of rain barely moments after they'd set out. If it had been a downpour, at least some visibility would have remained — but the fine droplets, too faint to even see, wove a haze that smothered the winding mountain road in thick fog. It was mist so dense that even ten meters ahead vanished from view.

"Director Cha. Shall we wait a little until the rain lets up? I don't think it will last long. Pushing on like this would be dangerous."

"Of course."

After parking in a secluded spot, Ji-won moved quickly to follow Gaon, who was already stepping out of the car, and held an umbrella over her head. To see her hair dampened by wet strands after only a few steps — it made his stomach twist.

"I'm fine, really."

"The temperature has dropped far too much for nighttime. Getting rained on in this weather will give you a cold, Boss."

"I like rain. Watching it, and walking in it too."

"Then walk under the umbrella. If you refuse even that, we're getting back in the car and driving."

When Ji-won refused to bend, Gaon gave a helpless little laugh and nodded. Walking along beside Ji-won for quite a while, she eventually came to a stop before a lilac tree whose first blossoms had just begun to open. Bending forward slightly, she quietly drank in their fragrance. The flower and the woman, both wrapped in mist, were so beautiful it seemed hardly possible this could be reality.

Struck by a ferocious, overwhelming wave of feeling, Ji-won heard himself speak before he could stop it. He swore on his life that never before, in the entire life of Cha Ji-won, had his reason simply failed to function in the presence of another person.

"Boss."

"…Yes?"

"I'm in love with you."