Chapter 94

Seo-un, who had almost spent the night with her eyes wide open, finally opened them when someone knocked on the door. She had only managed to get about two hours of sleep, having dozed off around dawn. Seo-un, who had slept with the curtains open, rubbed her sore eyes and got out of bed.

"Seo-un, are you still sleeping?"

The gentle voice of her uncle instantly chased away the remaining sleep. Although the doorknob was broken, her uncle did not barge in but knocked again.

"Uncle!"

Seo-un ran down the short hallway connecting to her room and opened the door wide. Her uncle's smiling face was more welcome than ever. She had not been able to properly look at him yesterday, fearing that he might notice her eavesdropping on Cha-haya.

"Seo-un, you've lost weight."

"Don't worry, I'm putting it back on."

Her uncle had grown a scruffy beard, which gave him a seasoned look. Instead of greeting him with empty pleasantries, Seo-un only glanced over his shoulder to see if Cha-haya was there. Seeing no one else, she tried to hide her disappointment.

Seo-un guided her uncle to the sofa and prepared two cups of capsule coffee. She usually didn't drink coffee on an empty stomach, but today she needed it to shake off her fatigue.

"Seo-un, thank you. It must have been really tough, leaving everything to me."

"A little?"

Seo-un winked, pouting slightly.

"I came yesterday and talked to Cha-haya first."

"…Oh, I see."

Her uncle sipped his coffee and looked into Seo-un's purple eyes.

"Did you fight with Cha-haya?"

"No."

Seo-un shook her head in surprise, spilling a little coffee and scalding her wrist. She discreetly shook it off with her other hand.

She didn't want to talk about Cha-haya's confession, even if her uncle interpreted it differently. Even if he didn't have any biases, she didn't want to discuss it.

Come to think of it, Cha-haya had told her uncle that he liked her. He was like a parent to her, yet she couldn't even bring herself to mention her feelings to her father. She was impressed by his boldness, yet he couldn't easily confess to her.

Perhaps he, like her, cherished their relationship. She felt a pang of emotion.

"Is the funeral preparation going well? I only found out the procedures from Cha-haya later."

Seo-un quickly changed the subject before her uncle could bring up anything else.

"It's going well. It should be ready in about six months."

"Six months?"

"Only six months."

Her uncle's smile made his beard move. She wanted to offer to help with the funeral expenses, but she respected his sincerity in wanting to earn the money himself. As Cha-haya had said, with different living places came different cultures, so it wasn't her place to interfere.

"Seo-un."

"Yes."

Her uncle patted the sofa, inviting her to sit next to him. Seo-un, who had been sitting on the bed, moved to sit beside him. Her uncle took her hand and held it in both of his, patting it gently.

"I'm stepping down as the guild leader."

"…What? Stepping down? Why, why?"

Seo-un stammered, taken aback.

"I'm not a Manseongjong. I can't go to the Narak. I only hear stories. So, I'm slow to get information."

"But, Uncle, you have all the decision-making power in the guild—"

"Seo-un."

Her uncle patted her hand again, calming her down. He shook his head firmly, preventing her from asking him to reconsider.

"I'm Cha-haya's uncle, right? But I'm not really his uncle. I like Cha-haya, but he's not my family."

"…."

Had she heard wrong? Even though her uncle's Korean had improved, he might have chosen the wrong words.

"Cha-haya is not one of us. So, he can't join us on the journey to the afterlife. He can't be with us."

Seo-un could only look at him in confusion. She acknowledged the cultural differences but felt a sense of betrayal from her uncle, who refused to recognize him as family.

"Cha-haya only has me as family, and I've been there for him since he was young."

Her uncle patted her hand again, calming her down.

"Cha-haya prepared for independence right after turning adult. I did what I could. Cha-haya understands."

Raising a child who wasn't his own must have been incredibly difficult. Still, Seo-un felt frustrated with her uncle.

"Didn't Cha-haya's parents… leave him with you?"

"No. Cha-haya was alone. I raised him out of pity."

"Was he… a missing child?"

"Missing? I don't understand that term. But Cha-haya appeared in my neighborhood alone. He said he had no parents."

Seo-un had always guessed that Cha-haya's parents might not be Korean, but her uncle's words were different.

"Cha-haya is an adult now. He doesn't need my help, Seo-un. He's capable. If anything, I need his help."

Seo-un had resented her father but still felt part of the family. That's why she had never directly asked about his parents.

She had avoided topics that highlighted what she had and he didn't, like his poverty. Seo-un had always avoided talking about money in front of Cha-haya.

She thought it was considerate, but it meant she never knew his true past. Why was he left alone in Sulawesi as a child? Did his parents abandon him there? But he was just a child. If they had abandoned him, he would have cried and searched for them.

"Seo-un, I'm just a regular person. Now, the guild matters should be handled by the Manseongjong. Do you understand?"

Seo-un nodded slowly. Her uncle was drawing a line, but she couldn't blame him. He must have faced a lot of discrimination and disapproval as a regular person in the guild. She was grateful for his efforts. With the Narak, his influence had waned. Trying to hold onto him would be selfish.

"Then, the guild talk is over. Still, I'm grateful that you and Cha-haya get along well. I really am. Even if he's not family, I like him a lot."

"…Me too."

I like Cha-haya a lot too.

The Messenger had said that confessing would only lead to despair, but shouldn't they experience their future together? Seo-un looked at her uncle's hand patting hers.

But why did her uncle and Cha-haya come to Korea? Couldn't Cha-haya have just stayed in Sulawesi? Would he not have become a Manseongjong then? The questions kept piling up.

"Then… why did you come to Korea?"

She regretted asking, thinking her uncle might have come for work. But her uncle only smiled.

"It was 'Sunga.'"

Sunga…?

The unfamiliar yet familiar word made Seo-un recall a memory. Her body shuddered.

"This is 'Sunga.' 'Na' is not a prophet. I'm just standing at a predetermined conclusion. I miss you so much."

"Seo-un, all lives are predetermined. We follow that path. In Korean, it's called fate, and we call it 'Sunga.' Seo-un, I just followed the predetermined path."

Seo-un's head spun. She wasn't sure if the Sunga the Messenger and her uncle referred to were the same.

Her uncle said life follows a predetermined path. But Seo-un wasn't a fatalist. If she were, she would have followed her father's wishes and aimed for law school. If she hadn't become a Manseongjong.

If becoming a Manseongjong was also predetermined, was her current life truly voluntary?

If she hadn't become a Manseongjong, could she have escaped her father's shadow?

Seo-un slowly pulled her hand away from her uncle's, making sure he didn't feel hurt. She pressed her cheeks with both hands.

"Seo-un, why?"

"Uncle, I don't believe in 'Sunga.'"

Her uncle's eyes widened.

"If there's a given path, there must be other paths."

"You're right, Seo-un. But the other paths are the ones we shouldn't take. There's a reason we're told not to take them. They lead to bad outcomes."

"My father always told me that. To live comfortably, choose friends based on their background. But, honestly—"

Seo-un pulled her hand away, and her cheeks were red.

"I didn't like the assigned class. But the class with Cha-haya was fine. If I had listened to my father and cared about backgrounds, I would have never known such things."

Her uncle looked confused, but Seo-un smiled.

"Uncle, where is Cha-haya?"

"He's sleeping with the human mutant child."

Seo-un got up and grabbed the doorknob of the connecting room. Her uncle seemed surprised, as the door blended with the wallpaper.

Seo-un peeked inside and, to her surprise, met Cha-haya's eyes. He was sitting on the bed, and the child was still asleep.

Cha-haya met her gaze without averting his eyes. He tried to smile but stopped.

"Hey."

Seo-un called him as usual. Honestly, she thought she might like him more than he liked her. She had been in love with him for a long time. So, she didn't think their feelings were equal. The Messenger's warning about not deluding herself had some truth.

She had started much earlier, but she didn't want to leave the slow-starting Cha-haya behind. As the vanguard, she would wait for him.

"Yeah."

Cha-haya answered very late.

"Let's eat."

He got out of bed, hiding his confusion.

"Whatever happens, we need to stop the Earth's destruction first, right?"

So we can do something together. Seo-un tried to suppress her rising smile.

"Yeah, I'll stop the Earth's destruction."

He seemed more confident now. When he smiled, Seo-un felt relieved.

"What? Wake up the kid and come over. Let's eat with Uncle."

"No, Seo-un. I need to go back."

Her uncle raised his voice from behind.

"Already?"

Seo-un turned around, her eyes filled with regret.

"I just came to see you. I'll see you again. I'll visit after the funeral. Take care of yourself."

Her uncle hugged her and patted her back. Seo-un hugged him tightly and let go.

"Be careful, Uncle."

This time, Cha-haya opened the connecting room door and said. Her uncle patted Cha-haya's shoulder.

"Now you're the deputy guild leader. Do well."

Seo-un, who had been watching, opened her eyes wide. Deputy guild leader?

"Me, the guild leader?"

"Yeah. Both of you, do well. I need to go. I have to prepare meals for Father and Mother."

Seo-un knew he meant the deceased parents. Her uncle encouraged her, saying he could do better, and left the hotel room without hesitation. He was still as self-assured as ever, not wanting to be seen as the one who raised Cha-haya.

Seo-un leaned against the door, looking seriously at Cha-haya.

"Deputy guild leader?"

The unspoken "you?" was implied. Cha-haya nodded. Seo-un slapped her forehead. Oh my.

"Let's keep it a secret from the others."

"Why?"

Cha-haya asked indifferently, as if there was no problem.

"Kid, if the deputy guild leader causes trouble, the whole Tachon will suffer."

When she was a guild member, her misbehavior was just that. But for a leader, there were no excuses.

"Cha Seo-un."

Cha-haya lowered his head and whispered.

"Can I do it well?"

His eyes sparkled.

"So, don't have preconceptions and keep watching. You'll see that I'm not just capable but really good."

It felt like a direct confession, and Seo-un's face felt like a volcano erupting.

∧_∧::

(´･ω･`)::

/⌒ ⌒):: So

/ へ_＿/ /:: the fireflies

(＿＼＼ﾐ)/:: become a couple

｜ `-イ:: and run

/ｙ ):: the Tachon

/／ ／:: Is this it! (Someday)

/／