Seonoh, submerged deep in the water, was sinking endlessly downward.
"Who are you? Why did you come for me?"
In the distant past, Seonoh had asked this to the one outside his door. And now, this very sight seemed to be answering his question.
In the chaotic cascade of rocks big and small falling like meteors, what Seonoh first noticed was someone reaching out toward him.
The boy, who usually wore an indifferent and uninterested expression, now had a face that had completely lost its composure.
The moment their eyes met, Seonoh felt a chilling shiver.
Yes, it was as I guessed.
You were a trap all along...
From the moment they first met, he knew something was off. The eerie sensation when everything aligned too perfectly, as though cut by a knife. The moments when things that he had secretly hoped for, even without realizing it, came true.
The boy had once said that the world can be malicious without reason. And now, Seonoh understood what kind of "malice" he had meant.
The malice the world had bestowed upon me. That was you.
Otherwise, it would not have been this way. It couldn't be this way.
When paradise crumbles, and the past turns to ruins, he shouldn't be standing before him like this. Seonoh thought vacantly.
Yes, he shouldn't have met him.
This wasn't just a feeling; it was a certainty rising from deep within his chest. Every sign pointed to one place. He used to wonder why it had to be 'him'. Why was he so helplessly drawn to 'him', despite having no reason to be? Why did he find himself wishing it was 'him', again and again? He asked himself over and over again.
But now, he understood. The world set 'him' as a sweet trap to bring about his ruin. He was both the world's malice against Seonoh and
its trap.
He came to destroy his ten years.
"He's come. He'll take everything I have and ruin everything."
— Everything began from the moment I met 'him'. He was, in fact, the harbinger of my downfall.
It was all because of you...
"Yoon Taehee!"
Seonoh clenched his eyes shut.
"Taehee—一!"
Finally, Yoon Taehee reached out and grasped Jaegyeom's hand. At that moment, a powerful force pulled him forward. In the swirling waters of the lake, Jaegyeom held Taehee with one arm and gripped his sword firmly with the other.
Jaegyeom braced his sword against a large rock nearby, anchoring himself. Gathering his strength, he infused his blade with spiritual energy, using the recoil to surge upward, bursting out of the water.
Holding Yoon Taehee, Jaegyeom came up to land.
"Pwah, ha!"
As they emerged to the surface, the cave was collapsing. Jaegyeom coughed harshly, spitting out water. Meanwhile, Yoon Taehee, limp with his eyes closed, seemed to have lost consciousness. Although he was concerned, there was no time to check right now.
They had to escape before the cave completely fell. Jaegyeom threw Yoon Taehee on his back and began to run. If a falling rock blocked their path, he would imbue his steps with energy, shattering obstacles as he went.
Running wildly as if chased, he finally saw the exit in the distance. By the time they made it out, darkness had fallen over the mountains.
Even as they exited the cave, Jaegyeom didn't stop running, feeling a faint tremor beneath his feet from the aftershocks of the cave's
collapse.
Only when he finally felt safe did Jaegyeom put Yoon Taehee down and check his face. Gasping for breath, Jaegyeom held his cheek and called out to him.
"Yoon... Yoon Taehee!"
He grabbed his shoulders and shook him roughly. Nevertheless, Yoon Taehee didn't open his eyes. His face was deathly pale, likely from being submerged in the freezing water, and with his eyes closed, he looked disturbingly like a corpse.
"Tae- Taehee!"
Jaegyeom's voice started to tremble as he called Yoon Taehee's name, gripped by sudden fear. Could it be that he was dead? But he had just seen him, just looked him in the eyes, and Yoon Taehee had reached out for his hand.
In the end, Jaegyeom slapped the man's cheek hard.
"Answer me, you fucking bastard-!"
Finally, Yoon Taehee's eyelids slowly opened. Jaegyeom, who had been about to slap him again, halted mid-motion, eyes widening. He came to consciousness! Jaegyeom quickly withdrew his hand, peering down at him.
"A- are you alright?"
"No..."
Yoon Taehee murmured weakly.
The grandfather who had gone out to buy food never returned. No, now he would never return. The home he had shared with his grandfather was now in ruins, the ghosts had been swept away in the whirlpool, and the water ghost, who had been just within reach moments ago, had slipped through his fingers in the end.
And so, Seonoh's childhood shattered into pieces, disappearing deep within the whirlpool.
"You ruined everything."
At this barely whispered statement, Jaegyeom froze. His gaze, fixed on Yoon Taehee, wavered intensely. He stood there, drenched, droplets falling from him, staring at him in silence.
Jaegyeom had half-expected Yoon Taehee to reproach him, to express bitterness. He could profoundly understand what he was feeling at this moment, and yet his heart ached. No words came to him; he bit his lip before speaking.
"Even so, I don't regret it."
As Jaegyeom finished speaking, Yoon Taehee's breathing became erratic. All of a sudden, a searing emotion surged up from deep within his chest. He closed his eyes tightly and clenched his teeth, as though he was struggling to swallow down the burning anger rising in his throat.
"Really? But I do."
He barely managed to speak, his voice choked and wet with emotion.
"I regret meeting you..."
Yoon Taehee had long ago vowed to himself to never to feel regret.
Regret didn't change anything; it only left him with self-loathing and bitterness.
'Do you know why regret and remorse are such fucked up things? Simply regretting and being remorseful about the past, makes you think you've become a better person. Even though all you did was sit still and think, suddenly your sense of guilt fades and you become forgiving with yourself.' That was what he himself said.
But in truth, Taehee had lived his entire life in regret.
It was all his fault. Not a single day went by without regret. He shouldn't have opened that door; he should've been kinder to the water ghost. Every day since then, he had been haunted by those regrets.
Regret clung to him like a shadow, like a brand, like punishment. It was a life dedicated to self-condemnation. Yet, in the moment he looked at Jaegyeom reaching out to him, Yoon Taehee finally understood.
Ah,
I was born for this.
For this very moment, I walked out that door on that fateful day. I trudged through the freezing snow into the mountains to witness this scene. I came into this world for this...
To be like this, to meet you...
Jaegyeom had pulled him out of the mire of his past, severed the chains holding him down, and shattered his broken childhood. Yoon Taehee had lived with the regret of opening that door, driven by guilt and hatred, and had lived only for vengeance. But the moment he saw Jaegyeom come to rescue him, Yoon Taehee, for the first time, didn't regret opening the door and stepping outside that day.
"I'm meant to regret that day for the rest of my life. I watched my grandfather die right in front of me. I lost everything that day. But because of you... because I met you beyond that door, I can't completely regret that day anymore."
Sitting up, Yoon Taehee looked Jaegyeom directly in the eyes.
"And that's why I regret meeting you."
The other person just stared at him, wearing an expression he had never seen before, stripped of his usual calm. His eyes glinted with a raw, heated anger—a face Jaegyeom only wore in his rare moments of unrestrained emotion.
"Everything became a complete mess after I met you. I thought to myself, over and over, this wasn't why I brought you along. But in the end, it couldn't have turned out any other way."
Like a person who's held their breath for too long, Yoon Taehee's words came out with increasing intensity.
"After that kiss, I regretted it every single day. I told myself dozens, hundreds of times, I shouldn't have done it, I couldn't get more emotional."
Yoon Taehee bowed his head, clutching his wet hair. Soaked and looking close to collapsing at any moment, he appeared fragile and disheveled.
"No matter how much I thought about it, there were more reasons why I shouldn't do that than otherwise. I accepted them, agreed with them, and understood all of them. But then, every time I saw you, it was like my mind went blank. I didn't understand why I was doing this, and I thought, damn it, I must really be going insane."
With his head still lowered, he eventually let his hands fall.
"But now, I understand."
Slowly, he raised his head. Their eyes met in the stillness. A chill breeze brushed his cheek, leaving a faint touch before passing, and droplets fell from his damp hair.
"I wanted to pass this disease onto you."
Teacher, how can you call this love? Love is a disease called destruction, punishment, and hardship...'
If love was a hardship, punishment, and "disease," then Yoon Taehee wanted Jaegyeom to share it with him. He wanted Jaegyeom to suffer, to ache, to be as pained as he was. That was why he kept wanting to kiss him.
"I was mistaken. You aren't some disposable pawn."
From barely a hand's distance, Yoon Taehee and Jaegyeom faced each other, and even just looking at each other like this was unbearable, the ache in Yoon Taehee's chest tightening like a vise.
"If you die, everything ends. You are my king."
Jaegyeom couldn't make sense of anything Yoon Taehee was saying
Confused, he looked at him, bewildered.
"Wha... what do you mean?"
Yoon Taehee reached out, placing his hand under Jaegyeom's ear, cradling his face with his palm. His pale fingertips trembled faintly.
His eyes roamed over Jaegyeom's face, tracing his features.
"..."
Suddenly, he looked away, clenching his teeth. He tried his best to suppress the hot lump rising in his chest, but finally, he exhaled shakily, his gaze breaking.
At last, Yoon Taehee turned his head slowly back, meeting Jaegyeom's eyes, now tinged red.
"It means I love you."
As if overcome by defiance, his confession burst out in a surge of emotion.
"..What?"
Yoon Taehee reached out, grabbed the back of Jaegyeom's head, and yanked his face close. Their noses pressed harshly together as their foreheads bumped. Jaegyeom blankly stared at the other, dazed, as his fingers tangled roughly in his hair.
"I couldn't help it either."
With breaths ragged as though he'd run a long distance, Yoon Taehee spoke, his voice a mess.
"I dreamed about you every night."
"..."
"Every night, I imagined us rolling around like animals."
"..."
"Do you understand what I'm saying?"
As Jaegyeom's eyes slowly widened, Yoon Taehee cupped his face and kissed him. It was a kiss full of desperate, reverent intensity, almost like a prayer. Jaegyeom, unable to say a word, was swept away in the fervent kiss. The feeling of their tongues entangling was vivid as their hot breaths mixed together. After a long while, Yoon Taehee's lips reluctantly drew back.
With his hands still holding Jaegyeom's cheeks, he rested his forehead against Jaegyeom's neck, his large, steady hand clutching at his chest, hanging on as if he might collapse.
Ah, in the end, I fell in love with you.
"..."
Jaegyeom, staring blankly ahead, slowly shifted his gaze to Yoon Taehee, whose face was buried against his neck. His heart was pounding wildly.
Thump, thump, thump...
"Gasp! Save, please save me!"
Just then, a desperate cry echoed from somewhere. Instantly, Jaegyeom snapped back to his senses. Jaegyeom shot up in surprise as if he had been caught doing something bad.
His ears had turned bright red, and it finally dawned on him that he'd left the turtle alone in the cave. Alone, he must have encountered trouble trying to get out.
Jaegyeom clenched and unclenched his fists, looking helpless as he paced. His head was spinning. Unsteady, he staggered toward the sound.
Swish~ The cool night breeze stirred through the dark forest.
"..."
Yoon Taehee, who had been hanging his head, collapsed backward, exhausted.
Lying there, he raised his hand toward the sky. It was not the small, childlike hand he used to see. It was a large hand with long, strong fingers and prominent knuckles.
After looking at his hand for a moment, he brought his wrist slowly to his lips. He kissed the bracelet on his wrist, whispering a soft invocation like a sigh.
"You called, Taehee-nim?"
Paehyeon appeared, bowing his head.
"I want to ask a favor of you."
"Yes, please speak."
Yet Yoon Taehee, after starting, remained silent for a long time.
Closing his eyes slowly, he let silence stretch. Paehyeon waited, patient, for the words to come.
"No, no..."
After a long pause, he parted his lips and changed his words.
"It's not a favor, but an order."
At that moment, his eyes opened slowly.
"Find a way to break the curse of immortality."
Finally, his gaze, like the night sky, fixed on the darkness.
Yes, in the end, I was consumed by desire. The shame of not being able to remain myself. I lost myself. I couldn't protect myself. You took me from me.
And so, I'll take you —who has taken me-for myself.
Like a pack of ravenous stray dogs, misfortune and destiny lie in wait everywhere, baring their teeth as they approach us. The sky may collapse, the earth may sink, and every place we've passed might turn to ruins. Even so, it doesn't matter. In this crumbling world, you will save me again and again. Like a single flame that won't die out in a raging storm, you'll reach out to me.
If you are the harbinger of my downfall, then I will be the obedient mule that, no matter how heavy the load, submits to you without complaint and willingly hands over the reins. Even if there's a cliff at the end of the road you lead me to, if you pull the reins, I will follow you eagerly to that edge.
Boom...
A faint vibration resonated from Taehee's back as he lay on the ground. The rumbling, deep as thunder, started within the earth and pulsed through Yoon Taehee's spine. And he knew precisely what this meant.
It was the sound of the past ten years of his life collapsing.
—What is this mysterious force that brings both death and life?
You, who once came from afar, knocking at my door to let you in, are the malice this world has bestowed upon me. My misfortune. My fate.
My doom. The bringer of ruin and the love wearing the mask of fear. It doesn't matter what you are. I will walk, step by step, to meet you.
I will take your hand that leads me to ruin and follow the path you tread.
And so, at the end of this road, I will witness with my own eyes whatever lies there with you.
Yoon Taehee lay spread-eagled, arms wide open. It was a night where destiny wrestled. Black darkness poured down over him, and suddenly he let out a silent laugh.
At that moment, he felt very much so pleasant.