Reunion (1)
She had known, someday, that they would meet again—but she had never imagined the moment would come so suddenly.
Cheongwol paced back and forth in her room, unable to settle herself.
Just as she had found herself thinking of Seomun Hwi whenever she had a free moment in Kongdong Sect, had he, too, thought of her, except when he was writing letters?
And how was she supposed to explain that she had become a woman, while still hiding the matter of the Im family?
Lost in one anxious thought after another, she had just managed to calm the trembling in her chest when her eye fell on a book that had slipped partway out of her baggage.
The very book So Gayul had clicked her tongue at the moment she saw it, and Unhak had frowned over.
Yin-Yang Union Divine Art.
The only reason she had kept it instead of burning it, despite the near-scolding she had received from the two of them, was a single one.
It was an object that held a fragment of her short-lived memories with Seomun Hwi.
I didn’t know then that Hwi had been sending me letters.
If she ever left Kongdong Sect, she would throw this obscene book in Seomun Hwi’s face once she stood before him as someone he had forgotten.
She had thought that would force him to remember her, even if only out of dislike.
Of course, after learning that he had been sending her letters for the past two years, her footing had become somewhat awkward.
Cheongwol stroked the cover with her fingertips and recalled those brief, fleeting memories.
Looking back now, in this vast Central Plains, the fact that she had run into him in Gansu rather than Anhui had been more than mere luck.
Was it not fate that brought us together there?
Just as she was trying to remember Unhak’s smiling face as he said that,
the voice of the man she had longed for over the past two years came from beyond the door.
---
He had never had any desire for a free life in the first place.
As long as he carried the burden of being the young clan leader of one of the Six Great Clans, everything he was belonged to the clan.
That was why, even when talk of an engagement came up, he had accepted it without much resistance.
He had no woman in his heart anyway, and if he were to become engaged to a daughter of the Tang Clan, it would only increase the clan’s influence further.
Besides, Dang Sohye’s looks were as exceptional as Clan Leader Dang Hyeongeuk had said, so from his point of view there was no reason to refuse the marriage arrangement.
Hadn’t he heard from his father more than once how tense the clan had been when, twenty-odd years ago, the current Tang Clan Leader’s younger sister had become betrothed to the clan leader of Namgung Clan?
Had tragedy not struck Namgung Clan, Seomun Clan might well have lost a great deal of influence in Anhui. It had been a frighteningly close call.
...
Even if they were rivals, to think that another man’s misfortune could become a comfort to one’s own heart.
A bitter feeling rose in him, and he let out a sigh, prompting Dang Sohye, who stood beside him, to ask,
"Why are you sighing? You should be smiling just from being with me."
Perhaps he had already grown used to that shamelessness, because Seomun Hwi answered her with complete composure.
"So it seems. Though I do wonder if your confidence isn’t a little excessive."
As he teased her lightly, Dang Sohye shot him a sidelong glance.
"Not at all. If anything, I find myself regretting several times a day that I’m being too modest. Too much humility is just as improper as too little, isn’t it?"
She had now gone beyond shamelessness and into open self-praise, and a faint smile touched Seomun Hwi’s lips.
Dang Sohye grinned back and gave a small nod.
"You look better when you’re smiling. I’ll make sure you keep smiling whenever you’re with me."
Just as Dang Sohye curved her eyes prettily and started to lean into Seomun Hwi’s arms, a meddler’s voice cut between them from somewhere nearby.
"Lady Dang! Young Master Seomun! It’s been a long time!"
Frowning slightly, he turned his head, and there was Ak Seo-ah, waving as she approached.
So he had finally started to pull this indifferent man in even a little.
And yet, of all times, the daughter of the Shandong Ak Family had to appear here and spoil things?
The coincidence was almost absurd.
"It has been some time. Have you been well?"
"I have. And it seems Young Master Seomun has been well too, so I am relieved."
And then there was that look she kept directing at Seomun Hwi.
Anyone could see it was a gaze full of longing, and Dang Sohye’s mood only grew worse for it.
But she was also her friend, so she could not simply stand there glaring.
"Your face looks brighter than before. That way of speaking of yours is the same as ever, too."
Despite Dang Sohye showing no especially welcoming expression, Ak Seo-ah, much as Cheongwol had done a moment ago, smiled brightly and seized her hand.
"I have had cause for joy. Lady Dang, you look well yourself."
"I’m always beautiful, what can I say?"
Even as she gave a careless answer, she did not pull her hand away, and Seomun Hwi realized the two women were closer than he had expected.
I suppose strange people naturally gather together.
Just as he was about to let out a dry laugh, Ak Seo-ah suddenly turned her head and, with a faint smile, spoke a name he had never expected to hear.
"Young Master Seomun. Lady Cheongwol wishes to see you."
---
Not having sent even a single letter all this time, and now she was waiting for him in some room of the Tang Clan estate.
He could not tell what on earth was going on, but that could be asked later, slowly.
For two years, news had been cut off, and he had tried to bury it as something belonging to the past—but at the thought that he might see her again, the tips of his fingers trembled.
No matter how vast the Tang Clan estate might be, if she was in the inner residence too, it would not take long to reach her.
And yet, no matter how quickly he urged his steps on, the road to his friend felt endlessly long.
Before long, when he reached the place Ak Seo-ah had indicated, his heart was beating so hard he could feel it himself.
A friend with whom he had shared only ten short days of companionship.
A man he knew almost nothing about, apart from a name and a little of his past.
And yet he could not understand why he felt so overwhelmed.
He drew in a deep breath, forced his racing heart to settle, and stood slowly before the door.
Then he said the name he had repeated so many times while writing letters.
"Cheongwol, it’s Seomun Hwi."
---
"Wait!"
Perhaps Cheongwol was trembling just the same, because a loud crash came from inside the room, as though something had been knocked over.
Seomun Hwi smiled faintly and, beyond the door, slowly pictured the face of the friend waiting there.
It was an adolescent face that had looked more like a woman’s than a man’s no matter how one saw it.
He could not even guess how much it had changed by now.
Still, he’s come of age now, so he ought to look at least somewhat like a man.
Had he grown taller? Had those thin arms and legs become a little sturdier?
As all sorts of images of Cheongwol drifted through his mind, a voice finally came from inside the room.
"...Come in."
He had expected the door to open for him, but instead he was told to open it himself and enter.
Thinking that among his peers only Cheongwol could treat him in such a way, Seomun Hwi gently took hold of the latch.
At last, was the moment ending the past two years of waiting here?
For a brief instant, he wondered what he should say first when he saw her face—but the figure that came into view was not Cheongwol.
It was a thick quilt.
"...Cheongwol?"
"Mm. I’m here."
From the voice alone, it was unmistakably Cheongwol beneath the blankets.
But why, after meeting a friend for the first time in so long, would she not show her face and instead play a prank like this?
As Seomun Hwi sat down beside her, he could feel the blanket twitch and tremble slightly.
"...Hwi, have you been well?"
Even in such an awkward situation, Cheongwol spoke first, and Seomun Hwi found a smile rising to his lips before he knew it.
"Not very well. There was someone somewhere who never once answered my letters."
Another twitch.
Then a troubled voice drifted from beneath the blanket.
"I’m sorry. I really wanted to send them, too..."
He had meant it as a light tease, but at the tremor in Cheongwol’s voice, Seomun Hwi hurriedly laid a hand over the blanket.
"That was a foolish joke on my part. Unhak Daoist told me that you could only read my letters after your training ended."
"...You knew?"
"Of course. Otherwise, why would I keep sending letters I knew you wouldn’t read?"
At the gentle warmth of his hand through the quilt, Cheongwol slowly nodded.
"Hwi, thank you. For not forgetting me."
...
At that sudden, deeply sincere gratitude, Seomun Hwi found himself at a loss for words for a moment.
"You have no idea how happy I was reading those letters. In truth... I thought you had forgotten me. I even thought it would make sense if you had..."
"...Why would you think that?"
"Because it was such a short meeting. Of course, to me it was a memory more precious than anything else, but to you..."
Before Cheongwol could finish, Seomun Hwi cut her off.
"It was a precious memory to me as well. More than anything."
"...Really?"
"Yes. It’s a little embarrassing to be saying something like this between men, but... you were my first friend, after all. Forgetting you was never something I would do—back then, now, or ever."
Seomun Hwi tapped the blanket lightly with his palm, and Cheongwol was glad she was covered.
She would have been wearing a foolish, delighted expression.
"...You sure know how to say embarrassing things."
---