The Road That Closed
A soft cough broke the silence.
Yeo-won’s eyes flew open at the sound. The deliberate little noise, clearly meant to draw attention, made her squirm in the arms that held her.
“I think you can let me down now.”
When Yeo-won grew embarrassed at the realization that others were watching, Shin-wol only smiled, clearly amused.
Yeo-won cautiously lifted her head. Her gaze met someone’s eyes over Shin-wol’s shoulder. Startled, she quickly ducked her head again and muttered,
“I… I’m embarrassed.”
“People are staring.”
Still holding her, he turned his head with deliberate slowness. The people caught in that languid golden gaze froze in place, tension rippling through them.
When Yeo-won lifted her head again to look around, everyone stood there as if spellbound, staring at him in a daze.
It wasn’t surprising. Anyone who hadn’t grown used to his face would react that way.
I was the same the first time I saw him.
Shin-wol rested his chin on top of her head as if to flaunt their closeness and whispered,
“…Most people do.”
“You’re not planning to put me down at all, are you? And you promised you wouldn’t use sorcery outside.”
It wasn’t even necessary to go that far. He could just set her down. Being held like a child instead of embraced like a lover was starting to feel mortifying.
But Shin-wol looked down at her with eyes that clearly didn’t care about such trivial things, then suddenly flashed a mischievous smile.
The expression felt strangely familiar. Yeo-won flinched and quickly warned him,
“Don’t.”
“Anything.”
He let out a soft laugh and finally set her down.
She couldn’t tell whether it was praise or something more loaded, but Yeo-won decided to pretend she hadn’t heard.
The moment she left the warmth of his chest, an unexpected emptiness washed over her. To hide the feeling, she deliberately made a show of looking around with exaggerated movements.
“Anyway, this really is the middle of nowhere.”
The two-lane highway was surrounded only by trees and grass as far as the eye could see.
Peering over the guardrail revealed a rather steep cliff below. Even squinting, she could barely make out the bottom. Beneath it stretched an untouched mountain path, not a hiking trail but raw, unspoiled nature.
She was lucky the bus hadn’t slammed into the guardrail, yet she couldn’t exactly celebrate the situation.
When she looked up at the sky, twilight was already settling in. Staring at the red-stained horizon, Yeo-won muttered anxiously,
“The backup bus needs to get here soon.”
Since it looked like they’d be late, she should call Grandmother first. She pulled out her phone from her bag, but there was no signal.
As she fiddled with it in confusion, grumbling voices came from behind.
“Hey, phones don’t work out here.”
“This is insane. Is it because we’re in the mountains? When the hell is the backup bus coming?”
Turning around, she saw two young men who looked like students roughly ruffling their hair and complaining.
Well, that made sense. It could just be that the mountains blocked the signal, but…
Something about it felt off.
Yeo-won gazed down the empty highway, searching her memory.
Has even a single car passed since we got here?
Not one. Come to think of it, there hadn’t been any cars since they left the rest area. It wasn’t that traffic had thinned; it had completely vanished.
She’d been so relieved that the blocked road had cleared that she hadn’t noticed how strange it was.
Was that even possible? The highway had been completely jammed before they reached the rest area. Could all those cars really disappear in just thirty minutes as if they’d evaporated?
Almost in a trance, Yeo-won began walking.
She could feel Shin-wol following silently behind her, but she paid it no mind and headed toward the site of the accident.
He simply followed. He placed no restrictions on her.
Up ahead, something faint came into view. The accident had definitely happened around there.
Yeo-won narrowed her eyes, but the growing darkness made it hard to see clearly.
She hesitated for a moment as she tried to move closer. No matter how used to it she was, seeing an animal carcass still made her uncomfortable.
But she couldn’t be sure of anything without looking.
Steel herself, she stepped forward. The moment she confirmed what lay there, her pupils shook violently.
“…That’s not a deer.”
The bus driver had definitely gotten out, checked, and said it was a collision with a roe deer.
Yet what lay before Yeo-won’s eyes now was nothing but a crude pile of stones.
She rubbed her eyes and looked again, but no matter how she stared, they were just rocks.
The large and small stones scattered across the ground looked uncannily like the shape of a deer.
As she staggered back in disbelief, a low chuckle came from behind her.
When Yeo-won whipped her head around, Shin-wol was laughing. In this bizarre situation where she couldn’t see what was funny, he approached her with a relaxed smile.
“…What is this?”
He walked past her and lightly kicked one of the stones with the tip of his foot.
The stone rolled weakly for a moment before it suddenly turned to ash and scattered into the air.
“Stop messing with me. Did you do this?”
He smiled coldly.
Though she could only see his back, the low resonance of his voice carried a faint trace of irritation.
As he spoke, Shin-wol turned his head. His eyes slowly turned a glowing yellow.
In the pitch-black night that had fully settled, his eyes shone nobly like the moon hanging in the sky.
He smiled in a way that sent chills down her spine.
*
Shin-wol released his sorcery and returned to his original form. With his long, flowing black hair and a massive robe that reached his ankles, he began walking with unhurried steps.
He lightly scooped up the dazed Yeo-won and snapped his fingers.
In the blink of an eye, they were back at the bus.
Yeo-won looked around in surprise at his transformed appearance, only to realize that everyone had already collapsed onto the ground.
At the sight of all the people lying there in unison, her body jerked.
Seeing her pupils tremble violently as if she’d been frightened, Shin-wol gave a low chuckle.
Only then did she seem relieved. A small sigh escaped her slightly parted lips.
He set her down and spoke in a casual tone.
As he turned to leave, Yeo-won panicked and grabbed his arm.
“W-where are you going?”
“Right now? No—more importantly, what is even happening right now?”
He smiled sweetly and turned away without hesitation, striding toward the guardrail overlooking the cliff.
Yeo-won watched his back grow smaller and clenched her fists tightly.
He had told her to wait, so she should wait.
He didn’t lie, so no lesser spirits would appear.
If she waited, he would come back, but… for some reason, Yeo-won didn’t want to be apart from him.
She shifted anxiously from foot to foot. He stepped lightly onto the guardrail.
Yeo-won stared wide-eyed at Shin-wol standing straight atop the thin metal rail.
He gazed into empty air for a few seconds, then slowly lifted his foot and leaned his body forward.
The way he tilted downward looked exactly like he was falling off the cliff, so Yeo-won ran forward and reached out.
Even though she knew he wasn’t a being that could die, her body reacted before her mind could.
The moment she grabbed the hem of his robe, Shin-wol froze in midair.
He slowly turned his head and met her eyes.
He looked back and forth between Yeo-won and the cloth she was clutching, his gaze asking what she was doing.
She opened and closed her mouth as if searching for words, then finally managed to speak.
“Can’t… can’t I come with you?”
Shin-wol watched her with an unreadable look and answered in a flat voice.
“Even so…”
She didn’t want to be left alone. She couldn’t bring herself to say she didn’t want to be separated from him, so she simply glared at the innocent hem of his robe.
As she fidgeted, a low laugh sounded above her head.
He tugged her hand. When she hesitated, still unable to step up, he coaxed her in a gentle voice.
At his words, Yeo-won gathered her courage, stepped onto the guardrail, and threw herself into his arms.
A large hand stroked down her hair as if praising her for doing well.
Holding her tightly, Shin-wol threw himself off the cliff.