The Tiger God of Mount Gonok
Shin-wol descended the sheer cliff in a single bound, landing on the ground without a sound. Only after the sensation of falling had completely vanished did Yeo-won slowly open her tightly shut eyes from within his arms.
“……I didn’t realize we were falling.”
Yeo-won muttered, her face drained of all color.
She had assumed he would simply snap his fingers and transport them as he always did, but instead Shin-wol had leaped off the cliff while still holding her.
Even from within his embrace, the fierce resistance of the wind and the dizzying feeling of her hair standing on end had forced her to fight desperately just to stay conscious.
[Humans cannot walk this path. If it is too difficult, you may remain in my arms.]
“No. I’ll walk on my own.”
No matter what, she could not meet the master of this place while being carried.
Yeo-won weakly pushed him away and rose to her feet. Her legs trembled, but thankfully they were steady enough to walk.
Seeing her stand as precariously as a newborn fawn, Shin-wol silently summoned two orbs of flame.
Yeo-won flinched at the sudden burst of light, and he spoke in a calm tone.
[Watch your step.]
As he spoke, Shin-wol extended his hand.
When Yeo-won cautiously took it, he closed his fingers firmly around hers.
Her hand, which had been as cold as ice, gradually regained warmth inside his large palm.
When Shin-wol began to move, the floating orbs of fire followed along beside them.
Perhaps because of his exceptionally long legs, Shin-wol’s stride was wider and faster than most people’s.
Noticing Yeo-won struggling to keep up, he slowed his pace slightly.
After that, as if he had learned from experience, he walked even more slowly, naturally matching her shorter steps.
These small gestures tightened around Yeo-won’s heart.
Because she had never received such consideration from anyone, she never knew how to respond when it happened.
What should she say at times like this? Should she thank him? Should she say it was fine?
Having never experienced kindness as natural as breathing, Yeo-won could only feel confused.
Perhaps because of the silence, even her own breathing sounded loud.
Tense for no reason, she felt the hand he held growing damp with sweat.
When she twitched, trying to pull away, Shin-wol’s grip tightened instead.
It wasn’t painful, but it was firm enough that she couldn’t free herself.
[Do you wish to let go?]
He looked at her and elegantly curved his lips. Yeo-won knew that imperious smile all too well, so she quickly made an excuse.
“Ah, it seems my hand is sweating.”
[And?]
“……”
[You humans fall and injure yourselves so easily. The mountain path is rough, so stay like this.]
Shin-wol resumed walking as if nothing had happened. Yeo-won also continued on with a composed expression, but her slightly lowered eyelids trembled faintly.
There had been no hidden meaning behind his question. Yet neither was it a question born of consideration.
It had been a truly simple inquiry. So pure that her own nervousness—enough to make her palm sweat—felt foolish.
His voice carried a cold indifference, as though he had no interest whatsoever in why her hand was sweating.
Yeo-won bit her lip hard and stared into the pitch-black darkness ahead.
Only then did she realize how arrogant it had been to think she was receiving his consideration.
The kindness he showed wasn’t for her sake; it was simply a habit ingrained in him.
He had probably experienced similar situations before.
‘And the person who likely created those similar situations was probably……’
She didn’t need to finish the thought; the image rose naturally in her mind. That child who could smile as brightly as sunlight, unlike her.
Had he learned to hold hands and match his stride by watching that child?
In a way, it was only natural. Even in her dreams he had shown such obvious affection; in reality, he must have been even more tender. It was obvious without seeing it.
Yeo-won stole a quick glance at his profile.
Once the seed of doubt had sprouted, it grew uncontrollably.
It might have been nothing more than her own delusion, but even the way he had tapped her knee, or how the food he gave her always seemed strangely sweet, began to bother her one by one.
‘I don’t even like sweet things.’
She knew. She already knew that comparing herself like this would only leave her feeling miserable.
Yeo-won kept trying to understand.
Her ancestor’s betrayal and the karmic debt passed down because of it.
She bore no fault for any of those acts, yet she refused to deny the situation she found herself in and drown in resentment.
After all, doing so wouldn’t change anything.
Acceptance and endurance were Yeo-won’s specialties.
But recently there was one single thing—the only thing—she could not accept.
‘The way he overlaps me with that child…… I absolutely……’
She wished he would stop doing that.
No matter that it was her ancestor, that person was clearly someone else.
The more the questions branched out like vines, the more it felt as though needles were pricking her heart. Yeo-won lightly shook her head.
‘Stop it.’
The more she thought, the more pathetic she felt.
Suppressing the turmoil in her chest, Yeo-won made a firm resolution.
Even if he gave her a place to lean on, she must not depend on it.
The reason he treated her well was only because the marble was inside her body. She repeated the words to herself like a rebuke.
While she was repeating these self-hypnotic thoughts, the tip of her foot caught on tangled grass and her body tilted.
It was only a slight stumble, but Shin-wol reflexively swept her up into his arms.
[See? Even while holding my hand, you still fall.]
“……I’m sorry.”
He ran his fingers over her ankle as if checking for injury. When he confirmed she was unhurt, a faint smile bloomed on his face. At the expression that looked almost like relief, Yeo-won’s brown eyes shook violently.
[I cannot take my eyes off you even for a moment. We are almost there, so let us go like this.]
“……”
Her resolution not to expect anything, to keep more distance, became meaningless. Yeo-won could say nothing.
In the end, this was the extent of her determination. A pitiful resolve that lacked the strength to truly push him away.
Even if this kindness was not meant for her, Yeo-won did not want to reject the tenderness she had never received even from her own family.
That was what deficiency did.
Even while knowing something was wrong, even while knowing it wasn’t hers.
It was the kind of thing that made the body reject the sound judgment of the mind.
The mountain was so quiet that not even the sound of insects could be heard.
Though pitch-black darkness had settled, the flames Shin-wol created kept it from feeling too frightening.
Shin-wol strode deeper into the mountain, where an alien silence hung, as though he were perfectly familiar with the path.
Just as a headache began to rise from her tangled emotions, Shin-wol suddenly stopped.
The place where he halted was nothing more than an ordinary mid-slope of the mountain. The scenery was no different from what they had walked through so far, so Yeo-won looked around in confusion.
With an indifferent expression, Shin-wol stared into empty air and spread his fingers wide, cracking them with a loud pop.
The sound was as if every joint in his hand was being twisted. When she turned to look, one of his arms had already transformed into a beast’s paw.
Covered in black fur, the savage-looking limb felt endlessly ominous, like something no human should ever witness.
From it, sharp and threatening claws suddenly emerged and began to mercilessly tear at the empty space.
“Ugh.”
A ripping noise vibrated through her eardrums and into her skull.
Just as her stomach began to churn, the sound stopped.
[No matter how many times I see it, this sorcery is truly pathetic.]
He muttered quietly and shook his wrist as if flicking off filth. After a few shakes, it had returned to a human hand as though nothing had happened.
When Yeo-won looked forward again, the empty air had been torn to shreds like wallpaper. Beyond the ripped space, the entrance to a massive cave appeared.
[From here, you must walk on your own. If I use power while holding you, you may get caught in it.]
He carefully set her down and slowly walked inside.
Yeo-won hesitated at the bizarre sight, then followed him in. The forcibly opened entrance closed smoothly behind them.
While carefully examining the cave—so enormous it numbed the senses—Yeo-won cautiously spoke.
“……Um, is this where the master lives?”
[Yes.]
“I’m asking late, but what kind of person is this master?”
[The Mountain God of Mount Gonok.]
Yeo-won’s eyes widened in shock and she stammered.
“A Mountain God? Is it really okay for me to be here?”
[Didn’t you say you wanted to come?]
He answered as if it were no big deal. Of course she had assumed the master would be some kind of sacred being, but she hadn’t expected something on this scale.
Yeo-won stopped walking, at a loss, then halted completely.
“I didn’t know we were going to meet a Mountain God. I don’t think I should intrude. I’ll wait here. Go speak with him and come back.”
No matter what, she felt it would be too much to meet a Mountain God.
She had already seen ghosts and met a gumiho, but a Mountain God felt like something even more sacred, like a being far above the clouds.
Besides, weren’t Mountain Gods only supposed to appear in legends?
Could someone like her really stand in such a holy place?
Anxiety rose within her, as though she were committing a forbidden taboo.
When Yeo-won nervously glanced around, he tilted his head languidly and reached out.
[It doesn’t matter. You are already an acquaintance.]
“An acquaintance?”
[Haven’t you already seen him once?]
At the cryptic words, Yeo-won tilted her head in confusion. He chuckled softly.
[Oh dear, it seems you truly didn’t know.]
“The chance that I would meet a Mountain God……”
At that moment, the image of a mysterious handsome man flashed through her mind.
The man who had asked her those incomprehensible questions about whether she was on the dog faction or the cat faction.
The man who had carried the same enigmatic aura as Shin-wol. Could it be him?
[I told you to beware of my cat.]
He approached the frozen Yeo-won and took her hand again, pulling her along.
[The person you met that day is a five-hundred-year-old tiger spirit and the Mountain God of Mount Gonok—Beom-rang Mu-ho.]
At his neatly organized explanation, Yeo-won’s face turned deathly pale.