Watching Over
Baek So-cheong, the eldest daughter of the Sun and Moon Sect's Leader, had never harbored particularly warm feelings toward her half-brother, Baek Yeon.
A violent, arrogant little tyrant, Baek Yeon seemed to have inherited their father's ruthless nature in its entirety.
From his earliest years, he had been the sort of person who found amusement in tormenting those weaker than himself, deliberately plunging them into misery.
Hearing her father, the Sect Leader, and the rest of the Sun and Moon Sect's followers praise Baek Yeon's cruelty as the "qualities of a Heavenly Demon" had always left a bitter taste in her mouth.
The Heavenly Killer Star. It was the innate trait deemed absolutely essential to mastering the secret demonic arts of the Sect Leader's lineage.
Baek So-cheong had not been born with the Heavenly Killer Star. Consequently, the people of the sect quietly looked down on her.
Her birth was another factor.
She was an illegitimate child, born before Baek Mumyeong married his first wife—Baek Yeon's biological mother—and the identity of her own mother remained entirely unknown.
Because the Sect Leader never spoke a word regarding her mother, some whispered in the shadows, questioning whether she was even Baek Mumyeong's biological daughter at all.
Of course, no one dared to utter such doubts aloud in the presence of the Sect Leader.
Yet, Baek So-cheong did not care about those cold stares, nor did they cause her pain.
If anything, she was profoundly grateful that she did not possess the Heavenly Killer Star, and that she had not inherited her father's brutal temperament.
"Yeon has been appointed as the Young Sect Leader."
When she returned to the headquarters after completing her five years of secluded cultivation, Baek Yeon had already ascended to the position of Young Sect Leader.
She accepted it as a matter of course.
While there was no law forbidding a woman from leading the Sun and Moon Sect, she had never harbored any desire to become the Sect Leader, let alone hold any position of significant authority.
It was only natural for Yeon, who possessed the Heavenly Killer Star, to become the Young Sect Leader.
Her only regret was that she had not been by her brother's side to comfort him when he was drowning in grief after losing his mother.
Did Father really intend to let Yeon die back then?
She recalled the time the Young Sect Leader's life had been threatened during the Grand Assembly. The moment So-cheong sensed the assassin's presence, she had tried to rush forward to save him. But her father had held her back, freezing her in place.
Just as the world claimed, the Young Sect Leader was a martial genius. At the tender age of eleven, he had personally dispatched the assassin who tried to stab him.
Had the Sect Leader merely wanted to test his son's reaction? Or had he hoped the young boy would awaken his Heavenly Killer Star as quickly as possible?
Having awakened the Heavenly Killer Star at such a young age, Baek Yeon, as expected, gradually became consumed by a violent urge for bloodshed.
Rumors reached her ears multiple times of how the Young Sect Leader unleashed his Heavenly Killer Star at random, nearly killing his maids and guards.
She had also heard that at the Assembly of Gods and Demons, he had spared a man named Yeongho Bin who dared to challenge him, only to enslave him and subject him to torment worse than death.
Pitying her younger brother, who was being consumed by murderous intent day by day after awakening his star, she decided to see what she could do for him as his older sister.
She spent her days in the sect's library, pouring over ancient records and various martial arts manuals, researching ways to suppress the Heavenly Killer Star. It was all for her brother's sake.
And then, that incident occurred.
During a family dinner—a rare gathering of the Sect Leader's household—the Young Sect Leader had addressed Baek So-cheong as "Lady."
The boy, who had previously maintained at least a facade of politeness, seemed to be declaring that he would no longer acknowledge her as his sister.
What was worse, he had proudly boasted that his hobby was breaking a small bird's leg, nursing it back to health, and then killing it.
Was there truly no way to overcome the Heavenly Killer Star?
Was her brother, Baek Yeon, destined to become a demon corrupted to his very core?
Then came the day the Namgung Clan's leadership visited.
Baek Yeon had saved a girl playing the zither, defied their father's order to execute Namgung Eon, spared his life, and brought him into the fold of the Sun and Moon Sect.
Baek So-cheong resolved then that she could not give up on her brother just yet.
From that moment on, she began treating Baek Yeon with the warmth of an older sister once more.
It was her way of supporting him, hoping that her brother would not be entirely devoured by the demon of the Heavenly Killer Star and could, at the very least, remain human.
Of course, every time Baek Yeon displayed his violent and cruel streak, she couldn't help but doubt if such a thing was even possible.
And today.
Under the cover of a night when everyone else was asleep, the Young Sect Leader scaled the walls of the sect.
Baek So-cheong discovering his late-night excursion was pure coincidence, but it would have been impossible had she not been keeping a close eye on his movements.
Watching Baek Yeon scale the sect's walls with practiced ease, So-cheong felt an unprecedented wave of anxiety wash over her.
"On nights when the moon is full, the Young Sect Leader, driven mad by the Heavenly Killer Star, wanders the streets in a bloodthirsty frenzy."
The rumor, which she had dismissed as utter nonsense, suddenly flashed through her mind.
Without a moment's hesitation, Baek Yeon walked toward an abandoned shrine near the headquarters and slipped inside.
Her heart sank when she realized a group of the sect's disciples had gathered there, having kidnapped a village woman with vile intentions.
What on earth had brought Baek Yeon to this place?
Her question was answered soon enough. Without anyone's help, Baek Yeon subdued the wicked disciples and saved the lives of the woman and her child.
Hidden in the thick brush, Baek So-cheong watched the entire scene unfold.
She had been prepared to step in if Baek Yeon fell into danger, but fortunately, her intervention was unnecessary.
And now.
After sitting in quiet meditation for a long while, the Young Sect Leader opened his eyes.
"Are you awake, little one?"
At those words, Baek So-cheong froze in her tracks.
They were ordinary words... but she had never, not once, heard the Young Sect Leader speak in such a gentle voice, with such a tender tone.
"Where is my mommy?"
"Your mother is resting. She is in the room back there, so go on in."
"Okay..."
Watching Baek Yeon's incredibly warm demeanor, So-cheong was suddenly reminded of the words he had spoken in the past.
"My hobby is giving them hope of survival, only to snuff it out."
With a burning anxiety in her chest, she gripped the hilt of the thin sword at her waist.
If Baek Yeon truly intended to harm the child and her mother as he had claimed back then, she could not simply stand by and watch.
"Mommy is sleeping."
"She must be very tired. It is alright, so you do not need to worry."
The child approached the Young Sect Leader, who remained seated in meditation, and asked him a question.
It was a display completely devoid of the proper etiquette due to the Young Sect Leader of the Sun and Moon Sect, but he did not seem to mind in the slightest.
"What are you doing, big brother?"
"Me? I am keeping watch until you and your mother wake up. To make sure no bad people come back."
"Bad people... Oh, where did those mean misters go?"
"I chased them away."
"You did? How?"
"Well... I am actually quite strong. What do you think? Don't I look pretty scary?"
"You do look scary."
"Haha."
"But you're not."
"...?"
"You look scary, big brother, but you're not a bad person."
"...Haha."
The smile that brushed across Baek Yeon's face under the soft moonlight etched itself deeply into Baek So-cheong's mind.
"My big sister said so too. She said there are good people even among those who look scary."
"Your sister did?"
"Yes. My sister plays the zither, and a scary man broke it. But an even scarier-looking man saved her and bought her a brand-new zither. He even brought meat for our family to eat that day."
"Ah..."
So the girl playing the zither back then was this child's older sister.
Baek Yeon looked just as surprised by this revelation as Baek So-cheong was.
"But it's weird. If you're a good person, why do you look so scary?"
Baek Yeon remained silent for a long moment at the child's innocent question before finally speaking.
"Is it weird?"
"Yes, it's weird. Why is that? My mommy is a good person, but she doesn't look scary at all."
Baek Yeon spoke, wearing a gentle smile she had never seen on him before.
Yet, there was a profound loneliness in his eyes.
"Sometimes, in order for a good person to remain a good person, they have to become a scary person."
"Why?"
"Because that is the fate they were born with."
"What is fate?"
"It is something you have no choice but to accept, even if you hate it with all your heart."
At that moment, Baek So-cheong felt as if she had been struck by a physical blow.
As his only older sister, she had always believed she understood the Young Sect Leader—her brother, Yeon—better than anyone.
But... how was she supposed to reconcile the boy before her with the monster she thought she knew?
"Ah! So you don't want to be scary, big brother, but you have to be scary anyway?"
"Yes. Just like the person who bought your sister her zither."
"That's so sad."
"Do you think so?"
"Yes. Because that person's big sister or little brother might think they're a bad person, even though they're actually really nice."
"Well... that is not always the case."
"Why?"
A sudden, piercing thought struck Baek So-cheong.
Perhaps she, who should have known him best as his sister,
had been harboring a terrible, foolish misunderstanding all this time.
"That person might hate being seen as scary. But..."
Her brother had been suffering blamelessly, bearing the cruel punishment of heaven simply because of his fate as the bearer of the Heavenly Killer Star.
And yet, had she not hastily judged him as nothing more than a violent, cruel child?
Had she been turning a blind eye to her brother as he fought a lonely, desperate battle against his own destiny?
"Because just by being a scary person, he can protect so many people around him."
"The people around him?"
"Yes. Just as you said, that scary person might have a sister or a brother of his own, just like you..."
Baek So-cheong's mind flashed back to the baby bird with the broken leg in the rear garden a year ago.
Unable to believe Baek Yeon's cruel words back then, she had visited the garden every day to watch over it.
She had watched until the baby bird's leg was completely healed, and it finally left its mother's nest to fly off into the sky on its own.
During all that time, Baek Yeon had only occasionally stopped by to quietly ensure the bird was safe before slipping away,
wearing a soft, inscrutable smile.
"Oh! I think Mommy is waking up!"
"Little one, could you do me a favor?"
"What is it?"
"I need to keep looking like a scary person, you see."
"Ah, I get it! You have a big sister too, don't you, big brother? You're doing it for her?"
"Yes, that's right. So, could you tell everyone else that I am a very scary person? Even to your mother."
"Yes, I promise!"
"Thank you. Now, run along to your mother."
"Okay!"
The Young Sect Leader of the Sun and Moon Sect.
A position that reigned at the absolute pinnacle of a place the rest of the world spat upon as the Demonic Cult.
The Young Sect Leader, barely twelve years old, had nowhere to hide from the howling winds of blood.
In that desolate place, Yeon was waging a brutal, solitary war against his own destiny.
Once the mother confirmed her child was safe, she collapsed to her knees and wept for a long time.
The Young Sect Leader merely watched them from a distance.
After a moment, the mother approached Baek Yeon, kneeling and bowing deeply.
"I do not know how to begin to thank you, my benefactor."
"There is no need for thanks, so please rise. I shall escort you to the entrance of the village."
"Though we have very little, I will gather whatever silver we have at home..."
"I said it is fine. I know your circumstances... Just go home and rest well. And do not wander out so late at night again."
"Yes, young master. Thank you so much."
"Mommy! This big brother is scary! Let's go home quickly!"
"Oh my! Sweetheart, you mustn't say such things..."
Baek So-cheong quietly slipped away from the brush and departed.
As she walked back toward the walls of the Sun and Moon Sect, she fell deep into thought.
It was clear that the Young Sect Leader would continue to play the part of a ruthless tyrant.
He would undoubtedly continue to act like a cruel, wicked younger brother to her as well.
The entire world would fear him, shun him, and point fingers at him, all while expecting him to remain a terrifying monster.
But.
If the Young Sect Leader intended to accept that burden and carry on his lonely struggle against fate...
then surely, it wouldn't hurt for at least one person in this world to know his true self.
Even if only one person understood who he really was, and quietly cheered on his way of fighting the world.
Even if she was the only one who stood by his side... surely, that would be alright.