1440 - Chapter 59

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 59
“Live. At all costs.”
At that moment, a woman’s voice embedded itself in her mind. The voice that had offered a brief word and then vanished sounded like it belonged to an old woman, yet also to a young girl.
It was not the voice of Chilseong, who had been in meditation, but it felt like the voice of a higher deity—so vivid and intense that it poured into her brain with a light brilliant enough to melt it.
Though she had touched a god’s voice only for the briefest moment, its meaning came through unmistakably.
“……Live. No matter what.”
When Yeonsu opened her eyes, she gazed down at the Purification Water gleaming in moonlight. A full moon flooded the night with white light, hovering in the center of the white porcelain bowl.
Without any rational basis, she became certain that the god who had told her to live was Samshin. Live at all costs.
Yeonsu glanced back over her shoulder. The man who had been hiding in the quilts and watching her secretly was already asleep.
A soft laugh escaped her. The sight of him suddenly eased her heart. Now she knew exactly what she had to do and which direction she had to go.
The god’s words just now had felt less like a warning and more like earnest entreaty—a desperate wish expressed through divine utterance. And it seemed like a herald of some danger or misfortune that would find her in the days to come.
It was not a curse, but a god’s call wishing for her wellbeing, and to that, Yeonsu answered silently within herself: yes.
To pull that man out of this Hell-like Land, it was crucial that she stand firm herself.
For his sake, Baek Yeonsu would never collapse.
***
The next morning, the man woke earlier than Yeonsu for once and immediately examined her complexion and vitality. Then he checked his own body.
“Why?”
“……Why what?”
At the man’s murmur, Yeonsu opened her eyes. The man had grown quite adept at speaking his thoughts aloud now. And Yeonsu was deeply fond of the way this habit was taking root.
He smiled tenderly and stroked the man’s back.
“Why what?”
When she asked again, the man lifted the hem of Yeonsu’s shirt upward. Then he examined his own skin again and tilted his head in confusion.
“Why hasn’t the scar transferred to me?”
At that, Yeonsu laughed. Was that really so surprising?
“It’s fortunate it didn’t transfer. In the first place, it wasn’t a wound large enough to pass on, and the larger the injury, the less it should transfer at all.”
“It should transfer. My body heals anyway. The most important thing is that you don’t suffer.”
“…….”
Though it sounded masochistic, she understood it wasn’t meant that way. It came from a heart that held her dear, and knowing this so well made her both ache and feel joy.
Still lying down, Yeonsu drew the man close and held him in her arms. Then, just as he did for her, she gently stroked his back and hair with her hands.
“Don’t suffer. If you hurt, I hurt too.”
She repeated the words he always spoke to her. The man said nothing. His already small frame only curled up tighter.
“I mean it. Don’t suffer. No matter how quickly you heal, that doesn’t mean you don’t feel the pain.”
After stroking the man for a moment, Yeonsu rose slowly from the bed. When he tried to get up as well, she tucked the blanket snugly around him and told him to stay, then went to the entrance of the Annex and returned carrying something large in her arms.
It was a bag larger than Yeonsu’s own body.
When she opened the zipper on the bag placed in the center of the room, black fabric appeared. Inside the neat silk—its luster slightly muted—lay thick padding thick enough to convey warmth at mere sight.
A long black robe falling to the ankles. An elegant Cheollik with delicate pleats below the waist. And a Dapho as an outer layer to ward off the cold, with generous sleeves and plump padding.
There were no special ornaments, nothing showy. They had been made with only one intention: to keep the wearer warm and comfortable.
She had originally planned to give them yesterday, but when she heard that Baek Yeonhyung was heading toward the Annex, she had gotten caught up with the man in such confusion…….
“At first I was going to start with a shirt—the kind of clothing I’m wearing now, that is. But I thought traditional clothing would be more familiar to you, so I prepared these instead. Later, we can gradually get you accustomed to my kind of clothes too.”
“Later?”
At the man’s question, Yeonsu, who had been holding up the Cheollik and admiring how it looked against his frame, smiled.
“That way we can go outside together, eat delicious things, and see beautiful things.”
The man almost forgot his own confined circumstances, struck by how easily and matter-of-factly Yeonsu spoke of the future, as if such questions were obvious.
He felt somewhat bewildered at his own optimism, yet at the same time, it seemed to him that Yeonsu could truly extract him from this place without difficulty.
After changing the man into warmer clothes that wrapped his body better, Yeonsu combed his long hair one final time. As she drew the fine-toothed comb through his hair, a luster rivaling silk seemed to flow down.
Enchanted by that hair, Yeonsu lingered touching it until the man turned to look at her with a puzzled expression.
“Is something the matter……?”
“No. It’s just beautiful.”
“……Ha. You say that often.”
“……Wow.”
At the sound of the man’s laughter—heard for the first time—Yeonsu inadvertently let out an exclamation.
He laughed softly, his voice trembling faintly in the quiet, and it sounded so lovely. That clichéd expression about eardrums melting fit perfectly.
Before the man could become self-conscious about having laughed and close his mouth, Yeonsu quickly controlled her expression. Then she began to braid the long hair she had been touching, gathering it into one strand.
57
As she drew the thick, silken hair downward and slowly braided it, the motion felt strangely familiar to her hands. Though it was her first time braiding someone’s hair, her hands worked with such dexterity that not a strand fell out of place—the braid emerged smooth and even.
“……This is strange.”
“What’s strange?”
When the man asked, Yeonsu brought her forehead close to his shoulder and whispered.
“It feels strangely wistful. As if we’ve done this before—I’m having a strange sense of déjà vu.”
Then the man smiled quietly, his lips curving upward—a smile hidden from Yeonsu, who sat behind him.
“Oh, but would it be all right if I asked you something?”
The man, who had been quietly letting her braid his hair, started to turn and glance back, but Yeonsu stopped him, using the excuse that his hair would come undone.
“Yes. Anything.”
With permission granted, she bit back the childish grin threatening to split her face and cleared her throat. “Ahem, ahem.”
“Your… name. I’d like to know your name.”
It wasn’t a difficult question when she thought about it. And yet it struck her as strange that they’d been together all this time without ever learning it.
But the man didn’t answer for a long while.
“…? Um, if it’s something that troubles you—”
Yeonsu added belatedly, and the man shook his hand gently in denial.
“It’s not that. It’s simply been so long that I can’t recall it.”
Only then did Yeonsu remember that he was a man from fifteen hundred years ago. During all that time, there would have been no one to call him by that name, so it was hardly surprising he’d forgotten it.
“Then there’s no need to answer. I was simply trying to think of what to call you.”
She finished braiding his hair and tied it off, then let it go. Once he realized she was done, the man turned his head and looked at her.
“Would you give me one? A name?”
Caught off guard by his unexpected request, Yeonsu pointed to herself in surprise.
“Me? I… choose your name?”
“Yes. There is only you to call me by a name, so it would be right for you to choose it.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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