The first time I learned about knots was when I was a child.
My father, who lost his mother when I was a baby, is said to have raised me by begging for milk. Forced to give up his job, he literally begged for money here and there.
When I was about four or five years old, my father finally sent me to work as a servant at a temple where priestesses lived. More accurately, he might have been sold, because I saw him take something.
Still, I vaguely suspected as a naive child that my father had sent me away not because he'd sold me for money, but because he couldn't bear to keep raising his daughter in that perpetually hungry, drafty, old house. After spending days visiting the temple and chatting with the chief attendant, my father, on the day I was to be sent away, had me thoroughly washed and dressed me in new clothes. When I arrived at the temple, I realized the new clothes belonged to the workers there, but judging by how perfectly they fit my small, young body, I realized my father had made them for me at my request.
After sharing a bowl of noodles with me in the servants' dining area next to the kitchen, my father left me. I'll never forget the mysterious expression on his face as he said goodbye, seemingly sad yet somehow relieved.
I always thought my father would come find me someday, but after that, he never came back. Was he so guilty that he couldn't come see me anymore? Or was he trying to forget me, using the money he'd sold me to keep me fed for a while? Even though I had a warm meal at the temple and clean clothes, I don't think I ever felt abandoned by my father. My father sent me here because he was poor, not because he abandoned me. That's what I thought.
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Perhaps because I had been begging and watching my father's every move since I was little, I quickly became accustomed to temple life, currying favor with the temple attendant. Starting around the age of six, when I started running errands outside the temple, I'd finish my work early and run around in the mountains behind the temple, mixing in with the neighborhood kids. For some reason, the attendant never scolded me for running around in the mountains, as long as I finished my chores. It wasn't easy for a child to be alone in the suffocating, quiet temple, and since running around outside was the only comfort I had, I'd use my wits to finish my work quickly and then quickly head off to play in the mountains behind the temple.
Running through the mountains was nice because I didn't think about my dad. The more I tried not to wait for him, the more I worried about his shadow looming in front of the dining room next to the kitchen where we last ate together. But when I ran through the mountains, I didn't have to look for his shadow or worry about making a noise in the quiet temple. I really loved running through the mountains.
Then one day, I ended up going to the other side of the mountain, where no one had told me not to go.
According to the story, the place was surrounded by a barrier so that it couldn't be seen by humans. When I first went there, I was dumbfounded because I didn't know how I ended up there.
Originally, I was playing tag and got lost, so I decided to climb up the hill to see where the path was. It definitely seemed like an empty hill, but as I got closer, I saw stone statues on either side and a path that seemed to lead to an entrance. I went down that path as if I was possessed.
In the hazy fog where I couldn't see even an inch ahead, I took a step and rabbit's feet appeared on both sides, creating a staircase. And when I tried to climb the stairs and take another step, the stairs seemed to be alive and the next step appeared at my pace. Should I go back...? I looked back, but I was trapped in the hazy fog and couldn't see anything. Step by step... I climbed the living stairs. After passing through the stairs covered in hazy fog, the damp fog disappeared and a wall with heavy black roof tiles, dry and fluffy in the sunlight, appeared.
And along the wall, there were neatly carved stone steps. If I went a little further, would I find a path leading back to the temple? I climbed the stairs.
But as soon as I climbed the stairs, I was caught by the doorman.
"Little one, who did you come to see..?"
The gatekeeper had pointed ears covered in gray fur, and I could tell right away that this was not a human village.
That place was the village of the wolf tribe that I had only heard about from my father.
It was said that wolves could conceal their souls and roam around in human form, and that they would spend the daytime hours when they were not sleeping in human form. However, the lower the rank, the weaker the Taoist power, making it difficult to completely conceal the souls, and wolf marks such as ears and tails would remain. Although there was no significant discrimination based on rank, it was said that since rank was easily evident in appearance, there were no major fights over hierarchy or servility to each other based on rank, and they just lived that way.
“That, that’s right...”
But when I actually met the wolf tribe that I'd only heard about from my dad, I was terrified. He may be human now, but he can also turn into a wolf. So, he could suddenly attack me, right?
‘Oh my... how did I end up here...? What will happen if I answer wrong here...?’
I swallowed nervously as I looked at the soldier's long black fingernails holding the hilt of his sword.
Who... who should I say I'm meeting...? Let's quickly turn the wheel...
“The son of the chieftain!! Oh, we were supposed to meet today,
“I came to see you instead of coming!”
For some reason, I assumed there would be a chief here, and if so, he would have a son. Why the chief's son, of all people...? I don't know why. I felt I had to mention someone who might exist here. The gatekeeper's eyes gleamed sharply at my words, and he suddenly called out to a young girl passing by.
“Hey, take this kid to the chief’s son..
I heard you came to meet our prince, let's see if it's true.
These days, no one has been coming up the stairs at all.
“You have to be able to trust it..”
The gatekeeper's last muttered words made me tense.
Before I knew it, I was walking through the village, surrounded by a young girl with a plump tail in front of me and a boy soldier with long fangs behind me.
The inner road of the village was lined with grand tile-roofed houses, warm yet somehow imposing. As they passed each house, they saw young wolves frolicking between the walls and adults in elaborate attire. The servant and the soldier entered the gate of the largest tile-roofed house in the innermost part of the village. Entering through the gate, they saw a large house, perched on a high pedestal, with a massive tiled roof that seemed somehow overwhelming.
The girl called out to a servant in green silk who was passing by in the hallway, jumped up onto the pedestal, and whispered in his ear about the situation. The servant tilted his head and spoke to the door.
“Your Majesty, we have a guest, a human.”
“Huh..? What did you say??”
I heard someone walking out of the room.
“And… I told you not to call me prince, but young master… That title is a bit embarrassing...”
The boy who came out, muttering quietly, looked to be around my age. He had gray hair with a hint of blue, a sturdy face, and especially his sparkling, dazzling eyes, which were like those of a gray wolf.
The child came out and looked at the soldiers and attendants standing around me, seeming to take a moment to assess the situation. I, a child who had somehow come here without knowing anything, began to sweat. Suddenly, the child, lost in thought, looked at me and smiled.
"Yeah, why are you coming now! I've been waiting for you~~
This is my guest. Come in quickly.. "
As he turned and entered the room, a cool breeze blew from the pine grove behind the house, gently swaying the wind chimes at the end of the long eaves. The soft sound echoing from the wind chimes somehow brought a sense of relief to my heart.
I took off my shoes on the stepping stone, keeping an eye on the silk-clad servant, and smiled awkwardly. Then, somehow, feeling like I'd averted the crisis, I sighed in relief and entered the open door in the hallway. But I couldn't help but tense up. A child, with the sharp, cold gaze of a wolf, was waiting for me in the room.
The child, who had a calm and cautious personality, opened his mouth and introduced himself only after he had gotten rid of everyone around him.
“Hello.. I’m Lee Gyeol. Actually, I really wanted to meet a human.
So now that I've brought you here, can you tell me how you know me?
“I want to know if I can trust you.”
Instantly realizing my situation, I knelt down and began to explain my situation. I began by telling her about how I'd stumbled upon this place, the story of my childhood, when I'd heard about the wolf tribe, how I'd come to work at the priestess's temple, and so on... I spoke in a frenzy. Then, suddenly, I realized I needed a justification for my presence, so I raised my head and looked into Gyeol's eyes. I said this.
“I.. I want to be friends with you..”
The wolf tribe I only heard about from my dad... My dad always told me that I needed at least one friend like a wolf. It's not easy to make friends in the temple, so wouldn't it be even better if I had a wolf friend?! But what if I refuse... what if they try to get rid of me...?? Oh my..! It's either all or nothing. Either make a friend or end it here... After I actually said that I wanted to be friends, my heart started pounding and my mind was in turmoil.
Kyeol asked me to give him time to consider whether or not he could be her friend. He said that to wolves, becoming friends meant committing to trusting them for the rest of their lives, so they needed time to think about it.
“So you... came through the stairs covered in fog...?? That’s really weird...”
Gyeol seemed to be thinking about my story, my entrance through the stairs, and my behavior, while I sat on a soft cushion in the middle of the room and waited for Gyeol to say something. As I sat in the middle of the room and looked around, I saw moon jars scattered here and there and books piled up on the four-sided table. Finally, a sharp sword in the corner of the room also caught my eye.
After a while, Kyeol got up from his seat and extended his hand to me, who was sitting in the corner.
“Okay. Be my friend..!”
I was worried I'd be late for home after wandering around, so I decided to stay friends with Gyeol and headed straight back to the temple. Then, after debating whether to return, I remembered my father, who often talked to me about the wolf tribe, and a few days later, I went back to see Gyeol.
Gyeol was very happy to see me. He took me to the stream west of the house.
“If I make a promise on the water’s edge, it means I will never break it.”
The knot made a promise to me.
"You can come to the wolf clan territory whenever you want. While you're here with me, I'll always protect you from harm. That's why you're my first human friend."
With this, I became the only person who could enter the wolf tribe's territory, which had been cut off from human contact, at any time.