teardrop
[Ep.3]
"Then let's make a contract with this monster."
"A contract?"
The man suddenly proposed a contract, and I was puzzled. I'd always thought he was a four-dimensional man, but the sudden offer of a contract caught me off guard. My confusion was fleeting, but the words he spoke then surprised me even more.
"I'll let you live there."
"Would you like to go with me?"
The man's words, saying he could save her, surprised me even more. The woman wondered if those words, that she could live, were a false hope, but the man's eyes before her remained unwavering and clear.
"Sign a contract with me"
I briefly hesitated, clutching at straws, but I nodded, seeing the unwavering gaze of the man before me. And the man, confirming my nod, smiled.
"Then you sign a contract with me?"
The man who said that grabbed my hand and began mumbling something. A few seconds later, a light began to shine from my clasped hands, and something appeared on the backs of my hands. Upon seeing the mark on my hand, the man said, "That's it," and I asked what it was.
"Hmm... I guess it's called a contract certificate."
A contract certificate? Was this something that would remain on the body? Why was there such a large light coming from my hand in the first place? How did this mark suddenly appear? Everything was puzzling. Was it a real monster? The man, perhaps aware of my reaction, began to speak about the contract with a nonchalant expression.
"Anyway, the terms of the contract are that you link your life with mine."
"There are some conditions, but I'll talk to you about it as we go together."
"Wait, wait, are you connecting lives?"
"How can you save someone who is dying without anything?"
"It's not easy to save them."
As the man said, saving a life is not an easy task, and I thought, where will I even live?
"Then we'll be going together, so should we get to know each other?"
"My name is Choi Seung-cheol."
"Choi Seung-cheol" was a monster, but his name sounded like a human name.
"I am Shin Yeo-ju."
"My Lady... Okay. Anyway, it's night now, so let's go to sleep and leave tomorrow morning."
"And this is a gift."
What Seungcheol handed me were new clothes. He said I'd catch a cold if I walked around with him in those clothes.
""Humans get sick a lot when they catch a cold."
"Uh... thank you"
When I received the clothes Seungcheol gave me, I suddenly remembered something I had forgotten."
"Oh, right."
"why?"
"My mom... I have to bury her."
Suddenly, he felt his body become heavy again, reminded of the reality he had briefly forgotten. Seungcheol nodded.
"Oh, I'll help you, let's go."
He readily agreed to help, and Seungcheol's words warmed my heart, as it was the first time I'd received such help in a long time. Of course, on the other hand, I also felt a pang of sadness at the thought of my mother.
So, I went down the hill with Seungcheol and headed towards the village.
The village he'd descended into was still deserted, and the stench seemed even more pungent than yesterday. Seungcheol frowned every time he walked.
"It's worse than it looked from afar..."
I walked and walked like that until I arrived in front of Seungcheol's house, and as soon as I arrived, Seungcheol opened the door and went in.
"Then excuse me for a moment."
Seungcheol went inside the house and checked the interior. He saw his mother lying far away and seemed to be muttering something, but his voice was so quiet that he couldn't hear what she was saying.
Just as Seungcheol was about to lift his mother, Seungcheol walked towards the door, holding his mother by himself.
"I'll join you too!.."
"No, I said I would help, so I'll take it."
"It might be harder if we do it together."
So I went back outside and Seungcheol walked beside me, keeping pace with me, and then he opened his mouth.
"Where should I take you?"
"Uh... well, I don't have anywhere in mind yet."
At those words, Seungcheol seemed to hesitate, then asked if he could take me to the place he'd planned. Since I didn't have a place in mind, I nodded. So I followed Seungcheol and arrived at none other than the tree on the hill where we'd been earlier.
"You said this was a place with memories."
"I think it would be better to bury it in a place with memories."
Seungcheol quietly placed his mother down on the hill and buried her. When he saw her, a tear fell from his eye for no reason.
Seungcheol must have seen me like that, as if he was giving me a moment to think about it, he went behind a tree and disappeared.
Seungcheol's point of view
Unlike the vast fields of Felicia Village, he stood alone in a vast field brimming with life. However, his expression was crumpled, as if he was angry about something, and his muttering made it clear why.
"..."
"The tiger cub finally showed his teeth."
As he said that, he stared intently at the palace that looked like a small dot in the distance.
The heroine's point of view
I burst into tears again, came to my senses, and looked around. Seungcheol didn't seem to be back yet.
"Seungcheol hasn't arrived yet..."
So I decided to sit on the grassy hillside for a while and wait for Seungcheol. I sat there blankly, gazing back at the village, and a question suddenly struck me. The village was in ruins, and even the plants had died, so why was there still grass and trees on this hill? Filled with these questions, I waited for Seungcheol and fell asleep.
And 30 minutes later, Seungcheol returned under the tree and found Yeoju sleeping.
"You're already asleep."
"I guess so... Looking at your eyes, you've been crying for quite some time."
Seungcheol crouched down and looked at Yeoju, then stood up again and looked at the grave next to him.
"sorry"
"I should have come before this happened."
"It's too late, it's too late.."
And then, in the distant night sky, an unusually bright shooting star fell, and Seungcheol hugged the sleeping Yeoju and disappeared somewhere.