*Note before reading*
-Based on actual history
Please note that this may differ from actual historical records.
-The story itself contains depressing stories.
-It has nothing to do with the artist's real family.
When I opened my eyes, I saw a familiar house, and Myeong Jae-Hyeon should be here soon.
…Dozens of minutes passed, and Myung Jae-hyun still hadn't arrived. Worried that something had happened, I quickly left the house. But what I saw was a shocking sight: the village.
Fires were burning through several houses, and the stench of burning was overwhelming. Corpses were rotting in the streets. I felt nauseous and had a headache. On the other hand, tears welled up in my eyes, unable to overcome the pain of the villagers' deaths. But my immediate thoughts were of the people around me.
Myung Jae-hyun, Yoo Yeon, and finally, Moon Na-young. There was no guarantee these three wouldn't be among those corpses. I had to hurry and find them quickly. But it wasn't easy. The winter of the year the Byungja Tiger arose was recorded as being particularly cold, and that was absolutely true. The bitter wind seemed to rip me apart, and my body froze in an instant, my mouth freezing, and calling their names was too difficult.
I searched the entire village, but couldn't find them. Their faces weren't among the corpses, and they weren't among the living. Then, the place that came to mind was the mountains. With the hope that they might be hiding there, I ran like crazy. I ran up and down the mountains like that.
After some time, I heard a small sound. It was a man's voice. Hoping it was Jaehyun, I ran. Was it because I was in a hurry, or was it because of something else... I ran so fast that I cut myself on the grass in the forest, bled, and fell. But I couldn't stop. I had to run faster, even for a minute and a second.
-Huh...gasp...
The voice gradually came closer, and I became more and more certain that it belonged to Jaehyun. I kept praying in my heart, “Please stay alive, please don’t die,” and ran.
So I found him and them in the grass.
I saw Jaehyun, his face wounded and his eyes lifeless. His body was shaking and his breathing was ragged.
-Hey..what's going on?
-Huh? Isn't that Dongmin? You're alive... Gulp
-Hey, are you okay?
-Fortunately, the arrow just grazed my cheek and I survived.
-Haa… I’m glad you’re alive.
-lol…
He smiled faintly, but eventually started to cry, and I asked him why he was crying.
“It was dawn, and when I woke up because it was hot, this division was up there, and my family was already dead. So, even if I couldn’t save my family, I thought I had to save someone as soon as possible and run away together. So I just ran around without thinking. So I found Yeon Nangja first and ran with her, but then I met the Qing soldiers and was shot by an arrow while running away, and I hurriedly hid in a house, which was Nayoung Nangja’s house. When Nayoung Nangja wasn’t there, I searched for her and found her hiding in a poison jar, so I ran away with her. When I went to look for you, you weren’t there, so the three of us had no choice but to run away, and this is where we ended up. And if you’re worried about getting hurt, you don’t have to. The soldiers just went somewhere else, so you’re safe for now.”
After hearing that story, I was filled with anger. I couldn't protect her and only hurt her. It hurt me that I was of no use.
-Sigh... It's cold...
-Shall we go back to the village..?
-It's already all gone.
-Let's replace the blanket with leaves for now.
It was a cold, melancholy winter night. I could hear Jaehyun's voice, sobbing and holding his breath. Even though I was lying with my back turned, I could feel his warmth and the sound of his heartbeat. Perhaps because I was crying, my heart was beating fast and my body was trembling.
-Jaehyun...Master...
-Uh..why are you like that?
-I guess it's because it's winter... I guess it's because it's cold and painful.
-….
He remained silent to my words. In the long silence, we closed our eyes even more, trying to pretend we didn't know. It was a winter night, with the sound of falling asleep and the moon shining down on us, cold and painful, a particularly sad and painful moon.
With the hope that this pain will no longer be present in this dream.
--(author)--
Guys, I'm planning to resume serializing a work I had stopped serializing.
(Both will be serialized!! This is not a break!!)
This is my friend... It may be strange because it's based on a true story, but
Please show lots of interest!! Have a warm winter everyone!!