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It was a rainy day.

The rain continued to pour as if the sky itself had been pierced by a hole, and perhaps the sky was angry too, constantly unleashing thunder that day.

Underneath the rain that seemed to wipe away that sweltering summer day, a man cautiously wandered through the forest.

He seemed unbothered by the rain, walking slowly as if searching for something.

He walked aimlessly for a long time.

His damp clothes felt uncomfortable, yet he only wished that what was inside them remained dry.

He held whatever it was carefully in his arms and walked on for a while longer.

Just as he pushed through the grassy underbrush and discovered a colossal tree, he let out a soft sigh.

He had found what he had been looking for.

After wandering for nearly half a day, he finally found it.

“What are you doing here?” he said, trying to hide his relief with just a hint of sharpness in his voice.

What could he do? He was being kind, yet his emotions still hadn’t subdued.

The woman, who had been sitting under the tree with her head buried in her knees, lifted her gaze.

“Why did you come?” she asked bluntly.

Though she raised her head, her eyes did not meet his.

She was well aware that she was trying not to look at him.

Watching her silently, the man’s hand moved to gently tuck the damp hair that was sticking to her cheek behind her ear.

He could’ve just left it, but the woman didn’t resist that action.

“It’s cold,” he said.

Upon hearing this, the woman scoffed.

“Cold? Wasn’t it you who said it was too hot because it’s summer?”

“I didn’t know it would rain.”

He wasn’t a god. How could he have known it would rain?

If he had known, he wouldn’t have run away like this.

“No, that too is just an excuse.”

The man shook his head, suddenly feeling it was amusing. He then carefully pulled out what he had been holding in his arms.

He brought out a cloth and gently placed it on the woman’s head, smoothing it over her hair.

His intention was to dry her off, but as their gazes momentarily aligned, he seized the chance to speak again.

“I’m sorry.”

“…”

“I admit my words were harsh. They were things I shouldn’t have said to you.”

“…”

The woman didn’t respond to his words, yet she understood that not stopping his actions indicated her willingness to listen.

“It’s very cold. You can hate me all you want, but can you please go back?”

He asked, watching for her reaction. After a moment, she slowly replied.

“Don’t ever say go away again.”

“Okay. I was wrong.”

“Everyone in this world can treat me that way, but you can’t.”

“I understand. I won’t do that even in anger.”

“And… you must keep coming to find me every time this happens.”

“Sure. Whenever you want.”

“Promise.”

The woman raised her pinky finger towards him.

He stared at it for a moment, then gently released his grip and extended his own pinky in the same way.

Their pinkies intertwined.

It seemed that with this act, she felt relieved enough to remove the cloth she had been wearing.

Her beautiful purple eyes sparkled brightly.

“Do you know?”

The sight of her smiling with tear-filled eyes was truly lovely.

The thought crossed the man’s mind as he gazed at her face.

“You told me I could hate you.”

The woman’s hand touched his cheek.

“That’s something I can’t do.”

“…”

“It’s really upsetting, you know.”

Her hand fell lightly from his cheek, and suddenly, she spread her arms toward him.

“Hold me.”

Without a word, the man embraced her.

At that moment, the rain that had been pouring like a lie ceased, and a rainbow appeared in the sky.

The woman smiled at it, and the man couldn’t help but repeat the words she had spoken.

“Anytime. No matter what happens, I must seek you out.”

He continued to repeat those words.

*

Swoosh—!!

The sound of something pouring made the woman open her eyes.

“…”

Had she just dozed off for a moment?

Her head hurt.

It felt as if she had recalled something, but was it merely a fleeting dream? She couldn’t remember anything.

It was always like this.

Whenever she felt she was about to remember something, it would drift away into nothingness.

She felt she must grasp and hold onto it tightly, yet she couldn’t manage to do that.

It simply flowed away, endlessly mixing with the raindrops.

“…Ugh.”

Suddenly, the woman clasped her chest with her hand.

Right where her heart was.

“Ugh…”

It hurt.

Had she been injured somewhere? Not exactly.

It felt too painful to be just a physical ache; it was more like a burning sensation deep within.

“Ugh… Huh…”

Why was it so hard?

The woman didn’t recognize the feeling as sadness, nor did she know that this uncomfortable sensation was rage.

She just felt wrong.

What did she feel wrong about? She couldn’t grasp the reason, yet it felt overwhelmingly unpleasant.

“…”

As she reflected on her confusing emotions, she gazed down at her small hands.

The small hand that had clenched into a fist to strike someone earlier.

“…”

Staring at it quietly, she suddenly slapped the back of her hand.

It wasn’t weak, and before long, a red mark rose on her hand.

It hurt.

It hurt not just from the injury, but more deeply from the turmoil within.

“…”

A bitter feeling arose.

But, what was bad?

Was it him, or perhaps…

“Am I bad?”

Was she wrong for hitting him?

Why had she struck him?

Wiping her stinging hand, the woman buried her face back into her knees.

“…He must be disgusted…”

If she went back, he would likely resent her.

Her sister had said that if she had done something wrong, she could just apologize.

Would it be okay if she went now to apologize? Yet, the woman’s mind spun, and no answer surfaced.

More than that, she feared he wouldn’t accept her apology.

Why was that frightening?

Why was she afraid of this?

Who was he, and who was she?

These were questions she could not answer. Since the moment she was born, she had asked herself, but still, she could not find the answer.

“Since the moment I was born….”

The moment she existed as herself.

Reflecting on this, the woman stumbled upon another question.

“When was I born?”

Why had she appeared, and from whom did she come?

Furthermore, for what purpose did she exist?

The moment she pondered all of this, a sudden jolt—!

“Ugh…!”

She clutched her head. A wave of excruciating pain hit her all at once.

“Uuh… Uuh…”

It was so painful that she held her head and let out muffled whimpers.

During this overwhelming pain, she suddenly felt a hand cover hers.

A warm hand.

As it touched her, the pain began to gradually fade.

And shortly thereafter, just as the pain fully subsided, the woman raised her head with slightly reddened eyes.

Before her stood a ruggedly handsome young man, soaked from the rain.

“…Damn it….”

His eyes were filled with irritation, and it was evident he was frustrated.

Seeing him, the woman flinched.

“Are you crazy? Why the hell did you punch someone and then run away?”

“…Huh? Wh-What?”

“What do you mean ‘what’? Are you wearing flowers on your head? It’s raining, what the hell are you doing?”

He shook his head violently as if disgusted by his soaked clothes, splashing water everywhere.

“Damn it. This miserable town is raining cats and dogs, too.”

Tsk, tsk.

He clicked his tongue repeatedly, and then energy began to radiate from his body.

Fwooosh!

The heat rose, drying off his drenched body in an instant, of course.

Sshhh!

Moisture evaporated, and his clothes dried quickly. The pouring rain couldn’t withstand the surge of heat and began to fade.

With a whoosh—!

After drying the woman’s soaked body, he quietly gazed at her.

“Hey.”

“…!”

The woman turned her gaze at being called.

But just then, the young man, Gu Yangcheong, firmly grabbed her cheeks and turned her face back toward him.

“Don’t look away. Look straight at me.”

“…”

“Is it fun to hit and run?”

“…”

“Is it fun? Do you have any idea how long I searched for you?”

The woman remained silent.

She felt the urge to push his hands away at any moment, but her fingers simply twitched.

“It’s ridiculous. You messed things up and then simply vanished. You ruined everything!”

“…”

“I should have chased after you. I couldn’t, you know?”

His words expressed sheer incredulity, and despite her silence, the woman couldn’t help but stare at him.

“I-I should have gone. Why didn’t I? Am I really an idiot?”

His words bordered on lamentation.

Even while hearing those words, the woman kept staring into Gu Yangcheong’s eyes.

“No, I wouldn’t have found you even if I had chased after you. Ugh, damn it! This is all your fault!”

“…What?”

“You’re driving me crazy! Why does it have to rain again like this? Damn it!”

He ran his hand roughly through his hair, rising to his feet.

“…This is all messed up.”

There were things he needed to do, but everything had gone awry.

The thought of that made him sigh heavily.

Then, Gu Yangcheong turned to the woman and said,

“Stop just staring. Get up. Aren’t you coming? You’re going to stay out in the rain?”

“…”

The woman finally rose in response to his command. She considered reaching out with something but decided against it.

She had a gut feeling he wouldn’t accept it.

“Hurry up and follow me. I won’t wait forever, so don’t drag your feet.”

After confirming that she had stood up, Gu Yangcheong began to walk away.

Although he said that, his pace was slower than usual.

“…”

The woman hurriedly caught up to his side.

“Hey, back off!”

Gu Yangcheong frowned at her closeness, yet again, he just protested verbally without pushing her away.

As they walked together, she looked up at the sky.

“A rainbow.”

“What?”

“There’s a rainbow.”

Upon hearing her words, Gu Yangcheong looked up at the sky.

“What crazy nonsense is this? Can’t you see that it’s raining over there?”

The sky was filled with pouring rain, making it impossible to see any rainbow.

Yet, regardless of this,

“No, I can see the rainbow.”

The woman insisted that she saw it.

Very vividly, indeed.

The Heavenly Nature of Mankye.

A space deemed to be where the sky resides, visited by countless beings.

No one could know its location, and no one could enter or leave without the permission of the master of this place.

Thud.

Suddenly, someone appeared there and gently landed.

Drop.

It seemed that the person had been caught in the rain, as water droplets plopped down from their figure.

Just as those droplets were about to touch the ground,

Woosh—!

A surge of energy was felt, and the droplets froze in the air.

“…”

Noticing this, a woman with a black mask knelt down.

“You’ve come.”

Soon, a voice emanated from the front.

It was a soft and gentle tone, and at the same time, a floral fragrance wafted in from somewhere.

“Was your outing pleasant?”

Scarlet eyes turned towards Yarang.

Swoosh.

With a rustling sound, snowy white fur appeared around them.

Tap.

Before long, the sound of footsteps reached her ears as well.

“Daughter.”

“…”

Yarang did not respond to the call.

“It seems it’s raining outside. Isn’t it?”

She nodded in answer to the question.

“Yes, that’s why you said your hearing was off…”

The woman closed her eyes sleepily, as if she understood the reason.

“Things that didn’t fall suddenly start pouring down.”

As if expressing her displeasure about the rain, the woman’s voice was laced with exhaustion.

“One.”

Then, opening her eyes again, the woman looked directly at Yarang.

“If it’s you, you must have seen something worth seeing, right?”

“…”

Yarang, hearing the question, again chose not to respond but instead moved her hand.

At that, a flicker of interest appeared in the woman’s weary eyes.

 

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