Childhood Friend of the Zenith

Wi Seol-Ah’s memory of that day.

Wi Seol-Ah like today would sometimes have weird dreams.

A dream where she would wield and swing her sword underneath the moonlight.

Wi Seol-Ah would think that this dream was a nightmare.

Too many people died whenever she swung her sword. Even then, the Wi Seol-Ah that killed people didn’t seem to be affected at all.

It was scary to see the people that were infuriated at her for some unknown reason, but the Wi Seol-Ah in her dream didn’t seem to care.

It was a beautiful sword.

It looked similar to the sword her Grandpa showed her a while back.

Grandpa hated me for wielding a sword. I copied Grandpa’s movements to get praise, but instead he got angry at me.

And on that day Grandpa cried.

That was the first time I saw him cry.

After that happened, I promised that I would never play with a sword again.

That promise finally stopped Grandpa’s crying.

He stopped crying, yet he seemed to be wailing inside.

Other people say stuff like, he is benevolent? He is generous? They always use words I don’t understand but I know.

That he is always crying.

Grandpa would always apologize. What is he sorry for? Seol-Ah is happy.

Is it similar to how the maid sisters tell me ‘You don’t need to know yet as you are still young’? I don’t want to be young though…

The version of myself in my dream was tall. My hair was also way longer.

She also had white hair unlike the black one I currently have.

She also had a pretty face.

Everyone says that I’m pretty, but that version of myself in my dream was much prettier.

Can I also become like that?

Then I suddenly got reminded of the Young Master.

‘Young master never says that I’m pretty…’

Everyone told me I was pretty after my hair was tied, so I ran over to Young Master to brag about my appearance.

However, the Young Master averted his gaze right away.

Do I not look pretty in his eyes…?

Young Master is a kind person.

He was the first friend I made after living with only Grandpa for so long.

He was a friend at first, but Grandpa told me that I have to call him Young Master now.

He told me I can’t call him a friend, and that I’d get in trouble if I did…

So I began calling him Young Master.

Young Master looked scary at first, but after I mustered up my courage and spoke to him, he turned out to be a good person.

He told me the potato I gave him was delicious and even gave me a yakgwa. At first, I was so surprised after tasting the yakgwa.

Yakgwa was way tastier than a potato. After that I didn’t have to eat potatoes.

Young Master would always give me yakgwa every single day.

It’d be nice if he also ate it along with me but he told me that he didn’t like sweets.

But when I asked the servant sisters, they told me that the Young Master always loved sweets.

And that he would eat them every day before I came here. Is he lying now so that he can give them to me?

He seems to like dumplings though…

Yesterday he also bought yakgwa and dumplings. I even saw him smile which he rarely does.

But for some reason my heart would ache whenever I see him smile.

When I told Grandpa about this, Grandpa looked at the Young Master with scary eyes. I never saw Grandpa make that face before.

Young Master laughed at me yesterday saying that my face was becoming rounder and rounder because of how I would eat so many snacks.

…So mean, I’m not going to eat yakgwa anymore.

‘…’

N-Not completely, but I’ll only eat tw-two.

So that Young Master would sometimes make the same face as my Grandpa would when he looked at me.

The look he gave me when we first met in the streets.

Like he did when the big hour appeared during our return journey.

The way he looked at me was just like how my Grandpa looked at me.

Why do I feel happy?

Does the Young Master also think that I’m not happy?

I didn’t understand.

I kept dreaming, but today’s nightmare was a little different. I was supposed to wake up by this point, but this was the first time I saw this part of the dream.

The dream continued on and I went into some random house.

In the house there were more people who were also angry at me like before.

I fought again.

My body was drenched in blood. It seemed like I was wounded. Does that not hurt me?

I seemed to be really strong. A lot of people would charge at me but I’d still persevere through.

It was similar to Grandpa’s story. In his story, Grandpa was the strongest.

He would tell me he would beat hundreds of evil people that charged at him… I thought it was a lie but was it real?

I walked forward for a while and ran into a scary looking man.

He looked kind, but also looked scary at the same time.

‘Why?’

The me inside the dream spoke. I had a pretty voice just like my face. Can I really become like that when I grow up…?

The scary yet kind looking man responded.

‘Seol-Ah… You came here to save me…’

‘Shut your mouth and don’t call my name with that filthy mouth of yours. Tell me, when did it all begin?’

‘What do you mean-’

‘I came here after finding out everything so don’t play with me.’

‘I would love to cut you in half right now, but I’m restraining myself. Now answer.’

S-Scary…!

I uttered such scary words with such a pretty face… I’ll make sure I won’t do that when I grow up.

Was it because of my words? The scary yet somewhat kind looking man’s face changed completely.

Now he turned into a really scary looking man…!

‘Ah, did I get found out…? What a shame, I just needed a little more time.’

‘You…!’

‘But it’s fine. It’s enough.’

Crack Crack-

The scary man produced some horrifying noises. His body that was changing in real time looked terrifying.

‘You are too late Seol-Ah. You should have noticed sooner.’

The man gradually became bigger. I charged towards the man looking like I was going to fight him.

I used the same beautiful sword art as last time, but it didn’t work against the man.

‘What…!’

I was surprised. Then something comes out of the man’s body…!

Gasp!

He stabbed my body…!! Something sharp stabbed through my body.

Unlike last time where I was moving fast, I couldn’t dodge the man’s attack.

The man just like that flung me towards a wall. Thud! And I was pinned to the wall just like that.

It was so scary. I wanted to wake up already because of how terrifying it was.

Wake up…! I don’t wanna see something like this… Please…!!

Why am I having such a dream? It was such a scary nightmare.

The me in the nightmare, who was stabbed with a sharp object, was slowly dying.

I wanted to call out to my Grandpa. Grandpa might be able to save me. Grandpa is strong.

Then the version of myself inside the dream began saying something.

What am I saying?

‘…rry.’

I wasn’t able to hear it because it was too quiet.

Then the scary man walked towards me from afar.

What now? What do I do…?

The scary man spoke to me when he was right in front of me.

‘So stupid right? Both you, Seol-Ah and that guy. Especially that guy, he was such an idiot. To think that such an idiot can help someone.’

Tears came out of my eyes upon hearing the man’s words.

Who is that guy? Who was he talking about? I hated how I didn’t know anything even though this was my dream.

The man started to do something to me again. It was the sharp thing he stabbed me with from before.

‘Send this message if you see him there, that he lived a trash life.’

‘I’m sorry… I’m sorry.’

I began apologizing upon hearing the man’s words. But it didn’t seem like I was apologizing to the man.

Then who was I apologizing to…?

The man swung the sharp thing at me.

I shut my eyes tightly as I didn’t want to see it.

“Hiiiik!”

Thankfully I woke up from the nightmare.

My back was drenched with sweat.

When I looked next to me, Grandpa wasn’t there. It seems like he is already outside working.

The nightmare was so scary. I didn’t want to be alone because of it.

Maybe that’s why,

…I wanted to see the Young Master for some reason.

* * * *

A day passed after I went to Hao Clan.

I ate a lot of dumplings yesterday, so I woke up with the resolution to train.

“My name is Gu Jeolyeob. I wish to have a duel with the direct descendant of Gu Clan.”

But who the hell is this…?

As soon as I opened the door, some weirdo began talking to me.

It seemed like he was around the same age as me, and his sharp chin and eyes bore the semblance of Gu Clan.

What was annoying was that he was an insanely handsome man. His appearance and his last name of Gu told me that he was from the Gu Clan.

But he wasn’t a direct descendant of the Lord of Gu.

I for a second thought that it was a secret son that father was hiding, but I didn’t know anyone like that.

“Who are you?”

So who is that? It was a familiar face but I couldn’t remember it.

When I inquired about his identity, Gu Jeolyub or Gu Cheolyub or whatever his name was, his expression distorted a little.

Did I make a mistake? But I seriously don’t remember…

The Second Elder suddenly appears and solves the issue.

“Oh Jeolyub, what brings you here?”

And what brings you here old man…

I wanted to ask the Second Elder why he was hanging around me more than usual lately, but I didn’t bother as I knew he wouldn’t give me an answer.

Gu Jeolyub showed respect to the Second Elder.

“Greetings, Lord Second Elder.”

“Yes, it’s been a while, a year, right?”

“Have you been well?”

“This old man is always well hahaha! What about you?”

“…Don’t suddenly come to my house and start chatting.”

So who was that?

When I continued to stand with a confused look, the Second Elder looked at me pathetically.

“Yangcheon, you seriously don’t know who that is?”

“That’s why I’m asking for the third time.”

“What do I do with you, you have a memory span of a goldfish.”

Why is this old man suddenly insulting me so early in the morning…?

“Jeolyub is the grandson of the First Elder.”

I looked at Jeolyub at the Second Elder’s words. The First Elder is…

‘That annoying old man.’

The Blazing Rain Sword, Gu Changjun, my Father’s uncle, and the brother of my Grandfather.

He wasn’t a man I particularly liked.

I may always think of the Second Elder as a hassle, but I’m also always grateful to him.

This was because of how he never gave up on me.

But the First Elder was different.

There was a lot I could say about him, but I didn’t want to really think about him.

“Anyway, he is the grandson of the First Elder?”

“You don’t know even though you guys saw each other a few times?”

Even when he told me that, I couldn’t remember. He seemed to remember me, but I had no memories of him.

That seemed to piss off Gu Jeolyub a little, which made his lips quiver.

I saw that and immediately apologized.

“Uh, sorr-”

“Makes sense. You’d want to forget me in embarrassment after getting destroyed by me.”

What did you say you bastard?

“But, it is disappointing to see that you haven’t changed one bit even after one year.”

“Lord Second Elder.”

“…What’s up?”

“This kid is the grandson of the First Elder all right, he’s just like him!”

“…”

The Second Elder didn’t respond, but his expressions told me that he agreed.

The kid was just like the First Elder I remembered. He continues to speak, not caring about what I said.

“Haaa…. It’s not right to bully the weak, but it is mandatory… I once again challenge you to a duel-”

“Young Master…!!”

The person who cut off Gu Jeolyub and appeared was Wi Seol-Ah.

“Idiot.”

For some reason Wi Seol-Ah was in a half drenched state. Her wet clothing was slightly revealing her bare skin.

She didn’t even have shoes on as she seemed to be in a hurry.

I quickly grabbed a blanket and wrapped Wi Seol-Ah with it.

“What are you doing! What if the others see you like this.”

“Young Master! I… I had a nightmare…”

“Young Master.”

Gu Jeolyub cut off Wi Seol-Ah. When I looked at Gu Jeolyub, his eyes were right on Wi Seol-Ah.

I noticed his eyes were shaking a little with his face slightly blushing.

“W-Who is this lady?”

…This bastard.