Chapter 253
"An apology?"
"Yeah. I also have something to give you."
As I spoke, In-Ah tilted her head as if she didn't understand me. I led her toward the Paladin Order.
At first, she didn't want to follow me, but after persistently persuading her, she reluctantly started following me.
While walking, I felt a gaze, so I looked up at the sky. A raven was perched on a stretched wire, looking down at us. The raven stared at us with its pale eyes for a while, then flew away shortly after.
"Why? What's up?"
"I was just looking at a star."
Just like me, In-Ah raised her head and said, "A star? There are none."
I also raised my head and looked at the night sky. Then I nodded.
"Yeah, looks like there aren’t any."
There were no stars. Nor were there any ravens. The night sky was dark, with street lamps emitting dim light along the alley.
I quietly walked with her. She walked slowly, and I matched her pace as I walked beside her.
She glanced at me and asked, "But why are you still wearing your paladin uniform?"
I realized belatedly that I had not changed my clothes.
Originally, I should have changed right after finishing work, but I was in such a hurry that I didn't even have time for that. I absentmindedly touched my paladin uniform, which still smelled of smoke.
"I was in a hurry. Is it weird?"
"Yeah. I think a priest's robe would suit you better."
"Come to think of it, I'm curious about what you’d look like with your priest's robes on."
"I can’t show you. I’d look so pretty that you’d fall for me.”
"..."
As we chatted aimlessly, we arrived at the Paladin Order. It took about twenty minutes to get from the Paladin Order to In-Ah's house, but it would take even longer to return to the Paladin Order. Quite a few people were gathered in front of the Paladin Order.
A person who looked like a priest specializing in healing was present, as were Director Han Dae-Ho and Oh Hee-Jin. They stood around Yoon-Ah, talking about something.
Yoon-Ah, who had been at the hospital, woke up and seemed to have returned to the Paladin Order. I looked at the people gathered in front of the Paladin Order and then turned my head to see In-Ah.
She was staring at Yoon-Ah with a dumbfounded expression on her face.
"We found your sister."
"..."
"Last time, ah."
Step, step.
I tried to apologize to her, but I didn’t have the opportunity to do so. In-Ah slowly approached Yoon-Ah step by step with a vacant expression on her face.
I just kept my mouth shut and watched the two of them. In-Ah approached Yoon-Ah with such slow steps, and she blankly stared at Yoon-Ah's face for a while.
The healing priest next to Yoon-Ah tried to stop the approaching In-Ah, but Han Dae-Ho quickly noticed and stopped the healing priest.
In-Ah looked at Yoon-Ah, then reached out and gently stroked Yoon-Ah's cheek. She even pinched her.
"Ouch," Yoon-Ah muttered softly as she winced and frowned.
"Ah, sis. What are you doing—" Yoon-Ah said.
Grasp.
As soon as In-Ah heard Yoon-Ah's voice, she hugged her. And she cried like a baby. Yoon-Ah seemed flustered at first, but soon closed her eyes and accepted her embrace. In-Ah hugged Yoon-Ah for many minutes. She cried nonstop as if she was trying to pour out all of her tears.
While she sobbed, no one said a word. The priest specializing in healing, Oh Hee-Jin, Han Dae-Ho, and I just watched their reunion in silence.
I kept my mouth shut because I didn't want to disturb their reunion, and the others probably stayed quiet for similar reasons.
The priest specializing in healing quietly wiped away tears as they watched the reunion.
Han Dae-Ho, silently watching the two, approached me and said, "It turned out well."
I nodded.
Han Dae-Ho continued, "Good job, Sun-Woo." He patted my shoulder. I listened to Han Dae-Ho without nodding or shaking my head. Memories of all the days I spent trying to treat Yoon-Ah flashed through my mind.
There were times when I wanted to give up because I was too tired, and there were times when I felt despair because Yoon-Ah was not getting any better. There were also times I got angry at my incompetence.
I had collapsed and lost consciousness several times and had vomited blood countless times.
I looked at In-Ah. She cried and cried, and then after getting exhausted from crying, she sat down. Then she smiled.
She smiled, then cried, and then smiled again. I remembered the frustration and anger I felt watching Yoon-Ah not improving at all and all the effort I put in to overcome those feelings. I realized that all those struggles were for the sake of this moment.
I smiled.
"You look good when you smile like that. Do it more often," Han Dae-Ho joked.
I smiled and nodded.
***
The punishment for assaulting the Paladin Order Northern Branch Director was announced. Considering that it happened during dispatch training as an apprentice paladin, my assignment was to do some volunteer work for the school.
This level of punishment would not remain on the record, so it would not affect my attempts to join the Central Paladin Order in the future.
Thanks to Director Han Dae-Ho, it ended with such a minor punishment despite assaulting the northern branch’s director.
He negotiated with the Paladin Order Northern Branch Director and traveled around to different places to actively support me. I was truly grateful.
The fact that I had to go to school even on weekends to do volunteer work was dreadful, but I managed to endure it by thinking that it was fortunate that my punishment ended with just this.
After finishing my volunteer work, I was resting in the dormitory when I received a call from In-Ah.
"Hello?"
—Ah, um, cough! Ah? Ah, hello! Yes, hello?
While clearing her throat, In-Ah belatedly realized I had answered the phone. Judging by the fact that she said ‘hello’ twice, she seemed quite flustered.
I chuckled and moved the phone from my left ear to my right.
"Yeah, what's up?"
—Where are you... at the moment? Are you busy because it's the weekend?
"I’m at the dormitory. I’m not busy."
—Really? Then... um...
"Shall we meet for a bit? There's nothing for me to do anyway," I said, saying what she was about to say.
I directly asked her because if I waited for her to say it, we would have to talk for several minutes.
—Sure! No, I mean, let’s do that! How about... around 4 o'clock? In front of the school.
"Okay."
Beep.
In-Ah hastily responded in a seemingly flustered manner and then hung up as soon as I replied. It would be four o’clock in around an hour. We were meeting quite suddenly, but I wasn't flustered. I thought it would be a good opportunity to ask about Yoon-Ah's condition and also a chance to check on In-Ah's well-being.
In fact, I was glad that she had called me first. I prepared to go out. I washed up, picked out suitable clothes, and went outside. It was a windy day, and the wind carried the smell of autumn.
I was grateful that I was at least able to feel the change of seasons through scent. When I thought about how summer was over and how autumn had arrived, the wind suddenly felt somewhat chilly. It didn’t actually feel chilly, though.
There was still about half an hour left until the appointment time, so I walked around the school area. While enjoying the scent of autumn, suddenly a burning smell caught my nose. It was the familiar smell of cigarettes.
[Did I disturb you?]
I turned my head, and Baron Samedi was walking beside me. Purple smoke rose from the cigar pipe in his mouth.
When the wind blew, the smoke dispersed. I glanced at him with a frown but didn't say anything, just in case someone was nearby.
[Feel free to respond. No one’s going to listen anyway. Even if someone overhears, just pretend you were on the phone.]
"Then, please put out the cigarette. No, can you just quit smoking?"
[This is my life’s only pleasure. If you tell me not to do this, what should I live for?]
"Then die."
[That's not so bad either,] Baron Samedi chuckled.
I waved my hand to try to dispel the smoke coming from Baron Samedi's cigar.
I was going to meet In-Ah soon. It would be awkward to have the smell of a cigar on my body.
As I brushed my clothes and walked, I saw someone waving at me in the distance. It was In-Ah. I quickly turned around, looked at Baron Samedi, and said, "Go away now. What if she sees us..."
[It's okay.]
Unlike my urgent tone of voice, Baron Samedi spoke calmly and casually.
[She won't be able to see me now.]
While Baron Samedi was speaking, In-Ah had come closer. She waved her hand with a bright smile.
I waved my hand with an awkward smile because I was concerned about Baron Samedi. She approached me with small steps.
"You're really early, aren’t you? It's only 3:40," In-Ah said.
I glanced briefly in Baron Samedi's direction. He was still smiling as he continued to smoke his pipe.
Even though the air around him was thick with the smoke from his pipe, In-Ah couldn't smell the smoke emanating from Baron Samedi. It was as if his figure was invisible.
[See, aren’t I right? I’ll go now,] Baron Samedi said with a chuckle.
He soon turned into a purple mist, disappearing into the wind along with the smoke he exhaled.
I stared at that sight for a while. In-Ah looked at me and tilted her head.
"What are you looking at?" she asked.
I couldn't come up with a response, so I mumbled vaguely, "Oh, nothing..."
I thought about eating but decided it was too early, so we just went to a caféé. We ordered our drinks and sat down before engaging in some idle conversation. Eventually, silence fell upon us.
I looked at her. She was looking at me too while chewing on her lips. She seemed to have something to say, but hesitated to speak. Thinking I knew what she wanted to say, I decided to speak first.
"About last time."
"...I-I was going to say it first!" she said, her eyes widening like saucers.
Then, blushing, she lowered her head.
She looked down at the ground with her lips jutting out, and then, as if resolving herself, she slowly raised her head.
She looked into my eyes and said, "Sorry. I was too harsh with my words back then."
"It's okay... I was harsh too at that time..."
"Hmph, that's true too, but still, I started it."
We apologized to each other and left the café. It was supposed to be a brief meeting, and In-Ah said she had to go in quickly because she was going to have dinner with her family.
Her mother had been on a business trip abroad, and she returned a few days ago. In-Ah said it had been a long time since the whole family, including Yoon-Ah, had dinner together, and she seemed very excited.
I decided to take her home. On the way, the wind blew. I could smell the scent of autumn from the wind.
She tried to block the wind by adjusting her collar. When the wind subsided, she looked at me and said, "I used to dislike autumn."
"Didn't you say you disliked winter? Because it's cold."
"I disliked autumn more than winter. Winter has Christmas, but autumn has nothing. It's just cold."
I listened to her silently.
She looked at me with a bright smile and said, "But now, autumn seems nice too, thanks to you."
I also smiled back at her. In-Ah had her hands behind her back as she looked at the fallen leaves hanging precariously on the end of a branch and said, "It seems like things will get better now."
She was smiling, and I was looking at her. A bright and clear smile similar to the one I had seen before within Yoon-Ah’s memories bloomed on her face.
She could not see Baron Samedi nor smell the scent of Baron Samedi's cigar. It wasn't just Yoon-Ah who had gotten better. In-Ah’s condition was also much better than before.
I began to think that perhaps I had not only treated Yoon-Ah but also In-Ah. Perhaps I had also been healed as a result as well.
At that moment, In-Ah looked at me and asked, "Why are you crying?"
I wiped my eyes with my sleeve. I really was crying.
I didn't know when my tears started flowing or why. No matter how much I wiped, the tears didn't stop.
"Hey, why are you suddenly... Did I do something wrong today?" In-Ah said in confusion.
She tried to wipe my tears with her sleeve. I blocked her hand and shook my head.
"It’s... because I’m happy."
"Really? Is that really why you're crying? I didn't do anything wrong, did I?"
"Yeah, that's right," I said with a nod as I wiped away my tears.
Only then did the tears stop. I walked back to her house.
In-Ah kept asking if she had done something wrong. Every time, I answered that I really had cried because I felt happy.
Not long after, I arrived in front of her house. I waved my hand.
"Stay safe."
"Yeah, you too... Oh, right."
As I was about to return to the dormitory, In-Ah stopped me. She hesitated for a moment before she said, "Next time, if you’re free, come to our house. My parents want to see you."
"Yeah, I'll definitely come," I said with a nod.
After watching In-Ah enter her house, I returned to the dormitory. I changed my clothes and washed up.
I lay down on the bed to rest, but I suddenly thought of the flower and got up. I filled a cup with water and went to the terrace where the flowerpot was.
The withered stems and leaves had regained their vitality without me knowing, and at the end of the stem, a small flower was blooming.
"..."
I touched that small flower with my fingertips several times. It was soft.
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