Retreat (7)

- Click.

The lights inside the dormitory went out.

After the incident with Jin Dallae, I was in no condition to drink. I had to leave the drinking party a bit early.

The clock's hour hand was near 11 PM. A perfect time to fall asleep.

"Ugh…"

I collapsed onto the bed like a corpse, groaning.

The supreme softness comforted my dizzy mind and body.

'....'

Lying there and looking at the ceiling, today's events flashed through my mind like a series of pictures.

Jin Dallae.

Her tear-streaked eyes and the smile she hadn't wiped away all evening were etched in my mind.

'Right… It's unlikely for things to go smoothly for me when it comes to women.'

Even in my previous world, I used to hear complaints from my girlfriend. The problem must be with me.

Yet, Jin Dallae's behavior today was quite shocking to me.

-I'll be by your side forever.

…Why would she go to such lengths for someone like me?

Her words, promising to dedicate her life, felt more like a burden than a gesture of affection, perhaps because they were spoken with genuine sincerity.

-Am I not attractive enough?

It's not that she lacked charm.

But seeing Jin Dallae as a woman seemed forced.

If it had been any other ordinary woman, it might have ended with a casual fling that day, but Jin Dallae was… it's hard to explain the feeling.

I wish she wouldn't worry about me and just be happy. Something like that.

I prided myself on knowing quite a bit about Jin Dallae from attending the academy.

It's not like living together with Cheondo or Baekdo, but still, sharing conversations and daily life, I probably know her better than her family.

Jin Dallae has been incredibly busy since taking over the authority of the Jinmok Group.

From establishing childcare facilities to solving incidents occurring in various places, she generously invests in helping others, something probably only I know from the academy.

Yet, she tried her hardest not to doze off in class, straining her eyes open. Seeing faint dark circles under her eyes, I couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy.

-Katalk!

…How did such a diligent person end up like this?

My face, with a bitter smile, was reflected on the phone screen.

[2 seconds ago]

Jin Dallae: I haven't given up.

"Oh dear… Dallae."

They say if you couldn't get a girlfriend in your previous life, you'll have luck with women in the next.

It seems I've carried a big grudge from not dating women in my past life.

-Katalk!

Jin Dallae: … You're reading this now, right?

Jin Dallae: Sorry, I guess I got ahead of myself.

Jin Dallae: But I meant it.

Before I could finish reading the previous message, another one arrived.

Her typing was so fast the emotion in each sentence was palpable.

'Getting ahead of myself… that's what I said.'

The world went dark as I pressed the power button on my phone.

I needed to wash, but my body wouldn't move well.

Ever since coming here, I've been feeling increasingly fatigued.

My arms and legs were tingling, and I desperately needed a drink of water.

"What to do."

There was so much to resolve.

Overwhelmed by an indescribable feeling of frustration, I slowly closed my eyes.

"Ugh."

She wiped her tears and blew her nose with a tissue.

The pent-up tears of frustration finally burst forth, and I could do nothing about it.

"You're so kind, so kind."

"...."

"Shiheon has no eye for people."

Guseul gently tapped on the back of Jin Dallae, who was curled up on the bed.

With her face flushed from drinking, she wiped her tears with a tissue.

"Don't badmouth Shiheon… It's my lack of charm."

"Oh, so now you're blaming me for trying to comfort you."

"I'm not over it yet."

Being rejected was one thing, but there's still time.

Her stubborn resolve to try again was already her ninety-fourth attempt.

Muttering her love confessions repeatedly would easily make a hundred.

They say a naive girl changes drastically when she first experiences love; Guseul couldn't help but stick out her tongue in disbelief.

"The one who waits wins."

"Dallae, you're obsessively attached…"

"Is that a problem?"

"Nope~ no problem~ Shiheon is lucky. Ugh, here, drink some water. Right, right."

Jin Dallae gulped down the ice water Guseul offered.

Her eyes were sore from crying too much, but the tears wouldn't stop.

In a fit of frustration, Jin Dallae furiously tapped on her phone screen.

"…The phone."

"Why the phone? You're not going to text him, are you? That's the worst… Don't do it. No, ah!! You already did it…"

A shameful KakaoTalk message after being rejected!!

Guseul covered her face with her hands in embarrassment.

At this reaction, Jin Dallae glared at Guseul and continued.

"Shiheon likes someone else… Who do you think it is?"

An enigmatic question.

Guseul, looking into Jin Dallae's dull eyes, intentionally shook her voice.

"You, you're not thinking of… doing something to another woman because of love."

"That might not be a bad idea… Just kidding. So, who do you think it is?"

Was this really Jin Dallae, who vowed never to harm others?

Her cold remark, though a joke, was hard to take lightly.

"I think it's Sansuyu. She has a really big chest. Seeing them suddenly become close and hang out, it must be her."

"Sansuyu liked him? Isn't there a class difference?"

"I can do better than that person."

"Ah, so you say…"

The ninety-fifth confession.

Jin Dallae finally fell asleep only after reaching a hundred.

"...Love…."

"Look at this? Confessing even in her sleep. How much do you like him?"

Guseul gently poked Jin Dallae's soft cheek while she slept.

After making sure Jin Dallae was asleep, Guseul sighed, got up from the bed, and straightened her clothes.

'To think Lee Shiheon could resist all this.'

She put on a black cardigan and dusted it off.

Taking a deep breath and letting it out, her usually bright, puppy-like face slowly turned expressionless and bland.

Guseul covered the sleeping Jin Dallae with a blanket and muttered,

"The person he likes."

A very different look from the usual Guseul.

She tidied up the messy dressing table and the dormitory floor, then left the dormitory.

"Maybe he's flirting with a teacher somewhere?"

If not that,

"Maybe he's sharing a moment with that great Cheonma."

Despite the sarcastic tone, her voice was very calm and cold.

Guseul pulled out a wet tissue from her pocket and wiped her hands.

Due to her lower-than-average body temperature, her hands were paler than most.

"Heroic womanizer."

Not a phrase she usually liked, but what else would suit his situation better?

He's an inheritor of royal lineage and, simultaneously, someone she must deal with.

Guseul took out her phone and browsed through the messages she had received.

She lightly ignored or sent back cheerful texts to a few men.

Don't spend too much time maintaining relationships.

Recalling the lessons learned in childhood, she cleared her personal connections.

"Sigh."

This kind of secret agent work was not sustainable for long, Guseul grumbled to herself.

Yet, her body was tightly bound to the organization. She, a nameless tree among others, had no choice but to follow the orders from above. She was born and raised to be manipulated from the beginning.

Life among the trees was devoid of any excitement.

As she closed the messenger app, she noticed Lee Shiheon's name, from a conversation they had a while ago. Concern shadowed Guseul's emotionless face.

'I don't know if he'll be an ally or an enemy.'

Ideally, she didn't want to kill anyone.

"I hope I make the right choice when the time comes."

More important than these trivial love stories, an important time was slowly approaching.

Perhaps it was a turmoil that would come with the changing of the century, a disaster that would shake the foundation of history, incomparable to the previous era of Cheonma.

If that time came, there would be no more days at the academy.

Not just that, what they took for granted now, like hotel-style living, might be replaced by rubbery-textured bread.

"For now, I'll just watch."

Before driving out the World Trees that sucked the lifeblood of the world, enjoying this mundane life wasn't too bad.

"A person from another world."

Guseul hid a significant spoiler about this world within the early morning breeze.

-Tick tock.

The sound of a clock ticking.

Different from the usual cuckoo clock noise.

It was clearer and more beautiful, an addictive gear sound that stuck in the mind.

My vision was blurred as if struck with severe myopia.

The sensation of floating. As soon as I realized it was a dream, my mind snapped awake.

A lucid dream?

Tired as I was, it was a strange experience.

I had never had such a dream in my life.

I squinted through the blurry vision, focusing on what was right in front of me.

Then, like a panoramic view, the dream environment formed.

'...Trees.'

Even in my sleep, I was dreaming of trees.

Two stumps, one tree almost toppled.

Already gloomy from yesterday's events, seeing these unwelcome trees, even in my dream, soured my mood.

I approached the tree and spitefully stepped on the roots protruding from the ground.

[Ouch!]

A woman's moan rang sharply in my ears.

As the root moved, I stumbled and fell backward.

There was no pain, perhaps because it was a dream.

I lay there, eyeing the tree suspiciously.

I had just heard a voice from that tree.

"...What are you?"

A talking tree was a World Tree.

To me, World Trees were harmful.

Therefore, this tree was harmful, too.

[....]

The World Tree that invaded my consciousness remained silent, infuriatingly so.

Only when I focused my eyes did it slowly start to speak.

[I am quite different from what you know.]

"Who are you?"

[Do you truly not know? The tree you toppled?]

I had only ever killed a withered, twisted old tree named Ent.

I adjusted my posture to sit cross-legged and looked around.

I thought it was a dream, but it seemed like a dream under heavy external influence.

"The King of Tree Spirits?"

[…You know, I see.]

"Yes, one of the likely culprits in ruining my life."

The World Tree of Resentment and the King of Tree Spirits.

They were entities deeply entangled with me.

Just thinking about them filled me with stress to the brim. I scratched my head vigorously.

"… There's so much to think about, and now I'm dealing with this."

[You seem different. Your memory is unstable… Are you the inheritor of the next generation?]

"I don't know. How would I know that?"

[…]

The conversation halted, and silence lingered.

It seemed like there was something to be said. For now, I was distinctly different from the King of Tree Spirits in this world.

Even if I were the next in line, it's useless; we just ended up frustrating each other.

This tree couldn't extract any information from me.

"The World Tree of Time."

[You know well.]

"I've been feeling unusually tired since I got here… Is that your doing?"

[It was an unavoidable procedure to bring you here.]

It must be the World Tree of Time if it's the one killed by the King of Tree Spirits.

Today was full of oddities.

Despite my physical abilities, I shouldn't have been this tired, yet I fell deep asleep on the plane and in the car. I was about to strike down the stump in front of me but stopped midway.

"Right… The World Trees are selfish enough to summon me here without asking."

It's not even funny anymore.

I've been dragged around too many times.

But the difference between the past and now is that I have the power to resist.

"Afraid of dying, so you pulled me into a dream?"

[Not afraid. This body will perish in a week anyway. I came to ask for a favor as someone who has faced the power of your predecessor.]

My eyebrows twitched.

I didn't know anything about that predecessor, but it looked like I could extract some necessary information.

"...Let me ask one thing."

[What is it?]

I was willing to share what I knew.

But first, I needed to know this.

"What am I in this other world?"

The World Tree remained silent.

The rotten branches on the ground began to disintegrate into particles, slowly vanishing.

Time must be up. I could tell just by looking.

As the World Tree faded away in the dream, it left its last words.

[...I will tell you everything I know as long as it's within my knowledge. Please come to any temple here; the specifics don't matter.]

Postponing the answer, it seemed.

It wasn't a difficult request, so I nodded in agreement.

Yesterday's events were already in the past.

Lying down on the disappearing ground, I muttered a curse.

"Damn it."

Human relationships, and now my identity.

...Rejecting that confession seems to have been the right choice in this damned world that leaves no room for even a hint of lingering thoughts.