Childhood Friend of the Zenith Novel MTL - Chapter 1149

Chapter 1149

For a moment, I felt a flush of self-consciousness and sped up my steps a little.

Despite this, Hyun Soyeon did not fall behind and continued to follow me. Her tenacity was aggravating.

“Ugh…! Why are you moving so quickly?”
“…Why are you still following me?”
“Following? We had an agreement to talk while we walked, but you set off on your own!”

Then she shouldn’t have chased after me. What was the point of pursuing me like this? Her stubbornness was truly repulsive.

Because she persisted in staying right beside me, I finally came to a halt.

“…Well? What is it?”

What could she possibly want to say so urgently? My irritation was growing, so I pressed her.

“Ah, I just had something I wanted to ask, on the off chance.”
“What is it?”
“Well… it’s about Young Master Namgung.”
“…”

I narrowed my eyes. So that was it.

‘She’s referring to Namgung Hyung.’

It certainly wasn’t about Namgung Jin. If it were, she wouldn’t have used that tone.

“…Young Master Namgung Hyung?”
“Yes.”
“You’re asking me about him?”
“Yes.”
“…?”

What was she hoping to find out? As I stared at her in bewilderment—

“…Do you have any idea where he went?”

That was the careful question she finally asked.

Her words made me freeze for a second.

Where he went? If he had truly left, then…

‘Most likely Wudang.’

If he had gone somewhere because of what I said, Wudang was the obvious guess. But there was no way to know if he had actually gone there.

However—

“…I don’t know. Why are you asking me that?”

The real problem was that she was asking me.

Did she already suspect something? I asked again, confused.

“I had a feeling Young Master Baek might know. Was I mistaken?”
“…”

Hyun Soyeon spoke with assurance. Not emotional confidence, but certainty in her tone.

Which meant—

‘She’s just guessing.’

She was asking out of pure desperation, clinging to any possibility.

Even so—

“I don’t know.”

I couldn’t tell her. It wasn’t confirmed that he had gone to Wudang. And even if it were, I couldn’t say.

“…I see.”

Hearing my response, Hyun Soyeon’s expression immediately fell. I felt a small pang of guilt, but… what else could I do?

I didn’t have the spare capacity to be concerned with her problems right now.

The only thing I was interested in—

“Young Lady Hyun.”
“…Yes?”
“Why him?”
“…”

She flinched at my question.

Why Namgung Hyung? Why had she chosen him instead of Namgung Jin?

When I asked—

“…Would you believe me if I said I don’t really know either?”

Hyun Soyeon answered with a bitter smile.

Hearing that, I felt somewhat awkward.

‘She knows I’m not telling the truth.’

She didn’t believe me when I said I didn’t know. She could see through it.

I shrugged. It couldn’t be helped.

“You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.”
“…”

It wasn’t something I was desperately curious about, so I didn’t need to hear it.

But—

“It’s nothing complicated.”

Disregarding my indifference, Hyun Soyeon began to speak.

“He simply saw me for who I am.”
“…What does that mean?”
“I mean, I am beautiful. Truly beautiful.”
“…”

I made a face. This was genuinely perplexing. What was she talking about?

“Hahaha.”

Hyun Soyeon laughed, seeming amused by my reaction.

“That’s the exact expression he had. When I said, ‘I’m beautiful, aren’t I?’ he just told me to stop talking nonsense. That’s the sort of person he was.”
“…And you liked that?”
“It’s ridiculous, isn’t it? But yes.”

She was attracted to someone who didn’t acknowledge her beauty? It made no sense.

“He was the only one who looked past appearances and saw me as a person.”
“What’s so remarkable about that?”

I couldn’t comprehend it.

“It’s not remarkable. But surprisingly, very few people actually do it. Actually, Young Master Baek, you feel somewhat similar, but… it’s not quite the same.”
“How is it different?”
“You already have someone. And… you seem accustomed to beauty. Most people don’t adjust to that so easily. So your fiancée must be extraordinarily beautiful. Ah, I suppose…”

Hyun Soyeon nodded, as if something had just occurred to her.

“It would make sense if she looked like me.”
“How annoying.”
“Young Master, you just said what you were thinking out loud.”
“Ah.”

I had accidentally spoken my mind.

“Well, that’s the reason. Just a silly, childish feeling from when I was younger.”
“Calling it childish seems strange when you’re still behaving this way.”
“Love is a kind of curse, you know? You’re still too young to understand.”

Her light laugh was irritating.

“But then, wouldn’t Young Master Namgung Jin be the same?”

Given that Hyun Soyeon still had feelings for Mi Horan, Namgung Jin didn’t seem all that different.

So why couldn’t she just love Namgung Jin instead? When I asked—

“There’s something about him that feels off. I can’t bring myself to become attached to him.”

I understood what she meant by ‘off.’

And—

“Even so, you’ll go through with the marriage?”
“I don’t have a choice. I can’t change matters of family. And…”

The smile left her face.

“I don’t have the bravery—or the foolishness—to break away and choose something else.”
“…”

That was a very practical answer. One I couldn’t really argue with.

“I see.”
“Aren’t you going to ask more?”
“No. It’s not my place to get involved.”
“Haha… That’s true.”

She lightly brushed her nose. There was nothing there—it seemed like just a habitual gesture.

“But, just hypothetically.”
“Yes?”
“If you were in my position, what would you have done?”
“What do you mean?”
“If it were you, would you have been brave enough?”
“…”

I turned the question over in my mind. If I were in her situation…

Would I throw everything away—family, duty, all of it—and choose the person I wanted?

‘Who…?’

A brief, shameful thought passed through my mind. The faces of several women appeared.

Among them—who?

I allowed myself those cursed thoughts for a moment before arriving at a simple conclusion.

‘Whoever it was.’

No matter who.

No matter whose face I imagined, my answer remained the same.

‘No.’

It wouldn’t change. So I gave Hyun Soyeon my honest response.

“There would be no weighing of options.”
“…What?”
“Family, obligations, none of it. I would not give up on the person I chose.”
“…”

Whether it was courage or recklessness—

There was no need to put a name to it. I simply would not choose anything else.

‘Because that is the reason I am living like this.’

The Blood Demons, Taechon, all of it—

Even as I struggled forward, enduring my wretched fate, this was the reason.

Because I refused to choose anything else. That is why I lived this way.

“…That’s a powerful thing to say. I’m a little envious.”
“It’s nothing special.”
“If I had been like that… could things have been different?”
“I don’t know. That isn’t for me to answer.”
“Haha…”

Hyun Soyeon laughed softly. Then she began walking again.

“Your fiancée is fortunate.”

As she walked, she murmured—

“To discard everything else and choose who you want… A man like that actually exists?”
“…”

Hearing that, I tilted my head slightly. There was a correction I needed to make.

“No, that’s not correct.”
“What?”
“Young Lady Hyun, you’re not jealous of my fiancée, are you?”
“…What do you mean?”

She had misunderstood. That wasn’t what she envied.

“You envy me.”
“…!”

Hyun Soyeon’s eyes widened in shock at my words.

“Not my fiancée. You envy me for being able to make that choice. Because you could not.”
“…”

She looked stunned, as if she had been hit by a sudden realization.

“…Ah.”
“I’ll be going now.”

Leaving her behind, I started walking again. There was nothing more for me here. She would have to work this out on her own.

‘Though, even if she understands, will anything really change?’

Even if she was afraid of what change might bring…

I didn’t want to leave things as they were. How contradictory. When it came to him, I was too fearful of change to intervene, yet here I was meddling.

‘And yet, here I am interfering.’

There was no greater fool than me.

‘This is all…’

As I walked, I raised my head to the sky and looked at the moon.

‘Because of you.’

They looked so much alike.

Even if I tried not to care, I couldn’t help it.

“Haa…”

I let out a sigh.

‘I wonder if they’re doing alright.’

Whether it was the child who resembled the moon—

Or the one who resembled the sun—

The children I had taken into my heart… Were they doing well?

Tonight, the worries I had buried deep down quietly rose to the surface again.

**********

Within a cave, utterly blackened and scorched.

Squelch.

The space was flooded with a deep pool of blood, its odor overwhelming. The passage was shrouded in absolute blackness, without a single ray of light.

And inside—

Crackle—!!!

A sudden, brilliant flash of lightning briefly lit up the surroundings.

“Guh… ugh…!”

A scream echoed as a figure fell, the smell of seared flesh blending with the heavy metallic scent.

The body, blackened by the lightning, sank motionless into the red pool.

Squelch.

Paying no mind to the corpse, a figure moved slowly through the blood, steps measured and calm.

Grrrrr…!

A huge shape nearby released a low, rumbling growl.

Not from aggression—from anxiety.

Sensing this, the figure stopped.

Then, slowly—

With pale, slender fingers, they reached out and gently stroked the massive creature. At the touch, the great beast quieted its cry.

In reply, a faint flicker of lightning illuminated a pair of blue eyes, glowing weakly in the dark.

“…Ah.”

A weary voice escaped.

“…It isn’t here either, is it…”

Grrr…

As if in answer, the creature let out a soft whine.

The pale fingers that had been petting it drifted upward—trailing along their own face.

“…Where are you? Where…?”

The voice shook, heavy with feeling.

“…Where in the world…?”

The figure glanced around, but there was nothing to see.

Huuuu…

“…”

The swelling stench of rot. The nauseating, intolerable smell made the woman close her eyes, her features contorting in revulsion.

“…Where are you…”

And as her eyes shut, the faint light that had been barely illuminating the space vanished entirely.

The moon, with nothing left to shine upon, quietly hid its light.

And so, only darkness was left.