Last night, Migeon, who had been sleeping, felt the spot beside him in his sleep and his eyes flew open.
“?”
The spot next to him was completely empty. Startled, Migeon sat up and hurriedly looked around the room. His hyung wasn’t visible. He searched both the bathroom and the entire house, and just in case, even opened Yugeon’s room, but Lee Yugeon wasn’t anywhere.
“Where, where did he go…”
Muttering anxiously, Migeon stopped abruptly and seemed to think of something, then soon turned deathly pale and rushed out of the house in one breath.
Migeon ran and ran again along the steep mountain path. His vision even spun from the breath that rose to his chin, but he couldn’t stop. The giant lake at the top of the island. The dragon pond where the Imugi lived. He felt like his hyung would be there.
When he pushed through the overgrown bushes and reached the top of the island, he could see the sunken crater, the giant lake positioned in its center, and the dense silver grass field around the lake. Even though it was the middle of the night, the brightly shining moonlight illuminated the entire crater without blocking anything.
Migeon, soaked with sweat, propped his hands on his knees and panted while moving his gaze quickly. There was no time to rest comfortably. Even wiping away sweat was a luxury. He had to find his hyung. His eyes that had been scanning the silver grass field and lake vicinity stopped at one spot and began turning yellow. In the distance, he could see one human silhouette standing near the lake. But the silhouette wasn’t alone. It was standing facing the giant Imugi.
“Hyung!”
Turning pale and shouting loudly, Migeon began going down the silver grass field as if rolling. The densely grown silver grasses caught his feet, but there was no time to be bound. Running in a complete mess, Migeon arrived at Yugeon’s side and grabbed the shoulder of his hyung who was still standing looking at the Imugi and turned him around.
His body followed along swaying, but his half-open blank eyes were still directed toward the Imugi.
“Hyung!”
Migeon pulled his hyung into his arms and tried to cover his eyes with his hand. But at that moment, the Imugi’s eyes turned to Migeon. When the yellow eyes like a crescent moon containing no emotion turned to Migeon, Migeon screamed and collapsed clutching his chest.
“Aaak, hheuk… kgk!”
Black stains began spreading over the clothes he clutched. The stains that had been spreading slowly as if seeping from his heart soon spread all over his body. The left arm exposed outside his clothes and half his face turned black and began emitting a foul odor along with black smoke like a heat haze.
“Kulleok, kkeok!”
Black, sticky things poured out chaotically from his mouth.
Migeon began scratching and clawing at his neck as if unable to breathe. Instead of breath, only black liquid dripped from his mouth. Tears dripped down from the pain. As he trembled lying face down on the ground, the rustling sound of stepping on grass began to be heard. Migeon raised his head as if burned. Yugeon was approaching the Imugi.
Migeon desperately reached out and grabbed Yugeon’s ankle.
“No, no… Hyung…”
Migeon cried and pleaded. Perhaps because his ankle was caught, Yugeon also couldn’t go further and just stared blankly at the Imugi. The Imugi, who had been looking at Migeon with cold eyes, looked at Yugeon again. It lowered its head that had been raised high as if getting close to Yugeon, then soon closed both eyes, turned around, and disappeared pushing through the silver grass.
When the Imugi disappeared, Yugeon collapsed with his eyes closed as if shackles had been released. At the same time, Migeon’s breath also cleared. Migeon gasped for breath as if vomiting and crawled to his hyung to check on him. Fortunately, Yugeon was asleep.
Upon confirming his hyung’s safety, he almost lost his grip on consciousness. Migeon, who barely pulled himself together, slapped his own cheek hard and got up. He couldn’t lose consciousness in a place like this. He had to take his hyung and return home.
Migeon carried his limp hyung on his back and began moving his steps sluggishly. His body that had turned black in various places hurt as if being sliced with a knife. His knees kept buckling and he almost fell several times, but he barely escaped the crater and entered the forest path.
The moonlight was blocked by the overgrown bushes so the path wasn’t clearly visible. Migeon, who was staggering down the forest path carrying Yugeon on his back, almost fell after catching on tree roots and almost dropped his hyung while slipping.
In the end, as he kept his nerves on edge step by step, fatigue came twice as much and his vision spun. Migeon made a groaning sound and swayed, tried to endure by holding onto a nearby tree, but ended up sitting down.
His whole body was heavy as if weighted down with lead. Panting, he put down his hyung from his back, held his shoulder, leaned against a tree and caught his breath.
He was so tired. He just wanted to collapse and fall asleep like this.
“Cough!”
Black liquid was still seeping from inside his mouth. Migeon wiped his mouth with his forearm.
He couldn’t show this appearance to his hyung, so after taking his hyung home, it seemed he’d have to hide for a few days until his body returned to normal. He couldn’t show it to the villagers either…
Migeon, who raised his head as if cooling his sweat and let out a big sigh, looked at Yugeon sleeping leaning against him, then pulled his shoulder closer to embrace him and buried his nose in his head.
“Why… why now?”
Between his voice muttering as if anxious, a faint sound of thunder rang out. Migeon raised his head and looked straight ahead. As the thunder sound seemed to get closer and closer, a beast as big as a house walked out of the darkness. It was a beast resembling a tiger with blue-green fur and black stripes, with clouds wrapped around its four feet.
Migeon’s eyes facing the tiger turned yellow. Migeon seemed to stiffen and tense while looking at the tiger, but soon bowed his head in silent greeting, and the tiger seemed to look Migeon up and down carefully, then approached while raising more clouds from its four legs.
When the tiger approached closely, Migeon was noticeably tense, but the tiger glanced at Migeon and Lee Yugeon as it passed by, and Migeon felt his body become lighter.
When he checked, his body that had turned black had returned to normal. Migeon hastily looked back at the tiger.
“Um, excuse me…!”
At the call, the tiger that stopped walking glanced at Migeon. Migeon moistened his dry lips and bowed his head again.
“Thank you.”
The tiger snorted with a “hmph” and swished its tail back and forth. At the same time, something small popped out from beside the tiger. A white, round head with a small body. It was an egg ghost. On its face were two X marks drawn as if with ink like eyes, and in its fern-like hands was a lantern.
The egg ghost looked at the tiger once, then hurriedly ran and stood in front of the brothers. Thanks to the lantern held in the egg ghost’s hands, the surroundings brightened a little.
The egg ghost pointed to the path going down and squeaked. But Miegen, who didn’t understand the egg ghost’s words, looked at the tiger as if flustered, and the tiger sighed, turned its body, and left.
Leaving the words “Go down carefully.”
The tiger, which walked leisurely up to the summit and looked down at the crater as if searching for something, walked leisurely again heading somewhere. The place the tiger arrived at was a giant cave located near the dragon pond. It was also the Imugi’s lair. It was a space hidden so that ordinary eyes couldn’t even find it, but the tiger walked inside as if it could see clearly.
Going inside, at the very deepest part of the cave, a pitch-black Imugi coiled up could be seen. The Imugi, which had its eyes closed, opened its eyes at the tiger’s presence and showed its crescent moon-like eyes, then closed its eyes again and even turned its head away.
The tiger sighed deeply and sat at an appropriate distance from the Imugi.
“Are you just going to stand by and watch?”
The tiger asked. The Imugi had no answer.
“Isn’t that something you’ve been searching for quite a long time? What stayed in that one’s body and left stole most of your inner core’s energy.”
“……”
“The one who followed that, if you don’t resolve it, that one will die.”
The tiger jerked its chin pointing somewhere, but the Imugi neither opened its eyes nor reacted. The tiger hit the ground with its tail as if expecting an answer, then shook its head as if giving up and left the lair.
After the tiger left, the Imugi slowly opened its eyes. In the dark cave, bright yellow eyes like a crescent moon were revealed. The Imugi raised its head and looked somewhere outside the cave.
A strange heat surged in the two cold eyes.
Even if that one died and collapsed, it had nothing to do with it. It hated and cursed everything on this island. Especially that human. That human who called me…
The Imugi lowered its head again and closed its eyes. The sound of rain and thunder from that day seemed to be heard from all directions.
* * *
Migeon, who safely came down from the mountain and returned home with the help of the egg ghost, laid his sleeping hyung on the blanket and fetched warm water to wash his feet. Because he’d walked around barefoot, his feet were a mess. Migeon carefully examined whether there were any injuries while wiping his feet, then picked out the most similar clothes among Yugeon’s to what he was wearing now and changed him, and also changed his own clothes.
Migeon silently looked down at the sleeping Yugeon. When Yugeon first went to meet the Imugi, he could immediately notice and follow. Because he had this kind of body…
But this time, he didn’t notice at all. Migeon bit his lower lip hard.
Perhaps he shouldn’t have called his hyung back to the island.
But he had no choice but to call his hyung to the island.
Because that was the only way he could be with his hyung.
Because they’re brothers, because he wanted to be with him.
Because he… couldn’t escape.
Migeon looked at Yugeon with deeply sunken eyes, then pulled his waist close and lay down. So he couldn’t go anywhere again, so he couldn’t escape from his arms.
