Chapter 669
Side Story Episode 10. outing
A small hill behind Baekmugwan.
In a place covered in pure white snow, a small burial mound and tombstone were erected..
“……The road is clear. It must have been a long time since you were away.”
“I asked the village chief to sort it out once in a while..”
“Did you ask for the right amount of money??”
“Of course. When the village chief's daughter was young, she was weak, so I taught her martial arts skills and gave her some elixirs..”
“Now that I think about it, she's the village chief's daughter. I got married a few years ago.?”
“I remember it well. The village chief, who is the same age as me, even saw his grandson. What is my son doing without a partner?…….”
“No, why is the story leaking there again??”
“Water dragon. Listen to your father's words.”
“……yes.”
As if they were going out for a night out, the three men slowly climbed the hill and talked loudly..
For them, martial arts experts, the hill behind the house was a distance that could be covered in one breath, but all three walked slowly, as if they were deliberately slowing down..
It was to fully capture in memory all the surrounding sights, smells, and sensations seen while climbing the hill. If I leave Baekmugwan this time, I won't see you again for quite a long time..
Walking slowly and savoring the short path, the three stood side by side in front of Mei Ruobing's tombstone..
「I spend my short life with my loved ones without any regrets..」
“…….”
Mae Geukryeom was silent for a moment as he looked at the words written on the tombstone. Then he gave his son-in-law a pat on the back..
“You say hello first. Even though I'm ugly and lacking, aren't I still a husband?.”
“Even if I say it, it's true…….”
Baek Mu-heun shook his head and took a step forward. He said as he slowly swept the snow off his wife's tombstone..
“It took longer than I thought because there was a lot of work to do. Yak ice. I missed you so much.”
Baek Mu-heun smiled softly and briefly said hello to his wife before stepping aside..
Naturally, Baek Soo-ryong greeted me for the second time..
“……I'm back, mother. I missed you.”
Baek Soo-ryong awkwardly scratched the back of his head and opened his mouth..
I have been here several times since I woke up with memories of my past life, but I have never once truly called Mei Ruobing my mother..
He continued speaking slowly, recalling each and every image of his mother that he could finally remember again..
“…… A lot of things happened. It wouldn't be enough to stay up all night to tell you everything. There are many amazing stories that are hard to believe... … . First of all, I don’t think it’s my turn today..”
Baek Soo-ryong also stepped to the side after saying, “I will tell you slowly one by one later.”.
“father-in-law.”
“grandfather.”
Baek Mu-heun and Baek Soo-ryong, both looked at Mae Geuk-ryeom at the same time..
Mae Geukryeom stared at the burial mound where his daughter was sleeping. The words written on the tombstone were blurred out over the eyes that seemed so deep that they could not be fathomed..
“……It's been a while.”
It was a throaty voice. And Mae Geuk-ryeom, who was silent for a moment, asked the two people a favor..
“Could you please make room for me??”
The father and son nodded quietly and returned to Baekmugwan together..
Because I knew that Maegeukryeom needed time..
Mae Geuk-ryeom, who looked at the backs of his son-in-law and grandson for a moment, turned his head again to face his daughter..
Now only the father and daughter remain..
“haha-.”
Mae Geukryeom forced himself to laugh out loud..
I wanted to show a bright side to my daughter, whom I met for the first time in 30 years. But I couldn't help my voice shaking.
“Abby is very late, right? I'm late because I came with those two guys over there. They insisted on taking it slow while looking at this and that, but they were so late... … . Goyan bastards. He must have been trying to kill me by making me impatient..”
Little by little, snow began to fall from the sky.
“This father became the head of Cheongryonghakwan. Wasn’t it surprising? Actually, I refused several times, but then changed my mind. I still have a lot of worries. I was wondering if I was good enough and that the role of student director was too much. I wondered if I would be able to take responsibility for Cheongryong Academic Center as the head of the school and properly guide the children... … . Maybe that's why it's hard for me to sleep these days..”
The falling snow began to pile up on Mae Geukryeom's shoulders, but he didn't feel it at all..
“Su- ryong looks just like you and is handsome. Moreover, they are so similar that they are trouble makers... … . Do you know that Kang-ho is excited about that child? I thought this was indeed my daughter's child. Heh heh. If he had gone to the Blue Dragon Academy when he was young, this father would have lived with a stomach bug all his life. Shit... … No, it was a stomach disease caused by my son-in-law..”
Mae Geuk-ryeom's words were rambling and the content was confusing. I knew it myself.
However, how can stories and emotions accumulated over thirty years be released in a short period of time? It was impossible from the beginning.
“When you first brought Muheun to me as your son-in-law. At first I thought it was a prank. Before that, didn't the two of them often plot together and cause accidents? I thought it was like that back then too. But the moment I saw your expressions... … . The father regretted what happened that day for the rest of his life. My son-in-law says he doesn't remember.…….”
Mae Geuk-ryeom, who had been talking incoherently for a while, staggered and took a step forward. And I re-read the tombstone with my daughter's last words written on it..
「I spend my short life with my loved ones without any regrets..」
“Even the last sentence is like you..”
My vision became increasingly blurry. Mae Geuk-ryeom wiped her eyes with her sleeve. Perhaps because it was snowing, the sleeves were wet..
“……Oh, I'm so out of my mind that I didn't say that until now..”
He slowly swept down the tombstone as if caressing his daughter's cheek..
“I missed you so much. And even now… … I really want to see you.”
Although she tried to show a bright side until the end, Mae Geuk-ryeom eventually fell to her knees in front of her daughter's burial mound and broke down..
“……I'm sorry, Yao Bing. Forgive your father now. I've missed you every single day for thirty years.…….”
He hugged his daughter's headstone tightly and sobbed..
“If only I could see you again... … How nice it would be if I could hug you even just for a moment.”
Tears flowed down the old man's wrinkled cheeks. Although he tried to hold back, Chimi was ultimately unable to control his emotions. In a mournful voice, I called out the name of my daughter whom I would never see again..
“My daughter, Yakbinga…….”
Mae Geukryeom closed his eyes and muttered. The snow was blowing harder and harder, and my head and back were now covered in white, but that was nothing compared to the pain of farewell..
* * *
“father! father-!”
“……Umm?”
Mae Geukryeom slowly came to his senses when a hand shook him awake..
“What if you sleep in a place like this? No matter how spring the weather is, the wind is cold in the morning. What are you going to do if you get caught?.”
A familiar hand wrapping a long cloth around your shoulder. A friendly nagging sound penetrates my ears..
Mae Geukryeom looked at the person who woke him up with a dumb expression..
“how did you……?”
“You're still half asleep.”
Mei Ruobing sighed deeply. She helped her father up and started nagging him..
“My father also needs to think about his age now. I know that because I’m a cilantro, the cold wind will go away.?”
“Hehehe…….”
Mae Geuk-ryeom couldn't find anything to say in response to her daughter's scolding, which she hadn't heard in a long time, and burst into laughter. He stared at Mei Ruobing’s face..
It was a little different from how he remembered his daughter..
She still had a pretty face, but she looked more mature and healthy..
“why? My daughter is so pretty I can't take my eyes off her.?”
“…… This guy. I wondered who Soo-ryong resembled to be so confident, and it turned out that Mu-heun wasn't the only one to blame..”
Despite his father's scolding, Mei Ruobing smiled brightly. And then he crossed his arms and said.
“father. It’s a nice day. Should we go out later??”
“What's a good day? In the middle of winter…….”
Mae Geukryeom looked around belatedly and blinked a few times..
The sun was pleasantly warm, and a cool breeze blew and enveloped my body. Flowers were in full bloom around where they were..
The season was clearly spring. The old man's stubborn mouth softened..
“……okay. It's a nice day. The sun was nice and the wind was nice, so I guess I forgot and fell asleep on my bed..”
“Let's go have breakfast. My husband and Suryong are waiting..”
“okay. Let's go now.”
The father and daughter went down the hill together..
As I entered Baekmugwan, Baek Moo-heun and Baek Soo-ryong, who were sparring in the morning, turned around at the same time..
“Father-in-law. Did you fall asleep while taking a walk again? this…….”
“I don't need to give you at least some tonic medicine.?”
In response to the father and son's reaction, not knowing whether it was concern or teasing, Mae Geuk-ryeom shouted and took long strides..
“These guys? Are you treating me like an old person who will die soon just because I sleep a little more?!”
Then the two of them kicked out at the same time and it was heavenly. It was definitely not a skill that had been practiced for a day or two..
“Those old bastards…….”
Mae Geukryeom shook his head in disapproval, but then burst out laughing..
After a while, all four people sat down together and ate. Mae Geuk-ryeom nagged his son-in-law as he always did, and put plenty of side dishes on his grandson's plate..
“Muheun, you should consider it a blessing to have married my daughter. Thanks to you, don’t you get to eat this sumptuous breakfast every day? Yakbinga. These herbs taste very good today..”
“Father-in-law. I got rid of that…….”
“Water dragon. try some more of this.”
It was a peaceful daily life. The family sat around, had a meal, talked about various things, and then burst out laughing at a trivial joke, hahaha..
After finishing the meal, Baek Mu-heun and Baek Soo-ryong went to work together at the Cheongryong Academic Center..
“ma'am. I'll be back. Father-in-law. I'll be back.”
“Mother, grandfather. I will go to the academy!”
After seeing the two people off, the father and daughter who remained at home shared the main course. Then, as a pastime, they played chess together and did sewing, saying they were no longer in military uniform..
“Tsk tsk. Come here.”
Mae Geuk-ryeom took the cloth and belt ring from the hands of her daughter, who was turning her husband's uniform into rags with her clumsy sewing. The hands of an old swordsman who had been mending his young daughter's clothes for a long time were skillfully sewing..
“How is your father so good at sewing??”
“Who do you think you were raised by? If I had known that you would get married this early, I would have taught you a little bit.…….”
Mae Geukryeom, who had been speaking bluntly without realizing it, slightly raised her head and looked at her daughter..
Mei Ruobing was holding his face with both hands and staring at his father. His bright smile wasn't any different from when he was young..
“……Didn’t you hate me??”
Mae Geukryeom knew from the beginning that all of this was a dream..
He realized that the Mae Yakbing in front of him was not reality, but was created by his own earnest longing..
Still, I wanted to ask.
Because it was too vivid to be dismissed as just a dream..
Also, I thought that perhaps the daughter had come to visit me, even in a dream, in response to the father's earnest wish..
The old man looked at his daughter's face with trembling eyes..
“father.”
“……okay. tell me.”
“It's not too late.”
It was a foolish question and wise answer..
When asked if he was hated, he answered that it was not too late..
Words of forgiveness to a father who belatedly came to visit his daughter and apologized..
Mei Ruobing said that and smiled as warmly as the sunlight..
“thank you for coming.”
“……Will come often in the future.”
And Mae Geukryeom, who was silent for a moment, got up from his bed..
“Now that we've finished digesting food, let's go on an outing together..”
“Is that so??”
Mei Ruobing woke up together and held his father's hand tightly..
The father and daughter held hands and walked leisurely through the village..
Every time the two people took a step, the surrounding scenery changed. It became the Cheongryong Academy, the hometown I left behind, the beach, and sometimes I even walked through a village where a festival was held..
So the two spent a lot of time traveling around the world together..
“father.”
“hmm…….”
As he watched his joined hands slowly blur, he knew that the time to wake up from his dream was getting closer..
“Listen for a moment.”
At that time, Mei Ruobing whispered something softly into the ear of his regretful father..
“What the hell……?”
Mae Geuk-ryeom's expression, who had been listening seriously at first, gradually became distorted, and soon he burst into laughter..
“Hahahaha-!”
After laughing to the point of tears, Mae Geukryeom woke up from his dream..
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