Wandering Through Vol. 1 Chapter 25 - First Life 02

The day was warm enough now.

 

Yiseo sat down on the floor and stared at the old pine tree painting at the entrance to the hall. The faded, five-colored canvas swayed in the sun.

 

…I think I’ve had similar thoughts before.

 

It’s been like this ever since I came here. Memories that I couldn’t put into context. Fragmentary impressions and feelings.

 

It was like an object in her room that belonged to her, but she couldn’t figure out how it got there.

 

Yiseo limped over to the front of the canvas. 

 

Leegwang had given her clothes but no shoes, so she was barefoot, but who cared when there was no one to see her out here in the mountains?

 

She reached out and grabbed a handful of the faded fabric, but no emotion came over her. 

 

Instead, she fiddled with the faded fabric.

 

“Why are you out here?”

 

When Leegwnh asked her, she released her grip on the cloth. He dropped his things on the floor and approached her. 

 

Wiping her palm on his sleeve as if it were dirty, he cleaned it. Then he gently picked her up and sat her down on the floor.

 

“Were you thinking of running away?”

 

The question was light, but there was a bite in it. 

 

Yiseo glanced down at the man brushing the dirt from her feet, then opened her mouth.

 

“No, I wasn’t. I came out when it was time for you to come.”

 

“You were waiting for me?”

 

She gave a small nod. 

 

The truth was, she’d bumped into him by accident in the doorway, but since she hadn’t intended to run away, it was better for him to know that.

 

Besides, it’s like saying.

 

“You might get hurt, so don’t bother coming out in the future.”

 

…The fierce tone eased a bit.

 

He continued to touch the scar on her ankle, which she was no longer ashamed to show, even after he’d brushed the dirt off. 

 

“Was I supposed to wait for you here?” Yiseo asked.

 

His hand paused. Instead of answering, he pressed his lips to hers. 

 

Yiseo opened her mouth obediently. His tongue delved gently into her mouth.

 

“Mmm…”

 

Their tongues mingled, and before she knew it, she was sitting on his lap, their lips pressed together. 

 

Leegwang’s hand slipped under her skirt, her underwear damp from the load he had poured into her belly that morning.

 

She had debated whether to keep her wet underwear on or take it off altogether.

 

In the end, she decided it was better to keep something on, but seeing how it was falling off at his touch, she might as well just take it off.

 

Undoing his pants, he rubbed his member beneath her. She moaned softly and buried her head in his shoulder.

 

Every time he asked her where she was, if there was a life she didn’t remember, what promises they’d made, and so on, he repeated similar answers. 

 

They weren’t much different from what she’d heard from him before.

 

That she had promised to love him no matter what. Beyond that, he hadn’t told her anything.

 

And so her question was repeated, and now, instead of answering, he merely mingled with her.

 

…I didn’t want to say it, and I didn’t know if this was the way to say it.

 

It would have been easy for her to stop asking him questions, but all she could do was agonize over him, unable to go anywhere in these mountains.

 

He’d been with her the whole time, in the middle of the mountains, except for a few short trips down during the day to get food or whatever else she needed.

 

When he came and went from the outside of the family home, he never stayed like this all day. 

 

If anything had happened in the first place, it was within the city walls of Hanyang, where he could deal with it immediately.

 

If he were gone long enough, he would be immediately suspected of rebellion.

 

Really, this shouldn’t be happening.

 

She stared blankly into the sun, accepting his thrusts beneath her.

 

“Hmm…”

 

The slit below, which had been his since morning, gently swallowed him full. The hole hadn’t had a chance to rest, and now it was time.

 

“Mmm, ah, ach…”

 

He lifted his hips slowly, kissing the nape of her neck lightly as he drove into her. 

 

It didn’t soften the hard lump of flesh weighing down on her stomach, but it was certainly calmer than before.

 

‘But why did it feel so breathless?’

 

It felt like facing a great problem and just avoiding it. What are you afraid of, why…?

 

“Ugh…!”

 

He lay half on his back, still holding her. 

 

His movements, which had started slow, grew rougher and faster, and he brushed his lips against the nape of her throat impatiently, as if he were about to bite her. 

 

She squirmed frantically against his throbbing member as it slammed into her damp flesh.

 

“Hmm, uh, ahh, ach, ugh…!”

 

‘I have no idea how much time passed.’ 

 

He kissed the top of her eyelids as she shook with the thrusting. 

 

As she blinked, his tongue flicked over her eyes. She flinched at the unfamiliar touch of his tongue on her eye, and with a groan, he ejaculated inside her. 

 

With a small heave of his hips, he poured his seed deep into her belly.

 

“Mmm…”

 

Yiseo slumped against his chest, her cheek against his arm, a sob escaping her.

 

Her entire body was drained of energy. Yiseo fought to open her heavy eyelids, but she couldn’t overcome the heavy lids. 

 

A large, warm hand stroked her back.

 

“You may sleep.”

 

With those words, she fell asleep.

 

When she awoke, she was in warm water.

 

Yiseo sits submerged chest-deep in a narrow tub. 

 

Outside, through the small window, it was night. The chilly night air brushed her cheeks, but her submerged body was warm.

 

Slowly, she breathed through her tired, unraveling body.

 

“Does it feel good?”

 

The unexpected voice behind her caused her to lift her head, and she met the eyes that stared down at her from behind the cranny of her neck.

 

Water trickled down his body from his freshly washed hair. 

 

A large hand caught the few drops that threatened to fall onto her face. Instead, the drops fell on the back of his hand, not her face. 

 

He ran a hand through his wet hair, roughly wiping the water off his body and face.

 

“Do you want to stay?”

 

When Yiseo nodded, he fetched a pail of steaming water and poured some into her neck. 

 

When the water became warmer, he set the pail down and said, “I didn’t think I needed this in the first place.”

 

He patted the water bucket.

 

“There’s a nice ravine for a soak a little way back. It’s hidden from prying eyes, with big rocks surrounding it like a pot, and an old tree up there.”

 

“But it’s still outside, isn’t it?”

 

She didn’t think it was a stupid thing to say, but apparently he didn’t. He looked at her flushed cheeks and blinking eyes, then muttered.

 

“…You’ve said that before.”

 

Yiseo realized that by ‘before’ he meant in a past life she couldn’t remember, and it occurred to her that maybe this conversation wasn’t the first time they’d had it. 

 

But before she could ask more, his hand cupped her cheek and chin.

 

“It’s a good thing I brought this with me, because you might have crossed the stream anyway.”

 

Bending down, he pressed his lips to hers. Her neck tilted back, faintly trembling, and his hand slid down her submerged chest to the nape of her neck.

 

💫

 

Thud, thud, thud…

 

A thin stream of rain poured down the mountain. 

 

The rain, which quickly turned into a torrential downpour, pounded harshly on the window, waking the woman sleeping alone in the mountain hut.

 

Staggering to her feet, Yiseo saw that the bed next to her was empty, so she crawled out, still wrapped in her quilt, and opened the door. It was a little too cold for spring.

 

The rough rain pounded her eyes wide open, and she quickly shut the door again. 

 

For some reason, her right knee hurt so badly, she could barely walk.

 

Eventually, she crawled back under the covers, and the door creaked open behind her. She turned her head and locked eyes with the man standing on the floor.

 

It was dark, even though it was daylight, and she couldn’t make out who he was.

 

It wasn’t Leegwang, that’s for sure.

 

The man, who was not wearing a raincoat to protect himself from the falling rain, walked toward Yiseo, drenched to the skin. 

 

With each step, rainwater dripped and soaked the floor. Yiseo shivered and shrunk back.

 

“…”

 

The man stopped.

Yiseo’s eyes, accustomed to the darkness, recognized the man’s face.

 

“Yangmu…?”

 

At the man’s sudden appearance, Yiseo called his former life’s name, not realizing that it was not his current name.

 

The man’s knees collapsed. The man on the ground sobbed through gritted teeth. 

 

Yiseo could only stare helplessly at the grown man crying.

 

‘Why are you here, why are you crying, please, why…’