Finally, Ah Li had drifted off to sleep, giving Seo Reun a moment of peace from the boy's endless chatter about his home. It was strange how the child had seemed to sense something, perhaps the tension in the air, or the quiet weight of an approaching choice. Whatever it was, he had fought off sleep for as long as he could, staying wide awake deep into the night. And when sleep eventually claimed him, he clung to Seo Reun tightly, wrapping his small arms around his neck as if afraid he might vanish the moment he closed his eyes.
But now, those arms had gone slack, the tension melted away in deep slumber. It wasn't hard for Seo Reun to gently move them aside. The boy's breathing was slow and steady. He was truly asleep.
A small fire crackled quietly in the middle of their makeshift camp, casting flickering shadows around them. No one else had gone to sleep. They all remained seated, still and alert, eyes occasionally meeting, but mostly waiting for Seo Reun. The silence wasn't awkward, but it was expectant.
Seo Reun glanced around the firelight. The flames danced across their faces, illuminating flickers of emotion. Tien sat lost in thought, his brows drawn together in quiet concentration. Dong Ha, on the other hand, wore an expression of quiet resignation. His gaze rested on Ah Li, soft with concern, his worry plainly written across his features.
It was time. A choice had to be made. But first, there were things Seo Reun needed to understand.
"Why are your eyes blue?" he asked suddenly, breaking the silence.
Dong Ha didn't flinch, nor did he seem surprised or offended by the question. He answered with calm clarity, "My grandmother had eyes like mine."
He paused, then returned the question. "Why is your eye color like that?"
Seo Reun hadn't expected an answer, but Dong Ha's straightforwardness left him with no room to deflect. It was a clever move, answer first, so the other must follow.
"What color?" Seo Reun asked, though the words slipped out before he could stop them. It wasn't a question he had meant to ask, it just escaped, unguarded, like a thought spoken aloud.
Seo Reun had never once thought his eyes were strange, nor did he ever consider his eye colour unusual, He never even saw his eyes as coloured, until he began to travel and realized that no one else had eyes like his and those he met on the way found it strange.
Dong Ha shrugged lightly. "I don't know. It's like mine… but not quite. It's strange. Pretty."
Before Seo Reun could respond, Tien interrupted with a sudden burst of enthusiasm. "And you're beautiful."
His words hung in the air, startlingly sincere and completely out of place.
Both Seo Reun and Dong Ha turned to look at him, raising their brows in silent surprise. Tien's face flushed visibly, even under the faint glow of the firelight. His cheeks were definitely turning pink.
Clearing his throat awkwardly, Tien quickly tried to shift the conversation. "Well… will you stay with us?"
With that question, he had effectively cut off any chance for Seo Reun to respond to Dong Ha's comment, and the attention shifted. Tien was staring at him now with barely concealed hope, as if ready to plead should the answer be no.
Seo Reun looked down at Ah Li, who was now curled quietly against him. Carefully, he adjusted the boy, easing him into his lap to make his sleep more comfortable. He didn't want Ah Li waking up with a stiff neck .
Seo Reun glanced at the makeshift camp Dong Ha worked so hard on for Ah Li but he believe it wasn't safe to leave Ah Li in the makeshift camp. He was confident he could sense or hear any dangerous animal approaching, but insects like ants were another matter silent, unseen, and impossible to detect. He didn't want something as small as an ant sinking its teeth into the sleeping boy.
Meeting Ah Li had changed something in him. The boy had opened a door he thought long sealed, reminding him of care, of softness, of life beyond survival. He had been trapped in a cage for so long, and now he was free… but what did that mean? Freedom wasn't just escape. It was a question and Ah Li had been part of the answer.
Seo Reun questioned whether his curiosity about Ah Li's life truly ran deep, or if it was simply a moment's hesitation delaying the road he knew he must take. The boy might weep upon waking to find him gone, but as long as Dong Ha and Tien stayed by his side, kept him close and safe, the pain would fade. In time, Ah Li would forget, perhaps not completely, but enough to let the days carry him forward.
He was just about to rise from the fallen tree trunk where he'd been sitting when a faint rustling caught his attention, heavy, deliberate, and too forceful to be the wind. It sounded like a wild boar pushing through the underbrush. Glancing at Dong Ha and Tien, who remained calm and unaware, he doubted they had heard it. And if a wild boar were truly prowling this deep into the woods at such a late hour, he wasn't sure they'd be able to fend it off. The thought rooted him to the spot, and the urge to leave wavered, caught between concern and instinct.
"Wait, don't answer yet," Tien blurted, his voice urgent, almost panicked, like he feared Seo Reun might say something that would seal a fate he wasn't ready to accept. "I know Ah Li has probably told you a lot about our tribe, but just let me add a few things. Please."
Seo Reun turned his head slightly, saying nothing. Tien took that as permission to continue.
"Our tribe may be secluded," he began, the words tumbling over each other in haste, "but we're not strange or backwards. We dress like everyone else. We welcome outsiders. We trade our crops for goods from the capital. We even have a shaman who can predict the rains and the harvest! We don't discriminate, and even though you're... well, from the capital, I promise, you'll love it with us. We have a stream too. It's not big, but it's clear and cool, and you can drink from it or wash in it or..." He paused, fumbling for more. "It's nice. You'll see."
Seo Reun's face remained unreadable. Everything Tien said merely echoed what Ah Li had already told him and it was obvious Tien was trying to make the tribe sound better than even he believed.
"Why do you think I'm from the capital?" Seo Reun asked, his tone calm but curious, watching Tien fidget with the hem of his sleeve.
Dong Ha, who had been quiet until then, answered instead. "Your accent. It gave you away." Tien quickly nodded in agreement.
Accent?
Seo Reun blinked. He had never given much thought to how he spoke. During his travels, he had heard more accents than he could count, some coarse, others melodic and he had picked up a few here and there without meaning to. But the way he spoke to Tien and Dong Ha now… that was the accent of home. The same one his family used. The same one his aunt carried. A sound rooted in memory.
He didn't confirm it. He didn't deny it either.
"I know the capital is great," Tien said, rubbing the back of his neck with a nervous laugh. "I've never been there myself, but there's this old man in our village. He and the village chief are the only ones who've ever been to the capital. They say it's beautiful. Grand. Full of wonders." His eyes lit up, then dimmed just slightly as he added, "But… our village is wonderful too. We may be small, but we're kind."
He hesitated, then scratched his cheek awkwardly. "You know, I was found by the roadside as a baby. Wrapped in scraps of cloth. Someone had tied a piece of old fabric around my foot, and the name 'Tien' was stitched onto it. The cloth was torn so what they could recover was the stitched on it. That's how I got my name… in case you thought it was unusual."
Seo Reun doesn't know if he had to reply or not but Tien seemed to be glancing at him like he wanted a reply from him. "Okay." He said since he doesn't know what to say.
Tien's voice was quiet, almost fragile as he spoke. "So you can see," he said, his gaze drifting toward the firelight, "a tribe that welcomes outsiders like me when they had every reason to leave me behind, like whoever did before must be a good one."
He glanced at Seo Reun, eyes shadowed with something softer than pride, doubt, maybe grief.
"A tribe that gave a place to Dong Ha and his father. A tribe that entrusted me and Dong Ha to protect Ah Li, the chief's son, their future leader." His lips twitched as if trying to smile, but it faltered halfway. "Surely that says something good about them... or do you think otherwise?"
The question came unexpectedly, tossed into the air like a feather hoping to land gently. But it did not. Seo Reun blinked, momentarily thrown.
Tien had been with the tribe since infancy. That should have meant belonging yet his voice trembled with uncertainty, like someone still waiting for acceptance. Dong Ha, on the other hand, came with a father and nowhere else to turn. His roots were shallow, but they existed. Still, with his father in the village, his loyalty was bound by blood. That the tribe trusted them to guard Ah Li wasn't generosity, it was necessity.
Tien hesitated, then pressed on with forced brightness.
"Actually, based on the success of this journey, I'll be appointed as Supreme Guard of Ah Li. It's the highest position beneath the Shaman. I'll never lack for anything again, not respect, not resources."
Seo Reun narrowed his eyes, studying Tien. Why was he sharing so much? The past, the present, and now the future, it all spilled out like someone trying to convince not just others, but himself. And looking at Tien with his slightly rounded frame, soft hands, and nervous energy, Seo Reun couldn't reconcile him with the image of a warrior-guard. Dong Ha, who stood nearby with arms folded and jaw clenched, looked more the part. He wasn't saying anything, but his eyes darted between Seo Reun and Tien, narrowing slightly when Tien spoke.
"The position goes to the most skilled candidate," Tien said, more firmly now. "And I am the best fit. I just… I'd really like to know what you think of the tribe."
His eyes were wide, hopeful, maybe even desperate.
Seo Reun sighed, slowly. He tilted his head slightly, his voice cool. "Does what I think even matter?" Seeing that Tien and Dong Ha seemed to be waiting for his opinion, so he decided to give them a piece of his mind.
"At first, I was curious about a tribe that would let their future chief wander off in the name of freedom. But now…" His eyes met Tien's, unblinking. "Now I think your tribe is careless. They welcomed you, an outsider, yes but you still speak like someone standing at the edge, trying to convince himself he belongs. Dong Ha's loyalty is bound by his father still living in the village. He can't risk failure. You both watch Ah Li not because you were chosen, but because you were convenient."
Tien's mouth parted slightly, the words striking harder than expected. Dong Ha looked away and it seemed he wore a smile.
"As for what I think of your tribe…" Seo Reun shrugged. "I'm not one of you. My opinion doesn't matter. And that's exactly why I don't have one."
"Wait...I didn't mean it like that," Tien said quickly, his hands fluttering in the air as if trying to undo his own words. "I'm not miserable or cast aside or anything. I'm actually living well. The village chief's Supreme Guard adopted me, and Dong Ha's father even got married after they settled here. We're not just surviving, we're building real lives."
He glanced between Seo Reun and Dong Ha, his voice softening. "I guess I said it all wrong. I just wanted you to see that our village is beautiful. It really is. And… you don't have to be afraid of not belonging. I mean, look at Ah Li. He clung to you like he's known you forever. That says something about both you and us. We're not cold people. We welcome warmth when we see it."
His voice trailed off, leaving a thread of hope hanging in the air.
Seo Reun's expression barely shifted. His gaze remained steady, calm and unreadable, like a pool of water too still to reveal its depth.
He didn't argue. He didn't nod. He simply looked at Dong Ha, who had stayed quiet through it all. No defense, no echo of Tien's desperate words. Yet that silence spoke volumes more than any pleading ever could. Strangely, there was a faint, crooked smile tugging at the corner of Dong Ha's lips, and then a quiet chuckle slipped out.
"I think Tien's just trying a little too hard to give you a reason to stay with us," he said, shaking his head with a breathy laugh. "And you... you took it the wrong way." he started to laugh out loud.
Seo Reun finally let out a slow breath, the tension leaving his shoulders. He stopped analyzing, stopped weighing every word. Whatever Tien thought, whatever truths or lies this village held, it no longer mattered.
"I'll go with you to your tribe."
The words were simple, but they carried the quiet finality of a decision made. Like the first step over a threshold, or the silent turning of a page.
Tien's face lit up, joy blooming across it like dawn breaking after a long night. "Very good."
Seo Reun finally stood up, first he needs to deal with a wild boar.