The trees changed after the bridge.
The leaves were thicker. Redder. The wind sang in a different key.
Baek-Ha stopped once, turned slowly, and said:
"Feels like we crossed into a different story."
Sim Gwan nodded.
One with fewer ghosts.
At least for now.
---
Arang Vale didn't have gates. Or guards. Just a long curved road, grass huts, and a sign that read:
> "Speak softly. Or don't speak at all."
They followed the smell of roasted sweetroot to a longhouse lit with soft paper lamps.
A woman there pointed them toward an inn. No words. Just a gesture, a tilt of the chin. Everyone moved the same way quiet, smooth, unbothered.
Sim whispered, "Feels like we're inside someone's dream."
Baek-Ha looked around. "Feels like we're being told not to wake up."
---
At the inn, an old man greeted them with a bow. He handed Sim a tiny wooden tag carved with the symbol for "Pause."
Baek-Ha raised an eyebrow.
He smiled. "Payment here isn't money," he said. "It's quiet."
They stayed.
---
That night, they wandered the market under hanging moonflowers.
They found the mute woman beside a stall of wind chimes. Her eyes were sharp, hair woven with silver thread. She met Sim's gaze and didn't look away.
She gestured toward a rack of dull-bladed swords.
Then pointed to her throat.
Then to the blades.
Sim picked one up.
It felt warm.
But when he swung it—nothing. No edge. No hum. Just… stillness.
"She sold her voice to seal these," Baek-Ha said. "They don't cut flesh. Only lies."
Sim paused.
Then laughed.
Baek-Ha blinked.
"Why's that funny?"
He grinned. "I just realized how many people I'd cut by accident."
---
They bought nothing.
But the woman nodded as they left.
Baek-Ha whispered, "She likes you."
Sim shrugged. "I tend to have that effect on mysterious, emotionally distant women."
She slapped his shoulder.
They laughed.
Really laughed.
---
Later, they shared a bowl of warm rice noodles and argued over whose hometown had better dumplings.
Baek-Ha insisted hers did.
Sim said she was lying.
She shoved a spoon into his mouth mid-sentence.
He choked.
Then laughed again.
She leaned back, smiling, watching him cough into his sleeve.
"You're getting soft," she said.
He wiped his mouth. "Only for you."
---
That night, in a room above the quiet inn, Baek-Ha curled up under the thin blanket and stared at the ceiling.
"I forgot what it was like," she murmured.
Sim turned toward her. "What?"
"To laugh without looking over my shoulder."
He reached over. Touched her hand.
"You can laugh as loud as you want tonight," he said. "If anyone comes, I'll kill them slowly."
She grinned. "Romantic."
"I'm full of charm."
"Full of something."
---
They didn't kiss.
Didn't touch more than fingers.
But they lay there, warmth between them, and let the world be quiet.
For once.
---
In the shadows outside the Vale, someone watched.
A boy, barely sixteen. Covered in scars. Eyes too old for his age. He carried no sword just a flute with seven cracks in the bone.
He whispered into the wind:
"Found you."
Then turned, and vanished into the trees.
---
[Veil Root Path: Internal Alignment 78% – Emotional Bond Strengthened]
[Baek-Ha: Internal Flame Awakened – Dormant Qi Signature Unlocked]
---