Book 21 Chapter 1

First time, and again

At the time, I thought it was our first meeting. That day, right up until the moment I remembered it, it was still a first. But that day, when it came out of nowhere, when I awoke from oblivion, it was no longer a first. We were connected by a bond far deeper than we knew.

Neither did she… nor did I.

* * *

I will never forget that day.

I remember the day she returned with me, bathed in a radiance that not even the chaos of the frenzy could steal from her, and the day I recognized the man's face in the crowd.

"Oooh, Yerin, this can't be a dream, can it?"

When he saw the white-robed old man embrace Ye Lin, he had just finished loosening the knuckles of his fist when he was briefed by Jang Hong on the results of his disciples' condolence sales.

My first thought was, "How dare he hug her without my permission?" While I was thinking about it, the old man had already stroked her cheek.

"Yes, Father, I'm back."

With a thin smile, Ye Lin fell into the old man's arms.

Ah, the father of the famously elusive Yerin, one of the people who brought her into this world, if not the world, then certainly a touching father-daughter reunion.

"Oh, heaven and earth! I thank thee!"

She couldn't see his face, but the slight tremor in his back and shoulders was enough to tell that he was crying. The old man hugged Ye Lin tightly once more, as if he didn't want to let her go. It was as if he was determined to hold her for three days and three nights. Even for a father, that was a little too much.

Just when I thought I had to do something, the man gently let go of Yerin and turned away to wipe his tears with his sleeve. It was that moment.

Boom!

Something exploded in my head. It was like a tidal wave, huge and intense enough to shake your soul to the core.

No way!

This was not going to happen.

How did that guy…….

The scattered pieces of my past began to coalesce into a single point in that moment.

How could I forget that man's face!

That face hasn't changed much over the past decade.

"I'm glad you're back safely, Master!"

I hear them approaching, just in time to greet me, and I smooth over the crushing shock with a smile. I have plenty of time to think about it.

That was the day I truly came back to life. So it's a good day to celebrate that, I thought.