Finding You

CHAPTER 29

The warm breeze of a summer evening blew past Eon Jin as she wandered in the woods, followed by the crunching of the fallen leaves beneath her feet and a lone hooting of an owl. There was also a faint scent of wood burning somewhere, yet her eyes were not able to distinguish what was lying in the dark area beyond the clearing. Nevertheless, the pale moonlight paved a clear way towards an old camphor tree, inviting her to take a seat at the base of the trunk in between giant roots that resembled two sturdy armrests.

When she sank onto the ground covered by sparse patches of grass, a familiar voice called out her name.

"Your divinity," Eon Jin uttered under her breath.

The deity in question stepped into the light as if on cue, garbed in a velvet cloak of her signature shade of green with the same enigmatic frown on her intimidating face.

"You said you wanted to have a conversation with me alone," Fate mused as she walked towards Eon Jin, dragging the long train of her garment along the dry and rocky earth. "What would you like to talk about?"

Eon Jin waited until the immortal was standing a foot away from her before she spoke.

"I now understand why you punished me and I genuinely regret it."

"Do you?"

"My crime was to stand there doing nothing since my heart was wishing the entire family an ill fate," Eon Jin unassumingly recounted. "My wrath was misplaced and a young boy perished in the fire because of it."

Fate nodded, then said, "It took you a long while to fathom and repent for your mistake, Son Eon Jin."

"You took away my memories," she reminded the god. "I would have come around sooner if my mind was functioning properly."

"Not really," Fate contradicted. "Even if I kept your recollections intact, you would not have realized the gravity of your actions because you were blinded by your fury."

"I still am."

A few moments passed with neither a supplementary enlightenment from Fate nor a witty rebuttal from Eon Jin and the uncomfortable calm between them felt utterly surreal if not for the occasional indistinct noises from the forest.

Fate sighed, waving her hand with a flourish in resignation as she said, "Are you not going to ask me about Kim Tae Pyung?"

Eon Jin nervously swallowed before inquiring, "Why him?"

"Why not?" Fate shot back casually, raising a challenging brow at her.

Eon Jin clenched her jaw to contain her resentment. Despite being an emotional wreck, she was smart enough to recognize that her next words should be selected with caution to avoid provoking the mythical being.

"If you wanted to chastise me further, I ask that you leave Kim Tae Pyung out of it," Eon Jin endeavored to beg, but failed due to her poorly concealed indignation.

Fate tilted her head to the side and stuck her nose up in the air, a hint of curiosity glowing in the flecks of gold in her eyes of sienna.

"Why do you still think of this life as a punishment, Eon Jin?" she asked.

"Because it is," Eon Jin refuted in a stern voice. "Three hundred and eighteen years of witnessing people face their end, hearing their pleas, feeling their pain..."

"Does that not sound like a sentence to you, your divinity?"

The deity let out a dry chuckle and stared at an obscure spot on the pointy toe of her boots, shaking her head in disbelief.