As I followed the Prophet, I saw a small house built on a wide meadow. Behind the wooden door was an interior that was much larger than it looked on the outside. It seemed that the space control ability was applied to the entire house.
“Here you go.”
The Prophet, who led me to the drawing-room, opened the terrace window and beckoned to me. As I approached him, I saw Ha Tae-heon lying in the flower garden over the terrace railing.
“Then can we have a conversation with peace of mind now?”
“…yes.”
“Don’t worry. I don’t intend to hold you for long.”
The corners of his eyes were softly folded as he smiled. I asked carefully, looking at his eyes shining in different colours in the sunlight shining on the terrace.
“Since when did you know I was coming?”
“From the moment you set your mind.”
The answer that came out without hesitation was that firm. The Prophet, who told me to sit on the sofa when I frowned as I couldn’t understand the meaning of the words, put a warm tea of flowers in front of me.
“There are many things I want to ask.”
“It seems so.”
Red petals floated gently over the pale crimson tea in the cup. The Prophet, who took off his robe and hung it on a hanger, looked at me.
“What you want to know, what you need to know. I can give you all the answers if you want.”
“……”
“But we need a price.”
As expected. Swallowing dry saliva, I firmly made up my mind.
“What should I give you?”
Noticing that I was nervous, the Prophet raised the corner of his lips slightly and smiled.
“There is absolutely no need to be scared just because of the price. Strictly speaking, it’s a transaction. We’re exchanging the information I have with the information you have.”
“Well. I don’t have the information to give you as a transaction.”
“I think that’s a hasty judgment.”
The Prophet, revealing the pure white blouse hidden by his robe, continued to button up near his collarbone.
“You can give me a lot. I will ask two of them in return.”
“What is it?”
“Hm, for now.”
With his blouse buttoned all the way to the end of his neck, he held out a large, white hand to me.
“Shall we greet each other? Aren’t you curious about my name?”
“Ah.”
It was then that I realized that I was acting too hastily. I quickly grabbed his hand and nodded my head.
“I’m sorry. What should I call you?”
“Elohim (엘로힘). Simply call me El.”
“El.”
It was a subtle pronunciation for English. After shaking hands, he gently stroked my hair.
“I want to call you Se-hyun if it’s not uncomfortable. Because the name Han Yi-gyeol has already been called enough. Of course, only when there’s no one with you. How is it?”
“…then it’s all right with me.”
“Good.”
Elohim treated me as if I was a child. Come to think of it, he even called Ha Tae-heon ‘child’. He was probably the only one who could call Ha Tae-heon ‘child’.
“Then we exchanged greetings, let’s talk about the price.”
I lifted my head, wiping the hair that Elohim had touched.
“If you give me two things, I can answer every question you ask.”
“What are those two things?”
“First of all…”
He paused for a moment, looked over the terrace, and then smiled slightly.
“I wish you would give me your time.”
“If it’s time…”
“Stay with me for 70 days. That’s the price.”
70 days. I couldn’t answer easily and bit my lip.
Originally, I had no intention of going back soon, but two months was too long.
And above all.
“What will happen to Ha Tae-heon-ssi?”
Ha Tae-heon, who followed me, had to go back to Korea before the vacation was over. Elohim immediately understood the meaning of my question and nodded his head.
“Of course, the child should go. If he reuses the items he used when he came here, he will be able to go out to the Korean gate.”
If so, I’m glad… I didn’t know how to explain this to Ha Tae-heon.
“Answer me, Han Yi-gyeol. No matter what happens, you will never leave my side.”
Before coming here, I remembered what Ha Tae-heon had said to me at the hotel. In addition, his strange behaviour that I had been seen since he met the Prophet.
Thinking that far, I asked Elohim just in case.
“Does Ha Tae-heon-ssi know anything about this proposal?”
“I’m sorry, but I can’t tell you that. The details of the transaction with others are strictly confidential.”
“……”
He knew. I now understood why Ha Tae-heon kept telling me to stick around him. I let out a sigh because I was at a loss.
“He won’t accept my advice to go back alone.”
Elohim with a vase placed in the centre of the table answered lightly.
“That’s right.”
He moved the vase to a small table in front of the sunny terrace and gently caressed the yellow petals.
“I won’t ask you to make a decision right now. It will be sudden in many ways. So stay here with that child for about seven days and then make a decision.”
“I can say no after seven days.”
“I won’t hold you back then. But I don’t think that’s a very good decision.”
Elohim was sure that I would stay here.
“If you answer that you will pay for the second price, then I will tell you.”
I looked at the flower, which looked more lively in the light, for a moment before answering calmly.
“All right.”
* * *
When I returned to the place where Ha Tae-heon was sleeping, I saw several animals I had never seen before. Why did they gather there? A deer with its head raised at the presence, looked at me for a moment and walked away with a leisurely pace.
“Ha Tae-heon-ssi.”
I thought what Elohim said was that he would wake up soon. I looked at Ha Tae-heon’s face with his eyes closed for a while then sat down next to him. Nearby, a white rabbit and a cat tangled and played then birds flew away.
Ha Tae-heon, lying in a flower field full of bright yellow flowers, looked like a princess from a fairy tale. I smiled bitterly as I carefully removed the flower tickling his forehead.
Now what should I do? I didn’t think meeting the Prophet would make it all easy to know everything, but I would be here for 77 days.
I wondered how would Ha Tae-heon react if I told him that I would stay here. It didn’t seem like it would be easy to understand, considering that he had been desperate to tell me not to leave his side even before meeting Elohim.
Crunch.
As I looked at Ha Tae-heon’s neat face, thinking about the future, something pure white suddenly lifted its head from the front with the sound of rustling grass.
“……?”
I frowned slightly as I met the black eyes and its gaze. What is that?
Pii.
The unidentified animal, which made a pure cry, hid in the grass again. Then, after a while, it sneaked out again.
It wanted to come closer, but it seemed afraid, so I thought it just wanted to look.
“Hm.”
After thinking for a moment, I turned my face away from the animal. As I pretended not to be interested, the crunching sound got closer and closer.
Piii.
Something soft touched my fingertips. After hesitating for a while, the animal touched my hand with the tip of its nose. At that moment, the appearance of the animal, which had been hidden by the thick grass, was revealed.
It looked like a fox, but it had four long ears and its whole body was white and shiny. It was about the size of a weasel. Above all, for an ordinary animal, it exuded an aura similar to that of a monster.
The animal, which had been sniffing with its body pulled back and only its nose sticking out, seemed to be relieved when I stayed still and gradually narrowed the distance.
“Han Yi-gyeol.”
Piik!
Then, a familiar voice cut through me and the animal. The tug-of-war that had been close to the end came to an end, and the animal raised its tail. The clear startled animal flew into the air and ran away in haste.
It could fly? I looked down at the back of the animal that was moving away from me in sorrow.
“Ha Tae-heon-ssi.”
Ha Tae-heon, who was lying down and looking at me, slowly raised his upper body. As he moved, yellow petals fell down.
“What happened?”
Ha Tae-heon asked with a frown on his face as if he was very displeased that he had lost his mind without realizing it.
“It’s the power of the Prophet.”
“…as expected, he’s also unusual.”
He looked around me and then looked at me suspiciously.
“Did he intentionally knock me out?”
“Um, oh, maybe?”
When I was asked a question by Ha Tae-heon and answered a question while stroking my neck, Ha Tae-heon came up to me with a more serious look in his eyes.
“Answer me properly, Han Yi-gyeol. What happened in meantime?”
“That…”
I swallowed dry saliva as Ha Tae-heon’s face was right in front of me. Last night at the hotel, the area around my eyes that his lips touched was somehow itchy.
“I spoke with the Prophet for a while.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I can’t tell you that… I also asked Ha Tae-heon-ssi, but you didn’t answer.”
“……”
Fortunately, he didn’t answer as if being stabbed. (다행히 이 부분은 그도 찔리는지 더 묻지 않았다)
“But there are still many things I haven’t figured out. That’s why, Ha Tae-heon-ssi.”
“Say it.”
“I would like to spend a week with the Prophet here. This is something the Prophet agreed to.”
Actually, I didn’t agree with what Elohim said, but Elohim suggested it first, so it seemed better to explain it this way. Anyway, I accepted it as my will.
“It’s not forced. It’s okay for Ha Tae-heon-ssi to go back first. I’m going to stay here…”
“What are you talking about?”
Ha Tae-heon, who cut off my words that rambled with an awkward smile, opened his mouth with a look of dissatisfaction.
“I told you not to stay away from me, did you forget?”
“But I have to stay here for a week. Isn’t it too much for you?”
“It doesn’t matter. Because it was something I was prepared for.”
Ha Tae-heon, who answered more firmly than expected, immediately touched the corner of my eye where he had kissed with his thumb.
“Didn’t you say that you would be by my side no matter what?”
“…all right.”
In the end, it ended up like this. If I had known this would happen, I would have asked for help from Chloe and come alone. A week later I would betray him.
“Han Yi-gyeol?”
Ha Tae-heon, who was looking at me strangely, who couldn’t hide my complicated emotions, suddenly held me in his arms. Confused by his sudden action, wind-like laughter was heard from behind.
“You don’t have to be so scared.”
It was Elohim’s voice. He beckoned Ha Tae-heon, who was very wary while hiding me in his arms.
“If the story is over, follow me. I’ll show you where to stay for a week.”
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