Jung Wheein lied. When she said that she was smart and capable of making it through the forest without getting off course, she could never ever be more wrong.

The plan was to follow the path that led to the town just next to hers to deliver the pastries, but what wasn’t part of the plan was getting distracted by a small kitten. Jung Wheein was just human; she felt a kitten playing with her legs and the next thing she knew, she was lost in the middle of nowhere.

Logically, if a person with sight followed an animal, they could use their ability to get back to where they were. Except Wheein couldn’t see, and now she was just a lost blind woman with a basket full of food and a cat. But to be fair, from what Wheein could feel, the kitten was very tiny and she could not resist cute animals; especially cats.

Wheein made space in her basket for the kitten to lie in; she pouted at the thought of her current situation. If it wasn’t for her weakness of adorable animals, Wheein wouldn’t be where she was right now, and she had no idea where she was.

“Why must you be so cute?” Patting the kitten’s head, Wheein recalled how she met the tiny animal.

☾

Tapping along the paved path, Wheein hummed quietly. It was a cheerful little song that her eomma had sung to her when she was sad or in pain, whenever she would hum the song it filled her heart with a fuzzy warmness. The song was a significant part of her life, one that would always bring her joy and comfort.

Wheein continued tapping her stick from left to right on the stone pavement until it hit something furry. Not only had the impact scared the furry creature, but it also shocked Wheein as well. The critter lets out a yelp before scurrying away from Wheein. Wheein listened intently, she was figuring out if the animal she had hit was a danger or not.

Wheein listened for a few seconds for any noises that could indict that the animal was near, when she was finally sure it had left, the young girl continued her journey. But before she could make more than a couple steps, the bushy creature returned. Wheein tensed up as the critter rubbed against Wheein’s leg, this was either a huge lion or a tiny squirrel, and it was a 50/50 chance.

After some careful considerations, the girl chose to reach down and pet the small animal; hopefully, this one wouldn’t bite her hand off. She bent down and searched for the fluffy critter, and seeing that Wheein wasn’t going to hurt the animal, it leaned into Wheein’s hand. This made the blind girl smile, it was indeed a kitten.

Wheein spoke in a baby voice and played with the cat’s pointy ears. “You scared me, I thought you were gonna eat me, but you’re just a baby,”

The kitten Wheein’s finger as a token of appreciation for petting it.

“Ah, you’re so cute! I wish I could see how you look…”

Wheein didn’t like thinking about her disability; it made her stomach stir and she did not like the feeling. She had moved on from what happened in the past but little things that she couldn’t do but other people could bothered her. Wheein bit her lips and ignored the tears that were threatening to spill.

“I think I will name you Ggomo. Ggomo, do you have an owner?”If anyone else had been around they would’ve thought Wheein was crazy for asking an animal a question. Ggomo only meowed in response and the girl laughed, forgetting the uneasy feeling she had before.

“Then I shall find you- wait, where are you going Ggomo?” Ggomo’s sudden disappearance made Wheein panic, she couldn’t even look for her new friend if she wanted to.

Her stomach twisted with worry and she tried to listen for Ggomo’s footsteps, however, with the soft chirping of birds and the wind rustling the leaves, it made it nearly impossible. But today it seemed like the Goddess Fortuna was on her side because just a few seconds later she could hear Ggomo answering with a meow.

Wheein got up immediately to follow her fuzzy companion; the woman’s mind was totally focused on the cat that she forgot about making her way out of the woods. With Wheein calling out Ggomo’s name every few seconds and the cat replying back with a faint meow, it was like they were playing a game of Marco Polo.

“Ggomo, where are you leading me? You know it’s not fair to play like this with a blind person,” Wheein was cautious about her territory, she made sure she didn’t walk too fast and felt her surroundings first before going after the excited kitten.

The eager kitten carried on the game of Marco Polo until it finally stopped in a spot that was confined from prying eyes.

“Ggomo are we done yet?” Not expecting much of a response, the cat meowed at Wheein like it formerly did. The cat dashed over to Wheein and played with its favorite spot, Wheein’s ankle.

The woman was unbothered by the fuzzy creature’s action; she was too busy regaining her breath. It had been a while since she walked this fast, and it still hasn’t dawned to her that she had totally neglected her job.

The weary girl was completely oblivious of the creature that had been observing her every step ever since she stepped foot on the compound.

When Wheein had lost her sense of vision, she had to rely on her other senses, such as sound and touch. Wheein’s hearing had been better than most, she used it in a similar way to echolocation. She could imagine how big a room was by how long it took for her voice to bounce off the walls. The blind woman listened to her surroundings carefully; she heard a stream of water nearby, and she could feel a bed of flowers besided her.

 She took in the scent of fresh flowers; even if she couldn’t see the blossom of colorful plants, Wheein knew it was a beautiful sight.

But the smell of bread finally woke her from whatever daze she was in, Wheein wasn’t here to admire nature, she was supposed to be delivering bread and making it home before sunset otherwise Yongsun would have her head.

“Ah Ggomo, I’m lost.”

☾

The woman watched the young girl’s interactions with amusement. Was this another sacrifice that a neighboring village sent? Medusa frowned at the idea of having to turn this girl to stone. She never liked turning innocent women into stone, but perhaps she could let this one go? But if she did then what if this girl returned to her village and told them her secrets?

Medusa observed the girl keenly, studying every little aspect of the new girl, like a predator preparing to pounce on its prey. She noted every detail of the woman, starting from the brunette’s shoulder-length hair to the walking stick the shorter girl was using. The stick had captured the woman’s attention, was the village really that cruel to send her a handicapped girl?

From where she was standing she could hardly make out any of the disabled girl’s physical features, Medusa only saw the smooth, pale back that the girl’s robe revealed.

Medusa was so absorbed in her thinking that she didn’t even notice the pretty woman entering her palace. She was going to confront the girl, but the latter had already been wandering into the temple. Medusa decided to wait and followed the pale girl inside with interest.

The ill-fated woman listened to the tapping of the brunette’s stick and quiet humming; somehow it had soothed Medusa’s nerves. This girl had definitely intrigued the older woman’s curiosity; did she not know what she had gotten herself into?

The ignorant girl followed the quartz trail and continued to hum her song. The cheery melody didn’t seem to bring any joy for Medusa; instead, she felt an unsettling heartache.

☾

Wheein climbed the steps slowly; she was thrilled to find a trail that could lead her to somewhere. Perhaps she would find a nice stranger that could help her find a route out of the woods.

With her stick knocking against the surrounding area, Wheein found her way inside the house. Wheein acknowledged the change of texture beneath her feet; she was no longer walking on smooth pavement, the new material felt similar to the texture of the carpet.

“Hello, is anyone there?”

Wheein prayed for a reply but the only answer she got was her own voice echoing back. The room she was in must’ve been pretty big, considering the echo still repeated after a few seconds.

In any other circumstances, calling out for help would be the reasonable thing to do, but summoning the deadliest woman was certainly not.

☾

“My dear girl, there is no one here beside us.”

Removing herself from the shadows, Medusa presented herself to the strayed girl.

To Medusa’s surprise, the woman doesn’t flinch by her sudden presence. Instead, a wide smile spread across her face, confusing the tan woman in return.

“I’m so glad I found you, Miss! Do you know the directions back to the trail that leads to the neighboring town?”

Medusa’s face scrunched up in astonishment, she knew the girl had looked naïve, but she didn’t know she was that naïve.

“Do you know who I am? Why haven’t you shut your eyes yet?”Her question was laced with no hospitality.

Now it had been the other girl’s turn to look confused.

“Miss, it doesn’t matter whether I open or close my eyes, I can’t see .”

Medusa was baffled by the young girl’s reply.

“I’m blind,” She added.

Medusa bit on her tongue to stifle her laugh; maybe this girl wasn’t as innocent and harmless as she thought.

“So you’re blind?” The girl only nodded in response.

It made sense why the b