xviii. The Return Trip

The young native was right. After walked with much difficulty thru the cave all day long, Sungyeol truly got to the next mountainside. He sighed in relief. So far he only disturbed by bats, cobwebs, and small rodents in his journey through the cave. The cave was pretty. There were so many stalactites and stalagmites ornamenting the roof and the ground, and they were getting bigger as Sungyeol walked deeper. In some parts the wall cracked till the roof, letting the sunlight slipped in and illuminated the cave. Creating beautiful color. Drops of water looked sparkling, the wall of the cave looked like painted with rainbow.

Sungyeol came across an underground river in the middle of the cave. He took an hour rest, sitting next to the river. Staring at the fishes swimming in the waterway. Sungyeol never imagined such big and benign fishes like them, they never been told in the old pastor's stories.

Sunggyu was still unconscious. Sungyeol repented himself for unwilling to learn about smelly medicinal herb from the pastors who nurtured him. Now he could do nothing, except waited for Sunggyu to become conscious by himself as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, the dark haired young native with a dimple in his right cheek arrived on his village gate right when the villagers started to realize that their captive had escaped. Since the rain still poured, no one knew that he was crying at the moment. Together with the other younglings, he went through around the village, pretending to help them looking for Sunggyu and Sungyeol.

In contrast with the other villagers who search for the two outliers in anger, raging because they had been fooled, the almond-shaped eyes young man did it while sobbing. Ran limping, whispering Sunggyu's name. From one house to other houses. From one corner to other corners… Bawling his eyes out. Wishing to find him. Whimpering in the midst of sough of winds, crinkling of ice cubes, roar of thunders. But he would never find Sunggyu.

Throughout the rest of his life…

The other villagers ran after Sunggyu and Sungyeol until the foot of the mountain. Yet they found no one along their way tracking the outliers. Not even their footmarks could be seen.

At that time Sunggyu and Sungyeol sprawled in the mouth of the cave in the next mountain side, far away from their chasers. Sungyeol lit a bonfire. Luckily for them, it didn't rain that night. Sunggyu was still passed out, and Sungyeol opted to rest, stretching out his back on the ground. Putting the stringed board beside him, and his long sword next to it.

It had been three days and three nights, and up to this time Sunggyu was dead to the world. Only his weak snuffle of breathes that made Sungyeol sure his best friend was still alive. Sungyeol kept carrying Sunggyu on his shoulder throughout their journey crossing the dense forest. Their return trip progressed so slow. Moreover there were no horses Sungyeol could ride and he had to shoulder a heavy load.

On the fourth night Sunggyu was passed out, Sungyeol decided to spend the night next to a small river, under the shadow of giant tree. The leaves of that tree were so big, anyone could make use of them as umbrella. Sungyeol also lit a big fire.

He was weary, and anxious. All of these were clearly his fault. If only he didn't force his way to set his foot on the damned Adam Alp, all of these didn't need to happen. Sungyeol cursed himself. Reflective on his fault, all alone. These three days were exhausting as well as worrying. What if Sunggyu wouldn't wake up for ever? Somewhat afraid, Sungyeol glanced at Sunggyu's limp body that slumped beside him. That night, Sungyeol didn't feel the need to sleep. The journey had changed his physical endurance, reversing all his sleep schedule.

Because he had nothing to do, lightly Sungyeol put a hand on Sunggyu's stringed board. Grimacing. He never had the talent, would never mastered the technique to strum the strings. But there was no harm for him to play a plain, simple song, rather than just sat in silent and did nothing.

Sungyeol swept his thumb down the strings, randomly. Out of tunes. Very crappy. But sometimes from a terrible things, came out a good favor, as it did that night. Listening to the yipping high tones, bit by bit Sunggyu awakened. His fingers shifted weakly. He blinked his eyes, sensitive to bright light from the fire, starting to become aware of his surrounding.

Sungyeol noticed his movement, turning toward his best friend and immediately stopped his ugly song. "Thanks God, finally you're awake, mate, the Crying Sailor! I'm really glad to see you open your eyes…" He laughed in merry, shifting closer.

"Wa-ter…" Sunggyu whispered, his voice was barely heard.

Right away Sungyeol reached for the bamboo's culm he cut this morning, running to the river near them. Bringing back cold water.

"Where are we…?" Sunggyu asked weakly.

"We're already far!" Sungyeol gave a short answer while helping Sunggyu to drink the water from the bamboo. Sungyeol's intent was clear, don't talk much, just rest, you have recover your strength.