Seungcheol removed the sword from the chest of his captor. The hallway full of dead bodies isn’t really the way to go when your main priority is to stealthily make your way out. Seungcheol is bloodied from head to toe when he opened a door to reveal more dungeon cells.

“You have got to be kidding me.” he deadpans. The guards took notice of his presence and drew their swords. Seungcheol sighed. This is a lot of hassle to free the innocent but he couldn’t leave the village alone until they were freed, it simply was not right.

By the time he had freed the villagers and killed the last guard, he was positively drenched in blood. The villagers praised him and the women bathed and scrubbed him clean. Some flirted with him but he couldn’t quite feel the same. He never felt attracted to anyone even as a child and with developing magic powers, he rarely had friends either.

The villagers fed him and gave him new garments for his journey ahead. Before he left, a man approached him with a map informing Seungcheol that there was a cave that would lead him to a great weapon that might help him with his quest.

Seungcheol thanked the man and the villagers for their hospitality and left to what lies ahead.

Seungcheol’s quest was not something a normal person would aim for. He is on his way to slay a dragon, the same dragon that murdered everyone in his village and stole their treasures. Seungcheol survived the massacre as his magical powers shielded him from the fires.

Once the fire had settled and the dragon had left, he fled before anyone from neighbouring villages came over and accused him. That was 2 years ago, he still had no idea where he was going.

Although, in those 2 years, Seungcheol had managed to control his powers and gain new ones. He became stronger and learned how to survive without depending on anyone but himself.

Back to the now. Seungcheol looked at the map the villager gave him and it was very, very vague. All that was drawn was trees, the village and the location of the cave.

“Great” Seungcheol thought to himself. It took him like 5 days to escape and roughly 40 men to kill and this map is to lead him to a great weapon. Great. Just great.

As he tries to decipher the best he could of the map, it soon became nightfall and he decided to set camp. As he ate the stag he killed, he soon wondered if the map would reveal itself with magic.

“Ipsum revelare” he muttered, as his hand hovered over the map. He waited for something to appear but nothing came out. Seungcheol frowned and wondered if moonlight was needed to show the drawings. He stood up and walked towards the clearing with moonlight.
The moon was bright and was full. Seungcheol hovered his hand over the map and muttered the words again. This time, the full map appeared. It would seem he was going the right direction, however, there was a warning at the edge of the map.

“ Beware of the guardian at the entrance. It may seem harmful but it is a absolute monster.”

Seungcheol should be afraid of what lies there but after two years, bring it on.

 

The journey to the cave only took a two days journey which surprised Seungcheol because the map showed it to be a lot longer. No matter, Seungcheol kept the map and kept his guard up. The guardian is apparently a monster but he knows they won’t think you’re hostile unless you have your weapons raised.

As he goes closer to the cave, he hears a melody. It was a wondrous, beautiful melody that Seungcheol can’t help but to investigate. It came from a stringed instrument, he gathered, perhaps something that required plucking but he couldn’t pinpoint the exact instrument.

As he grew closer, he saw a magnificent garden with the sunlight streaming in from the top of the cave. The garden was surrounded with flowers of various types and in the middle of the garden sat a man, playing the gayageum with grace.

The man looked like a child but also a man. He wore a blue hanbok which complemented his pale skin and pitch black hair. His eyes were closed as he played the gayageum with grace and ease.

Seungcheol couldn’t help but to stare. The man was beautiful in his eyes.

“Who are you and what are you doing here?” the man asked, still playing the gayageum. Seungcheol was so enamoured by the man’s soft and sweet voice (even if it was for a few seconds), he didn’t realise the man was asking a question.

“I’m sorry, did you say something?” Seungcheol asks. The man tilted his head at a particular note. “Who are you and what are you doing here?” the man repeats.

“I am Choi Seungcheol and someone told me that there was a great weapon that would help me in my journey to slay a dragon.” Seungcheol replies. He freezes, dumbfounded by the fact he gave the information so quickly. Usually, he’ll go around in circles to confuse them before getting to proper introduction so that he wouldn’t have to reveal his name so quickly.

The man hums. “A great weapon, you say” the man plucks descending notes. “Tell me” he begins, plucking a note. “Where do you assume is this great weapon you speak of?” the man begins playing again.
Seungcheol looks around the cave. “Hidden somewhere in this cave I presume. Perhaps in the cave walls or, behind a door that is on the cave walls or, hidden beneath that garden or,perhaps, it is the one bearing light to this cave on the ceiling.” he replies.

The man hums again. “Perhaps. But as you can see, it is just me and my garden and my instrument in this cave. Please leave now.” he says without looking up at Seungcheol.

“I’m not leaving until I find this weapon.” Seungcheol firmly says. The man looks irritated for a moment before changing the tune of his song. It seems faster and sharper than the previous song.

“I won’t say it again so please leave” the man states, with irritation in his voice. “I won’t leave.” Seungcheol states again. The man flicks his fingers across the strings and a sharp pain hits Seungcheol.

Seungcheol looks at his chest to find a slash, he looks up towards the man as he continues to flick his fingers and Seungcheol is hit again and again. Seungcheol gathers his shield and holds it in front of him.

“That shield won’t hold for very long” the man states, as he continues his attacks. He’s right. Seungcheol has to do something. He goes as close to the man as he can but the attacks push him back.

When he gets close enough to him, Seungcheol yells “MAGNA RUGIET!”. The spells causes the man to fall backwards along with the gayageum. Seungcheol runs towards the instrument before the man could get up and play it.

Seungcheol puts his sword between the man and the instrument. “You’re the great weapon.” he pants out. The man looks at him angrily. “So, what? What are you going to do now? Enslave me?”

Seungcheol steps back. “Heavens no!” he takes his sword and sheathes it. He gives his hand out to the man “I want you to come with me”

The man frowns. “What’s the difference?” he eyes the hand like it’s foul. “Well enslaving is basically forcing, while I’m asking you to come with me.” Seungcheol replies.

The man doesn’t say anything and continues to stare at Seungcheol. Seungcheol realises he needs something to get the man to come with him. “I can do a lot of heavy work so that’s no problem and you don’t have to worry, I’ll make sure that you’re fed and not sick. And if you wish, I can carry the gayageum for you.”

The man looks away for a while, contemplating the next course of action. “Alright, fine. I’ll go with you.” he takes Seungcheol’s hand and Seungcheol pulls him up. Seungcheol smiles. “Great, it’s getting quite late so how about we leave in the morning?” he asks. The man agrees and gets the gayageum.

“You know, I never got to ask for you name” Seungcheol says. The man picks up the gayageum to inspect it and casually says

“Jihoon. Lee Jihoon.”

 

Night fell over the cave making it dark. Seungcheol was about to start a fire when Jihoon stopped him.

“I’m not sure if you realise this Jihoon but we’re in a cave.” Seungcheol says bluntly. Jihoon pursed his lips looking unamused. “I’m aware of that. Look around you.”

Seungcheol looked around to find the flowers glowing. They lit up the cave so beautifully and the glow made Jihoon look even more remarkable. Jihoon wasn’t exactly playing the gayageum but he was inspecting the strings.

“What are you doing?” Seungcheol asks. He sits down as he watches Jihoon’s gentle fingers pluck each string. “I’m checking them to make sure they’re in good condition. If we’re leaving, now is a good time to make sure they’re still good.” Jihoon answers, strumming through the strings with his fingers.

“You do realise I’m no good in a fight if it requires mobility, right?” Seungcheol gives Jihoon a smile. “It’s alright. I’m quite good with mobility so rest assured.” Seungcheol says. He takes off his chest armour and hovers his hand over it. “Restituere gloria est pristini” he whispers. The armor rethreads itself and is soon returned to what it once was.

Jihoon watches Seungcheol as he puts his armor back on. “You have magic yet you fight with a blade and a shield,” Jihoon begins, Seungcheol stops adjusting his armour to look at him. “Usually people that has either would stick to one. It’s very rare for someone to use both.”

Seungcheol smiles and looks Jihoon straight in the eye. “Well, it’s quite rare to see someone use music as their weapon, so I guess that makes us quite a unique team.”

This time Jihoon smiles. He reveals a bag and carefully places the gayageum in it. “We should rest now. It’ll be a long day ahead of us.” he says before lying down on the grass and not far long, he fell asleep.

Seungcheol laid on his side and watched Jihoon. He observed how the colourful glows caress his face and how soft his skin looks. He wants to touch it but it’s late and he could use some company for the journey.

After 2 years, it’s time he let someone in his life, don’t you think?