As he walked forward, Eun-Jung saw the figure begin to emerge from the shadow of the pillar, and he could see the little boy he had passed in line earlier, staring at him with frightened eyes. He couldn't have been more than 13 years old.
The little boy had snow-white hair that fell over his ears. His clothes, well, his clothes were made from one big piece of white cloth, dirty and torn. His feet looked as if he hadn't worn shoes for a long time, his feet were so black and dirty. His legs were at the mercy of the wind that blew through the temple, hissing. It was almost as if the child had let go of the pillar he was clinging to and the wind had taken him with it.
Eun-Jung felt a surge of compassion like he had never felt before, as if he saw himself again, lost and frightened after his mother's death. Despite herself, without thinking, Eun-Jung approached the little boy, slowly so as not to rush him.
A female voice echoed in his head.
"Take Isaac with you, Eun-Jung."
Surprised, Eun-Jung stopped, paralysed, and looked around but saw no one except the little boy who was still looking at him with frightened eyes. He shook his head in all directions, but nothing happened except the heavy silence that enveloped the temple; the lady didn't seem to want to speak to him again. He took a deep breath to calm the beating of his heart, which had been racing when he heard a voice from out of nowhere.
He walked over to the little boy and held out his hand. He didn't really know how to react, true, a 15-year-old teenager shouldn't have to come to the aid of a little boy isolated in the middle of nowhere. However, Eun-Jung couldn't just leave the child here and walk away as if nothing had happened, and now he really felt that his body was much bigger and more developed than before, so we could have easily seen that he was over two metres tall.
When the little boy did not move, he remembered the words of the voice.
"Isaac, is that it?" Eun-Jung asked quietly, not wanting to rush the little boy.
The little boy seemed to freeze for a moment.
"Are you okay? Why are you here alone?"
The little boy's eyes filled with tears, but he didn't answer right away. He seemed hesitant, as if he didn't know if he could trust this stranger. The little boy opened his mouth, but no sound came out. Eun-Jung felt his heart tighten with compassion, he knew what it was like to feel lost and isolated.
"Look, I don't know who you are, but I don't know what I'm doing here or how I got here. If you want to come with me, I'll take you home."
The little boy looked at Eun-Jung with hopeful eyes, wiped his tear-stained eyes, nodded shyly with a barely audible "yes", and grasped Eun-Jung's hand while his other hand loosened its grip on the pillar. Their touch symbolised a promise and Eun-Jung knew it, a promise that even the gods couldn't break, an oath between two souls lost in the darkness of the world that surrounded them.
Together they walked down the steps of the temple to the city, Eun-Jung felt dizzy just looking at it, the temple was really high compared to the city, it was like a dream, the long row of steps seemed to go on and on. He felt such peace and tranquillity that he wished this moment could last forever.
Arriving at the bottom of the stairs, they found themselves in a shopping street that was bustling with people despite the late hour and the approaching dusk. Eun-Jung and Isaac made their way through the crowd of people milling around the shops that faced the street. Just then, a hand grabbed Eun-Jung's arm and pulled him and Isaac out of the crowd into an adjacent alley. A young woman stood in front of them with her hands on her hips, her long white curly hair falling over her shoulders. She was wearing a large coat that looked like a detective's coat, except it was white, unlike the classic brown detective's coats. The slightly open sides of the coat revealed a sword hanging from her belt. Eun-Jung said to herself that it was better not to look for the conflict and try to get out of it calmly, the young woman spoke.
"You seem to be in a hurry for worshippers returning from Ether Temple.
"Ether?" asked Eun-Jung.
- Don't tell me you don't know who Ether is! Have you seen what you're wearing? Never will a monk let a
beggar like you into the temple unless you are..."
The young woman's eyes widened, you could almost believe she was scared. She approached Eun-Jung.
"Sorry, this may be unpleasant, but I have to make sure," she said to Eun-Jung.
Then she put the palm of her hand on his chest, and Eun-Jung suddenly felt his chest rip in two, as if a vacuum had taken root in his heart and sucked out everything around him, including himself! He felt the ground give way beneath his feet and everything went black.
He was falling, he was falling inexorably into a bottomless pit, he was falling into the void. He touched his chest, he was in one piece, which reassured Eun-Jung, all around him was darkness, a current of fresh air rising from the abyss made Eun-Jung shiver.
He looked down, white spots forming and growing in the distance, and the closer he got, the more he realised that they were actually clouds.
He raced through the clouds, his arms and legs slamming into the water droplets as he bounced through them.
Eun-Jung couldn't believe his eyes, he widened his eyes and blinked several times. An immense green meadow with islands of rock floating above, some with waterfalls cascading down their sides, others with olive trees growing on them.
Eun-Jung was arriving at full speed, the ground closing in on him faster than he would have liked, and he began to wonder if he would have time to feel the pain before he died because he was arriving so quickly.
But strangely enough, to his great relief, the closer he got to the ground the slower he got, eventually landing on the ground like a plum blossom petal falling and touching the ground on a spring breeze.
His feet touched the ground gently, and he looked around him: everything was covered in grass and flowers of all kinds. He began to walk along, aimlessly, with ruins that looked as if they had once been Greek temples standing between two streams. Eun-Jung noticed that he wasn't as tall as he used to be; he'd regained the body of a 15-year-old child, which reassured him.
A thick mist prevented him from looking away, but he squinted and saw what looked like a human silhouette.
Intrigued, he began to walk towards the figure. Even though it was only a hundred metres away from him, Eun-Jung still couldn't make it out properly.
"Come closer," a soft and enchanting voice suddenly shouted, almost hypnotic.
He tensed, stopped short, his legs refusing to move forward, a shiver ran down his spine, he recognised the voice he had just heard. It wasn't just any voice, it was the voice of the young woman he had heard in his head in front of the temple.
The figure snickered.