Possession

The moon hid behind the clouds, and the convenience store across the alley was dark, belying its name.

As the end drew near, the city’s lights were gradually fading.

In front of the convenience store, touched by the darkness, a lone figure still sat at a table, pouring a drink.

With a clear sound, a transparent liquid flowed into the glass.

The gurgling sound of it filling was clear to the ear.

“So, is that why it’s called ‘Chungha’?”

Demon of Heaven, Namgung Soyu muttered, looking at the soju bottle’s label as if she had made a tremendous discovery.

It was one of the few things she found interesting after immersing herself in his subconscious.

After placing the emptied green bottle under the table, she downed the glass in one go. There was no hesitation in her movement.

Compared to the liquor of the Central Plains she enjoyed in the Black Heaven Cult, it was lacking, but the subtle sweetness and lightness weren’t bad.

She tapped the plastic table with her finger.

She sighed, seemingly annoyed, after rhythmically tapping her finger.

“To only come twice.”

Click. She grumbled, already opening a new soju bottle.

As she refilled her glass, she replayed her conversation with her disciple.

He really didn’t seem to know.

She had secretly hoped that upon seeing her face, he would immediately regain his memories and embrace her, so she was inwardly disappointed.

Demon of Heaven, Namgung Soyu drank in front of the convenience store every night.

She didn’t live next to him like someone, nor did she loiter around his workplace like others.

She simply kept a reasonable distance and watched him.

[If you have unwavering faith, Saint will come to me.]

However, she wasn’t like the fanatic who emphasized unfounded faith and deliberately kept her distance.

She had conviction.

The conviction that her inept disciple would come to her and make a choice.

“In the first place.”

She downed another shot.

“Choice? How absurd.”

Perhaps because she put too much force, the snacks on the table briefly flew into the air when she put the glass down.

In fact, nothing disturbed her more than the word ‘choice.’

“It’s only natural for him to come to me, choice? Ha, it’s so absurd….”

He was naturally connected to her, and only one ending existed for her.

That’s why she didn’t interfere when he, who couldn’t remember his memories, hung out with other women.

Lee Mina and Chunhyang often did things that bothered her, but Demon of Heaven, Namgung Soyu didn’t squeeze in between them and act contrary.

“I gave them plenty of time to say goodbye.”

She allowed them to share stories so that they wouldn’t have any regrets, since they would have many memories of living with him.

It was the mercy of the strong towards the weak, and the generosity of the woman who would possess him towards the women who couldn’t.

Someone might ask.

Aren’t you considering the possibility that your disciple might go to another woman?

No. Demon of Heaven didn’t consider that at all.

[Don’t be sad. We’ll meet again someday, and when we do, I’ll live happily with Master forever.]

That’s because he promised her.

She believed that he, a disciple who knew the weight of promises, wouldn’t take it lightly.

“……..”

As the night deepened, the alcohol dwindled.

The prepared snacks ran out, and only one bottle of the many remained.

“…Late.”

Whether it was the sound of opening the lid or the sound she made from her mouth, it echoed through the alley.

“Did he fall and crack his head or something.”

Her disciple wasn’t very strong with alcohol. He might have fallen on the way to the convenience store.

There was a hint of worry in her voice.

She raised the glass high, overlapping it with the moon.

Half of it seemed to be contained in the glass.

The dim blue light of the moon permeated the surface of the glass.

Gulp. She swallowed the soju.

It didn’t taste much different from what she had eaten earlier.

“It feels like drinking the moon.”

A drinking habit she once showed Inho.

“Yeah, the taste is the same.”

Demon of Heaven smiled.

The alcohol doesn’t taste better just because it’s reflected in the moon.

It was just that the alcohol tasted good because of the person who was next to her when she drank it like that.

“Come quickly. The alcohol doesn’t taste good.”

Without shaking off the rising intoxication, Demon of Heaven murmured sadly.

Why did she have Kang In-ho in her heart?

It was a question she had asked herself while talking about Youngma and Inho, after the Anhui Blood Calamity, when she had a lot of time.

Just because they had been together for a long time?

Because he was a man she met during her emotionally turbulent adolescence?

She smiled bitterly after thinking of the irreverent question.

Because even she thought it was a ridiculous reason.

“It’s only natural to have him in my heart.”

The catalyst of Yomryun Skill.

The immense Demonic state of mind that occurs by killing someone with whom you have a close relationship.

An inhuman method of creating Inner Force by using that Demonic state of mind as fuel, which cannot be called a righteous Martial arts.

Only a small number of people who had set foot in the Martial World knew about this method, and only her Master, Yeomjin, was around her.

Looking back now, Yeomjin had also encouraged her isolation.

Behind the joy of being recognized as a Martial Artist, there was a deep shadow of being abandoned as Namgung Soyu.

It was Kang In-ho who drove away that shadow.

He didn’t see her as the successor of Yomryun Skill.

He just treated her as a person.

He treated her unripened worries and immature mistakes seriously, and sometimes lightly.

He allowed her to be Namgung Soyu.

In front of him, she was neither the successor of Yomryun Skill, nor the abandoned daughter of the Namgung family, nor the Demon of Heaven who made the world tremble with fear.

Just Namgung Soyu.

“He’s a grateful child who lets me be me.”

The only jewel she had, having fallen into the world alone. That is her disciple, Kang In-ho.

“If you weren’t here, I wouldn’t be me.”

Putting down the empty last bottle, she looked at the other side of the alley, which was shrouded in darkness.

She pushed the chair and stood up.

The corners of the tipsy Demon of Heaven’s lips slightly turned up.

She felt a presence.

A powerful and clear sound was heard from afar.

Demon of Heaven didn’t rush.

She didn’t run to hug him either.

Like the wind blowing, the rain falling, and the snow falling.

She simply crossed her arms and waited for the person who would surely come.

And so, he stood before her.

“You’re late.”

Demon of Heaven pointed to the convenience store with the lights off.

“I know. You could have come out to meet me.”

“Would a Master go out to meet a disciple?”

“Wow, that’s too much.”

The disciple smiled as if nothing was wrong.

Demon of Heaven looked up at him.

To think she would look up at someone, Demon of Heaven laughed inwardly.

“I waited. A lot.”

She reached out her hands and stroked the man’s face.

So precious.

Her one and only treasure in the world.

They didn’t return to Demon of Heaven’s world right away.

It was because Namgung Soyu said she wanted to see his room.

When they opened the door to the narrow studio apartment, Kang In-ho’s scent wafted out.

He hurriedly tidied up, saying that the laundry wasn’t quite dry yet, and Namgung Soyu didn’t care and looked around his small home.

“I wonder if you’re eating properly.”

She clicked her tongue, looking at the cupboard that was full of only energy bars.

“I spend more time at the company anyway.”

“All the food outside is greasy too.”

The successor of Yomryun Skill didn’t like the modern diet.

“Okay, the tour’s over, right?”

Kang In-ho clapped his hands and turned her attention, as if she was about to point out every piece of furniture.

“Yeah, well, there’s nothing more to see in this cramped room. I don’t know how you can eat and sleep in a place like this.”

“You could call it the sadness of modern people… Anyway, let’s go now.”

“Before we go.”

Demon of Heaven opened the refrigerator door.

Looking inside, she reached out her hand after finding something.

“When did you buy that?”

Two heavy cans came out in the hands of the abandoned daughter of the Namgung family.

“Let’s have a drink before we go.”

She smiled coolly.

“Um….”

While silently sipping beer, the disciple opened his mouth.

“Um?”

Demon of Heaven, who was raising the can high to drink, moved her eyes.

Kang In-ho rummaged through his pocket.

And took something out.

“The funny thing is… maybe it’s because it’s the world of the subconscious.”

Click, the man opens a square box.

“The store was open even at this hour. Funny, right?”

He picks up something round that sparkles in the light.

“Yeah, it’s funny.”

A faint blush appeared on Demon of Heaven’s face.

Namgung Soyu slowly raised her hand.

Kang In-ho carefully put what he had brought on the ring finger of that hand.

“Beautiful.”

“Very… beautiful.”

Without hiding her red face, Namgung Soyu looked at her beloved disciple.

“I love you, my beautiful disciple.”

Demon of Heaven held her disciple’s hand tightly with the hand that had the ring on it.