He Walks Alone in the Moonlight [COMPLETED]

CLOSE MY EYES

Minjoo sipped his tea, rubbing his lips together as he frowned at the bitter taste. He set the ceramic cup down with a sigh, staring out into the courtyard. The midday sun danced on the snow, creating a shimmering sea of pale gold atop the trees and bushes. Jihyun observed the tailor silently, tracing the rim of his own cup as he breathed in the crisp winter air.

"I cannot imagine how you did it." Minjoo finally spoke, turning his gaze away from the harsh brightness beyond the pavilion.

"Did what?"

"Left. How you were able to go on living after leaving your loved ones behind when at the time you did not think you would ever return."

"It is not as though I had much of a choice."

"Yet you were still able to do it. I am to leave again under a much better circumstance, yet am having a far more difficult time."

"What is it here that is so painful to leave?"

"My mother. She is never happy when I am away from the palace. Oftentimes she worries so much she falls ill. And now I must tell her that in less than a weeks time I am to head for the borderlands where war is brewing. Her life to be spent on little else other than worrying for me. Sometimes I wonder if it would be easier if I disappeared."

"It would only be easier for you. Because you would not have to see her worried face. Would not have to feel the guilt of knowing with certainty that she is waiting for you to return."

Minjoo lifted a brow, raising his cup to his lips. "I do not believe I have ever heard such harsh words from you."

"That was not my intention, I'm just saying it is something to cherish. I lost a mother who would worry for me, you still have yours." Upon Jihyun's words, Minjoo set his cup down with a clink, staring at the servant with a saddened expression.

"Is that the first thing you are going to do when you get back? Visit her grave?"

"I am still undecided," Jihyun confessed, looking down at his lap and picking at his fingertips.

"Still? What has... what has made you waver so?"

"I had the thought that if I go back... it will not be the same. The place that I have spent my whole life, the people I have known since birth, both will be different. In how they feel and how they act toward me. I would be trying to return to a home that no longer exists."

"Yet at the same time, you do not consider this place your home either."

"Indeed. It is like I am being asked to choose whether I want to keep shoes that no longer fit me or a hat so large that it obscures my vision. Both will be uncomfortable."

"I can selfishly tell you that I want you to stay, if you are needing someone to sway your decision."

Jihyun smiled, shaking his head softly. "I already know your feelings, but I was told to follow my heart, so I am doing my best to find where it leads me. You should do the same."

"In what regard?"

"With your mother. Do what you think is right, not what is easy."

"I feel I should give the opposite advice to you, yet you have expressed that there is no easy path."

"I just have to find the one that suits this version of me best."

"Well, I must say," Minjoo began, rising from the table, "I think an oversized hat will cause you far less pain than shoes that are too tight." Jihyun watched him descend the stairs of the pavilion, his eyes shining as he took in the brilliant array of colors the tailor made against the snow.