ᅳ    i'll wait .
𝗺𝗶𝗱𝗻𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻. 𝗌𝖾𝗈 𝗒𝘶𝗅

THE SKY OF DAEHO WAS CLEAR and stars were twinkling up in the sky as many childrens came out of their house, sitting on their mother's lap and counting the stars while some mother sang lullaby to make their kids sleep while some father told an old tale about the stars which the children excitedly listened as they look up at the sky from time to time.

Stars have always fascinated the small kids and even Yeongran is still fascinated by it. Her footsteps were light and the small twigs and grass that she stepped on, it echoed through the small forest.

Her face was full of smiles as she glanced at her hands wrapped in his, strong and firm hands. His hands felt warm and safe. It felt nice.

The sparkle of fireflies summoned by Seo Yul to guide them towards their destination lighted up the way as they led the two. The nightingale sang sweetly and their voice echoed throughout the whole mountains which was mixed with the sound of various birds chirping time to time and the soft breeze brushing past the tree leaves creating a satisfying sound for the ear.

Ever since she was young, she was never afraid of the dark and it became a strong point for her. While she was in Gusu-clan, she would often go to the mountain with her friends and students for night - hunt to catch various ghost or soul shifting spirits. It didn't scare her much but it always felt lonely to go there, though the serenity of the forest was providing her the peaceful comfort ─── it couldn't be compared to now ; holding hands and walking together as fireflies light up their path.

"We're almost there"

And if few minutes, they arrived at a plain area where it was surrounded with pine trees with a beautiful lake in the middle ─── there were wild daisies at the corner of the lake. It felt like it was straight out of a fairytale book, the sparkle of fireflies that led them all disperse that made it look like the plain was sparkling while the reflection of the stars were on the clear lake.

"How did you find this place?"

Yeongran came closer to the lake and sat down caressing the soft petals of the daisies near her. Seo Yul sat down beside her with his gaze fixed on the beautiful reflection of the stars.

"I once came here accidentally when I had a huge fight with Master Park Jin and Jang Uk when I was a kid, I summoned the fireflies and they led me to this place"

Yeongran fell in love with this place and she could feel the warm and comfortable energy flowing around. She had to control the urge to summon her zither and connect with the spirit.

"I've been told that there is a good spirit who is guarding the area. Maybe you can communicate with it?" Seo Yul knew about Yeongran's speciality in connecting with spirits which sounded bizarre since the people here barely do that but in Gusu, it's one of the main tasks where a young disciple has to learn because when a body had been replaced by an unknown spirit, the way to communicate was through zither's special talisman song
“ Enquiry ”

Yeongran muttered the spell and summoned her personal zither which was gifted by GUSU-LAN sect. elder member LAN QIREN when she became a teacher under the sect which is a spiritual tool that is always with her ever since she was gifted the tool. She'd use the "spirit trapping pouch" for storing her spiritual tools as it's more easier to carry it around.

Seo Yul didn't even blink when Yeongran was summoning her zither and in few seconds, a beautiful zither was placed in Yeongran's lap. It looked like it was made from fine wood with beautiful woof carvings at the corner while a beautiful blue jade pendant hung at the corner.

He was aware of how the magic works but he didn't expect it to be at this level. Now he is doubting whether he could really fly on a sword like Yeongran mentioned but he didn't dare to disturb the lady who placed her hands on the strings before pulling three notes one after another.

It was rather a simple note but after few seconds, there was a note playing from the zither but not by Yeongran. It seems like there was an invisible person playing the zither. Seo Yul got chills and in defense, his hand went to his sword.

There were few more notes on the zither ─── then she turned towards Seo Yul with a smile "She's the Lake Spirit, she has been guarding the lake for almost four centuries"

"How.. how did you do?"

Despite being a mage himself, he has never come across such acts aside from exorcism and some other horrible acts performed upon possessed people but has never come across such a calm interaction between a spirit and a person.

Yeongran understood his curiosity and pointed at the third string, "The notes I played is called Enquiry which was founded by one of the founders of GUSU-LAN Sect. which is a spiritual song that comes in the form of questions. I just played a few notes asking if there was any spirit around and what was it's name. The spirit around knows who has a golden core, one who can communicate so the spirit replied me through the notes"

Seo Yul slowly let down his guard and listened to Yeongran with full focus as she continues to play a few more notes which resonates with the surroundings. As his gaze was on the girl, he could feel his heart beating faster than he ever knew. The soft features were highlighted under the bright stars that was twinkling above them, the pastel coloured hanbok she wore made her features stand out more which was giving off a "spring" vibe.

Her slender fingers playing through the notes with eyes close and a small smile playing on her lips which were plump and slightly red from the natural lip-stain her maids applied for her.

One word could only expressed Seo Yul's thought. Ethereal.

"She told me that she purposely led you that day to this area because she could sense your despair and sadness. This area is invisible to the eyes of normal person. She told me that she knew me beforehand and was surprised to see you here with me"

Seo Yul wasn't sure if he was listening to her properly or his mind was jumbled up with her words or her skills or probably her whole existence right now was messing his mind as his heart was beating like crazy

Am I really in love ?

♡ LEE'S CORNER ✿⁠ . . . !

Some of you might find certain part confusing since it's not mentioned anywhere in the drama but I've taken it from THE UNTAMED. As I've mentioned earlier, Yeongran went to GUSU-LAN SECT. and stayed there for years and is one of the teachers there.

So, it's a multiverse where they both co-exist and use magic and are also referenced from time to time.
There have been some references made towards the c-drama THE UNTAMED, such as Yunmeng's special silver bell, the spirit trapping pouch, zither, spiritual tool, enquiry, golden core,

If you've watched and read The Untamed, you'll
immediately get what I'm referring to but as for the newbie reader's i'll slightly explained what I've mentioned in this chapter.

• spirit trapping pouch : it's a type of small
pouch sealed with talisman
where people use to store magical
tools or any spirits that was wandering
around or anything something of a magic
that is needed by the mages or cultivators.

• zither : it's basically the musical instrument
but here, it is used as a special tool which
has spiritual energy and could be even used
as a tool like how Lan Wangji has his own
zither and Wei Wuxian with his flute ; Chenqing

• cultivation : cultivation typically involves martial arts, meditation, and otherworldly characters. Cultivation can mean a number of things, but in Xianxia, this typically involves character development through some combination of martial arts and meditation.