Scene 3. [Silence of the Snowy Mountain]

  A chill starting from the toes climbed up the spine and froze the brain.

  A tearing tinnitus rang in the ears.

  Eeeeeeeee—

  A sharp mechanical noise pierced the eardrums. Vision blurred, and the color drained from the world. It wasn't darkness.

  The world... was turning pale white.

  Whooooosh—!

  The tinnitus turned into the sound of rough wind.

  When I opened my eyes, the blood-smelling barn was gone.

  [White-out]....

  White.

  The sky, the ground, even the breath puffing from my mouth—everything was white. Biting winds slapped my cheeks. Snowflakes caught on my eyelashes froze, stabbing my vision.

  I was crumpling my body into a crevice in the rocks. Ten years old? Or eleven? My shrunk hands and feet trembled uncontrollably. My knees knocked together with a clack, clack sound, but my jaw was frozen shut.

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  'Must hide.'

  Instinct screamed.

  I clamped both hands over my mouth. The air, cold enough to tear my lungs, scraped down my windpipe.

  Far ahead, a red flower bloomed on the snowfield.

  Godmother. The shaman woman's body was half-buried in the snow. Dark crimson blood spread like ink over her white mourning clothes. She didn't move.

  "Move it! You bitch!"

  The sound of military boots crushing snow. Rough, guttural Japanese carried on the wind. Two soldiers were dragging a small child.

  Yeon-hwa.

  She struggled, looking at the Godmother's corpse. But she was no match for the soldiers' brutal grip. Her dragging feet drew two wretched lines across the snow.

  'Save her.'

  My head knew. I had to throw a stone, bite their arms, do something.

  But my legs were hard as cement, refusing to lift.

  Thump, thump, thump.

  My heart beat like thunder against my ears. Terrified that they would hear this sound, I dug deeper behind the rock, unable to even breathe.

  At that moment, Yeon-hwa, being dragged across the snow, turned her head.

  Through her scattering black hair, our gazes locked.

  A face pale with terror. A face messy with tears and snot.

  She was watching. Knowing that I was hiding behind the rock, trembling and watching.

  'Save me.'

  I thought she would say that.

  I tried to squeeze my eyes shut, lacking the courage to face the guilt.

  But she didn't scream. Instead, she looked straight at me with red, bloodshot eyes and moved her lips.

  '...'

  Her voice was buried in the wind. But the shape of her mouth was so vivid, it felt like it would be branded on my brain forever.

  'Don't... come.'

  Don't come.

  If you come out, you die too. Stay hidden. Please.

  Yeon-hwa twisted her expression, looking like she was faintly smiling or crying, then turned her head away again. A blizzard raged behind her small back. Her receding figure began to be swallowed by the white snow.

  "Ah..."

  A beast-like groan leaked from my mouth.

  Until she completely disappeared from sight, I couldn't move a single finger. Relief that I had saved my own life and self-loathing strong enough to make me want to die washed over me simultaneously.

  The blizzard grew stronger.

  The world returned to perfect whiteness. As if to cover the blood, the footprints, and the guilt.

  But I knew. This snow would never melt. It would pile up in my heart forever, freezing me to death.

  "AAAAAAH—!"

  A scream that echoed only inside me burst out.