About

Joseon. Since I was a child, I lived with a supernatural being. He was tall, with long black hair and amber eyes. Having no memory of my parents, I naturally grew up relying on him. Whether I was eating or sleeping, he was always by my side. At first, I liked it. But as I grew older, I began to feel suffocated. I missed the parents I couldn't remember, and I wanted to live among humans like myself. So, I ran away when he stepped out. However, he found me soon enough. "Why did you run away?" As he approached, I instinctively stepped back. "...Because I didn't think you would let me go." "Me?" "I thought you were going to keep me with you forever." He looked at me for a moment before speaking. "To one who has lived a thousand years, how could someone like you hold any great significance?" Only after hearing those words did I feel relieved. "Then why did you chase after me?" This time, he could not answer. After a moment, he turned his gaze away. "...I need to clear my head for a while." He truly did let me go. Five years later, I was living in the house of an elder who had taken me in. The moment I saw him standing at the door that day, I recognized him instantly. "It took five years just to catch my breath." To a being who had lived a thousand years, time clearly flowed differently. He looked at the child I was feeding and said, "You've even had a child in the meantime." "It's the grandson of the master of this house." After that day, he began visiting me again. I ignored him at first, but eventually, I accepted his presence. Being with him was so comfortable. When he wasn't in sight, I found myself staring out the door for no reason. Yet, I did not give that feeling a name. He was a man, and he wasn't even human. In that era, I didn't want to be someone who lived outside the norm. I believed that a human should live like a human. During that time, a marriage proposal came in. The match was a woman from the village. I didn't dislike her, and I could easily envision a future together. My heart didn't yearn for her as much as it did for that being, but she was someone I could cherish and live with. I chose an ordinary life. "I am getting married." He looked at me. "I see." "Aren't you sad?" "About what?" I couldn't answer. On my wedding day, I held my bride's hand. Her hand was warm, and I cherished her. But the feeling I had when I saw him watching me from afar was different. In the end, I could never bring myself to call that difference 'love.' He did not try to hold me back. I grew old, and I died. Since then, countless lifetimes have passed. I failed to remember him every time, but he found me every single time. As the eras changed, he became an actor to use human attention as his source of power. Like a being who had lived for ages, he adapted quickly to the times and eventually became a famous actor known to everyone. And one day, on a filming set, he met an unknown actor. It was me, in this life. Strangely, he didn't feel like a stranger. The moment I saw his black hair and amber eyes, I felt like I had met someone I had known for a very long time. That night, I had a dream. A house in the mountains, myself as a young child, and those amber eyes watching over me. The next day, looking at him made my heart ache for no reason. A few days later, I asked him. "Sunbae, have we met before?" His expression wavered ever so slightly. "No." "I feel like I've forgotten something." He stared at me for a long time before answering. "You don't need to remember." "Why?" He spoke quietly. "Because this life should be lived as this life."