이 포스팅은 쿠팡 파트너스 활동의 일환으로, 이에 따른 일정액의 수수료를 제공받습니다.
# Chapter 36: Where the River Bends
Eun-seo emerged from Min-jun’s studio and walked along the riverbank path. The crimson sky she’d seen through the workshop window now reflected across the water’s surface, as if heaven and earth were becoming one. The gentle murmur of the river soothed her heart, and her footsteps naturally followed the trees lining the embankment. Fallen leaves scattered beneath her feet, their soft rustling mixing with the river’s song. The riverside trees now sparkled with the glow of fireflies, and Eun-seo felt lighter as she walked among them. Her gaze drifted across the water, where the fireflies’ light flickered like distant stars. A spray of river foam kissed her feet.
Then Min-jun followed her out. His smile found her, and something in her chest answered to it. Her hand moved naturally toward his, and he took it. When his palm touched hers, warmth spread through her skin. The riverside trees glowed with firefly light, and she walked within their luminescence. The river’s voice quieted her restless thoughts, and her mind drifted to his pottery work—how his hands shaped clay as though it were living water, how his movements spoke a language she was beginning to understand. The earthy scent of clay that clung to him brought her peace.
Min-jun watched her, his smile deepening. Eun-seo’s steps followed the rhythm of his, and the river’s voice became their shared song. She thought of how his hands moved with such grace, each gesture revealing something hidden within him. When he spoke, her heart quickened.
“Eun-seo,” he said softly, “I love you.” The words hung in the summer air between them, tender and true. She understood now—not just from his words, but from the way he moved through the world, the way his hands had learned to listen to clay and fire. Every time his fingers brushed hers, her heart answered.
They walked together along the embankment path. The river’s murmur wove through their footsteps, and above them, the fireflies traced invisible constellations. Min-jun held her hand, and Eun-seo held his, and the trees seemed to lean in, witnessing something sacred. The river’s scent—alive and ancient—filled the night air. She thought of his work, of how he transformed raw earth into vessels of beauty. In the darkness, her feet felt weightless.
“I want to be with you,” he whispered, and she felt the truth of it settle into her bones. Her heart quickened with something like hope.
They continued walking, hand in hand, into the summer night. The river sang its eternal song, and the fireflies danced their ancient dance, and two people who had found each other moved together through the darkness, no longer alone.