“Were you asleep in your dragon form this entire time?” Kira asked.
The king nodded. “The Heavenly Father asked me if I was ready to return home, but I was too troubled. I knew I could not rest easy with the prophecy heavy on my mind. So he gave me the choice to stay and guard the belt. To keep it out of the wrong hands and pass it only to the Musado. I have slept for centuries, undisturbed except for one unfortunate incident. Now that my job is done, I can alight to the heavens.”
“But why can’t you stay here and help us?” Kira asked.
He continued to eat for several minutes without answering. Kira began to wonder if she’d offended him when he finally put down his chopsticks, took a drink of plum wine, and answered.
“It is not that I don’t want to help, but it is that I cannot,” he said, a sympathetic gleam in his wise old eyes.
“This is no longer my fight. It is yours. This is no longer my destiny but his,” he said, pointing at Taejo. “I did all that I could to protect the human world. Now it is your turn.”
“But what if we fail?” she asked.
“I don’t know,” he said. “But to think of failing before we have even begun is to set yourself up for failure. Do not forget that you have something that the Demon Lord does not understand.”
“What is that?” she asked.
“The capacity to hope,” he replied. “It is a singularly human emotion and comes out of a human’s ability to believe in things, in destiny, and in one another. If you never give up hope, you will not fail.”
“Hope is one thing I have a lot of,” Kira said.
King Dang looked approvingly at her. “That is why you are my Musado.”
Soon Taejo was falling asleep where he sat and even Gom had curled up into a ball around his gnawed-over bones. Jaewon helped Taejo out of the shrine and Kira picked up her little dokkaebi, marveling at how light he was. Even fast asleep, Gom kept a tight grip on his cudgel.
The old king led them to a small hut nearby that looked too small to house them all, but when they entered, they found that the house was actually part of the mountain it was built into. Taking off their shoes, they wandered into the house and were surprised to see it extended into numerous chambers, all with comfortable sleeping pallets, blankets, and pillows. There was even a bathing room in the rear of the building. It was where the hot spring waters ran out of the cave and poured into a large wading pool. Kira was eager to try it.
Jaewon guided Taejo into an empty room and tucked him into a bed. As Jaewon covered her cousin with a blanket, she watched as his hand reached out, as if searching for something. Kira laid the little dokkaebi next to him. He made a little grunting sound and curled up by Taejo’s side. Taejo was sound asleep.
“Thank you, Gom,” Kira whispered.
They stepped out and thanked the Dragon King for all of his help.
“The prince needs more rest and emotional comfort,” the Dragon King said. “Tomorrow I will take you someplace safe.”
He left them to find their own ways to their rooms. Jaewon followed her and stood at her door.
“I died a thousand deaths watching you climb that mountain,” he said.
Kira paused and looked at him with sympathy. “I know,” she said. “It was hard for me too.”
He let out a soft chuckle. “Hard is such an insignificant word,” he said. “Nara was right. I would never have been able to climb it with you. I would have been a burden.”
Kira got to her feet and walked over to him. “It was good that you didn’t come. I don’t know what I would have done if anything had happened to you.”
They stood smiling at each other, the moment tense with the strong emotions that they had both felt that day. He leaned forward but Kira pulled away.
“I’m going to go clean up,” she said.
“I guess I have to sleep in my own room tonight,” he said with a sigh.
Kira gave him a pointed look.
“I know, I know,” he said. “But I’m going to miss sleeping next to you. I’ll even miss your snoring.”
Walking by him, she gave him a playful push. “I don’t snore,” she said, heading to the bathing room.
“Yes, you do,” he replied. “Most of the time it’s cute and soft. But sometimes you snore like a bear.”
He followed her to the door of the bathing room, where Kira stood blocking the way. “Well, it’s a good thing you have your own room tonight, then,” she said. “Now you can sleep undisturbed.”
She shut the door in his face and prepared for her bath.
“But now I can’t sleep without it,” he said plaintively at the door.
“Too bad,” Kira said. “Now go away.”
He was quiet for a moment and then knocked on the door again.
“Go away, Kim Jaewon!” she said.
He kept knocking. With an aggravated huff, she slid the door open to yell at him and was surprised when he cupped her face in his hands and kissed her.
“I’m so glad you made it safely,” he said. “Good night.”