The Eternal Flower Beggar King Chapter 86 – The Women Leave Too

 The Eternal Flower Beggar King Chapter 86 – The Women Leave Too

It was dawn.

The sound of playing still rang through the study. It had not stopped all night. By now it had passed beyond grotesque and become wretched.

Jinhwa sat before Heungnoe, striking the strings. Blood still flowed from his fingers. The blood already dried on the strings had been covered by fresh blood. His voice was hoarse but the singing continued. His eyes were bloodshot. Dried spittle clung to the corners of his mouth.

How long had he played.

His fingers hurt.

His voice was gone.

But he could not stop.

If he stopped… the thoughts would come.

Someone sat outside the door.

The physician.

She had sat there all night. Dried tear tracks lined her eyes. Her hands trembled on her knees. She had not been able to leave. She had been listening. She had been waiting.

The sun rose.

Sunlight seeped through the gap in the window cloth, lit the corridor, lit the physician's face. A gaunt face. Drained of color. The expression of someone who had made a decision.

The physician rose slowly.

The door opened.

Slowly. Quietly. Carefully.

The physician entered the study. She saw Jinhwa. Saw his wasted form. Saw his bleeding hands. Saw the madness in his eyes. Her heart ached, but she did not stop walking. One step. Two steps. She approached and stood before him.

"…Gakju-nim."

The physician called.

Jinhwa did not stop playing. His fingers danced on the strings. Sound rang. Laughter leaked.

"La la la~"

"Gakju-nim… it's me."

The physician called again.

"Geumsoo~ Eulsaeng~"

Jinhwa sang.

"Gakju-nim… please stop."

The physician's voice trembled.

But Jinhwa did not hear. He kept playing. He burst into laughter. His fingers did not stop.

The physician drew a deep breath. She clenched her fists. She steadied her trembling hands by force. She took one more step.

"Gakju-nim!!!"

The physician shouted.

But Jinhwa was still playing.

"Haha… la la la…"

"Please… please come to your senses!"

The physician's voice choked.

"Hehe… Geumsoo Eulsaeng…"

The physician could bear it no longer. She approached. She raised her hand. With a trembling hand she reached for Jinhwa's cheek.

"…Forgive me."

The physician murmured.

SLAP!

A sharp sound rang out.

The playing stopped.

His fingers fell from the strings. The sound vanished. Silence settled.

Jinhwa raised his head slowly. His eyes struggled to find focus. They trembled. Slowly, he looked at the physician.

"…You?"

His voice was hoarse.

"Yes… it's me."

The physician answered through tears.

Jinhwa looked around. He saw the study. Saw Heungnoe. Saw his bleeding hands. He blinked. He shook his head. He looked around again.

"…Where is this?"

"The study. Your study, Gakju-nim."

"…The study?"

Jinhwa looked at his hands. Blood flowing. Smeared on the strings. Dried and crusted.

"Why did I…"

"You played all night. On and on… on and on…"

The physician's voice trembled.

Jinhwa looked at the door. The open door. The empty corridor. The deserted estate.

"…Where is Cheongpung?"

Jinhwa asked.

Silence.

"Cheolsan?"

Silence.

"…Where has everyone gone?"

Jinhwa's voice trembled.

The physician swallowed her tears and answered.

"…They left."

"What?"

"Everyone… they all left."

Jinhwa's eyes went wide.

"What are you saying?"

"The members… the other women… they've all gone."

The physician said through her tears.

"Only you and I are left, Gakju-nim…"

Jinhwa staggered to his feet. His legs buckled. He braced against the wall. His breathing turned ragged.

"That's a lie… it's a lie…"

"It isn't a lie."

The physician shook her head.

Jinhwa walked toward the door. He staggered. He stepped into the corridor. He looked around.

"Cheongpung! Cheongpung!!!"

Jinhwa shouted.

Only the echo came back.

"Cheolsan! Hyangnan!"

No one answered.

"…Is no one… here?"

Only the empty corridor greeted him.

Jinhwa sank to the corridor floor. He struck the ground with his hands. Tears fell. Laughter leaked.

"No… no…"

The physician watched from behind.

"They're all gone… really… they're all gone…"

Jinhwa laughed.

"Haha… hahaha… it's all my fault… all of them… leaving me… they've gone…"

Time passed.

The sun climbed high. Noon came. Jinhwa still sat in the corridor.

The physician approached.

"Gakju-nim… please get up."

"…Go."

Jinhwa said, covering his face.

"Gakju-nim…"

"I said go… please go…"

Silence passed.

The physician looked at Jinhwa. At his broken form. His gaunt face. His bleeding hands. Her heart ached, but there were words she had to say, words that could no longer be left unsaid, and now was the time.

"I… loved you, Gakju-nim."

The physician said.

Jinhwa went still.

"Truly… I loved you."

The physician's voice trembled.

"…I am sorry."

Jinhwa answered quietly.

"But…"

The physician steadied her breath and continued.

"You did not love us, Gakju-nim… you did not love me."

Jinhwa raised his head. He looked at the physician with a tear-streaked face. He opened his mouth. His voice trembled.

"…What?"

The physician looked at Jinhwa squarely.

"You may believe you loved all four of us, Gakju-nim, but…"

The physician paused and continued.

"You… did not know who we were."

"What are you—"

Jinhwa tried to speak, but the physician asked firmly.

"Do you know my name?"

Silence.

Jinhwa opened his mouth and closed it. Opened it again and closed it. His eyes wavered. He could not answer.

"…You don't."

The physician smiled faintly.

"That's…"

"What about the merchant lord's daughter? The yeohyeop? The writer's daughter?"

The physician asked.

Jinhwa could not answer. His lips trembled. Tears fell. He bowed his head.

"Where we came from. What we liked. What we dreamed of…"

The physician's voice was calm but sorrowful.

"You never once asked."

Jinhwa covered his face.

"You were never curious."

The physician's words pierced Jinhwa's chest.

Silence passed. A long silence. A heavy silence. The silence of truth.

"I…"

The physician continued through her tears.

"I was curious about you, Gakju-nim."

Jinhwa raised his head.

"What kind of childhood you had. Why you were cast out of the Hwasan Sect. Why you were so lonely…"

The physician smiled and wept.

"Every night I thought about it. How I could make you smile. How I could ease your pain. How I could make you happy…"

The physician placed her hand over her heart.

"That… was love."

Jinhwa said in a trembling voice.

"I also—"

"But you, Gakju-nim…"

The physician looked at him.

"You were never once curious about me."

Jinhwa closed his mouth.

"You… did not love me."

"…No. I—"

Jinhwa covered his face.

The physician looked out the window. Sunlight was streaming in. It was warm. It was beautiful.

"Love… takes many forms."

The physician said.

"There is quiet love, and there is fierce love. There is love that blooms slowly, and love that flares in an instant."

The physician looked at Jinhwa.

"But…"

Her voice was calm and certain.

"The essence of love… is simple in the end."

Jinhwa looked at the physician.

"Curiosity about the other person."

The physician said.

"The desire to know them. The desire to share in their pain. The desire to feel their joy alongside them. What they like, what they dislike, what they dream of, what they fear… the desire to know all of it."

The physician wiped her tears.

"And…"

"…And?"

"Responsibility."

The physician said firmly.

Jinhwa's eyes went wide.

"…Responsibility?"

"Yes. The responsibility to make that person happy. The responsibility to protect them. The responsibility to stay by their side. To hurt when they hurt, to grieve when they grieve, to endure when things are hard — that responsibility."

The physician pressed her hand to her chest.

"That… is suffering."

"…Suffering?"

Jinhwa asked in a trembling voice.

"Yes. Love is suffering."

The physician smiled through her tears.

"When they hurt, I hurt. When they grieve, I grieve. When they leave, I crumble. Sometimes I must give up what I want for their sake. Sometimes I must do what I hate for their sake. I stay up all night because of them. I weep because of them. My heart is torn apart because of them."

The physician looked squarely at Jinhwa.

"But to accept that suffering… that is love."

Jinhwa trembled.

"Not that the suffering doesn't frighten you — but that you believe the suffering is worth it. That the person is worth it. That for their sake you will gladly bear it. To believe that… is the essence of love."

Silence passed.

The physician's words rang through the study, entered Jinhwa's ears, and pierced his heart.

"You, Gakju-nim…"

The physician lowered her head.

"You did not accept that suffering."

Jinhwa bit his lip.

"You were never curious about who we were. You took no responsibility for us. You did not share in our pain. What we wanted, what we needed, what was hard for us… you never once asked."

The physician looked at Jinhwa.

"You simply…"

The physician's voice trembled.

"Were lonely. Were afraid of being alone. And so you kept us near."

Jinhwa covered his face with his hands.

"You didn't love us… you wanted to be loved."

"…Stop."

Jinhwa's voice trembled.

"And that is why…"

The physician stood.

"We left."

The physician walked toward the corridor.

Slowly. Quietly. Resolutely.

"I… must go now too."

Jinhwa raised his head. He looked at the physician with a face drenched in tears. He reached out his hand. In a trembling voice he spoke.

"…No."

"This is what you want, Gakju-nim."

The physician said without turning.

"I said no—"

"To be alone."

Jinhwa tried to stand but his legs had no strength. He staggered. He sank back to the floor. He reached out his hand.

"…Don't go."

The physician stopped.

"Please… don't go…"

The physician's shoulders trembled.

"It's already too late."

"Please…"

Jinhwa's voice trembled.

"I… need to live too."

The physician walked again.

Jinhwa crawled after her. He crawled down the corridor. Toward the stairs. His hands left blood on the floor.

"Don't go… please… please…"

The physician descended the stairs. Slowly. One step at a time. Without looking back.

"Please!!!"

Jinhwa screamed from the top of the stairs.

The physician stopped halfway down. She did not turn, but she spoke, and her voice trembled, and tears fell.

"…Goodbye."

And she walked again.

Jinhwa reached his hand from the top of the stairs. He opened his mouth. He tried to say something. But he did not call her name.

"Don't go!!! Please!!!"

The physician descended the stairs completely. She crossed the yard. She opened the gate. She left.

The gate closed.

Jinhwa never called her name.

He had not been curious.

He had not wanted to know.

No — he had wanted to know, but he had never asked.

That was the truth.

Jinhwa sank down at the top of the stairs.

An empty estate. Not a sound. Not a movement. Not a soul.

Quiet.

No one was here.

Truly no one.

Everyone had left.

He was alone.

Jinhwa rose slowly. He walked the corridor, staggering. He passed the side hall. He looked into the practice room.

Empty.

Only instruments remained. Dust had gathered. Only the traces of people.

Jinhwa returned to the study. He saw Heungnoe. He saw the blood-stained strings. He sat.

But he did not play.

He simply sat.

He looked out the window. The sun was setting. The sky was stained red. It was beautiful.

But he felt nothing.

She had said it.

"Curiosity about the other person."

"Responsibility."

"Suffering."

"That is the essence of love."

And him?

Had he known who they were?

He could not remember… even their names.

Jinhwa laughed. A soundless laugh. Tears fell. His shoulders trembled.

Haha… what a joke.

He had said he loved them.

And did not know who they were.

Was never curious.

Never took responsibility.

Never shared the suffering.

He had simply…

Been lonely.

Been afraid of being alone.

And so he had called them.

That was all.

From the very beginning.

He had never loved.

Night deepened.

The moon rose. Moonlight entered the study. It fell on Jinhwa.

What a joke.

He had gathered people because he was lonely.

And became lonelier.

He had built Pungnyu-gak because he feared being alone.

And ended up alone.

He had called four women because he wanted to be loved.

And had never loved.

From the very beginning.

He had been alone.

Jinhwa looked at Heungnoe. He did not touch it. He simply looked. Tears fell.

He sat alone in an empty estate.

Without knowing who they had been, they had left, and he remained alone.

Love… he had not even known what love was.

[End of Chapter 86]