By Zephyria 
Gong Ran-sa shrugged his shoulders, looking somewhat proud.
「See, what did I tell you? I said that with Yoo Gun’s nature, he wouldn’t hold a grudge, right?」
「Tsk. The Palace Master requested it, so it can’t be helped.」
As Yoo Jiha stood there bewildered, unable to follow their conversation, Mae-gu muttered dissatisfiedly, “If only he had said just one word of resentment…” A folding fan pointed toward Jiha’s eyes.
「You already possess the method to turn your younger brother back into a human.」
“Huh? I do?”
「Listen to the details from her.」
Before he could even ask what that meant, Mae-gu had closed the distance in an instant, and a white, beautiful hand gave Jiha’s forehead a light push. In that moment, a dizzying sensation swept through his entire body—not just his forehead, but his whole being, no, as if his very soul were being pushed and flung away. When he came to his senses, Yoo Jiha was standing in a bright space made of light.
As he looked around in confusion, a woman appeared before him like a phantom. She was an elegant noblewoman dressed in the traditional attire of the End of Goryeo, Beginning of Joseon.
“May I greet you, saying it has been a long time?”
“Huh? Do… do you know me?”
Startled to the point of almost screaming, Yoo Jiha barely managed to return her greeting. He wondered if she was a Spirit, but he had no memory of meeting this Spirit, who appeared to be around thirty. Yet, a strange sense of déjà vu tickled him. A Spirit from the era of the End of Goryeo, Beginning of Joseon… As Yoo Jiha thought for a moment, his eyes widened.
“Oh, could it be… the daughter of the Munha Sijung’s house that I saw in the Aberrant Realm…?”
“That is correct. The one you met was my younger self.”
“Why did you want to see me?”
“Since he resolved my grievances, I wish to resolve your anxieties.”
He still didn’t understand what she meant. As he wore a puzzled expression, the woman raised a hand near his face as if to stroke his eyes.
“I heard you lost your true eye.”
“Yes…”
“It was not yours to begin with, so do not dwell on it. Do you not have eyes that can pierce through the essence even more accurately than the true eye?”
Was she talking about how he had read the names of the Hell Warden entities in the Great Blazing Hell Painting? Rather than the question of how she knew that fact, her words weighed on his mind.
“Pierce through the essence more accurately than the true eye?”
“What is your name? For one who possesses this, it is the proof of recorded memories. It is the first and last word that weaves a human’s life. Why do you think the Afterlife Messenger calls a deceased person’s name three times when guiding them?”
“Ah…”
“The first name called constructs the reality of the deceased. The second name called grants the deceased uniqueness. The third name called manifests the life of the deceased as constructed through their relationships with others. That is why the messenger calls the name three times, and you possess the eyes to read that.”
“Uh, but I could only see the names of Aberrations…”
“I heard your father was the same. This was likely due to the perception that it would only apply to anomalies, like the true eye. Originally, you can see not only anomalies but also the names of the humans who are their foundation. Of course, the one you wish to call by name right now is likely an anomaly.”
Despite having discerned the names of Aberrations at a glance, he had never deeply contemplated it. A brief flush of color returned to his pale face, but it soon darkened.
“…But now, I can’t see names anymore.”
“What were you thinking when you were able to see names?”
“Hmm, it became a way to communicate with Aberrations, but I didn’t think it would be helpful in resolving practical dangers like the true eye was.”
“The true eye is a power born from the longing of people who wished to be safe from Aberrations, so its essence is different from your eyes. Think carefully about what it means to read a name.”
The woman smiled faintly and gave Yoo Jiha’s forehead a light tap. As the sensation of his soul being flung away swept over him again, only her final voice lingered. I am truly grateful to you both.
When he closed and opened his eyes, he was back in the front yard of Pilgyeongdang.
「Are you alright?」
Before he could answer Gong Ran-sa’s worried call, Yoo Jiha sank into his own thoughts. A name. Something that defines existence and allows one to form relationships with others.
Without realizing it, Yoo Jiha grabbed Mae-gu’s arm.
“Please take me to Mister…!”
The Containment Sector of the Water Abnormality Worship Management Bureau was thrown into chaos. Power outages occurred without reason, Talismans were torn, and incantation circles were damaged. It had not been long since the barrier of the Ten Thousand Waves Flute had vanished and the contained Aberrations had run rampant.
Amidst the confusion of the emergency alarms, Yoo Jiha apologized frantically in his mind.
‘I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m really sorry!’
Mae-gu, who had opened the firmly locked door with a simple push, gave a nod. As the sealed space opened, oxygen rushed inside quickly.
「I will buy you some time.」
“Thank you! Hyung!”
「…Ahem.」
Having frequented the monitoring room, he had at least learned which display indicated the oxygen concentration of the containment cell. Once it became similar to the outside, he leaped into the cell.
To keep the body temperature extremely low, the interior was below zero. His body trembled from a cold that felt like it was slicing through his skin, but he bit his lip hard and sprinted. In the center of the containment cell, he saw the sleeping man.
“Mister…”
He had seen him countless times on the displays, but seeing him unconscious with his own eyes caused a surge of pain, like blood, to well up inside him. No, no. Get a grip. There’s no time to be sentimental now. Yoo Jiha shook his head violently and grabbed the man’s hand. The large hand that had once caressed him tenderly was terribly cold. Like a corpse.
But only for a moment. As air flowed in and the oxygen concentration changed, his lips parted slightly. His chest, which had been motionless, began to rise and fall slowly. His deeply closed eyebrows trembled once, and then his eyelids slowly opened.
「…….」
If he were human, his brain would have already been damaged by oxygen deprivation, but the gaze that looked straight at him without so much as a blink showed no confusion or abnormality. The eyes, devoid of emotion, were like those of a beast. Facing that black gaze that stared back with the indifference of a stranger, Yoo Jiha recalled the meaning of a name.
When he first met him at Eight Phases Mental Hospital, he had known nothing. He had simply recited the letters appearing before his eyes without knowing their meaning. He hadn’t even known they were names.
Looking back now, it wasn’t the true eye or his own ability that had turned him back into a human.
Strong human emotions created anomalies and created the true eye. Then, what was Yoo Jiha’s own longing? What could he create? What could he do?
「…….」
The man’s mouth opened. Was he considering him prey to be devoured? His hands trembled with the instinctive fear of a prey animal. It’s okay. It was truly okay if he was a bit late and lost an arm. Hardening his heart, Yoo Jiha closed his eyes.
The ability he had prematurely assumed was useless was the ability to grasp the essence. It wasn’t useless. He erased his own ignorance and arrogance of having hoped for a more “useful” ability.
〈This is a value that only you possess, your own unique value.〉
He recalled the words of the man who had affirmed his value.
〈Yeojin truly loved you.〉
He wasn’t a child who had been abandoned.
〈Yeah, let’s date, Mister. Jiha.〉
He had been happy in that man’s time. The pain of being abandoned and being a useless child scattered into pieces and was reconstructed. In the reconstructed life of the child, overflowing emotions surged. Yoo Jiha knew the name of this. It was love. The love he received from him, the love he enjoyed because of him, and the love he came to know through him.
When he opened his eyes, the man was still there, staring at him without devouring him. Above him, it appeared. His name, possessing an unchanging essence.
[Jeil Heon]
Call it first to construct the reality. Call it second to grant uniqueness. And the name called a third time is the proof of the relationship he and Jiha had built together.
Because as much as I love him, he loves me too.
Yoo Jiha took a deep breath and called out his love.
“Jeil Heon.”