The Other [1]

"Sunyoung, wake up. You've slept enough," said Ranmin.

That was the name of the man who had rescued Sunyoung from the brutal flow of the river he had been swallowed by after the explosion tossed him into the air.

A month had passed since he had been picked up by Ranmin.

Initially, Sunyoung was constantly on edge and was extremely wary of the man akin to how a stray cat who had been abused by humans would be distrusting of a stranger offering him food.

The kid, only eight years of age, was unsure whether or not the man who had rescued him had good intentions.

In fact, Sunyoung knew nothing of the man. No matter what questions he asked, Ranmin would respond with a joke that gave zero valuable information.

However, as he continued to get fed and was provided with a clean blanket and pillow, Sunyoung's guard naturally lowered.

The one major difference in their relationship after a month together was that instead of simple strangers whose connection was a savior and the one who was saved, they were now master and disciple.

How did this change come to be?

It started a week into their life in the forest.

Grateful for the care, Sunyoung didn't want to seem like a burden by asking Ranmin to escort him out of the forest so instead, he pretended to sleep and as soon as he heard Ranmin start to snore like he did every night, he quietly got up and began heading out.

At first, he contemplated taking some of the jerky that Ranmin had made with him but the guilt caused him to shake his head and hold back from doing so.

'I've already received plenty of goodwill and help from this strange man. I shouldn't be repaying it by stealing his food,' he thought.

The two of them were deeper in the forest than Sunyoung initially thought.

Although he didn't know where he was in the world, he knew that since the river in the city ran eastward, he just had to use where the Sun rose every morning to determine where the west was which was the direction he was heading in.

He hoped that by following a general direction, he might stumble across the river that he was picked up from and follow it all the way back home.

"...Home," he muttered the word under the moonlight as if he was afraid that it would disappear from his mind if he didn't constantly remind himself of what home was and how it used to look.

Why was he trying to retrace his way and head back to his city of ashes?

Because the fire in his heart that desired revenge hadn't died down even the slightest.

On the contrary, every night when he closed his eyes and drifted to sleep, the nightmares of the event which he watched with his own eyes would replay over and over.

The fire in him was as black as could be and it had grown to the extent that it was swallowing him whole.

Whenever he closed his eyes, he could still hear the voices of his family as if they were still there but when he opened them back up — nothing.

"Just how deep in the forest did Ranmin take me?" he wondered an hour into his walk. He was starting to feel fatigued and was slightly worried for his safety.

Because he had a powerful ally by his side who was capable of moving at speeds he couldn't fathom and probably had the strength to match that speed, he had been able to relax despite the sound of wolves howling, animals growling, etc.

Now that he was alone, that source of relaxation was gone and he had to be extra cautious of his surroundings.

Not wanting to encounter any of those dangerous animals, Sunyoung wanted to escape the vision-obscuring thick and tall trees that surrounded him as soon as possible and get into the open field of grass.

But as if the universe was playing tricks on him, just as his nervousness was starting to peak, he heard the low growls of a wolf to his right.

Gulp.

Sunyoung stopped in his tracks and slowly turned his head toward the direction of the sound.

As if it was teasing him, the white-furred wolf walked out from the cover of a tree and bush.

"...I should've run instead of walk," Sunyoung muttered to himself.

He had a smile on his face but that was because of how nervous and terrified he was at the moment.

'I need to run for it. Maybe I can escape it using the trees.'

Just as he was about to start sprinting in the direction away from the white wolf, he heard the sound of a branch snapping towards his left. He looked and saw a second wolf, a little smaller than the first with black fur.

"I'm screwed," he laughed at his terrible luck.

It wasn't a problem before but now that he was in a situation like this, Sunyoung was regretting the fact that he never properly wielded a weapon before.

He did pick them up everyone once in a while just to mess around with it but never did he properly train in the arts of the blade of hand-to-hand combat.

As he listened to them approaching him, Sunyoung knew that he was completely helpless and if he ran, it would be for naught.

Closing his eyes, he mumbled, "If I knew I was going to die tonight, I would've taken the jerky and eaten it as my final meal."

Awaiting his death, he regretted that he didn't get to accomplish his goal of revenge.

'I hope when I die, I at least return as a ghost so I can haunt those bastards to the point of them wanting to kill themselves.'

Five seconds passed. Then ten.

His death never arrived.

Opening his eyes, he saw that the two wolves that had been approaching him were dead. They didn't even make a sound and fell to the ground with a small hole in both of their heads.

"Huh?" Sunyoung uttered in shock. Then immediately, fear overwhelmed him as he realized that someone who could instantly kill wolves was near him. "Who's there!?"

"It's me, dummy," responded Ranmin.

"Arggghh!!!" Sunyoung jolted and screamed in surprise as the response came from behind him.

He even slipped but was caught by Ranmin who pulled him back to his feet.

"R-Ran-Ranmin," Sunyoung stuttered while clutching tightly onto his pounding chest; his heart had almost popped out from behind his ribcage. "Where did you come from?"

Ranmin smiled in response and Sunyoung realized that something was wrong. It wasn't the usual casual smile that he had.

In the corner of Sunyoung's eyes, he saw that Ranmin was wielding the same wooden pole that he had threatened Ranmin with during their first interaction.

Before he could react or utter another word, the wooden pole smacked him in the forehead with just enough force to knock him out cold but not enough to seriously harm him.

Tossing the unconscious body over his shoulder, Ranmin began heading back to their campsite while whistling a jolly tune that didn't suit the situation they were in.

After whistling for a while, Ranmin said, "You can't leave me so soon, Sunyoung. Forget about the wolves that almost tore you to shreds. The amount of danger you're in if they find out that you're alive..."

'I need to make sure that you'll be able to survive out there in the world before I set you free. Only then can you use that gift of yours to grow strong enough to sever the neck of everyone responsible for your clan's massacre. Including...'

A few hours later.

Just as the sun was starting to poke its bright orangish-yellow head out from the horizon to light up the world, Sunyoung woke up but he felt weird.

He tried to stretch his limbs but was unable to do so.

'Eh?'

Opening his eyes, rather than the morning blue sky and clouds that were in his view every morning, instead, he was looking at a bunch of trees as if he had fallen asleep standing.

'...Wait.'

Looking down, he saw that his feet weren't even touching the ground; he had been tied up to a tree with ropes that he didn't even know where they came from.

Step. Step. Step.

Popping out from the trees was Ranmin who was carrying with him a stack of firewood which he immediately tossed into the fire.

"What is this for?" Sunyoung asked, referring to the fact that he was tied to a tree. More than anything, he was confused at the moment.

"Oh, that? Don't worry about it."

"...W-What do you mean 'don't worry about it'? You tied me to a tree!"

"Indeed," he looked at Sunyoung and nodded as if he was confused as to why Sunyoung was stating the obvious.

"..."

'Am I going crazy? Is this a dream?' Sunyoung wondered.

"Why did you tie me to a tree?" he asked.

"Punishment."

"P-Punishment? For what?"

"For trying to escape," Ranmin answered.

"Escape!?" Sunyoung was baffled. He already knew that Ranmin was a weird person but it seemed he underestimated the extent of his weirdness. "How was I escaping? Escaping implies that I was a prisoner. Don't tell me that's what I was. A prisoner?"

"Pfft," Ranmin sounded. "Who's a prisoner? I do everything for you including hunting, cooking, and gathering firewood to keep us warm at night."

"Then what do you mean by escaping?"

"I tied you to a tree to punish you for trying to escape your master," Ranmin clarified.

"Master? Who? Where?" Sunyoung asked, looking around the forest for a third person.

Last he remembered he didn't have a master. And if he did, that master would've been turned to a pile of ashes by the fire which burned his city.

"Who are you searching for? Your master is standing right here," Ranmin pointed to himself.

"...B-But you're not my master," said a confused Sunyoung.

"I wasn't yesterday but I am now."

Sunyoung refuted that statement by stating that he could only be his master if he accepted the role of being his disciple which he didn't do.

Instead of arguing back, Ranmin just continued to whack Sunyoung with the wooden pole in his hand until Sunyoung gave up and accepted their newly "forced" relationship.

Released from the confines of the tree, Sunyoung asked while rubbing his wrists which were tied together, "Isn't this considered child abuse?"

Ranmin handed him a bowl of cooked wolf meat and responded, "I prefer the term 'tough love'."

As he ate, Sunyoung wondered, 'Does this mean that I can't run away unless he permits me? I'm stuck in this forest until then?'

"So... what does being your disciple entail?" he asked.

"That's a good question. I'll tell you once you finish your meal."

Curiosity got the better of Sunyoung and he devoured the meat in his bowl as if he had been starving for weeks.

The two of them stood in front of each other in silence.

Ranmin was stroking his chin hair which seemed to be a habit of his.

Simultaneously, Sunyoung was wondering, 'Is he only thinking about how to train me now? What kind of master thinks of these things on the spot? I definitely made a mistake succumbing to the whooping. I should've just held it in until he got tired of beating me.'

"Ah! Got it," Ranmin clapped his hands. "I want you to run laps around our camp."

"Is that all?" asked Sunyoung.

"Why? Are you already complaining?"

"It's just... I thought... never mind. I'll start running then."

"Good."

"How many laps?"

"Yes."

"...Eh?"

Rather than a quantified set of laps, Ranmin had Sunyoung run until his legs couldn't move any further. Once he collapsed, Ranmin whacked him with a stick, forcing him to stand up and continue moving even if it meant he had to drag his legs around like a zombie.

Once he was satisfied, Ranmin gave him ten minutes to rest and recover before having him do squats while carrying two relatively small logs on his shoulders.

One exercise after the next, hours passed by.

The next morning when Sunyoung woke up, contrary to his expectations, the bruises from the pole were gone, none of his muscles ached, and he was as healthy as before.

No — he was even healthier. He could visibly see that his muscles had grown albeit just slightly.

"How am I recovering this fast?" he questioned Ranmin as they ate jerky for breakfast.

"Did you think that I was beating you with that pole for no reason? I used a technique that will not only discipline you but also beat the impurity out of your body. As more impurity is extracted, the faster you recover and your body will experience some growth."

The day of training was the same as the day before with Sunyoung running, squatting, doing push-ups, planking, etc.

Tired of getting beaten up by the wooden pole on the fifth day as Ranmin's disciple, Sunyoung decided to escape a second time.

Just like the first, he was caught by Ranmin exactly an hour in and was tied back to the tree when he woke up.

After a ten-minute session of getting beaten by the wooden pole, he was released from the tree, ate lunch, continued his training, went back to sleep, woke up healed and improved, and repeated the process. 

On the seventh day, he tried to escape again. Then again. And again.

That's how an entire month together passed.

When he asked Ranmin why he wasn't being taught how to wield a sword or anything for that matter, he responded that it was for Sunyoung's own good.

Sunyoung asked what that meant but Ranmin didn't explain, responding with nothing more than a genuine smile.