WeTried Translations
Translator: ZERO_SUGAR
Editor: Abstract
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Episode 51: Reunion (2)
──────
Mother and son locked eyes.
‘!!!!!!!!!’
It could not have been stranger.
Neither had seen the other for over seventeen years.
Yet the instant their eyes met, both Mumu and Hae Ha-rang felt as though everything around them had slowed.
Perhaps it was an instinctive bond, one that could be called the ties of blood.
Mumu's eyes reddened and his nose stung. Overwhelmed by an emotion he had never experienced before, he could not bring himself to speak.
Then Hae Ha-rang's lips trembled as she spoke.
“W-what's your name?”
Her voice shook, but her eyes were filled with hope.
That hope came from certainty.
Mumu's heart tightened, and he could barely part his lips.
“Mumu... I'm Mumu...”
Before he could even finish, tears poured from her eyes.
Her face reddened as she wept, biting hard on her lips. This moment felt too unreal.
Was this a dream?
Or had she somehow reached the heavens where her child was?
-Drip!
Tears streamed down Mumu's face as well.
He could not hide the emotions surging within him. His heart pounded, his eyes burned, and he spoke in a choked voice.
“A... are you my mother?”
-Tatatatatatak!
At his question, Hae Ha-rang ran toward Mumu, her snow-white hair streaming behind her.
Then she embraced the son who had grown far larger than she was.
Holding Mumu tightly, Hae Ha-rang cried out through her tears.
“My baby. My baby. I'm your mother. I'm your mother.”
“Mom...?”
“I'm your mother. I'm your mother.”
Mumu held out his arms, unsure what to do. His fingers fidgeted for a moment before he relaxed as much as he could and embraced her in return.
Tears rolled down his cheeks as he spoke.
“Mom...”
“My baby. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Waaah!”
I'm sorry you had to grow up alone.
I'm sorry I couldn't stay by your side.
I'm sorry I was such a terrible mother.
There was so much she wanted to say, but her emotions were too overwhelming for the words to come out properly.
Mumu was no different.
The mother and son held each other and wept endlessly.
Having met the son she had longed for even in her dreams, Hae Ha-rang desperately prayed that this moment was not a dream.
-Clench!
She bit her lip and felt pain.
This was not a dream.
It was real.
Realizing that, her lips trembled on her tear-streaked face before she broke into a radiant smile.
For seventeen years, sorrow and hardship had kept her from smiling even once.
‘Ah...’
A huge middle-aged man watched from a distance.
He was Seo Yong-chu, the Towering Giant and Grand Guardian.
As he watched the moving reunion between mother and son, Seo Yong-chu's eyes reddened as well. He covered them with one enormous hand.
-Why do you always look so gloomy? Come on, follow me and smile brightly like this.
‘I never thought I'd see it again.’
Even with her face covered in tears, her smile was breathtakingly beautiful.
A tear slipped through the gaps between Seo Yong-chu's fingers and ran down his cheek. The hot tear seeped into his mouth as he smiled as broadly as Hae Ha-rang.
* * *
‘...’
Hong Hwa-yun could not see.
Yet even he could not help being moved by the tearful reunion between mother and son.
It was something deeply human, beyond justice and evil.
‘What have I done?’
Though moved by their reunion, Hong Hwa-yun regretted everything he had done.
Everything done under the banner of a greater cause felt meaningless.
Had Hong Hwa-yun not thrown Mumu off that cliff, there would have been no such heartbreaking reunion.
‘How foolish.’
As a father, Hong Hwa-yun was ashamed.
His chest ached at the thought that he had done something no person should ever do.
Hong Hwa-yun raised a hand blade and gathered life energy.
‘I am sorry. I hope you never lose that smile.’
With that, Hong Hwa-yun tried to cut his own throat with the hand blade.
At that very moment, someone shouted, “Uncle!”
Someone stopped him.
Startled, Hong Hwa-yun turned toward the voice and froze.
The owner of that voice was none other than Mu-a.
Mu-a's shout drew more than just Hong Hwa-yun's attention.
“Mu-a!”
Hae Ha-rang, who had been embracing Mumu, was also at a loss over where to begin explaining the situation to her adopted son.
Mu-a looked back and forth between her, Mumu, and Hong Hwa-yun before running to Hong Hwa-yun.
“Uncle, what are you doing?”
“...Mu-a.”
“Who did this to you? Why are you trying to kill yourself?”
Mu-a had arrived late and was utterly confused.
Hong Hwa-yun was injured and trying to take his own life.
His mother was overwhelmed with emotion as she held a boy about Mu-a's age, someone Mu-a had never seen before.
None of it made any sense.
“Mother! Uncle is trying to kill himself, so what are you doing? W-who is that boy...?”
“Mu-a.”
Hong Hwa-yun called out to the agitated Mu-a and shook his head, stopping him.
“Uncle?”
“...Everything that happened was caused by my sins.”
“What?”
“That boy over there is your older brother.”
Mu-a's expression stiffened.
He had never once heard that he had any siblings.
Yet he could not simply deny it when his mother's expression was so full of longing.
It was a look she had never shown even to him.
“What is this...?”
“Mu-a.”
Hae Ha-rang called to the confused Mu-a.
“Mother, what is going on? Why is this...?”
“I'll... I'll explain everything, so calm down.”
“I-I want to calm down, but Mother, this is too...”
It was too much.
Hae Ha-rang's heart grew heavy as she looked at Mu-a.
She had been so happy to meet the son she had been separated from for seventeen years that she had not considered the consequences this would bring.
It would be too cruel to simply brush it aside and hide the truth from Mu-a.
After hesitating briefly, she finally began.
“Listen, Mu-a... This is a story from before you were born.”
“...”
Wanting to know what had happened, Mu-a silently focused on her story.
* * *
-Thud!
Mu-a's legs gave out, and he fell to his knees.
Having learned the whole truth, Mu-a could not hide his devastation.
‘H-how could this be...’
Too many shocking revelations had come at once.
Growing up, there were times when he wondered about his father. But whenever he asked, Hae Ha-rang only said that his father had been a fine person and that Mu-a should work hard to bring honor to the family.
He had never imagined she had hidden such a truth.
‘Then... Mother was actually my aunt.’
He was so confused.
No, he was in pain.
For a moment, he even resented her for hiding this truth from him all along.
Still, Mu-a could not blame Hae Ha-rang for keeping it hidden.
The moment he heard of the suffering she had endured, he understood why she had always worn such a shadowed, sorrowful expression.
‘How... how did she endure it?’
Her life had been so tragic, so full of sorrow.
Even after losing her child and family, she had gritted her teeth and raised him.
-Swish!
Mu-a looked at Hong Hwa-yun beside him.
The instant he saw him, Mu-a's chest hurt.
Until now, he had considered Hong Hwa-yun his master. Deep down, he had even wished Hong Hwa-yun could become his father.
‘Ah...’
He understood why his mother, no, his aunt, had kept Hong Hwa-yun at a distance.
To her, Hong Hwa-yun was no different from the person who had taken everything away from her.
Yet Mu-a had asked her if she could not forgive that person. How much pain must that have caused her?
‘I...’
He felt incredibly immature.
Knowing nothing, he had believed he was happy even without a father.
Yet that happiness had only been possible because of his mother, no, his aunt's endless sacrifice.
‘But...’
It was strange.
Mu-a resented Hong Hwa-yun, but he did not hate him.
Part of it was because Mu-a had learned why Hong Hwa-yun had lost his sight, and because Hong Hwa-yun sought atonement badly enough to be prepared to die at any time by their side.
‘Why did things turn out this way...’
Mu-a found it all heartbreaking.
He was involved in it too, but he felt sorry for his aunt, Mumu, and even Hong Hwa-yun.
Then Hong Hwa-yun, who had been quietly listening, spoke.
“I have sinned against all of you. Even if I had ten mouths, I would have nothing to say. So please, let me take responsibility and carry this karma away with me.”
Hong Hwa-yun raised the hand blade again.
Mu-a was startled and almost tried to stop him, but he froze.
Hae Ha-rang shouted before he could.
“Stop!”
Mu-a looked at Hae Ha-rang in confusion.
So did Hong Hwa-yun.
Now that she had found the son she had lost, Hong Hwa-yun had believed she would no longer stop him from offering up his life.
Or did she wish to kill him with her own hands, or have Mumu kill him?
“...If you wish to take my life with your own hands, then do so.”
“No.”
Hae Ha-rang firmly shook her head.
Then she tightly grasped Mumu's wrist and spoke.
“Mumu, would you grant Mom one request?”
Mumu smiled softly at her words.
“I'll do anything Mom wants.”
Hae Ha-rang looked apologetically at Mumu, then spoke to Hong Hwa-yun.
“I cannot forgive everything you did to Mumu and me. But though you could have turned away from it all, you accepted it and tried to atone to me.”
“...”
“I do not believe that desire to sacrifice yourself, even after giving up both your eyes, was a lie.”
“Madam Hae... I... deserve to die...”
“The reason you tried to atone to me was because you threw my son off a cliff with your own hands. But my child has returned to me.”
-Clench!
Hae Ha-rang's grip around Mumu's wrist tightened.
She was so happy to have found the son she had lost.
Hae Ha-rang spoke to Hong Hwa-yun.
“I no longer hate you. Whether you meant to or not, you stopped me from taking my own life. That is why I was able to meet my child again like this.”
“...”
“So go back.”
“Madam Hae?”
“I have no desire to do to your daughter what you did to me.”
‘!?’
Hong Hwa-yun clutched his chest at her words.
She said she could not forgive him, yet those words struck the deepest chords of his heart.
Hong Hwa-yun had been willing to offer his life in atonement.
But the one thing that had weighed on his mind was his only daughter.
He had feared that the grudge might be passed down to the next generation.
Yet she had severed that chain of resentment.
‘Hwa-yun... Hwa-yun... You fool. You wanted so badly to become a chivalrous hero, yet you understood the ways of the world less than this woman who knows no Martial Arts.’
“Madam Hae...”
Hong Hwa-yun was deeply moved by her decision when Mumu spoke.
“You heard her. Mom said she'll let you go, so I won't demand any more payment either.”
“...”
“But let me make this clear. If you touch my mother or me one more time, I'll destroy not just you, Uncle, but the entire martial world.”
-Crack!
-Paaaaang!
At that moment, a resounding blast tore through the air, ringing in his ears.
It carried tremendous force, enough to pierce the sky.
-Gulp!
Hearing it, Hong Hwa-yun swallowed dryly, his face tense.
It was only a sound, but he knew.
No one in the world could block that fist technique.
Even if Hong Hwa-yun and the other members of the Four Immortal Masters entered secluded training for decades or centuries to refine their Martial Arts, it would be impossible.
‘Invincible...’
That was right.
Mumu, the Martial Nothing, was invincible.
Footnotes:
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