In the end, everyone decided to camp outside the forest and wait for Kang Mi So to return.
Kim Woo Jin stated that she would likely reappear by daybreak. No one was in the right frame of mind to interrogate him further regarding what he had actually foreseen. They could only choose to trust that prediction, or at least pretend to trust Kim Woo Jin, so they could sit down and catch their breath for a moment.
Night fell swiftly.
The hunters pitched their tents near the edge of the woods and ignited a massive campfire. The flickering flames cast a warm glow across their exhausted features.
Someone brought up Kim Woo Jin getting threatened with a punch by Do Ae Young when she rolled up her sleeves earlier, drawing quiet chuckles before the conversation smoothly transitioned into mundane, everyday trivialities. The warm murmur of voices enveloped the campsite, gradually melting away the rigid tension that had gripped them all day long.
Kei sat beneath a lush, green canopy, cradling a bowl of hot soup in both hands. The gentle warmth seeped through his palms, and the light, clean aroma of the broth drifted amidst the scent of burning wood and forest soil.
He listened to everyone chat away, requiring no active participation or verbal response. Knowing that those around him were safe and that no one faced immediate peril right at this moment was more than enough.
For the very first time since waking up within the Tree of Life’s forest, Kei felt his chest slowly uncoil.
The leaves overhead rustled gently. The firelight filtered through the gaps in the foliage, casting warm, dancing flecks of light across the ground. A rare, hard-earned tranquility.
Kei lowered his gaze to the bowl of soup in his hands.
He had recovered every single piece of his memories. Julius was his father. Ian was the Elven companion who had once stood by his side, the one who had departed the Elven Forest clad in the guise of a Dark Elf.
Yet the Kang Ian standing before him right now couldn’t simply be reduced to that person from his memories.
"Drink this."
A cup was extended toward him from the side.
Kei lifted his head. Kang Ian had seated himself beside him at some point, holding another cup of warm milk in his hand. He offered no superfluous words, simply placing the cup gently into Kei’s hands.
"Thank you," Kei rasped.
Ian gave a solemn nod. He sat beside Kei, staring silently into the campfire. Everyone else continued chatting nearby, yet a secluded bubble of quiet hung between the two of them, as though all outside noise had halted just beyond this ring of light.
Kei took a small sip of the milk. The heat slid down his throat, yet failed to dissolve the question lodged stubbornly in his chest.
He had tried to convince himself that he could afford to wait. That when Ian was ready, he would tell him. But right now, with all his memories fully restored, every single minute of silence felt like a heavy door slamming shut between them.
Finally, Kei couldn’t hold it back any longer.
"You’re Ian, aren’t you?"
Kang Ian lowered his gaze to look at him. The firelight cast its glow across Kei’s profile, softening his already striking features into something deeply tender.
Kang Ian didn’t answer right away.
"What if I am Ian?" he murmured quietly. "And what if I’m not?"
Kei stared blankly at the dancing flames before a sudden realization dawned on him.
The Ian of his memories was an Elf born and raised in that other world. Meanwhile, Kang Ian lived in South Korea, possessing his own life, his own memories, and his own hard-earned years.
Even though their faces were strikingly identical, even though Kei instinctively recognized that exact same gaze deep down, he couldn’t simply treat the man before him like a ghost dredged up from the past.
Kei himself had once been a wandering ghost from another world, an uninvited guest who had drifted into this place.
He had longed so desperately to cross paths with Ian again, naively believing that the moment he found him, all those fractured years of separation would mend seamlessly as though they had never broken at all.
Yet Kang Ian wasn’t a memory that could be retrieved completely intact; the Ian residing within Kei’s memories... likely no longer existed either.
A solitary tear slipped silently down the back of Kei’s hand.
Kang Ian stiffened.
Without a second thought, he peeled off his black outer jacket and draped it over Kei’s head. The fabric cocooned Kei’s face, shielding that stray tear completely from anyone else’s view.
"Don’t cry."
Kang Ian offered a gentle, soothing murmur, which only served to render the Elf Ian from Kei’s memories all the more vividly alive.
Kei offered no reply.
He lowered his head, his shoulders trembling beneath the jacket. The harder he tried to suppress it, the more violently the tears cascaded down.
All the emotions he had kept tightly bottled up since reuniting with Ian seemed to fracture concurrently: overwhelming joy at the thought that the Ian of his memories was still alive, heartbreak over the agonizing years spent lost to one another, and the terrifying realization that the man before him might no longer be the person he once knew.
Kang Ian let out a soft sigh before rising to his feet and stepping directly in front of Kei. Bending down, he wrapped his arms around the figure hidden beneath the jacket, pulling him into a tight embrace.
Kei clutched at the lapels of his jacket, burying his face against his chest as he wept.
Across the clearing, Do Ae Young and Moon So Yeon exchanged a bewildered look, too stunned to even continue their conversation. Yet Kang Ian paid them no mind. He simply held Kei tightly, one hand moving in slow, rhythmic circles to pat his back.
"Are you truly unable to accept this reality?" Ian asked, his voice dropping low.
Kei still refused to lift his head.
Kang Ian remained silent for a long beat. His gaze lingered upon the crown of Kei’s head before shifting toward the dying embers of the fire.
"After all... that person is already dead, anyway," Ian murmured softly, letting out a faint breath. "Let it all fall away into oblivion. From this day onward, just live for the present, Kei."