Haneul looked at Sukh's body lying on the bed, recalled the past when they first met, and finally remembered the bowl of rice that Sukh had kept mentioning. He stroked Sukh's face and smiled slightly.
Haneul grabbed Sukh's hand and stared at Sukh's pale face. With tears streaming down his face, he murmured, "I can handle anything in this world, except your absence. If you open your eyes and smile at me, I can give up everything I have." He waited, still in disbelief that Sukh was dead. "Sukh…" he shook Sukh. "Wake up… Sukh." His eyes fell on the wound on Sukh's neck, and only then did he realize that Sukh was truly dead. "If one day… I miss you so much, I will leave this place we created and come to you." He kissed Sukh's forehead.
"Your Majesty," a servant greeted him at the door, holding a golden outfit in his hand, for fear of angering Haneul by intruding upon his bedroom chamber.
Haneul stared at Sukh's face and said, "What?"
"The Bayarmaa family hopes that His Majesty will release the body of the Great Grand General for a proper funeral," the servant replied.
Haneul didn't answer the servant's question, but asked instead, "Is the preparation in Mount Tai ready?"
"Yes, Your Majesty," the servant confirmed.
The journey to Mount Tai took three days of nonstop walking. When they reached Mount Tai, the ground had hardened due to the coming of winter.
Haneul's tomb had been under construction since the day he became king of Tanzang. He wanted this final resting place to be one where he could be with Sukh for eternity, so his grave looked more like a vacation home in the backcountry. As Haneul stood in front of the entrance to the tomb, he recalled a memory with Sukh.
(Memory)
Late in the afternoon, Haneul concluded his morning meeting with the court ministers, then sat in the backyard, examining the many designs submitted by artists.
This was the first year of his retaking the throne and lands, so Haneul was happy to start giving orders. He looked at the details of the designs with great interest, but when he heard the sound of a long sword being unsheathed, its metal rubbing against armor close by, his eyes immediately darted up.
"Sukh," Haneul said, a smile touching his lips. "Come and sit next to me."
Sukh looked at Haneul. "It's not appropriate for me to sit next to His Majesty."
Haneul got up, took Sukh's hand, and led him to sit on Haneul's own chair. Haneul sat next to Sukh and pushed many design paintings toward him. "Look at the designs that were submitted to me," he said with a smile. Sukh looked at some of the first few designs. "Help me decide and see which one you like best."
"What is this?" Sukh asked, confused.
"My tomb," Haneul replied simply.
Sukh looked at Haneul in shock. "Haneul, why are you suddenly interested in this?"
"We will not live forever," Haneul said. "I know it will take a long time to build the king's tomb." He looked up at Sukh and held Sukh's hands. "Do you want to be buried in the same grave as me?"
"It's not right for me to be buried in the same place as you," Sukh stated, "let alone in the same grave."
"I don't know why I am asking you," Haneul said, a playful glint in his eye. "Well, whether you like it or not, you will be buried in the same tomb as me. I have already chosen the design of the coffin." He pushed the drawn design to Sukh.
Sukh looked at the drawing. "I like this design."
"I knew you would like it," Haneul said, pleased.
"Why are there two jade pillows?" Sukh inquired.
Haneul smiled. "One for me and one for you."
"Haneul, you can't do this," Sukh protested. "It will cause a lot of gossip in court."
"Are you afraid of that gossip?" Haneul challenged.
"I'm not afraid," Sukh admitted, "but it will damage your reputation."
"Since you are not afraid of their gossip, then neither am I," Haneul declared. "I don't care what others say. Anyway, I will be dead. I prefer to spend my afterlife with you, watching the sunset and sunrise every day." He smiled, looking at Sukh. "So, promise me, if I die before you, you must be buried here with me." He pointed at the coffin design.
"I promise," Sukh said.
Haneul said teasingly, "I know you promised me this just to humor me, so I'm going to make sure I outlive you."
Sukh continued to look at the design drawing, a smile on his face. "You don't believe me."
Haneul sighed. "You always promise to do what I ask, but when the time comes, you never do it."
Haneul reached out to pinch Sukh's cheek, but Sukh gently pushed his hand away. "Behave yourself," he chided softly. He placed a simple design on the table and pushed it to Haneul. "I like this one the best."
Haneul looked at the design. "This looks too simple. A pavilion?"
"This should be outside the tomb," Sukh clarified. "Do you really want to spend eternity in your coffin?"
Haneul smiled, understanding dawning on his face. "Oh… I understand what you mean."
(Memory End)
Haneul stood in front of the gate of the underground tomb at the foot of the second mountain. The servants and maids who had followed him slowly followed behind Sukh's coffin. After passing through many secret doors, they finally came to the large jade coffin. The servants began placing jars containing gold, silver, jade, and necessities for the afterlife on one side of the room, while others slowly lowered Sukh's body into the coffin.
"Everyone leaves the room," Haneul commanded.
The servants and maids quickly left the room, leaving Haneul alone inside the tomb with Sukh's dead body.
Haneul climbed into the coffin and lay beside Sukh. He stretched out his left hand and held Sukh's cold hand, tears streaming from the corners of his eyes. He turned to his left, resting his head on Sukh's shoulder. He said softly, "My beloved, from now on I will miss you a lot. It will be a long time before we meet again. You can sleep here peacefully and continue to dream and remember to visit me in my dream." He reached out and kissed Sukh's temple. "You'll never be far from my heart, for that is the only place I'm sure I'll find you."
Standing in the court, many ministers frowned, because Haneul hadn't attended the morning meeting for two months. Hours passed, and the ministers sighed with heavy hearts, as their king still hadn't recovered from the loss of Sukh.
"I think today is another day of hopeless waiting," Minister Fo said, shaking his head. "Shall we leave?" He turned to look at the many ministers standing behind and beside him.
"His Majesty needs to attend the morning meeting," Minister Choi said, his voice sharp. He looked at Qadan. "General Bayarmaa, since the Great Grand General and you are family, you should ask His Majesty when he intends to attend the morning meeting. Grief can wait, but the needs of the Kingdom cannot wait."
Instead of answering Minister Choi, Qadan chose to ignore him.
"How can General Bayarmaa give His Majesty any reason to come to the meeting?" one of the ministers scoffed. "The Bayarmaa family can't even bring home the Great Grand General's body and give him a proper funeral."
Seeing Haneul's personal servant enters the court from the side door; the ministers shook their heads one after another. The ministers who had been waiting for Haneul's arrival since four o'clock in the morning had already guessed that the servant would announce that Haneul would not come to the meeting.
"His Majesty has arrived!" the servant announced loudly, and the ministers gasped, looking up as Haneul entered the meeting hall. Haneul sat down and looked down at the ministers.
"As we all know," he stated, his voice firm, "our beloved general has passed away. This is the greatest loss for our kingdom. We have ordered them to build a statue of Great Grand General Bayarmaa on Sky Hill."
The ministers in the courtroom gasped and shook their heads in disbelief.
"Your Majesty," one minister dared to say, "there is only one temple on Sky Hill, which is dedicated to the emperor and gods. It is not appropriate to tear it down and replace it with Great Grand General Bayarmaa. This will definitely bring chaos to Tanzang."
"We have decided that when the people of Tanzang see the sunrise, they will remember that it was the Great Grand General who helped us unravel this land," Haneul said, unyielding.
The ministers shook their heads again and again.
"Your Majesty," Minister Lee added, "by doing so, Your Majesty is placing the late Great Grand General Bayarmaa as equal to the emperor of heaven. Please reconsider."
Haneul stubbornly said, "We have already decided that the construction will start in two days. Anything else?" He looked at the ministers in the meeting chamber, his gaze intense.
Qadan approached and said, "The Bayarmaa family wants to know when we can bring Sukh's body back for burial?"
Haneul looked at Qadan. "General Bayarmaa, you don't have to worry about this. The Great Grand General's body has already been laid to rest."
The ministers gasped once more.
Qadan looked at Haneul frantically. "Where?"
"We buried him in Mount Tai, in our royal chamber," Haneul announced.
Qadan wanted to argue again but couldn't find a reason. It was unheard of for a non-royal to be buried in the same royal tomb as the king, so instead of fighting Haneul, he remained silent.
From Haneul's actions, Qadan knew that Haneul wanted the ministers present to see clearly that no one could be above the Bayarmaa family except Haneul, especially those who shared Sukh's bloodline.
"Your Majesty," Minister Choi said, his voice laced with indignation, "how could Your Majesty bury a commoner in the royal tomb? This is… too outrageous…"
"Minister Choi, pay attention to your words," Haneul snapped. "Great Grand General Bayarmaa is not a commoner. He is Tanzang's Great Grand General, the one and only Great Grand General of Tanzang." He looked at Qadan and suddenly changed his tone. "If the Bayarmaa family wants to pray and pay respect for the Great Grand General, they can go up Mount Tai with us when we visit the Great Grand General. We will go there in three days."
The ministers were shocked and lost their minds about the topics of the meeting.
Haneul stood up and asked, "Does anyone else have anything to add?" Haneul waited, but there was no answer. "In that case, dismiss."
It was the first day of winter, but the snow hadn't fallen yet. Since the creation of the magical river, Tanzang had been attacked by other kingdoms many times, but all of them were unsuccessful. The invaders could neither cross the magical river nor break through the two armies stationed at both ends.
Before dawn, Haneul and his three personal servants walked slowly up Mount Tai. At the top of the mountain where the royal tomb was, the servants placed the two baskets on the table in the small pavilion, then descended the mountain, leaving Haneul sitting alone at the stone table.
Haneul took out the dishes and placed them on the table. He poured two cups of wine and placed one across from him. He smiled and said, "Sukh, the snow hasn't fallen this year. I will visit you less in the future, because I need to do more to become a better king."
Haneul began eating, talking as normally as he would have when Sukh was alive. He put the plate back in the basket when he finished eating. The snow began to fall on the mountains.
Haneul stood up and walked out of the pavilion. He reached out to feel the snow floating around him. He smiled and said, "Sukh, it's snowing."
As the snow slowly melted on the cold ground, the sky began to turn red. Haneul looked up; the pristine white snow had turned red.
Haneul smiled. "Not only my tears turned red, but also the tears from heaven also turned red." He put his right hand on the door of the tomb. "Sukh, today's sun can never replace yesterday's. Sleep well and wait for me."