Jin woke up before sunrise with his whole back aching.
He lay there for a while and stared at the ceiling. The spot where Haneul's staff had whipped across his shoulders had turned into a deep bruise overnight, and every time he moved, it reminded him it was there. He couldn't fall back asleep. His mind kept going back to the yard, to the pool of black and the pillar and the door in the sky, and to the empty hand he had closed at the end of it all.
After a while he gave up. He got dressed quietly, slipped out past Echo's watch post with a nod, and went out into the trees.
