“Nope.” I shake my head. “I meantonyour face.”
Morning has dawned without my permission, and I’mthisclose to crawling out of my skin. Jihun left hours ago. If I have to wait another minute for the portal to be opened, I might lose my mind.
“Keep an eye on that one, Haesan.” I push away from the pagoda railing, too restless to stand still. “If he so much as sneezes funny, knock him out. I’m not saying you should break his nose.” I narrow my eyes at Keeper Choe. “But I’m not saying you shouldn’t.”
“Break his nose if he sneezes.” Thein’eonods earnestly, adjusting his hold on his end of the tree. “Got it.”
“I ... You ...” The keeper sputters, his legs shaking under the weight of the gigantic token.
Haesan speaks over the whiny male. “Right here, Keeper Bae?”
“Yes.” The older keeper gestures with his hands. “Vertically.”
Haesan picks up the giant tree and shakes off Keeper Choe from the other end. Then, with a strained grunt, he heaves and props the token up at the left corner of the opening.
I stop breathing, and Keeper Bae tenses at my side. As we watch, the small green light expands, encompassing the giant tree, then the portal ... flares wide open. I shield my eyes with my hand.
After a few seconds, suhoshins and seraphim fly through the portal, carrying shinbiins in their arms. One by one, they drop off their passengers and jump back through the portal.
Finally.
“Everyone coming into the Kingdom of Sky,” Keeper Bae booms, “proceed through the left side. Everyone leaving, proceed through the right side. Tell those at the other end. We need order for this to work.”
I break free from my paralysis and run to the portal. I help the people coming through—even though they aren’t the ones I’m waiting for—because every life is precious. And to somebody, these people are the ones they are waiting for.
I wipe my damp forehead on my shoulder and glance at the sky. The sunlight fades into a burnt orange as the moon makes its slow ascent. I continue passing out water to the exhausted shinbiins and seraphim evacuating the Kingdom of Mountains.
“Thank you.” A seraph soldier accepts a cup of water from me and throws it back in one gulp. The teacup immediately refills with water, and she drinks all of that too.
When she turns back toward the portal, I stop her with a hesitant hand on her arm. “H-have you seen the King of Mountains?”
“His Majesty is hard to miss since he seems to be everywhere, all at once.” A tired smile tugs at her lips. “The Kingdom of Mountains is fortunate to have such a dedicated king.”
“So he ... he’s okay?” I clutch a fistful of her sleeve. Catching myself, I relax my grip and drop my arm to my side. “He isn’t hurt?”
“He seems exhausted but otherwise unharmed,” the seonnyeo says kindly. “I must return.”
“Of course. Sorry for delaying you. Th-thank you,” I stutter, my knees weak with relief.
I keep my head down and provide much needed water to the people coming through. I am grateful for something to do. And soon, the seraphim and suhoshins collapse onto the ground instead of leaping back through the portal.
It’s almost done. Ethan is coming.
When Jaeseok comes through the portal, I run up the pagoda steps with an undignified squeak.
“There’s my favoritegumiho.” He pulls me into his arms, laughing and ruffling my hair.
“I’m the onlygumihoyou know,” I mumble, too happy to slap his hand away.
“Like I said, my favorite.” Thedokkaebisets me away from him and flashes a grin I can’t help returning.
“Sunny!” Hailey literally flies into my arms, straight out of the portal.
“Whoa.” I stumble back a step before I regain my balance. Then I hug her so tight that she might not be able to breathe.
She doesn’t seem to mind and squeezes me equally hard. “You’re here, Sunny.”
“I am.” I laugh. “I guess that means you missed me.”
