Harmonious Love

A Hidden Piece (1)

In the cold, dewy dawn, the sound of a wooden gong echoed throughout the quiet mountain temple.

The low yet solid resonance spread widely through the dimly lit forest, where daylight had not yet fully broken.

Tock, tock, tock, tock…

Listening to these dull yet clear sounds, Mo Yeon barely suppressed a yawn.

Though he had always considered himself quite a diligent person, starting the day at four in the morning was undeniably challenging. In truth, Mo Yeon was much closer to being nocturnal.

Still, as he rubbed his sleepy eyes while sitting in the main hall listening to the wooden gong, despite his drowsiness, he found himself appreciating the profound tranquility of the deep dawn.

‘Today I’ll need to pull weeds in the yard, so I should eat more food.’

The simple yet regular routine was quite good for clearing his mind.

Yes.

Mo Yeon had escaped not only from school but also from his wearisome life, and was now living completely detached from the secular world at a temple in a rural mountain.

His impromptu temple stay, which he had started out of a desire to get away to anywhere, was already approaching one month.

This had always been a place he wanted to visit again at least once in his life.

It was probably the summer when he turned six. Even before living alone as he did now, Mo Yeon had spent some time apart from his family. Although he wasn’t directly close with his parents, Seokdam Temple, which he had come to know through his maternal grandmother’s introduction, represented one of his few purely good memories.

As Mo Yeon gradually began chattering and learning to speak, he started getting scolded frequently at home. Saying “I see a person over there” was a completely different dimension from a child babbling while pointing at empty space or crying out of nowhere. So six-year-old Mo Yeon naturally thought his parents had abandoned him here.

Fortunately, the head monk of Seokdam Temple at that time, Hyewun, cared for Mo Yeon like a gentle father. They would go flower-viewing together, dig up roots, and when Mo Yeon played with a puppy in the yard, Hyewun would take out his old camera that had been stored deep in his room.

Also, as long as Mo Yeon didn’t wander around the mountains, there was nothing frightening for him to see, at least not at the temple.

Thanks to this, Mo Yeon adapted relatively quickly to life at the temple and was able to be a more innocent child than he had been at home. He even found having his head shaved like a chestnut amusing.

‘Should I have continued living at the temple from the beginning?’

Such questions arose in his mind, but it seemed like something he would need to observe a bit longer. Even now, he was barely eating his meal, intoxicated with drowsiness.

Though he had always been curious, this was the first time he had come here of his own accord.

It was an impulsive decision made because he thought he should visit quickly, now that ghosts were no longer visible to him. How fortunate that he had been able to apply for a leave of absence from school after the deadline.

Quitting his part-time job was harder than leaving school. When Mo Yeon said he was quitting, Hye-jung told him until the end to come back whenever he wanted.

Before becoming an adult, it wasn’t easy to find a temple in the countryside on one’s own, and when he became old enough to go of his own will, he had heard that there were many vengeful spirits of those who had died unjustly in the mountains, so he hadn’t dared venture there. And now, with ghosts no longer visible, Mo Yeon’s impression was simply wonderful.

He regretted not having returned sooner.

The appearance of the stream where he often played and the temple courtyard matched his memories precisely. However, they were much smaller than he remembered, and many areas had deteriorated. Naturally, he couldn’t see the face he wanted to see. In fact, the main reason he hadn’t visited until now was that the monk who had cared for him like a father had passed away.

Thinking about it now, it seemed that his parents also needed time to accept their child’s peculiarities. During those six months apart, his parents’ hearts must not have been at peace either.

He didn’t want to blame them. His time at the temple was a happy memory that made him want to visit again even as an adult, and regardless, they came back to get him. Of course, after returning home, Mo Yeon would only burst into tears about once out of ten times when seeing something scary in front of him.

“The temple’s discipline is meant to cultivate one’s own mind.”

“!”

At the sudden stern voice, Mo Yeon forced his half-closed eyes wide open. Monk Eunam, who had inherited the position of the former head monk, was a stricter person.

Lost in thought until he felt the monk’s gaze, Mo Yeon finally began energetically chewing the food he had been slowly masticating.

Monk Eunam, whom Mo Yeon had no memory of, recognized him immediately on his first day at the temple. Because of this, he was still being treated like the child who had been a disciple at the side of the former head monk.

“May the moment of eating become a time to find the path of the mind. Try to imbue each spoonful you put in your mouth with enlightenment.”

After a month, he should have adapted by now, but why was he still like this… Everything else was fine, but no matter how he thought about it, he just couldn’t become a morning person. Mo Yeon always received criticism for either dozing off or getting lost in thought every morning.

Of course, there was also something a bit unfair. Currently, Mo Yeon was the only outsider staying at the temple.

Although they accepted temple stays, it wasn’t a place completely open to outsiders. Moreover, there was certainly no one like Mo Yeon who stayed for nearly a month.

“It’s the first time I’ve seen a young devotee who likes rice taffy so much.”

And Monk Eunam would say this every day as the meal was ending.

Mo Yeon gave an awkward smile and then chose the largest piece from among the taffies in the basket.

“Thank you.”

As he left with his hands together in prayer, he could almost hear the monk’s laughter at his back.

Instead of going directly to his room, he immediately picked up a broom and began sweeping the courtyard. The taffy was already in his mouth, making one cheek bulge.

What was surprising after coming here was that, just like when he was a child, he could only eat one rice taffy each day. The principle was to take just one without being greedy. That’s why he chose the big one.

However, back then, Monk Hyewun would secretly hide taffy in his sleeve and give his own portion to Mo Yeon. He would give it discreetly so that other monks wouldn’t see, making Mo Yeon quickly pop the large taffy into his mouth like a crab hiding its eyes.

Being able to eat only one piece of candy-like sweet delicious taffy per person was disappointing even as a child, and somehow it wasn’t much different now. Perhaps it was more disappointing because there was no way to eat two like there had been back then.

In reality, nothing terrible would have happened if the head monk had brought or eaten another piece of taffy. It was also questionable whether it was truly a secret from the other monks. Thinking about it now, it seemed like that was the monk’s way of showing affection.

That was probably the first time someone had secretly taken special care of him. No wonder it remained such a precious and warm memory even after all this time.

“This damn roof, fixing it makes me feel so much better inside.”

“Indeed, it does.”

While cleaning the yard, he could also overhear the conversations of the monks who were looking after the temple together.

During his time here, Mo Yeon’s mind had been quite stable. Perhaps because he was only at the temple where sutras and wooden gong sounds continually echoed, he still couldn’t see ghosts.

Still, quite some time had passed since his last meeting with Tae Young-won, so perhaps the ghosts would reappear if he wandered outside. He would have to leave someday, and he was concerned about the journey home. Mo Yeon was already trying to avoid going far from the temple grounds even during walks that were part of his daily routine.

Eating only healthy food, living a regular life, getting plenty of exercise, and spending every free moment looking at plants and trees seemed to naturally make his troubled mind feel like nothing.

Coming here as an adult, he realized that running a temple came with no small amount of hardship. Moreover, Monk Eunam, though outwardly gruff, was a man of great affection who had made Mo Yeon sweat at first by refusing to accept donations out of old loyalty. Even now, whenever Mo Yeon went near the donation box, he could feel the monk’s gaze, preventing him from giving too much. Instead, he was doing a tremendous amount of labor…

The aging temple had many areas needing repair, but after Mo Yeon’s extended stay, they had called in repair technicians from outside and completed necessary construction work, so the situation was gradually improving.

What was puzzling, however, was the feeling that everything was being done at once, tasks that had been postponed due to circumstances.

It seemed unlikely that his donations alone would be sufficient, suggesting that there might be others who held this temple dear.