When it rained in the North, the heavens were said to be rejoicing—a celebration of virtue, a reward for goodness.
But when it rained in the South… they said hell had won.
And the heavens wept.
It had been raining for five days and five nights in the Southern lands. Today marked the sixth. A part known for its scorching heat, now drowning in endless rain.
Usually, immortal disciples from the Heavenly Academy would descend to investigate why there was no rain in the North? Why was there so much in the South?
Among the mortals now, stood Eum Muak. Banished. Stripped of status. Forgotten.
She lingered near the border gate, her eyes scanning the skies every time a divine aura brushed past with the wind. Was it him? Was it her brother, Yang Noori?
No. Not today. Never today.
She waited. Still.
Every time a disciple descended and recognized her, their gaze turned ice cold and they would spew words that carried thick venom.
"She's the cause."
"She brought this cursed rain with her."
"She made the heavens cry."
Even before her exile, they had blamed her for every misfortune that happened in every auspicious moment in the Academy.
There was the day Lady Mugyo, principal of the Heavenly Academy and mother deity, bestowed divine vegetables upon the disciples. But they somehow twisted and morphed into the flesh of a monstrous frog beast meat. Who was blamed?
Eum Muak!
They said her evil had overflowed and that her cup of wickedness had spilled over, so they forced her to eat it. All of it.
One plate at a time she picked the meat out of the 114 plates. Day and night, she had to consume the flesh alone without getting any food aside, even after being cast to earth.
Now, living among mortals, her immortal energy faded. The light inside her dimmed. She was dizzy. Weak. But still waiting for the one who never came. Her brother.
Yang Noori did not even say goodbye to her when the Heavenly Academy had banished her. He never even looked her way before then.
And yet, every academy she had walked into, she walked in with him. He was bathed in praise and she was bathed in scorn.
At the first, Holy Academy, she wasn't even allowed to sit at the same table as the others.
Just because she was his opposite.
At the Second Academy, when they asked her to play the beast of hell in a drama since she looked like one, and to be paraded like a demon in front of the others all in the name of group acting to pass a message, she said no. And for that they called her disobedient. They called her hellspawn and they cast her out without a second thought.
*
Lost in those memories, her body tensed.
Because suddenly, a cold hand wrapped around her neck.
"Look who we have here…"
"Eum Muak. The devil's spawn who was banished from all four academies."
The voices were arrogant and familiar.
"Heh. Can't give up the holy life, can you? Still clinging to our gates like a stray."
"She wants to be like us! But she's nothing. Her brother already earned his place and us the holies and heavenlies. She'll never be even half of what he is."
They laughed, laughed like they always did.
They were from the Divine Academy, her third academy. These were the same immortals who once surrounded her, who smiled while watching her struggle to prove her innocence. Who fed off her self-hate like it was nectar.
And now they were still the same.
These are the holies and heavenlies? Seriously? Tch. What a joke. They wore glowing robes and carried sacred relics, but their favorite pastime was bullying Eum Muak. Why? Because she never fought back.
Because she tried, tried so hard, not to let the darkness she was born with take over.
Her eyes burned red. Fear twisted her stomach. She yanked her neck free from the grip, and in a blink.. vanished.
Her brother wasn't among them then there was no point in staying.
The immortals laughed behind her. Loud and cruel.
"Demon brat."
"Unlucky curse."
"Filth from hell."
They spat every name in the book. But what broke her the most was hearing what they really thought. Their minds whispered louder than their mouths and she heard them all. She always heard them. She was a mind reader, after all.
And in their hearts there was even more hate.
Tears welled in her eyes.
She had good in her too.
Just like Yang Noori, her precious brother, had darkness in him as well.
They just never saw it. They never wanted to.
Suddenly…
"Eum Muak! Where are you hiding?"
A powerful voice cut through the air like thunder. Another immortal had arrived, his aura overwhelming.
Eum Muak flinched. Her fingers trembled and without meaning to, her body reacted, forcing herself to become visible again.
And there he was, standing before the now visible Eum Muak.
Yang Noori.
His eyes locked onto hers, burning with anger. "What, are you trying to steal my place now? You call me bad behind my back, what the hell were you thinking, Eum Muak?"
Eum Muak trembled. Her body, her breath… everything shook with fear.
Her brother had come after all. But why did he feel like a stranger?
"I... I don't…"
Slap!
A sharp strike cracked across her cheek. Her head snapped to the side. The world spun. A black hairpin slipped free from her hair, clinking as it hit the ground. As a result, her hair tumbled loose. It was long, fluid, and cascading like a river.
Yang Noori stood above her, his hand still raised as he spoke icily. "If you weren't thinking of stealing my position," he hissed, "then what was that thought? That you had good inside you… and I had bad?"
His eyes burned. "You and I are not the same, even if we share a womb. I'm the righteous one. The adored. The destined holy and heavenly. You are the wicked twin. The shameful one!"
Eum Muak's face drained of color.
This, this was the darkness she had always sensed in him. It only emerged when he spoke to her. And he rarely did.
"I never wanted your place…" she whispered through tears. She dropped to the ground, groping for the fallen pin with shaking fingers.
The others closed in, the ones who had mocked her before. Their faces lit up with twisted joy. Watching her fall… this was their pleasure. Watching the 'bad' suffer, even when she tried to be good.
Because they believe that when the "bad" tries to be good, you remind them they're bad. And then, you beat them.
"Lord Yang!" one cried, eager to pour oil on the fire. "She lies! Even at the Divine Academy, she never spoke a word of truth!"
"Yes!" another added, eyes glittering. "You kept your distance, but we watched her! She cursed your name in secret, again and again!"
"She's all lies and evil, my lord," said a third, stepping closer. "Always pretending to be good so she can crawl her way into heaven!"
Yang Noori's fury only deepened the moment the others fed him lies. He raised his hand...