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This light novel is inspired by the beautiful landscapes and cultures of Bolivia and South Korea. However, the characters, events, and situations portrayed are entirely fictional. Any resemblance to real persons, places, or events is purely coincidental. This content does not intend to represent or reflect the historical, social, or cultural reality of either country. The author disclaims any legal liability arising from the interpretation of these elements.
Chapter 24 – A Silent Act and the Peacock
24.1. The Echo of a Silent Act
"Could you please pull up the security cameras from ten-thirty?"
Zayra asked the young attendant.
The young man nodded without a word.
A few clicks were all it took.
The screen lit up; the cabin was empty.
He advanced a few seconds... and there Ryu appeared.
He was walking alone, with a calm, almost measured stride.
In his hands, he held an envelope, carefully folded.
Zayra watched him without blinking.
***
He approached Zayra's cabin door, looked around, and gently left the envelope there.
He lingered for another second, as if to make sure of something.
Then, he turned and walked away, without looking back.
Zayra stood completely still.
"Why didn't he just tell me to my face?"
she murmured, her fingers tightening around the envelope.
"I thought we were friends."
Her father, standing beside her, didn't say anything right away.
He was watching the screen intently.
Ryu's face was frozen in the image, captured in the exact second before he left the frame.
He has his father's temperament… the man thought.
I wasn't wrong.
I knew it the moment I saw him.
And then, as if the memory had been waiting for him, it returned.
The calm look on Ryu's face as he left the envelope reminded him of his best friend…
Someone who always stood his ground, even as a child.
***
[Flashback]
An unfamiliar school, beautiful on the outside but filled with unknown faces.
Little Dae-Hyun was sitting in a corner, his face bruised, his knuckles red.
He had been in a fight.
Again.
He didn't cry.
He couldn't. Being far from home and his mom was tough,
fighting was his way of resisting.
A figure approached in silence.
A skinny Korean boy with glasses, calm eyes, and a direct gaze.
He didn't say a word. He just sat down beside him.
He took out a towel, a small bottle wrapped in paper, and a notebook.
Dae-Hyun glanced at him, suspicious.
The notebook had a phrase written in pencil on the cover.
"Hold on. Stay true to yourself"
Dae-Hyun took it without a word. In that instant, he understood he wasn't alone.
[End of flashback]
***
He returned to the present.
"Daughter."
Her father said, without taking his eyes off the screen.
"Don't judge him harshly."
Zayra looked at him in silence.
"There are two types of men."
he continued.
"The ones who promise much and do little, and the ones who do a lot without saying anything."
"Ryu is the second kind. He isn't trying to manipulate you or look good.
He just did what he thought was right."
He paused.
"He's not like the other men you know, my daughter.
He doesn't arrange things to his advantage.
He just acts."
Zayra swallowed.
Her emotions were tangled in her chest: confusion, anger, a pang of guilt.
The following words echoed in her mind.
"Of course... he's not like Sebastián."
She took a deep breath and analyzed the situation in her mind.
"I can accept it. But I don't understand it."
"I need my space to process this."
She fell silent. The echo of that wordless act resonated in her chest.
"Why didn't he just tell me to my face?"
24.2— Baram the Peacock
Zayra left the camera room in silence.
Her father answered a call, and after listening carefully, he said in a warm tone,
"Daughter, I have to go to the lands with Bruno.
I see that you're fine.
I'll see you tonight, okay?"
Zayra nodded. She wasn't ready to talk.
Her chest felt heavy, and her thoughts were clashing fiercely.
Without a fixed destination, she began to walk.
The warm country air caressed her face, and the distant sounds of animals seemed to beckon her without saying a word.
She soon arrived at the breeding area.
It was then that the scene stopped her in her tracks.
A white hen, surrounded by five chicks, pecked calmly.
A little farther on, a brown rooster walked with a hen of the same color.
And in the middle of them all, a majestic peacock shone in the sun, motionless, watchful.
***
Zayra frowned.
"What's a peacock doing here?"
"Little girl, what are you doing here all alone?"
asked an older, dark-skinned woman, smiling, with a basket of corn under her arm.
"Are you looking for something?"
"No, I was just... observing this."
Zayra said, pointing to the peacock.
"Ah! That love story."
The woman chuckled softly.
"Let me tell you. The white hen is named Blanca.
The brown rooster is Coco.
And the brown hen is Kira. It turns out that Coco is Kira's partner,
but since she can't have chicks, he went with Blanca,
got her pregnant, and then left her with five babies!"
Zayra raised her eyebrows, surprised.
"And one day, as if he fell from the sky, Baram appeared.
No one knows where he came from. Since then, he hasn't left Blanca's side.
When Coco and Kira try to attack her, Baram just stands in front of them. And that's enough."
Zayra let out a genuine laugh. It was as ridiculous as it was adorable.
"Thank you for telling me, ma'am..."
"Anytime, little girl,"
the woman said, lifting her baskets to continue on her way.
Zayra thanked her with a smile,
and as the woman walked away, she looked back at the scene.
"Coco... Kira... Blanca and Baram," she murmured.
Then she fell silent.
The sun caressed her skin, and the sounds of the chicks playing under Blanca's wings filled the air.
Zayra felt something warm in her chest. It wasn't a revelation.
It was a kind of... relief. A pause in the drama.
A laugh in the midst of chaos.
***
She looked at the animals again and began to make assumptions in her mind.
"So, Coco is Sebastian. Kira was Agata. Blanca... am I me?
And Baram, who would he be?"
She didn't finish the thought.
smiled to herself, shaking her head.
"How funny, even the little animals have stories."
She said softly, but she didn't stop smiling.
***
It was then that she heard soft footsteps behind her.
Ryu appeared, his expression neutral but his gaze attentive.
He ran his fingertips over the strap of his watch,
an almost unconscious gesture, as he kept his eyes fixed on her.
He didn't say anything; he just breathed calmly, measuring each exhale.
Zayra looked at him. She looked down for a second. And then she spoke.
"Thank you for what you did. I really appreciate it."
Ryu nodded. "It was nothing."
"But... there's something I need to tell you."
The silence grew heavier.
"I didn't like how you did it,"
she continued, looking him in the eye.
"I can accept it, but I don't understand it. It bothers me.
For me, hiding something important, even for good reasons, is also a way of hurting."
She was silent for a minute and then added.
"I value honesty so much.
I'd rather you tell me a hard truth a thousand times than hide something from me to 'protect' me."
Ryu kept his gaze steady, without interrupting her.
His lips tightened slightly, his jawline marked beneath his smooth skin.
He didn't interrupt; he just let out a slow breath, as if the air weighed him down.
Still, he kept listening.
"I consider you a great friend, Ryu.
And that's why... if you really want to continue being one, tell me things to my face.
Don't hide what you know from me.
Even if it's uncomfortable, please."
She watched him, studying his reaction.
For an instant, Ryu lowered his gaze to the ground, and in that gesture, something strange was born in him.
A vulnerability he didn't usually show.
When he looked up again, his voice was serene, but his hands were clasped behind his back,
in an attempt to maintain his composure.
In a quiet way, he said,
"It wasn't for a lack of trust, Zayra. In my culture, sometimes silence says more than words.
We avoid hurting when we can."
Zayra raised an eyebrow, watched him seriously, and reflected.
"I understand we're different, but… I'm telling him what's important to me."
An uncomfortable silence fell between them.
Until Ryu spoke, seriously.
"I won't promise to change completely. But... I heard you. I'll make the effort.
Maybe I won't always do it the way you expect, but I will try..."
His voice was low and measured, and then he suddenly added.
"For you."
His fingers closed into a brief fist, as if he were sealing a commitment to himself.
Zayra, feeling touched, looked at him more gently.
With a genuine smile, she nodded and said no more.
Seeing her like that.
He suddenly felt a warmth in his chest that he had a hard time describing.
In the background, Baram spread his feathers a little,
as if he understood that something important had just happened.
Zayra looked back at the peacock and couldn't help but laugh softly again.
Ryu observed her from the corner of his eye, intrigued by the mix of tenderness,
strength, and light that seemed to surround her.
A slight arch at the corner of his lips threatened to turn into a smile,
but he held back, as if he didn't want to admit how much it affected him to see her like that.
He didn't fully understand what he was feeling.
He knew he liked her.
"How can I explain it?"
He had never felt anything like this for anyone... and he wasn't sure he could control it.