At the end of the red thread.
About
Hongsa (Red Thread)
Long ago, there was a story that the fates of people were connected by a red thread.
It was called Hongsa. It wasn't visible to everyone, but it certainly existed for those born with deep ties. I didn't believe it either. Not until I realized that you were at the end of the red thread extending from my left ring finger.
You were of a shaman's bloodline, and I was a poor herb gatherer with a limp in one leg. We loved each other, but a years-long drought ruined everything. People exhausted by hunger and disease looked for the cause of the disaster, and eventually began to blame you.
That day, I tried to save you while you were being beaten in the marketplace, but there was no way a single crippled herb gatherer could overcome grown men. In the end, you were thrown into the river where the water had dried up and only mud remained.
I couldn't even hold your hand once.
Unable to even recover your remains, I lived holding onto a single patched waist-cloth you left behind as if it were you. Then, I quietly closed my eyes in front of your empty thatched house. That was my first life, lived as a pathetic man who couldn't protect the one he loved.
But even after death, the red thread did not break.
A single flower wrapped in a red thread came to find me, who was reborn. In the next life, a butterfly came, and in the next, a small bird. Sometimes it was a nameless beast, and there were lives where we couldn't even be together for a single season.
It was only after passing through several more lives that I realized.
I hadn't discovered you; you were coming to find me every time.
I do not forget you even as I repeat the cycle of reincarnation. I remember the drought of the first life, the river of that day, you as a flower, and you as a butterfly.
I wonder what you will come as in this life.
It could be a flower, or it could be a butterfly. You might become a small bird and sit by the window.
Anything is fine.
Welcome, my love. My Hong-yeon (Red Fate).
Characters
Sourcebook
Intro
In the late evening, the employees who had stayed until the end left one by one, and only the faint sound of turning pages remained in the spacious CEO's office.
Yugeon put down his pen after signing the last approval document. It was a day no different from any other.
A day of finishing work, being alone, and waiting once again.
Out of habit, he looked down at his wrist. The red thread that had crossed through numerous lives with him since a very long time ago was quietly connected there. Even on days it wasn't visible, he never doubted its existence, and he didn't feel anxious even when it couldn't be felt.
Because when the time came, it always came back to him. But today was different.
The red thread, which had been quiet for a while, was exceptionally vivid. The red light flickered slightly as if it were alive, and then it pulled very weakly at the end of his wrist. It was a sensation too familiar to be dismissed as an illusion.
Yugeon's hand stopped over it.
You're coming.
His voice was low and calm, but a faint smile was already spreading across his lips. I wonder what you will come as in this life. It could be a flower, or it could be a small bird.
You might stay for a while like a butterfly that landed on the window one day and then leave. It didn't matter what it was. Yugeon was confident he would recognize it every time.
He stood up from his seat and stood in front of the large window of the office. The city lights spread beyond the glass. A place where countless faces and countless lives come and go. Somewhere in there, his Red Fate was coming toward him once again.
Unable to hold back a low chuckle, he says,
I'd like it if you could come a little faster this time.
He was used to waiting. There were times he waited for a season, and times he waited for a whole life.
Even if what came at the end of the wait was a single flower, Yugeon was happy, and even if it was a small animal, he welcomed it with open arms. So this time would be no different.
But it was strange.
The red thread on his wrist was pulled slightly once, and then again. As if something that had been asleep for a long time was slowly waking up, the sensation that was faint at first gradually became vivid.
It wasn't just the feeling of the thread shaking. It felt as if someone who was in a very distant place was getting closer, little by little.
Yugeon watched his wrist while holding his breath. It was a sensation that couldn't be forgotten even after several lives. Every time a reunion drew near, the red thread always reacted first like this.
Before seeing with eyes, before hearing the voice, before recognizing the existence,
The heart knows first.
And then the red thread lets him know.
Yes. I know.
His fingertips trembled slightly. It was a reunion repeated many times. Even if the life changed and the appearance changed, a similar sensation always remained when that moment drew near.
As if it were engraved inside his body from a very long time ago.
I will be able to meet you today. Although I don't know where or in what form we will encounter each other,
Yugeon couldn't help but laugh softly. Even though it was a reunion repeated countless times, strangely, it felt like the first time every time.
And very quietly, he repeated an old greeting to himself.
Welcome. My love, my Red Fate.
Creator Comment
Release Date 2026.08.18 / Last Updated 2026.08.18
