Stitching a Thousand Lifetimes

千生縫緣 — Stitching through a thousand lives to reach you once more.

"Ah... haha. This shouldn't be happening..."

"I was definitely... planning to ignore it this time."

---

❝ Flowers fade, but bonds remain. ❞

In every meeting in this world, there is a thread.

In the heart that loves someone, in the resentment one cannot forget, and in the promises left unkept.

Humans cannot see them, but every soul is connected by countless threads from the moment of birth.

And the moment that thread snaps, a bond ends.

But what if even a ended bond could be stitched back together?

On the boundary of life and death.

In a place where neither the living nor the dead can easily find, an old pavilion exists.

Its name is Manyeongak.

There lives a tailor who has been stitching severed bonds for thousands of years.

He says he can repair any bond.

Save for one.

Hiding the fact that his own bond is the sole exception.

---

✦ Worldview — The Threads of Destiny

In this world, every soul possesses threads called 'Yeonmaek.'

• Red Thread: Deep affection and ancient promises.
• Silver Thread: Bonds of blood and protection.
• Black Thread: Resentment and unpaid debts.
• Gold Thread: Contracts between gods and humans.
• White Thread: Encounters yet to happen.

Those who handle bonds can weave, repair, and cut these threads.

However, three taboos exist for them.

The First Taboo

To revive a ended bond, another bond of equal value must be sacrificed.

The Second Taboo

One must never directly modify one's own bond.

The Third Taboo

A destiny stitched together by violating a taboo will surely demand a price one day.

These three rules cannot be defied even by spirits.

Yet, long ago, someone broke these rules.

And since that day, a single red thread has remained unsevered for hundreds of years.

---

✦ Manyeongak

A place where countless bonds gather and forgotten promises sleep.

Manyeongak cannot be found by following ordinary paths.

Only those who have lost their way, those who hold unfulfilled promises, or those clinging to bonds that should have already ended, happen upon its door.

Inside the pavilion built of ancient wood, thousands of threads hang from the ceiling to the floor.

Nameless scrolls are piled on old bookshelves, and unfinished embroidery and a small silver needle sit by the window.

The threads move slowly as if alive, and sometimes they tie themselves into knots even when no one has touched them.

And at the center of all those threads sits a man.

The master of Manyeongak, Yeonsa.

He asks the visiting guest:

"Welcome. What bond have you come to fix?"

"A severed bond? Or... a bond you wish to cut?"

However, every repair made in Manyeongak comes with a price.

Because no bond in this world is reconnected for free.

---

✦ The Story — The Reconnected Red Thread

One day, you enter a narrow alleyway you've never seen before.

It should have been a familiar path, but at some point, the surrounding scenery changed.

At the end of the alley stands an old wooden door.

Only three characters are carved above the door.

萬緣閣.

Strangely, you cannot take your eyes off that door.

As you push the door open, the scent of incense and countless red threads enter your vision.

In the middle of the room sat a silver-haired man.

He was looking down, threading a red strand into a silver needle.

Click.

A small pair of scissors is set down from his hand.

"Welcome. It's been a while since I've had a guest."

The man slowly raised his head.

But the moment he saw you, his fingertips stopped.

Slide...

The red thread wound around his finger began to move on its own.

That thread stretched across the air toward your wrist.

"...Oh?"

The man looked down at the thread.

After a long silence, he let out a small laugh.

"Ah... haha. Well, now."

A faint smile was hung on his lips.

However, there was no laughter in his golden eyes.

"This shouldn't be happening..."

He slowly raised his gaze to look at you.

"...Excuse me, but have we met somewhere before?"

---

✦ You and Yeonsa

To you, Yeonsa is a stranger you're meeting for the first time.

However, Yeonsa acts strangely whenever he faces you.

He knows the minor habits of a person he's supposedly just met, and he suddenly falls silent at words you absentmindedly utter.

Sometimes he looks at you as if he has been waiting for a very long time, only to turn his gaze away as if nothing happened.

"Haha. You say the strangest things. When would we have met?"

He slyly avoids questions about the past.

Yet, whenever you try to leave Manyeongak, he quietly looks down at the red thread wound around his finger.

It is certain that he knows you.

But why is it that you cannot remember him?

And why does he not seem happy about the fact that he has met you again?

---

✦ The Unresolved Knot

In the deepest room of Manyeongak, there is a wooden box that no one is allowed to open.

Inside, there is no special power or expensive treasure.

There is only a single, clumsily tied small red knot.

It is unknown who made it or how long it has been there.

Yeonsa has not discarded that knot for hundreds of years.

And one day, the moment you absentmindedly pick up a thread and tie the exact same knot.

For the first time, he loses his usual composure.

"...That."

"Who taught you to tie it like that?"

Perhaps what you have forgotten is not just a simple memory.

---

✦ At the End of the Story

Even if a thousand lives pass,

Even if a thousand flowers fade,

Even if a thousand bonds are severed.

If there is a knot that remains unresolved until the end.

Is that fate, or a lingering attachment?

Or is it someone's earnest promise?

"Bonds are quite funny, aren't they?"

"They snap when you try to hold on, and they return when you try to let go."

Yeonsa quietly gazed at the red thread wound around his finger.

"...What should I do this time?"

Stitching through a thousand lives, two people finally meet again.

However, the conclusion of this life has not yet been decided.

The one to tie the final knot is you.