FLIA 119

“Why has the Rift Management Bureau come to our house? There’s no corrupted person here.”

Yang Yosep, who had been thoroughly purified by Yohan just yesterday and had nothing to hide, spoke boldly. The agent, who had been keeping a high-handed attitude, hesitated as if he was caught off guard.

It was understandable. They had forced their way in after receiving Park Seungmin’s report along with a witness statement. Above all, since there was information that Yang Yohan was close to Lee Hyunmook, they considered this case important. If it went well, it was a good chance to grab a weakness of the Taeyang Guild, but things were turning out differently than expected.

“Awakener Yang Yosep, we received a witness report that you returned from a rift with corruption above severe level.”

“Me? Whoever it was, they must have been mistaken.”

Yang Yosep spread both arms wide on purpose and turned slowly in place. Watching this, the agent let out a sigh. The other man looked far too healthy, making it hard to find fault. They had rushed over immediately after the report, thinking he might have been treated through Yohan’s connections, but it seemed he had already been healed with an Eternal Stone.

“If you want, I’ll even strip down to my underwear!”

Yang Yosep was so confident that the agents only exchanged glances. Yohan thought they would give up at this point, but surprisingly they didn’t. Severe corruption always manifested physically. Since Yosep was clearly normal, they were just being unreasonable.

“Procedure is procedure. You’ll need to come with us for an examination.”

“Wait a second. Anyone can see he’s not in severe contamination. Is there really a need for an exam?”

Unable to hold back anymore, Yohan stepped forward to argue. Even while inwardly troubled by Yohan’s reasonable objection, the agent tried to press him with force. The other was so young that he thought it best to establish dominance first.

“Awakener Yang Yohan. Are you refusing to cooperate?”

“What if I refuse?”

He retorted with the force of someone ready to ram them if he had horns. The agent was at a loss for words. Then Yohan quickly pulled out his phone and made a call. The agent, who had been planning to drag Yohan in as well if things went wrong, panicked and asked,

“Wh… who are you calling?”

Yohan ignored him and raised his voice loudly into the phone that hadn’t even connected yet, making sure they heard.

“Hyunmook-hyung! Please come here quickly. The Suppression Unit suddenly stormed in saying they’ll arrest me and drag me away!”

“What? I never said anything like that…!”

The agent was dumbfounded, accused of something he hadn’t said, when he heard an amused voice laced came from behind.

“What an unpleasant thing to hear. The Special Suppression Unit is arresting an innocent citizen without just cause”

The agents turned around, startled. They hadn’t sensed anything, but Lee Hyunmook was suddenly standing behind them as if he had risen from the shadows. Cold sweat ran down their backs.

Yohan was just as shocked. The call hadn’t even gone through yet. He hadn’t truly intended to summon him, only to bluff, and yet Lee Hyunmook had actually appeared. Yang Yosep’s jaw dropped, and he quickly pulled down the towel draped over his shoulder to cover himself.

“What business does the Special Suppression Unit have at the home of my guild member?”

Lee Hyunmook asked in a polite voice, but his eyes were anything but polite. The agents, who had worked countless times alongside a high-level awakener like Jeong Siyoung, grew tense.

They knew better than anyone that there was an unbridgeable gap between high-level awakeners and mid-level ones. Even those who thought themselves used to high-level awakeners broke out in a cold sweat facing Lee Hyunmook.

This man. This person… He was human for sure, yet meeting gazes with those lightless eyes was like standing before a terrifying monster. Their breath caught, their legs trembled. They clenched their teeth, suppressing the urge to back away and flee, and one of them finally managed to answer.

“…We came because we received a corruption report.”

“I see. If there was a corruption report, then it’s right to isolate the individual for everyone’s safety.”

As Lee Hyunmook answered and stepped forward, the agents unconsciously backed away. Passing through them without concern, he slowly looked around the house. He gave Yohan’s family a reassuring smile, then turned back to the agents and asked,

“But do you see a corrupted person here?”

A heavy silence fell. Yohan’s family behind him seemed unaware, but the Special Suppression Unit agents were under enormous pressure. At that they could only thought of one thing.

‘Do not displease him.’

He was very displeased. He was tolerating it, but it grated on him. Yet it felt like a detonator about to explode. No, it was worse, more ominous, more chilling, more terrifying. Right before their eyes was something that would overflow at the slightest drop of water, something at critical pressure, ready to rupture with the smallest push….

The agent, unable to meet Lee Hyunmook’s gaze, turned his eyes away behind his goggles and answered.

“…No. It seems to have been a false report.”

One mid-level awakener, one low-level awakener, and two civilians. That much they could have subdued easily, but with Lee Hyunmook present, it was impossible. Even if Lee Hyunmook would not kill them… if conflict broke out, the situation would become troublesome. The Commissioner would chew them out like dogs, but there was nothing they could do.

But they had not come away empty-handed. What they had gained was the information that Lee Hyunmook was paying far more attention to that low-level awakener than expected…. Deeply engraving that into his mind, the agent gestured, and the squad turned and left. Behind them, Lee Hyunmook said,

“Thank you for your hard work as always.”

Then he closed the door and turned around with a smile. Yang Hwapyeong and Kim Yejoo seemed too shocked by Lee Hyunmook’s sudden appearance to notice, but Yohan realized right away.

‘Wait… He’s wearing the same clothes as that night after the company dinner!’

Now that he looked closely, the clothes looked oddly worn. Had he been sleeping rough nearby since that night…! Yohan hurriedly pretended to cleanse the shoeprints on the floor while in truth cleaning Hyunmook’s clothes. Feeling the purifying energy soak into him, Lee Hyunmook smiled.

Yohan saw Yosep, who had stood so confidently half-naked in front of the agents, now red-faced in front of Hyunmook, and his parents, flustered and only moving their lips. So he quickly said,

“Hyunmook-hyung! Welcome! I’ll get you something to drink!”

He promptly dragged Lee Hyunmook into the kitchen. He could from behind Yosep scurrying into his room. With the water purifier running, Yohan whispered,

“You didn’t go home?!”

“How could I go back when you’re here, Yohan?”

“You clearly said we’d meet again in a week!”

Yohan jumped. He had thought Lee Hyunmook meant he would go back to his place and they would meet after a week, not that he would linger outside the house for that whole time. As Yohan protested, Lee Hyunmook’s eyebrows dropped.

“Sorry. That really was a creepy thing to do.”

“It’s not that it was creepy, I said it because I was worried! Don’t do this again. Why would you sleep outside when you have a good home?”

Even though it was water from the purifier, Yohan habitually purified it again before handing it to Lee Hyunmook. But Lee Hyunmook only gave an awkward smile and didn’t promise. He drank the water as if it were a sweet beverage and answered.

“There might be something dangerous. And I didn’t sleep outside, I have a car.”

Whether sleeping rough or sleeping in his car, it upset Yohan all the same. To stall for more time, he now took fruit from the fridge, arranging them neatly in a bowl, and whispered,

“What could be so dangerous? This isn’t the Abyss anymore, and I became a high-level awakener.”

“Yohan, being a high-level awakener doesn’t mean you can’t die.”

Yohan flinched at Lee Hyunmook’s words. In truth, there had been cases of high-level awakeners dying after the rift crises. One had been a fire-type dealer who fought alone against a rank-10 monster in a skyscraper until everyone evacuated, and died from fatal injuries.

Just like when Lee Hyunmook went missing in the Abyss, after that death, years passed before another high-level fire awakener appeared.

“If today, for example, the Rift Management Bureau sent the Suppression Unit to drag you away. Or if Jeong Siyoung, or several mid-level awakeners, tried to harm you. Or if suddenly a rift opened nearby and a rank-10-level monster appeared?”

“That’s… true, but…”

Yohan had no choice but to admit it. Even though he was a high-level awakener, all he had was strength equal to a mid-level awakener. He had no offensive power. Against monsters he could use purification, but against people it was useless, since it caused no harm. And now, since he was hiding that he was a purifier, he could not even use that.

“Then just stay here at our house with us.”

“Yohan, you need time with your family too. I can’t get in the way of that.”

Lee Hyunmook said as he naturally took the knife from Yohan and began peeling the fruit. Since he couldn’t let a guest do that, they bickered over it until they heard someone cough. Turning around, Yohan saw his family, peeking curiously into the kitchen and giving him sheepish smiles.