FLIA 62

“Those are white termites?!”

Well, for starters, they weren’t white at all. Their swollen bellies were brightly colored in all kinds of hues. The termites looked like tiny Christmas lights with legs, and they swarmed toward Yoon Seungryong. There must have been hundreds, no, thousands of them. Even from a safe distance, Yohan recoiled in disgust and stepped farther back.

“Poison against poison, I guess. Uh… what do you call this again?”

The termites, like little bulbs, were crawling all over him, but Yoon Seungryong didn’t flinch as he muttered nonchalantly.

“Fight fire with fire?”

Watching him made Yohan writhe even more. The varying colors likely meant each termite carried a different kind of poison. Meanwhile, Lee Hyunmook calmly explained to the shuddering Yohan.

“If the birds were like sardines or anchovies, then those things are like plankton.”

The termites covering Yoon Seungryong’s body began to pop, their bulbous bodies bursting open. Others raised their rears and sprayed concentrated toxins stored inside them. But Yoon Seungryong, with his extreme resistance to poison, simply yawned in boredom and flopped onto the ground like a ragdoll.

Gray poison seeped steadily from his body. The termites either exploded on their own or were overcome by his toxin and died. Some tried to veer toward the other three, but couldn’t cross the ring of poison he had drawn. As the dead termites piled up, their bright colors faded and bleached to white, only then did they resemble actual white termites.

Eventually, the endless swarm began to dwindle. At that point, Yoon Seungryong sprang up and pounded the center of the mound with his fist. The wall cracked under the force of a true damage dealer, and a hole big enough for a person to enter opened up.

“Alright. Time to go catch the queen.”

He stepped into the mound, and soon streams of poison began to leak out from inside. Less than ten minutes later, Yoon Seungryong reappeared, holding a grotesque insect presumed to be the queen termite, and gestured.

“Mind purifying this? We’re gonna stay here tonight.”

“There aren’t any more termites, right?”

Still wary, Yohan cautiously approached and began purifying the area around the termite mound. The light, now stronger and more refined than before, swept over the mound and cleared the lingering poison of both Yoon Seungryong and the termites. Before long, a flesh bird emerged from the ground and began nibbling on the dead termites.

“Should we grill this thing for dinner?”

Yoon Seungryong cheerfully swung the grotesque, mosaic-worthy queen termite back and forth. Yohan jumped back in protest.

“We’ve got plenty of other food! I really don’t want to eat a bug.”

“But it’s super tasty…”

Even while smacking his lips, Yoon Seungryong tossed the dead queen far away. Bone birds and flesh birds immediately swarmed in to tear it apart. Yohan frowned as he watched, then stepped into the termite mound.

Swept clean by Yoon Seungryong, the interior was wider and more comfortable than expected. The temperature and humidity were just right, making it a surprisingly livable space. Once Lee Hyunmook scanned the mound with electric-field detection and confirmed there were no living termites left, it truly felt like a safe refuge. After roasting a few flesh birds that had come to feast on the termites, they had dinner, and Yohan finally took a proper look around the mound.

“Wow, there are so many rooms.”

The interior of the giant termite mound was as complex as a high-rise building. The countless rounded chambers, painstakingly built by the termites, made it feel even more labyrinthine. Holes drilled for ventilation looked like round windows, making the whole place feel like the dwelling of some alien species.

“Can I go see the queen’s chamber?”

Yohan looked to Lee Hyunmook and asked for permission. No matter how secure their makeshift shelter was, wandering off alone was still a bad idea.

“Sure. I was curious what it looked like too.”

Lee Hyunmook replied gently. But even as he said it, Yohan could tell he wasn’t actually interested in the queen’s chamber at all. He was just being kind and considerate. Feeling a little pleased, Yohan headed toward the tunnel the termites had used.

Unlike the chambers, which were large enough for people to live in, the tunnels required him to stoop as he moved. He grew excited upon finding a food storage room filled with heaps of foraged goods. There were seeds, fruit-like things, and all sorts of unfamiliar items.

“Seungryong-hyung would love this if I told him!”

After purifying the entire room, Yohan moved on with a light step. But after visiting several rooms in a row, he quickly grew bored. Termites had no sense of aesthetics, and all the rooms looked exactly the same. Sensing his growing disinterest, Lee Hyunmook spoke up.

“Go into the tunnel on the right, walk straight, then turn left and head downward. That’s where the queen’s chamber is.”

Despite never having been there before, Lee Hyunmook navigated the complex layout with ease, and Yohan was quietly amazed. He’d been secretly worried about getting lost in the maze-like structure.

“Your ability lets you find paths too? I envy you.”

“Envy? But Yohan, your ability is way better than mine.”

Hearing such sincere words made Yohan feel embarrassed. Even though it had already been quite some time since he started living with Lee Hyunmook and the other members of the Sunrise Team, there were still moments when it all felt unreal. Perhaps because in this place, which mostly felt like a relentless nightmare, they were the only source of comfort and joy.

No, living in the Japanese zone didn’t feel like such a nightmare.

He missed those days, cleansing an entire building, cultivating a little garden, living well-fed and in comfort. He wasn’t the only one who’d liked that base. The three others who’d lived there with him seemed to have found just as much, if not even more, comfort from it.

Lost in those thoughts, they soon reached the queen termite’s chamber. It was larger and taller than any of the other rooms, enough to be used as an auditorium. The space, once likely crawling with corrupted termites, was now littered with biological waste that the worker termites had brought for the queen, along with termite corpses. The sight was a letdown from Yohan’s quiet expectations.

“Ugh.”

Right. This was the Abyss, after all. Yohan recoiled at the heaps of unidentifiable scraps, probably once parts of some creature’s body. He nearly tripped on a chitinous shell he hadn’t noticed, but Lee Hyunmook caught him.

“Careful.”

Yohan blinked up at him. For a moment, he thought he saw a flash of red in Hyunmook’s eyes. Leaning half into him, Yohan asked,

“Should I purify you?”

“Would you?”

Hyunmook accepted right away, his eyes curving gently. No one in their group had ever refused Yohan’s purification, and Hyunmook was no exception. Standing properly now, Yohan looked around unnecessarily and then murmured softly,

“In a different way… I mean, in a way that feels good.”

“…Ah.”

It seemed to take Hyunmook by surprise. But only for a moment. A strong hand slowly gripped Yohan’s jaw, and he instinctively held his breath.

Warmth touched his lips. A thick tongue licked gently between them and slid into his mouth. Even though it had been his suggestion, Yohan had frozen up, so Hyunmook moved gently, coaxing him open. A strange, tingling pleasure thudded from the base of his spine.

Yohan finally came to his senses and grabbed Hyunmook’s forearm. As their mouths met, he channeled his power into the points of contact. In the same moment, Hyunmook flicked his tongue, delicately teasing under Yohan’s tongue, then persistently licked up the clear liquid that had gathered there, sucking it away with focus. Yohan’s grip on his arm tightened.

‘It feels… so good…’

No matter how kind and affectionate Hyunmook was with him, Yohan always felt a sense of pressure around him. Was it because he was a high-level awakener and a damage dealer? That pressure evoked complex emotions. Sometimes, Hyunmook was scary, sometimes awe-inspiring, and other times, Yohan felt like a fan lucky enough to meet a superstar. Having someone so overwhelming and terrifying treat him as special, it sent a thrilling chill through him.

Hyunmook grew absorbed in the kiss, as if trying to devour him, but eventually pulled away with surprising patience. As he slowly drew back, Yohan hesitated, then spoke.

“But… Hyunmook-hyung.”

Since escaping the Black Mountain, Yohan had gotten used to calling him hyung, it felt warmer than Mr. Hyunmook.

“Yeah, Yohan-ah,” Hyunmook replied affectionately. He rubbed Yohan’s lips with his thumb in a playful way, as if enjoying the moment.

“I’ve been wondering for a while now… do you just enjoy my body?”

“…Huh?”

The hand rubbing his lips stopped. Hyunmook, always calm and composed, had his expression falter for once. Maybe it was because his mind was always a little hazy from corruption, his eyes looked as if he was questioning whether he’d just heard a hallucination. Yohan realized how that sounded and hurried to correct himself.

“Ah, worded like that, it sounds kind of weird, doesn’t it? What I meant was… do you just enjoy my purification? No, that’s weird too. Uh… how should I say this…”

He stumbled over his words, flustered after seeing an expression he’d never seen on Hyunmook before.

“Partner? Business…? Partner? Benefits something… friends? Ah! Not that I’m saying I dare to call you a friend, Mr. Hyunmook, I just–”

“…Yohan-ah.”

When Yohan called him Mr. Hyunmook again instead of hyung, it was as if the world suddenly dimmed. Hyunmook closed his eyes slowly and rubbed his face with one hand. Maybe it was just Yohan’s imagination, but he seemed to be breaking into a nervous sweat. Glancing around, Hyunmook picked Yohan up and sat him on what must’ve once been the skull of some massive creature.

He probably did it to help him sit comfortably, but Yohan just ended up feeling even more uncomfortable.