FLIA 120

***

“Ah, you were watching because the Special Investigation Department’s movements looked suspicious.”

The family, who had been both glad and puzzled by Lee Hyunmook’s sudden appearance, accepted this explanation. Yang Hwapyeong, whose distrust of the Special Investigation Department had only deepened from this incident, nodded. Only Yohan, who was feeling awkward, kept crunching away at the apples that Lee Hyunmook had finished peeling. Yang Yosep, who had been staring at Lee Hyunmook with admiration without touching the fruit, asked politely.

“Excuse me, but would it be alright if I asked for a handshake?”

“Of course. As many times as you like.”

“It’s an honor, Lee Hyunmook sunbae-nim¹. Please speak casually with me. I’m younger.”

Seeing Yang Yosep acting like a fool after shaking hands with Lee Hyunmook made Yohan feel annoyed for no reason. But since Yang Hwapyeong and Kim Yejoo were both smiling brightly, he stayed quiet and just ate fruit. Then Lee Hyunmook spoke to the parents, who worried about their son leaving home for the first time to live at the guild headquarters, in a gentle and kind voice.

“I’ll be living with Yohan and taking good care of him, so please don’t worry too much. At Taeyang Guild, Yohan is the most important talent, so we will always look after him and treat him as our top priority.”

Ugh! Yohan had never imagined he would talk about their cohabitation so openly, and he screamed inwardly, feeling guilty. Startled, he even choked. Coughing, he felt Lee Hyunmook pat his back with just the right amount of force. Kim Yejoo, looking pleased at the sight, said.

“My goodness, if Lee Hyunmook-ssi lives together with our Yohan and takes care of him, then there’s nothing to worry about.”

Yang Hwapyeong, who had been worried, smiled warmly, looking relieved. The favorability that had already been high now shot up even higher, and Lee Hyunmook was invited to stay for dinner. It was a feast far more lavish than breakfast.

After eating his fill, Lee Hyunmook excused himself, saying he had guild business to discuss, and came to look around Yohan’s room.

“It’s a bit messy. I didn’t have time to clean….”

The room wasn’t dusty, but it was somewhat cluttered, and Yohan, embarrassed, hurried to carry the pile of clothes from the chair into the laundry bin. Fortunately, Lee Hyunmook didn’t mind at all. On the contrary, he slowly looked around the room with eyes full of affection, which only made Yohan’s face flush red.

“Since when have you lived in this house?”

“Since elementary school. Before that, my parents were busy, so I stayed with my brother at my maternal grandfather’s house. I don’t remember much though.”

It still didn’t feel real to Yohan that Lee Hyunmook was inside his room, so he acted awkward. He busied himself pretending to tidy things, then suddenly, as if he had found courage, he sat down right next to Lee Hyunmook, pressing their hips together. But he froze in place and did nothing, so Lee Hyunmook laughed and pulled him into his arms.

“Are you going to sleep over?”

The intent behind Yohan’s cheeky, shining eyes was obvious, and Lee Hyunmook’s eyes curved in amusement. Then he answered.

“Of course not. I’ll be leaving in a bit.”

Though he felt a little disappointed at that reply, Yohan endured it, since in just a week they would be living together anyway. Instead, after checking for sounds outside, he quickly kissed Lee Hyunmook. They kissed secretly several times while glancing around for others’ presence, then Yohan leaned back comfortably in his lover’s arms. As he stroked Yohan’s ear, Lee Hyunmook asked.

“Didn’t you feel it was a waste to give purification ability to someone like Park Seungmin?”

Now that he thought of it, Lee Hyunmook must have clearly seen when Park Seungmin had come to the house recently with an escort. Yohan nodded.

“It really was a waste. He wasn’t even that talented. But when I thought about it, if he awakened with some other ability, he would obviously cause harm to people. At least becoming a purifier benefits humanity a little more. If he had turned out a dealer or a tanker, just imagine how much trouble he would cause to the people around him.”

Yohan was already looking forward to the coming day of revenge. He felt that he wouldn’t be satisfied until he saw Park Seungmin floating high up in the sky, only to be smashed pathetically to the ground. Even if his own revenge failed, he knew Lee Hyunmook and others would help. So he simply endured, letting the fruit of revenge ripen sweeter.

As he thought about his revenge, someone else came to mind. Go Jaewon. Since the return of the former Sunrise Team members, he had been entangled in rumors and taking the brunt of all criticism. Shutting himself in at Sunrise Guild, he answered questions about why Lee Hyunmook and the others had left him to form a separate guild only with nonsense about how their friendship must have deepened in the abyss.

“Can I ask something? About what you’ll do with that Go Jaewon….”

“For now, we decided to give full authority to Chanha. Out of all of us, no one hates Go Jaewon as much as Chanha.”

“Ah, Chanha-hyung…. That makes sense.”

Yohan remembered how among the group, Lee Chanha had been in the worst state. The other teammates also hated Go Jaewon, but none of their eyes burned as fiercely as Lee Chanha’s. He hated Go Jaewon for deceiving him, which had dragged the whole team into the abyss, and beyond that, for losing his mind, suffering from obsessive cleanliness, and several times hurling his comrades into the Flood.

Yohan was already looking forward to the day when revenge against Go Jaewon and Park Seungmin would be completely achieved, and he chatted with Lee Hyunmook about various things.

He felt it was a shame to let him go like this, so he begged him to just stay the night, but Lee Hyunmook soothed him well and eventually left the house.

The next day, Yohan wandered outside under the excuse of taking a walk, but he didn’t see a single strand of Lee Hyunmook’s hair. It was a real disappointment.

Respecting Lee Hyunmook’s will to be considerate of him this much, Yohan fully enjoyed his time at home. Surprisingly, during that week, his parents did not say a single word comparing Yang Yosep and Yohan. So Yohan was able to spend his time happily without being upset.

After resting well, a week later, news finally came that the Taeyang Guild headquarters had been completed. Yohan quickly packed his things. Even though he had only thrown in clothes roughly, the luggage piled up.

His parents, busy with piled-up work from the company, somehow managed to spare a little time, but all they could do was see him off as far as the front gate. Instead, Yang Yosep was to take Yohan to Taeyang Guild. Kim Yejoo, who was helping pack Yohan’s things one by one, spoke with tears in her eyes.

“Always be careful. Stay close to Lee Hyunmook-ssi at all times. Okay? Do you understand?”

Yang Hwapyeong, who was lingering around the car, reluctant to let his son move out, added words too.

“Yes, always be careful, and careful again. Your health always comes first.”

“Of course. I’ll always be careful.”

Receiving his parents’ send-off, Yohan got into the car. As he watched his parents’ figures grow distant through the window, he felt a lump in his throat and sniffled a little. At that moment, Yang Yosep clicked his tongue.

“Crying again.”

“What, why! Why!”

“Yeah, cry all you want. Crybaby.”

But his tone sounded more like teasing than real criticism, so Yohan just glared at him for a moment and let it go. Anyway, considering that he was taking his side and even driving him, the effect of having purified his corruption seemed likely to last quite a while.

Yohan’s home was in Daejeon, and Taeyang Guild was located on the southern outskirts of Seoul, so the trip took quite some time.

After the Great Rift opened in Seoul, many people began moving out of the big city. But since one couldn’t go too far considering infrastructure, most settled in areas close yet not too close, on the outskirts of Seoul. Taeyang Guild had settled there as well.

This was a serious social problem. Where population density was high, the probability of rifts occurring was high too. But if one moved down to very sparsely populated rural areas, it was difficult to be protected right away if monsters appeared. Yohan had been lucky, living well thanks to his parents, but many people lived difficult lives under the constant threat to their lives.

‘If I just purify the rifts, monsters will appear much less. If we chase after the Great Rift and starve the Abyss, it will close one day.’

It was while Yohan was having such hopeful thoughts that the traffic began to build up. Then suddenly, loud horns blared here and there, and sirens followed. It was the alert siren that everyone heard at least once every few months. It meant monsters had appeared nearby. Both Yang Yosep and Yang Yohan stiffened in tension, switched the radio channel to the local broadcast, and listened closely.

– Five grade-3 suspected monsters have appeared in the direction of Anseong IC. Citizens are urged to evacuate immediately to Anseong Rest Area. Repeating, five grade-3 suspected monsters have appeared in the direction of Anseong IC. Citizens are urged to evacuate immediately to Anseong Rest Area.

Screams and cries echoed from everywhere. Since the cars were jammed and could not move, everyone hurriedly got out and began running toward the rest area. All of them wore terrified expressions. Yang Yosep, thinking carefully, glanced at his younger brother.

“Five grade-3 monsters… Stay here. I’ll go take care of them.”

“No, I’m going with you.”

Yohan shook his head and demanded to go along. Yang Yosep hesitated but soon agreed. He still couldn’t quite feel it, but if his younger brother was a high-level awakener, he would be more help than a hindrance in battle. Quickly getting out of the car, he took something from the trunk and handed it over.

“Hey, you don’t have a weapon, right. Use this at least!”

It was a short spear. As Yohan operated it the way Yang Yosep showed him, it instantly extended into a long spear. Yang Yosep too had already picked up the weapon he always carried. Yohan thought of his own sleek weapon. It was too eye-catching for him to carry around now, so unfortunately, Lee Hyunmook was keeping it in his care.

Instead of pushing through the crowd evacuating, the two climbed on top of the cars. Then they lightly leapt from roof to roof. No one worried about the cars getting damaged. On the contrary, seeing the two with weapons making superhuman leaps, people felt reassured that there were awakeners among them.

1. used to address someone older in school, work, or in the same field who has more experience. ↩︎