FLIA 151

“Are you feeling down about today’s incident?”

“Hmm…”

Lee Hyunmook took a sip of coffee and fell silent for a moment. Pulling his gaze away from the night view, he turned to look at Yohan and spoke slowly yet firmly.

“It’s fine to treat me or the team like this. We’re used to it by now. But Yohan, they absolutely cannot do this to you. Never…”

Yohan once again pondered why Lee Hyunmook had demanded he conceal his identity as a purifier. To say he’d grown accustomed to this… How much unfair treatment had he endured all this time? His heart ached as he held the warm coffee cup, then promised.

“From now on, no matter what happens, I won’t go anywhere alone. I’ll always stick close to someone, and we’ll operate as safely as possible at all times.”

“You already do that more than enough.”

Lee Hyunmook gazed at him with shadowed eyes. His lover was so kind and good that Yohan felt a sting in his eyes. He couldn’t even begin to imagine how hard everyone had struggled before falling into the Abyss. But instead of rushing to pity him, he made a request.

“I’m not good with haunted houses either, so today was tough for me too. So please hold me. I need comfort.”

Lee Hyunmook, understanding Yohan’s intention, smiled. He spread his arms wide and embraced his precious lamb.

“It was annoying before anyway, but it was something we could tolerate. Don’t worry too much about it.”

The affectionate man gently stroked his back with his hand. Yohan pulled Lee Hyunmook into an embrace with all his strength. Hoping to fill the other’s hollow emptiness, and wishing his own light would be contained within it, he sent forth a stream of light. Like scattered grains of light, it spilled across the particularly dark shadows of the terrace, resembling a Milky Way.

“Ha…”

After some time passed, Lee Hyunmook slowly caught his breath. Like the tension draining from a rubber band stretched to breaking point, the ominous shadow lying on the floor also faded. He spoke in a voice tinged with laughter.

“Yeah, this time I can’t just stand by since you’re here. My Yangyang is weak and soft.”

“Um, I’m an high-level awakener…” When with Lee Hyunmook, who fiercely protected him, and the rest of the team, Yohan always felt like he’d become a civilian or a low-level awakener. Yet, knowing exactly what he meant to them, he didn’t feel stifled. He simply did the best he could from his position.

“Ah, the call I was waiting for has finally come.”

Lee Hyunmook checked his vibrating phone and smiled faintly. It was a message from Ju Hoyoung.

***

“Why the hell aren’t these bastards answering their phones…”

Park Seungmin muttered irritably, but the call he was waiting for still hadn’t come.

Not long ago, while struggling with anxiety over his own abilities, Park Seungmin had spotted an intriguing message. It was from Kim Hyunwoo, the mercenary team leader, who had heard about Seungmin becoming a purifier. Seeing the message, Seungmin had an idea and immediately called him.

‘Hey, Hyunwoo, how’s it going? I’ve been getting so many calls lately I didn’t even notice yours came through.’

After exchanging pleasantries, Park Seungmin subtly broached the subject.

“Actually, I had something to tell you guys. Remember Yang Yohan? You saw that bastard escape from the Abyss, right?”

Park Seungmin made Kim Hyunwoo uneasy by suggesting Yang Yohan seemed to be plotting to expose them. He deliberately stoked the villain’s anxiety, who was already contemplating dealing with Yang Yohan but hesitating due to concerns about the Taeyang Guild.

“After meeting and talking with him, he claims he has no memories before falling into the Abyss. But it’s clear he’s lying to put us at ease. And it seems he has evidence too. …The Taeyang Guild? Don’t worry about them. They’re just low-level dealers. How much trouble could they really cause?”

Finally, Park Seungmin drove the final nail into Kim Hyunwoo’s conflicted mind.

“Anyway, yeah, that’s how it is. Oh, right… I’ll give you guys a proper ‘purification’ later for all your ‘hard work’.”

This vaguely phrased proposal was essentially a request for Yang Yohan to lend a hand. Above all, the alluring reward made Kim Hyunwoo readily agree. To him, the connection to a high-level purifier seemed incredibly useful. Park Seungmin waited for the good news to arrive.

But for some reason, instead of joyful news, there was no word at all. Growing impatient, Park Seungmin tried calling, but no one answered. By this point, something felt off. Very off. Even Yang Yohan was still coming and going from the guild as usual.

‘Why the hell are these bastards ghosting me?’

He suspected something was wrong but forced himself to dismiss it. He convinced himself they were just struggling to handle matters involving the Taeyang Guild, and he anxiously passed the time. That day, Park Seungmin once again suffered through nightmares and woke up sleep-deprived. He’d tried his best to avoid dreaming about losing his abilities, but even that didn’t help, leaving him in a foul mood.

“When the hell is my purification power going to recover…”

Maybe he shouldn’t have purified Jeong Siyoung. Could some kind of corruption have spread, causing side effects? That anxiety killed his appetite. Park Seungmin picked at the breakfast his secretary had prepared while opening his phone. He saw that every portal was flooded with the same headline.

[Breaking] Shocking Allegations: State Councilor Lee Sungho Involved in Horrific Contract Killing… Prosecutors Seek Arrest Warrant

“…Lee Sungho?”

The name was familiar. Park Seungmin has purified him for a mild corruption last month. Intrigued, Park Seungmin’s eyes widened.

[This morning, a netizen using the nickname ‘Yuma44’ released shocking footage across major portals and communities. It shows a mercenary team discussing a contract killing linked to State Councilor Lee Sungho during a fissure raid. Lee Sungho immediately denied the footage, calling it fabricated.

However, a netizen claiming to be a victim’s family member has threatened to expose additional evidence footage, suggesting the scandal will only grow. Meanwhile, State Councilor Lee Sungho was formerly the head of the Rift Management Bureau and has three prior convictions for assault and altercations….]

Contract killing, rift assault footage, mercenary team. Feeling a déjà vu, Park Seungmin searched for and played the video. His eyes widened. Familiar faces appeared in the footage—Team Leader Kim Hyunwoo and his team members.

‘Fuck, no wonder I couldn’t reach them!’

But a bigger problem loomed. After skimming through more news articles, Park Seung-min nervously bit his lip.

“Could there be video evidence of Yang Yohan too…?”

Why the hell would these bastards leave behind video evidence after pulling off something like that? Park Seungmin paced the room, unable to fathom that such footage might be a survival tactic for contract killers. He considered calling again but couldn’t bring himself to do it, terrified even of leaving a trace of communication.

Park Seungmin stayed holed up at home that day, skipping the guild, and spent the entire day scouring the news. The exposure of this contract killing case was growing larger by the minute. The additional footage released that very day clearly showed the victim being murdered in the rift. A nationwide warrant for Kim Hyunwoo was issued immediately.

“Fuck! I’m going crazy!”

Park Seungmin gasped for breath, hyperventilating from extreme stress. He drank water, pulled the blanket over his head, and agonized over anxious delusions. What if the evidence videos Kim Hyunwoo possessed were seized the moment he was arrested? What if my video was among them… Park Seungmin muttered desperately.

“It’s… it’s okay. I’m a purifier. Even if evidence videos surface, the government will handle it…”

Besides, hadn’t Yang Yohan himself claimed he had no memory of it? So, wasn’t it likely that he, too, wanted to avoid escalating the situation as much as possible? He tried desperately to think positively. But Park Seungmin’s misfortune didn’t end there.

[The True Colors of a High-level Purifier…. ‘I Truly Wanted to Die’ – Victim Accuses of School Violence]

It was about a victim from middle school, whose name he couldn’t even recall, claiming he’d been bullied by him. Park Seungmin raged like a madman at the article’s contents.

“This bastard! If he had a problem, he should’ve dealt with it back then! Why the hell is he stirring shit up now?!”

He’d only borrowed some money a few times and played a few pranks, to be labeled a bully over that was utterly unfair. As soon as the article broke, the Sunrise Guild contacted him immediately. He ignored them out of anger, but his secretary showed up begging him to apologize.

“The public sentiment is extremely negative, Awakener Park Seungmin. Please, I’m begging you. Contact the victim and apologize just once.”

“Why the hell should I apologize to that bastard?! And isn’t this exactly what you get paid for – to clean up messes like this?! You incompetent piece of shit!”

Park Seungmin’s rage boiled over, and he grabbed the secretary’s face like a rat, turning it pale with humiliation. After raging for a while longer, he finally posted a handwritten apology. He claimed it was something he did in his youth and deeply regretted it now, stating he was willing to meet the victim anytime to compensate them… Yet even while apologizing, he made endless excuses, lamenting his own injustice.

Then the victim started acting up again, refusing to accept compensation. How much more money did they want to squeeze out of him before they’d be satisfied? Why should he, purifier, be subjected to such an unreasonable situation? Why couldn’t anyone properly handle this mess? His temper flared to the point where he was ready to storm into the Sunrise Guild and confront the reclusive Go Jaewon, who’d vanished from sight. But before he could, the government came looking for him. To his astonishment, it was Minister Hwang Yeongchul himself who arrived.