Chapter 89

"To see the ocean."

The glass with the opposite ratio of infused liquor and cider tilted to Tae-un's lips and then fell away.

"You don't have to go all the way to Busan. If you go a little from here, there's an empty beach. How about there?"

"No. I want to go because I want to see a crowded beach."

He had already bought a ticket to Busan from the nearby train station the next day. Since it wasn't as cold as some previous day, it wouldn't be a problem to fly to the station.

"Why? Are you worried again?"

Soram pointed to his own brow and wrinkled his nose. Only then did Tae-un realize that he had been putting force in his eyes. Soram was also closer to asking with a laugh rather than sarcastically bringing up the argument from a little while ago. Tae-un poured another ladle of liquor into his glass.

"It's just that things aren't going as I thought."

"What were you thinking?"

"I wanted to feed you delicious food and let you sleep deeply without going to work or being dispatched."

"..."

Soram's eyes shifted to the side as if avoiding meeting his gaze, and then aimlessly headed towards the tip of the chopsticks.

"Han Tae-un, don't like me too much."

"Why all of a sudden?"

"Usually, when you like someone, you want things like kisses or sex, and to possess the other person to some extent. If it's like that, you don't need to like me a lot."

Because they were on the same team and their dormitories were next to each other, the two spent more time together than anyone else, and because their physical conditions matched, they occasionally mixed bodies. In this special situation, as Soram said, they couldn't help but have a certain part of each other without any longing.

"You can do everything without caring about me that much."

In the pause of the conversation, one of the puppies, perhaps awakened by the smell of food, waddled over.

Arf, arf.

Coming to the main house together and now naturally facing each other and having a drink like this meant entering a certain part of the other person's territory. Although they bickered and sometimes used force, Soram had already allowed many things.

If he made a cold profit and loss calculation, it all made sense, but Tae-un's mouth felt bitter.

"If I could make such a calculation, I wouldn't have been able to like a same-sex workplace superior on my own."

Tae-un slowly opened his mouth and lifted the puppy scratching the chair onto his lap. A piece of torn boiled pork went into the puppy's mouth.

"I don't deny that I feel sexual desire and possessiveness towards you, but I also want to see you smile and be amazed by things you didn't know."

The puppy tapped Tae-un's chest with its front paws as if asking for more. Instead of giving more, Tae-un got up from his seat, went around the table, and came next to Soram. And he put the puppy on Soram's lap. The puppy now looked up at Soram.

Soram hurriedly fed the piece of meat that Tae-un had passed along. The pink tongue licked his fingers.

"It's much better if it's a situation I created."

"..."

The puppy wriggling in his arms put its front paws on the table. Soram looked up at Tae-un without even thinking of stopping it.

Thud.

"Ah."

The front paws tapping on the table eventually knocked over the glass. The cider inside spilled onto the table. The puppy was startled for a moment when something cold poured out, but soon smelled the sweet scent and licked the cider.

"No. This has alcohol in it."

Soram, who quickly blocked its mouth, put the puppy down on the floor. In the meantime, Tae-un brought a dry towel and wiped the spilled spot.

Tae-un put the sliced boiled pork and mashed meatballs on a new plate and placed it in the living room. The other puppy, which had opened its eyes upon hearing its friend barking and bouncing, also approached the plate. Leaving the puppies in the living room, the two sat facing each other again.

Soram let out a deep sigh.

"It's impossible for me to have feelings like yours for anyone. I never had time to think about liking someone while living, and I don't really want to have it either. I won't be able to go beyond just living like now and having pleasurable sex between 1st-grades. So you should also do it moderately."

Tae-un, who had been listening to Soram's words with his chin resting, said,

"Is it faster to seduce the body first after all?"

"Are you already drunk?"

Knock, knock, knock. At that moment, a very familiar sound came from the front door.

"Who is it?"

Tae-un asked as he approached the front door. When he opened the door, a large plate that felt familiar was held out in front of him.

"Tae-un-ah, try some gejang (marinated crab) with your guest."

"...Yes, thank..."

And immediately after, there was another knock on the door.

"Our house is the only one that makes shrimp skewers, right?"

"We'll enjoy..."

"Take some fruits too. The grapes are sweet."

"..."

The villagers who came one by one handed Tae-un a lot of food, glanced at Soram's face, and then patted Tae-un's shoulder. Go and have fun eating. It seemed that the broadcast of the Chuseok special TV debate had reached a considerable number of people in Otgil-eup.

In the end, Soram also came to the front door and greeted the residents while looking at Tae-un's back, which seemed to be breaking out in a cold sweat. In the process, he heard more than ten times that he looked much better in person.

After they left, Tae-un picked up his cell phone.

"Mother. Please tell the villagers in the group chat that we can't finish all the food we have now, so don't bring any more. ...Yes. Thank you."

"It really is a glorious return for Han Tae-un."

"It's thanks to the guest."

Soram crunched on a generously peeled honey apple from the densely packed table. 1st-grades basically ate more than civilians, but what was set on the table was an amount that even ten 1st-grades couldn't finish.

"I'll try my best. At least we won't get an upset stomach."

"Eat only as much as you want."

Not long after Tae-un returned to his seat, there was another knock. Soram raised a smile, and Tae-un held his forehead with one hand.

"I'm sorry. But we can't..."

"Tae-un-ah. Look."

But the lady who came this time didn't have the excited expression like the previous ones.

"There's something strange in front of our field over there... It looks like the thing you were swinging a sword at in Seoul."

"...Pardon?"

"That black thing in the middle of the road with cracks on the sides."

* * *

On the bumpy downhill path leading down the hill, streetlights were sparsely erected in one direction. Although they were one of the few lights illuminating the night in this place without tall buildings and dazzling lights, a few moths that flew in from the mountain wandered above them, obscuring even the little light.

"Over there."

On the dark country road, at a height less than a span from the ground, there was a crack darker than the black shadow draped.

The long line between the streetlights was clearly a rift.

Soram approached it and touched the rough surface. After a while, he turned his gaze from observing the rift to the lady who had guided them here.

"Hmm, this is indeed a rift, but it's not a high-grade one. Usually, something this small disappears naturally, or if worse comes to worst, the villagers can push it away with a tractor or something."

"Does it disappear on its own?"

"Yes. Low-grade rifts appear and disappear on their own. They get hit by things blown in by the wind or bitten by wild animals. Since the population here is small, it will be much weaker. Don't worry too much and go inside. We'll get rid of this right away."

Seeing Soram's relaxed attitude, the lady said, "If that's the case," with a relieved face and left.

And Tae-un, who had no talent for lying, stood silently next to him. He only opened his mouth after the lady had gone a certain distance.

"Why did a rift of this grade appear here?"

"..."

The rift rising and falling in front of the two was at least a 3rd-grade, and at most, it could be seen as a 2nd-grade rift. The downward part was hidden by the shadow of a tree, so the clumsy lie about it being a small rift worked, but if it had been a little brighter, they would have doubted Soram's words.

"Are you sure there has never been a rift in this village before?"

"Yeah. This is the first time."

I see. Soram looked at the rift with sunken eyes. Turned towards the rift, his momentarily crumpled expression was not visible to Tae-un.

"Han Tae-un, how much do you trust me as a hunter?"

"Why all of a sudden?"

"Just answer. Don't think about anything else."

"I trust you absolutely as a hunter."

A straightforward answer came out immediately without time to think long. The corners of Soram's mouth trembled slightly.

"I'll stake my career and position as a hunter so far and say that this is a very accidental incident, and something like this will never happen again in your hometown."

Soram pointed to the rift with his chin.

"So let's get rid of this between ourselves."

"You mean you won't report it?"

"I'll have to notify them. Tomorrow?"

"Is it still okay?"

"Getting scolded a bit will do."

The first rift to appear in a small village with less than 100 residents. This was a very unusual incident. If a report was made, the headquarters would immediately dispatch a helicopter and search the village to find the cause.

"It's too nice of a village to make a fuss by calling people in the middle of the night. It's a holiday."

If that happened, the stillness where only the sound of insects could be heard and the leisurely generosity of sharing food with strangers would all be shattered. If the report was made a day late, at least the peace of the holiday could be preserved.

"Okay."

"Huh? I thought I might not be able to persuade you, but you agreed so readily? It's your village."

"I said I trust you. In the field, your judgment as the chief always takes precedence over my judgment unconditionally."

"..."

Soram didn't answer to those words and turned his body towards the rift.

"How can we get rid of it as quietly as possible...?"

The two swords they had brought were loaded in the car they had ridden in, but the sound of striking a rift of this intensity with a blade could never be quiet.

"Remember the foothold I created in the air at Bukhansan before? The one you helped with."

"That was a foothold?"

"Then what did you think it was?"

"Waves."

"...I never really thought about the name of the technique, but it looked like waves to you?"

"Yeah. Winter ocean waves."

Tae-un added an explanation.

"Why winter?"

"Waves on a sunny day don't look blue."

Seeing how specific it was, it seemed he had firmly believed it was waves until now.

"Anyway... I'll create that at both ends of the rift. And while supporting it from below, I'll press it down from above to eliminate it. Help me with that using your power. I think that's the quietest way to solve it in this situation."

"Didn't you say that technique consumes a lot of stamina?"

"I'm getting used to it after using it a few times. It's okay. It's good to practice like this."

Blue mist seeped out from both hands of Soram, who had finished speaking. Perhaps because it had earned the nickname of waves, today it felt like a chill was brushing against his fingertips.

The seeped-out mist gathered in a swirling pattern at the top and bottom of the rift, just as planned. Creating two at a location other than under his feet definitely consumed a lot.

Then Tae-un flew up, and a white glow covered the top. The harmony of the white light floating on the blue flow was striking but quite pretty.

"Pressing."

"Okay."

Instead of striking down with force like usual, Tae-un pressed and pushed the wall Soram had created. The rift, under pressure, vibrated like noise.

Creak, creak, creak...