Chapter 105

* * *

The back seat of the car was a bit cramped for two men over 180 centimeters to sit side by side. Moreover, one of them was hiding the duffel bag that had been taken away and retrieved behind his back, making it even more so.

Soram, who had pressed his back tightly in the opposite direction of Tae-un, mumbled his lips.

"I forcibly opened the door earlier and broke the alarm. I was going to compensate when I returned to Busan."

"Jin Soram."

"Don't worry, I avoided the CCTV blind spots well in the parking lot too. If something happens, I'll say I was helping you who came out of the jurisdiction to play, so it won't affect you..."

"You know that's not what I'm curious about, right?"

The voice that abruptly cut off his words was cold. Tae-un leaned against the seat back and brought his upper body close to Soram.

"Why were you being chased in the first place?"

"I was being chased because you were chasing me with your eyes wide open!"

"Are you still playing with words even after coming this far? I'm talking about the soldiers."

"...I don't know."

"Did you do something that would clash with the military?"

Tae-un tightly grasped both of Soram's wrists. His hands were still warm and large. As the warmth was transmitted to the pale wrists, the inside of his throat wavered. To hide the sting, sharp words came out of his mouth.

"Why does it matter what I did? Are you disappointed that I turned out to be this kind of person again?"

"Jin Soram."

"Han Tae-un-ssi, who values rules above all else, will probably report that I'm here as soon as he goes back."

As soon as he spat out the words, Soram immediately regretted it. He had already helped him without even listening to the reason why he was being chased. On the contrary, if Soram had witnessed Tae-un being chased by soldiers, he would have also asked what the hell was going on.

But now it was like that. He didn't want to hear any reprimands or hurtful words from Han Tae-un. The mental fatigue for the day, with many incidents occurring, had already reached its limit.

Tae-un let out a deep sigh. Listening to the long sigh, Soram bit the flesh inside his mouth tightly.

"You're someone who has no reason to run away or need to do anything secretly."

"..."

"Why is a person who has saved this country dozens of times until now being treated like that by soldiers? Tell Director-nim and formally protest. No one can do this to you."

Since he had promised not to shout, his voice would resound more heavily whenever his emotions intensified. Soram slowly brought his gaze back, which he had avoided to the side. Tae-un was not angry, but feeling wronged.

"Why do you treat yourself so carelessly?"

Soram couldn't look into Tae-un's eyes for long and soon lowered his eyelids. It must have been a very tiring day. He felt like his insides were melting sourly just from these words.

Today, both his body and mind were very tired. Actually, every day was hard. Those words rose up to his chin. The childishness that he had suppressed while staying in a guest house in front of the sea, not knowing when the Great Rift would open, wanted to burst out.

Han Tae-un valued principles and believed that hunters had a duty according to their power. Not only in this life where they had become close, but even when he briefly recalled the appearances of his past lives, that attitude alone was consistent. Because a person didn't change depending on the relationship.

So this appearance was a bit unfamiliar.

"Han Tae-un, you've changed a lot."

And anyone could see that his change had occurred in a way that embraced Soram. At times like this, he couldn't help but realize the emotions Tae-un harbored.

Trying hard to hide the turmoil in his heart, Soram fabricated a plausible story.

"There was a problem with miscommunication in the middle of this matter. And while I was running away from you, I received a message that it had been properly corrected. It's not something that can be done on the surface right away."

"Is it some kind of operation?"

Tae-un's eyes widened as if saying, 'Could it be?'

"So you went to Busan alone? Secretly?"

"...Well."

Th-that could be seen that way. Soram stammered.

At that moment, Tae-un's eyebrows frowned again after a brief break.

"Don't be ridiculous. Deputy Director-nim told me that you caused an accident at the Busan Branch and were dying. I even had to be his drinking companion that day because of you."

Ah, that's an unfavorable story. Soram pretended not to hear and played dumb. Tae-un sighed as he looked at Soram, who had turned his gaze out the window.

"So I was relieved, thinking you were doing well like here..."

He lifted Soram's right hand. The blood had seeped out a little more because he had gripped the sword tightly.

"Why is your hand like this?"

"Ah, it's a wound from the magic stone. The baby chief made a mistake."

"What kind of mistake would make your hand like this,"

Tae-un's words stopped as he brought the wound close to his eyes.

"This..."

Doubt rose in the gaze examining the wound. It's not that serious of a wound, though...? Soram looked at the focused brow and slightly bent his fingers.

"Han Tae-un?"

"...Ah."

"..."

"..."

An awkward silence descended inside the car. Tae-un took his eyes off the hand with an unsatisfied expression and looked at his face.

"So, what's going on? What the hell is inside the bag?"

"...Soram's small dreams and hopes."

"That's nice. Can't you show me?"

"No. It's embarrassing."

"How embarrassing is it that the other soldiers all know and chased after you?"

"That's why I didn't show it to those people either."

"Jin Soram."

"Ah, come on. When a person seems to be in a difficult situation, you should know to let it go. Isn't it too much to keep going on?"

"I can only let it go if you give me a hint, but I don't know anything even after seeing the urgent situation."

"Pretend you didn't see it. Isn't it enough that you caught me?"

"Did I catch you, or did you get caught? You even drew a sword while running away."

"Ah, just don't be so petty and let it go, okay?"

"Why do you keep asking me to let it go without any reason? What's so pretty about it?"

"You said you like me. Why don't I look pretty to you!"

Ha. When a brazen remark came out of the person's own mouth, it was Tae-un who was rather flustered.

"It's a one-sided liking, we're not even dating, so why should I let it go?"

"If we date, will you let everything go? That's ridiculous! With that stubborn personality..."

"Yeah, I'll let everything go no matter what you do!"

"..."

"..."

At the end of the conversation that had veered off in a strange direction, silence visited again. Soram's face on the side where the streetlight shone was heated up. Although Tae-un's face on the opposite side was shadowed, his appearance of closing his eyes tightly and turning his head was fully visible.

"Are you kidding me?"

"...I think I misspoke too."

The most efficient nitpicking here would be 'Do you want to date me?' but Soram couldn't bring himself to ask that question. Because he didn't know what answer would come back.

This silence was even more awkward. Soram, who had been constantly fidgeting his cheeks and lips, turned his head.

"I want to go. I want to go to Busan. I'm going to take the next train."

"Wait a moment."

Tae-un, who answered in a slightly more urgent voice, leaned against the window frame.

"Okay. I won't ask anything more... Just stay a little longer before you go."

"..."

"Today is my birthday."

Ah.

During the brief silence that followed, suddenly, a buzzing sound rang out. While they were looking into each other's eyes, he had neglected to answer the message without even thinking about it. It was a message saying that they had misjudged and the soldiers had withdrawn, and the situation had been roughly handled.

As Soram looked at the message from someone else, Tae-un's words became more urgent.

"I don't want to catch you like this, but I said you're also a team member I need to take care of, right?"

"..."

From earlier, something had been sharpening inside, then melting, then stinging, and now it was echoing, but he couldn't figure out what it was at all. But he couldn't ignore it either.

Soram slightly parted and closed his lips, and the car, which still had an empty driver's seat, slowly moved forward. Just as Tae-un was about to ask what he was trying to do, Soram tightly grasped his arm that was stretched out next to his shoulder.

"We can't let you spend your birthday in the car, you idiot."

* * *

"Are you sure it's okay to stay here longer?"

"If we get caught, we'll just write a statement."

Although it was a hastily booked hotel room, the facilities and view were good for the high price they paid. As soon as he entered the room, Soram took off the hood and mask that had been tightly covering his face. Under the bright light, their eyes met for the first time in a long while.

"I guess we were sticking together too much until before. It's only been half a month, but it feels like it's been a really long time since I've seen you."

"It does."

The person who should have been wearing a party hat and receiving fireworks was just standing in the middle of the bland hotel room, looking at Soram.

During the public training in May, he had already thought that Tae-un's birthday would be in the second half of the year since their Korean ages were different. Tae-un's birthday, which he had only found out now, was quite late in November.

"I think the kids with late birthdays were in the front in height order when we were in elementary school... I wonder if you were short back then too."

"Who knows? Even after finishing all the way to 6th grade, there were only about 40 people in total, so there was no point in ranking them."

"Ah, um, you had a close-knit school life."

When he checked the clock, there was less than an hour left of the day. Until he left for his transfer, he hadn't given it much thought, but being with Han Tae-un, who was staring at him, guilt began to rise.

It was a strange feeling. When Ayoung had first come to the headquarters, she had once left Aila with him for a moment, saying she had to go submit some documents. At that time, Aila had a shocked face as she watched her owner move away from the arms of a stranger, and Ayoung had to run back quickly, saying absurdly, "I told you I'm not abandoning you!" Was this how Ayoung felt at that time?

If he stayed like this any longer, it seemed like questions would come out of Tae-un's mouth again. So he brought up a different topic first.

"Han Tae-un. Happy birthday."

It was a simple celebration without a cake or a present. Tae-un looked at Soram for a little longer without any change and answered slowly.

"Thank you."

A smile rose at the end of the short greeting. As if this was enough. Soram pressed the center of his chest, which had become stinging again, while pretending to unbutton his jumper.

"...There's still some time until the last train."

And Soram was the type who had learned the wrong way to express his apology.