Chapter 110

"...Mmm, ugh..."

I don't know. Soram didn't know how someone could like another person to this extent. And the emotion Tae-un harbored was something he had never possessed or received before.

What he had only turned away from, not knowing what to do, Han Tae-un had finally pulled it in front of his eyes, telling him to look at it straight.

Their lips parted, making a wet sound. Tae-un pulled one side of the hood and wiped Soram's wet lips. A moment later, Soram, not knowing what state of mind he was in, grabbed the carrier and walked out briskly as if running away.

The platform for boarding the train was as deserted as the outside. In the very last car of the first train at dawn, there was only one man who was already asleep wearing headphones. His seat was at the very front, and Soram's seat was at the very back, so it was as good as monopolizing all four directions alone.

And outside the window where he sat, Tae-un was standing.

Their eyes met. He waved his hand, meaning that he should go in now. As if he thought it was a goodbye gesture, Tae-un unfolded his arms and waved back.

"Idiot."

The other person narrowed his eyes as if he understood the lip movement. The fingertips pressed against the cold metal of the window frame felt numb. A similar numbness hadn't settled in his chest since the last kiss inside the hood.

Tae-un's solid affection for him, who was staggering and unable to take root anywhere, was fatal.

"Han Tae-un."

Now I can't turn my eyes away either.

Even if it's the same you in the next life, I won't be able to treat you like you do.

Han Tae-un, who had been endlessly knocking on Soram, became the first meaningful thing in his long life. He felt like he knew that now. So the path to save that person was no longer scary.

If there was a next meeting, by then all conclusions would have been reached. Either he would come down to engage in an all-out battle with the headquarters hunters after failing to stop the 3rd Great Rift, or... he would return to Seoul after successfully resolving it and meet again.

In the former case, there would be a higher possibility of Soram not being safe. And if, by any chance, the latter could happen…

He thought of the smallest of the seven offices in the Field Operations Bureau, Team 7's office. If he curled up and slept in there, the door would open and Ayoung's scolding of whether he was sleeping again would be heard. Tae-un wouldn't agree with Ayoung, but he wouldn't stop her either and would silently pull the slipped blanket over his shoulders.

When it was time to leave work, he would part ways with Ayoung, and the two of them would take the elevator together and enter the dormitory. There were days when they would go in through the door together or separately, depending on how they felt that day. Either way, it didn't matter since the middle door was connected.

Whether they were together or only facing each other through the crack of the door, after sharing the evening time with him, Soram, who needed a lot of sleep, would go to bed early. Imagining a tomorrow similar to today.

In that scene, I might be smiling sincerely.

The current smile was a laugh that contained fear and sorrow. The smile became a little more natural when he hoped for the future he wanted the most.

Yes, if that day really comes by any chance... Soram brought his face close to the window. Tae-un was still standing there.

If we meet again.

The person standing outside the window read Soram's lip movement.

I'll answer you.

"..."

Seeing the surprised face, he felt a little refreshed. Soram turned his head as he lowered the shade. Almost immediately, the train departed.

'Ha, I guess I like Han Tae-un!'

Leaning his body against the backrest with a thud, Soram admitted it neatly. His cheek twitched and the fist placed on the armrest clenched tightly.

It's annoying. My taste is strange too. He's a bit handsome, tall, ...really good at s-sex, and although he has a stubborn side, well, in other words, he's straightforward and kind, but I didn't know I would eventually fall for him. Soram, who had been listing various reasons, nodded with a resentful face. After all, as a 1st-grade hunter who couldn't even get married to anyone, if such a person appeared in front of him, his emotions couldn't help but be moved…

Outside the running window, there were only dim fields now. Soram moved his lips as if confessing to a bamboo forest.

"I really want to live."

The carrier placed in the luggage rack above his head rattled due to the vibration of the train. The faint sound of metal clashing was heard by the 1st-grade's hearing. After glancing at the bag containing the gun, he turned his head back to the window. The clattering sound was completely buried in the train noise on the outside.

If it was to continue this life, it seemed like he could even steal, threaten, and even beg for the rest of his life, losing all his abilities and becoming penniless. Even if he had to return to his terrible family, he could accept it. That's how desperately he wanted to hold on.

Han Tae-un is a coward.

He was a coward from the beginning. After saving me three times and doing this…

How can I refuse you?

Soram suddenly imagined. What if he confessed the fact of regression to Tae-un after successfully stopping the 3rd Great Rift and returning?

Han Tae-un might believe it. Han Tae-un might... listen to the story with a serious face and hug him, asking if it was hard. And he would suggest finding a way to get through the Great Rift together.

'...Ah.'

In the midst of his flowing thoughts, he suddenly realized.

Soram finally began to imagine the future. A life after the 3rd Great Rift, which he had painted black.

"Ha..."

He buried his face in his palms.

I get it. I'll struggle a bit more.

And, if I survive like that and return to Team 7, to the room next to yours…

As the train moved forward, the height of the buildings visible outside the window gradually decreased, and a dim mountain road and rice fields passed by in turn. The fear that only a person who knew the future felt coiled up his body like a snake.

***

―Our train has arrived at Busan Station, Busan Station.

Until arriving in Busan, about six or seven more passengers boarded the last car. The passenger who had been sitting until everyone got off because she was holding a child, and even the passenger who had been slowly taking out the carrier from the luggage rack, all got off the train.

Soram's breath spread long in the train that had become empty. I'm back again. He gripped the backrest and got up very slowly. He still didn't have the courage to look ahead and move forward, and the speed at which he barely stepped forward while looking at the floor could only be slow.

As he straightened his legs, the dull pain that he had forgotten while sitting pressed down on his thighs and buttocks. The traces left behind seemed to push his body out. Like an unspoken pressure telling him to think of the person he would protect. In addition, the crew member also spotted Soram standing blankly while inspecting the train car.

"Aren't you getting off?"

"...Ah, yes. I'm sorry."

Perhaps it wasn't the first time for the conductor to see someone blankly remaining on the train and being sentimental, as he pointed his chin towards the exit indifferently.

Soram slowly lifted his feet and looked around the empty train car. And as if retracing the train tracks he had run on, he recalled the events of this year.

Spring, summer, fall. Although it was only three seasons, it was really good. It was the most lethargic and tranquil time of his life, yet the time he had been shaken the most. The space between his lips and chin became hollow as strength entered. I should have stayed just one more day. I should have stopped by the headquarters together, pretending to be immature, and engraved the faces of other people, the office, and the dormitory in my eyes before coming.

Even though he knew it was better not to go if he couldn't face it with a comfortable heart, the lingering attachment kept growing. Eventually, he even had the fantasy that if he hid in here, the train might return to Seoul.

That's why Soram moved his legs forward. Tae-un's carrier wheels followed behind him with a rattle. He had already decided where to leave this carrier. Right under the window of the guest house, his hideout, with a clear view of the sea. Except for the time he was outside, it was a scene he always looked at while sitting against the opposite wall.

As the exit approached, the cold dawn air blew in. He folded the long carrier handle he had extended to go down the stairs and grabbed the short handle. When he raised his head again, the gray train platform where dawn had broken appeared before his eyes.

"..."

And against that background, Han Tae-un was standing.

Soram stopped as if frozen in place. Like when they faced each other across the window of the Guncheon-gun office in early winter, Soram looked down at Tae-un and Tae-un looked up at Soram. However, their expressions were the opposite of that time. Soram was so surprised that he even forgot to breathe, and a smile rose on Tae-un's face like mist spreading as he faced such Soram.

A large palm was held out in front of Soram.

"Come out."

"..."

"Keep the promise that you'll answer me when we meet again."

Was it an illusion? Had his mind been driven to the point of feeling hallucinations now? However, the person who caught the carrier that had fallen from his white hand with a thud definitely had a real presence.