Chapter 135

Soram leaned his upper body towards the lit adjacent room.

"I didn't realize how much time had passed."

"Change your clothes and come over. Eat."

"What about you?"

"I ate an hour ago."

Indeed, it was already time to prepare for bed rather than dinner. Considering that they usually had dinner at 6 pm, their usual quitting time, Tae-un had also eaten quite late waiting for Soram.

After changing clothes and facing the neatly prepared Korean meal to his taste, Soram felt something welling up inside him. His forgotten hunger also returned.

He felt sorry, grateful, and extremely pleased and happy. Whichever it was, he couldn't quite control his expression. Thinking that this must be what it feels like to be 'really' in love, Soram sat down at the table. Tae-un brought water to Soram, who had started moving his spoon, and took the seat across from him.

"What were you so busy looking for?"

"Records of the 1st and 2nd Great Rifts and... Want to see?"

"Sure."

Soram briefly put down his spoon and went to his room to pick up the papers he had scribbled on. He brought them over, excluding the content related to the 3rd Great Rift from his past life, and handed them to him.

Tae-un looked quite carefully at the materials Soram had scrawled. Watching the papers being turned one by one with care, Soram asked.

"What do you think it's about?"

"The relationship between the Great Rifts so far and the grades of the hunters who survived at that time."

"Wow, as expected. You weren't a good student for nothing."

"I guessed based on what you told me beforehand."

Soram continued eating while staring at Tae-un, except when picking up small side dishes. His hair, more disheveled than usual as if hastily dried after a shower, his sharp features, and his body outline slightly visible through the black T-shirt.

Hmm, he's handsome. It was a fact that no one could deny.

Becoming a couple with such a man and eating the meal he had prepared while sitting across from him, Soram smiled contentedly even before finishing his meal. Tae-un was still looking at the materials Soram had handed him. The investigation contents containing only the 1st, 2nd Great Rifts, and the 3rd Great Rift of this life.

Soram never told anyone about his regression. The same was true for Tae-un in front of him.

Even after firmly deciding to bury it and go alone, the impulse to reveal his regression came now and then. There was too much festering to close his eyes and erase in this current tranquility, and he wanted to pour it out and be comforted.

However, the conclusion of his thoughts was always 'no'.

Soram liked the present, created by all coincidences overlapping like miracles. The driving force to see the future also came from here.

Jin Soram would survive in this world together with Han Tae-un.

Therefore, he wanted to make this life the only round.

A chief who lived lazily in Seoul. Jin Soram, who eventually formed a relationship beyond friendship with Han Tae-un after experiencing a series of events after meeting him there. This was all he wanted to be. He didn't need to be a gloomy and unhappy regressor, a failure.

Especially for Tae-un, the reason for not wanting to reveal the lives where their relationship had gone awry was significant...

Clank.

The spoon hit inside the stew bowl. Steam was still rising from the warmly heated dishes. Having such a meal in the dormitory had never happened in his past lives. All those times had now become something he wanted to erase.

"Why did you investigate this? To confirm if that person was right?"

But perhaps he could share some of the anxiety that even 'Jin Soram living this life' could have. If he tried to evade the answer here, Tae-un would be suspicious.

"If a 4th Great Rift were to break out, I wanted to gauge how intense it might be."

"...Ah."

Tae-un let out a short groan. His expression looking down at the paper changed slightly.

"The conclusion of the investigation is that for all the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Great Rifts, the power between the rift and the hunters was balanced similarly? Whichever side was adjusted."

"Yeah."

"Then quantification would be the key now. How much the dungeon intensity changes depending on the hunters, whether it's affected by combat ability, or simply by the number of awakeners."

"Wow, amazing. All correct. I can leave the rest to you now."

He knew Tae-un was smart, but he didn't expect him to figure out everything he was planning to do next just from briefly looking at the research materials. On the other hand, he made a mental note to be careful even with small hints in front of him.

"If you think it'll help, let's do it together."

"Huh? Together?"

"What you're trying to find out, you've done most of the research and only analysis is left, right?"

"Well... that's true. But it probably won't be very interesting."

"You didn't do it because it was interesting either."

He hadn't expected an offer to participate. Was it because he had never heard such words before? No, he had become so accustomed to shouldering everything alone that he had never even talked to anyone about it. Soram shrugged with another strange feeling that came over him.

"...Well, I'd be glad to have less work. Let's do it together starting tomorrow."

"Only go down to the archives when you need to find something and come back up quickly."

"I don't like that cramped room either."

Once again, Tae-un's expression changed just enough for Soram to recognize. That was a slight satisfaction.

"Are you done eating? Want more rice?"

"No, I'm full."

Just then, Soram put down his spoon, finishing his meal.

Soram's used dishes were moved to the sink. Tae-un, who had cleared the table, stood in front of the sink before Soram.

"Oh, hey, I'll do it."

"It's fine. I just soaked mine earlier, so we can do them together."

The water was turned on, and the dishes started clattering as they were washed. As he bent over, the contours of his back became clear through the comfortable cotton T-shirt. With nothing left to do, Soram leaned on the home bar and watched him.

Sometimes Han Tae-un made reality seem like a fantasy. Not just when he suddenly reached out his hand in dramatic situations, but also in everyday moments like this. Making him wonder if this situation before his eyes was really given to him.

The soapy sponge scrubbed the dishes with a clatter. Eventually, the soap on the dishes was rinsed off with water, and the clean dishes were placed one by one on the drying rack. Tae-un, who had been finishing the dishes silently, suddenly spoke as if he had just thought of something.

"Soram-ah, it's a thought I had after looking at the materials you organized earlier."

"Hm? What is it, you've been thinking about it all this time?"

"In the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, the power on both sides was evenly matched, but the desire to protect the world and live won, right?"

"Well, I guess so."

It's because they all succeeded this time that the two of them are alive here now.

"It seems to resemble human nature. Struggling desperately while frustrated and despairing, but in the end, the desire to live is a bit stronger, so life continues."

"..."

"I hope it never happens, but even if a 4th Great Rift occurs, we'll be able to overcome it like that."

No, actually, we've lost many more times. Such a cynical response should have come from within, but his two hands just stiffly fidgeted on the marble countertop.

Frustrated, despairing, but in the end, the desire to live is stronger, he said...

As he mulled over the words, Soram bit the inside of his cheek. He felt as if his current self had been stripped naked and read.

That's right. I want to live. Pretending not to know about all the past failures, just this present.

"Han Tae-un, finish quickly."

"Why, are you bored?"

"Yeah."

"Go watch TV or something..."

Thud. A forehead fell on the broad back. A chuckle sounded as if to say, "What's this?" But soon after, hands sneakily invaded under the black T-shirt. Those hands traced the lines of his back inside the clothes, just as Tae-un had done in the morning. The twitching under his fingertips was clearly felt.

"Tae-un-ah."

This time, his back shook a bit more.

"...Don't."

"Why?"

"Your waist hurts, doesn't it?"

"I'm a 1st-grade."

"Still, no."

"That's mean. What's the point of saving that big thing?"

"You think I'm saving mine?"

"I'm really fine now. We couldn't do it for long this morning."

"..."

Tae-un finally turned off the water and looked over his shoulder. When he discovered Soram stuck to his back, a red tinge spread from the tips of his ears. He quickly turned back to the sink, but by then, even the back of his neck had turned the same color as his ears. He must know that Soram had seen it all.

"...Wash up and come out. Brush your teeth well."

The corners of Soram's mouth turned up in a smile.

Jin Soram, apparent age 27, actual lived time several decades.

He had just spent an amazing time that he had never experienced in his long years of living. As soon as he came out of the shower, his body was wrapped in a fluffy bath towel, and while drinking the cold barley tea that had been prepared in advance, a hair dryer at the right temperature dried his hair. And before he could even say "What's this?", he was moved to the bed, his sore waist was firmly pressed, and he was put into the bed wearing fluffy pajamas that had been prepared.

The warmed-up Jin Soram shook both his fists.

"No wonder he was talking nonsense about brushing teeth well."

It was a wicked scheme to put him to sleep like this. Tae-un, who had returned after opening the window a little, sat leaning against the bed headboard.

If he hadn't come over to this extent, Han Tae-un had already solidified his iron wall. At times like this, no matter how much Soram insisted, it would be like stomping his feet in front of a rock. In other words, today was a lost cause.

"Aren't you going to sleep?"

"I'll go to my room after putting you to sleep."

"Why?"

"You said it's hard when we do it in the morning. Come over to eat at the right time tomorrow."

Sigh, he's so upright that if you put a topknot and a gat on his head, no one would find it strange.

"Should I turn off the light?"

His furrowed brow was rubbed along with his tensed forehead. Gradually, the tension left his face.

"It's fine. If you're going to leave later, leave it. Turn it off when you go."

"Okay."

The outside wind came in through the open window. The outside wind, different in nature from the inside, disturbed the stuffy air that hadn't been ventilated all day, but on the other hand, it cooled the indoor temperature that had been warmed by heating to lukewarm.

From cold to hot, from full to empty.

Everything naturally found a middle ground without anyone forcibly guiding it. Balance was a phenomenon that formed the basis of ecology. If one side becomes too dominant, the scales flip over. Soram blinked, staring blankly at the ceiling.

After doing so for a while, his gaze turned and suddenly fell on the water glass Tae-un had left.

Oh, the water glass...

"Ah, right. You pulled water with a glass before, didn't you? At the hotel. Have you figured out that ability a bit?"

Soram sat up abruptly. There was one more research that needed to be completed before the 4th Great Rift came. It was Han Tae-un's unknown ability. This might be even more important than predicting the intensity of the 4th Great Rift.

"Good timing. Since we're having a wholesome night, let's have a chat with the chief. How much have you figured out about your ability?"