Side Story 2. Perfect Weather (9)

***

[Rooftop.]

Soram, who had disappeared after the disastrous candidate speeches, sent a message. The recipient appeared in front of him, sitting on the railing, in less than 5 minutes.

Judging by his expression, he seemed displeased that Soram had deliberately chosen such a precarious spot to sit, even though there was no chance of falling. However, today he approached without nagging and sat down next to him, facing the opposite direction. Instead, he wrapped an arm around Soram's waist.

"Oh, I like sitting like this. I can see the wide-open Seoul, and my handsome lover too."

"...What's with you suddenly?"

"Let me sort out my thoughts while looking at nice things."

"Sort out?"

"Just wait."

Tae-un didn't avoid the approaching touch. He silently allowed it as two hands held his cheeks, kneaded them, and fiddled with his nose, ears, eyebrows, and various other parts. Instead, he observed Soram, who seemed strangely in a good mood.

The final destination of the fingertips that had been moving all over was his eyes. Soram traced their shape carefully and slowly here.

"Heheh."

Finally, he ruffled Tae-un's hair, which had patiently waited, and removed his hands. Tae-un made an expression asking 'what's this?' but didn't ask first. At times like this, silent waiting rather made the other speak more fluently.

"Well, I guess I'm quite suited for it."

Soram's head dropped onto Tae-un's shoulder with a thud. Even though they had both caused a scene during the speeches, the hunters' eyes couldn't have missed that Soram seemed a bit more at ease. Of course, Soram had stood on that podium many more times than Ga-eul.

"Ga-eul would make a good director too, but she's still too young. Still, I'll bring her along as deputy director. After a few years of experience, she'll do much better than me, so I should hand it over then."

His voice had lost some of the stubbornness he had shown until the day before. No, rather than resignation, it was more like calmly embracing it.

"Why did you suddenly change your mind?"

Soram looked up at Tae-un. With his black eyes full of him, he turned his gaze back to the vast cityscape. His hair was disheveled on Tae-un's shoulder.

"As my memories are erased, I guess my thoughts are getting closer to the first round. I really wanted to become a hero, you know."

In fact, he had intended to decline by any means necessary. No matter how entangled the issue was with Park Jae-seon and Kim Ga-eul, Han Tae-un was the center of this life. There was no option to lose time for him to spend elsewhere.

But on the podium, Soram had ended up meeting eyes that had looked at him with admiration for so long.

The reason he had developed negative feelings towards Tae-un with each passing round was because he always had those same eyes. Admiration for Soram, clear reverence for a hero. But he must have come to dislike Tae-un because he felt pathetic for being unable to live up to that gaze.

Now, those eyes also held affection for a loved one. In this life, he simply couldn't ignore that gaze.

It even reminded him of the fact that he had once dreamed of becoming a hero and being loved. So let's try to rise high. Until that stoic face's eyes widen, and an expression of dazed blushing appears, soaked in admiration.

That would probably be the greatest reward for the rest of Soram's life.

Tae-un, who always kept his eyes on him, knew Soram's deep desires better than Soram himself, as always. Whether consciously or unconsciously. So Tae-un, who would try to fulfill any of Soram's wishes, must have persuaded and soothed him only about not wanting to take the director position.

"Tae-un-ah, me too."

Soram reached out and rubbed Tae-un's eyes.

"I want you to look at me with these eyes forever."

These eyes had made Soram, who had been standing still, walk forward many times. It was the same now.

Tae-un enveloped the white, scarred hand and held it firmly in place.

"Of course I will."

Not just his eyes, but everything in this life would be directed towards Soram until the last moment. Soram knew this fact too. His lightened gaze turned forward again.

"It is something I have to do eventually. Sigh, but I wish it had come a bit more slowly. Since it hasn't been long since the Great Rift ended, even a few years later would have been nice."

Though he had made up his mind, some regret remained. The time of hardship had been so long that he wanted to fold his wings for a moment and rest by his side before taking flight again. After all, the time they could love comfortably after becoming an affectionate couple hadn't been very long.

But it was okay. Tae-un would always be there to return to. Not everything in life goes as one wishes. Soram spread his arms and nestled into Tae-un's embrace.

Tae-un, hugging him back, rubbed his brown hair and whispered.

"I'll grant that wish."

"Huh?"

How...? Soram blinked.

"There's a loophole in the hunter regulations."

Tae-un's lips lightly touched Soram's forehead.

"But this needs to be done together with Chief Kim Ga-eul, is that okay?"

***

Although Ga-eul had said not to play tricks when told there was a plan, she came running as soon as she heard Tae-un had come up with it. Min-ki and Ayoung, who were also interested, gathered in Team 7's office. Though it was an office usually used by only three people, it felt packed even with just two more added.

"...Wow, this will really make the other adults grab the back of their necks and fall over."

Ayoung, who had heard the plan, clapped her hands with an impressed expression. In a way it was far-fetched, but if one were to insist "What reason is there for it not to work?", no one would have anything to say. When she said that, Tae-un replied that this was originally what legal professionals did.

"I can do it. I've wanted to if the opportunity came anyway."

Ga-eul accepted immediately.

"I've been putting it off year after year, but the world seems peaceful now... This seems like just the right time to do it. What about you, Jin Soram? Let's do it together since it's come to this."

"Hmm... I... That's good too, but..."

Soram fell into thought. After sitting silently for a moment, he soon raised his head.

"I'll try something else."

***

March, the season of beginnings, arrived. Though it was still too early for spring flowers to bloom, everywhere took the first step of the year to continue in peace. Both the employee sitting in the office for the first time with a tense face and the new student entering a new school while looking around nervously all welcomed the beginning.

"What did you do during this break?"

"Oh, are you taking this too?"

The lecture hall for the liberal arts course was somewhat chaotic. This course, worth only 1 credit, consisted of students who had a vast free period during that time slot or failed to register for courses, and a very small number of students interested in the subject.

Among those, not a few students were considering whether to drop out after hearing the professor's teaching style and future course progression today. Given the weight of the course, it was more likely to be taught by an external lecturer than a professor.

A light liberal arts course of just that level of importance.

It became exactly 10 o'clock, the start time of the class. No one appeared on the podium. A light commotion arose wondering if there was no class today, and students who had been chatting with each other began to peek at the doorway one by one.

Drrrr–

The front door opened exactly 3 minutes late. A very young, no, youthful person for a lecturer entered. He looked like he could be the same age as the students. However, the suit he wore, which would suit someone much older, fit him very well.

About 20 pairs of eyes turned towards him.

He walked to the podium with firm steps and put down what he had brought. It was the attendance book.

"Nice to meet you."

His neatly arranged brown hair swayed.

"I'm Jin Soram, who will be teaching 'Understanding Rifts and Dungeons' for this semester."

Wooooaaaaaah!

A scream so loud it could be heard in the adjacent lecture halls erupted.

***

Tae-un's plan was as follows:

"1st to 3rd-grade hunters have to work as hunters without choice upon awakening, right? So there's an exception rule that was created."

An example of this exception rule was very close at hand. Ayoung, who was pursuing her dream of becoming a veterinarian while balancing school and hunter duties. And Tae-un, who had returned to school aiming to become a judge.

The Rift HQ had created a certain regulation for those who had to stop everything they were doing before and stand before rifts upon awakening.

Hunters were the only civil servants in Korea who could have dual employment.

However, the condition was attached that hunter work must take priority, and this regulation could only be applied to general hunters, not high-ranking ones. That is, only those belonging to 'teams'.

Soram and Ga-eul were 'team chiefs' who barely met the criteria. Then, if the two of them were to pursue studies or other jobs right now, they would fall short of the qualifications to become director. Thus, a vote where all candidates lose their qualifications becomes meaningless.

The four people who heard Tae-un's explanation gaped. It was an absurdly ridiculous loophole in a regulation they knew well.

"You're saying there was such a sloppy rule...?"

"If we're being strict, it's a ridiculous loophole. Because it applies to less than 200 people, no one recognized the flaw."

There had never been a single case of using a rule made for forcibly recruited hunters to avoid becoming director. Probably even the person who created this clause never dreamed of it.

In any case, the conclusion was simple. They just needed to fulfill one of two conditions: 'pursue studies' or 'work another job concurrently'.

"Alright. Now I really have to take the high school equivalency exam. I wonder if half my memories will come back."

Ga-eul said she would use studies as her reason. She began busily planning, as if she had an idea she had wanted to do all along.