Side Story 5. A Midsummer Night's Letter (2) Main Text: The Island of Runaway Lovers (13)

After repeating his attacks for a while, Tae-un stopped and let out a long breath.

"Oh, judging by the sound, you must have broken it all."

"Yeah. My sense of direction has returned."

"Aha."

"...But the floor below the rift seems deeper than I thought. Just a moment."

True to his words, Tae-un's body continued to descend.

His toes barely touched something, but.

Splash.

The sound of landing on the floor was ominous. Water splashed up to Soram's feet who was being carried.

Tae-un couldn't hide his irritation in his sigh.

"...I'll let you down a bit further ahead."

"You're all wet, aren't you?"

"Yeah. The water's up to my thighs. Let's have only one person get wet."

"Can't you just fly?"

"The ceiling's low too."

Well... Soram didn't mind clinging to Tae-un's back a bit longer either.

But it seemed there wasn't enough time to stay in a place where everything except Han Tae-un was a vacuum. Light penetrating through the necktie covering his eyes was felt. Han Tae-un's footsteps stubbornly pushed through the water.

The sound of water grew louder, until it sounded like water being sucked into a huge drain. The amount of light entering his eyes and the sound of water increased proportionally.

As this happened, Soram tried to hug Tae-un even tighter. He listened intently to his breathing hidden by the loud noise, and felt his presence by rubbing his cheek against Tae-un's rough hair at the back of his head.

"It tickles."

Tae-un said that, but showed no signs of stopping the action.

A few steps later, it became completely bright all around. They must have come out of the cave, as the sound of birds could be heard.

Tae-un rose up, then flew a little and landed with his feet on something.

"..."

And then he stood there for a long time without saying anything.

"What's wrong? If we're out of the cave, I'll get down."

Soram got off Tae-un's back. He felt dry sand under his feet.

Is this what it's like outside the cave? Soram tried to remove what was covering his eyes for a more accurate assessment.

Tap.

At that moment, Tae-un grabbed and stopped Soram's hand that was about to remove the necktie.

***

"Han Tae-un?"

"..."

Soram, whose eyes were still covered, called out to Tae-un in a puzzled voice. Tae-un looked at the two wrists that had come into his hands. Despite the sudden situation, Soram only called out to Tae-un in confusion without resisting.

Tae-un looked at this sight and slowly opened his mouth.

"The cave seems to have connected from under the sea to somewhere. It looks like an uninhabited island."

"...Huh?"

"..."

"Um..., then what do we do?"

"We'll have to keep living here, just the two of us."

"..."

Soram stared in the direction of the voice coming from beyond the necktie.

"Hmm... First..., let me take off the blindfold and see the situation too."

"..."

Tae-un very slowly released his grip on the wrists he had been holding.

"Turn around. Don't just try to pull it up, you'll scrape your skin."

"I won't get hurt from something like that."

Soram obediently turned around, even after hearing Tae-un say such strange things.

Large hands and soft necktie fabric brushed against him. The tightly tied knot quickly came undone. Soon, the cloth covering his eyes fell limply. Tae-un created a visor with his palm over Soram's frowning eyes. Soram's eyelids slowly lifted.

"Huh?"

Soram looked alternately at the empty beach and sea spread out before him.

"Is this really an uninhabited island?! What? There's nothing here?"

Soram looked around. There was only one trace of human presence in the surroundings. Tae-un's footprints from the sea to the sandy beach. At the far end of where the footprints came from, a sea cave attached to a cliff could be seen.

"Wow, we didn't realize we crossed the sea through an underwater cave...? Did the mimicry dungeon blur our sense of distance too?"

"It might have. Maybe even days have passed."

"Ah..., hmm. I guess. Since we were underground, our phones wouldn't have had any signal either."

Soram looked at the vast sea where nothing could be seen.

"Wow, a real uninhabited island..., we can't even see any nearby islands."

"Yeah."

"Wow..."

Only dumbfounded exclamations kept coming out of his mouth, which had lost its senses. Even someone who had gone through all sorts of experiences over many years seemed to have no contingency plan for this situation.

It was when Tae-un, who had been silently watching this scene for a while, was about to open his mouth.

"Soram..."

"Han Tae-un, now you have to live with me alone for the rest of your life."

"Huh?"

"You're trapped. The Island of Runaway Lovers? This is season two."

Tae-un asked Soram in a lower voice.

"Are you okay with that?"

Soram answered him without a moment's hesitation.

"Isn't it obvious? I like building a house here and living peacefully. It's not like we were addicted to TV and smartphones, and as for appliances... Ah, we need a rice cooker. Meals must be Korean three times a day... Han Tae-un, can you cook rice without a rice cooker?"

"...There are things like bamboo rice, so we'll manage somehow."

"Then that's settled, kimchi... Ah, let's plant peppers, cabbage, and radish first."

Soram pointed to where trees were planted.

"An uninhabited island is fine. We don't have to go to work and can be together all day, right? The Director will let us go if we're happy, and although I'll miss Ayoung a lot, it can't be helped. Ayoung-ah, I leave the Flight Team to you."

"..."

"What should we do together now?"

Tae-un gazed intently at Soram and then smiled towards the sandy beach at his feet. Grains of sand crumbled and scattered on top of his black sneakers.

"It was a lie. This beach is connected to the resort we used yesterday. We didn't pass through an underwater cave, but through a mountain."

Tae-un had known about this place from the beginning. After all, the guide had told him the day before that there wasn't much to see here and the waves were too strong for swimming.

This was the opposite side of the city, the Island of Runaway Lovers.

"Ah, so that cliff is the one. What's this, you're playing a prank that's neither fun nor suits you."

Tae-un looked at the cave, and the large cliff that was the boundary with the city.

The sky that had been slightly cloudy in the morning was now completely covered with clouds. Accordingly, the sea also looked a bit darker.

"Yeah. The signal works fine. I have something to check."

Soram waved his phone and had a conversation in English. His voice swirled like a free wind.

"Done! They said they'll come tomorrow to hear what kind of dungeon it was. They told us to rest well."

"Have you finished all the work you were dispatched for?"

"Yeah. Now we can play. But before that..."

Soram looked around. There was no sign of people, enough to make the lie about it being an uninhabited island believable for a moment.

"Shall we stay here a bit longer before going back?"

Soram smiled broadly, as if he had read Tae-un's mind.

The footprints of the two were imprinted side by side along the area where the waves had wet the sand. They held hands tightly and stretched out their arms as if showing off. There was no need to stick their shoulders together and hold hands furtively like in Korea. The shadows of the two looked like a ribbon draped between a large pillar and a relatively smaller one.

The larger pillar that had entered the water pulled the other's arm.

"Uwah, it feels weird. Weird!"

"It's not that bad. Come a bit further."

"If we go that far, our clothes will get wet!"

"The resort is nearby, so what does it matter? Come in just once."

Tae-un tried to pull Soram in while retreating towards the sea, but Soram stopped and resisted where the waves barely lapped at his ankles. It was too high a demand for someone who had never even walked on a beach like this before.

"It's just the same as a swimming pool. It's nothing special."

"No! There are fish there, and seaweed, and the bottom is sand!"

"I'll teach you how to swim in the sea. You kept watching the video of me swimming at the field day. This time, let's do it together."

Soram, who had been gradually dragged forward, looked straight at Tae-un upon hearing those words. Tae-un realized a beat too late that his eyes were glowing blue.

"Ha, the field day swimming video..."

"...!"

"If you want to swim, swim here to your heart's content, but never do it in front of a camera again!"

Tae-un, enveloped in blue mist, was pushed straight back. Without a chance to resist, Tae-un was submerged up to his head in the distant sea.

Soram thought he might fly back, but he swam back to shore instead. Completely soaked, he shook his head, flinging water.

"See? Even if you fall in the water, you're fine. It's not even that cold."

"That's enough. It's fine if just you got soaked."

Tae-un raised both corners of his mouth. Soram realized for the first time at that moment that a smile appearing in such an unexpected situation could make one uneasy.

Suddenly lowering his waist, Tae-un's hands approached behind Soram's knees.

"What are you doing?"

Soon, both feet left the ground and were lifted up.

The brief moment of feeling comfortable, having been held in this position often even in such situations, was short-lived. Tae-un swung his arms left and right a few times and then threw Soram straight towards the sea.

"Ha."

He was so strong it was like a home run. Soram, flying in an arc, looked with incredulous eyes at the shrinking Tae-un.

'I'll just fly. Did you think I'd just let myself fall in?'

He wrapped blue mist around his soles and legs. However, it scattered uselessly in the air.

"...Hey!!!"

A trace of his past life subtly mixed into Han Tae-un's ability in this life. The removal of force fields. That ability, which was particularly effective on Soram, bound his flight ability. Of course, this little trick could be undone in less than 10 seconds.

3 seconds later, Soram was plunged into the water.

"Han Tae-un!!!!!"

A person surrounded by blue mist rose, causing a huge wave. In the distance, a familiar large figure was running hard across the sandy beach, trying to escape.