Chapter 84

"Han, ugh...!"

Soram instinctively stretched out his hand in front of Tae-un.

A wall made of blue mist was erected in front of him. While the temporary wall blocked the current and shattered, Tae-un flew higher up, holding Soram.

Soram saw his own ability, which had become fragments, wandering around uncontrollably. However, without even a moment to check closely, his body emerged from the water.

Clang.

The stream of water pouring from the rift towards the two of them changed direction.

"Aila, block it!"

A red haze rose from Ayoung's hand. Along with it, the Pomeranian, which had been the size of a large tiger, swelled up several times more. Aila's body, which had grown to the size of a decent villa, took the stream of water that was about to head towards the two of them instead.

Ayoung, who had jumped onto Aila by strongly kicking the ground, threw the suppression rod that had been stretched long towards the rift like a spear.

Kaaang!

"Gasp, it hit."

The gap of the rift that had received a fierce blow narrowed. At the same time, the suppression rod that had been stuck there was also pushed by the rift and snapped in half with a clang. Aila, carrying Ayoung, reduced its size and quickly moved away from there.

Tae-un put Soram down where the civilian rescue team was waiting. As soon as his feet touched the ground, the water that had entered his body poured out all at once.

"Cough, cough..."

"Spit it all out."

Tae-un patted the back of Soram, who was standing while leaning on a tree, and it took a long time for him to finally calm down.

"Enough, haa, stop now..."

"Soram oppa, are you okay?"

In the meantime, Ayoung had returned in front of the two. Perhaps because she had overused her ability, Aila had immediately returned to its original puppy size, and Ayoung was also breathing heavily.

"Heua, haa. Suddenly, huff, what happened? I was startled when you fell into the water and didn't come out. Ahhh... my head is splitting."

"..."

Worried gazes turned to Soram, who was standing blankly. Soram blinked his eyes as if grasping reality and looked around. The pitch-black inside of his head began to capture what was in front of his eyes again. Ayoung, Han Tae-un, their appearance at the point before the 3rd Great Rift approached.

People other than Ayoung and Tae-un also had a startled look, wondering what had happened.

"...I."

The corners of Soram's mouth slid up.

"I think I fell asleep while standing."

"What? Really? I was so surprised! Be more careful! You're completely drenched. You must be cold. ...Really."

"No. I'm not cold."

"Jin Soram."

Tae-un's expression had completely hardened. The fact that he spoke informally in front of people other than the team members at the place where they were dispatched as hunters was a clear sign that he was quite angry.

"I'm sorry. But at least I'm awake now."

Soram apologized obediently. Ayoung went to the standby paramedics and brought back a blanket and a towel.

"Here. Tae-un o... no, Chief Han nim, you too."

"Thank you. Hunter Lee Ayoung nim."

"Thank you."

Soram wiped the moisture from his face with the towel and took off his completely soaked jacket and put it down. Then he was seated in a place prepared inside the tent. A paramedic came and checked Soram's condition. Soram answered that there was nothing particularly wrong except that he had swallowed some water.

Tae-un took off his jacket from inside his raincoat. Then he placed the jacket he had taken off on Soram's shoulders and covered his own blanket on top of it. Soram blinked his eyes, looking at Tae-un's jacket that had been placed on his body.

"Huh? What's this, it's not wet at all? How did you do it?"

"I think I unconsciously pushed the water away. Keep it on since there's still body heat."

Tae-un firmly pressed the shoulders that were wrapped in layers like an onion.

"I will eliminate the rift."

He flew up without even waiting for an answer. The long sword was drawn, and he struck it down with a much more skilled posture than during the Bukhansan dungeon. Soram had greatly reduced the size, and Ayoung had thrown a big hit, so it wouldn't be a problem for him to eliminate it alone to that extent.

Ayoung glanced at the paramedics who had come close and were now returning.

"Ahem, ahem."

Then she wriggled her body inside the raincoat and swiftly pulled out her own jacket that she was wearing underneath.

"Here."

Another black jacket was thrust out in front of Soram. Although he was a rather well-built man despite being engulfed in Tae-un's jacket, Ayoung's jacket was naturally a size where half of his arm wouldn't even fit in the sleeve.

"How can I accept this with a clear conscience?"

"I gave it to you to cover yourself here. To keep the 1st-grade with long experience who was attacked by a 2nd-grade dungeon warm."

Ayoung's jacket became a knee blanket, covering Soram's legs. When Soram looked at Ayoung with a dumbfounded expression, Ayoung raised the collar of her raincoat and glanced inside.

"I don't have anything else to give now."

"You, you. Don't make such jokes in front of other men!"

Ayoung shrugged her shoulders wildly with a twisted eldest daughter's expression. At that moment, a white ball of fur leaped onto Soram's lap. Aila curled up on Soram's lap. The puppy's body heat doubled the effect of the clothes its owner had given.

"...Thank you."

Soram stroked the fluffy fur. It was too much for someone who had stopped in the middle of eliminating the rift and fallen into the water for an absurd reason. In the meantime, Ayoung, who had briefly looked at her cell phone, said,

"I told Ga-eul unnie that oppa fell into the water while dozing off."

"So what did she say?"

"She said she'd tell the director."

"Kim Ga-eul is sneaky. Cowardly."

Soram's brows furrowed with a sense of injustice. Now that it had turned out this way, he would be called to the director's office tomorrow and scolded.

And at the end of the scolding, there would be a question asking if his body was okay. After leaving the director's office and returning, he would open the door of Team 1's office and shout, "Look at this, you brat," and then enter Team 7's office as if running away, and the voices of the two team members inside would be heard.

'Did you get scolded?'

'That's why you should only sleep in our office.'

While listening to those words, he would return to his seat between the two of them and plop down on the desk.

'Eing, I'm sad.'

That stupid Han Tae-un might pretend not to fall for it at first, but when they were alone, he might timidly ask if he got scolded a lot. Falling for it again without even realizing it.

It was a really trivial day, but he hoped it would turn out exactly like that.

Soram looked up at the sky. The jackets covering his body rustled.

It's still reality.

As his reason returned, he could immediately tell that he had not been in his right mind at that moment. However, he was not unaware of the identity of the impulse that had come to him then. It was an emotion that he had never been able to bring out during the past time as he had escaped through sleep. The depression he had covered up had momentarily burst out, unable to overcome the impulse that had suddenly struck him.

And he was pulled out from the black bottom.

Soram couldn't ask Tae-un why he had saved him, at least this time.

He got up from his seat and came out of the tent. Rainwater fell on his face as he raised his head.

Tae-un's sword, which had replaced Soram's position, eliminated the rift.

* * *

"Jin Soram."

As soon as they arrived at the dormitory, Tae-un called out to Soram in a heavy voice. Soram stopped his feet that he was about to turn away without a word.

"I'm very tired."

"..."

"I know I made a mistake, but if you're going to say something, do it tomorrow."

Tae-un stared at Soram for a while and finally dropped his shoulders.

"I won't say anything. Tomorrow too."

"That's a relief."

"Go in and rest."

"..."

Soram, who was about to turn away like a green frog when told to go back, stopped instead.

"Han Tae-un."

Their eyes met as soon as Soram called out to him because Tae-un had been looking at him the whole time.

"Can you kiss me just once before you go?"

Soram grabbed Tae-un's clothes.

"Do it before you go."

Tae-un's eyes widened slightly at the request, but he didn't refuse Soram's pull.

"Close your eyes and open your mouth."

A tongue immediately entered through the parted lips. He was definitely holding back his anger. From the start, the inside of his mouth was pulled so hard that the root of his tongue felt numb.

When Soram's body inside the shirt started to get hot, the lips slowly parted. The lips that had moved slightly away pressed against each other as if colliding one last time and then separated.

The corners of Soram's mouth, who had been looking up at Tae-un with slightly parted reddened lips, curved up.

"You'll catch a cold now."

"Hurry up and go rest."

Tae-un detached his hands that were wrapped around Soram's body without holding on any longer.

"If you're sick or if anything happens, call me."

"Okay."

Even when Soram turned towards his own room, Tae-un's footsteps were not heard. Soram crossed the living room and turned around in front of the bedroom.

"Stop looking at me. You go and rest too."

Soram waved both hands and then went into his room.

"Soram-ah, wash up and sleep."

"Yep!"

The sound that accompanied the answer was clearly the sound of plopping down on the bed. Tae-un looked at the darkened living room for a while and finally turned his body.

Behind Soram's back, who was lying face down on the bed, the sound of Tae-un closing the door and leaving was heard. Soram stretched out his hand and grabbed the pillow, pressing it firmly against the back of his head. This should be enough to prevent any sound from leaking out.

The sound of rain that had not stopped yet invaded the dark room. The falling raindrops tapped on the window.

The water droplets that had been falling one by one eventually created a puddle, and the enlarged spring overflowed.

This life was like that. The things he had received little by little, thinking it would be okay to this extent, had somehow filled his arms before he knew it. If he let go of his two hands that were holding them tightly, the place where he had dropped what was in his arms would become so empty that it would hurt.

Crying only came out when he was sad. That's why Soram had never cried out loud in this life. There was no expectation in a life of giving up. In a life where he lived as it happened without expectations, there was no disappointment or frustration, so there was no sorrow either.

This place had not yet become a dream.

"Hic, ah... ugh, huu..."

He knew that his greed and lingering attachment were growing. The impression that this life was somewhat fun had somehow turned into a desire to live here a little longer.

Why on earth?

Why did he become desperate to live only now when it was too late even if he got up and ran? Would he have become this close with Director Park Jae-seon, Kim Ga-eul, Seo Min-ki, Lee Ayoung, and Han Tae-un?

How did he come to have the thought of wanting to struggle and live?

Expectations swelled up and tightened his windpipe. The laughter he had burst out breathlessly squeezed his heart. Locking himself in the closed room, Soram spoke his wish for the first time in a muffled voice under the blanket.

"I want to live..."

He wanted to live a little longer in this time.

The long rainy season that had been pouring down for a long time gradually cleared up.