Chapter 109

"...Huh?"

The cup that had been completely emptied began to fill with water again. It was like a magical situation, but for there to be some trick, the water was really appearing out of nowhere.

The rising water level stopped when it reached about half of the cup. Tae-un let out a short breath and released the hand he was holding. Soram, who had sat up with wide eyes, examined the cup from various angles as if searching a magician's hat. As expected, no device was visible.

"What, what is this? How did you do it?"

"I utilized a special ability."

"Creating water is a special ability? What are you?"

You fly in the sky, pull things, have monstrous strength, and now you even create water? At this point, if you said you crossed the Han River on a leaf and threw a pine cone to break a rift, I would believe it. When he looked at him with a mixture of astonishment and suspicion, Tae-un also frowned with one eye as if asking what that expression meant.

"I didn't create it, I moved it from over there."

On the desk where he pointed, there was a water bottle with a slightly lowered water level.

"As you said, the key was not to put a physical limit."

"...You mean the water didn't fly over, but it disappeared from there and appeared here?"

"Disappeared... It doesn't feel like that. I just thought of it as taking it away."

"..."

What Soram thought of after hearing the explanation was a black hole and a white hole. Was it an ability to bring something from somewhere and release it somewhere else...? If that was the case, it also had something in common with the 'addition and subtraction of some value' that Tae-un had initially recognized.

"How far is it possible?"

"For now, I can only do simple things like this. Compared to the ability I was used to using, the overload comes faster too."

"Is it also possible to move it back there?"

"It's almost impossible. I've tried experimenting a few times, but at this distance, it would be impossible to return it."

"Almost impossible means you've succeeded at least once, right?"

"Rather than success, the only time it worked at least similarly was when I was holding a water bottle in one hand and a water cup in the other."

"Hmm..."

Even with further explanation, there was still nothing that made him think, 'This is it!' On the other hand, there was also an expectation that if he figured out the nature of the ability, it would definitely have a powerful effect. But…

"Han Tae-un-ssi, don't research this for the time being."

"Why?"

"Now that rifts and dungeons are opening frequently, it doesn't seem like a good idea to work on something new simultaneously. For now, just focus on strengthening the offensive techniques you've been using. Don't disrupt the skills ingrained in your body."

Tae-un was silent for a moment. He just stared at Soram blankly. This time, Soram asked, "Why?"

"It's strange."

"What is?"

"You occasionally take on the cold chief mode."

"Oh, there's exactly one hour left until the first train, so if Han Tae-un-ssi throws the first punch, we'll fight and break up, right?"

"I didn't mean it as an insult, I think it's better for you to be cheeky like now."

"That's a backhanded compliment!"

"No, it's not."

Tae-un lowered Soram's fist full of fighting spirit that didn't hold back, and he also pushed up his furrowed brows. Taking the cup from Soram and setting it aside, he sat closer with a blunt face, slightly narrowing the distance. He seemed a bit sulky, perhaps expecting Soram to be amazed by the new technique and praise him.

"Well, anyway, you found it well. Now go down the mountain. I have nothing more to teach you."

"..."

Tae-un silently wrapped his arms around Soram's body. And he pulled him into his arms as if hugging a doll. It had been a while since he had showered, so his body had cooled down, but in an instant, a warm body temperature spread.

Soram, lacking the strength to straighten his waist, had no choice but to lean the back of his head against the shoulder of the person behind him. For the first time since realizing that the Great Rift was approaching, the strength completely drained from his body. In the meantime, Tae-un rubbed Soram's head with a towel and traced his exposed white forehead with his hand.

As he put the towel back down, he noticed Soram's hand and lifted it up. It was the hand that had been cut by the magic stone during the day. Even that wound had now faded to just a red line.

"It's not completely healed yet, so why did you take off the bandage?"

"It's okay to leave it like this."

"Hmm..."

Tae-un pulled the hand close to his nose again and stared at it intently. He was originally a guy who was unnecessarily serious about everything, but he had been overdoing it since earlier. Among the injuries Tae-un had suffered so far, there must be plenty larger than this level of wound.

"Stop overreacting and let go..."

As he tried to twist his hand free, a question was heard.

"Soram-ah, has an awakener with an ability similar to mine ever used their ability on you?"

It was a question he had no idea what it meant. Soram shrugged his shoulders.

"If you're asking if I've ever been caught by someone's ability, it's happened so many times that I can't even pinpoint them. It's happened several times during the annual public training when sparring with people or during joint combat."

"Ah, healing. So that's why..."

Along with the muttering, his palm was stroked with a thumb. I wish he would stop that piercing gaze now that his question has been resolved.

Sigh.

Soram clicked his tongue inwardly and stretched out his head to press his lips against Tae-un's. That method was very effective in diverting Tae-un's attention. Tae-un let go of Soram's hand he was holding and instead wrapped his hand around the back of his neck, deeply mixing their lips. The desperation from earlier, when they had mixed their bodies without restraint, had largely disappeared. However, it was too deep to just close his eyes and accept it calmly, making his body flinch.

The moment he slightly opened his eyes while kissing, he saw the black pupils close enough for their eyelashes to touch. Inside them were his own dazed, sunken pupils. It felt like they were sharing their field of vision.

Their lips parted, and Tae-un hugged Soram tightly in his arms before letting go. Then he got out of bed and headed somewhere. Before the question of where he was going could arise, he came out of the bathroom with a hair dryer. Soon, hot air ruffled his hair.

Soram closed his eyes without a word. It seemed to be the first time someone had dried his hair for him, except when he had to get ready for an external event. Even in this life, it was relatively rare. The reason was that the higher-ups wanted to keep Soram out of sight and cherish him…

"It's done."

The hand that had entered between the strands of hair shook the roots one last time and withdrew. Tae-un retrieved the dryer and returned it to the bathroom without any pleasantries.

Left alone on the bed, Soram finally looked around at the interior. The air in the room was mixed with drowsiness and dryness. A crisp sound came from under Soram's palm pressing on the bed.

In the season approaching winter, the sunrise is late. However, as if saying that the dawn had already passed long ago, a bluish hue had somehow spread across the pitch-black sky. Following Soram's gaze out the window, Tae-un checked the time on the pager on his wrist. He turned his wrist and head slightly as if not wanting to be noticed doing that. However, Soram, who saw that, asked first.

"What time is it?"

"...Almost five o'clock."

"I see. I should get going."

Tae-un's voice telling him not to go echoed in his mind. Will he stop me this time too? Soram waited for his reaction like a sentence, feeling apologetic.

Tae-un answered indifferently, a beat late.

"Get dressed and ready to leave. I'll take you."

***

There weren't many cars on the dim road. Only a few taxis carrying passengers who would take the first train like Soram passed by.

The time the car drove was too short to start any conversation. It was because the hotel was too close to Seoul Station. When he saw the brightly lit Seoul Station sign, the long stairs, and the alley where someone had filmed an escape scene, he suddenly felt twice as tired.

Tae-un's car stopped in a dark spot covered by the shadow of a building.

"I'm going. Thanks for the ride."

"I'm getting off too."

The engine was turned off, and both the passenger seat and driver's seat of the car opened. In the end, the two walked side by side on the road where street lamps drew orange circles on the ground, skipping one at a time.

"Just drop me off in front of the station and go. Why bother going inside?"

"I have to at least see you get on the train, otherwise I'll feel like you disappeared again overnight."

Soram tried to say something in rebuttal but gave up. The wind brushed his cheeks bleakly. What Tae-un had chosen from Soram's closet was a padding that made the wearer's upper body round. It was a bit much to wear in November, but it was well-suited for the chilly time before sunrise.

The sound of two footsteps hitting the ground at a similar timing and the sound of rolling the carrier filled the silence. Since there were no people around, the two walked with their masks pulled down.

"Jin Soram."

Tae-un called out to Soram. It was around the time when the bright light coming from inside the station could be seen in the distance. It was a good timing to say the final goodbye before pulling up the mask and concealing his voice.

"Yeah. You take care too."

"I like you."

The words that came in without any context before or after made his foot, which was about to step forward, stop in midair. Although Soram had tried attaching all sorts of nitpicking to Tae-un's words, when it was stabbed at him so directly like this, he couldn't even think of a way to vaguely wrap around it. Soram at least straightened his shoulders.

"I, know."

Believing that the bear wouldn't notice the slightly shaky voice, he turned to the side. Tae-un was looking at Soram with his head tilted, his hands in his pockets.

"I know you're aware of it, but if I don't say it regularly, you don't keep it in mind. That's why you ask questions like why you don't look pretty even though I like you."

"Why? What's the big deal! It's nothing special, so don't be petty."

"Is that something you should say to someone who's in a one-sided love with you, enduring the fact that you're a man, a superior, the most famous hunter in this country, and keeping you as a sex partner?"

Although his tone was light and playful, there was definitely a bit of resentment underneath.

"I can't help it if you pretend not to know, but don't take it lightly."

The area near his heart felt heavy. It was a sensation similar to when he had done something wrong and felt guilty. Or like being pricked by his conscience for telling a big lie. Soram, who disliked this tension, grabbed his elbow and corrected the facts.

"No, that's not true. You know more than that. At the headquarters, I'm the laziest and most pathetic chief, and in the public perception, I'm not even a hero but a troublemaker, and in a profession where you don't know when you'll die, with a rare blood type, to you, I'm a person who does strange things without telling anyone around me."

Also, I took your life three times. Even after making that sacrifice, I couldn't solve anything and ended up like this. The sleeve fabric of the tightly grasped elbow crumpled in his hand.

But how can you still say you like me?

The last sentence that should have followed couldn't come out, but Tae-un seemed to have read the question. In Soram's eyes looking up, Tae-un, who was intently looking at him, was reflected.

"Are you trying to break off the attachment, or are you being sincere...?"

A thick and rough thumb rubbed his cheek. Tae-un moved his lips like a prosecutor or a lawyer who had a lot to argue against in court. However, looking at the watch on his wrist, the time left for the two of them was not much.

Tae-un pulled the hood of the outer garment covering Soram's head from both sides. His field of vision narrowed to the one person in front of him. Instead of a difficult answer, he stuck his head into the black cave where only Soram was.

"If I kiss that strange person now, will it be proof?"

Rarely for Tae-un, he covered Soram's lips without waiting for his reaction. With him entering, the inside of the hood became completely dark, and the hot sensation was felt more vividly.