Chapter 154

This time, Soram was tightly gripping Tae-un's arm.

"Jin Soram, you brat...!"

"Father, you seem to be having the opposite effect, so please step back. If I had known it would be like this, I would have come alone."

Leaving him behind, one person approached. While everyone else had backed away in fear after seeing Soram's attack, he came right up to the line Soram had carved.

"Student Jin Soram, I'm Park Jae-seon, who has been appointed as the leader of Team 7 in the newly established Rift Phenomenon Management Headquarters, and I have an ability similar to yours."

"..."

"It seems you've made a good friend in just a few days."

"...Yes."

Soram, who had been glaring coldly at the adults, gave a somewhat subdued answer to him.

"I understand your desire to stay with your friend, but you've gained a power too great for you to handle alone, and you need to learn how to manage that power. Your parents are worried now, so let's go back together."

"Do they seem worried to you?"

"..."

"What, what are you saying? Haha, he's still so immature..."

Team Leader Park Jae-seon crossed the line and bent down to match eye level.

"Soram-ah, if you become a hunter affiliated with the headquarters, you won't need a guardian. Even family can be restricted from approaching you. The headquarters will listen to your opinions as the top priority and protect you."

"Hey! Who do you think you are...!"

Assemblyman Jin, who had tried to approach while shouting, closed his mouth when Team Leader Park Jae-seon turned to look at him with cold eyes.

Soram, still holding onto Tae-un, let out a sigh.

"...It's always that person who's the problem."

"You mean your father?"

"No. That's not my business, and he's someone I absolutely can't treat carelessly."

An emotion Tae-un had never seen before appeared on Soram's face. It closely resembled love-hate. Tae-un firmly covered Soram's loosened hand. So he couldn't let go.

Although the situation was going contrary to his wishes, Park Jae-seon smiled kindly at the sight.

"The children seem quite shocked, so let's send them inside first, and then the adults can have a talk. Would that be alright?"

He looked around at Soram's father, Tae-un's parents, and the people who had come together from Seoul.

It was a gentle but irrefusable command.

***

"Are you saying we should send a child of the same age to babysit another child?"

Tae-un's mother exclaimed as she listened to the story.

"I'm just presenting one possibility. We can't leave Soram, a 1st-grade hunter, here. But they don't want to be separated, and they seem to be emotionally supportive of each other..."

"No, no. Team Leader Park. It's all unnecessary, I'm telling you. As his father, I know. If we indulge his tantrums, there'll be no end to it, so let's just drag him away like this."

"Soram's anxiety right now is natural. A young child has suddenly gained tremendous power overnight. Seo Min-ki, who awakened at the same time, has his whole family living in Seoul with him, and Kim Ga-eul's parents always come to the headquarters with her. As adults, we shouldn't be coercive towards children, but should find ways to alleviate their anxiety."

Director Park Jae-seon, no, now Team Leader, paused for a moment before continuing.

"I'm not sure if family is a comfort to Student Jin Soram."

The sounds from outside the room were as clear to Soram as if they were speaking right next to him. After listening to Park Jae-seon's voice, Soram looked straight ahead again. Towards the gaze that was staring intently at him.

"Why are you looking at me like that? Still can't believe it?"

"You're, really Jin Soram..."

"I never lied once from beginning to end. You're the one who didn't believe."

Soram's words were true, but Tae-un couldn't hide his aggrieved expression.

"...Then, is what you said also true?"

"What did I say?"

"That I'll, awaken as a 1st-grade..."

"Yeah. That's true too."

"Really? How do you know?"

"It's not something to be so happy about."

When he finds out the reality he'll face after joining as Chief Han Tae-un, that excitement will diminish a lot. At least this time, the chief won't be acting like such a jerk...

"How do you know, I asked."

"I'll tell you when we meet again."

By then, he'll be too busy fulfilling his role as a new 1st-grade to remember his curiosities. And shortly after that.

He'll die.

"Han Tae-un, do you like studying?"

"It's not like... anyone likes it. I do it because I'm a student."

"Then don't do it. Do something else you want to do instead."

"Why?"

Because everything will become useless before it can shine, and you too will disappear.

"You're living too boringly for someone so young. Get into some trouble, play games instead of studying, eat a lot of junk food instead of just crops. You've already grown as tall as you're going to get."

Tae-un seemed to have now noticed the meaning of farewell in his words. His slightly excited shoulders dropped.

"Are you going?"

"I have to."

"You said you didn't want to go."

"I held out just to say a proper goodbye to you. I can't not go."

"You tell me to do everything I want, but why are you going when you don't want to?"

"You're right."

Soram shrugged his shoulders.

"But I have no choice."

This round has already begun, and Soram doesn't know any other way to live. He's already forgotten all other ways besides living as a hunter. Although he's sick and tired of being a hunter and hates it terribly, if you take the hunter out of Jin Soram, nothing remains.

The brief deviation was over. For something he had run away without any expectations, it had been enjoyable for the first time in a very long time.

The adults had reached a conclusion. Soram would return to Seoul, and Tae-un would remain here due to his parents' firm decision. The only one who resisted until the end, asking if it really had to be this way, was Tae-un.

As he got into the car Park Jae-seon had brought, Soram looked around. Dawn had already ended and daybreak was coming.

It had been a good place except for the cows mooing.

No, maybe even that wasn't so bad.

'...I feel quite regretful.'

The next moment, he realized it had been so long since he felt such an emotion that it felt unfamiliar.

Still, maybe it would be more fun than previous lives after Han Tae-un awakens in a few years. Maybe they could get along like bickering friends for the first time. Although it would be for a very short time.

Tak.

The car door closed. The unfamiliar scenery was blocked out, and only the achromatic interior of the car came into view. A sense of reality hit him terribly. To the point where even the time he had felt was enjoyable seemed to sink into a quagmire.

Tung! Tung!

Suddenly, a fist pounded on the window. It was Tae-un.

"Student, step away!"

"Open it for a moment, it'll be quick!"

Before the window could even fully lower, Tae-un thrust his hand into the car.

"Take this!"

What he held in his hand was the MP3 player and black earphones.

"There'll be animals in Seoul too, right?"

"No, it's okay..."

"Take it!"

Tae-un forcibly dropped the MP3 player inside. While Soram was picking up the device that had fallen on his lap, Tae-un was pulled back, and the car started.

"..."

After passing all the country roads, before entering the road full of car sounds, Soram plugged the black earphones into both ears. And he played the song he had listened to dozens of times there.

1 year and 6 months later. August.

"Student, hunters aren't people you can meet so easily."

"I know this person. Please just pass on my name to Jin Soram."

"Hey, looks like it's your fan."

Ga-eul, passing through the lobby, nudged the person next to her. The guy who always kept his distance from people and whose thoughts were hard to guess showed no particular reaction this time either.

"You're not the only one or two people like this who've come looking. I understand you want to meet him, but please just support him in your heart."

"I'm telling you, I really know him."

"Oh, what's this? Why is he so tall? His dialect is even stronger than Seo Min-ki's."

And Ga-eul was certain that he was lying. It didn't seem likely that someone like that would be among the acquaintances of Jin Soram, who had lived his whole life in Seoul as the son of an assemblyman.

Just as she was about to pass by the desk, Soram slowly pulled out the earphones he had been wearing.

"Huh..."

At that moment, the student in front of the desk also turned in their direction. His eyes widened.

"Han Tae-un?"

It was Soram who called the name first.

"Why are you here?"

"I found you."

He strode forward. Soram blinked rapidly.

"Aren't we... still nineteen? It's not time for you to be here yet."

"Why did you lie?"

"What lie?"

Tae-un abruptly thrust his hand forward.

"You said I'd awaken in 5 years."

White light clusters began to gather in his palm. The small particles enveloped the two facing each other and spread around. Everyone in the lobby stopped and turned to look at him.

"I've awakened."