61.
Whether South Korea was thrown into turmoil by the unexpected visit of a celebrity or not, the setting sun sank slowly and another new year dawned. Ryu Ho-yeon, who had traversed a dungeon gate in Gyeonggi Province in early to mid-December, was determined to hear the Bosingak bell-ringing ceremony this year, so he rushed through monsters, saving even his rest periods.
He wanted to see the Bosingak bell-ringing ceremony in person this year no matter what, after having only watched it on television every year. Even after getting a Pair Guide, he had been wandering around dungeons during year-end and New Year seasons, so he had never been able to go.
The two exited the gate around 10:40 PM on December 31st. The veteran driver that Choi Jae-won had arranged to wait nearby according to the date somehow managed to transport them to downtown Seoul despite the heavily congested roads. Bringing a multi-passenger vehicle that could use the bus-only lanes was truly a brilliant move.
At 11:35 PM, the area near Cheonggyecheon where vehicles were being controlled had no room to set foot due to the crowds, and there were so many people that one wouldn’t feel the cold even without an overcoat. The two were wearing long coats hastily thrown over their combat uniforms with scarves tightly covering their faces. They had come without escorts to avoid drawing attention, but now Choi Jae-won wished they had brought guards. While clicking his tongue in regret, he still managed to push through the crowd bit by bit. Even if he couldn’t let Ryu Ho-yeon actually ring the bell, he wanted to get him to a spot where he could at least see it.
Ryu Ho-yeon, who had long since exhausted his energy clearing the dungeon with a determination to meet the deadline, barely kept up by desperately clutching Choi Jae-won’s hand. This was the first time Ryu Ho-yeon had held his hand so desperately, and a surge of strength rose to Choi Jae-won’s shoulders as he stood ambiguously at the boundary between unrequited and mutual love.
The Bosingak bell-ringing ceremony. He had never thought about going to see it, nor had he wanted to see it before. He had the impression that overly attaching meaning to the mere passage of time from 11:59 PM to 12:00 AM was quite inefficient.
“Oh…!”
It was around 11:54 PM. They had comfortably reached a spot where they could see Bosingak with some time to spare. Ryu Ho-yeon, who had been firmly holding onto Choi Jae-won’s arm to avoid being pushed by the surging crowd, suddenly exclaimed in surprise. Choi Jae-won immediately turned his gaze and asked, “What’s wrong, hyung?”
“The buttons… All the buttons fell off…”
The two eyes that flashed above the scarf wrapped up to the nose blinked repeatedly in apparent dismay. It seemed the coat’s fastening couldn’t withstand the force of the jostling crowd. It was funny to see someone who could confidently aim a pistol at the forehead of a monster twice the size of the Bosingak roof tiles now fumbling over buttons that had fallen off.
Choi Jae-won burst into laughter and tidied up Ryu Ho-yeon’s disheveled appearance.
“Next year I’ll have to bring our hyung in a padded jacket instead of a coat. One with a sturdy zipper.”
“…Next year?”
“Yes, next year, hyung.”
Ryu Ho-yeon, as if liking the sound of it, mumbled “next year, next year…” a few times with lips buried in his scarf.
“…Sounds good.”
“Pardon?”
“Next year, I mean, coming out here with you like this again. I think it would be nice. Wearing a padded jacket instead of a coat.”
Choi Jae-won suddenly felt his chest swelling with fulfillment. During their first year-end season after becoming Pairs, when Choi Jae-won had asked if they might go see fireworks somewhere next year if time permitted, Ryu Ho-yeon had whispered evenly, without inflection, that he couldn’t make such an uncertain promise for a year later when he couldn’t even guarantee tomorrow.
“Hey, hyung.”
Unable to contain his sense of fulfillment, emotion, and overflowing affection, he finally asked.
“Can I kiss you?”
“…”
“The guiding has all worn off anyway.”
The light-colored eyes gazed up at Choi Jae-won for a moment, then silently pulled down the scarf covering both their faces. Choi Jae-won cupped his small face with both hands and immediately lowered his head. Hot breaths were shared more vividly through the cold winter night air, and then…
Dong, dong, doong…
The Bosingak bell-ringing that Ryu Ho-yeon had so wanted to see in person happened at precisely that moment. Ironically, Ryu Ho-yeon, with his eyes tightly shut and firmly clutching Choi Jae-won’s coat tails, didn’t even notice the bell ringing. But it didn’t matter. For him and Choi Jae-won, next year—and if they missed next year, the year after that—would be waiting.
* * *
“Son.”
“Mmm…”
“Have you decided to officially date Jae-won?”
“Um… that’s…”
Facing his mother after a long time, Ryu Ho-yeon uncharacteristically rolled his eyes around in apparent difficulty. Though they had been living a life almost indistinguishable from dating, they weren’t officially dating yet. That’s because only two of the four stages to dating that Ryu Ho-yeon had proposed had been fulfilled so far. They had agreed to go to Kim Jun-young together after the investigation and punishment of Dr. An was definitively concluded. Proper dating would probably start from then. But it was quite awkward for Ryu Ho-yeon to explain all these complicated details in his current situation. Because…
“Seeing how you’re responding, I guess you’re not officially dating yet.”
“M-Mom, it’s, it’s because…”
“Then what is this?”
The Research Director spread out various daily newspapers she had been holding onto the desk. On the front page of the newspapers printed fresh on January 1st, his and Choi Jae-won’s faces were featured quite prominently, if not on the entire page.
[How good must it be… A kiss in front of 100,000 people? Esper Ryu Ho-yeon in a pink romance!]
[[Photo] Ryu Ho-yeon-Choi Jae-won Pair ‘Ringing in the New Year Like Us’]
[[Issue Tomorrow] ‘We look pretty good together’ Is the kiss S-class too?]
“Um…”
Even for Ryu Ho-yeon, who lived boldly without minding others’ opinions, having his mother discover photos of him engaged in skinship—specifically, a passionate kiss at the Bosingak bell-ringing ceremony where reportedly 100,000 people had gathered—was somewhat embarrassing.
“No, never mind. As long as you two are getting along well…”
The Research Director seemed to trail off, apparently not having called him in today to question his relationship with Choi Jae-won. Given her son’s indifferent disposition, she had thought a romantic relationship would be nearly impossible, so it was unexpected, but if Ryu Ho-yeon were to date anyone, it was already obvious who that would be.
“So, the reason I wanted to see you today is…”
It had been three weeks since Howard entered South Korea. Despite his provocative entry statement about coming to reclaim what was taken from him, he had been quiet. He had stayed holed up in the lodging assigned by the Center, not appearing to do anything in particular.
The Research Director was certain this was because Ryu Ho-yeon had been inside a dungeon. Now that Ryu Ho-yeon had completed his mission and returned, Howard might make a move. If that was the case, before he approached Ryu Ho-yeon first… she needed to tell him directly. How Ryu Ho-yeon was born. How she had stolen Ryu Ho-yeon.
“Ho-yeon, listen without being surprised.”
Both her uncharacteristically tense appearance and her warning not to be surprised—whatever it was, it seemed like news that would be shocking to hear. Ryu Ho-yeon just nodded vaguely, waiting for what would come next.
“Throughout your life, have you ever… been curious about your father?”
“Father? You mean the biological father who would have passed down half of my genetic information?”
The genre of the shocking story his mother was about to reveal seemed to be about the secret of his birth. Finally, such a day has come for me too. Indeed, I knew someone of my caliber would definitely have a significant birth secret. Without understanding his mother’s nerves fraying with tension, Ryu Ho-yeon was childishly somewhat excited.
“Actually, you are a child I conceived through artificial insemination. Your biological father was… a very powerful Esper.”
The Research Director slowly began her story. She confessed everything from the fact that his biological father was David Howard, who was undisputedly considered the world’s strongest Esper at the time, to the fact that she had anticipated from the beginning that the child she would bear would awaken as an Esper. She revealed all the transgressions of the past years in detail, as if making a confession.
Knowing well how much self-loathing Ryu Ho-yeon had felt inside, thinking he had held his mother back because he awakened as an Esper, she couldn’t dare to speak, afraid he might ask why she had him, why she gave birth to him.
She had steeled herself to endure whatever words, whatever resentment he might pour out, and firmly clenched her fist under the desk…
“What?”
“I’m sorry, Ho-yeon. Mom is really sorry. But Mom really loves our son and…”
“That’s it?”
“Huh?”
The son she had painfully given birth to had many special aspects.
“Really… that’s it?”
Hearing what could be considered a remarkable birth secret and still wearing an expression that said, “Is that all?” — he truly was special.
