Chapter 90
Baek Rak finally confessed while continuing to rub his shoulder. Then, as if remembering something, he stared at the child nestled in Seo Won’s arms.
“…Is he asleep?”
“Rather than asleep, he’s unconscious.”
Seo Won spread Baek Rak’s jumper on the ground and laid down the child who had completely lost consciousness. He had cried so hard that the area around his eyes was swollen and red.
When he stroked the child’s face out of pity, the child instinctively curled up his body. Seo Won, who had been quietly observing the child tucked inside Baek Rak’s jumper, clicked his tongue briefly.
The child’s build was quite small, and there was no trace of the chubby cheeks typical of children his age. Yet his clothes were quite neat.
“No matter how I look at it, he doesn’t seem like someone who was living outside.”
“……”
He knew that if you went straight north, you’d reach Seoul Station shelter. The largest place in Seoul with the most people gathered.
“Could they be people who came from Seoul Station?”
Baek Rak, who had given his uncomfortable shoulder one last firm press, slowly got up and approached Seo Won. He glanced at the child and answered nonchalantly.
“It’s possible.”
“The parents seemed like civilians, so why did they leave the shelter? Could they have been kicked out or something?”
“That differs by shelter. Usually they do kick out criminals, but Seoul Station is stricter than other places.”
“…What’s the standard for criminals?”
Baek Rak sat down next to Seo Won and leaned his back against the wall. Fatigue washed over him as he closed his eyes and quietly answered Seo Won’s question.
“Murder, arson, theft, assault.”
It wasn’t much different from the world he had lived in. Then could there be a possibility that the child’s parents were criminals?
He had heard that those who would awaken as hunters showed signs from birth. The child must have shown such signs too, so how could he have come outside like this? Even if he was a criminal’s child, wouldn’t a hunter who could manipulate water be welcomed anywhere?
As he was pondering, unable to understand, Baek Rak explained as if anticipating his thoughts.
“Most hunters show signs at birth, but there are rare people who don’t. They’re called acquired hunters. This kid probably awakened like that too.”
Come to think of it, this was something Han Seong Hyeon had explained. He felt a bit embarrassed for only half-remembering and rubbed his nape.
“Still, we’re lucky. This kid, and us too.”
Seo Won nodded in agreement with Baek Rak’s words. If they hadn’t discovered him, the child would have died there without even being able to bloom properly.
And they too would have wandered around unable to find the hunter needed for the next awakening.
He knew there was currently no water-manipulating hunter in Seoul. They would have had no choice but to leave Seoul and tour the entire country, but they had discovered the child in a place like this.
Regardless of immediate awakening, the child’s ability would be a great help to the shelter. They wouldn’t have to go out to fetch water anymore, and wouldn’t have to struggle for drinking water.
But a question that suddenly occurred to him made Seo Won ask Baek Rak.
“Come to think of it, he’s not very wary? I thought he’d suspect you of being the Alpha.”
Baek Rak slowly opened his closed eyes and looked down at Seo Won. Though he was still full of things he didn’t know, somehow it didn’t feel annoying unlike before.
Rather, he could feel a different emotion from watching him try to learn about this world.
“…The Alpha can’t use hunter abilities.”
“Ah, he can’t use abilities?”
When Baek Rak nodded, Seo Won’s eyes sparkled at this new fact. So even the Alpha that transforms into a human couldn’t use hunter abilities. No wonder Baek Rak was comfortable leaving him and the child together.
Having resolved some of his curiosity, Seo Won glanced at Baek Rak who looked tired. When their eyes met, he turned his head slightly and said.
“If you’re tired, lie down and sleep.”
“Lie down?”
Just as he was wondering what he meant, Seo Won suddenly pulled Baek Rak’s head down.
Baek Rak, who had been quietly letting himself be pulled, felt a soft sensation touching his head when his body was almost lying down, and looked up. Then Seo Won was looking down at him from above.
Realizing that what he was resting his head on was Seo Won’s thigh, Baek Rak stared at him silently.
“Injured parts need rest to heal properly.”
“……”
“We caught the Alpha and it’s safe now, so it’s okay to sleep a bit. That’s how you’ll recover quickly.”
Sleep was the best thing for body recovery. He remembered Yu Sol sleeping for a long time to heal the parts where flesh had fallen off. So what Baek Rak needed now was probably sleep.
“We don’t have to go outside anyway, and if I move, you’ll wake up too, so sleeping like this would be more comfortable, right?”
Only then did Baek Rak smile lightly while resting his head on Seo Won’s thigh.
“Unexpected.”
“What is?”
“That you remember such things. Just now you seemed a bit like a person from this world.”
Seo Won frowned. It was clearly a compliment, but strangely his feelings were mixed. Had he seemed like someone with no learning ability? He didn’t like that Baek Rak was surprised by such a small thing.
“Aren’t your expectations of me too low?”
“You’ve caused trouble more than once or twice.”
“Hey, that was when I didn’t know.”
“Even when I told you, most of it didn’t make sense to you, didn’t it?”
Seo Won was about to argue back but remembered his past actions and closed his mouth tightly. As he said, he had heard many things, but properly understanding them came much later. He only accepted them after learning through experience and actually going through them.
Having nothing to say, Seo Won covered Baek Rak’s eyes, who was looking up at him, and grumbled.
“Whatever, just sleep.”
The more they talked, the more disadvantageous the situation became for him. Thinking it was better to make him sleep quickly, he pressed down on his eyes, and Baek Rak chuckled softly. He felt like he was being teased somehow.
“Stop laughing and sleep now.”
Baek Rak’s long eyelashes fluttered against his palm. Finding it ticklish, he was about to pull away when Baek Rak pulled his hand and said.
“Don’t move, stay like this.”
“……”
He seemed to like having his eyes covered.
Seo Won swallowed his saliva as he felt Baek Rak slowly closing his eyes completely. For some reason, the ticklish feeling that started from his palm seemed to spread throughout his body. He didn’t understand why Baek Rak’s trivial action felt so significant.
Though he was filled with the desire to gently move and caress the hand covering Baek Rak’s eyes, he endured it and turned his head away.
As he silently covered Baek Rak’s eyes and offered his leg like that, he finally heard light breathing after a while.
Seo Won looked down at the sleeping Baek Rak and was enveloped in a strange feeling.
“……”
Though he had told him to sleep, he hadn’t expected him to really fall asleep like this. It felt like witnessing a cat that had been wary of him for a long time falling asleep knowing he was nearby.
It seemed like he had finally opened his heart and accepted him.
Seo Won felt like he might not encounter such an opportunity again in the future. So he endlessly captured this scene in his eyes.
The sight of Baek Rak holding his hand and sleeping with his head on his thigh.
Seo Won’s gaze had become gently relaxed before he knew it. Even when he carefully rubbed the tips of Baek Rak’s hair with his remaining hand, he remained deep in sleep.
Seo Won spent time watching Baek Rak for a long while, feeling a strangely satisfying contentment.
Then at some point, Seo Won also dozed off.
In the quiet darkness, the low breathing of three people flowed silently.
The first person to open his eyes was Baek Rak.
He carefully lowered Seo Won’s hand that was still covering his eyes and looked up. Then he saw Seo Won’s face right in front of him.
“……”
He quietly gazed at Seo Won, who was sleeping with his head lowered as if he might topple forward at any moment, then slowly raised his head.
When he brought his lips to Seo Won’s lips, who was breathing with soft sounds, he could feel the hot breath completely. Even as he kissed him while swallowing the breath that flowed in, Seo Won showed no signs of waking up.
Baek Rak pulled his lips away again and examined Seo Won’s face before slowly getting up.
After briefly touching the lips that had been in contact with Yoon Seo Won, he chuckled and laid Seo Won down on the ground. Perhaps he was sleeping more deeply than expected, as he didn’t wake up even when his body was moved.
After sleeping deeply, the pain he had felt in his shoulder had completely disappeared. Though his energy was quite depleted, it was fine since he could replenish it from now on.
When he spread his senses wide to examine the area around the bunker, he could feel creatures moving around. Either the darkness hadn’t passed yet, or it was likely still night.
He should probably check how much the creatures on the path to Yeongdeungpo Station had decreased after the Alpha’s death. He’d have to go out alone to confirm when daylight came. If any higher creatures were wandering around that area, it wouldn’t be bad to deal with them while he was at it.
With nothing immediate to do, Baek Rak took out his leather pouch, feeling hungry. As he was taking out vegetable sticks and dried fruit from inside, he heard rustling sounds from somewhere.
When he looked toward where the sound came from, Yoon Seo Won was sleeping while embracing the child, though he didn’t know when he had moved.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
