Chapter 34
“Ah, now I feel like I can live.”
“Why? Did something happen?”
“There was… something frustrating, but there’s nothing I can do about it. Is that why I’m frustrated? Because there’s nothing I can do?”
“What nonsense are you talking about? Drink up.”
Instructor Jin refilled Instructor Kim’s empty glass, and the two made a toast and drank their soju eagerly. Now that someone had appeared who could drink with him, Instructor Jin seemed to have loosened up, which made Igeon laugh.
“Then did Taekyung go back to the dormitory?”
“No, he went home. He said he’d return to the dormitory by the end of the day though.”
“I see.”
Looking at the time, it was almost 9 PM. It seemed like Igeon should be getting up to leave soon. Since the school was quite far from here, it would take an hour and a half by bus. But given that the atmosphere had become so pleasant and the instructor seemed to be in a good mood, Igeon thought he could stay for about 30 more minutes, so he diligently grilled meat for the instructors. Then, on his way back from a quick trip to the bathroom, he got a call from Han Taekyung.
[Where are you?]
“Huh? I’m still with Instructor Jin. Are you back at the dormitory?”
[Yeah, I came and you weren’t here, so I called.]
“I’m planning to leave in about 10 minutes.”
[Tell me your location. I’ll send a car.]
“Huh? There’s no need for that. I can take the bus.”
[What if you break curfew while taking the bus?]
“No, there’s plenty of time left.”
[Please. I’ll send a car, just ride in it.]
What’s going on? It was strange for Han Taekyung to be so insistent, and his voice was low. Did something happen? The atmosphere made it impossible to refuse any further, so Igeon said okay. Then he returned to the table and said goodbye to the instructors.
“There’s a school curfew, so I think I should go now.”
“Ah, right. You mentioned there’s a curfew. Hurry along then.”
“See you both next time. Instructor, I’ll keep in touch often.”
“Yes, yes. Take care and stay healthy. Keep training hard.”
“I will.”
“Ah, Igeon.”
As Igeon was about to leave, Instructor Kim called out to him.
“Yes, Instructor Kim.”
“Take care of Taekyung.”
“What?”
“That kid must be going through a hard time right now… Never mind. Just take good care of him. Get along well.”
“…Yes. I understand.”
Instructor Kim seemed to have a lot to say but couldn’t tell him. It was like Jae-woo’s expression when they met at the hospital that time. Considering that Taekyung’s voice hadn’t sounded good earlier, could something be happening? He started to feel a bit concerned.
When he left the barbecue restaurant, a familiar car had just arrived. After he got in, the driver seemed to be reporting to Taekyung over the phone that he had boarded. They usually didn’t go this far, so what was going on? Igeon decided he would ask when he arrived. After about an hour’s drive, they reached the dormitory.
When he opened the door and entered, it was completely dark. Taekyung had said he was at the dormitory, so it couldn’t be this dark. When he turned on the light and looked around, he saw Han Taekyung sitting on the bed still in his suit.
“Hey, why are you sitting in the dark?”
“Oh, you’re here?”
Taekyung got up from the bed and smiled at Igeon as if relieved.
“You smell like meat.”
“Ah, really?”
When Igeon sniffed his clothes, they definitely had a strong smell. As Igeon was taking off his clothes and about to open the terrace door, Taekyung grabbed his wrist.
“Don’t open the door.”
“Huh? Why?”
“Just don’t open it.”
“…Okay.”
Today was really strange. His mouth was smiling, but his eyes weren’t smiling at all. Taekyung slightly opened the curtain to look outside, then closed it tightly again. It felt a bit stifling, but there must be a reason, so Igeon left it alone.
“Instructor Kim came while we were eating meat earlier. I left after watching them drink, but by now they might have collapsed.”
Igeon had expected responses like “Is that so?” or “What did you talk about?” but Han Taekyung just stood there, seemingly lost in thought.
“Hey, is something wrong?”
“…Do I look like something’s wrong?”
“Yeah, extremely. You’re acting so out of character, did you get into some kind of trouble?”
He wasn’t the type to get into trouble, but his behavior was so strange that Igeon had to ask.
“Haah… Go shower. I’ll tell you.”
“What?”
It was surprising that he would tell him so readily. But perhaps he was in a situation where he had to talk. Otherwise, if it was something he could solve on his own, he wouldn’t have mentioned it. Igeon said okay and went into the bathroom to shower. By the time he came out, Taekyung had changed into comfortable clothes, brewed coffee, and placed cups on the tea table they’d bought a few weeks ago, waiting for Igeon.
“Sit down.”
“Sure.”
Igeon tapped his dripping hair with a towel and sat down.
“It’s a complicated story.”
“Okay.”
“But I have no choice but to tell you. Just in case…”
“Just in case?”
“It would be fortunate if only I were in danger, but I realized that the people around me… including you, might be in danger too.”
“What are you saying? Why would I be in danger?”
“I’ll explain now.”
Taekyung had thought a lot before Igeon arrived. Should he tell Igeon or not… He didn’t want to tell Igeon if possible. He wanted him to know nothing. He wanted him to just focus on the selection tournament without any worries. That’s why he didn’t want to tell him. But if he wasn’t going to tell him, then he would have to leave Igeon. Once they came to the dormitory, they would have obviously put Igeon on their radar too. It made sense in a way. If they were monitoring Taekyung, they would have seen that they were together almost 24 hours a day. And what if Igeon got kidnapped or hurt? It wasn’t a highly likely story, but the problem was that the possibility existed. So he needed to leave. Before Igeon became more endangered.
He knew that. He knew, but… he couldn’t do it. Taekyung didn’t want to leave Igeon. He wanted to stay with him longer, to go to the Olympics together, and to ask him to help defeat this monster, even if it was a promise from the past that he didn’t remember. And he wanted to say that he wanted to… continue being together. Even if it wasn’t in the form Taekyung wanted, he wanted to be with Igeon in whatever way made him happy. But if he just left without saying anything… his dreams would be shattered, and the castle he had built so far would crumble. He would never see Igeon again, he wouldn’t be able to do taekwondo, and he wouldn’t be able to defeat the monster. He would become a fugitive for life, regretting his past self who left Igeon behind.
He didn’t want that. So he came to a different conclusion. Even if he couldn’t tell Igeon everything, he would explain the situation and ask him to fight together, and to be prepared just in case.
Starting from his childhood, he explained that it was too complicated to fully explain, but basically he was born in a near-dead state and received a dominant alpha trait transplant from his father, and the side effects of that transplant were now conflicting with his own alpha nature, which is why he was completely suppressing it. And because this side effect had a special quality, many people were targeting his genes, they had been harassing him since he was young, and when that didn’t work properly, they even kidnapped Jae-woo. As Igeon listened to this story, he stared blankly at Taekyung without even drinking his coffee. And when Taekyung told him about the suspicious figures looking into their room in front of the dormitory and what had happened today, Igeon’s face quickly turned pale. Silence hung in the room for a while. Then Igeon rubbed his face several times with dry hands, finally downed his coffee in one shot, and took a deep breath.
“So. Those cockroach-like things… have infiltrated the school to target you, is that what you’re saying?”
“Yes.”
“Can’t you drive them out? Isn’t your father acquainted with the school principal?”
“They’re already doing that. But their methods are becoming more and more cunning. There’s even talk that they might be among our classmates.”
“What?”
“That’s probably not the case. We’ve already identified all of our classmates’ backgrounds. No, not just our classmates, but everyone attending this school. We can’t have dangerous individuals. But it’s impossible to check every single person coming and going to the school. That’s impossible. As you know, in our country, facial recognition identification is illegal due to privacy invasion, right? Still, we’re taking all possible measures. There’s even a possibility that they’ve dealt with several people without me knowing.”
“…Is it really that serious?”
At Igeon’s question that sounded like “Are you joking?”, Han Taekyung smiled bitterly. That smile showed that the current situation was more serious than what Igeon was thinking. Just laughing and training and practicing and taking exams, being busy and preoccupied with just that… and being together, laughing and having fun together, so he didn’t know there was such a problem. He really knew nothing at all.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
