#138
As their eyes met, Dan Joo-hyuk smiled with crinkled eyes. Yoon Pa-ran, who had been staring blankly at that curved line, quickly turned his head away again.
Then, absently running a hand down his nape, he opened the door to the bunker as Dan Joo-hyuk had instructed.
“…”
The awkward feelings he had been experiencing improved a little. He had no choice but to adapt on the day the quest appeared.
When Dan Joo-hyuk was nearby, his palms sweated a bit more and it was oddly difficult to make eye contact, but for now, it seemed okay.
The bunker door soon opened with a heavy sound. A faint smell of dust wafted out, suggesting it hadn’t been opened for a long time.
“Shall we go in?”
“Yeah.”
Pushing aside unnecessary thoughts, Yoon Pa-ran stepped inside. Dan Joo-hyuk naturally moved beside him, guiding the way.
Yoon Pa-ran glanced at him standing next to him again, then silently fixed his gaze forward.
Well, it’ll be easier to look around thanks to him.
As people entered, sensor lights turned on one by one following their steps. It was a scene as if a path made of light was stretching out ahead.
The bunker looked brand new, as if it had never been used since its construction. A wide path that could accommodate five people side by side continued for a while before one or two forks appeared.
There, Yoon Pa-ran paused for a moment and looked at the wall. A complete floor plan of the bunker was posted on the wall.
“Why here all of a sudden?”
Dan Joo-hyuk, who had been silently sticking close, asked in a low voice. Afraid that if he turned his head, their eyes would meet again, Yoon Pa-ran just kept his gaze fixed on the wall as he answered.
“Well, it’s good to be prepared.”
It had already been a month since he received the key to the bunker. He had forgotten about it due to being busy, but Yoon Pa-ran suddenly thought he should check this place out.
Park Jung-hoon had attacked him, and Kim Tae-jun continued to show suspicious behavior. Heo Sang-yeon was also hard to trust, and now even the quest window was trying to lead Yoon Pa-ran somewhere.
So Yoon Pa-ran came here. Because he had a feeling that he could no longer avoid some great wave.
Once involved, he had to do the maximum he could. Even if it was just a struggle.
“Are you worried?”
At that moment, Dan Joo-hyuk spoke as if he had read Yoon Pa-ran’s mind again.
This time, unable to just keep staring at the wall, Yoon Pa-ran slowly turned to look at Dan Joo-hyuk.
“A little.”
He didn’t make any reproachful comments about weakness. He just seemed to be thinking deeply about something, then gestured to one side with his chin.
Following him, Yoon Pa-ran naturally moved his steps. They said it could accommodate a hundred people, and indeed, it took quite some time to look around every corner of the bunker.
Yoon Pa-ran really liked this space. The internal structure was neat, so it didn’t seem like it would feel too stuffy even if one spent a while here.
The components inside were also perfect. Not only were there emergency rations, but essential items like water purification tablets were also well-placed with instructions.
The individual bedrooms and bathrooms were like those in a luxury hotel. In short, it was a perfect bunker, so Yoon Pa-ran started to worry a bit.
This seems like too good a facility. Is it really okay to accept this?
Eventually, their steps reached the very center of the bunker. It was a space shaped like a small circle, like a plaza. Paths led to this place from all areas of the bunker for easy access.
“I can dispel such worries for you.”
As soon as they arrived there, Dan Joo-hyuk suddenly spoke.
Yoon Pa-ran belatedly understood that it was an answer to his earlier expression of worry.
“How?”
Did he get some new information or something?
Yoon Pa-ran asked him with a faint expectation. Dan Joo-hyuk, who had somehow come closer, reached out and gently rubbed Yoon Pa-ran’s cheek.
His voice, which had lowered even more than before, dug into Yoon Pa-ran’s ear canal.
“The sound seems to echo well here, what do you think?”
It was a statement that didn’t make sense at first. Yoon Pa-ran was staring blankly at Dan Joo-hyuk, wondering what on earth he meant.
Dan Joo-hyuk, who had moved even closer, put his remaining hand on Yoon Pa-ran’s waist. Then he lewdly rubbed someone else’s waist.
At this strange behavior, Yoon Pa-ran finally understood what he meant.
“Huh?”
“Get away.”
He quickly pushed that arm away and took a step back. Unfortunately, the words he had just uttered really did echo through this space, which was embarrassing.
Strangely, the tips of his ears felt hot. Unconsciously rubbing his cheek where Dan Joo-hyuk’s hand had touched, Yoon Pa-ran looked at him with reproachful eyes.
Why was he playing such pranks? Dan Joo-hyuk probably didn’t need a skill right now, so this was definitely a joke.
Having made that judgment, Yoon Pa-ran decided to just ignore Dan Joo-hyuk’s words. It’s not like he was attaching great meaning to this kind of behavior anyway.
“Don’t say useless things.”
“…”
Instead, Yoon Pa-ran approached a cabinet in the corner of the plaza that had caught his eye earlier. When he opened it, the inside was empty.
As expected, this seemed like just the right space.
…Not the perversely appropriate space Dan Joo-hyuk had mentioned.
“I’m thinking of using this as a lab for the time being. We don’t know how the medium will activate.”
Finding the medium was one of the struggles Yoon Pa-ran could engage in. If he could artificially create a safe zone, the possibilities for its use were endless.
Especially if that safe zone could be created outside the gate, it would be even better.
He still had no idea what the medium might be. Moreover, since it was an unprecedented skill, he couldn’t predict what might happen during the experiments. So it seemed good to do various research here for the time being.
However, only after declaring this did Yoon Pa-ran cautiously gauge Dan Joo-hyuk’s reaction. It was already a burdensome space to receive. Was it okay to say he would use it as he pleased like this?
“Ah.”
Fortunately, Dan Joo-hyuk didn’t seem to mind at all.
Rather, with a deeply thoughtful look, he even offered a good suggestion.
“Come to think of it, could an item possibly be the medium?”
“An item?”
“Yes. The items purified by your power could be the medium.”
“I see…”
As he listened, it seemed like a very plausible idea. Although Yoon Pa-ran had imagined something like minerals, that was just a guess and nothing certain.
“As it happens, I have some items collected at my house. Remember when completely purified items dropped when we were clearing gates together?”
“Oh…”
It was from the time when they were going around clearing low-level gates with Dan Joo-hyuk. Back then, neither Yoon Pa-ran nor Dan Joo-hyuk needed to hide their power, so purified items would drop even when defeating boss monsters.
Dan Joo-hyuk had taken all of those, as if collecting them.
“Want to go see them together now?”
Dan Joo-hyuk suggested smoothly. As soon as he heard it, Yoon Pa-ran felt like he was being drawn in for some reason.
“…Okay.”
However, no matter how much he thought about it, there was no reason to think that way. So Yoon Pa-ran slowly nodded.
The short bunker exploration ended like that.
❖ ❖ ❖
“…”
On the way back from the bunker, they rode in Dan Joo-hyuk’s car. Yoon Pa-ran felt a bit strange, as it seemed he had been getting rides in Dan Joo-hyuk’s car wherever he went recently.
The streets visible through the window were bustling with an end-of-year atmosphere. Colorful light decorations adorned the street trees. Christmas-themed props were abundant in the stores lining the streets.
Tomorrow would already be Christmas Eve.
“What are you doing for Christmas?”
The car had just stopped at a red light. Dan Joo-hyuk looked where Yoon Pa-ran was gazing and asked lightly.
In front of a bakery, there was a Christmas tree decoration as tall as a person. Looking at that sparkling tree, Yoon Pa-ran answered casually.
“I’ll be busy.”
“…Why?”
However, Dan Joo-hyuk’s returning voice was somehow quite heavy.
As the atmosphere suddenly became serious, Yoon Pa-ran reflexively looked at Dan Joo-hyuk. He was glaring at the tree Yoon Pa-ran had been looking at with a very stiff expression.
Why is he like that? Does he hate Christmas?
“The orphanage has a lot going on starting tomorrow. I have to go help. Take care of the younger ones too.”
“Ah.”
Yoon Pa-ran answered for now, although he was puzzled.
Given the nature of the orphanage with many young children, they couldn’t just let holidays like Christmas pass by. Yoon Pa-ran had secretly analyzed at night the letters the children had written with care days before.
He had to prepare gifts accordingly and put up lots of decorations to create an atmosphere in the orphanage. He also found someone to play the role of Santa. After Yoon Pa-ran was once caught by Ju-hee while trying to wear a Santa costume, they intentionally recruited unfamiliar people for the role.
It was also a day when many people volunteered to come help. So the orphanage would be bustling all day like a small festival.
Of course, this time there wouldn’t be as many people coming and going as last year. They had only invited a select few grateful people who had maintained a long-term relationship with the orphanage.
It was a situation where guys like Kim Tae-jun were doing suspicious things. For safety, it would be better if only the orphanage family spent time together, but after much deliberation, they decided against it, worried the children might feel alienated.
There was a lot to help with when he returned to the orphanage tonight too. While calmly counting these tasks in his head, the car arrived at Dan Joo-hyuk’s house.
“Let’s go in.”
“Okay.”
With those words, Dan Joo-hyuk clamped his mouth shut again. He seemed strangely quiet ever since the Christmas conversation earlier.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
