Toward the End (1)
Sa Hae-geon kissed Chae Do-min’s lips to wake the sleeping prince within the blankets. Perhaps due to his body temperature rising while sleeping, his lips felt much hotter than before. Despite the kiss, Chae Do-min’s eyelids remained firmly closed. Sa Hae-geon shrugged lightly and planted kisses all over Chae Do-min’s cheeks, jaw, lips, and eyelids. Thanks to these passionate kisses, Chae Do-min’s mind seemed to gradually return from the depths of slumber.
With furrowed brows, Chae Do-min mumbled in a husky voice.
“Mmm… Cream, daddy just needs a minute…”
Sa Hae-geon picked up Cream, who was looking up at him with puzzled eyes from beneath the bed, and placed her on his lap. Then he gently held her front paw and pressed it against Chae Do-min’s cheek. When Cream’s paw pressed against his cheek, his slightly swollen lips protruded like a bird’s beak. Sa Hae-geon set Cream aside and enveloped Chae Do-min’s protruding lips as if biting them.
The furrow between Chae Do-min’s brows deepened.
“Mmmm…”
As Sa Hae-geon pulled away after lightly licking his lips, Chae Do-min reproached him in a sleep-laden voice.
“Cream, you shouldn’t bite daddy…”
He seemed to firmly believe Sa Hae-geon was Cream. With a smile at the corners of his mouth, Sa Hae-geon left his teeth marks on both of Chae Do-min’s cheeks.
“Ah… Daddy, that hurts…”
Chae Do-min muttered in a whiny tone, then spread his arms wide and embraced Sa Hae-geon. He rubbed his cheek against Sa Hae-geon’s crown and sighed.
“Let’s sleep together, Cream.”
At any other time, Sa Hae-geon would have tried to make Chae Do-min recognize his presence, but not today. Sa Hae-geon lay quietly in Chae Do-min’s arms, steadying his breathing, when his eyes met Cream’s, who was wagging her tail beside him. This added one more secret between Cream and himself.
* * *
The next morning, we headed to the Ability Department headquarters. After getting out of the taxi and walking toward the parking lot, we saw several large buses and ability users clustered in front of them. Some ability users assigned to our team spotted us and waved, acknowledging us.
“Hey, come this way!”
Among the ability users who had arrived early were Woo Jae-dam and Myeong Si-yeong. Sa Hae-geon still seemed concerned about Woo Jae-dam, but he appeared more relaxed than yesterday. Naturally, knowing Woo Jae-dam’s age would make him less self-conscious.
Besides, hadn’t something happened between us yesterday? Recalling what had transpired between Sa Hae-geon and me yesterday made my face feel hot. Just thinking about it briefly caused my body to react first. Clearing my throat softly, I headed toward the bus where Esper Lee Cheol-min and Myeong Si-yeong greeted us.
“Oh, you’re here? Did you eat a hearty breakfast? You’ll need your strength today.”
“With you two… that makes only eight people gathered so far.”
“Yes, I ate. I assume everyone else had breakfast too? You all arrived early.”
“It’s the others who are late.”
Myeong Si-yeong spoke primly before turning around to face Woo Jae-dam, as if having completed his duty. Then, in a spirited voice, he began chatting about various trivial matters.
“Hyung, you know what? You won’t believe what he said to me yesterday. You’ll be surprised when you hear it! No, really, he said…”
Myeong Si-yeong’s story continued at length after that. Woo Jae-dam simply nodded occasionally without verbally responding. He was more the type to silently listen to Myeong Si-yeong’s stories. Despite appearances, Myeong Si-yeong was quite shy. In gatherings with many strangers, he would hover around familiar faces and chatter away. The target was usually Woo Jae-dam.
Myeong Si-yeong spoke enthusiastically even though he knew Woo Jae-dam wasn’t particularly interested in his stories and wasn’t really listening.
“Anyway, he said he’d introduce me to another decent Guide. When I saw the photo, I thought they might suit you. What do you think? Interested?”
Woo Jae-dam, who had kept his mouth shut the entire time, finally spoke after declining with a slight shake of his head.
“Let’s get on the bus first. We can’t wait out here forever.”
“Oh, shall we? Yeah, let’s continue talking inside, hyung. I was actually wanting to sit down.”
Responding as if he’d been waiting for Woo Jae-dam’s suggestion, Myeong Si-yeong was the first to board the bus. Woo Jae-dam watched Myeong Si-yeong’s back with a slightly tired expression before slowly walking forward. Watching other ability users boarding the bus behind the two, Esper Lee Cheol-min and I exchanged glances.
At that moment, Sa Hae-geon, holding his bag in front of the bus trunk, said:
“I’ll just put my bag in and then get on. You go ahead.”
“Okay, sure.”
I boarded the bus with Esper Lee Cheol-min. But there was something I hadn’t considered. In our assigned team, there were three members from Central Center Field Team 1: me, Sa Hae-geon, and Esper Lee Cheol-min. The bus seats were arranged in pairs. This meant someone would have to sit alone or with another team member with whom they weren’t familiar.
Of course, it seems a bit silly for full-grown adults to worry about such things, but since it’s part of social interaction, it was hard not to be concerned. As I stood awkwardly in the bus aisle wondering how to arrange the seating, Esper Lee Cheol-min, who was standing behind me, said casually:
“Guide Do-min, don’t worry about me. Why don’t you sit with that kid Hae-geon? I was planning to sit with an old friend anyway.”
“A friend?”
“Yeah. I have a buddy at the Western Center whom I met yesterday. He’s on our team.”
After this brief explanation, Esper Lee Cheol-min sat down next to an Esper who was already on the bus, dozing. He pinched the Esper’s cheek and giggled.
I watched them for a moment before sitting down in a suitable seat to wait for Sa Hae-geon. Shortly after, Sa Hae-geon, having loaded his bag into the trunk, entered the bus. He sat down next to me and naturally put his arm around me.
“H-Hae-geon…”
When I flinched in surprise, Sa Hae-geon chuckled softly and reached over to fasten my seatbelt. Then he brazenly returned to his seat, fastened his own seatbelt, and leaned back. Worried about what others might think, I gave Sa Hae-geon a slight glare before turning away.
At that moment, I overheard a conversation between Myeong Si-yeong and Woo Jae-dam sitting in the back of the bus.
“Why won’t you come? Let’s go together. It’ll be fun. They’re people of our caliber, I’m telling you! It’s just about having fun, so why not? I’m sure you’ll be satisfied too.”
“You’re noisy.”
“Huh, when have I not been noisy to you? You always shut me up by saying I’m too loud. And I asked because I was thinking of you, but you reject it without even considering? Fine, whatever. If you don’t want to go, don’t. Who’s begging you to come along? There’s a truckload of people asking me to bring you.”
Myeong Si-yeong grumbled in a sulky voice. Though unintended, his voice was quite loud, so their conversation kept reaching my ears. Myeong Si-yeong continued to openly show his hurt feelings to Woo Jae-dam. I found myself unconsciously focusing on their conversation, concerned about Myeong Si-yeong’s slightly hurt feelings even before the dungeon conquest had begun, when Sa Hae-geon leaned on my shoulder and grabbed my hand.
“Hyung.”
“…Huh, what?”
“After we finish the conquest, shall we go home and grill some meat?”
“Meat? What kind?”
“Anything. The type doesn’t matter. Let’s just have whatever you like.”
“Sure, let’s do that. Then we can go grocery shopping together on the way home.”
At this, Sa Hae-geon’s eyes widened as he met my gaze. Undisguised joy was evident on his face. Was the suggestion to go shopping together really that exciting? Sa Hae-geon looked as if he’d just been given the world. Soon, he squeezed my hand and said in a somewhat resolute voice:
“Yes. Let’s definitely go grocery shopping together.”
Though he tried to speak in a calm voice, he couldn’t completely hide the excitement in it. Come to think of it, this would be the first time shopping for groceries with Sa Hae-geon. Until now, meal preparation had been Sa Hae-geon’s responsibility, and I had been in a state of kidnapping and confinement. Naturally, shopping together hadn’t been possible. The thought of going to the supermarket with Sa Hae-geon, chatting casually while shopping, gave me a strange feeling.
As Sa Hae-geon and I chatted about various things, the previously empty bus began to fill up. The last to arrive was Esper Yoon Seon-hoo from Central Center Field Team 2. As he took an empty seat, Woo Jae-dam stood up and walked to the front.
Woo Jae-dam compared the team roster he was holding with the people on the bus, nodded, and said to the bus driver:
“Everyone’s here. Please depart.”
“Yes, sir.”
As Woo Jae-dam returned to his seat, he glanced at Sa Hae-geon and me. He looked at us with a somewhat peculiar gaze before continuing on his way.
“Wonder if it’ll take… about an hour or two?”
“By car, probably about two hours. But considering the climb up the mountain, we should allow a good three hours. Oh, speaking of which, I need to catch some sleep.”
“Come on, it can’t take that long.”
“Met up with some friends yesterday for the first time in ages, stayed up all night drinking, and now I’m exhausted. I need to get some rest too.”
“Didn’t you say you were going to quit drinking this year? You drank again?”
“Did I say that…? Ah, whatever. How can a working adult quit drinking?”
The bus filled with people was bustling. The chattering individuals didn’t look like people about to tackle an S-grade dungeon. The atmosphere was different from when Field Team 1 personnel headed to dungeons, so I was curious about Sa Hae-geon’s reaction. When I checked discreetly, Sa Hae-geon was just fiddling with my hand with his usual impassive face. He didn’t seem to hear the conversations between others.
I leaned toward Sa Hae-geon and whispered in his ear:
“What do you think?”
“About what?”
“It’s your first time going to a dungeon with another team.”
I was worried about Sa Hae-geon. He wasn’t even fully accustomed to dungeon conquests with his team members, and now he would be entering a dungeon with dozens of strangers. Whether they worked well together or not was secondary; it would clearly be uncomfortable. Especially since Sa Hae-geon had a fastidious personality.
Moreover, ability users with little dungeon experience often found it stressful to conquer dungeons with people from other teams. They would make mistakes they wouldn’t normally make due to excessive tension, or overuse their abilities. That’s why I couldn’t help but be concerned about Sa Hae-geon.
After deeply contemplating my question, Sa Hae-geon finally spoke.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
