Chapter 5
After some time had passed and Eunseong had pulled himself together, he set out to find Mujin.
Though he was hurt by Mujin’s cold treatment, there was no time to waste on petty squabbling. Besides, if he were in Mujin’s position and thought someone was carelessly throwing their life away, he would certainly be angry too, so he wasn’t in a position to sulk.
As always, Mujin was spending time in the training room.
“Mujin.”
“Your legs seem fine.”
He approached awkwardly, but only received a sharp sarcastic response in return. As Eunseong wondered how to smooth things over, Mujin immediately peppered him with questions.
“That crazy stunt, whose idea was it? Father’s?”
Sitting right next to him, Eunseong could see that the flames that had been blazing in his eyes had gone out. Instead of the bright yellow golden eyes that had been flashing, they had returned to their usual warm, dark pupils.
It seemed he had decided to keep the coldness only in his words. Eunseong cleared his throat, which had naturally tightened up.
“My monster… did you kill it?”
“My monster, he says. What are you talking about it like some pet?”
His scolding tone was mixed with plenty of bitter laughter. Eunseong turned his head toward the outside of the training ground, avoiding his gaze. A different scenery from the night view he had seen from the dark bedroom was spread out before him.
The training ground, with its large glass windows opened wide enough to take in the entire residential district at a glance, was always bright with light when the sun was up. This place too was faintly permeated with Mujin’s scent throughout the space.
To avoid rifts that appeared suddenly without any warning, they had built towers and constructed cities in the air. The new residential districts were graded according to safety. Mujin’s house, where Huiseon Guild was located, was right in the heart of the most prized land in District 1, the safest zone.
Though this land was built with the blood and tears of the first generation that faced the rifts, now the era of living on the original land had become so distant it only remained in photographs. The time had come when living on this safe land was taken for granted.
Ironically, the power needed to maintain the residential districts came from the rifts. That’s why the entire nation was on edge about Mujin’s well-being. The existence of the hunter with the most powerful strength was a national asset.
“Don’t be angry at ajussi. I was the one who stepped forward first saying I wanted to do it, and it was my idea. Communing is my skill, isn’t it? Ajussi is also making many sacrifices. The costs he’s bearing are considerable too…”
“…”
“Everything was prepared safely. You saw it too, right? Hunter Lee Haesu—ajussi had him on standby.”
Mujin only stared intensely at Eunseong’s cheek as if he would bore a hole through it. Even without looking back, his gaze was so intense it made his skin sting. Knowing well that no matter what he said, Mujin wouldn’t be convinced, Eunseong kept adding excuses one after another.
“He called Lee Haesu because he thought you still had some use. He’s not some idiot pushover, so why would you be grateful for that?”
“Isn’t it fortunate that I’m useful?”
Fire flashed in Mujin’s eyes again.
“Are you also trying to keep me alive because I’m useful to you?”
“Useful…”
Eunseong smiled softly.
Even when his supernatural energy growth stopped after entering high school and his hunter grade was essentially fixed, Eunseong had always stuck close to Mujin, bundled together as a set with Jaeseong. This was rare in hunter society, where groups were thoroughly divided by grade.
On days when they participated in mock training or item auctions, he could feel the difference in grades with his skin.
‘Mr. Yoo Eunseong cannot enter from here. Only A-grade and above hunters are allowed inside.’
‘He’s with us.’
‘I’m aware of that. However, Mr. Yoo Eunseong might be adversely affected by high-grade items, so for safety reasons, the established rules are strict. Please understand.’
‘But he’s my older brother.’
‘I’ll take good care of your younger brother. Please let us go in together.’
They said he couldn’t fit in because his grade was too low. Mujin and Jaeseong had never once shown him such an attitude.
On days with such schedules, he could have tactfully withdrawn, or he could have chosen to gradually distance himself, but Eunseong didn’t do that. Rather, worried that Mujin and Jaeseong might separate him out of concern for the hurt he might receive, he acted like someone who knew nothing.
He stubbornly followed the two, playing the role of a happy sidekick who tagged along even without knowing how to play the game.
Did he regret it? He regretted it to death. If only he hadn’t followed Jaeseong around like a shadow, Jaeseong’s opportunity wouldn’t have been lost because of him in that accident.
If only he had stayed quietly at home that day…
Eunseong looked back at Mujin with a calmly settled expression.
“…If I don’t save you, I’ll die, Baek Mujin. Not because people will harm me, but because I won’t be able to endure it. In that sense, you’re useful to me.”
“How can I make you realize it’s not your responsibility?”
“Because I can only take the next step if I save you. My life stopped on the day hyung died. I’m enduring now only because I can see a way to save you, even if it’s just a thread-thin possibility. That’s the only path for my atonement.”
“I’m grateful to whoever saved you that day, even though I don’t know who it was.”
Eunseong’s throat caught at Mujin’s unexpectedly serious gaze and words.
“…”
“And I don’t think it was a mistake either. I would have saved you too.”
‘Because I’m the weakest?’ The question that reflexively came to mind couldn’t be voiced. He could only try to gauge Mujin’s feelings.
When Eunseong just stared back frozen, Mujin also quietly met his gaze without looking away.
After the accident, when he first returned to the empty house, Eunseong had seriously considered suicide.
The fact that he was a useless low-grade hunter, and that he possessed a buff skill that had to be hidden from others’ eyes—none of that had mattered because he had the solid fence of family.
After losing everything in an instant and even coming out with the undeserved title of survivor, when he tried to stand alone in the world, the cold stares nearly froze his soul to the core.
In such times, it was Mujin who became the support for the lonely Eunseong.
It was truly an ironic situation—receiving comfort from the very Mujin whose life he had endangered and for whom he received all kinds of criticism as the culprit.
What was the first thing Yuseong’s executives said when he took on the unsuitable position of guild leader?
‘You don’t have to do anything, just continue the lineage.’
For Yuseong Guild, what was actually more important than the fact that they couldn’t extract Baek Mujin’s Hwanghwa was that the guild was facing an existential crisis. Since he was the twin of Yoo Jaeseong, who had inherited the abilities of ‘Yuseong,’ the guild’s founding founder, most deeply, it was a natural demand in a way.
However, for Eunseong, who had secretly liked Mujin since he was very young, it was only bewildering. He found himself disgusting for having taken it so naturally for granted that his older brother Jaeseong would shoulder all the duties regarding marriage and descendants.
For that reason, when he proposed using his own life as material for re-awakening, fierce opposition arose within the guild.
‘Get married and have children for the guild!’
‘It would be better to bring in a spouse while Yuseong still has some value left.’
‘But that means abandoning Mujin.’
Even if it was ironic, he was convinced that driving himself to death was the way to save Mujin, and also his own way to live. So Eunseong made that his life’s goal.
The types of emotions he discovered after becoming alone were several times more than what he had felt during all his years of living. They were as diverse as they were dark and damp. Envy toward those who lived properly without losing anything, and inferiority complex toward those who were confident even alone.
Among them, the emotions he held toward the Hwanghwa that was burning away Mujin’s life were the most complex and varied.
The place where his homeless, useless self seemed most needed. Every time he felt pity for the slowly dying Mujin, he felt vile even to himself.
That you’re grateful I’m alive.
If he had been Mujin, could he have said such words?
Eunseong eventually looked away first. If Jaeseong hadn’t died, if he had safely extracted Mujin’s Hwanghwa and reached adulthood, he wouldn’t have had to look at Mujin with such complicated feelings.
He was ashamed of himself because even the responsibility to save him hadn’t been his from the beginning. Whatever sacrifice he made, it was greed to find his own way to live. He was a shameless person who had even stolen responsibility.
While being so selfish, he also didn’t want to lose his friendship with Mujin. He had never even imagined Mujin looking disappointed in him. Even knowing that Mujin disliked his attempts at re-awakening, he hoped Mujin wouldn’t dislike it.
As anxiety suddenly surged, Eunseong timidly looked up at Mujin, but he showed no emotion other than worry. When the relieved Eunseong rolled his eyes around like a child who had been scolded, Mujin let out a deep sigh. It seemed like a signal that he would let go of his anger, so Eunseong quietly lifted the corners of his mouth.
Mujin put his hand in his pocket and pulled out a small, square box to hand to Eunseong.
“…What’s this?”
When he opened the dark blue velvet box, a simple platinum ring appeared.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
