#108
At least A-class or above.
The Espers raised their energy, estimating the monster’s grade. Their eyes glowed with colors corresponding to their abilities. As they prepared to attack at any moment in this tense standoff, they blankly watched the giant bird rise above the clouds with a low cry and powerful wingbeats.
‘It seemed ready to attack just now.’
Baek Sang-jin narrowed his eyes and surveyed the surroundings. A creature that had grown to that size was certainly not stupid. It only hunted prey it could defeat, so there must have been a change in variables.
His prediction was spot on, as not long after the giant bird hid itself, Ha Eun-chan appeared from the opposite side of the road.
His ashen eyes curved into a smile as they focused on Ho-woo through the car window.
***
“Boss.”
Oh-yul turned around at Han Seong-won’s call. The mixed gazes of admiration and aspiration from the Espers lined up behind him clung thickly to Oh-yul.
“Preparations are complete. We’ve also sent Ha Eun-chan to greet them as you ordered.”
While everyone was looking forward to their fate as they faced a new era, Oh-yul gave them an indifferent look before staring at the tightly closed door.
He had dreamed of this moment.
Yet he hoped it wouldn’t come.
These conflicting feelings brought him fear that didn’t suit him. What he wanted was so clear, but a thread of reason pressed down on his instincts, wanting to move forward on the right path.
He grasped the faintly felt end of the imprint, waiting for his master to approach.
Even when he smiled with all his might, there was always a chilling claw hidden in his smile. While hoping Ho-woo would accept all of him, he desperately hid his fear of someone who might run away if they knew everything.
He only needed one person, but that was the hardest part.
Only that person made him feel like an ordinary person, but it was so difficult.
If only he were an object, he could possess him.
He clenched and unclenched his hand, smiling bitterly. He had really used every method. The stupid, greedy man had been in Oh-yul’s grasp from the beginning. His desires were what Oh-yul had instilled in him. If anything had deviated from the plan, it might be Kim Seon-young becoming a guide.
“By the way, boss, how should we deal with Kim Dong-cheol?”
“You can leave him be. He’s of no use now.”
“Pardon?”
“Put Kim Seon-young in the training center. We’re short on guides as it is.”
“…Understood.”
All the power Kim Dong-cheol had enjoyed was reclaimed. Even the sloppy kidnapping attempt for his last struggle was all as expected. Things went even smoother after Ho-woo left the city.
An honest and righteous person.
Those qualities of Lee Ho-woo became the leash for his own morality, but there were times when that leash needed to be thrown off. The city would become a giant snow globe to trap him, and the contract would impose obligations on him. Now there was nowhere to run.
No matter how terrible.
Oh-yul stared arrogantly at the front as he sensed someone approaching the door.
The tightly closed door slowly opened. The eerie noise from the rusty hinges sounded like the screams Lee Ho-woo would make in the future. It wasn’t a pleasant sound.
He immediately found Ho-woo through the small gap in the door. The face he was seeing after two weeks remained the same. Although his skin had tanned a bit, there wasn’t much change overall.
“Ho-woo.”
At the calm call, the eyes that had been looking around turned to him. Oh-yul shuddered at his own reflection in those clear eyes and lifted the corners of his mouth.
This can’t be love.
Right, this can’t be love.
This obscene and terrible nature can’t be love.
“Yul!”
At the bright smile, Oh-yul spread his arms wide. Ho-woo, who had run until he was out of breath, rushed into his arms and nuzzled his face against Oh-yul’s shoulder.
“Welcome back.”
To your prison.
He swallowed the last words and patted Ho-woo’s back, his arms tightening like chains. The familiar warmth calmed his stirred heart. Any feeble sense of guilt was erased again. No, had he ever felt guilt in the first place? Regret wasn’t a word that suited him either.
Oh-yul had never regretted anything until now.
Choice and consequence.
He had chosen truth instead of lies, and now it was time to receive the results. Whether it was in the direction he desired, or a catastrophe. There was no place to retreat now.
As he becomes more special and Oh-yul hopes to become ordinary through him, they would move forward like eternal parallel lines.
“I’m relieved to see you’ve done so well without me.”
Oh-yul let out a low laugh as he rubbed Ho-woo’s slightly tanned cheek with his fingertip. The faint emotions transmitted through the imprint he was feeling after two weeks came flooding in. Emotions don’t culminate in just one.
The longing, joy, and even the hidden wariness he felt while looking at him all came together to form the current Lee Ho-woo.
“The clothes suit you well too.”
He straightened the collar of the white uniform and leaned in to kiss Ho-woo’s cheek.
“They said I had to wear this no matter what.”
Ho-woo glanced at Baek Sang-jin. He was watching them from not far away, with his hands behind his back. Oh-yul, who had followed Ho-woo’s gaze to him, smiled wryly while looking at him. The face was familiar. Instead of frowning, Oh-yul smiled.
An unforgettable face indeed.
He was originally from this city too. The man standing among the Espers who had come to fetch Oh-yul. The only remnant of the past that Oh-yul couldn’t kill.
“It’s been a while. You’ve grown a lot.”
Oh-yul calmly nodded at the casual greeting. Although he was displeased, it was because of that man that it was possible to send Ho-woo to another city.
Baek Sang-jin knew Oh-yul well and would never go against his wishes.
As Ho-woo, caught between the two, squirmed to get out, Oh-yul firmly held his waist. Even when Ho-woo tapped Oh-yul’s arm with his fist a few times, signaling him to let go, he didn’t budge. Perhaps sensing Oh-yul’s firm unwillingness, Ho-woo seemed to give up trying to escape and let out a small sigh.
“Do you two know each other?”
“…Know each other. I suppose you could say that. My team went to fetch this kid when he awakened.”
“Kid…”
Ho-woo mulled over the word. He had heard it, but he was clearly struggling to apply it to Oh-yul. Seeing this, Baek Sang-jin added an explanation.
“When I saw him, he was about this tall.”
Baek Sang-jin shrugged, pointing to a spot just above his thigh.
“It’s the first time I’ve seen you in twenty years, but you haven’t changed at all.”
While answering Ho-woo’s question, Baek Sang-jin didn’t avoid Oh-yul’s gaze. His snake-like eyes, gleaming as they had that day, narrowed as they looked Oh-yul up and down.
“Is that so? I thought I had changed a lot.”
“Your appearance may change anytime. What I’m talking about is something else.”
The small child had now become a large man of 193cm. Oh-yul looked down at him. His face was slightly different from his memory. It might be because the perspective had changed since then. In Oh-yul’s memory, the man was still a young adult with a terrified expression.
He was an A-class Esper like Yoon Joo-ho, who had been the leader of the team that came to fetch Oh-yul. On that day when everything began, Baek Sang-jin wasn’t affected by Oh-yul’s ability. With an energy level barely qualifying for S-class, Baek Sang-jin had narrowly escaped Oh-yul’s control range but was too scared to do anything.
Oh-yul also knew that he wasn’t affected by his ability. He had barely managed to block Oh-yul, so if Oh-yul had decided to penetrate his mind, he could have controlled him. They both knew this.
Oh-yul tested him. And he passed that test but still lived with anxiety. Baek Sang-jin remained completely silent about that day, and Oh-yul watched him but turned a blind eye.
Someone who knew their place and kept their mouth shut was useful to have around.
But before Oh-yul could use him, Baek Sang-jin fled to another city the year Oh-yul turned 10. It was so secretive that he left like he was running away, without anyone seeing him off, as Oh-yul heard later. After moving his base to the Southern City, he never breathed a word about the past there either.
Oh-yul admired his wisdom.
No matter how young, an Esper is still an Esper. If Oh-yul had wanted to, he could have easily gone to another city even then. If Baek Sang-jin had acted out without knowing his place, he might have been somewhere in the sunny Southern City’s sea by now.
He carefully examined the wrinkled face of the man. The face that had held a secret for a long time was gentle. As he searched his memory, the young face from back then faintly overlapped. Though not much had changed, it looked unfamiliar despite being clearly remembered, perhaps because the expression was different.
“Come to think of it, I heard you became S-class after a re-evaluation 15 years ago.”
“You remember that?”
As Oh-yul mentioned the exact number of years, Baek Sang-jin asked somewhat sourly.
