#115
It was difficult to change from calling someone “Mother” for over a decade to suddenly addressing her as “Doctor.” Ho-woo smiled awkwardly.
“Please keep the greeting brief. As I said, we don’t have much time.”
Ho-woo nodded lightly and dashed towards Seong Ha-young.
***
The place was filled with bustling noise. Those doing final checks before departure turned their gaze to the one who had descended gently from the sky.
The esper who had carried Ho-woo across the city smiled with his eyes in response to the stares. The other cities’ espers flinched and quietly averted their gazes at the smile that could be interpreted as “Look away.”
“Chief? Didn’t you say you weren’t coming today?”
Han Seong-won, the only one who approached Oh-yul with quick steps, scratched the back of his head.
“You came for Ho-woo, didn’t you?”
“It’s good to say a final goodbye.”
“Well, even though it’s difficult to meet again, it’s not bad to keep in touch.”
Han Seong-won indicated with his eyes where Baek Sang-jin was. The middle-aged man, who was fulfilling his duty as a leader to the very end, approached with a sour face when he made eye contact with them, especially Oh-yul.
“I see you’ve come to see us off.”
“I wanted to say goodbye.”
Baek Sang-jin’s expression softened a bit at Ho-woo’s answer.
“It might be hard to meet again, but you’re always welcome if you come to visit.”
“Thank you.”
“And give my regards to those two as well.”
Ho-woo’s face brightened at the mention of sending regards to the two guides who couldn’t say goodbye.
“I’ll make sure to tell them.”
“Good. Hmm… I’d like to chat longer, but it’s troublesome if the sun sets.”
He looked back. The espers who had finished preparations were waiting for Baek Sang-jin. Standing in front of those gathered before the tightly closed door, waiting for his command, Baek Sang-jin raised his arm forward. At his signal to depart, the rusty door slowly opened. As the ear-piercing sound of scraping metal ceased, the espers lightly kicked off the ground. They quickly moved away, already appearing as mere dots in the distance. Baek Sang-jin nodded a goodbye to Ho-woo and ran out. Only when he had gradually disappeared below the horizon did Ho-woo speak.
“They’re gone.”
Kuung-!
The city’s gate locked again with a heavy sound.
“We’ll be able to see them again later, right? It would be nice if we could visit with you next time, Oh-yul.”
Though leaving the city was a difficult thing to do even once in a lifetime, Ho-woo asked Oh-yul with a small hope. The esper looked up at the gate that seemed like an impenetrable prison and gave an ambiguous answer.
“I’m not sure if it will be possible.”
“Because there are too many monsters on the way?”
“I wish that were the reason.”
He glanced at the tightly closed gate and held out his hand.
“Shall we go back now?”
***
Crunch-
With the small sound of trampling grass, the black shadow landed in the dark garden. In the unkempt garden, ankle-high grass and various weeds grew messily.
A deathly silence had descended upon the large mansion that must have once been elegant and splendid. The light shining through the large windows indicated someone was inside, but there was hardly any sign of life. Nevertheless, the black shadow crossed the garden without hesitation.
The man who stood where dim light leaked out looked at the person beyond the transparent glass window without emotion. A bored, dull, and emotionless gaze fell upon him.
“You’ve come.”
Oh-yul, who entered the house through the large unlocked window, naturally sat across from Kim Dong-cheol. The face that had been full of confidence and greed until recently was now old and wrinkled, sunk in despair and sorrow.
“I heard you wanted to meet me.”
Even now, Kim Dong-cheol’s article was like burning charcoal. Though the flames might have weakened, buried under Oh-yul’s inauguration as minister, embers still remained. And Kim Dong-cheol painfully realized that the man before him held the handle of that fire poker.
“Do you have something to say?”
Like a predator toying with cornered prey, Oh-yul was in no hurry. A cornered rat might bite the cat, but the rat he was dealing with had all its teeth pulled out.
Slowly choking him, endlessly becoming a topic of controversy and holding people’s attention – he was an excellent scarecrow. Even if attacked, Oh-yul’s plans and position remained firm.
“Why… why did you keep me alive?”
“Complaining that I didn’t kill you? The espers who followed you would cry in resentment.”
The massacre that occurred during the two weeks Ho-woo was away had progressed very quietly and terribly. The guides weren’t killed because they were few in number. Instead, they were assigned to harsh guiding. It was tantamount to telling them to die while guiding. Nevertheless, the guides at least kept their lives, so they were better off than the espers.
The espers who had taken Kim Dong-cheol’s side were all killed on the grounds that there was no means to control them. The smell of burning flesh and blood from those quietly eliminated during missions and those Oh-yul killed himself wafted through the city on the wind.
This all happened in just two weeks. All his subordinates were dead, and he was socially buried. Now when he went out on the street, everyone whispered and pointed fingers at him. The servants had long since quit, and this large house reeked of accumulated dust and unwashed empty dishes. The man who had never done even the smallest task with his own hands had thus collapsed.
Kim Seon-young, dragged to the training center, fell into a terrible hell unlike others who found freedom. She begged her father for help, but there was nothing Kim Dong-cheol could do for her.
Everything was like hell.
“I… I was wrong… No, I’m sorry.”
The middle-aged man crawled on the floor. He knelt and bowed his head before the arrogant monster.
“It was all my fault. But Seon-young, at least Seon-young…!”
Oh-yul’s eyes curved gently. His blue eyes stared directly at the man consumed by despair.
“Please, just kill me and end this. I beg you!”
“You see me as too much of a scoundrel.”
The man, worse than a scoundrel, acted as if he was truly troubled.
“But since you desire it so earnestly, I can at least give you a chance.”
“What… kind…”
“Around 11 PM tonight, the guard shift at the city’s east gate will be off by about 30 minutes.”
“……”
“It would be terrible if someone were to go out when there are no guards, wouldn’t it?”
“I, I…”
The esper looked down at Kim Dong-cheol and smiled kindly. His gentle smile was oddly soft, not matching the situation.
“You should probably start writing letters diligently from now, so I’ll take my leave.”
Kim Dong-cheol trembled like an aspen tree, his face dazed. The choice was his.
“Seon-young… You won’t touch her?”
“Is there any other way than to trust me?”
Trust and distrust.
Oh-yul had shown the way and left the chilly house to await the result.
“It’s starting to feel like autumn.”
His footsteps were light.
***
Oof… my back.
Ho-woo came downstairs, patting his stiff back. A savory smell filled the air. The clattering of dishes and the noise from the TV sounded lively.
“Good morning.”
The man wearing an apron greeted Ho-woo with a particularly bright smile. His pitch-black eyes sparkled like jewels. Small water droplets floated around Oh-yul, who seemed to be in an especially good mood since returning last night.
“Are you feeling alright?”
“Do I look okay?”
“Hmm…”
Oh-yul, who had prepared white rice porridge for Ho-woo, whose stomach had been upset all night, examined Ho-woo closely. From the red marks on his neck to his tired complexion, everything. Only after thoroughly inspecting for quite some time did he withdraw his gaze. It was his answer to Ho-woo’s question of whether he looked okay.
Has my stamina really improved that much?
Ho-woo recalled last night while eating the bland, barely seasoned rice porridge, then shook his head. What thoughts to have first thing in the morning.
Feeling his face grow warm, Ho-woo turned his gaze from Oh-yul’s neat back to the TV, and dropped the spoon he was holding with a clatter.
Clang-!
The sound of the spoon falling was loud. Oh-yul turned his gaze back to Ho-woo at the sound, but Ho-woo was completely lost in the noise coming from the TV.
“You spilled some.”
Oh-yul clicked his tongue while wiping the traces of porridge that had splashed on Ho-woo’s clothes. It was like dealing with a very clumsy child, but Ho-woo had no time to pay attention to that.
“Oh-yul, did you see?!”
“I saw that you spilled porridge.”
“No! Not that, what’s on TV right now!”
Ho-woo forcibly turned Oh-yul’s head, which was fixed on him, towards the TV. The esper’s head, which normally wouldn’t budge, turned flexibly under that force.
After checking the TV, he was nonchalant, like someone facing a fact they already knew. Without a trace of agitation, his straight gaze returned to Ho-woo. Oh-yul’s eyes curved gently.
“It’s nothing significant.”
It seemed too important to be called insignificant. At least to Ho-woo, it did.
“Kim Dong-cheol…”
His car was found near the east gate, but he himself was nowhere to be found, they say. The news was freely discussing based on the information they had obtained.
