#Side Story 1
Side Story 1. Tilted Parallel Lines
A gust of wind pushed away the acrid smoke covering the ruined city. However, when the wind stopped, the smoke rolled back in, and the smell of burning protein sharply stung Ho-woo’s sensitized nose.
Cough!
Unable to hold back his cough, Yu Hee-eun gave up his seat to Ho-woo where the smoke would reach him as little as possible. She hesitated awkwardly, seeming apologetic, but Ho-woo smiled and shook his head.
“It’s okay.”
“I’m sorry…”
“It’ll be over soon, I guess.”
Ho-woo gestured with his eyes to those fighting in the distance. The Espers of Team 1 were busy dealing with the endless swarm of monsters.
The same was true for Oh-yul, the team leader. Unable to use large-scale attacks due to the monsters being entangled with his team members, he created and grasped a long rod made of ice.
Ho-woo called the object, which was curved on one end and split into a hoof shape at the tip, a crowbar. At first, he thought he had seen it wrong, but it really was a crowbar. Although it was a weapon that didn’t suit his elegant and outstanding appearance, Ho-woo soon acknowledged that the crude weapon was quite a good choice.
Holding the ice shaped unmistakably like a crowbar, Oh-yul moved swiftly among Team 1. The control of energy was precise enough to elicit admiration every time Ho-woo saw it. The energy, not just poured out but exquisitely adjusted, froze only the monsters while avoiding Han Seong-won or Moon Jin-hyuk. And then it was over when he shattered them.
It was a simple and straightforward combat method, but it was also efficient.
Wasn’t it said that the technique of rapidly freezing the moisture inside the body in its current state of movement was a skill difficult to replicate even for Espers using the same ability?
Vividly recalling Han Seong-won’s proud face as he once listed Oh-yul’s gre~at points as if boasting, Ho-woo pulled the thick black woolen coat he had newly received after the recent reorganization as tightly as possible. The fluffy, soft fur that could be additionally attached to the collar part tickled his chin.
Although it didn’t look stylish at all since it was Oh-yul’s and therefore too long, that wasn’t the issue right now. The problem was avoiding the cold from the sub-zero temperatures as winter had set in.
“Sniff.”
Ho-woo sniffled. At the same time, smoke from a monster burning in Han Seong-won’s flame rushed into his nostrils. Even though he wanted to move because the spot wasn’t good at all, it wasn’t as simple as he wished.
The place where Yu Hee-eun and Ho-woo were located looked like an empty field, but it was a kind of ‘shelter’. This was a newly devised method for Espers operating outside the city to efficiently protect their guides.
The Espers moved within a certain area, placing the guide in the center where these areas overlapped. It was a method proposed because there was no specific rear area to speak of, as everywhere became a border zone the moment they came out to the ruins. Oh-yul, who had established this system, applied this method to his own team first before applying it to other teams, and now it was a kind of training time.
Ho-woo briefly looked at Oh-yul’s back. Even after giving his coat to Ho-woo, he moved through the ruins without any sign of being cold. White breath spread hazily. Oh-yul, who had been looking straight ahead, gazing at the vast horizon, suddenly turned to look at Ho-woo, as if sensing his gaze.
A white sea rippled under the bright blue winter sky without a single cloud. An excessively lyrical scene unsuited to the situation flowed slowly.
Although the scene of white ice spreading from his fingertips freezing tar-like black masses and them shattering into pieces wasn’t actually a pleasant sight, the man’s appearance had the ability to make it look elegant and beautiful.
It might be a kind of effect from a not fully peeled bean pod.
Ho-woo evaluated himself coolly.
Even if he couldn’t walk the same path as Oh-yul anymore, the feelings he had harbored wouldn’t just disappear.
Or maybe he had gone mad.
In fact, Ho-woo was a bit more inclined to think that he had gone mad. Because you’re not crazy just because you act strangely while drooling.
Some might say:
How can you live rubbing shoulders with the person who killed your mother?
Perhaps most would think it impossible, and Ho-woo had thought so too. Even if it was an accident, the tragedy would still remain in the past time. It was like a stigma that couldn’t be changed or erased.
So Oh-yul must have had to choose.
Ho-woo understood Oh-yul, but couldn’t forgive him. Their relationship was nothing more than a patchwork quilt haphazardly sewn together. A relationship made up of blackmail, guilt, and anxiety slid and collided on frozen ice.
The first week or so was chaos. Both the city and their relationship were too messy and confusing to handle.
Ho-woo poured out all his emotions in just a few days. Only then did he realize that when a person pours out intense emotions in a short time during their life, they become empty.
It felt like his insides had been completely hollowed out.
After acknowledging that it was difficult to escape from Oh-yul no matter how much he condemned and despised him, helplessness overwhelmed Ho-woo next. He didn’t want to do anything.
He shut himself in his room for about two days. Oh-yul, who took care of Ho-woo curled up alone in the room, seemed pleased. That was annoying. While I’m suffering like this, why are you smiling and being so happy? When he couldn’t hold back and asked, Oh-yul smiled shyly and said:
‘I’m just so happy that Ho-woo is entrusting everything to me.’
If there had been even a slight lie mixed in, it would have shown, but there wasn’t at all. He was purely delighted.
Right after hearing that answer, Ho-woo stopped shutting himself in the house. Although Oh-yul seemed regretful, he welcomed Ho-woo back to work as if respecting his decision.
Damn bastard.
Ho-woo finished his brief internal assessment of Oh-yul and quickly turned his gaze. The countless monsters had greatly reduced in number. As even monsters weren’t completely without intelligence, by this point they knew that the humans who had appeared in the ruins couldn’t become their prey. The black masses that had been quietly retreating slipped into rusty sewers as if melting away.
“It’s over!”
Moon Jin-hyuk raised both hands high and cheered. His resounding voice echoed between the collapsed buildings, but not a single monster was in sight.
The Espers, who had been keeping a certain distance, gathered around the shelter where the guides were. Yu Hee-eun, who had the duty of guiding the rest of the Espers except Oh-yul, had already sat down nearby with a face that looked like all her energy had been drained.
“Come one by one!”
At her call, Han Seong-won was the first to clasp hands with her, as if it was natural. Behind him, Woo Tae-sik and Choi Seon-woo lined up, followed by Moon Jin-hyuk, who had arrived fastest but had been glancing around cautiously.
“Ho-woo.”
Oh-yul approached Ho-woo and held out his hand as if it was natural. He waited until Ho-woo took his hand on his own, then gripped the hand in his firmly.
Ho-woo thought he was going to do guiding, but when no energy flowed in at all, he looked at Oh-yul quizzically. Oh-yul slightly raised the corner of his mouth.
“There’s soot here.”
He lightly rubbed Ho-woo’s cheek with his other hand.
Did it get there when I was under the black smoke?
Ho-woo, who had been thinking it wasn’t a big deal, raised his eyebrows when he saw the black soot on Oh-yul’s hand after he pulled it away. There was quite a lot for just having wiped it off. He rubbed his cheek with his hand, and seeing the black traces coming off, he raised the corners of his eyes.
“What are you doing, being so childish?”
“Didn’t you know? I’m originally childish.”
At Oh-yul’s brazen response, Ho-woo wiped the black traces of ash with his finger and rubbed it on Oh-yul’s cheek in the shape of cat whiskers.
“What are you two doing?”
Yu Hee-eun, who had noticed the two’s behavior belatedly due to guiding, clicked her tongue, looking at them with eyes that seemed to have found something worthless. With a face that had become deeply tinged with fatigue in just a short while, she looked like she wanted to return to the city quickly. Since they could return as soon as Oh-yul, the team leader, gave permission, she was demanding with her eyes wide open.
“It doesn’t seem like more monsters will rush in.”
Oh-yul said, looking around the ruined city as he received that gaze.
“We can head back now.”
At the permission that finally dropped, Yu Hee-eun quickly climbed onto Moon Jin-hyuk’s back. Since they couldn’t bring cars into the ruined city, wind-type Espers with fast mobility would carry or piggyback the guides. Those who had finished preparing to return to the city simply looked at Oh-yul again.
“You go ahead.”
Han Seong-won showed a momentary puzzled expression but didn’t pry and left with the other team members. Ho-woo, watching Moon Jin-hyuk’s back quickly disappearing riding the wind, found it strange that he didn’t feel much anxiety even in this situation of being left alone in the ruins.
Probably thanks to Oh-yul standing next to him.
Ho-woo belatedly looked around the quiet ruins carefully. The high skyscrapers of the once flourishing city were miserably collapsed and covered with moss and various plants, and the water-filled roads had sunk, opening the jaws of deep black holes.
Although there was nothing that looked intact, Oh-yul seemed rather comfortable. With a slightly relaxed face, he led Ho-woo deep into the city.
Behind them, black masses that hadn’t taken form wriggled and followed. Unlike their ferocious rush from earlier, they now seemed very docile. The monsters even made gurgling sounds that resembled animals being affectionate.
Ho-woo lightly tapped Oh-yul’s side at the bizarre sight.
“You don’t have to be afraid.”
Oh-yul, his eyes now tinged purple, pulled Ho-woo into his arms and let a black monster that had approached closely climb up his body. Sticky black slime wet his clothes. The monster that had crawled up from his legs to his back and finally to his shoulder vibrated its whole body like a purring cat.
“W-what are you doing!”
Ho-woo struggled, startled. The image of those monsters charging with sharp teeth bared was still vivid. A faint breathing growl touched his nape. Feeling the terror as if his head might be torn off at any moment, Ho-woo took a deep breath.
“Shh…”
Oh-yul patted Ho-woo’s back as if to calm him and brushed off the mass that had climbed up to his shoulder. With a wet, squishy sound, it fell to the ground, gathered as if trying to form a shape, and then became a small bird shape and flew up again.
Although it looked like a very cute bird with white belly and blue feathers, Ho-woo didn’t think ‘that’ was a real bird. The monster that flew up again with a flutter of wings this time perched on top of Oh-yul’s head.
“Did you stay behind to show me that you’ve made friends with monsters?”
“Rather than friends, wouldn’t they be fellow creatures?”
The monster spread its small wings wide again. It circled once above their heads and then perched neatly on Ho-woo’s shoulder. Its movements of tilting its head this way and that and its beady black eyes were cute.
Although it looked no different from an ordinary bird on the outside, Ho-woo didn’t let his guard down. His hand was held awkwardly so that it could quickly reach the holster at his waist at any time.
Despite Ho-woo’s wariness, Oh-yul gently stroked the monster that had puffed up its chest feathers with his fingertips. Seeming to enjoy his touch, the monster made a clear chirping sound.
“You don’t need to be so wary.”
“Don’t talk nonsense.”
Telling him not to be wary of monsters. That sounded like something a monster wearing the skin of a dead person would say. Ho-woo shooed away the monster perched on his shoulder and immediately aimed his gun. At Ho-woo’s threat, the monster changed from a bird shape to a cat and clung to Oh-yul’s back with its claws out. Ho-woo clicked his tongue briefly at the quite clever strategy and put away his gun.
“Stop fooling around and kill it quickly.”
“You’re so heartless.”
As Oh-yul acted detestably, pretending to wipe away tears, Ho-woo furrowed his brow. Meanwhile, the monster that had turned into a cat returned to its bird form and perched on Oh-yul’s shoulder. He seemed very familiar with handling the monster.
Seeing this, Ho-woo suddenly asked Oh-yul. The words he blurted out as they came to mind echoed in the ruins, unable to be taken back.
“Could it be that those monsters are your doing too?”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
