Normally, top-secret strategy meetings are held on a regular weekly basis. However, if a crisis occurs that threatens national security, all general officers are immediately summoned to the headquarters of the Military Strategy Command. An emergency assembly is necessary to devise countermeasures.
And the sudden destruction of the inner perimeter wall of the Special Residential District was, without a doubt, a crisis warranting a Level 1 emergency summons.
Once the strategy meeting convened, Seo Eui-woo planned to manipulate the minds of all the gathered generals. All at once. In one fell swoop. Sweep them all up…
Kwon Jae-jin recalled the crumbling inner perimeter wall, engulfed in a thick cloud of dust.
Seo Eui-woo had risen high into the distant sky, gathering his psychokinetic power like a lightning strike before unleashing it in a single, devastating burst. The 9-meter-high perimeter wall collapsed instantly, reduced to a heap of shattered concrete. The awakened guards stationed at the checkpoint in front of the gate didn’t even have time to comprehend what had happened before they panicked, scrambling to report the situation to the center.
Before they could be discovered, Seo Eui-woo had grabbed Kwon Jae-jin and teleported them both away. That was how they had ended up standing at the very top of the Center’s central building.
“……Haa.”
Jae-jin had already felt it when his mansion was raided and the search unit stormed in, but Seo Eui-woo was, quite frankly, so overwhelmingly omnipotent that it was almost mind-numbing.
Whenever Eui-woo called him a baby, weak, or any other similar terms, it always pissed him off and made him instinctively recoil. But after witnessing Eui-woo’s abilities in combat—no, not just combat, absolute domination—Jae-jin realized that, in Eui-woo’s eyes, he probably seemed even more insignificant than a hamster.
Jae-jin had always provoked Seo Eui-woo without much thought, and Eui-woo, when flustered, would struggle to suppress the abilities that leaked out instinctively. But looking back on it now, those had been incredibly dangerous moments.
If Seo Eui-woo had lost control even slightly, Kwon Jae-jin would have been crushed to death on the spot.
Seo Eui-woo was always sincere.
When he said he would go easy on him, treasure him, treat him preciously…
Every word had been true.
Not a single bit of exaggeration or deceit.
Jae-jin had only now fully grasped the weight of those words—after seeing, firsthand, Eui-woo’s true power. This wasn’t just about teleporting a little, using some psychokinesis, or flying through the sky—those harmless, flashy tricks. No. He had reshaped the terrain, shattered a perimeter wall, and single-handedly wiped out a squad of awakened fighters.
Only now did the full reality of Eui-woo’s intentions truly sink in.
Seo Eui-woo called out to Kwon Jae-jin, pulling him from his thoughts.
“Jae-jin, you know…”
He murmured the words as if he were casually dropping them, letting them burst forth.
“To be honest, now that I think about it… I was really looking forward to going to the Sixth Residential District.”
“…What?”
“I was curious about where you grew up, how you lived. I wanted you to remember the family you forgot.”
“……”
“I even wondered if the sky there would look different, if the air would be cleaner… I hoped spring would come quickly so we could see it.”
Slowly turning his head, Jae-jin looked at Seo Eui-woo. He had a smooth, picturesque smile as he gazed in the same direction.
The northern perimeter wall. Beyond that lay the Sixth Residential District.
“And I thought… it would be nice if we built a house together, grew a field, raised a bamboo grove… lived that way. Well, anywhere would be fine as long as it’s just the two of us… but still, that sounded really nice. Just the two of us, living like that.”
It was such an obvious thing to say.
Too obvious, yet Seo Eui-woo had said it like a simple truth.
Jae-jin swallowed dryly.
The sunlight poured down over Seo Eui-woo, casting a halo around him. His slightly disheveled hair caught the light, reflecting it in a way that made it seem almost transparent. His rounded ears, the sharp lines of his jaw—they all stood out even more clearly.
For some reason, Jae-jin found himself idly thinking that natural light and indoor lighting really were different.
“Yes. I thought the same. If it’s with you… I thought it would be nice.”
“You were looking forward to it too? Like I was?”
Seo Eui-woo whispered softly.
Jae-jin nodded without much thought.
“We feel the same way, then.”
“……”
“Then, someday. When all of this is over… should we live like that?”
Seo Eui-woo kept saying such obvious things.
“Oh, and that new house you said you wanted—it’s nearly finished. So we could live there too, and also over there. Move between the districts whenever we feel like it. Doesn’t that sound good?”
“…You mean, having multiple houses? Like vacation homes?”
“Yeah.”
“That sounds nice.”
Mountains, seas—changing with the seasons, living wherever they wanted.
It was a conversation they had had a long time ago, and yet, here they were, talking about it again.
Back then, the plan had been to choose a secluded vacation home that would serve as a prison to keep Kwon Jae-jin safe. But now, it was different.
“And that canyon. Let’s go back there too.”
“The canyon…”
“Yes. I absolutely have to go on a date with you there. No matter how many times I think about it, I keep coming to the same conclusion.”
“……”
“I feel like I’d regret it forever if I didn’t.”
“……”
“Let’s go together. Just the two of us. And we’ll wear rings too.”
“……”
“Haha, maybe we should even wear matching outfits… the two of us…”
Kwon Jae-jin couldn’t hold back his laughter any longer. A small, breathy chuckle escaped—pfft.
His dark brows furrowed slightly, caught between a frown and a smile. His lips trembled just a little before, finally, the corners of his mouth curled upward.
With a look of resignation, Jae-jin laughed softly as he gazed at Seo Eui-woo.
“…Jae-jin, are you smiling right now?”
“Yes, I’m smiling.”
“Your eyes… they kind of look like you’re about to cry.”
“No. But I’m still smiling.”
Every word that Seo Eui-woo spoke lifted Kwon Jae-jin higher.
It felt as if Eui-woo were pushing him from behind, like a child on a swing. Even though they were already standing atop the Center’s highest rooftop, Jae-jin felt as if he were soaring even higher, floating freely in the sky.
“Eui-woo… do you know what the word adorable means?”
“Of course I do.”
“Oh, I see. I was just checking, in case you didn’t.”
Seo Eui-woo, you’re adorable.
Jae-jin reached out and brushed Eui-woo’s hair back.
He tidied the stray strands, smoothing them neatly. Then, cupping Eui-woo’s cheek, he gently stroked his skin. It wasn’t flushed pink this time. Just pure white, smooth—flawless like marble.
“…Eui-woo.”
Jae-jin traced the contours of his face with careful fingers, calling his name.
“Yes.”
“…Eui-woo.”
“Yes, Jae-jin.”
“Hm… Then, do you also know what the word free means?”
“Well, of course…”
Just as Seo Eui-woo had stated the obvious, Kwon Jae-jin did the same.
They looked at each other, sharing the same thoughts, the same feelings. Jae-jin could feel their emotions aligning perfectly.
Neither one was too warm or too cold, too much or too little.
They blended together just right, in perfect harmony.
Kwon Jae-jin. Seo Eui-woo.
Kwon Jae-jin and Seo Eui-woo.
Like that.
“I think I feel free right now. It really feels that way.”
“Do you?”
Seo Eui-woo smiled, utterly relaxed. A soft, peaceful expression. Color returned to his cheeks.
“I see…”
“……”
“Mm, then I must be feeling the same way.”
It was a beautiful sight.
Stable, bright, precious. It felt so certain, so untouchable, that nothing in the world could ever take this moment away.
“We’re free. Right now.”
Seo Eui-woo wrapped his arms around Kwon Jae-jin and spun him in a full circle. By now, even this small act had become second nature. They had done this countless times—on the ocean, in the exhibition hall—like figurines atop a music box.
“This is nice.”
“……”
“Ah… It’s really nice.”
Seo Eui-woo murmured, his voice melting with warmth, repeating the words over and over—nice, nice.
And just then, a faint noise reached them from the distance. The sound of propellers.
A transport helicopter appeared, flying toward them from far up in the sky.
If they remained where they were, they would be spotted.
“Tsk.”
Seo Eui-woo clicked his tongue, furrowing his brows.
The moment had been interrupted.
But, at least, the timing wasn’t bad.
By now, the emergency strategy meeting—the one summoning the military high command and general officers—should have begun.
“Shall we go? Take my hand.”
“Yes, here.”
As soon as Kwon Jae-jin took Seo Eui-woo’s hand, power swelled from within Eui-woo.
A soft white light radiated into the sky, and Jae-jin felt the pull—his entire body, from his toes to the top of his head, being drawn in.
For some reason, the coordinate shift felt slower than usual this time.
An instant stretched into eternity. His heart pounded in his chest.
‘Ah…’
His heartbeat quickened, his body grew warm.
Goosebumps pricked his skin, and a sharp ringing filled his ears.
‘I’m… entering the Center.’
The Center.
A place he had once thought would never have anything to do with him.
When he had lived as an ordinary civilian, it had seemed like some unreachable world, only visible through media coverage. After his mutation awakened, it became nothing more than a military stronghold filled with awakened soldiers trying to kill him.
And now, Kwon Jae-jin was stepping foot inside it.
This was actually happening.
‘…Hah.’
Watching the scattering light, Jae-jin swallowed a quiet laugh.
In that moment, he understood.
The habitus of Kwon Jae-jin—the one who had once been an ordinary civilian—had changed completely.
Habitus. A term defined by French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, referring to a “second nature,” the ingrained habits, skills, and dispositions formed by belonging to a particular social group.
Did he still want to return to the Sixth Residential District and live as an ordinary person? Yes, that feeling still lingered. The longing for his hometown was deep, an endless echo of nostalgia. If he and Seo Eui-woo built a bamboo grove and lived together, they would surely find peaceful, simple happiness.
But Jae-jin’s future could not end with just that.
A grand mansion would soon stand in the Special Residential District.
He would go on dates in the canyon where nine streams intertwined beneath a seven-colored rainbow.
He would practice shooting with his favored rifle and hunt creatures in preparation for the next wave.
So as he entered the Center now…
Jae-jin felt a sense of stability.
His habitus was that of a Guide.
Seo Eui-woo’s Guide.
That was why stepping into the Center did not feel frightening or foreign.
It felt right.
As if he were arriving exactly where he was meant to be, exactly when he was meant to be there.
Kwon Jae-jin had already adapted to life in the Special Residential District.
He was one of them now.
And he was ready to fight.
