EFME 109

At the end of the long kiss, Sunyul had climbed over to the driver’s seat and was leaning completely against Muyoung with all his weight, sitting on his thighs.

Sunyul wanted to do a bit more, but Muyoung refused, saying they couldn’t do it here. Instead of begging further, Sunyul chose to just lean against Muyoung. Even if they didn’t go all the way, just being stuck together like this felt nice.

Until just a moment ago, his head had felt heavy as if thick fog had rolled in, but now he felt quite alright. It could be called a fairly clear day, even if a little hazy.

This was all thanks to Muyoung. How could it be like this? Sunyul found Muyoung’s presence to be incredibly miraculous.

Muyoung patted Sunyul’s back, who was quietly leaning against him, as if soothing a child. That rhythmic touch also felt good.

“Have you been well?”

“Yeees.”

Muyoung let out a deep sigh and stroked Sunyul’s hair.

“Why on earth did they send you undercover?”

“I’m the one who said I’d do it.”

“You don’t suit undercover work.”

“Why not? I—”

“You can’t lie.”

“….”

Since that wasn’t incorrect, Sunyul couldn’t deny it. To infiltrate under a false identity, the ability to lie was certainly a basic requirement.

“But because I wore a mask, they didn’t really notice even when I lied.”

“True, your voice remains calm. The problem is that your face changes instantly.”

“…Is my expression that honest?”

“Even writing it down in text wouldn’t be that blatant.”

Sunyul became a little curious about just how bad it was for him to say such a thing.

“But, I did well today.”

“You think they aren’t suspicious?”

“Not at all. When I said I had a criminal record, they got totally excited, guessed what kind of record it was… and advanced me ten million won. After that, they just made me do an insane amount of work.”

Recalling what happened earlier, Sunyul’s anger flared up again, and his lips pouted. As if comforting him, Muyoung asked.

“What did you do today?”

“Um… brewing coffee, cleaning, doing laundry, throwing out the trash….”

“They only gave you chores.”

“Yes.”

“You said you introduced yourself as a D-rank support hunter?”

“Yes. I said I have Strength Blessing and Agility Blessing skills.”

Sunyul nodded. Just in case they asked him to demonstrate the skills.

On the off chance that they asked, he had made up an excuse that he possessed skills similar to the effects of [Blooming Spring] and [Brilliant Summer], intending to use them weakly.

“Among support hunters, it’s rare to have skills that increase stats so intuitively. Strength and agility are an especially effective combination… so even if it’s D-rank, that combination is enough to receive C-rank treatment.”

Muyoung fell into thought for a moment.

“It doesn’t seem like they intend to utilize you properly…. If the guild intended to utilize you properly, they wouldn’t act like that. It feels like they have no intention of using you much.”

“Really?”

“Of course, they could just simply be breaking you in.”

“Breaking me in….”

Naturally, Bongshik came to Sunyul’s mind.

“It might really be to break me in. He kept hitting me.”

“…What?”

An incredibly chilly voice slipped from Muyoung. Muyoung sat Sunyul up straight. Then, with a murderous look in his eyes that could kill a man, he asked.

“What do you mean, hitting you?”

“Ah… no, well. It didn’t hurt.”

Although he had intended to tattle, Sunyul was a little flustered by Muyoung’s reaction, which was several times angrier than he expected. Of course, since he didn’t have a single shred of intention to defend Bongshik, he quickly spilled everything.

“Just, while teaching me something, he kept nagging about how I don’t know anything, how I can’t do anything… and unpleasantly slapped the back of my head. Like this….”

Sunyul imitated the way Bongshik hit him.

“What’s his name, that bastard.”

“Bongshik? I don’t know his last name.”

“I see.”

At the cold reply, Sunyul rolled his eyes for no reason. And though he could roughly guess the reason, he asked anyway.

“…Why his name?”

“To hit him back the exact same way later. He harassed you, so I can’t just let it go.”

“Yes, please hit him.”

Muyoung nodded.

Would it stop at just hitting him? He intended to socially ruin the guy named Bongshik or whatever. If he just killed him for no reason, Sunyul might feel guilty if he found out, so he planned to ruin his life in the most natural way possible.

“…Phew.”

Sunyul pat-patted the pissed-off Muyoung. With a chuckle, Muyoung pulled Sunyul into a hug.

“Guild Leader, then I’ll be going now.”

“Are you leaving?”

Sunyul nodded. Perhaps because he was mentally exhausted, he felt a bit sleepy. Muyoung readily let Sunyul go.

“If you’ve become the target, they might be monitoring the goshiwon with something like CCTV.”

“…That’s horrifying.”

“Always be careful.”

“I understand.”

“Go on in.”

“Yes. Get back safely, Guild Leader.”

Muyoung kissed Sunyul’s cheek. Sunyul looked at Muyoung affectionately before using his skill right then and there.

An endless darkness is stretched out. A pitch-black darkness, a churning that seems like absolute void, and a faint starlight twinkling in the far distance….

Things he had seen so much that he was sick of them, over and over again.

Sunyul was sprawled out there. It would be fine to say he was just dumped there carelessly.

How his head was positioned, how his limbs were stretched out—Sunyul didn’t care about any of it. He had merely thrown himself into that spot.

─Hello.

Piercing through the dark, the only change in this darkness approaches Sunyul. At the voice of a stranger that was so familiar yet foreign, Sunyul weakly parted his lips.

‘It’s been a while since you visited….’

─Sorry. I wanted to visit often, but the flow of time interferes.

Sunyul was silent for a moment.

In the past, he had shown more varied emotions to him. He had smiled at every single word he said, feared every time he left, gotten angry asking why he bothered to visit just to tease him, and begged him to visit a little more often.

But that was all in the past. Sunyul was no longer shaken to that extent.

‘It’s okay. Were you very busy?’

─Always about the same.

‘Tell me a story. Because I have nothing to talk about.’

The constellation speaks.

The story Sunyul liked most was none other than Sunyul’s own story.

In the past, Sunyul had confided a lot of his own stories to the constellation. The constellation took those stories, which had faded over the passage of time, and retold them vividly as if they had happened yesterday or today.

The story of playing pranks with Yoonjae and getting scolded harshly by Jaehee, the story of almost getting hurt from overexerting himself a bit because of Dakyung who admired him, the story of playing in the water while looking at the sea together at a dungeon he went to with Bada, the story of making a map of delicious dessert places with Jihyun….

The story of turning completely soaking wet while clearing a dungeon with Muyoung so he wrapped a blanket around him, the story of Muyoung playing a piano that appeared as a gimmick in a dungeon, the story of having a massive argument and getting crushed because of a disagreement with Muyoung, the Guild Leader of Cheongyeon, in his capacity as an ability user, only to be handed snacks the next time they met….

The constellation’s stories painted colors onto Sunyul’s memories. Listening to the stories, tears that he thought had dried up long ago would drop. Sunyul left the tears to flow as they pleased.

After continuing for a long time like that, the story slowed down, and Sunyul opened his eyes.

‘Is it about time for you to go now?’

─I am sorry.

‘No, it’s fine.’

He was used to someone not being by his side. When the constellation said he was leaving, his stomach would churn and he’d feel down, but throwing a tantrum was useless.

Sunyul looked above his head.

‘How much time has passed now?’

─I have told you several times that it is better not to hear it.

‘And I’ve told you several times that I want to hear it.’

When Sunyul stubbornly insisted, the constellation hesitated but eventually told him.

─The year 2622.

‘I see….’

─Do you not want to leave?

‘No.’

Sunyul answered resolutely. A brief silence flowed, and Sunyul parted his lips again.

‘Traveler of the Eternal Night.’

─Yes?

‘What does eternity feel like?’

─It feels like realizing how beautiful mortality is.

‘I see.’

─Yes.

Even though Sunyul was a mortal, he felt like he understood what his constellation meant. Having received the answer, Sunyul said goodbye without any lingering attachment.

‘Goodbye.’

─….

‘See you next time.’

Sunyul woke up from the dream.

He immediately ran to the bathroom, grabbed the toilet, and retched. Of course, absolutely nothing came out.

The dream, which he usually remembered hazily like a fog, was incredibly vivid today. As if telling him he could no longer run away from here.

Sunyul felt an impulse to use the [Warp] skill and drop by his house for a moment.

He had entered the goshiwon for the purpose of avoiding Taepyeong’s potential surveillance and suspicion. Even if surveillance had been attached to Sunyul, it didn’t seem like dropping by his house for a very brief moment with the [Warp] skill at this morning hour would get caught.

Sunyul quickly suppressed the impulse he briefly felt. Then, he slowly took a deep breath.

It was rather a relief that Muyoung wasn’t here. If he had been by his side, he felt like he would have told him everything and acted like a spoiled child.

He felt like he would say too much if he went now… and he didn’t want to worry Muyoung for nothing.

Sunyul slowly took a deep breath. It’s fine. It’s fine—reminding himself repeatedly like that made him feel like he was truly becoming fine.

‘I’m fine.’

Since it was a world that had everything Sunyul had wished for… it was fine. There was nothing bad about it at all. Truly.