EFME 42

‘Happy birthday!’

‘Happy birthday, Team Leader!’

Unfamiliar faces spoke with bright smiles. Every one of them was wearing a party hat. One of them handed him a cake with lit candles.

When Sunyul accepted the cake in a daze, everyone started singing. The familiar, well-known happy birthday song. After hearing the whole song, Sunyul blew out the candles as if he had no other choice.

‘Sunyul, happy birthday.’

Go Yoonjae, who was standing next to him, smiled gently and handed him flowers. Sunyul glared at Yoonjae.

‘Did you hound our team members just to do this?’

‘I didn’t hound them. Isn’t that right, Mr. Cheolju?’

‘Of course. It was all planned, after all. Though I admit I was a bit scared because Team Leader Go pushed us so hard…….’

At Cheolju’s words, everyone burst out laughing. Sunyul eventually laughed too. Although he was a bit surprised by the surprise party for his birthday, he wasn’t angry at all.

To Sunyul, a birthday was a day to be celebrated by everyone together. At the orphanage where Sunyul grew up, they would gather the children with birthdays in the same month and have one big party.

Sunyul’s birthday was December 19th, but a proper birthday party for him was always held on a different day. So, it was only after he joined the Ability Management Office that he started receiving a whole cake all to himself for his birthday.

He was sure he had no desire for material things, but he was happy to receive flowers and a birthday cake meant entirely for him. And the presents, prepared with his tastes in mind.

‘Thank you, everyone.’

Sunyul’s birthday party began. It was just cutting and eating cake in the Ability Management Office and chatting, but Sunyul enjoyed it quite a bit.

After the boisterous birthday party ended, Sunyul went outside the Ability Management Office to get some fresh air. He needed to clear his head as he couldn’t focus on his work.

Sitting on a bench, Sunyul opened his smartphone for no particular reason. CocoaTalk was filled with messages and gift coupons congratulating him on his birthday.

Sunyul scrolled down the user list a little. He saw the three characters of Kwon Muyoung’s name. He stared at the default profile picture for a moment before opening the chat window.

They hadn’t exchanged any special messages. It was all just messages where Sunyul would occasionally text about work, and Muyoung would reply briefly.

After a moment’s hesitation, Sunyul started typing a message.

[Hello, Hunter Kwon Muyoung. The weather is cold, are you doing well? I’m contacting you just to say hello.]

This seemed too stiff. Sunyul deleted the message and started writing again.

[Hunter Kwon Muyoung, I heard you are entering a dungeon tomorrow. Please have a safe trip.]

Doesn’t this sound a bit like a stalker who knows his whole schedule……. Sunyul deleted the message again. He repeated this process of deleting and writing several times, but he still couldn’t write a message he was happy with.

[It’s my birthday today.]

After honestly writing what he wanted to say, Sunyul let out a sigh. So what if it’s his birthday.

Sunyul wanted to be wished a happy birthday by Muyoung. But since he couldn’t dare to hope for such a thing, his intention was to at least strike up a conversation. But looking at the state of his message writing, it wasn’t going to work. He had no choice but to just give up…….

‘What are you doing.’

‘Ack!’

Sunyul jumped in fright at the voice from behind him. He barely managed to hold onto the smartphone he almost dropped, but Sunyul was even more dumbfounded.

‘I sent it!’

‘Sent what.’

‘The message…….’

Sunyul’s face crumpled. It hadn’t even been sent properly. One character was deleted and a strange one was added, so it was sent as, [It’s my birthday todaㅣㅔy].

Sunyul hurriedly deleted the sent message and shot a glare at Yoonjae, the cause of the incident.

‘What am I supposed to do if you suddenly startle me.’

‘Were you sending a talk to Kwon Muyoung?’

Yoonjae said, as if displeased. The voice that uttered Muyoung’s name was extremely crooked.

Yoonjae had definitely liked Muyoung too. But from the moment Sunyul fell in love with Muyoung, he began to regard Muyoung with great displeasure.

‘What’s so great about that bastard?’

‘A bastard……. I told you not to talk like that.’

‘He’s old and has a rotten personality.’

‘He’s only six years older than us……. And his personality, it’s not that bad. He’s just a bit sensitive when it comes to work.’

‘A bit? Is that what you call it? What are you going to do with such poor taste in men? You should just like someone who says they like you instead.’

Just as Sunyul was about to reply, his smartphone suddenly rang. Sunyul, checking his phone, couldn’t believe his eyes. It was a call from Muyoung.

Ignoring Yoonjae’s death glare, Sunyul quickly answered the phone.

‘H-Hello.’

─ You sent a message.

‘……You saw it?’

─ I happened to be looking at my phone.

He saw the message he was trying to delete. Sunyul’s face burned fiery hot.

‘I’m sorry, I sent it by mistake…….’

─ Happy birthday.

Muyoung cut off Sunyul, who was about to ramble on with excuses. Sunyul was so surprised his heart felt like it stopped.

‘Ah, uh…….’

─ I’ll send a gift separately.

‘Oh, no! It’s okay. Thank you just for the congratulations. Really…….’

─ Don’t feel burdened. I have to go, I have something to do.

‘Ah, ah… Yes. Goodbye. And be careful in the dungeon tomorrow.’

─ Right. Thanks. Have a good night.

The short call ended. Yoonjae clicked his tongue in disapproval, but Sunyul was so happy he didn’t even register Yoonjae’s reaction.

⊹₊｡ꕤ˚₊⊹

Sunyul’s eyes, having just woken from sleep, filled with tears that rolled down his face.

The Sunyul in the dream was clearly happy, but an immense fear washed over and now dominated the present Sunyul.

If he keeps having dreams like this, one by one, it will appear again. And if it appears, everyone will be in danger…….

His thoughts were disjointed and fragmented.

[‘The Traveler of the Eternal Night’ advises you to be at ease.]

[‘The Traveler of the Eternal Night’ says that you have done more than enough.]

Sunyul couldn’t fully understand what the constellation was saying. He just felt an urge to deny the words. To say that what he had done wasn’t enough.

Fortunately, his anxiety slowly subsided. But the content of the dream stuck in his mind, continuing to torment him.

A birthday celebration.

His birthday was a part he had never even imagined.

As he was struggling with the aftermath of the dream, the sound of someone knocking on the door echoed. Sunyul wiped his tears, got up, and opened the door.

Standing in front of him was Muyoung. He had thought it was Juyoung. Muyoung reached out to the stunned Sunyul and wiped his still-damp cheek.

“Why were you crying.”

“I had a… dream.”

“Are you okay?”

Sunyul nodded. But his listless expression wasn’t very convincing.

“You don’t look okay.”

“……”

“What kind of dream did you have?”

“……In the dream, it was my birthday.”

Should he tell him the details? Sunyul, trying to recall the dream’s content, remembered a number that remained strangely vivid in his memory.

“December 19th was my birthday.”

“December 19th… that’s today.”

Sunyul nodded. Coincidentally, today was also December 19th. Muyoung was lost in thought for a moment. After a brief pause, Muyoung spoke calmly.

“Was it a good dream?”

“……Yes. It was good, but.”

“If it was good, why are you crying.”

“It’s just a dream, anyway.”

He hated it even more because it was a good dream. It would have been better if it were a dream with completely random, fictional characters. But a dream where familiar faces like Yoonjae and even Muyoung appeared one after another… it felt like he had been secretly wishing for something impossible, didn’t it?

For them to genuinely congratulate him, to cherish him. He wasn’t even hoping for such things, but for it to appear in a dream as if he had… it made him feel like he didn’t know his place.

Somehow, it even felt pathetic.

“It’s just a dream. Don’t worry about it.”

“……Okay.”

Sunyul forced a nod. Muyoung patted Sunyul’s shoulder as if to cheer him up.

“First, wash up and come down. It’s almost time for work.”

Sunyul replied that he would. Only after Muyoung left did Sunyul realize that he had touched him. It had been a truly long time since his brain, soaked in lewd thoughts for the past few days, had accepted Muyoung’s touch so purely.

……Should he call it a positive function of the dream?

It was good that he could avoid having strange thoughts, but the content of the dream made Sunyul too distraught to be entirely happy about it.

With a complicated heart, Sunyul finished getting ready for work. At work, for the first time in a while, he thought about the dream instead of Muyoung.

‘Do I have a birthday too?’

[‘The Traveler of the Eternal Night’ says that December 19th is your birthday.]

‘Not the one from the dream…….’

[‘The Traveler of the Eternal Night’ says that today is indeed your birthday.]

Whether it was the day he was born or the day he was created, there must have been a day when the entity named Lim Sunyul began. He wanted to know when that day was. Though there was likely no way to find out.

[‘The Traveler of the Eternal Night’ feels frustrated, as if they’ve eaten a sweet potato.]

He had no idea why it was frustrated. Sweet potatoes are delicious.

Maybe it was just saying anything to try and cheer him up.

[‘The Traveler of the Eternal Night’ gives up, telling you to think whatever you want.]

Sunyul tried to shake off his heavy thoughts and left the break room. Muyoung, who was sitting at the guild master’s desk working, looked back at Sunyul.

“What is it.”

“I’m just, bored…….”

“Jeong Dakyung should be on his day off, shall I call him for you?”

He wanted to hang out with Muyoung, but he couldn’t disturb him……. Sunyul nodded his head.