EFME 58

Sunyul slowly opened his eyes.

A pure white ceiling came into view. Sunyul turned his head to look around. This was none other than a hospital room.

His head throbbed.

He had seen too much. He had seen far too much, even things he didn’t need to see.

He didn’t want to recall it anymore.

The more distinct his existence becomes, the less he pays as a price, and the scales tip to one side.

When he can no longer pay the price, then.

“……”

Sunyul shook his head. It was a future that hadn’t come yet. It wouldn’t come. It must not come…

Sunyul slowly regained his sense of reality.

The thoughts he’d just had weren’t clear. It was like waking up from a dream, where the details fade away shortly after.

Instead, what happened before he collapsed slowly came back to his mind.

Yoon Garam’s cold words. The poison injected several times. The hands that tried to drop him. All of it…

Sunyul’s eyelids trembled and then closed.

‘Is there any reason for me to be alive?’

He remembered Garam’s eyes. Two eyes devoid of guilt or hesitation.

To Garam, Sunyul wasn’t a person. To many people, Sunyul probably wasn’t a person. Countless people, including Garam, must be wishing for Sunyul’s death.

The perception they had of him was more frightening than the idea of dying.

So much so that he wished he could just keep his eyes closed forever.

[‘Traveler of the Eternal Night’ comforts you, saying it’s not much longer now.]

[‘Traveler of the Eternal Night’ says it’s now right around the corner.]

‘What isn’t much longer? My death?’

Nonsense. Messages he didn’t want to hear appeared one after another, but Sunyul desperately ignored them. Then, the constellation’s messages finally fell silent.

Nothing would change, no matter what happened in the future. In fact, things were only getting worse.

It would have been better if I had never come into the world.

My place was there. That dark place… where nothing could be felt.

I should have just never opened my eyes.

The door opened. Sunyul closed his eyes, then…

“Lim Sunyul.”

He opened his eyes again at the voice calling him.

It was Muyoung’s voice.

From the face of Muyoung, who strode over to his side, he could read an unusual sense of urgency. Muyoung wiped his face with his hand and then sighed.

“Are you okay?”

I’m okay, nothing’s wrong.

That’s what he meant to say.

“…It hurt.”

But what actually came out of his mouth was a foolish plea for sympathy. Instead, Sunyul tried his best to smile as if nothing had happened.

“But I’m okay now.”

Nothing would ever be okay.

But in this moment, it really was okay. As if by a lie, everything became okay.

Because Muyoung had come to find him.

The person he had thought of in the long, long darkness… the person he had wanted to go to, was always coming to find him.

Muyoung, who had been quietly watching Sunyul, sighed.

“You’re not okay.”

“I really am fine.”

“You don’t need to be okay at a time like this.”

“I’m okay. Really…”

Sunyul sat up. At Sunyul’s insistence, Muyoung adjusted the angle of the bed to help him sit up. Sunyul leaned back against it obediently.

Muyoung brought a chair and sat next to Sunyul. Then, he looked at Sunyul’s face, which seemed to have become gaunt in a short time, with worried eyes.

“It hurt a lot, didn’t it.”

“It didn’t hurt that much.”

“So it did hurt.”

Sunyul couldn’t bring himself to lie and say it didn’t hurt at all, and his eyes darted around. Muyoung’s gaze darkened as he swallowed a sigh.

“It’s my fault.”

“…Pardon?”

“Because I left you with Yoon Garam.”

Sunyul shook his head in surprise.

“It’s not your fault, Guild Master.”

“No. It is my fault.”

The person Yoon Garam had mentioned, the one who died, was a married man. The two were having an affair, and naturally, their relationship was kept secret. All the way to its catastrophic end with his death.

That was why he hadn’t been able to screen Yoon Garam. Because Yoon Garam had hidden it so thoroughly. He would not have found out if he hadn’t used a skill to make him confess.

“There’s no need for long-winded excuses.”

He had no intention of making excuses by pleading the facts of the matter. Regardless of the truth, the one who assigned the personnel was Muyoung.

“Guild Master…”

“I’m sorry.”

It was a short apology, but he could feel its heavy sincerity. In the end, Sunyul nodded. He didn’t think it was Muyoung’s fault, but he felt that accepting the apology would put Muyoung’s mind at ease.

“In return, I’ll deal with Yoon Garam for certain.”

“…Deal with him?”

“He has to receive a just punishment.”

Sunyul shook his head in alarm.

“No, it’s okay. You don’t have to do that…”

“I have to.”

The coldness in Muyoung’s voice contained a fierce anger. It was a voice that left no room for compromise, as if he could not forgive. The thought that Muyoung was angry for his sake made him happy, but his worry was greater.

“Don’t be so hard on him. He probably thought he was doing the right thing, since in his mind, I’m… related to the rifts.”

“If what he did wasn’t the right thing, then he has to pay the price. People are supposed to take responsibility for their own actions.”

Muyoung’s attitude was firm, as if he would never back down. Seeing Sunyul’s extreme worry, Muyoung added one more thing.

“Don’t worry. I won’t cause any physical harm.”

“…Isn’t that a given?”

“He caused you physical harm, so isn’t it right that he should suffer the same?”

At such terrifying logic, Sunyul was momentarily at a loss for words.

“That’s ridiculous, something like that…”

“Why is it ridiculous?”

“You can’t just carelessly harm others. It has to be handled according to the law.”

“If that’s what you want, then fine.”

Sunyul nodded, a little relieved.

“Don’t push yourself and get some rest for now.”

“I’m all rested.”

His stomach felt a little uncomfortable, but he wasn’t in great pain. Sunyul tried to assert that he could go back right now, but as he tried to get up, Muyoung gently pressed on his chest, making him lie back down.

“It’s been decided you’ll be hospitalized for a few days. Just focus on getting better slowly.”

“I think I’m all better.”

“All the poisons Yoon Garam used on you are deadly. Even if you seem fine, we don’t know where or how something could go wrong again.”

“…I just want to go home.”

“Later. You’ll be able to go soon.”

At Muyoung’s uncharacteristic words of simple appeasement, a certain possibility suddenly flashed through Sunyul’s mind.

“By any chance, am I not allowed to go home right now?”

Muyoung looked at Sunyul for a moment before finally nodding.

“I’ll resolve it soon.”

“Why?”

“…”

“I want to know. It’s about me… I should know.”

Sunyul looked at Muyoung earnestly. Perhaps thinking that he wasn’t wrong, Muyoung deliberated deeply. At the end of it, Muyoung’s lips barely parted.

“There’s a prophet named Valeria. Do you know her?”

Sunyul nodded. He’d seen the name a few times while looking up articles and searching his own name.

“Isn’t she an amazing prophet?”

“She’s not that amazing. She can’t specify what she wants to see, her visions are all over the place, and she doesn’t even know for sure at what point in time they are. She can be helpful at times… but there are also times she gets fixated on strange things and becomes a nuisance. Just like right now.”

Muyoung said, somewhat irritably. His tone made it clear that he disliked Valeria immensely.

“That prophet warned the Superhuman Management Agency that you’re a being strongly intertwined with the rifts, so things have gotten a bit complicated.”

“…”

“The Agency was saying they would take you in immediately, but I’m holding them off by saying you still need treatment.”

“…I understand. I’ll stay put, then.”

“Good. It might be frustrating, but please bear with it for a little while.”

“Yes.”

Though he wasn’t sure if bearing with it for ‘a little while’ would be enough to resolve it.

With public opinion turning sour, even Muyoung couldn’t just keep holding out. If it were any other matter, he could ignore it, but they had to bring up the rifts.

“Guild Master.”

“Yes.”

“If I’m intertwined with the rifts… do they think that killing me will solve the problem?”

“That’s not it.”

“…”

“It’s really not. She said it’s impossible to know how you’re connected.”

Muyoung reassured Sunyul. True, if she had said he needed to be killed, the Agency would have probably pushed their way in, regardless of his need for rest. Sunyul nodded, relieved.

“Don’t worry too much. I’ll handle it somehow.”

“Don’t overdo it.”

“I have to. It’s about you.”

Muyoung’s words made his heart pound for no reason. It wasn’t a good thing that Muyoung was going to push himself, but… Sunyul found himself feeling thrilled anyway.

This was surely being disrespectful.

He knew, but he still felt happy. He couldn’t control it.

Why did Muyoung always go to such lengths for Sunyul? Being nice could be seen as giving a piece of one’s surplus amount, but overdoing it was going beyond one’s own limits.

‘Why do you go so far for me?’

He didn’t know why Muyoung did it.

He didn’t know, but…

Just the fact that Muyoung did it for him gave Sunyul the strength to live through today.

Enough to make him forget, for a little while, about Valeria, the Agency, the rifts… all of it.

Muyoung had so easily fished his heart out from the very bottom where it had fallen, and set it afloat. Feeling this, Sunyul had a fresh realization.

“Guild Master.”

“Yes.”

“…Thank you.”

Sunyul couldn’t bring himself to honestly speak his true feelings. Muyoung smiled lightly, as if to say what a silly thing to say. Sunyul looked back at him and smiled too.

I don’t know how not to like you.

I like you.

You, who are so kind beneath your indifference, I had no choice but to like you.

Always,

Always and forever.