EFME 62

“What does it say.”

“It’s really long…”

“At the very top.”

“Lim Sunyul, and then Lim Sunyul again, it shows up twice…”

Bada let out a sound like a groan, as if overcome with emotion. To the bewildered Sunyul, who didn’t know why he was acting that way, Muyoung calmly explained.

“The name Lim Sunyul can be shared by different people. But the hunter name behind it cannot be duplicated. There is only one person whose hunter name is Lim Sunyul.”

“Am I really…”

“Yes, you’re Lim Sunyul.”

He was still dazed… but it felt more real than before. However, he had never imagined this. Sunyul had certainly wished he was human. But this was a little different from the way Sunyul had hoped for.

He suddenly felt like he had been saddled with the life of someone he didn’t know. Of course, he had fragmented memories, so it wasn’t a complete unknown.

“…Sunyul.”

Bada finally stopped crying and lifted his head.

“You really don’t have any memories?”

“I’m sorry…”

“Don’t say that.”

“Huh?”

“Don’t… talk like that, like a stranger, using formal language…”

With bloodshot eyes, Bada spoke with a sorrowful expression. Sunyul, who had been speaking normally, felt guilty and became very flustered.

“Cut it out, Lee Bada.”

Muyoung came to the embarrassed Sunyul’s defense. Bada glared at Muyoung as if he could kill him.

As his memories returned, Bada had clearly remembered why he disliked Muyoung.

He couldn’t possibly like the person his crush had a crush on.

Muyoung ignored Bada and looked at Sunyul.

“And Lim Sunyul.”

“Yes?”

“I told you, you don’t need to apologize for things that aren’t your fault.”

At Muyoung’s words, Bada’s eyes shot up.

“Don’t talk to Sunyul like that.”

“Lee Bada, you’re the one who should watch your words and actions.”

“Since when did you care so much about Sunyul to be meddling?”

“I cared enough while you were ignoring him without even a proper glance.”

Bada, with a choked-up expression, looked like he was about to say something but held it in. It was because he had nothing to say to that.

Seeing his utterly dejected face, Sunyul took pity on him and gathered his courage.

“Ba… Bada.”

He had thought it before, but the name rolled off his tongue so easily. Was this all because he was Lim Sunyul and had called him that before?

Bada’s face instantly lit up.

“Yeah.”

“…”

“Yeah, Sunyul.”

Sunyul managed an awkward smile.

Even though the situation was really confusing, the fact that he was accepting it better than expected… was it because he was really Lim Sunyul? As Sunyul was deep in thought, Bada clasped his hands.

“Go Yoonjae and Jeong Dakyung are waiting, too. Should I tell them to come in?”

Just then, Muyoung, who was fiddling with his smartphone, spoke up. Bada was already overwhelming, and now two more were being added? Sunyul couldn’t even answer, just blinking his eyes, when a knock came from outside without giving him any time to prepare.

“Come in.”

At Muyoung’s word, the door flew open, Bang!, and Dakyung and Yoonjae entered. Dakyung rushed to Sunyul and hugged him tightly.

“Sunyul-hyung!”

“Sunyul.”

Dakyung had always been friendly, but his demeanor was even more intimate now. And Yoonjae, who had been somewhat cool, had a much gentler attitude.

Yoonjae, who had come up beside him, opened his mouth.

“I heard you don’t remember.”

“Ah, yes. I’m sorr—”

“There’s nothing to be sorry about. It’s okay. Even if you don’t remember, I do.”

Does it work like that? Sunyul tilted his head.

“What’s the point if Yoonjae-hyung is the only one who remembers when Sunyul-hyung doesn’t? You’re so self-centered sometimes.”

Dakyung said with a pout. Yoonjae, with a smile, pinched and pulled Dakyung’s cheek.

“Ah, ow, owoowowowowow! Dakyung is dying!”

“P-please let him go for now.”

As soon as Sunyul spoke, Yoonjae let go of Dakyung. Then he looked at Sunyul with gentle eyes.

“I heard you don’t remember. But… if there’s anything you do remember, could you tell us?”

“It’s really nothing much…”

Sunyul briefly talked about the dream he had been having until now. He left out the bothersome parts, like how the him in the dream had liked Muyoung. After listening, Yoonjae nodded and asked in a much more cautious tone.

“I see. Is there anything else you remember? For instance… about the rift.”

The surrounding atmosphere grew quiet. The weight of the word ‘rift’ was so significant that even Bada, who had been acting out, and Dakyung, who had been flighty, shut their mouths and waited for Sunyul’s words.

Sunyul carefully searched his memories. He didn’t want to recall it, but he couldn’t say nothing in front of them.

“…I saw a huge hole, like it was eating light. Someone told me I had to pay a price to stop it. I paid a price for that.”

“What price.”

It was Muyoung’s voice.

“…I don’t know that well either. I can’t remember.”

Sunyul shook his head. What on earth was the price?

[The ‘Traveler of the Eternal Night’ remains silent.]

Sunyul didn’t want to know in detail either. He had a strong feeling that he shouldn’t know.

“…Then what were you doing during the five years you were gone?”

Yoonjae’s voice had grown even heavier. Sunyul lowered his gaze. And he fiddled with his hands for no reason.

[The ‘Traveler of the Eternal Night’ explains that the place you wandered for a long time was the crevice between dimensions.]

“I was in… the crevice between dimensions.”

“…What kind of place is it?”

“Just, nothing… is there. You can see something like stars in the distance, but you can never get closer… It’s dark all around, and there’s no one…”

A place where he couldn’t meet a single person even after wandering for so long.

Long?

Very, long.

An eerie feeling crept up on him. As if he had been there for hundreds of years.

Even though that couldn’t possibly be true.

“Sunyul, are you okay?”

At Yoonjae’s voice, Sunyul snapped back to his senses. And he nodded. He had just been needlessly distracted for a moment. Sunyul nodded his head.

“…So you really were the one who closed the rift, hyung.”

“And as the price, you disappeared for five years and were treated like an item.”

Dakyung and Bada spoke up one after the other from his side. It seemed he would never get used to Bada’s tear-filled voice.

Amidst the somewhat awkward atmosphere, Sunyul raised his hand.

“Um, but… can I ask a few questions, too?”

“Of course. What are you curious about?”

Feeling that everyone was intently focused on him, Sunyul felt a little embarrassed. Because his questions weren’t a big deal.

“My dream is fragmented, so… I’m a bit curious about what my exact relationship with you all was. It’s nothing much, but…”

“What do you mean, it’s nothing much? It’s natural to be curious.”

Bada quickly said.

“Yeah, I’m also curious… what kind of relationship I had with Bada.”

What kind of relationship did we have for him to cry his eyes out like this? Were we brothers or something? Our last names are different, so I don’t think so.

“You were just friends you got to know by chance.”

The answer came from Muyoung. Bada glared at Muyoung as if he could kill him.

“Am I wrong?”

“You’re… right, yeah.”

Bada answered, grinding his teeth. Next to Bada, Dakyung chimed in with a lively face.

“I was pretty similar to how I am now. A close hyung-dongsaeng relationship! We met through work. But the old you was someone I respected a bit more? That kind of relationship.”

“You and I were friends, Sunyul. I was part of your team, so in the past, you were also my superior.”

“…Superior?”

“Speak casually.”

“O-okay.”

This time, too, the informal speech came out easier than expected.

“It was only for a short while since I was on your team while I was adjusting to the job. We got close then, and we’ve been friends ever since.”

“I see…”

“You awakened as an S-rank hunter at sixteen and entered a dormitory for espers with the support of the Ability Management Bureau. From then on, you started working as an esper little by little, and at eighteen, you officially became an esper and joined the Bureau. Bureau Combat Team 2. It’s the one led by Team Leader Shim Jaehee.”

Yoonjae explained Sunyul’s past actions in a long string, as if to resolve his curiosity. The past he described was very unfamiliar to Sunyul. To the current Sunyul, the Ability Management Bureau was an object of fear.

“After working there for two years, as soon as you turned twenty, you became independent as Combat Team 8 and immediately became the team leader. You worked there for two years, and until you went missing in the rift incident at the age of twenty-two, Sunyul, you were the most promising talent in the Ability Management Bureau.”

“…”

“Of course, I know well that the Bureau is not a welcome entity to you right now.”

Yoonjae said with a smile, seeing Sunyul’s reluctant face.

“I can’t bring myself to tell you to come back to the Bureau. It’s a secret that I said this.”

“…Okay.”

Sunyul was grateful to Yoonjae for readily saying that, even though he belonged to the Bureau. He thought, I guess we’re friends for a reason, and his fondness for Yoonjae grew.

“There are quite a lot of complicated matters tied up with you.”

“What kind of matters?”

“First of all, we have to catch those bastards who kidnapped you.”

“Ah.”

He had momentarily forgotten. That those bastards existed. As Sunyul made a dazed sound, Yoonjae looked at him with a cautious expression.

“…Besides that, there are the higher-ups trying to use you one way or another, the Bureau trying to get you back, all sorts of organizations trying to find out even one thing about the rift, the attention that will be poured on you as an individual named Lim Sunyul… well, there’s a lot of things.”

Just hearing about it was exhausting.

“…I don’t want to meet them.”

“Even if you don’t want to—”

“If you don’t want to meet them, you don’t have to.”

Muyoung cut Yoonjae off from behind. Yoonjae shrugged.

“It would be nice if he didn’t have to, but will it be as easy as it sounds?”

“It’s easier than you think. Hunter Go Yoonjae wouldn’t know, living as the Bureau’s dog.”

Yoonjae and Muyoung stared at each other. Their faces were the same as usual, but Sunyul felt a chill for some unknown reason. A moment later, Muyoung took his eyes off Yoonjae and looked at Sunyul.

“Only meet who you want to meet. Don’t worry about people who are trying to treat you well belatedly.”

“Rather than belatedly, the situation has completely changed, hasn’t it?”

“Lim Sunyul is the same. Only his surroundings have changed.”

At those words, Yoonjae looked back at Sunyul.

“True. Since he has no memories… it would be hard for him to handle such things.”

Sunyul’s eyes darted around. It felt like they were talking about him, but it was very difficult to chime in. He felt like a child caught between parents who were passionately discussing their child’s future.

“For now, get some rest, Sunyul.”

Yoonjae said, having seen Sunyul’s expression. Sunyul, who hadn’t even been thinking of going home, nodded enthusiastically as if he had been waiting for just those words.

“…Then I want to go home.”

“Home? Right now, um… your house is gone.”

Sunyul tilted his head as if he had heard a very unexpected answer. The home he was talking about wasn’t Lim Sunyul’s original house. Sunyul looked at Muyoung as if asking for help.

“You want to go to my place?”

“Yes.”

Sunyul answered promptly.

“That’s not your home.”

Sunyul looked back at Bada, who spoke with a bit of a choked voice. At his incredibly sad gaze, Bada eventually closed his mouth. Sunyul looked at Muyoung again.

“Can’t I?”

For some reason, it felt like Muyoung would say no, so Sunyul asked with a nervous heart.