EFME 70

Today was the day Sunyul would visit the Ability Management Bureau. It was to renew his registration as an Awoken and a Hunter.

Since his previous registrations had all been canceled, it would normally require a complicated process, but the Bureau decided to make an exception for him.

The visit was carried out in top secret. This was largely a reflection of Sunyul’s wish not to be needlessly exposed to the media.

Thus, Muyoung escorted Sunyul to the Bureau. The person who came out to meet Sunyul was, as one might expect, Go Yoonjae.

“Hi, Sunyul.”

“Ah… hi.”

“Yeah.”

Despite the somewhat awkward greeting, Yoonjae smiled as if he were happy. But the eyes he turned to Muyoung were ice-cold.

“You really insisted on following him all the way here.”

“I was just dropping him off. Wasn’t that what we agreed upon?”

“Yes. I’ll be taking him home, so there’s no need for you to come back.”

After scanning Yoonjae for a moment, Muyoung nodded.

“Then I’ll leave him in your hands.”

Though the words were a request, the tone was that of someone giving an order to a subordinate. The wider Yoonjae’s smile grew, the stronger the chilling aura became. Only Sunyul, caught in the middle, shivered from the inexplicable cold.

“Yes. Have a safe trip back. Be careful not to get in an accident on your way.”

“Get home safely.”

Yoonjae’s words were a sarcastic jibe wishing for an accident, but Muyoung didn’t even bother to reply, simply finishing his goodbye with Sunyul. As Muyoung left, Yoonjae led the disappointed Sunyul away.

“Let’s go, Sunyul.”

“Eung.”

Sunyul followed Yoonjae into the Ability Management Bureau.

Registering as an Awoken was relatively easy. However, the hunter registration was tricky. Hunter licenses were categorized by rank, and Sunyul was the first-ever EX-rank, a class never seen before.

Thanks to those around him deliberately keeping it quiet, Sunyul hadn’t been very conscious of it, but there was a lot of talk about his new rank.

After numerous discussions, the Bureau decided to issue Sunyul a new, temporary EX-rank hunter license.

The problem was that registering a completely new rank would take time.

And the Bureau planned to use that spare time to persuade Sunyul.

Sunyul was currently in an ambiguous state where he couldn’t be called an Ability User.

Sunyul was certainly known as an Ability User, but an Ability User was, strictly speaking, a national civil servant. However, all the documents proving his status as a national civil servant had been lost, leaving no way to actually prove he was one.

On top of that situation, the relationship between the amnesiac Sunyul and the Bureau was at its worst, while he was extremely close to Muyoung, the Guild Master of Cheongyeon…

No matter how you looked at it, it was the perfect environment for him to transfer to a guild.

Therefore, the plan was to grab hold of Sunyul today, sweet-talk and coax him, and somehow make him settle down as an Ability User. But Yoonjae had no intention of letting that happen. So he volunteered. He said he would persuade Sunyul.

He had to drain himself stopping the Bureau Chief from throwing a fit, insisting that he should be the one to meet Sunyul, that as the representative of the Bureau he had to step up, but in the end, he succeeded.

And the method Yoonjae chose to use for persuasion, after preventing any unnecessary interference, was…

“Looks like it’ll take some time. Let’s have a look around.”

“…A look around?”

“A tour of the Bureau.”

…There was no persuasion, just a tour of the Ability Management Bureau.

He had no intention of forcing Sunyul to be stuck at the Bureau. The Bureau had been far too harsh on the amnesiac Sunyul.

Yoonjae was already famous for doting on Sunyul. To the point where people misunderstood and thought they were lovers, not friends. Yoonjae scoffed at that ridiculous misunderstanding every time, but to others, his devotion was that extreme.

His friend, who had lost his memories, seemed like a younger brother. Twenty-two. Even at that age, he would have felt like a little brother, but he seemed oddly more innocent than before, making him feel even younger.

Thanks to this, Yoonjae was burning with a strong sense of duty to take care of Sunyul.

Yoonjae smiled and pulled Sunyul by the wrist. Having no choice, Sunyul turned off Malong Farm and followed him.

Yoonjae showed him around the various parts of the Bureau. It was a choice made to satisfy Sunyul’s interest and also serve as a decent excuse for the Bureau Chief.

Sunyul found the tour quite interesting. He’d felt it before, but many parts of the Bureau’s building felt familiar. As if he had come here often.

After they had roughly completed one round, a call came saying the registration was complete. Sunyul went with Yoonjae to receive his Awoken license and Hunter license.

Sunyul observed the cards with his photo, name, and information as if they were fascinating. Perhaps because he had lived as I-21 for so long, the fact that he now had an ID card felt deeply moving.

“So this is the Awoken license and the Hunter license….”

Now that he had an ID, he was truly recognized as a human being. Sunyul was so happy that he gripped the IDs tightly, afraid to drop them, and turned them over and over.

“To be precise, they’re temporary. It’ll take a bit more time to produce the official licenses, so you’ll have to come back one more time later.”

The overjoyed Sunyul froze. He had to come here one more time. The thought alone was burdensome, so Sunyul nodded with difficulty.

“Sunyul, do you happen to remember Team Leader Shim Jaehee?”

“I’ve met him before.”

“He’d like to see you. If you’re okay with it, would you like to meet him, even for a moment?”

Sunyul hesitated before nodding. Not only was his impression of Jaehee not bad, but he was told that he knew the old Lim Sunyul… so he couldn’t refuse.

Feeling nervous, Sunyul headed to Jaehee’s office with Yoonjae. Jaehee, who must have been notified in advance, was waiting and strode over as soon as Sunyul entered the room. Then, he swept Sunyul into a tight hug.

Suddenly embraced, Sunyul was so surprised that he froze stiff, his hands hovering in the air.

“Uh, excuse me….”

“You, you really… I told you, I warned you so, so many times not to go in….”

“….”

“No, you did well. You did a great job. A great job but…. Don’t you ever do that again. Got it?”

Sunyul knew almost nothing about Jaehee. It made sense; he’d only met him once. He was different from Bada, Dakyung, or Yoonjae, whom he knew from seeing them a few times.

Even so, it was clear that Jaehee was genuinely angry and worried right now.

“…Okay, I won’t.”

“You’re always good with your words, aren’t you? Always.”

“….”

That’s not true, I’m good with my actions too. Just as Sunyul was feeling a little wronged, Jaehee let him go. Then he let out a chuckle.

“This part of you hasn’t changed at all.”

“Huh?”

“You’re feeling wronged right now because I said you’re only good with your words. Aren’t you?”

Sunyul quickly schooled his expression in front of Jaehee, who had read his mind like a ghost. But as if it were already too late, Jaehee let out a short laugh.

“Anyway… I was so worried, but now I feel a little relieved. I know you must be uncomfortable, so I won’t ask you to stay long. Just have some fruit before you go. I peeled some apples in advance. Okay?”

“You just told me to peel them myself.”

Yoonjae, who was watching from the side, grumbled. Jaehee immediately chided him.

“Are you and Sunyul the same? Yoonjae, you can just peel and eat a tangerine.”

“Yes, sir. I like tangerines.”

Yoonjae promptly sat down and started peeling a tangerine. Sunyul also hesitantly sat down next to him. Jaehee sat across from Sunyul and handed him a fork.

Jaehee asked Sunyul how he’d been, and as soon as he finished the apples, he let him go without any fuss.

“See you again next time, Sunyul.”

Jaehee said his goodbyes, even though his face was overflowing with reluctance.

Sunyul felt sorry toward Jaehee for having acted so awkwardly. It seemed he had been even more awkward with Jaehee than with a complete stranger.

With a stranger, he just needed to be polite, but with Jaehee, he felt like he had to be extra considerate. And trying to be considerate just made him even stiffer.

Yoonjae noticed this and smiled.

“Uncomfortable?”

“It’s not that I dislike him.”

“I know. It’s difficult, right?”

Sunyul nodded with difficulty.

“I make you uncomfortable too, don’t I?”

This time, Sunyul nodded more easily than before. At that, Yoonjae burst out laughing.

“Right, you need to get your memories back quickly.”

“I don’t want to.”

Sunyul’s expression hardened without him realizing it. The atmosphere suddenly became awkward due to the abrupt freeze. Sunyul hurriedly made an excuse.

“It’s just… I have a feeling that I shouldn’t get my memories back.”

“Really? I wonder why…. It would be good if we knew the reason for that feeling.”

At Yoonjae’s muttered words, a chill inexplicably ran down Sunyul’s spine. Was it because he was at the Bureau? Unpleasant thoughts began to creep into his mind. Sunyul glanced at Yoonjae.

“I don’t want to do any experiments or research.”

“…Why would we do something like that.”

Yoonjae’s muttering voice sank low. Sunyul turned to look at Yoonjae, who had stopped walking.

“Do you think I would do something like that to you?”

Standing blankly, Yoonjae looked straight at Sunyul and asked. He was pretending to be alright, but his face was clearly hurt.