By Zephyria He ran away, leaving the world behind. A traitor.
It was a series of puzzling words. Eui-jae absorbed the red letters and pondered them for a long time. Traitor, ran away. Ran away, traitor… Did I ever run away?
“I don’t think I ever ran away…”
J doesn’t run away. He never had any intention or reason to, and if he ran away, more people would die. It might sound arrogant to say it himself, but J was a bulwark in and of himself. Since his Awakening, Cha Eui-jae had never doubted his usefulness.
But why does it say ‘ran away’? Pure curiosity arose. Eui-jae, scratching his head for no reason, reached out to the tablet.
“J.”
Then something black blocked his view. Sa-young covered the eye area of the mask with his palm, pulling the round head towards him. Eui-jae tried to resist, but obediently tilted his head back. A brusque voice asked.
“What are you doing?”
“Huh?”
“Why are you still looking at this ridiculous bullshit?”
“Huh? No, there must be a reason why they wrote this.”
“Reason?”
“They wouldn’t say something like this without a basis…”
Ha, Sa-young snorted. The finger covering the eye area of the mask tapped lightly on the mask. The mask trembled slightly.
“I don’t know if you’re kind or stupid…”
“What, you punk?”
“Do you think crazy people have reasons? Put the tablet away.”
“Wait, I haven’t seen it all yet. Hey, don’t take it away.”
“Put it away.”
“If you take it away, you’re dead.”
“Put it away.”
“I’m ranked higher than you.”
“I never thought J would do something like a street Hunter, threatening people with rankings…”
“Oh my, there’s no popcorn here, but you’re causing such conflict… Oh, did you finish the popcorn I brought you earlier?”
His younger brother, Mackerel, joked. The moment Eui-jae grabbed his wrist to pull it away, Sa-young quickly slipped his finger into the gap in the mask. Cold leather touched his eyes. Eui-jae glared.
“What are you doing?”
“If you let go now, the mask will come off. Is that okay?”
“I’ll break your finger.”
“Go ahead and try.”
“……”
The finger that had slipped into the gap in the mask wriggled lightly, tickling his eyelashes. It was a teasing, ticklish touch. Eui-jae frowned. He probably knew he couldn’t break it, so he was doing this.
Would it have been possible if he hadn’t known that Lee Sa-young was that boy?
‘…I don’t think I could have anyway.’
It felt like he had realized something he shouldn’t have.
A vein popped out on Eui-jae’s forehead. That sly and cunning bastard! Lee Sa-young had a knack for annoying people. He gently released the hand that had been holding his wrist. But the finger, which he thought would slip out, remained still.
Eui-jae, who had been preparing to snatch his wrist again, asked.
“Hey, aren’t you going to take your finger out?”
“You’ll let go right away if I do.”
Did you think I wouldn’t know that? Lee Sa-young sneered in his ear. Damn it. Lee Sa-young knew Cha Eui-jae too well. His younger brother, Mackerel, poured oil on the fire instead of putting it out.
“It’s so reassuring to see the number one and number two being so friendly, the future of Korea is bright! Isn’t that right, Hyung?”
“Y-yeah. That’s right.”
No, it’s not!
Eui-jae racked his brains. Should he drag him into the video room, close the door, and neutralize him? He could do it. He was confident in hand-to-hand combat. It would be a bit rough, but an S-class could withstand most impacts, and if he controlled his strength…
Something hard bumped against the top of his head. It seemed to be the bottom of the Gas mask.
“I can hear you thinking. You were thinking about hitting me just now.”
Eui-jae, who had been imagining carrying Lee Sa-young inside and throwing him into a beanbag, replied nonchalantly.
“No, I wasn’t.”
“Why do you want to see that bullshit? Is there any need to see it…”
“Isn’t all the information on that site?”
“Ah…. Just.”
Sa-young sighed deeply. The finger that had been fiddling with his face slipped out, and the hand that had been pressing down on the mask also fell away. Eui-jae slowly blinked at the brightened view.
The Mackerels were looking at Eui-jae with clean faces, as if they had never held up the tablet. He must have put it away in the end. Before he could threaten the Mackerels, two hands landed on his shoulders. Sa-young gently turned Eui-jae’s body towards the video room. Sa-young, who had been sighing for a while, muttered.
“Go inside and watch the interview video.”
“…What?”
Eui-jae blinked. He spoke, clearly reluctant, cutting off each syllable.
“Go see that cute Lee Sa-young.”
“Pfft!”
“No, I don’t think I said he was cute…”
“I’ll look at the site.”
A large hand pushed Eui-jae’s back and sent him into the video room. Just before the door closed, their eyes met. His purple eyes were full of annoyance. Thud, the door closed.
Eui-jae, standing alone in the dark video room, blinked and scratched his head. Then he picked up the remote control and pressed the play button. The face of a young Lee Sa-young, on the cusp of boyhood and youth, reappeared on the screen. But strangely, it didn’t catch his eye as much as before.
‘Why is he trying to hide it?’
Is there information I shouldn’t know? Or is it because he thinks I’ll get hurt?
“……”
Eui-jae settled into a comfortable beanbag and tilted his head, looking at the indifferent young face. Did he think he would be hurt by such unfounded words? But Cha Eui-jae’s heart was too strong to be hurt by something like that. His heart was already…
Click, click. The flash goes off. He ran away. A traitor. He abandoned them and ran away. A traitor.
abandoning his comrades and escaping alone, you dirty traitor, everyone is waiting for the day you pay for your sins For a moment, the screen seemed to be dyed bright red, but it soon regained its color.
Eui-jae rested his chin between his knees. The young Lee Sa-young yawned slightly. The tension in his shoulders eased. Well, what if he doesn’t tell me until the end?
‘I’ll just have to find him later and shake him down.’
Would he be able to hold out without talking in front of a fist? Eui-jae’s hand cracked.
Large and small screens flickered, emitting a blue light. Countless screens surrounded the entire room in a circle.
Sa-young took his hand out of his pocket. With each step he took, his image was reflected from various angles on the screens. In the middle of the large, dark room, his younger brother, Mackerel, sat on the desk, welcoming him with open arms.
“It’s been a while since you’ve been here, hasn’t it? By the way, I don’t know how bored I’ve been because there haven’t been any guests in the innermost part.”
Next to him, Mackerel Hyung was looking at each of the many screens. His finger tapped in the air as if typing on a keyboard. The lenses of his glasses sparkled with blue light.
This was the heart of the Fish Market, the Mackerels’ office. A place that could not be found without the guidance of the Master of the Fish Market.
Sa-young nodded indifferently.
“Get to the point. I don’t plan on being away for long.”
His younger brother, Mackerel, grinned.
“Since when have you been so close to J Hyung? Close enough to put your hand in his mask.”
“I told you, get to the point.”
“This is the point. No, what kind of etiquette is it to make a request and not show your face for three months? You should at least give us a hint. Information is all about freshness. The information is all rotten.”
“You still have to give me the rotten information… That’s what an information broker is supposed to do.”
“Hey, you’ve done business once or twice.”
His younger brother, Mackerel, shook his head. His aquamarine eyes sparkled. His thumb and forefinger made a circle.
“The price has gone up… That’s what it means.”
“……”
Sa-young slowly tilted his head.
“What do you want?”
His younger brother, Mackerel, grinned. He rubbed his thumb and forefinger, which were touching in a circle, as if counting money.
“I think I know what your relationship with J is without asking. What have you been doing for the past three months?”
“Ah…”
Sa-young scoffed. It was obvious. Many people would have been curious about his absence and requested information. Where he had been and what strange things he had been up to.
“Looks like a lot of people were curious about my whereabouts.”
“Well, you’re a superstar.”
“I slept.”
“Pardon?”
His younger brother, Mackerel, widened his eyes. Mackerel Hyung, who had been concentrating on other things next to him, also raised his head. His younger brother prepared to cover his Hyung’s ears with both hands and asked again.
“You slept? Oh, with whom?”
“What are you thinking… You should get a brainwashing.”
Sa-young spat out the words.
“I slept. For three months.”
“Is it possible to sleep for three months straight? No… Well, it’s not impossible. Why?”
“I don’t know. I fell asleep on what you guys call the Day of Change…”
He gestured with his chin at his younger brother, Mackerel.
“I woke up for the first time on the day that picture was taken. Is that enough?”
“There’s no way you could have fallen asleep without any problems…”
“I told you, I don’t know.”
He replied irritably. There was no need to tell the information broker all the deep details. Because they couldn’t give Lee Sa-young the information he needed. The only thing that could give him an answer was the unwelcome guest in his body.
The two Mackerels looked at each other and exchanged glances. When Mackerel Hyung nodded, his younger brother, Mackerel, clapped his hands with a snap.
“Okay. On the Day of Change, Mutants poured out everywhere. Those Mutants were, as you know, a form of Awakened who had mutated due to the Experiment of Prometheus and drugs. But at some point, in very low places… A strange conspiracy theory began to circulate among civilians, who Hunters didn’t pay much attention to.”
When Mackerel flicked his finger, three photos appeared in front of him. A Black Hole that had turned pure white and become a Whitehole, a black figure piercing a giant whale and scattering gray hair, a Mutant wearing a Hunter ID around his neck and being subdued and collapsed, and civilians surrounding it and whispering.
“After the Day of Change, the Awakened are mutating into monsters… Or so they say.”