184 – HGL 184

184

Tak. Ham Seok-jeong put down her glass.

“It’s been a while.”

“Yes.”

Silence fell again. Eui-jae waited patiently. The distance that had once been as close as relatives had grown far apart. She turned her head, covered her mouth with her fist, and coughed softly. Her complexion was not good. Ham Seok-jeong struggled to suppress her cough and asked.

“Have you been well?”

“For now, yes.”

“I see… That’s a relief.”

Eui-jae looked at the cane leaning against the chair she was sitting on. It was the same cane he had seen at the press conference.

“I see you’re using a cane.”

“Ah, you must have seen it on TV? I guess you haven’t been living in some deep mountain valley.”

She laughed briefly. Haha, even a single word is hard to throw out easily. Eui-jae also laughed awkwardly. Ham Seok-jeong rubbed her left knee.

“I got a little hurt a few years ago. After that, I retired from the front lines… and became an old woman in the back room like this.”

Silence again. Strangely, the conversation didn’t flow easily. Was it always like this, with the conversation cut off? He rummaged through his memories, but even that memory was hazy. Eui-jae blinked.

‘Strangely unfamiliar…’

This time, Ham Seok-jeong was the first to speak.

“When did you come back?”

“Ah, it hasn’t been long.”

“I see.”

“……”

“I won’t apologize. Even if I could go back to the past, I would act the same way. Sending Hye-kyung, sending you. I’ll even ask for your help. Shamelessly.”

“I know.”

“Okay.”

The story didn’t hit the core and just circled around. Trivial greetings were repeated several times. Frustratingly. Eui-jae blurted out.

“Aren’t you curious why I didn’t come to see you sooner, why I’m only coming now…?”

Ham Seok-jeong took a sip of coffee and replied.

“There must have been a reason.”

“I heard you were looking for me.”

“I did. After eight years, a kid who came back to life didn’t even show his face, so I wondered if he was so badly injured that he couldn’t move. Or if he had lost his memory.”

Eui-jae examined Ham Seok-jeong’s face. The sharp impression that had been like a bird of prey had dulled, but there was still a fierce look left. When he was young, he was sometimes scared of her. She put down her glass and stared at the black mask.

“Why, does it sound like an excuse?”

Ham Seok-jeong leaned back in her chair. A smile appeared on her fierce face.

“It is an excuse.”

“Yes, I thought so.”

Eui-jae sighed and straightened his back. Ham Seok-jeong. The person who had been the Director since the Awakened Management Bureau first launched. She was especially outstanding in observation and reasoning. Not an Awakening ability, but she was born that way. Even J, who hid his face, couldn’t hide his true feelings in front of her.

Ham Seok-jeong slowly folded her fingers and said.

“Of course, if you were in a state where you couldn’t protect yourself, the purpose was to find and protect you, and to ask for your cooperation to stop Doomsday. But there was a bigger reason.”

Finally, the main point. Ham Seok-jeong, who had been staring at her hand with only two fingers folded, tilted her head.

“Hye-kyung. What happened to the other Hunters?”

“……”

Aunt.

Cha Eui-jae’s aunt, Hunter Park Hye-kyung, had been as close as sisters with Ham Seok-jeong. Eui-jae swallowed. When he finally opened his mouth, his voice was hoarse. It would be hard to notice because it was a distorted voice, but Ham Seok-jeong would have noticed it enough.

“Aunt… and the other Hunters.”

Eui-jae clenched his fist. He squeezed his eyes shut.

“I couldn’t save them all… I’m sor…”

“Don’t say you’re sorry.”

The firm words fell. Eui-jae raised his head sharply. Ham Seok-jeong was looking at him without any change in expression.

“J, it’s something even you couldn’t do. There’s no way anyone else could have done it. Isn’t that right?”

“……”

“There’s no way you didn’t do your best. I know. The Hunters who went in with you must have done their best too. And yet, this is the result.”

His heart was strangely agitated. It wasn’t the reaction he had prepared and resolved himself for several times. It was a completely different answer. Eui-jae couldn’t continue speaking and lowered his head again. Ham Seok-jeong let out a sigh.

“If I were the Director, that’s what I should say.”

“……”

“But, well……”

She lowered her eyes and muttered.

“I knew they must have died. I was the one who made the official death announcement, and it’s been eight years. More than anything, if Hye-kyung were alive, she would have come to find me a long time ago. I knew it.”

“……”

“I’ve often wondered what would have happened if I had stopped her from going back then…”

“……”

“Still, suspicion and a survivor’s testimony carry different weight. I’m sorry to you, but I had to hear it directly from you. For my sake.”

Eui-jae slowly raised his head. He didn’t know why he felt that way himself, but he was curious about Ham Seok-jeong’s expression. Ham Seok-jeong…

“I can finally give up.”

Was expressionless,

And empty.

Like someone who had lost something very important. Like an empty room.

Eui-jae stared at her face, speechless. He wanted to say something, but no words could pass his throat. Eui-jae thought with a blank face.

‘That’s strange.’

Why does Lee Sa-young come to mind?

Ham Seok-jeong grabbed the armrest of the chair and stood up. And she went around the outside of the table that separated them, approaching Eui-jae. Her limping walk kept catching his eye. She leaned over and carefully hugged Eui-jae.

“Thank you. And I’m sorry.”

“……”

“Welcome back.”

It was an action that the usual Ham Seok-jeong would not have done. Rather… Eui-jae blinked.

‘Aunt used to do this often.’

What happens to a person when they lose the biggest pillar of their life?

‘Director…’

Her hand patted his back affectionately. It felt similar to his aunt’s touch. Eui-jae hesitated and put his arm around her back. She was much smaller than he remembered. Eui-jae quietly closed his eyes and thought.

‘She’ll be living her life thinking of Aunt…’

The long hug ended. Eui-jae jumped up and supported Ham Seok-jeong, who was limping back to her seat. She looked very tired after sitting back down. Ham Seok-jeong sighed briefly and asked.

“Come to think of it… you seem to be close to Sa-young.”

Damn it. She saw the article. Eui-jae frowned. He needed to deal with the Mackerels once again. And the thought that followed was,

‘Sa-young?’

Isn’t that a bit of an affectionate name? Eui-jae answered awkwardly.

“Yes? No, well…”

“No? You seemed close in the article.”

“No, it seems like you’re closer, Director, since you’re calling him Sa-young…”

“Would he like me? Not likely.”

Ham Seok-jeong chuckled and picked up her glass. The coffee cup, which had been steaming white, was now lukewarm. She closed her eyes and muttered.

“It was a few years ago. It happened after you went into the Rift. There was a time when Jung-bin and Bae Won-woo couldn’t be reached for several months. The last report was, ‘I have to take care of the child, so I can’t go back for a while. I’m sorry.’ Haha, I wondered what kind of bullshit that was.”

“……”

A thought flashed through his mind. Come to think of it, Lee Sa-young said he had lived with Jung-bin, didn’t he? It was a passing remark, but he definitely remembered it. Eui-jae unconsciously focused on the story.

“That’s how several months passed. I was already suffering from a shortage of manpower, but when the two biggest powerhouses were gone, I was frantically busy.”

That must have been the case. Jung-bin and Bae Won-woo, two Rankers, were gone. And since he wasn’t there either, it must have been terribly busy. Ham Seok-jeong sighed.

“In the midst of that, I suddenly got a call. Saying they were going to bring the kid. When they said kid, I wondered if I should prepare a room for the kids to play in, but they came with some dark, tall guy tucked under their arm. He was a little too big to be a kid.”

Lee Sa-young?

“But those two coddled him like he was a 5cm baby. That kid looked decent and human enough, but his eyes were crazy.”

It’s Lee Sa-young!

His eyes were crazy? It’s definitely Lee Sa-young. Eui-jae listened intently. Ham Seok-jeong chuckled.

“That kid who looked like he was about to die suddenly brightened up when Lee Sa-young’s name came up.”

“……”

He wouldn’t be able to see it because of the mask. Eui-jae fiddled with his mask for no reason. Tak, Ham Seok-jeong put down her glass and put her fingertips together.

“Okay, that’s enough of the story. Let’s make a deal.”

“…What deal?”

“It won’t be harmful to you.”

Eui-jae swallowed hard. He didn’t know what conditions she would set. Ham Seok-jeong smiled. However, the smile was still empty.

“Let’s meet and talk sometimes.”

“Yes?”

“I’ll tell you about Lee Sa-young that you don’t know. You tell me about Hye-kyung that I don’t know.”

Eui-jae blinked blankly. Ham Seok-jeong rested her chin on her hand.

“And if you’re ready, tell me about what happened inside the Rift. Until the very end.”

“……”

Eui-jae took a small breath. Director, Ham Seok-jeong smiled with an empty face.

“How about it? It doesn’t seem like it would be harmful.”