By Zephyria Thud!
The center of the junk pile, stacked like a mountain, caved in. “Aish,” Eui-jae grumbled softly, opening his eyes. And then, he met a pair of wide, purple eyes staring straight back at him.
“……”
“……”
Their noses and masks were touching, close enough for their breaths to mingle. The intense, sweet scent he hadn’t smelled in so long overwhelmed his senses. This was Lee Sa-young. Eui-jae was certain.
However, the situation wasn’t ideal for a joyful reunion. Lee Sa-young, with a body too sturdy to be broken by a pile of junk, had simply plowed through it, creating a hole the size of himself. And Eui-jae, who had been trying to catch him, was buried in the hole along with him.
Moreover, since Lee Sa-young had fallen on top of Cha Eui-jae, he was practically sprawled on top of him. He couldn’t move recklessly. In the midst of all this, Lee Sa-young was staring intently at Eui-jae’s mask, as if trying to pierce through it. The black plastic bag in his hand rustled. It was like being glared at by some feline predator.
This was the pattern of staring intently when he was displeased. It had been a while since he’d seen this, too. And Eui-jae knew how to handle it.
‘I don’t know what’s making him unhappy, but first, avoid him.’
Eui-jae averted his gaze, trying to escape the oppressive purple eyes.
“Oh, um. Sa-young, it’s you. It’s been a while. Glad to see you? I’m glad to see you too.”
“……”
“But, uh, should we get out of here? This place is where, uh, the Big Mouths drop what they eat, you know? So, it’s a pile of all sorts of junk…”
A black hand suddenly grabbed the lower part of the black mask. And with a click, it removed the mask. Blackened fingers gripped his chin and forcibly turned his head. Their eyes met. In the purple pupils, Cha Eui-jae’s flustered face was reflected.
“……”
“…Sa-young? What’s wrong?”
“What’s wrong, you ask?”
There was no emotion in Sa-young’s voice. That was what made it even more problematic. Soon, a radiant smile bloomed on his gorgeous face. A red warning light flashed in his mind, blaring loudly. Eui-jae swallowed hard.
‘I’m screwed.’
“Ah… I see. You know this place pretty well, Hyung?”
“……”
“I guess you’ve been living here for quite a while. Huh?”
“No, well, I got here before you, and someone explained it to me.”
“Ah… so you came here first and then looked for someone else who lived here? Impressive, your initiative. Right?”
His face came a little closer. When Eui-jae tried to look away again, the hand gripping his chin turned his head back towards him. The gleaming purple eyes narrowed slightly.
“I heard a few things, Hyung.”
“…Wh-what could our Sa-young have, uh, heard?”
“Ah… it’s nothing much, but I heard you dove into a Big Mouth’s mouth without even explaining the situation? Bae Won-woo was sobbing.”
That’s right. He had jumped into the mouth of the Big Mouth that Bae Won-woo had so kindly secured for him. He could still picture Bae Won-woo’s gaping mouth and the trembling uvula as he screamed. Sa-young folded down a second finger.
“Ugh… and you practically said your goodbyes to Jung-bin. Asking him to take care of Prometheus, asking him to take care of the people, asking him to hold on until I came? And you even showed him what’s under your mask?”
“No… I didn’t show him my face, just the lower part.”
“Ah… so you did the same thing you did to me? You only showed me the lower part too.”
Eui-jae gritted his teeth. Damn it, he blurted it all out? Our bond, our secret, wasn’t it, Jung-bin? Sa-young’s eyes were already glazed over. He leaned in until their noses almost touched and whispered.
“Why… are you tired of being a Hunter? Are you going to quit being a Hunter and become a national diving representative, or something? Or are you going to live here forever?”
“No, that’s not it, it’s just that…”
“Should I guess what you were thinking?”
His hot breath washed over him. Eui-jae recoiled slightly. Sa-young opened his mouth with an angelic smile.
“If Doomsday comes, everything will be destroyed anyway. I have to go alone and kill that Doomsday bastard. I don’t know how you found out how to get to the source of Doomsday, but since you did, you told everyone to leave it all to you.”
“……”
“I’ll go take care of it, and then you dove in. Without even thinking about your own life.”
“……”
“Come on, say something to refute that.”
Did this guy have mind-reading abilities? Lee Sa-young was spitting out exactly what Cha Eui-jae had been thinking. Unable to turn his head because of the hand gripping his chin, Eui-jae finally closed his eyes. It was a declaration of defeat. Sa-young chuckled briefly.
“Your thoughts are so obvious, so simple. You’ve always been like that.”
“I’m not that simple, you punk… I thought about various methods and came to that conclusion.”
“Ah, I’m sure you did. Fine, let’s say you did.”
Sa-young shrugged. Their eyes met at a distance close enough for their lips to touch. Sa-young whispered.
“Why didn’t you wait for me?”
Thud. His heart sank. It was the very point that Hong Ye-seong had pointed out. Eui-jae’s lips moved, but he couldn’t bring himself to speak. Instead, he lowered his gaze. Sa-young asked again.
“Why?”
He looked like he would keep pressing until he got an answer. The situation in the narrow space, with Sa-young practically pinning him down, was awkward. He would have run away if they were outside. But he couldn’t lie with their faces so close. He knew Sa-young would notice the moment he did.
Finally, Eui-jae stammered, opening his mouth.
“Well, it’s an urgent situation because of Doomsday… and I didn’t know when you would come out of that Dungeon…”
Ha, Sa-young scoffed. He gritted his teeth and asked again.
“So, I have to hear about you from someone else again? While searching for you, who isn’t there? I have to endure another indefinite wait?”
It was a statement that accurately stabbed at Eui-jae’s sore spot. The image of the test subject struggling in a vial full of Poison flickered before his eyes. It was something that had happened because he wasn’t there. Eui-jae gritted his teeth. Something welled up inside him.
“…But, when I went to pick you up last time, you didn’t come out with me!”
He couldn’t hold back the burst of anger and shouted. Sa-young’s eyes widened and then narrowed. Eui-jae somehow rummaged through his pockets and pulled out a black glove, shoving it at him.
“You threw down just one of these gloves and said you wouldn’t come out, you! What, should I have gone back in and dragged you out? You wouldn’t have come out even if I dragged you out!”
Sa-young didn’t back down either.
“Of course, that’s because it would speed up the vaccine development!”
“That’s none of my business! I just wanted you to…!”
Eui-jae barely managed to hold back the words that were about to burst out. The narrow cave was filled only with the sound of their panting breaths. Eui-jae roughly rubbed his face with both hands, performing a dry wash. He didn’t even have the strength to hide his true feelings anymore. A weak voice flowed from his lips.
“I just… wanted you to come out with me. Instead of being alone in such a lonely place.”
“……”
“I even used that Tomato Market Mana Stone to go in and get you.”
“Ah, I wondered. I was wondering why the passage opened.”
Sa-young muttered. He carefully examined Eui-jae’s face and whispered in a low voice.
“I wasn’t lonely.”
“…Don’t lie.”
“I’m serious. I wasn’t lonely. It’s just…”
Sa-young lowered his head and pressed his forehead against Eui-jae’s. Long, curly hair flowed down, tickling his cheeks and forehead. Warmth was transmitted from their touching foreheads.
“It’s just… it was a little hard to wait.”
“……”
“So… I thought about how hard it must have been for Hyung in the West Sea Rift. Because you had to endure eight years in there.”
Sa-young lowered the arms that had been bracing himself and hugged Eui-jae tightly, as if collapsing into him. Eui-jae hugged Sa-young’s back tightly, as if he would never let go again. The view that Sa-young had been blocking cleared. A pure white light poured down from above the hole.
Sa-young’s soft whisper pierced his ears.
“Hyung gets lonely easily…”
Eui-jae blankly stared at the round sky. Strangely, he felt like he was going to cry. How foolish. He felt comforted. Lee Sa-young must have had a hard time too.
“…If I had known.”
His throat was choked up, and the words didn’t come out easily. Eui-jae cleared his throat a few times before muttering.
“If I had known… don’t shake off my hand next time. Don’t think about leaving behind just one glove.”
“…Okay.”
“Just stay by my side, quietly.”
“That’s what I should be saying. Hyung, stop jumping in alone. You only have one life.”
“…Okay.”
Eui-jae hugged Sa-young, who had collapsed on top of him, tightly. They had both lost each other once. And they knew what awaited them at the end of it all. Doomsday.
Even if someone survived, their life would be meaningless without their one and only.
‘I hope Lee Sa-young survives to the end.’
If that couldn’t happen, then…
Eui-jae murmured softly.
“Let’s just… stay together. Whether the world is destroyed, whether Doomsday comes, whatever happens.”
“……”
“That… would be good.”
Would it be okay to die together? Eui-jae suddenly had that thought.