By Zephyria 
“Excuse me.”
“Ack! Yes, yes!”
The man, startled, flinched as if he had been caught doing something wrong, but Kim Si-baek had a different purpose.
“Do you know how to take a selfie with a phone?”
“……Uh, what?”
There was no way he wouldn’t know. Dazed, the man tapped the phone screen. The screen immediately switched to selfie mode.
Kim Si-baek took a photo with a look of admiration. In the meantime, another new message arrived: [Did you take the subway?] While slowly typing the reply [I took it earlier, I’m on my way now] with fumbling fingers, the phone continued to vibrate as more messages arrived.
He finally finished typing, but he didn’t know how to attach a photo. Tae-un had only taught him how to save his own selfies.
“Um, excuse me.”
The man, who had been staring blankly at the phone, was startled again and showed him how to send a photo.
After barely managing to send the photo, Kim Si-baek took a breath and suddenly felt a sense of emptiness while comparing the messages he sent with the ones Tae-un sent.
“How do I send moving pictures like these?”
The man’s eyes twitched as he saw all sorts of cute emoticons being spammed by Tae-un—someone who looked like he would never use something like ‘^^’. Was it for real that Tae-un used baby-talk emoticons?
It was just as the man, swallowing dry saliva repeatedly, clicked on the emoticon purchase page. Another new message arrived.
♥Un-i♥
But Hyung
Looking at the subway window, I think you passed the transfer station (๑ŏ _ ŏ๑)
Startled, Kim Si-baek checked the subway map again. He really had passed it. After bowing to the man who had taught him various things, he hurriedly got off at the next station.
Even after he disappeared from sight, the man wrapped his arms around his goosebump-covered skin, denying reality.
After returning to the transfer station and repeating the mistake of boarding the wrong way and realizing it after three stations, he finally arrived at Daejeon Station.
From Daejeon Station, he booked a train ticket and headed to Gwacheon, the northernmost city in Gyeonggi-do closest to Seoul. In the past, there had been no direct line, but it seemed a new one had been opened for smooth transit to the northernmost city after Daejeon became the temporary capital.
Of course, rather than struggling with an app or a kiosk, Kim Si-baek simply booked at the ticket counter. He was lucky the counter was still open.
“Pets must be placed in a cage when boarding.”
“It’s a comfort doll.”
He boarded the train, lying boldly, and was greatly surprised. Since physical train tickets were rare, he guessed there would be no staff checking by punching holes in them. However, there were no staff members crossing the carriage selling lunch boxes or snacks.
“You’re supposed to eat boiled eggs on the train……”
Kim Si-baek realized belatedly why Tae-un had told him to wait a bit because he would buy boiled eggs in the morning, and he regretted it. He should have waited and brought the boiled eggs.
Biyendwe, who had been staying perfectly still pretending to be a doll, glared at him.
“I’ll bring boiled eggs next time.”
He didn’t realize that the gazes of the people around him turned pitiful as they watched him mutter unilaterally to a doll.
He arrived at Gwacheon Station after two hours. Biyendwe, who had fluttered up to the crown of his head, flapped its wings.
[Death and Beauty commands that you hand over the phone so that the way may be found.]
“No. That’s not necessary.”
Leaving the station plaza where people were bustling about, Kim Si-baek looked around and simply made a call with his phone. There was only one number saved.
Did you arrive in Gwacheon already?
A welcoming voice came through the airwaves, but the answer was firm.
“Un-ah, come out.”
Huh? Where? Hyung, I’m undressed and washing up right now, so I can’t go anywhere. Ah, if by any chance you want to see me naked……
“I know you followed me.”
…….
The call cut off abruptly.
A moment later, a familiar car slid up in front of Kim Si-baek, who was standing by the roadside of the station plaza. The window rolled down, and Tae-un took off his glasses, hesitantly gauging the mood.
“……How did you know?”
“You kept sending photos saying you were working at the office. But the timing of the sunlight didn’t match.”
“…….”
“Seeing you send photos as an alibi, I figured you must be following me.”
“…….”
“Am I wrong?”
“……You’re right.”
[Death and Beauty puffs out its chest hair, saying that no one can match the keen eye of my apostle.]
Tae-un let out a deep sigh and buried his face in the steering wheel.
“……Just in case, I even manipulated the capture time recorded in the photo files before sending them.”
Rolling his eyes sneakily, he leaned his body out the window and placed Kim Si-baek’s hand on his head. Kim Si-baek, whose eyes had been firmly hardened, flinched. Not missing the moment Kim Si-baek began to melt at the familiar and smooth touch of the hair, Tae-un moved his lips.
A sorrowful voice, like a rain-soaked puppy, floated up limply.
“Hyung…… are you going to scold me?”
Kim Si-baek’s reason screamed that he shouldn’t just let the lie slide, but his instinct was already ruffling Tae-un’s hair.
“I’ll let it slide today, but don’t do this in the future. Do you understand?”
“Yesss……”
Only then did a pretty smile bloom on the thoroughly crestfallen face. How could anyone win against the cute antics of a child who knows how to be loved…… Kim Si-baek’s self-rationalization was quite excellent.
Despite the twists and turns, they were able to move comfortably to the destination thanks to Tae-un’s deviation.
The South Korean government, having lost Seoul and northern Gyeonggi-do to magical beasts, had established a defense line along the Second Gyeongin Expressway. Kim Si-baek stood at the limit zone where civilians could enter without a permit and gazed north. Although not visible to the naked eye, there would be a military base bordering Seoul, much like the old military demarcation line with North Korea.
Coming here didn’t make him feel anything in particular. However, he wanted to see this place with his own eyes. It was a memorial park to commemorate those sacrificed across the country, including Seoul, during the Great Cataclysm.
There were hundreds of memorial tablets, as a single stone slab could not carve all the names. Even Biyendwe, who had been displeased that he decided to carry out the quest on Earth, gasped upon seeing the lined-up memorial tablets.
Kim Si-baek walked slowly in front of each memorial tablet, as if trying to take in the names of the countless people. A thick scent of chrysanthemums wafted from the bouquets someone had offered.
Among the list of countless victims, would there be those he had a connection with 21 years ago? It was possible that the names of the orphanage family, including Tae-un, might have been carved there.
Accepting the weight of the extinguished lives, he steadied his heart once more. Even if this world did not remember him and had abandoned him, his choice to perform the quest was by no means wrong.
“Un-ah.”
Turning to look at Tae-un, who was following a few steps behind, he confirmed his resolve.
“I’ll try my best to make sure more people don’t get sacrificed.”
Tae-un gazed at him silently and then lowered his head. He couldn’t confirm his expression in the end.
Something that had been quietly eroded and precipitated over decades resurfaced upon smelling the air and scent of home. It was an old nightmare.
〈Hyung.〉
It was the voice of a child.
Not the young voice of Tae-un, which was shy yet possessed a blind passion, but a slow and clumsy way of speaking. It was his younger brother. His biological brother who disappeared and died young. Thus, the moment Kim Si-baek heard his brother’s voice, he knew this was an old nightmare.
The way home from school was always rushed. He had never mingled with the groups of classmates who played on the playground or waited for the Taekwondo and abacus academy buses. His only goal was to return to the house where his brother waited, even if it was just one minute faster.
〈Hyung.〉
The slow and sluggish call of his brother, who had never once looked for a father or mother, tightened around him like a shackle. The brother, who did not react to anyone else, approached only him and hugged him.
Blood bursts from his chest. The body of the brother held in his arms is torn apart. Amidst the fragments of the fragile flesh being shattered and scattered everywhere, the brother, who had never once smiled, asks expressionlessly.
〈Why didn’t Hyung look for me?〉
Kim Si-baek opened his eyes, gasping for breath. A terrible headache surged through his brain, where the aftermath of the nightmare lingered thickly, and he had to swallow his groans for a long time.
“……I’m sorry. Hyung was wrong. I’m sorry.”
Beyond his closed vision, as he curled up and let out agonized groans, a system window flashed for a moment and then disappeared.