By Zephyria 
While waiting for him with a touch of anxiety, Yoo Jiha listened to the explanation about the barrier that existed only within the central headquarters.
“It’s a barrier and an anomaly that purifies contamination and prevents anomalies from approaching.”
“The Management Bureau building itself isn’t the barrier, right?”
“Your team leader still hasn’t explained this to you? Something this important? I can’t believe it… You’ve met the Jaga, right? The subject of the barrier is the Jaga’s flute, the Ten Thousand Waves Flute.”
“What? That flute from the Silla Dynasty? The Ten Thousand Waves Flute wasn’t a legend, it was real?!”
“Yep. It’s a case where it became an anomaly because it was imbued with the wishes of people longing for peace, so it’s harmless to humans. Well, harmless anomalies are quite rare. Regardless, it’s one of the few anomalies in the world with purification abilities.”
She mentioned that the only things comparable to the Ten Thousand Waves Flute were the Statue of St. Peter in the Vatican and the mausoleum of the 5th Dalai Lama at the Potala Palace. It was shocking that something he had considered a mere legend was an actual anomaly. She giggled, seemingly amused by his reaction, as his mouth hung slightly open.
“You saw the Jaga using the Ten Thousand Waves Flute, right? Because that appearance is like a guardian deity communicating through a shaman, it’s also called a Divine Artifact. No one except the Sealed One can even touch it. I don’t know what qualifications are needed to be the Sealed One, either.”
Song Hilda shrugged, saying only those at the very top knew. If Jeil Heon, who had served as the Head of Department of the Enforcement Division and seemed close to that ‘Jaga,’ knew, then he would surely have the answer.
“Anyway, to perceive the barrier, one must be of the highest Jinsal grade, equal to the Ten Thousand Waves Flute, or a high-ranking Aberration. But while the Smiling Man has killed many people, he isn’t of that rank.”
“Could he have obtained information in the past by contaminating employees other than us?”
“Or he might have been associated with the Management Bureau during his lifetime. Well, that’s the Security Office’s job, so we just need to do our duties well.”
An hour passed after Song Hilda and Kim Min-seop left first, and finally, Jeil Heon emerged from the purification center with a somewhat exhausted expression.
“Ah, Team Leader!”
“…Jiha.”
“Why did it take so long? Was there a problem some—”
In the next moment, Yoo Jiha gasped. A heavy shadow seemed to loom over him, and a firm arm wrapped around his shoulder, pulling him in with force. As he leaned back as if collapsing, the man’s ragged breath broke against the nape of his neck.
The thick heat and weight, more intense than that day, revived the sensations etched into his memory.
〈Were you very scared? Are you hurt anywhere? Are you okay?〉
The thumping of a heart beating deeply against his chest echoed dizzily in his mind. The difference from that day was that even the pain in his shoulder from being held so tightly felt sweet, mixed with the hot breath wetting his neck.
His hands, fidgeting in confusion, barely managed to grip the waist of the man leaning heavily on him. This feeling of being trapped by the heavy weight pressing down from above as the man relied on him… what could this be called…?
“Ah.”
But before Yoo Jiha could realize the name of this unfamiliar feeling, Jeil Heon let out a low sound and pulled away. Yoo Jiha swallowed hard, feeling an inexplicable sense of emptiness. Moreover, he felt a momentary flash of heat when the man brushed against his Ji-hwan.
〈This Ji-hwan has been modified to break if my corruption level surges above a certain value.〉
A sudden surge of anxiety rose within him.
“…Jeil Heon?”
When he called out cautiously, the man had already returned to his usual face and smiled.
“Were you worried? It’s been a while since I was held for this long, so I must have been tired.”
“Are you okay?”
“Of course. It took longer because of my corruption level, but there were no traces of the Smiling Man.”
He gently reached up to touch the Ji-hwan, but he felt no heat at all. It must have been a mistake. Thank goodness.
“If the investigation was over, why didn’t you go back first? Isn’t it time for the shuttle bus to leave?”
“I can just take a taxi if I go just a bit further. I decided to stay at Noona’s place today. You didn’t have dinner during the investigation, right?”
Returning to the empty office, the two had a late dinner with the spicy pork lunch boxes Yoo Jiha had bought before the restaurant closed. Returning to their usual routine of chatting over a meal, the tension that had tightened his heart since the Aberration’s approach finally seemed to ease.
After finishing the meal, Jeil Heon walked him to the road. Walking side by side along the dim path, Yoo Jiha rubbed the nape of his neck, which still felt warm for some reason.
“I learned from Sunbae earlier that the barrier here is the Ten Thousand Waves Flute, right?”
“That’s right. But try not to mention it outside the barrier. Words have power, so there’s a risk of exposing it to Aberrations. Oh, I didn’t see you call; did you call a taxi?”
“You can do it with an app these days.”
“What’s an app?”
“It’s like a program you install on a smartphone. This is the one for calling taxis.”
One would expect him to find the world strange after 22 years, but Jeil Heon seemed completely uninterested in the drastically changed daily life. Even with the smartphone Kang Suk-young had bought for him, he only used it for calls and texts. Yoo Jiha explained the smartphone to Jeil Heon step by step, feeling as if he were volunteering at a senior welfare center.
Since it was a natural transition of the topic, Jeil Heon felt no awkwardness. They happened to reach the roadside beyond the barrier. Since it was a secluded area, it took some time for the taxi to arrive.
With only the two of them left and the conversation dying down, the events of that day kept trying to resurface. As Yoo Jiha awkwardly tapped his toes on the ground, Jeil Heon leaned in slightly.
Feeling the gaze, Yoo Jiha looked up to see Jeil Heon smiling with his eyes curved.
“I have a favor. I’m meeting my younger sibling on Saturday. I’ve made the appointment, but now that it’s time to actually meet, I’m scared. Will you give me some courage, Mister?”
“How am I supposed to do that?”
As he wondered if he should take a photo of himself preparing a welcome party to show him, Jeil Heon lightly tapped his cheek.
It took about a minute for Yoo Jiha to understand the meaning of that gesture.
“I-I-I can’t do that!”
Was he telling him to k-k-k-kiss him again?! As he stepped back, his neck turning bright red, Jeil Heon let out an exaggerated sigh.
“When our Jiha was little, he used to say I was the best in the world after Mom and Dad and gave me lots of kisses on the cheek, but now that he’s all grown up and acting shy, Mister is sad.”
“I never met you when I was little?!”
“I saw you in a dream.”
He was teased again. As Yoo Jiha pouted, a possibility suddenly flashed through his mind. Don’t dreams sometimes reflect unconscious desires? If his younger self appeared in the man’s dream…
His Adam’s apple bobbed with tension.
“I-is that how it is?”
“Hmm?”
“Y-you know… they say that for animals, the meat is tastier when they’re young rather than adults. Like spirit realms. I-it must be the same for humans, right? If you still have a desire to ‘sample’ my cheek fat, and that’s why I appeared as a child kissing you in your dream…”
“…”
Jeil Heon, who had been biting his lower lip, became expressionless. In the past, he would have panicked, thinking the man was offended. But now Yoo Jiha knew. That expression meant he was holding back laughter.
This time, his neck turned red from embarrassment, and eventually, Jeil Heon covered his mouth and burst into laughter. Wasn’t the cause of this embarrassment the fact that the man had made an absurd request? He’s mean. Really mean.
Huffing, Yoo Jiha gave him a strong hug and then let go.
“A long time ago, before I took the CSAT, my mom hugged me like this to tell me to hang in there.”
Jeil Heon looked down at him in silence, and soon, a gentle light flickered softly on his face.
“That’s the most encouraging support of all. Thank you.”
“If—and I mean really, really if—your sibling pretends not to know you, don’t be upset alone; tell me. I’ll listen to everything that makes you sad.”
“Along with the welcome party?”
“Of course!”
Determined that if the siblings rejected him, he would find out who they were and leave hate comments on their social media, he hugged him once more. He loved the feeling of the man’s breath brushing against his hair.
From the far end of the road, the sound of a taxi approaching could be heard.
[Hidden World Record]
Name: Ten Thousand Waves Flute
Classification: Aberration-ㅁ-I.Ob-0001
First Sighting: Month/Day, 682
Location of Appearance: Same as the Sealed One
Danger Grade: Jinsal
Containment Grade: Sealed
True Eye Text: Impossible
Response: Does not communicate with humans other than the Sealed One, but it is presumed to identify the treatment received by the Sealed One as its own.
Remarks: The history of the Ten Thousand Waves Flute and the Management Bureau almost coincide. There is no need to explain the status of a safe purification zone where contamination does not occur and anomalies cannot approach. Unlike the Statue of St. Peter or the Dalai Lama’s mausoleum, the Ten Thousand Waves Flute is free to move, making it more utilitarian. Because of this, there was a risk of the Sealed One being kidnapped; please keep in mind that the Sealed One must be protected with the highest priority in case of an emergency.
The current Sealed One is Prince Jaga.
(Below this, access prohibited for those below Security Level 5)
From Unified Silla to Goryeo, it was sealed by National Preceptors and National Shamans, but from Princess Gyeongsune of Joseon, royal family members of blood close to the King have succeeded the duty for generations.
With the fall of Joseon and the disappearance of the royal family, the criteria for selecting the next Sealed One are unknown.
* * *
In the center of talismans that frantically divined the surroundings, that thing—the Smiling Man—tilted its head. The long, torn corners of its mouth formed a grotesque smile.
「You returned to the Management Bureau after all. A human obsessed with Aberrations like my Sunbae has nowhere else to go. But how strange…」
The Smiling Man slowly dragged out the end of its sentence, fiddling with the torn corners of its mouth.
「How are you still wearing human skin despite being so contaminated? Or have you already eaten a human liver and are mimicking a human? It’s exactly what a fox would do. Ahahaha.」
The Smiling Man’s giggling gaze slowly scanned the talismans, most of which had faded and were fluttering weakly.
「I’ll be visiting soon, so just wait a little, Sunbae.」
Following its gaze, flames—black flames like the fire of a crematorium that shrinks the flesh and turns bones to ash—wavered, forming three words.
Jeil Heon. Lee Yeo-jin.
And.
My baby.