By Zephyria 
“We have to walk to the nearby helipad. If it’s too hard, do you want to wait here? I’ll be right back.”
“No! I can help too. It’s so dark outside, someone needs to hold the light.”
Yoo Jiha helped Jeil Heon carry Jeong Ing-bar on his back. Then, as Jeil Heon reached for one of the Smiling Man’s arms, Jiha squeezed his eyes shut and lifted it instead. The touch, devoid of any warmth, was as chilling as a corpse.
“I-it’s just like a mannequin arm. It’s no big deal.”
The obvious, familiar bluff finally brought a faint smile to Jeil Heon’s lips.
“Let’s go slowly and carefully so we don’t trip.”
Using a phone flashlight he had found in a corner to light the path, Yoo Jiha walked side-by-side with Jeil Heon into the gloomy mountains.
Fortunately, they reached the hospital before the wound on the throat could swell, avoiding a critical situation. Since Jeong Ing-bar’s wife was away on a business trip in the provinces, Yoo Jiha stayed outside the operating room with Jeil Heon as the guardian.
“……Once the surgery is over, let’s stop by the office and undergo purification.”
Jeil Heon touched the handprint on his neck with a look of profound misery. It wasn’t his fault, yet his guilt-ridden attitude was heartbreaking. Was this anyone’s fault, after all?
“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t scared, but you came back quickly. When I ran into him in the car, everything went black for a moment, but surprisingly, he was all talk and didn’t actually hurt me.”
As Jeil Heon looked at Yoo Jiha, who was straightening his back and pretending to be fine, he let out a low sigh and pulled him into an embrace. Perhaps the shock hadn’t fully worn off, as the arms wrapping around him were trembling; Yoo Jiha silently rubbed his face against Jeil Heon’s shoulder.
“Sunbae.”
Just then, Kang Suk-young arrived at the operating room. Yoo Jiha tried to quickly push Jeil Heon away and straighten himself up, but Jeil Heon didn’t release his hold, merely lifting his head.
Kang Suk-young crossed her arms and stared sharply at Jeil Heon, cutting straight to the point.
“What kind of Aberration is it?”
“The Smiling Man.”
“The Smiling Man? Why all of a sudden? Did you and Captain Jeong plan some secret operation behind my back, Sunbae?”
“In life, he was Hyun-woo.”
“What?”
“Nam Hyeon-woo.”
In contrast to the calm response, Kang Suk-young’s expression twisted violently.
“……The Smiling Man is Nam Hyeon-woo? Yeo-jin’s husband? He died with his limbs severed, didn’t he?”
“Hyun-woo’s body was never found. He severed his own limbs one by one to fake his death.”
“Fuck. Since when did you know, Sunbae?”
“Yeo-jin told me after the funerals of the Mansin and Hyun-woo.”
Her lips flickered as if she were about to say something, but she first looked down at Yoo Jiha and gestured with her chin to step back. It was only right for a mere employee to clear the area. He tried to stand up, but Jeil Heon’s arm remained stubborn.
“I don’t want to hide this from Jiha.”
Kang Suk-young muttered a low curse and plopped down next to Jeil Heon. Then, she growled softly.
“Tell me everything that happened, Sunbae.”
In a quiet and slow tone, Jeil Heon explained. Twenty-two years ago, Nam Hyeon-woo, who had devolved into an anomaly as a serial killer, eventually tried to kill his own family, but failed and fled because Nam Soon-ho had noticed something strange. Upon learning the truth, Lee Yeo-jin sought out Jeil Heon to protect their daughter from the Smiling Man.
The Smiling Man possesses a formidable power to contaminate his surroundings. Since even Management Bureau Agents are not safe, Jeil Heon and Lee Yeo-jin secretly protected the child and fled. This was the full story behind the incident where the two had suddenly vanished twenty-two years ago.
“Yeo-jin lured the Smiling Man away, but in the end, she couldn’t protect the daughter. I was also caught by a Blind Eater contaminated by the Smiling Man, but I managed to break free for a short while—I believe that was seventeen years ago.”
“…….”
“I sealed the Smiling Man with a gold suppression talisman drawn by the Mansin just before her death, but I was captured again, and everything after that is as I told you before.”
“Dammit, dammit.”
Kang Suk-young roughly ruffled her hair, chewing on curses.
“Why did you hide this until now?”
“Because executing the Smiling Man is a duty I must bear alone, carrying on the will of the Mansin and Yeo-jin.”
“Fuck! You have such a sly, fox-like face, so why are you as stubborn as a bear! How is this something you should handle alone, Sunbae!”
Eventually raising her voice, Kang Suk-young’s hands trembled as if she were about to grab Jeil Heon by the collar, before she let her head drop powerlessly.
“……What about Yeo-jin? Is it certain she’s dead?”
“Yes.”
Kang Suk-young’s eyes wavered. Taking a deep breath, she asked again in a voice that sounded hoarsely strained.
“……Why didn’t she come to me and ask you instead, Sunbae? I would have died for Yeo-jin.”
“That’s why Yeo-jin hid it from you. Unlike us, you were a ‘human’ who would lead the future of the Management Bureau…….”
Jeil Heon, who had been reciting the events with an indifference as if they belonged to someone else, suddenly murmured in a bitter tone.
“Above all, the weight I had to bear was heavier. Perhaps, even more so than Yeo-jin’s.”
With that final, incomprehensible monologue, the short story ended. After that, Kang Suk-young remained silent for a long time with her face buried in her hands before quietly leaving the front of the operating room. She likely needed time to process and dwell on the shock.
A sense of stillness descended upon the surroundings. In the suffocating silence, Yoo Jiha, who could barely breathe, hesitated for a moment before cautiously speaking.
“……Um, you mentioned before that there was a Hubae who asked you to protect a jewel and died first. Was that Hubae Lee Yeo-jin?”
For a moment, their eyes met. After gazing at him for a while, Jeil Heon affirmed with silence and gently pressed his lips to Yoo Jiha’s forehead.
“…….”
Actually, there was more he was curious about. At the time, the nuance was that the jewel was still hidden; did that mean there were more truths yet to be revealed?
However, compared to the weight he must have borne alone, his own questions felt utterly light and insignificant, so Yoo Jiha silently wrapped his arms around Jeil Heon’s back and hugged him. Praying that his clumsy comfort could scatter even a fraction of his loneliness.
* * *
Unless it is an Aberration of extremely high rank like a Mae-gu, one cannot contaminate an Aberrant Realm at will. However, since the essence and origin of the Smiling Man is ‘Contamination’ itself, it was possible for him to contaminate a specific location to create an Aberrant Realm. Though it was not a vast territory like a Mae-gu’s, but merely a single building, it served as a kind of safe house that had not been discovered by the Management Bureau.
Unlike the Eight Phases Mental Hospital, which was the first place he contaminated, this was a modest detached house and a portion of the surrounding scenery. A few Aberrations wandered the streets, mimicking pedestrians.
The Smiling Man sat on a swing in the yard, slowly rocking back and forth. The memory of making this swing for their child after learning Lee Yeo-jin was pregnant surfaced through the folds of a brain stained with madness. This building was the house where Lee Yeo-jin and Nam Hyeon-woo had started their newlywed life. A bridal home situated such that a short drive would lead to Nam Soon-ho’s shrine, and a bit further to the charnel house where Lee Yeo-jin’s deceased sister rested.
Lee Yeo-jin had become a Bearer to avenge her sister, who had been murdered by an Aberration.
「Yeo-jin…… Did you hide because you hated that I became an Aberration? Did Sunbae tell you to do that? To make me believe you were dead, to shake me, to watch me crumble, to watch me go mad! Yes, that’s it! Ahaha! Sunbae! Do you think I’d fall for such a trick?」
He rocked the swing joyfully, cackling. The chains creaked violently, swinging high up toward the sky. Their child, though afraid of the swing, would let out breathless, joyful screams while sitting on their mother’s lap and swinging together.
「You died! My baby! You died because of Sunbae! Yeo-jin, our son died because of Sunbae. It wasn’t enough to kidnap my baby, he killed him! You knew that and you still did what Sunbae told you? Why? Why? Why?」
「No. You couldn’t have. You probably don’t know that Sunbae killed our child. Right?」
「I just misspoke because I was angry for a moment. Oh, I’m not angry at you. Of course not. Our baby, he died! They took the body and burned it too!」
「My baby! My baby! My baby, whom even my mother couldn’t touch!」
「What good is the power to see names! I couldn’t even protect my own child!」
The Smiling Man, conversing as if Lee Yeo-jin were actually before him, soon burst into laughter, wailing as he was swept away by a surge of erratic emotion.
Nam Soon-ho’s reprimand surged up through the folds of his brain.