By Zephyria 
Lee Yeo-jin knew that Nam Hyeon-woo, who had gone mad and devolved into an Aberration, would eventually kill her as well. That premonition did not sway her decision to protect her child in the slightest. Lee Yeo-jin willingly walked toward death for the sake of her child.
He was not an abandoned child. The fleeting memory of riding a swing in his mother’s arms was a clear truth. The fact that half of him originated from a murderer remained unchanged. However, it was an utmost love that had shaped the remaining half and completed the human being known as Yoo Jiha.
Yoo Jiha roughly wiped away his tears with the back of his hand.
“……I want to hear stories about my mom.”
He finally came to know the lonely girl who had lost her parents early in an accident, lived alone with her older sister, and then swore revenge after losing her sister to an Aberration. Feeling the girl’s life, composed of gentle voices, unfold before his eyes like a phantom, Yoo Jiha closed his eyes.
〈Jiha, the swing is going so high that it feels like we’re close to the sky. Right?〉
The girl in the phantom embraced him with a bright smile.
* * *
The next day, Yoo Jiha, who had remained shut in his room all day in a gloomy mood, received an unexpected gift from Kang Suk-young.
“These are the photos of Yeo-jin I had. It’s only right that they go to you. I also took some of Yeo-jin’s belongings back then, so I’ll organize them later and….”
As he only stared down at the album with vacant eyes, Kang Suk-young trailed off with a sigh.
“If you’re Yeo-jin’s son, you’re as good as my own. If you’re going through a hard time or need help, feel free to tell me anytime.”
Yoo Jiha stood frozen, unaware that she had firmly gripped his shoulder before departing, and only later returned to his room. He didn’t know why his fingers grew stiff with tension over something like this.
With trembling hands, he flipped open the album cover. He had heard from Jeil Heon last night that the two, who were colleagues in the Enforcement Division, met after joining the organization. The album began with photos from their rookie days in the Enforcement Division.
Beside a young Kang Suk-young, whose hair was even shorter than now, almost a crew cut, was a woman smiling awkwardly at the camera. He didn’t need an explanation to know who it was. He couldn’t possibly not know.
“Mom….”
A single word that still felt unfamiliar lingered in his mouth. A hazy veil of moisture rose, blurring his vision, and then fell as droplets of longing onto the photograph.
Rubbing his eyes with his sleeve, Yoo Jiha examined the photos one by one. He had heard so many stories from Jeil Heon yesterday. Since Lee Yeo-jin had been an ordinary student who had never exercised before joining, he had assumed she wouldn’t be able to withstand the Enforcement Division’s grueling training and would quit. However, despite vomiting, crying, and collapsing countless times, she had doggedly kept up with the training.
Even after officially becoming an Agent, she committed herself to operations without sparing her own body. There were times she led operations to success, and times she made mistakes. But the fact that she always gave her best remained unchanged.
Tracing the photos of Lee Yeo-jin, he recalled the stories of his mother he had heard from Jeil Heon.
Lee Yeo-jin’s face, which had been darkened and clouded by the hatred of seeking revenge, gradually brightened as she spent more time with her colleagues. When she was hospitalized due to an injury, she became capable of smiling with embarrassment while pointing at the scribbles on her cast. Finally, a faint smile was drawn on Yoo Jiha’s tear-stained face.
His hand paused as he turned to the next page of the album. In the background of a photo taken during a workshop, he saw a man. It was Jeil Heon. A youthful version of him, only a few years older than Jiha himself.
He traced with his fingertips the man in his twenties, who looked slightly surprised, perhaps unaware he was being photographed. At that time, he probably hadn’t doubted for a second that his time would flow normally. Just as the Kang Suk-young in that frame had aged from her twenties to her current age, so would he.
……If only it weren’t for me.
Yoo Jiha buried his face in the album. If he had been in his position, would he have been able to refrain from saying a single word of resentment, claiming it was all because of him? He felt he probably wouldn’t have.
He didn’t know what face to make when looking at him. He felt pathetic for avoiding him, terrified of facing the man who had lost so much because of him.
It was around that time that a fierce shout echoed from the direction of Jeil Heon’s room.
“Sunbae! Are you saying that in your right mind?!”
The door flew open, and Kang Suk-young stepped out, looking furious. Jeil Heon tried to hold her back from behind, but she didn’t even look back, stomping across the wooden veranda. Before putting on her shoes, she shouted once more.
“You seem to have lost your mind right now, so think it over calmly and then talk to me.”
“Suk-young, no matter how many hundreds of times I think about it, nothing changes.”
“Shut up!”
There were countless times Kang Suk-young had raised her voice at Jeil Heon, but he had never seen her truly enraged like this. What was happening…?
Before he could even go out to greet her, she left Pilgyeongdang. Wooooong. Only the sound of the flute—no, the daera—began to echo heavily around them once more.
After seeing the slightly open door of Yoo Jiha’s room close, Jeil Heon returned to his own room. In the room, there was not only Gong Ran-sa but one more unexpected guest. Mae-gu greeted him while fluttering a fan.
「I hid myself for a while, as it was obvious that Director Kang, who is already in a foul mood, would likely faint from a stroke if she saw me.」
“You sure take a long time to say you eavesdropped.”
It was unexpected, but not surprising. Since Mae-gu was the one who created the entrance to Pilgyeongdang, he was the only anomaly who could enter and exit freely, aside from Gong Ran-sa, the master of this land.
Gong Ran-sa looked up at Jeil Heon with concern.
「Did Kang Gun return just like that?」
“She’s a bit excited now, but she’ll understand once she cools down.”
「Do you think Yoo Gun will understand as well?」
Jeil Heon, who had answered without wavering even against an enraged Kang Suk-young, hesitated for the first time. He sat down heavily on the floor and let out a long sigh.
“Please keep it a secret from Jiha.”
「I’ve wanted to advise you for a long time, but hiding things isn’t always the best solution. Naturally, Yoo Gun will find out eventually.」
“That’s why I’m not telling him. It’s better for him to resent me for deceiving and tricking him until the end. Jiha must not understand me.”
Jeil Heon ended the conversation firmly, as if he would not pursue the topic any further. Mae-gu chimed in with a grin.
「I shall assist as well, so do not worry, Yeosong.」
「It’s not that kind of problem….」
Gong Ran-sa hesitated a few times before finally slumping her shoulders. The agony was evident on her face as she rubbed her forehead, making him feel guilty, but this was a matter he could not back down from even if she tried to stop him.
“Ah, come to think of it, about when we met in the Aberrant Realm.”
「Is it only once or twice that you and your brother met in the Aberrant Realm?」
“The Jeonmae Five-Day Market. There was something said there.”
「Ah, you still didn’t know?」
Mae-gu answered crisply, as if he had been asked what one plus one was, and the answer was enough to leave Jeil Heon stunned. Only after some time had passed did he mutter in disbelief.
“You really are a damn fox.”
「When was I ever not?」
At the nonchalant reply, Jeil Heon let out a hollow yet relieved laugh.
From the beginning, there had been no path for him.
The frequency of the daera’s sound increased. Since the pitch wasn’t jarringly loud, he could ignore it by treating it like ASMR. However, he couldn’t stay shut in and ignore that sound forever.
Tomorrow, he would gather his courage and meet Jeil Heon. He would also ask what he needed to do to resolve the issue regarding the Ten Thousand Waves Flute. So, Yoo Jiha steeled his heart to stay with his mother’s photos just until today.
And so, after looking only at Lee Yeo-jin’s photos, he fell asleep lying face down on the floor. After a deep, exhausted sleep, he vaguely opened his eyes to find the dark shadows of night had fallen in the room, and he was lying on the bed. Had he been moved while asleep? Yoo Jiha blinked slowly. His sleep-laden vision was blurred and smudged. His hazy consciousness was ambiguous, unsure if it was a dream or reality.
In the mist-like blur before his eyes, there was a man staring down at the scattered, unorganized photos of Lee Yeo-jin. Perhaps because it was a dream, his left eye, which shone like a polished plate, was exceptionally bright today.
“Mister?”
Even in the dream, he looked back just as he did in reality. Adding a touch of warmth to his expressionless face.
“Sorry. Did I wake you?”
And because it was a dream, words that were difficult to say in reality flowed out, albeit awkwardly.