By Zephyria “This is all your fault!”
Park Seung-min shouted, jumping to his feet. Yohan remained still, thinking, Let’s hear what he has to say, and Park Seung-min began to rage, his face turning red.
“You son of a bitch! You knew everything from the start! You knew you were a High-rank Purifier, but you kept your mouth shut! You wanted to see me screwed, didn’t you!”
After the Gwacheon Cult incident, Park Seung-min had been living through hell. His face was known all over the country, so he couldn’t go out anywhere carelessly and had to stay home. The government had filed a lawsuit for fraudulent contracts, and revelations from people around him, including his secretary, continued to pour in.
Having experienced the peak of happiness like a dream, the entire process of falling to the bottom was excruciating. He had no savings due to his extravagant spending. Even what little he had was about to be seized. He was acutely experiencing how painful it was to be socially buried. He resented Yang Yohan immensely. If only he had hinted that he was a High-rank Purifier from the start, things wouldn’t have gotten this bad…!
“What are you going to do about this! Take responsibility! Take responsibility, right now! I’m in this state because of you!”
Half-insane with rage and despair, Park Seung-min threw a tantrum that was obviously unreasonable. Yohan watched him resentfully babble, his expression calm, then opened his mouth.
“What am I going to do? How much did I want this to happen? As you said, I didn’t tell you because I wanted to see you screwed.”
“…W-what?”
Park Seung-min, who had been panting raggedly, stopped. Yang Yohan’s gaze was colder than cold, even chilling. Facing eyes filled with hatred, a suspicion he had buried resurfaced. The suspicion that Yang Yohan might not have lost his memory at all.
“Did you really believe me when I said I didn’t remember the time you pushed me into the Abyss? Did you think I wouldn’t get revenge when a friend I trusted betrayed me to death?”
“W-what, you…”
“But it’s pathetic to even call it revenge. You know this whole situation is your own doing, right? If you had just been kind, wouldn’t there have been someone to help you? Even if you’re a Low-grade Purifier.”
Yohan thought that what he had done was actually too light for revenge. After all, he had merely forced Park Seung-min to Awaken as a Purifier and caused Lee Chan-ha to misunderstand; everything that followed was his own karma.
“S-so what are you going to do! What are you going to do! Fuck, what difference does it make whether you have your memories or not!”
Cornered, Park Seung-min retorted, shouting at the top of his lungs. But Yang Yohan, whom he had been looking down on and ignoring until now, suddenly felt overwhelming. It was the realization of the reality. Yang Yohan, a Low-grade Purifier who was greatly hated in Korea… and Yang Yohan, a High-rank Purifier protected by the Sun Guild, who had emerged as a new hero welcomed anywhere in the world, not just Korea.
Moreover, he clearly remembered being pushed into the Abyss, and he was an opponent who had no intention of helping him, but rather of pushing him further into a corner. At Yohan’s next words, Park Seung-min’s vision went dark.
“Well… I wonder what delicious food you went to eat with Team Leader Kim Hyun-woo on the day you threw your annoying friend into the Abyss.”
Park Seung-min froze. He thought of Team Leader Kim Hyun-woo, who had suddenly gone incommunicado. His anxiety, which he had tried to deny, grew stronger, thinking, Surely the situation isn’t that bad. Yang Yohan knew the conversation he had with Team Leader Kim Hyun-woo right after falling into the Abyss. The meaning of this statement was… Yohan spoke to his former friend, who was involuntarily faltering and stepping back.
“Actually, I have the video from that day.”
“N-no… No!”
“Director Lee Seong-ho or Hwang Young-chul, how do you think the hitman video for both of them was exposed?”
“Lies…!”
Then, Yang Yohan cast a look of utter disgust. The person he once considered a friend was far more pathetic and low-quality than he had imagined. Under the gaze filled with hatred, disillusionment, and contempt, Park Seung-min hastily knelt. The difference between Yohan simply remembering and having evidence videos was like night and day.
“The video… it’s a lie, right? Huh?”
“You’ll know if it’s a lie or not when you see tomorrow’s news.”
The more he looked at the other person, the more disgusted he became. Was it worth dealing with this any longer? With that thought, Yohan turned his body. He intended to have the guard escort him out and request a permanent ban from entry. Then, Park Seung-min frantically clung to Yohan’s leg.
“No! Please, please…!”
While his current situation was terrible, becoming a murderer was another story. Park Seung-min begged, weeping.
“Yohan-ah! Yohan-ah! I was wrong. I was really wrong! I was blinded by jealousy for a moment!”
He threw himself down, prostrating himself before Yang Yohan. He rubbed his hands together, pleading desperately.
“It’s true! You have a good family and are living a successful, smooth life, but only I! Only I! Live like a beggar. Huh? It’s unavoidable to compare because we’re best friends! That’s why I did it! Please pity me a little. We’ve been friends for a long time. Just this once! If that gets out, I’ll die…! I’ll really die!”
Yohan knew he was a soft-hearted and kind person. Yet, towards Park Seung-min’s pleas, he felt surprisingly no sympathy at all. This bastard not only pushed him to the brink of death but also defrauded his family. He even saw the image of his brother, who had been severely Corrupted while searching for him, trapped in the basement.
“I actually died and came back, but even so, you’re better off than that. Compared to the Abyss, this place is like heaven.”
“Nooo, no, please…! I really messed up, okay?! Huh?! I’ll beg like this!”
Park Seung-min repeatedly bowed his head to the floor, begging. But the more he did, the more disgusted Yohan felt. While having a good time with Lee Hyun-mook, he was tired of this. He briefly looked up at the ceiling and said,
“Let’s do this. I’ll forgive you if you go to the Abyss once too.”
“…Huh, w-what?”
Yohan kicked away Park Seung-min, who was clinging to his leg, and said in a sweet voice.
“You have purification abilities, so it won’t be the worst. If you spend a year there like me and come out, I’ll make it like it never happened.”
Hearing the absurd demand, Park Seung-min asked with a trembling voice,
“How can I do that… A-and where do you even know the Abyss will open?”
“When the Great Rift opens, you can just go in then.”
He thought it was an impossible demand and raised his head, but Yang Yohan’s gaze was sincere. Go into the Abyss? Spend a year there and come out? For Park Seung-min, it was a demand equivalent to death.
“N-no, I c-can’t. Please, please…”
Park Seung-min began to beg again. He had a shrewd calculation that if he begged and pleaded, Yohan, being soft-hearted, might relent. If he could escape this crisis, pretending to cry was nothing. No, it wasn’t pretend. Tears flowed naturally from his desperation. Yang Yohan stared at the pleading Park Seung-min and said,
“First, pay back the money you extorted from my parents. 500 million won, with interest, 1 billion won. You have exactly one week.”
Park Seung-min’s head shot up. Yohan thought it was a remarkably generous offer compared to telling him to enter the Abyss, but he immediately started complaining.
“How can I repay that much money in a week…!”
“If you can’t, then you can’t.”
As Yang Yohan turned to leave without hesitation, Park Seung-min urgently shouted,
“I’ll pay it back! I’ll pay it back! I said I’ll pay it back! Huh? I said I’ll pay it back! I’ll pay it back…! Then you won’t release the video! You promise, right?”
After glancing at the utterly subservient Park Seung-min, Yohan left without replying and asked the guard.
“From now on, please do not let Park Seung-min in again if he comes looking for me.”
“Of course. Then I will escort this person out immediately.”
Since Park Seung-min’s situation was well-known, the guard responded immediately. Hearing Park Seung-min being dragged out by the guard noisily, Yohan instinctively looked for Lee Hyun-mook. He was waiting nearby.
Yohan, having expended considerable mental energy, quickly ran to his Darling and, not caring about the stares of others, hugged him tightly. Most of the people in this building were Sun Guild members, and they pretended not to notice, having witnessed the commotion Park Seung-min had caused. This time, Lee Hyun-mook patted his back gently to comfort him. Returning home, Yohan sighed deeply.
“I guess I’m not cut out for revenge. I just want to forget about it all…”
“Should Hyung handle it all?”
Normally, Yohan called him Hyung, but Lee Hyun-mook had never referred to himself as ‘Hyung’ so affectionately before. It was rare, and his voice was strangely soft and gentle. Tempted, Yohan slowly shook his head.
“I’ll just pay the money back in a week or not, release the video, and then wash my hands of it. From now on, I’ll consider him a person who no longer exists in my life.”
“Alright. I’ll make sure he never appears before you again. Don’t worry about it anymore.”
Hearing Lee Hyun-mook’s assurance, Yohan felt a sense of peace. He truly believed that Park Seung-min would never be able to appear before him again.
“Thank you always. You do so much for me…”
To Yohan’s sincere gratitude, Lee Hyun-mook replied with a smile.
“It’s nothing much for just this.”
Compared to saving him from a living hell, dealing with a fly like Park Seung-min was truly nothing to him. And as he promised, Yohan never saw Park Seung-min directly again after that day.