By Zephyria “Actually, there are two more Teterrons.”
“……”
“There’s only one Somumu. I haven’t collected the Kukochi yet.”
“Please, just eat.”
Jin Mu-hae’s silence, which had begun around lunchtime, finally ended near dinner time.
He had been staring at the keystone for hours, and only snapped out of it when he heard a rumbling sound from beside him.
Joo-oh hadn’t even said he was hungry. He hadn’t even urged him, but like Pavlov’s dog, Mu-hae moved first.
“I want to eat meat.”
“You ate so much yesterday you were stuffed. Endure it with this today.”
Mu-hae heard the quiet mutter like a ghost and chided him.
If Mu-hae allowed it, Joo-oh could go out right now and catch enough meat for the two of them to eat to their fill, but he decided to respect him and say nothing.
“Is that also like a puzzle?”
“What?”
“The thing from before, the one you press on your hand like a Watch to solve.”
Mu-hae, who was biting into jam-covered bread, suddenly made a stiff expression.
‘This bastard, pretending not to be interested but remembering everything clearly?’ His gaze, as if muttering, was chilling and scary.
Ah. Was it too early to pretend to know and get involved this much? But he always took him and showed him everything when he asked.
He didn’t know what had upset him, but in times like this, he could just smile blankly like when he was out of it.
Joo-oh dipped the dry bread into the milk and said in a bright voice.
“That sounds fun. I solved things like that at the hospital.”
“What?”
“Clicking things apart.”
It seemed he also remembered the wire puzzle that Teacher Jung had given him on the day he ate the Beast Meat bones whole.
Mu-hae removed his cold gaze and wiped the breadcrumbs from his hands.
“What did I usually tell you?”
“Um… stay still.”
“And, when we go out?”
“Wear a hat. Follow closely. Don’t say weird things.”
“What you just said was also weird. Remember that.”
A resolute voice flew at him, different from when he had asked him to touch his head.
Joo-oh nodded obediently. He had no intention of rambling about it anywhere anyway.
To subtly change the direction while proceeding with this story, it would be better not to add unnecessary variables.
Indeed, Mu-hae, who didn’t know these thoughts, had reason to be anxious. The Jin Mu-hae that Joo-oh remembered from the game was a cold and meticulous person.
‘Smart people shouldn’t see it.’
Joo-oh, belatedly noticing Jin Mu-hae’s inner thoughts, licked the jam from his lips and nodded.
Come to think of it, when Jin Mu-hae had just brought Joo-oh, Joo-oh had decided that the more recklessly he acted, the longer he would stay in his house.
The choice dictated by instinct must have a reason. But how long should he follow it?
“Woo.”
It’s good to be able to think again, but it’s also a little difficult at times like this.
He endures it for the pleasure of seeing Jin Mu-hae. Because this is the life he has been waiting for to meet him, talk to him, and interfere in his life.
Joo-oh nodded to himself and slipped the purple figurine into his Inventory.
The overly baked, dry bread made his mouth feel rough.
Jin Mu-hae barely swallowed the rough bread crumbs and looked at Joo-oh eating across from him.
Eyes blinking periodically. Cheeks moving with every chew.
He was eating well, considering he had complained about the food. And damn it. He just put the spoon he had in his mouth back into the jam jar.
‘Is he planning to finish that off in one sitting?’
Considering how much he was eating, it seemed plausible. Mu-hae added jam to the list of ingredients to order and sighed heavily.
“Want me to help?”
Joo-oh asked innocently, unaware of what he was troubled by.
Jin Mu-hae flicked his eyebrows as if to say not to worry about it, but soon his gaze was drawn to what Joo-oh was doing.
Clatter, Joo-oh shook the spoon he was holding, pretending to solve a puzzle.
“I’m good at this. These things. Maybe?”
The guy who would have eaten that jam with his hands a month ago was showing off.
Even though he internally scoffed, Joo-oh had definitely been helpful a few times.
He hadn’t bothered to express his gratitude, but knowing that, Joo-oh’s face was full of smug confidence.
Arrogant and a good sight to see.
“But Jin Mu-hae. Why don’t you come to my room?”
Joo-oh, who had savored another spoonful of jam, suddenly asked in a whisper.
Lowering his voice made it sound like he was telling a secret.
“Why would I go there?”
“I go to Jin Mu-hae.”
“I told you not to come.”
“And my room is also Jin Mu-hae’s house.”
Only after hearing the grumble that flew at him did Mu-hae realize anew that it was the study.
Not just a place to dump Joo-oh, but the room his father used. The research place of the man who left behind all this responsibility.
Come to think of it, it was also there that he had unlocked the lock on the Link Watch. Since then, he had thoroughly examined every speck of dust to confirm that nothing else remained…
He felt a tingle. It was possible. What else might he discover?
Mu-hae put down the bread he was eating and jumped up from the table.
Joo-oh, who had been about to follow him, made eye contact with Mu-hae and awkwardly sat back down.
He looked a little cowed, uncharacteristically. He must have quickly sensed the sharp attitude he had unintentionally shown earlier.
…He felt uncomfortable for no reason.
“Eat everything you touched.”
“Can I take it with me?”
“Since when did you ask before moving?”
He inadvertently spat out a twisted permission. When he saw Joo-oh’s face light up, Mu-hae felt a sudden lightness in his heart, but also a twist.
It was strange. What he was in charge of was a secret that should not be leaked.
The secret about the Watch had been revealed before he could do anything, but it was right that the clues he would discover in the future should not be seen by that crazy guy either.
Nevertheless, Mu-hae felt both anxiety and satisfaction whenever he sensed him following.
Because the gaze he met when he glanced back was filled with interest in him. He wanted to shake it off, but his hand froze.
Click.
When he turned on the light, the dim room brightened. The father’s study, which he had re-examined, was unchanged from what he had searched a few weeks ago.
An empty desk and cabinet, holes with specific patterns in the drawers, a not-so-bright ceiling light, and a faintly lingering sweet scent.
‘…I don’t get it.’
Just in case, Mu-hae pressed his hand firmly into the hole in the drawer and looked up at the keystone, but no matter how long he waited, nothing changed.
It was just that the desk, which had lost its owner, looked even more empty and irresponsible under the dim lighting.
Mu-hae pressed hard on his temples, then pulled out a chair and sat in front of it.
It was because he had suddenly become curious about the thoughts of the man who had been the owner of this room.
‘What on earth did he want….’
In his memory, his father was sitting in this not-very-comfortable place all day long.
Except for morning and evening, even Mu-hae, who lived with him, could only see him from outside the room when the door was slightly open.
That’s why Mu-hae had no attachment to his father. Even when he passed away, Mu-hae only felt emptiness and didn’t shed tears.
Nevertheless, when the research he had clung to came into his hands, Jin Mu-hae naturally began to follow that path.
It’s not like he’s getting recognition from a dead person. It’s ridiculous.
Why would a man who had little interest in his child arrange all this for him in the first place?
Tok. Mu-hae placed the keystone, which he had been rolling in his fingertips, in the center of the desk.
The keystone, rounded and polished with numerous facets, emitted a faint light on the empty desk.
The light of Blue Energy that saved people, killed them, led the world, and ruined it.
Why did his father want to eliminate this from the earth?
As Mu-hae silently sank into thought.
Click.
Suddenly, the ceiling light went out and the surroundings went dark. Mu-hae, who had quickly raised his head, saw Joo-oh leaning against the wall.
He was shrouded in darkness, appearing as a black silhouette, and pointed to the desk as if to show off.
“Pretty. Right.”
Following his exclamation, he shifted his gaze and the keystone was shining more clearly.
The light clusters, which were not easily visible when the surroundings were bright, drew unique shapes in the darkness.
When Mu-hae picked up the keystone and tilted it, fragments of light stretched out, creating lines from the center to the outside.
…A sensation that struck his head in an instant.
Mu-hae forgot even to breathe and stared at the length and direction of the light.
Beep-.
Following his manipulation, light poured out from the Watch and a Hologram Window was projected.
What appeared before his eyes was the geography of Goryeo City. Among them, a map recording the appearance of Starlight Road.
Mu-hae, who had easily found the location of the house, adjusted the direction and size of the map around the keystone.
Then, when he slowly tilted the Hologram Window down…
“Ha.”
Landmarks faintly matched each position of the light emitted by the keystone.
Blood rushed to his head, and a hot and chilling sensation enveloped Mu-hae’s brain.
At the end of the light clusters, one particularly bright spot could be seen. According to the map, that place was a neighborhood that quietly died when the sun rose and awakened with the moon.
Located at the very end of the western slum, but with all means of transportation passing nearby, it was a miraculously accessible area.
The largest dark side of Goryeo City and a shining pleasure district, Sakdal.
Jin Mu-hae suddenly raised his head. His eyes, which had adapted to the darkness, slowly observed the silhouette next to the light switch.
The lines of his face, which seemed elegant even in the darkness. The corners of his mouth, which had lost the smile he had shown when he was admiring the light of the keystone.
“I didn’t say anything weird….”
Human vision has its limits, so he couldn’t even recognize the expression he was making.
But if he felt satisfaction on his face, unlike his hesitant voice, was that just an excessive delusion?
Click.
The ceiling light turned on. Under the artificial light, Joo-oh had an aggrieved look on his face.
“Don’t even turn off the lights?”
Mu-hae pressed his eyes hard with the palms of both hands at the tone that he was now being scolded for everything.
Damn it. He must be tired.