By Zephyria 
“The depiction of the military was so realistic. Did you join the company after finishing your service? And at the front lines, too? You could have done alternative service; what a waste.”
“No. I dropped out of middle school, so I was exempt.”
“…….”
This man, seriously…….
Jeil Heon let out a hearty laugh at the slight pout in Yoo Jiha’s eyes. Just then, the table was cleared, and a single scoop of ice cream was served for dessert.
“Our relationship is like that, you know. That thing.”
“What thing?”
“There’s a poem that goes something like, ‘When you called my name, you came to me’ and so on.”
“You mean Kim Chun-su’s 〈Flower〉?”
If one took the contents of 〈Flower〉 literally, it wasn’t wrong, as things had changed after he called Jeil Heon’s name, but it felt a bit ambiguous.
“Then are you saying you’re the flower that came to me?”
“Because you’re as pretty as a flower.”
“…….”
“Am I not pretty?”
The smile spreading softly across his face was truly lovely. Mesmerized by that relaxed smile, which felt like sunlight spreading across the surface of water, Yoo Jiha belatedly snapped back to his senses. This man used his handsome face again……!
“I’m a flower just for Jiha. You have to tend to me well so I don’t wither.”
“I don’t know. I’ll probably grow just fine on my own, like a weed.”
Huffing, he finished the rest of his ice cream and took a walk, looking around the cafeteria. As his head cooled down while walking, the events at the laboratory continued to weigh on his mind. Until now, his stance had been, ‘It would be nice if you joined, but I won’t force you if you don’t want to,’ but after that, the feeling was different. Kang Suk-young seemed determined to get him to join no matter what, and the reason was obviously clear.
The reason why only he could stabilize Jeil Heon’s Corruption Level was unknown, and judging by the atmosphere, it would remain unknown. Nevertheless, it was necessary. For Jeil Heon’s sake.
〈Where did such a useless thing roll in from.〉
His grandmother’s words, steeped in disgust, haunted him once again. The wound torn open by those sharp words had not been fully healed even by his parents’ love, and it still occasionally bled.
Because he was discarded for being useless, he strove to be useful. But no matter how hard he tried, the results were mediocre. Whether in academics or arts and sports, he was always just average. A common person who didn’t stand out anywhere. That was who he was.
And then, he gained a new ability. Since he had obtained something different from others, he should have been happy, but his heart didn’t flutter at all. Perhaps it was because it wasn’t something earned through effort, but rather something that had simply fallen into his lap, making it feel surreal. Furthermore, the fact that he could stabilize Jeil Heon’s Corruption Level lay in an unknown realm where the cause had not even been identified.
Are these things truly my abilities? Do I have the right to enjoy them?
“……That’s why I’m not sure. The Management Bureau might be a great workplace with prestige and high pay, but I feel like I’m not the right fit.”
The man, who had been listening in silence, stopped walking. A voice with a calm weight flowed slowly.
“Just because it’s not an ability you earned through effort doesn’t mean it’s absolutely meaningless. You probably can’t even imagine what it means to me that you can stabilize my Corruption Level. But that is a value that only you possess—your own unique value.”
He whispered that there was no need to have an inferiority complex, and that he was shining with his own value. To the child who had been discarded for being useless, he affirmed that only he was needed.
Yoo Jiha felt the rhythm of the anxious thumping in his heart change. The man’s non-verbal cues as he listened intently to his voice, the way he responded with sincerity without dismissing anything, the low, softly resonating voice and precise pronunciation—everything about the man inspired trust. It wasn’t a deceptive whisper of sweet words to manipulate him. It was his sincere heart affirming Jiha’s value.
“It’s true that it’s dangerous, so I can’t tell you to decide lightly. But Jiha, having the true eye means you instinctively avoid anomalies, but that doesn’t mean you have perfect evasion or defense. Even if you erase your memories of the Management Bureau and the Otherworld, there’s always a possibility you’ll encounter them in your daily life. Not just you, but your family as well.”
“…….”
“I want you to have the ability to deal with anomalies. And I hope you can use that power to protect your family so that you don’t have to be hurt. Because I couldn’t do that.”
The voice saying he couldn’t protect his family was neither filled with passion nor resentment. Because the tone remained consistently calm, as it had been until now, Yoo Jiha could not fathom the depth of the emotion dwelling beneath it.
What kind of life had he lived for his heart to be so hardened that he could recount the loss of his family so calmly? The impulse to glimpse a fragment of the life he had lived clashed with the human courtesy that he should not ask out of mere curiosity, and Yoo Jiha bit his lower lip.
“Only your voice allows me to live as a human. Because of that, it would be a lie to say I don’t have the greed to keep you by my side by having you join the Management Bureau.”
Jeil Heon’s voice was very quiet. The resonance of the sunken tone, which felt as if it wouldn’t be heard unless one listened closely, reached him with strange clarity.
“But this would be a one-sided sacrifice on your part. It isn’t right for you to sacrifice yourself because of my selfish greed.”
His eyes, holding a gentle light, were the same as usual, but the air changed simply because the mischievous playfulness that always directed itself toward Jiha had vanished. He had thought the playful kindness the man showed others was his sociability, but he realized now that he had been mistaken. This temperature, which could not be translated into words and lingered in that quiet, deep gaze, was directed not at an unspecified stranger, but only at him.
As if his heart had been seized, he couldn’t look away from him. From a chest stained by the man’s temperature, a small spark suddenly bloomed and spread into a pounding resonance.
“Instead, Jiha, I will become your tool and protect you. I will annihilate your fears and execute death. You may treat me as whatever you wish beyond that. Use me as much as you like.”
Though the air conditioner was running, the scenery of an ordinary summer day, with humidity clinging to every corner, unfolded around them. However, Yoo Jiha sensed that he would never forget today—this ordinary summer day that he had experienced over twenty times.
“As long as I am a human who can hear your voice, I will live only for you.”
In the shop, where employees eating a late lunch were leaving sporadically, various noises of all sizes could be heard. The music playing inside the store continued to drift through the air.
Nevertheless, Yoo Jiha felt as if, at this very moment and in this place, he and the man alone existed at the center of a vast, infinitely expanding universe, rather than in a narrow shop.
Only my voice defines him, and his voice reaches only me.
The name for this was fluttering excitement.
* * *
“Catch.”
Jeil Heon caught the flying pack of cigarettes without even looking back.
“This is too mild. No, has it been renewed over the last 22 years? It’s even milder now.”
“The cigarettes you used to smoke aren’t sold anywhere in the country, so how am I supposed to get them right now? Just put up with those for now. Or take this chance to quit something that’s bad for your health. 14mg of tar—your lungs are going to rot.”
“If I wanted to live a long life, would I have become a Bearer?”
Leaning his back against the rooftop railing, Jeil Heon lit a cigarette. The man who said it was nonchalant, but Kang Suk-young’s face contorted.
Bearer.
An incantation that began by imitating the techniques of Onmyoji who collaborated with the Japanese army during the Imjin War. People who, out of hatred for anomalies and a desire for revenge, mixed the Essence of Aberrations into their own bodies. Their ends are only two: dying before becoming an Aberration, or dying after becoming one.
That is why Yoo Jiha’s existence is like a miracle. If there had been even one more Bearer surviving as a human besides Jeil Heon, she would have devised any means necessary to study him and find a way to lower the Corruption Levels of other Bearers.
Roughly wiping her face, Kang Suk-young also put a cigarette in her mouth. It was a conversation that was difficult to have without smoking.
“……Beom-seok was the last Bearer. There were no more crazy bastards who wanted to become monsters to hunt monsters. And when I became the Director, I completely scrapped the project.”
“That’s for the best.”
“Since you and Yeo-jin are also Bearers, I had the horrific imagination that one day I might face you as Aberrations.”
Jeil Heon silently let white smoke drift into the air. He did not ask about the current status of the Bearers who had survived until 22 years ago, and Kang Suk-young did not tell him.
“……Sunbae.”
“Yeah?”
“Do you think Yeo-jin is still alive, even if fused with an Aberration like you?”
“I wonder.”
She looked at his face beyond the cigarette smoke, but no emotion could be read from his indifferent expression. It had always been that way. While he generally wore a friendly expression, he was a man excessively skilled at the lie of hiding his cold true intentions. So much so that a mere 14-year-old boy had smiled kindly even in front of the Aberration that had devoured his own mother.
Kang Suk-young sighed and roughly pushed back her hair.
“Since it’s just us here, tell me honestly. Do you really have no inkling about the relationship between you and Yoo Jiha?”