By Zephyria 
「It would be more natural and have better sustainability to use this bead rather than my own hands. After all, a fox has as many tricks as it has tails.」
As Gong Ran-sa placed the bead on her left palm, it vanished into her skin as if soaking in. The bead circled through her body once and then popped out through her right palm. The once-transparent bead was now stained a murky color, like a blazing fire.
“Thank you.”
「It was no trouble at all. Though I suspect Mae-gu gave it to me with the intention that it should contain the energy of the one who became an Aberration, rather than mine.」
“Ah, I plan to ignore that part. More importantly, why don’t you leave Seoul for a while?”
「Are you saying that because you want some cozy time alone with Mr. Yoo?」
“Pardon? I’m spending cozy time even with you here, Teacher.”
「Tsk tsk. In the old days, you’d be old enough to have grandchildren, yet how can you be this dense… Truly, whether then or now, pretty young men rely only on their faces and lack any sense of urgency.」
While it was common to have grandchildren in one’s thirties during the Joseon Dynasty, Jeil Heon wondered what she suddenly meant by that. He continued the conversation, feeling puzzled.
“That Aberration has been given the identification name ‘Smiling Man’.”
「Ah, so it has.」
“When I entered the Aberrant Realm recently, it recognized me and chased me all the way back to reality. Since it was the Smiling Man who used the Blind Eater to tie me down in the Aberrant Realm, it was bound to be discovered quickly. Mansin Nam Soon-ho’s seal won’t hold for long either. Since it’s hunting me, you might be put in danger as well, Teacher.”
「It is fine. If the situation worsens, I simply won’t leave Pilgyeongdang, so I can protect my own person. More importantly, isn’t there a risk that the Smiling Man will notice Mr. Yoo? Even if they haven’t met in a long time, could he really fail to identify his own bloodline?」
“He believes I died as a child, and besides, Jiha’s constitution is such that the true eye would never have opened under normal circumstances, so he won’t suspect anything. Above all, the gaze of an Aberration is different from that of a human, isn’t it?”
Even now, if Jeil Heon covered his right eye, Gong Ran-sa—who appeared as an ordinary woman—would look different. In the realm of anomalies, her essence was the intense longing to purge the pro-Japanese collaborators, even if it meant exploding to death along with her parents.
「Since I am a Spirit who hasn’t strayed far from being human, my features are relatively clear, but indeed, the Smiling Man would be different. He is a non-human path that has strayed from the way of man, and he has not built up rank as a monster. He would be unable to fully discern a human.」
Satisfied, Gong Ran-sa nodded her chin and tapped a long needle with one hand.
「You certainly are busy. One side tries to break the jewel, while the other tries to steal it.」
Jeil Heon responded with a laugh to her joke, which clearly stemmed from having overheard the conversation on the first day of the boarding house.
“Because it’s a lovely jewel. They say the one who loves first is the one who loses.”
「Did you say that to Mr. Yoo as well?」
“I did tell him I love him.”
「Good grief, that’s exactly why I say you’re dense. I can’t bear to watch this absurdity.」
“Excuse me?”
As if it were too frustrating to even speak with him while he remained clueless, Gong Ran-sa waved her hand to shoo him away.
Returning to the detached house while tilting his head in confusion, Jeil Heon stopped in front of the room. Through the wide-open door of the summer night, he could glimpse the blurred silhouette of a child inside the darkness. His heart hammered violently at the fact that the boy was sleeping defenselessly right in front of him, but he skillfully composed himself and checked on the child. The quiet sound of breathing was peaceful, as if in a deep sleep.
Jeil Heon hoped that his jewel would continue to be peaceful within the blessing of ignorance.
Even when jogging in the morning.
“Mister. Pant, pant, how, huff, old are you?”
“21.”
Even after coming out of the Aberrant Realm.
“Do I look like someone who signed an employment contract alone without a legal guardian?”
“Of course.”
Even when learning Pilates from Gong Ran-sa.
“Ugh-aaah! I’m going to, aaagh, buy the drinks… Ack! My bone, my bone! Teacher! My bone! Help me!”
“You’ll survive.”
Yoo Jiha did his absolute best to emphasize that he was an adult. As a result, Jeil Heon had been conditioned to reflexively answer “21” like a vending machine.
They say a situation is a comedy from afar and a tragedy up close, but for these two, it was a comedy even up close.
“Even if you have that kind of relationship with the Team Leader, isn’t Mr. Jiha surprising? How can he not be afraid of the Team Leader at all when he’s so cowardly about everything else?”
“The nuance is weird when you call it ‘that kind of relationship’.”
“But saying ‘a relationship where he is a living purifier who stabilizes the Corruption Level so he doesn’t become an Aberration’ is too long.”
“Well… Even though the Team Leader always smiles with a face that looks kind, I can tell he’s a pretty firm and scary person once you actually experience him.”
Song Hilda and Kim Min-seop sat crouched, waiting for the two to finish the search and rescue the remaining victims. An Enforcement Division agent guarding the perimeter also chimed in.
“I now understand why even our terrifying Head of Department finds my Team Leader difficult.”
“Is he still like that? I thought the other agents in the Enforcement Division got along well with the Team Leader…”
“Agents with low seniority like me don’t know what the Team Leader was like back when he was a Head of Department.”
While they chatted, Jeil Heon and Yoo Jiha returned, and the exploration of this high school Aberrant Realm—which was eternally night—came to an end.
“Jiha, how did you spend your first paycheck?”
“I bought gifts for my parents and sister, and gave them the rest!”
“Wow, what a filial son. My mom and eldest sister practically robbed me, saying my true eye opening was thanks to the spirits… Ah, I told you before that my sister is a shaman who collaborates with the company, right?”
When one spends their daily life receiving a salary, they tend to become numb to it, no matter how much stimulating horror fills the air. Moreover, he had the escort of a special agent with a gun and Jeil Heon, who was essentially the top predator of anomalies.
Thanks to that, they had reached a level where they could chatter away once safety was secured, even within an Aberrant Realm. The presence of the necklace he had received recently was also enough to make him stand tall. The pendant of the necklace was a tiny bead, about the size of a fingernail. It looked like a pearl, but its vivid dark red color was quite unique.
〈It’s like a charm, so just wear it all the time. Keep it a secret from others that I gave it to you. Just say you got it from a lover.〉
〈I don’t have a lover.〉
〈Right, that’s true.〉
Though he had added that last bit just to make Jiha pout slightly.
Jeil Heon was a good person. He had a smiling face for everyone and worked hard for the safe escape of victims even in Aberrant Realms. Today, as soon as he realized a victim’s leg was injured, he immediately carried them on his back and ran, dodging Aberrations.
But that was the extent of it. Once the victim was rescued and they escaped the Aberrant Realm, he withdrew his interest as if he had fulfilled his role. Most agents of the Investigation and Exploration Division, including Yoo Jiha, felt a sense of reward in their work upon hearing that the rescued victims had recovered safely. Just like the first item in the new employee guide, which told them to take pride in being loyal to the state and protecting the citizens.
Jeil Heon was not like that. As if his goal was the anomaly rather than the victim, he was obsessed with the response and analysis of Aberrant Realms and Aberrations.
〈According to my seniors in the Enforcement Division, they said he’s become relatively gentler because the Exploration Division doesn’t have to hunt Aberrations directly.〉
If the day ever came when his Corruption Level stabilized, even without Jiha, would he return to the Enforcement Division? Just imagining growing distant from Jeil Heon made his heart ache. He wanted to whine like a child, saying he didn’t want to be apart. But if that time came, it would be something to rejoice over. And he hoped Jeil Heon wouldn’t forget him.
“Mister.”
When he called him while he was driving on the way home, Jeil Heon looked back gently, asking, “What is it?”
The gaze of the man, who was kind to everyone, deepened when it turned toward him. In that gaze, Yoo Jiha felt the cries of the child who had been abandoned by his biological parents for being useless slowly fade away. This relationship was not a one-sided benefit. Jeil Heon thanked him, saying that Jiha was the one stabilizing his Corruption Level, but Jiha also received an irreplaceable sense of peace from him.
“If your Corruption Level stabilizes like it used to, will you return to the Enforcement Division?”
“Haha, a day like that will never come.”
“Hey, you never know.”
“If I had to speculate, working in the field does suit my aptitude.”
“Then what will happen to me and you back then?”
Jeil Heon finally understood the meaning of the roundabout question and let out a low laugh. Though the question had been tossed out pretending to be nonchalant, Jiha’s heart was thumping with nervousness.
Soon, the lips that held a neat redness opened.