357 – HGL 357

357

“…….”

Once again, the floor began to swallow his feet. Eui-jae forced his legs to move, passing by that memory. He couldn’t stop here. He wanted to know everything about Lee Sa-young.

The following memories were mostly similar. A pure white room, a black field of vision, a pure white room, a black field of vision. Most of Lee Sa-young’s memories from that time were in black and white, with only slight differences in sound.

He could hear someone’s footsteps. Sometimes it was the sound of dress shoes, other times the sound of rubber soles. After a voice recited the details of an experiment, sounds of struggling, choking, air escaping, and labored breathing mixed together. Eui-jae gritted his teeth. But he couldn’t stop. He had to keep going, or he would sink into the swamp.

As he continued to pass by fragments of memories made of black and white, a colorful scene finally came into view. Eui-jae stopped in front of that memory.

Lee Sa-young was standing in the middle of a forest late at night. He was standing on a white floor, and the white building, except for that floor, was slowly melting away into Poison. After a while, he could finally see the outside. He slowly turned his head to look around. A purple night sky, trees and grass swaying in the wind, the presence of a bird perched on a branch, the movement of a squirrel running along the branches. He could feel everything.

Long, disheveled hair that reached his shoulders scattered and obscured his vision.

“Can you hear me?”

Jung-bin’s voice was heard nearby, but Sa-young ignored it. Eui-jae narrowed his eyes.

‘He’s been ignoring him since then.’

Sa-young slowly raised both hands and moved his fingers. He also rubbed the white floor with his foot. Instead of pain, he only felt a cool sensation. Sa-young stretched his legs out and sat on the floor. There was no pain. Rather, his whole body felt light as if he could fly away. The hem of his clothes was short, and his wrists and ankles were completely exposed whenever he moved his arms and legs. Sa-young stared silently at his clean skin. It was spotless, without a single scar.

Then, he heard the voice again.

“I am Jung-bin from the Awakened Management Bureau. I’ve come to rescue you.”

Awakened Management Bureau. A faint voice flashed through Sa-young’s mind.

‘I’m J.’

‘Not my real name, but just call me that. I’m a Hunter, my ranking is pretty high, and I belong to the Awakened Management Bureau… Is that enough? Ah, damn… Now that I’m actually saying it, I don’t have anything else to say.’

The place where J belonged. Sa-young turned his head to look at Jung-bin. Jung-bin was clutching a Black Chain in his hand, watching him with a nervous expression. Sa-young opened his mouth, but no sound came out. He wrapped his hands around his neck to check its condition.

Then, he touched his neck, chin, and cheeks in turn with his hand. It was smooth, without bandages or scars. Sa-young made a small sound.

“…Ah.”

“…….”

“Um, eh.”

It was an awkward way of speaking. Sa-young strengthened his grip in annoyance. Damn it, his tongue was stiff. For a long time, he tried to pronounce words while moving his stiff tongue. Finally, the first words he uttered were.

“J…”

Cha Eui-jae’s Hunter name, and the name Eui-jae had told him.

“…….”

Eui-jae blankly stared at Sa-young, who was wearing white clothes. The unique healing power of an Awakened had healed all his wounds, and he had escaped from hell on his own. And, as soon as he escaped from hell, he looked for J.

Strangely, the tip of his nose tingled. Eui-jae gritted his teeth and took a step. He started running again. Countless Lee Sa-youngs passed by him.

‘You don’t have to cut my hair. If you cut it, I swear to God, I’ll kill you.’

One Lee Sa-young was spewing murderous intent at Bae Won-woo, who was holding scissors while tied to a chair,

‘I don’t need it, get lost.’

One Lee Sa-young gave Director Ham Seok-jeong the middle finger,

‘What interview? …Damn it, won’t you let go? I said let go.’

One Lee Sa-young was being held by Bae Won-woo and Jung-bin while wearing a suit,

‘I’ll give you as much money as you want, so just do your research.’

One Lee Sa-young was yelling at the Wave Guild research team,

‘…….’

One Lee Sa-young was standing in front of the West Sea Rift Memorial.

He increased his running speed. After a brief moment of noise, slightly different Lee Sa-youngs passed by. Lee Sa-young crying while hugging Cha Eui-jae, Lee Sa-young locking himself in a dark room… It was a memory of Lee Sa-young from the Destroyed world.

Then, he felt something drop. Strangely, his feet felt lighter. Eui-jae turned around.

A black-haired ‘Cha Eui-jae’ was standing where he had passed. He was staring silently at the memory of the crying Lee Sa-young. With his hands in his pockets, in a slouched posture.

The gray-haired Eui-jae stopped and looked at another version of himself. Their eyes met. The black-haired ‘Cha Eui-jae’ smiled at the other version of himself.

“Thanks for bringing me this far.”

“You….”

In that moment, a memory flashed through his mind. When he was dragged into the world of ‘Lee Sa-young’ from the Destroyed world and had a conversation with him. Words that flowed out without him realizing it, and memories that weren’t his.

Dinner menus, the feeling that a stray cat on the street was cute, the memory of thinking that the music playing in the convenience store was good, the nagging he heard from Jung-bin, the scolding he heard from Honeybee.

And, what flowed out without him realizing it….

‘Lee Sa-young.’

‘I’m sorry. It seems like I’ve put too much of a burden on you.’

‘But… all those things weren’t meaningless.’

‘We’re facing each other like this now.’

‘Thank you.’

All those words were….

“…It was you who said that.”

The black-haired ‘Cha Eui-jae’ shrugged his shoulders with his arms crossed.

“Yeah. I just really wanted to say something back then.”

“Since when have you been inside me?”

“From the moment you turned back time with the watch, and this world was created.”

“…….”

“Don’t misunderstand. I only woke up when I was talking to that troublemaker. Everything you’ve done to get here is all your doing.”

The black-haired ‘Cha Eui-jae’ waved his hand, as if saying goodbye.

“Hurry up and go. Don’t get lost, don’t think about anything else. Just think about one thing. Who is waiting for you.”

“…….”

“I have to go comfort that kid.”

As he gestured for him to hurry, a wind blew from behind and pushed him in the back. The laughter of ‘Cha Eui-jae’ scattered behind him.

“Goodbye, Cha Eui-jae!”

Eui-jae started running as if possessed. His gray hair fluttered. After a while, he looked back, but he was already gone. Strangely, his heart was pounding. He felt a sense of emptiness as if a part of himself had disappeared, and a sense of satisfaction as if he had completed the last puzzle.

When he turned his head again, his vision changed.

What unfolded before him was….

“…Ah.”

It was a familiar alleyway.

The hem of his black coat fluttered. Countless Cha Eui-jaes poured out beside the running Lee Sa-young. Cha Eui-jae lying in a hospital room, Cha Eui-jae vomiting blood, Cha Eui-jae pale and ghastly. They were all Cha Eui-jaes from the past world. Sa-young tried to pass by, but slowly stopped. Something was holding his feet.

“…….”

Sa-young sighed and muttered annoyedly.

“Is he a pervert? I didn’t know he had a hobby of forcing himself to relive difficult memories….”

He forcibly pulled away his unmoving feet and took two steps back. Standing where he had been standing was an uninvited guest, shining with lilac eyes. The uninvited guest stared silently at the sight of Cha Eui-jae vomiting blood. Sa-young crossed his arms.

“Aren’t you going? I’m busy right now.”

“…Go.”

The uninvited guest stared at Lee Sa-young with mirror-like lilac eyes.

“This place is a space where the memories of those who died by Doomsday gather. I should have come here originally.”

“So this is where you’re supposed to die?”

“Yes.”

“Ha.”

Sa-young scoffed.

“Then you should have been buried here a long time ago, why have you been clinging to my body until now….”

“Because you, who have the same source of Soul as me, were alive. I was just drawn to you like a magnet.”

The uninvited guest answered in a hollow voice. Sa-young clicked his tongue. He took a few steps forward, then asked without looking back.

“…You’re really not going to go?”

“Yes. Because this is where I belong.”

“…Okay, do whatever you want.”

“One thing.”

Sa-young turned his head to face another version of himself. Lee Sa-young was reflected in the mirror-like lilac eyes.

“Don’t get lost. Remember who is waiting for you and move forward. Just like now.”

“…….”

“Now go. Before it’s too late.”

Sa-young didn’t answer. He ran forward.

‘Lee Sa-young’, who was left alone in front of the memory, stared silently at the fading memory. He tried to capture and remember the longing face in his eyes.

It was then.

“I heard you were holed up in your room without me, you.”

A longing voice echoed from behind. ‘Lee Sa-young’ stiffened.

Was he hearing things? But the voice was too vivid to be a hallucination. His lilac eyes trembled.

“…Hyung?”

A trembling voice leaked out. He couldn’t dare to turn around. What if even this was a hallucination? What if even the voice disappeared if he turned around?

However, the vivid hallucination didn’t stop.

“Yeah, it’s me.”

Warm warmth carefully grabbed his black hand. Lee Sa-young held his breath. His heart was pounding as if it would explode. Someone stepped on the floor and came to stand in front of Lee Sa-young. Black Walker were visible in his lowered field of vision. Lee Sa-young couldn’t lift his head. What if this was also an illusion?

Warm hands and arms hugged his neck and back.

“You’ve worked hard.”

Tears fell from his wide lilac eyes. Only then did Lee Sa-young lift his head. Black hair, a playful smile. The person he had longed for so much was in front of him. With trembling hands, Lee Sa-young hugged Cha Eui-jae, who was hugging him, with all his might.

He had longed for him, longed for him, longed for him.

I missed you so much.

I even resented you.

Words that couldn’t be spoken poured out in tears. Cha Eui-jae patted Lee Sa-young’s back and closed his eyes.

“Sa-young, what you did wasn’t meaningless. It took a long time, but we finally met like this.”

“Hic….”

“It’s okay. Let’s be together from now on.”

Lee Sa-young leaned on the gentle voice and body and collapsed. It was the embrace he had so desperately wanted and longed for.

It was the moment when the long wait ended.