"Are you awake?"
A voice called out while I was blankly staring at a mural. I raised my head to see Daejang sitting in a chair beside the bed, watching me.
Daejang spoke, taking a sip of tea.
"You slept for two days straight."
"……!"
Hearing that, I hurriedly sat up. Two days is a length of time in which too many things can happen.
But Daejang was calm.
"No need to worry. The tail wasn't caught."
There were other things I wanted to ask Daejang as well, but I didn't dare. Daejang, who had been watching me in silence, let out a faint smile.
"They say the funeral begins today."
"Ah……."
A dazed sound escaped my lips. Simultaneously, the memory of that day when I had pulled the trigger resurfaced darkly.
Chae Jinyun's funeral.
Did I have the right to go there?
I gritted my teeth. A strong impulse surged through me. I rummaged through my pockets, but there were no cigarettes.
"Your weapon is here."
Seeming to mistake my action, Daejang pointed to a shelf. The Desert Eagle resting upon it. I carefully gripped it. Perhaps because Ether enveloped it, remarkably, there wasn't a corner broken anywhere.
"……But where is this?"
Saying that, I stowed the pistol into my Stigma's mana. At the sight of the pistol transforming into qi flow and seeping into my forearm, Daejang's eyes widened.
"What a fascinating storage method."
"This is nothing."
I shrugged. At that, Daejang scoffed lightly and proudly continued.
"This is my mansion. Built on an island in the East Sea. Ah, and in case you misunderstand, let me add—this entire island is my house."
"……Wow. That's amazing."
Because Daejang liked praise, I deliberately exaggerated my praise.
"Hmhmm. Shall I open the window?"
Daejang proudly opened the window. I looked outside.
The jewel-like sea of the East Sea, clear sunlight, and the thick salt-laden wind came together as one.
It was truly a spectacular sight worth boasting about.
"……Wait. Then how do I get home?"
"Well, everyone has a personal portal, don't they?"
Daejang crowed somewhat arrogantly.
A Personal Portal Customs Office.
It was a system for the wealthy; if I remembered correctly, there was one in Busan.
"Then I'll head home now."
"……You could stay a bit longer."
"There are people waiting at home."
"I see."
Daejang guided me out with evident reluctance.
I walked through the inside and outside of the mansion with Daejang.
This nameless island where the mansion was built was full of attendants. But they were not human. They were dolls woven from mana, capable of repeating only specific actions.
Daejang lived buried among the dolls he had created.
"It's a lonely place."
"At times, one must become accustomed to loneliness."
"……."
I silently walked through the garden leading to the personal portal. Feeling the island's beautiful scenery and atmosphere with my whole body, I walked for about ten minutes.
The thing called a personal portal finally appeared.
It was much smaller than the one at the customs office, but it was still a cutting-edge magic item capable of performing a portal's role.
"Do I just enter?"
"Yes. It should be connected to Busan. Come with me. I have business to take care of in England as well."
Daejang made a call somewhere. Afterward, the portal activated, and the two of us stepped through.
In a single stride, we arrived at Busan's Portal Customs Office.
We walked through the VIP-only passage and stood before a crossroads.
"Then, let's meet again later."
"Yes."
After a light farewell, I walked toward the Korea-bound portal.
I closed my eyes and felt the mana beyond the portal with my whole body.
Swwoong—
After the unfamiliar sensation of mana, when I opened my eyes, the now-familiar scenery of Seoul Portal Customs Office appeared.
I mindlessly stepped outside. And bought three packs of cigarettes at a nearby convenience store.
Chae Jinyun's funeral would likely be held at the Daehyun Funeral Hall. I checked the coordinates with the Scroll of Truth and walked until I reached the vicinity of the funeral hall.
"……."
In the distance, a quiet, solemn, and lonely funeral hall could be seen.
But I couldn't muster the courage to enter. I didn't even think I could get past the security guards at the entrance.
So I decided to merely watch from afar. I would watch, and once my heart calmed, I would leave.
Standing under a nearby tree, I took out a cigarette. I lit it without a lighter and held it between my lips. A lungful of smoke seeped into my lungs.
And so, one stick, two sticks…… the chain-smoking that had begun before I knew it continued for a long time.
Then, at some point.
"Hm?"
The fourth mourner to arrive.
The sight of Yu Yeonha's back as she entered the funeral hall came into view.
Our eyes didn't meet, but before long, an inexplicable anxiety crept over me. I felt as though I should run away from here right now.
But it was already too late.
"……Ah."
A dazed sound escaped my lips.
Chae Nayoon appeared at the entrance of the funeral hall. She looked around before her eyes met mine.
Chae Nayoon's eyes, brimming with moisture.
The moment I saw them, my feet seemed glued to the pavement and refused to lift.
Trudge. Trudge.
Chae Nayoon walked toward me.
She approached me, wearing mourning clothes.
Her movements felt slow, and her footsteps were strangely clear.
"……Hey, Gim Hajin."
Chae Nayoon had arrived before my eyes before I knew it and spoke a word.
But I didn't know what to say, so I had no choice but to remain silent.
"How did you know to come? Did Yu Yeonha tell you?"
Chae Nayoon spoke and forced a smile. An attempt to pretend to be her usual self.
"But are you some thug? Why are you smoking?"
Yet her forced smile only looked like her face was contorting.
"Why won't you answer…… Hey. Give me that."
Suddenly, Chae Nayoon extended her hand. A motion trying to snatch my cigarette.
"What, are you crazy?"
Only then did a voice burst from my mouth. I threw the cigarette to the ground and stubbed it out. But Chae Nayoon didn't look at the cigarette butt. Her gaze remained fixed on my face the entire time.
"Does smoking that make it any better?"
Chae Nayoon suddenly asked.
A voice shaking as if choked. A stream of tears fell from the corners of her eyes.
In that instant, my vision blurred.
"……Why are you crying?"
Only when she said that did I realize I was shedding tears.
"……."
I wiped my tears with one hand.
Chae Nayoon approached me like that. Slowly, step by step, yet close enough that our bodies might touch.
Before I knew it, she was right before my eyes.
I had to push her away. But I couldn't.
My head thought so, yet my heart refused to follow.
Chae Nayoon was crying. Before those tears, my body froze solid and wouldn't move.
"Me…… what do I do now."
She whimpered softly and bowed her head to hide her flowing tears.
Soon, her forehead touched my chest.
In that fleeting moment, my breath stopped.
Suddenly, an old thought came to mind.
There was a time when I had thought this.
That as long as we weren't found out, we could maintain this relationship perfectly.
"Me, me……."
But watching Chae Nayoon cry like a child now, I realized it had been impossible from the very beginning.
"Huaaaah…."
Chae Nayoon wrapped both arms around my waist. Our bodies touched. She cried in my embrace.
I was in agony. My heart hurt as though it would burst. So I tried to push her away, but she wouldn't let go. Rather, the more I tried, the more desperately she clung. She clung to me so tightly it hurt.
"O-Our oppa, what do I do."
The tears she had held back burst forth. Once started, they wouldn't stop, and her trembling grew uncontrollably severe.
"My brother, brother, brother……."
Gasping as if her breath would stop, a wail indistinguishable as words or screams.
Her sorrow became poison and seeped into my body.
"He's so pitiful, so pitiful, pitiful, what do I do, waaaah…."
"……."
I couldn't endure the fragile trembling in my arms that seemed as though she would collapse at any moment.
I had no right to comfort her. I was someone who shouldn't be here…… yet before I knew it, I was hugging her. Chae Nayoon burrowed into my body as if she had been waiting. An affectionate gesture trying to fill her empty void with me.
"Me, me even more…… Huaaaah—"
Chae Nayoon's tears soaked my chest.
My tears flowed down her shoulder.
The cold winter wind brushed past, and the bitter, acrid after-scent of cigarettes rose up as if to envelop us.
"Ah, ugh…."
Chae Nayoon couldn't endure her sorrow. The strength in her legs gave out first, and eventually she collapsed from deep within her heart.
Only then did I find the words I could say.
"……Sorry."
There were no other words I could offer.
"I'm sorry…."
* * *
Yu Yeonha watched the two figures from afar.
To call it a touching reunion would be wrong—the situation was too tragic.
"……."
Many complicated thoughts tangled in Yu Yeonha's head.
If Chae Nayoon were to learn the truth someday.
And if Gim Hajin were to learn the truth someday.
Would their end be a sad ending of nothing but destruction?
Or could they overcome everything and achieve happiness?
But Yu Yeonha didn't force herself to find an answer.
She decided to simply bury the matters of the distant future.
"……Huh?"
It was then, as she was turning back to the funeral hall after leaving the two behind.
Suddenly, Chae Nayoon lost strength in her body and collapsed.
It was clearly a faint.
Yu Yeonha hurriedly ran toward her.
"Are you okay?!"
The moment she shouted that, her eyes met Gim Hajin's.
Yu Yeonha flinched.
His eyes were terrifyingly empty.
* * *
Leaving Chae Nayoon to Yu Yeonha, I returned home.
An apartment in Seocho, Seoul.
The residence where Evangel and my Hayan stayed.
I stood before the front door and pressed the passcode.
Beep, beep, beep, beep—
Before the door even fully opened, bustling sounds stirred from within.
I deliberately didn't go inside.
"—What is it, what is it?"
Having clearly heard the passcode being pressed, yet with no response, Evangel muttered in puzzlement.
I laughed shortly and opened the door.
"I'm home."
By my standards, not even half a day had passed, but for Evangel, it was a reunion after two days.
Evangel smiled brightly and rushed toward me.
"Hajin~!"
I knelt down and hugged Evangel.
Evangel was light and warm.
Suddenly, such a question arose.
Was I the one hugging Evangel right now? Or was Evangel hugging me?
Something surged up from deep within my heart.
I trembled in an agony that felt like sin.
"Hajin, why did you come so late? I was waiting."
"……Sorry. Something came up."
I hugged Evangel tighter as she tried to get out of my embrace.
"Ack."
"Did you eat?"
"Yeah. I ordered some. But I can't breathe."
"……Thank goodness. What about a walk?"
I kept asking. I loosened my embrace slightly so Evangel wouldn't hurt.
"I went with Hayan. Oh right, I played sandcastle games with a new friend!"
"Really?"
But I couldn't say anything more than that.
My throat was choked, and my voice wouldn't come out.
The End
When I opened my eyes, a pure white ceiling was visible.
My mind was hazy and my vision was white and blurry.
Was I dreaming right now? Or had I awakened from a dream?
The boundary between reality and dream was ambiguous.
However, one thing.
The cigarette smell painfully permeating my body. It reminded me that this was reality. It proved the existence of Gim Hajin, who had stayed by my side. It made the cold and painful reality clear.
The things she had desperately wished were a dream—all of them were already reality she could not deny.
"Hng."
Chae Nayoon sniffled. She sighed and looked out the window. Perhaps thanks to having cried her heart out once, the backflow of emotions that had seemed like they would kill her had melted away slightly, and her mind felt much lighter.
"You're awake."
Then a low voice was heard. Chae Nayoon turned her head in the direction the voice came from.
"……Master?"
Yusiheok’s calm eyes looked down at her. She met his gaze with wide, round eyes.
Yusiheok let out a sigh.
“Haah… Whenever you wish, I will prepare a place for you at the martial arts hall again. For now, slowly pull yourself together.”
Yusiheok was not one to easily cast aside a disciple he had once acknowledged. Nor was he one to let them go easily. Chaenayun and Chaejinyun were surely two of the few disciples he had acknowledged.
“Uh….”
However, Chaenayun was unaccustomed to such consideration from him, so she simply stared at him blankly for a moment.
“Are you dissatisfied?”
“…No.”
She quickly shook her head at Yusiheok’s blunt words.
“Good. Then—”
“No, that’s not it.”
Cutting off Yusiheok’s words, she raised her upper body. The rustling black mourning clothes hurt as if piercing her heart, but now was not the time to wallow in grief.
“As soon as the three-day mourning period ends, I will head straight up.”
She clenched both fists.
A strong resolve and determination smoldered and rose within her heart.
Yusiheok shook his head with a surprised look.
“No. It’s best not to overexert yourself….”
“They said it was murder.”
Chaenayun clenched her jaw so tightly that it jutted out.
Her father had not explained much. Only that an unidentified assailant had attacked her older brother. He had merely evaded the truth.
“So they are bandying about the word murder….”
Chaejinyun had been one of the disciples Yusiheok had cherished most. Thus, the cold fury Yusiheok harbored now was vivid enough that even Chaenayun could sense it.
But.
“…Don’t even think that Master will step in.”
Chaenayun looked down at her own hands.
Small, ugly hands.
But now, there was something she had to do with these very hands.
And that was a right that only she could exercise.
“I will find them, and I will kill them without fail.”
“….”
Yusiheok quietly looked at her as she muttered with seething anger.
“Ah. Right. But.”
Chaenayun suddenly opened her eyes wide as if she had just remembered something.
“Before that, please give me exactly three days.”
“…Very well.”
“No, not three days, a week? Ah, three days… ah, a week?”
“….”
Yusiheok’s eyes narrowed to slits. However, he could not bring himself to speak harshly. Not to Chaenayun, who hid her grief with all her might; not to Chaenayun, who displayed anger instead of grief.
“Contact me whenever you are ready.”
“…Thank you, Master.”
“Thanks, my ass.”
Yusiheok rose from his seat and opened the hospital room door.
At that moment, Yuyeonha was walking in from beyond the door.
“Ah, hello. Lord Yusiheok…”
“Why the extreme honorifics when you’re young?”
“Ack.”
Yusiheok grabbed Yuyeonha by the crown of her head and walked right past her. Yuyeonha glared sulkily at his retreating figure, then approached Chaenayun’s bedside.
“…Yeonha.”
“Yeah. Nayun, are you feeling better?”
“Yeah. Much better. But….”
Chaenayun did not finish her sentence. But Yuyeonha seemed to know what she had left unsaid.
“That person went back home.”
“Ah… I see. Where is my smartwatch?”
Instead of answering, Yuyeonha pointed to the shelf. Chaenayun picked up the smartwatch and, forcing a smile, said:
“Hey. Which information guild is reliable these days?”
It was an obvious question.
Yuyeonha’s face grew quite serious as she spoke to Chaenayun.
“Don’t leave that to random third-raters. Leave it to me.”
It was a bold and spirited declaration from Yuyeonha.
“I’ll take responsibility and find them.”
“Ooh~”
Yuyeonha smiled brightly at Chaenayun’s admiration.
“Friend discount, I’ll cut you around thirty percent.”
“…What?”
* * *
News of the unusual hobby of Daehyeon’s Chairman Chaejucheol was already widespread.
His hobby was collecting castles, and the Immortal Chaejucheol already owned over a hundred ancient castles, organized by country and scenery.
“Huuuh….”
And this place was Europe, the Centre department of France. Chaejucheol had acquired one ancient castle there after fierce negotiations.
Its name was Chenonceau Castle.
It was a testament to the French Renaissance, rising stoutly amid forests, ponds, and gardens, boasting a time-honored elegance, and it was an important structure in shaping the city’s scenery.
Inside Chenonceau Castle, which he was particularly fond of among his many collections, Chaejucheol sat on the throne and muttered quietly.
“I lost my grandchild at the age of eighty….”
True to those words, he had already passed the age of eighty long ago, yet who would dare call him an old man?
His sparse white hair was neatly slicked back without a single strand out of place, and a robust physique one would never think belonged to an eighty-year-old was wrapped in a luxury-brand suit.
The only evidence that allowed one to assume he was an old man was the gentleman’s cane clasped in his hand.
“…Director Kim. How do you suppose I feel?”
Chaejucheol directed that question to Director Kim, who was crouched at his feet.
“I cannot even imagine.”
The director answered.