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Chapter 41
“
What will happen to us?”
Eunha turned her head at the sound of a voice coming from her side.
The single small candle wasn’t very warm, so his hand was trembling softly as he held it tightly. As a result, both the candle and Yijun’s shadow shook dangerously.
“N-no. Should we just talk about what we’re going to eat tomorrow?”
Yijun tried to raise the corners of his mouth, but they didn’t go up as he wanted.
It was good to talk about tomorrow. At least for that time, he could think about tomorrow instead of today.
Even if some would call it avoidance, it didn’t matter.
Wiggling the hand holding the candlestick, Yijun spoke.
“I
 um, I’d like a salad filled with fresh vegetables and grilled salmon.”
He was pretending to be cheerful, but he couldn’t fool Eunha’s eyes. He had been with her for three years.
Eunha stared intently at the flickering candle with her dark eyes, then quickly turned her head.
“
I want to eat rice soup.”
“Rice soup?”
“Yes. The rice soup that I often ate with my mom. The kimchi dumplings there are also delicious.”
Her face, softly lit by the shabby candle, was facing forward.
“Can we go together someday?”
Drip—
Drops of water fell from the tips of the stalactites hanging from the ceiling.
Drip—
When the particularly clear sound was heard again, Eunha opened her mouth.
“Of course.”
After the short answer, Eunha rummaged through her backpack and pulled out a blanket.
“You better get some sleep before the candle goes out. That’s the last candle.”
Then, after brushing off the dirt on the blanket, she held it out to Yijun.
“Use it. I don’t need it.”
She rested her back against the mossy wall of the cave without hesitation. Then, Yijun jumped and held out the blanket again.
“Lean on this. Your clothes will get dirty.”
“What’s going to change if a military uniform that’s already covered in blood gets some dirt on it?”
“Still
 “
Yijun’s face dimmed at Eunha’s insignificant answer.
His heart was heavy.
Since when did she stop worrying about blood on their clothes?
And until when would she be like this?
“Come on, just take it.”
In the end, Yijun half-forced the blanket behind Eunha. Eunha just looked at Yijun with a slightly annoyed expression, but didn’t stop him.
A long silence passed after that.
Somehow, he couldn’t sleep. Yijun glanced at the colleague sitting next to him.
Black hair and black eyes. The cat-like eyes that rose sharply were wary of their surroundings, but they were no longer scary.
“Eunha. Can’t you sleep as well?”
Whish.
The black eyes that had been fixed forward turned towards his direction.
“If I fall asleep, I won’t be able to stop an unexpected attack.”
Suddenly, the green epaulettes on her shoulders came into view. Yijun didn’t know how much weight they held.
“Eunha, you know—”
“Go to sleep.”
“If you don’t sleep, I won’t sleep either.”
“
”
Eunha stared intently at Yijun. Then, she burst into a small laugh.
“Do as you please.”
In front of her, Yijun also smiled.
Yijun knew. Unexpectedly, Eunha was a person who laughed at trivial things like these.
But her smile was like a haze. Something light and faint that would disappear quickly when you reached out to it.
The two sat side by side against the damp inner wall of the cave.
The two long shadows that stretched onto the moss-filled wall looked alike. Inwardly pleased at that fact, Yijun opened his mouth as he stared at their shadows on the wall.
“—So, my father wants me to come to America. The same goes for my mother.”
“Then why don’t you go?”
“That
”
Yijun’s lips thinned as he glanced away. Even in the cave where the only light came from a little candle, her black eyes seemed to twinkle like a galaxy.
Yijun slightly lowered his eyes. His long lashes casted even shadows on his pale cheeks.
“It’s just that
 I like it.”
Eunha tilted her head. His voice was so low that she couldn’t hear it.
“What did you just say?”
Yijun looked at her figure quietly and smiled.
“Never mind. How about you, Eunha? Didn’t you want to go to university? You said it was your dream to become a dog groomer.”
“I don’t care about that anymore.”
After a very brief silence, the voice that came out of her lips was terribly calm.
“The world has changed.”
Her powers had manifested at the end of her nineteenth. She was drafted when she was only 20 years old, and she was entering her third year as a hunter this year.
If the world hadn’t changed, she would have been living the life she wanted by studying in the United States by now.
“Then when peace returns someday.”
When that time comes, will you go to America with me?
Yijun couldn’t finish his sentence.
It was because of a sudden violent tremor.
* * *
“After that, it’s as you know.”
With a click, Eunha put her spoon down and ended the story.
Under the warm light that illuminated the living room, Siwoo and Eunha’s eyes met.
“Baek Yijun escaped, and I was trapped in the unknown gate.”
“
Is that so?”
Siwoo also put down the spoon he was holding. Compared to Eunha’s empty bowl, the bowl in front of him was still full of curry rice.
‘For him
 Sunbae
’
She got trapped in the unknown gate. Simply put, it was a sacrifice.
As he thought about it, a question naturally came to mind.
‘Why?’
Siwoo had never made such a sacrifice for anyone, and he had no intention of doing so. Even for his own family.
“What was he like?”
Of course, he didn’t think he would be convinced of any answer.
But, he was curious.
What kind of person was he for her to willingly sacrifice herself?
“Well, if I had to describe him, I’d say he was a soft person.”
Eunha stared at her empty bowl and murmured faintly. There was even a faint smile on her lips as she recalled her memories.
‘A soft
 person?’
Who? Maestro? He couldn’t even pretend to smile at the words he couldn’t agree with.
Eunha’s face turned serious when her gaze reached Siwoo.
“Then you tell me now. How do you know Baek Yijun?”
“There isn’t much to it. There’s no Korean who doesn’t know of him.”
At Siwoo’s words, Eunha tilted her head. She didn’t seem to understand what Siwoo was saying.
He didn’t want to say anything that praised Yijun, but he had to. Siwoo opened his mouth again.
“He’s Korea’s first S-Class hunter.”
“What?”
Long black hair fell down her shoulder. Eunha looked like she was genuinely surprised.
It was natural. Because battle was the last thing that Eunha would associate with the Yijun she remembered.
“Ah. Saying that he’s Korea’s first S-Class might be a bit misleading. Since he’s American.”
After adding that, Siwoo got up from his seat, his chair dragging on the floor.
“Anyway, he’s visiting Korea. It’s his first visit in about 30 years.”
Siwoo indifferently uttered those words before taking the dishes on the table to head for the sink. His hand stopped as he was about to put on a rubber glove.
“
Sunbae.”
Siwoo moved his lips stiffly without turning his head.
“Sunbae, do you want to meet him?”
It was a very difficult question, so his lips didn’t move as well as he wanted.
The answer didn’t come right away. He didn’t know if the question he asked had been too much.
He shouldn’t have asked. Belatedly, such regrets came flooding in.
“Not at all.”
Siwoo’s head whipped back with a whoosh. Eunha was sitting on her chair with her chin resting on her hand, and their eyes met.
“Why are you surprised? Do I really need to see him?”
“No, it’s not like that.”
Siwoo blinked his eyes slowly and asked.
“Didn’t you sacrifice yourself for him?”
“Sacrifice?”
She said one after another as she ran her hair down her shoulders and behind her ears.
“You must think of me as a hero.”
So to speak, it was close.
It couldn’t be denied that being a first-generation hunter was close to being a hero for modern hunters.
But Eunha didn’t see it like that.
“Then you are mistaken. I’m probably a lot more apathetic than you think.”
On that day, at the moment she was trapped in the unknown gate, Eunha had not made any sacrifices. She simply chose the option that would cause the least damage when she thought about it realistically.
Eunha no longer had the strength, hope, or anything to live for in reality. So, she chose to stay in the gate.
She had no intention of overplaying it as a sacrifice.
“It’s Sunbae who’s mistaken.”
Siwoo turned around and quietly denied it.
“You’re probably a much nicer person than you think.”
“
”
“It’s true.”
Eunha held her chin before gently lowering her hand.
There was a moment of silence.
Siwoo put on the rubber gloves and turned on the tap. He didn’t know if he had done it to hide the awkwardness.
Shwaaa—
Tap water rushed from the faucet and poured out vigorously. A low laugh was heard from behind him.
“Okay, thanks.”
Siwoo suddenly paused while he was cleaning the dishes. But after that moment, Siwoo casually resumed his scrubbing.
After cleaning the dishes, Siwoo put on his hoodie again and took his car keys.
“Hm. I’ll get you a new phone tomorrow.”
“It’s not urgent, so it doesn’t matter if you take some time to get it.”
“No, it is urgent. For me.”
Siwoo shook his head resolutely. She really didn’t know that not being able to communicate with her was a frustrating thing for him.
Moreover, it wouldn’t be strange if something happened sooner or later with Trickster or Maestro. Both of them were people to keep an eye on.
Siwoo put on his shoes while holding the food waste bag he had tied up beforehand.
“I’m very thankful for a lot of things.”
Eunha muttered as she stood in front of the shoe closet. Siwoo was tying the laces of his sneakers and glanced up.
“Hm? What?”
“There’s just. Some stuff.”
Eunha leaned her head against the wall and closed her eyes.
“It would have been really difficult without you.”
“
No, well, it’s nothing.”
Siwoo turned his head down after giving the brief and flat reply. After wrestling for a long time with his shoelaces that were particularly troublesome today, he lifted his downturned head.
“Then
 I’ll be on my way.”
“Mn, see you tomorrow.”
Eunha gently waved her hand. After the small motion, she made her escape and hurried away.
Thump, thump, thump. The sound of footsteps in the hallway was especially loud.
Ding dong—
「17th floor.」
The moment the elevator door opened, Siwoo realised that he had not been able to get the information he needed.
He should have asked Eunha, whose cell phone was broken, about Trickster and Yijun in more detail

Siwoo quickly turned his head and stared at the closed front door.
‘See you tomorrow.’
—Well, it didn’t matter.
Siwoo turned his head again and got onto the elevator.




Ding dong—
「First floor.」
The moment the elevator door opened and he took a step out.
‘It would have been really difficult without you.’
He turned his head involuntarily.
Suddenly, his eyes met in the elevator mirror.
“
”
It was then that Siwoo realised he was making an unfamiliar face.

Had he known that he had such a stupid face, he wouldn’t have looked in the mirror in the end.
Siwoo used some effort to pull down the corners of his lips that were slowly creeping up and hurriedly got out of the elevator.