"Mmm…" Moaning under his breath, Talon slowly opened his eyes as he looked up dazedly. The sun's rays penetrated through the curtains and hit him in the face, making him frown visibly before he wiped his eyes.
"It's already morning?" He murmured as he tried to rise up, only to realize that so kind of weight was pressing on him. Looking down, Talon was shocked to see Acrypha lying on top of him with her hand wrapped around his neck. Her eyes were closed as she breathed quietly and rhythmically.
Her amazingly soft body pressed against him in many areas. Even in his numb state, Talon felt as if he was wrapped in a heavenly blanket. Acrypha's soft embrace was addicting, to say the least.
"..."
Talon silently looked at her, trying to understand what was happening. However, he quickly realized that he had a completely different problem to think about. Between his legs, sothing has awoken along with him. His eyes were slowly drawn to the twin peeks pressing against his chest carefreely. Their shape was completely distorted under pressure and it made Talon sense far more than he could see.
Feeling it poking Acrypha, Talon's flinched before he quickly moved away.
"Mmm…" That sudden movent made Acrypha slowly open her eyes.
"Did you fall asleep?" Talon asked her as he put his hand over his groin to hide the weird feeling he had. 'That was so close, holy shit!'
"... Yeah, I weirdly dozed off so ti. I can't rember." Acrypha slowly lifted her head up as she stared at Talon with a sleepy look. Seeing her srizing beauty in such a defenseless state, with disheveled hair and disheveled clothes made Talon's heart skip a beat.
Sothing about the current Acrypha had a completely different charm than usual. He could see far more erotic details about her than before and it garnered a very strong reaction from him.
Usually, Talon can sohow manage to deal with Acrypha's charm with not much of a problem. However, at this mont, there was simply no way for him to handle it.
So, to calm his boiling mind, he turned around and stood up. "Well, ehem, this is certainly a first. Didn't you say that you don't need sleep?"
"I don't. But, I felt like sleeping for the first ti in a long while." She said as she blinked.
'I haven't had the urge to sleep in decades… This is certainly weird.' She thought to herself.
"How was it?" Talon asked curiously.
"... Quite pleasant, actually."
"Haha, it is! I don't think I will ever stop sleeping even if I don't need it anymore. It's just the best."
With that, Talon walked to the other side of the room where he entered a bathroom, and washed his face.
*Knock* *Knock*
A few minutes later, the door knocked. "Hm? I wonder who is it?" Talon murmured as he opened the door.
Outside, he found Hyun-Jae waiting. She had a subtly excited look on her face.
"Good morning." She said in a slightly higher-pitched tone than usual.
"Good morning… What brought you here this early?" Talon asked as he let Hyun-Jae inside and closed the door.
The girl walked inside looking around silently. She seed quite curious as if she had never been inside this room before.
'Doesn't her room like exactly like mine?' Talon mused as he walked after her.
"Just wanted to check on you…" She murmured a reply and turned around to look at Talon.
"Oh, well, here I am." Talon shrugged. "Do you want coffee?" He asked as he moved toward the kitchen.
"No, I've already had breakfast, thank you."
"Ok… One for then."
With that, Talon started preparing his breakfast as he humd a random lody. anwhile, Hyun-Jae sat down on the chair as she watched him intently.
"Hey." Eventually, she spoke.
"Hm? What's up?"
"When are you going to leave the base?" She asked.
"After breakfast. I don't want to postpone it any longer." He replied.
"Are you going to bring soone with you?"
"No, my hotown isn't that far away from here. I can reach it in less than an hour on foot." Talon shook his head as he poured the hot coffee into the cup and took a sip.
Hyun-Jae's expression shifted for a split second before she returned to normal. "So, I can't co with you?"
"No, one of us gotta stay here. The trip won't take that long."
"..." She nodded her head. "I understand."
"Is everything really ok, Hyun-Jae? You seem off." He said as he approached the table and sat down in front of her.
"It's noth- Sigh, well, it's not nothing. I'm just a little bit worried about your parents, that's all." She admitted with a sigh.
"Oh, that's it?"
"Yeah, it has been almost two months and the world is just too dangerous. I can't stop myself from worrying."
Talon could feel the genuine feelings in her words at that mont and it made him smile warmly.
'She ca all the way here to tell that… Sigh, she's really sothing else…'
He would be lying if he said that the level of care that Hyun-Jae was showing didn't make him feel happy. Hyun-Jae saw him as soone she cherished and he did the sa. It was rare to co across people who would truly love you for who you are without expecting anything in return.
Hyun-Jae was one of those people and Talon appreciated that side of her more than she would imagine. That was why, when he ended up seeing her worry this much, he could only feel bad.
"Don't worry. I know my parents better than anyone else. They know how to survive better than I do and I learned everything from them. I'm not really worried myself." Talon replied in a calm tone.
Hyun-Jae lifted her eyes to look at him for a mont silently. In her eyes, the only reflection that could be seen was that of the young man in front of her. Her eyes then slowly shifted down to his hands.
What Talon didn't realize at that mont was that his hands were subtly shaking. It wasn't sothing easily noticeable but Hyun-Jae noticed it. A hint of understanding flashed through her eyes before vanishing.
"I understand. But, can I say one thing?"
"...Of course." Talon smiled confusedly.
***
*Two Hours Later*
Talon notified everyone about his small trip. Naturally, many of them were worried about leaving the base alone. But, Talon didn't want to hinder the progress of the work for this as he believed he was more than enough.
He also had to sohow convince Sophie to stay since she was adamant about going with him. She was also worried about his parents since she had known them for years and even kept in contact with them throughout the years even when she and Talon weren't together anymore.
But, Talon was able to make her stay with the simple promise that he wouldn't be taking more than a few hours at most. If he would be late, she was going to leave to search for him.
With that, Talon bid them farewell and left the base through the gates. Then, he got in one of the cars he borrowed.
Acrypha sat next to him in the passenger seat.
"Do you know where to go?" She asked curiously.
"Yeah, I know this area." Turning the car on, Talon drove it into the main street and continued moving south.
"How is your hotown, by the way? You've never told about it." On the road, Acrypha asked curiously.
"Hmm… My hotown? It's pretty nice. We're a very small community. Everyone knows each other. I love how familiar it feels even when I co back to visit every few months." Talon said as he reminisced about the past.
He had many mories, good and bad in that town so it had a special place in his heart. Everything about it felt like ho. Especially the people that lived in it. Then, Talon rembered what kind of place this world had turned into and his expression soured. As far as he knew, no one from his hotown ca to the human society which put a bad on on his mind.
'I wonder if anyone survived…' He thought to himself.
He knew that it was almost impossible for the entire town to survive the integration and that fact ached his heart greatly. But, he didn't let himself think much about it. He simply hoped that many of them miraculously survived and were waiting for him there.
Instinctively, Talon increased the speed of the car a little as it stord through the highway, moving toward its destination. Ti passed rather slowly as the duo talked about different topics to pass the ti.
Eventually, they passed next to a sign that said 'Welco to Yeongam'. The sign had been torn to pieces and yet still sohow didn't fall to the ground.
"Hmm, it's getting a little cloudy," Talon murmured as he looked through the window.
Naturally, Talon started decreasing the speed of the car as he saw the town in the distance. The all-too-familiar scene gave Talon a strong hit of nostalgia. The image of the town he grew up in overlapped with the present picture.
However, that mory slowly vanished as Talon realized that his hotown was completely wrecked. Apart from a few details that were left intact, the entire town had changed completely. It was a ghost of its forr shade.
Reaching the entrance to the town, Talon opened the door as he left the car. His expression was stoic.
"... I'm back…"
A//N: Don't forget to support the book if you enjoyed reading :D
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