In normal days, Hyun-Jae would always wake up at around 5 am every single morning. Her routine in the past few weeks has been the sa. Every morning, she would leave the bed, take a shower where she could clear her mind and get herself ready for whatever insanity they would have to deal with that day, and then eat breakfast and get to work.
Handling the matters of the survivors was a tough job even if it didn't require much physical work. The responsibility of every single life was on her and Talon's shoulders. Each death, even the ones where it wasn't their fault, still weighed their backs.
After that, she would usually spend the rest of the evening till night training and honing her fighting abilities till she couldn't move anymore. Every day was the sa with varying degrees of craziness every now and then that made her life far more eventful than it ever was.
However, that day was a little different from her usual days. Waking up, Hyun-Jae felt a complete lack of desire to work. Her mind was simply too focused on sothing else to bother with the other tasks.
Sitting on her bed, she stared outside the window. "Should I go visit him? Or is it too soon?"
Frowning at the dilemma she had, she tried to think it through. It had been exactly a day since Talon ca back and she didn't talk to him yet. The news of his mother's death ca like a train and it ssed her up. She didn't know how she was able to go through yesterday normally with Talon in her mind.
Now that a day passed, she couldn't wait to see him any longer. She was simply too worried about him to even care.
"Sigh… I should just check up on him. I don't want him to do anything foolish in the spur of the mont." With that excuse in mind, she changed her clothes and fixed her hair to look presentable before she left her room and went upstairs to where Talon was.
As she took the turn, she noticed soone coming from the other side.
'What is she doing here?' Squinting her eyes coldly, Hyun-Jae glared at the blonde girl.
The girl was obviously Sophie who also noticed Hyun-Jae and had the sa reaction as her. The two eventually stopped right in front of Talon's room as they stared at each other. The tension was imdiately heavy after what happened yesterday. The entire corridor dropped a few degrees in temperature just by them standing there.
Eventually, Hyun-Jae sighed as she closed her eyes. "You ca here to check on him I suppose?" She asked with a sigh.
"Yes. Are you?" Sophie asked back.
"Yes…"
"Sigh, the timing is so awkward." Murmuring under her breath, Sophie turned around with a frown.
The last person she wanted to et here was Hyun-Jae since she was really pissed after what happened. Still, in reality, she understood why Hyun-Jae stopped her from following him. In that kind of state, Talon probably didn't want any human contact at all. Not even from people close to him.
When she thought about it, she was relieved she didn't do that and now she felt annoyed that she wronged Hyun-Jae and yet also still didn't want to admit it out of embarrassnt.
Hyun-Jae noticed that shift in the girl's expression and rubbed her temples. "Listen, let's put this pitiful argunt aside for now. Since we are here to see Talon, let's just do that. Ok?"
"... Yeah, that sounds like a good idea."
With that, the two finally faced the door as they nervously stared at it. Even though they were there, actually knocking on the door was the hardest part.
"Mmm… Are you going to knock on the door?" Sophie asked awkwardly.
"... I thought you were going to do that," Hyun-Jae whispered.
"Uuuh, how about we do it at the sa ti then?"
"Sounds like a good idea."
Sophie nodded her head. "Ok, on my count… Three… Two… One…"
As the two were about to knock on the door, it suddenly sprang open, taking them by surprise.
The person that appeared was Talon. His hair was ssier than usual and his expression was very dark. But, sohow, that appearance had a completely different charm from his usual one. It gave him a thicker layer of mystery that completely captivated the two girls rather quickly.
It took them a few seconds to snap out of it.
"Talon…" Sophie murmured his na as her eyes flashed with myriads of emotions.
"Hello." He replied in a tired voice. "Are you two ok?"
"Yeah, we're fine. We ca to check up on you." Hyun-Jae coughed awkwardly as she looked up. "Is it fine?"
"... Yeah, co inside." He replied calmly and moved to the side.
The two girls stared at each other before they walked into the room. Talon then closed the door and moved after them.
"I'm sorry for my appearance. I didn't expect you guys to co now. Let wash my face." He said.
"No, it's fine, we should've told you beforehand." Sophie quickly shook her head.
Talon shook his head before he walked into the bathroom and ca out a minute later with a slightly more kept appearance. Even though his eyes still looked very exhausted, he didn't look as bad as yesterday. It seed he was feeling a little better than before.
"Do you guys want anything? Coffee, juice?"
"No."
" neither."
"Hmm, ok." He replied as he walked into the room again and sat down.
"How are you doing, Talon?" Hyun-Jae asked as she stared directly at him.
"... I'm fine. You don't need to worry. I'm going to get better soon." He replied as he forced a smile.
However, the two girls could easily see through it.
"Are you sure? We will always be here if you need us." Sophie spoke with a worried tone.
"Thank you, I appreciate it. But, I'm really going to be fine. I have to set my priorities straight or my mom would be really angry. She doesn't want my life to stop here because of it. I would be lying if I said that I didn't consider giving up on many things yesterday. But… My mind is clearer now.
I'm not going to stop."
At first, Talon felt like he had lost his path. But, now that he thought about it, this was but another reason why he should work even harder. He had lost his mother and it was going to remain a hole in his heart for the rest of his life. So, to make sure that it doesn't happen again to any other person he loved, he was going to beco even stronger.
'I will beco the strongest to ever live… So strong that no one will dare to ss with . So strong that nothing could do anything bad to … Not even fate itself. I will work harder than anyone for the sake of the people I care for. I will be a monster in the eyes of everyone that tries to stop ... No, not a monster, a demon...
I will spare no one.' Clenching his fists, Talon felt another fire ignited in his heart.
It wasn't a fire of optimism or hope like the other one. It was a far stronger one and also far darker. He knew that hope wasn't enough to break through and reach the peak of this world as he wished to do. He needed to be far more monstrous and brutal to actually break through the wall that was facing him now.
He had to be different from everything else so that no one could ever rival him. It might be extre and it might be very hard, but he had made up his mind and no one was going to change that now or ever.
The two girls noticed the change deep within his eyes and they could only wonder what he had made up in his mind. Still, it was better to see him regaining the light he had lost yesterday even if it was a little different.
"Tomorrow, we are going back to work. Let's make sure things go well this ti." He added. "I still would need your help. So, I'm going to ask for it again. Would you two help ?"
The two girls didn't even take a second to think it through before they nodded their heads.
"Hmph, you aren't getting rid of any ti soon." Hyun-Jae smiled.
"I'm going to do my best!" Sophie replied with a determined expression.
Seeing that, Talon blinked in surprise before he sighed. For so reason, seeing this made him feel a little bit better. The words his mom said to him in the letter resonated in his head again.
'Even if this world turns dark, there will always be people that you can rely on and care for. Don't push those people away, Talon. Give them your true self and they shall do the sa.' Those words didn't take long to manifest in reality.
Talon was never alone, he had good people around him. People were ready to ride it with him till the end, even if the end was dark. People that he could call friends and lifelong companions.
'I didn't have to take long to find them, Mom… I already did.' He smiled softly as he closed his eyes.
"I feel at peace then…"
A//N: If you enjoyed reading, don't forget to support the book with GT and PS. Thank you!
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