‘Well then…’
The air was thick with the sharp scent of rust and oil. The ground beneath his cheek was cold, and it vibrated rhythmically. Uijae listened carefully. The hum of an engine and the sound of exhaust reached his ears. Was it a truck hauling a container? Considering the state of the roads, using a freight truck made sense. As Uijae assessed his surroundings, he heard Mijin’s irritated voice.
“Wait a second. I told you not to throw them in so roughly. What if sothing breaks? Cleaning out the container would be a pain…”
"……."
“Ah… whatever, there’s no point talking to an idiot. It’s like speaking to a wall…”
“Brother.”
Another voice interrupted—it was the man who had guided Uijae around the tent earlier.
“Where should I put this one?”
*Thud, thud*, Yun Gaeul was struggling again, her body slamming against sothing. Mijin responded nonchalantly.
“Didn’t you lock the container?”
“We can reopen it. There’s no room in the passenger seat.”
“Check the one you threw in earlier. If he’s dead, make space and put her up front. If she loses her mind sitting next to a corpse, then what?”
“He seed like an Awakener. His skull didn’t crack from the hit, so even if his rank is low…”
“Really? Well, he’s probably not dead then… Awakeners tend to be unnecessarily tough. Put him in the container, but don’t throw him this ti.”
“Mmph! Mmph!”
“Hey, miss. If you keep resisting like this, we’ll have no choice but to get rougher with you…”
“Mmph! Mm!”
“She sure has a lot to say. Go ahead and loosen her gag a little.”
“W-why are you doing this to ? Please, let go! I need to get ho…”
Yun Gaeul’s strong voice rang out. But Mijin responded with a mocking laugh.
“Miss, do you think we don’t know you’re an S-rank Awakener?”
Gaeul went silent. Uijae focused even more intently. They knew about Gaeul. But how? Very few people, even among Hunters, knew that Yun Gaeul was an S-rank. The most anyone would know was that she was a hidden S-rank, a high school senior, and a ntal-type Awakener.
Mijin’s tone shifted to a more pleading one.
“We’re fully aware of your abilities. You rember the world that perished too, don’t you? Are you going to run away again? This ti, will you convince yourself that it’s inevitable?”
"……."
“We want to stop the apocalypse too. But in order to do that, we have to try everything we can, don’t you agree?”
Gaeul, who had been silent, asked quietly.
“…What do you want from ?”
“The Brother wants to see you.”
*The Brother*. Mijin’s voice had a strange shift. It now carried the zeal of a fanatic, soone who believed blindly.
“The Brother is soone who rembered the end of the world long before anyone else. He foresaw the apocalypse coming to this world and gathered us together.”
"……."
“Even though you’re an Awakener, your power is unique. We can work together. et the Brother. Perhaps he holds the key to stopping all of this.”
“…Is that really all you want?”
“Of course. We just want to have a conversation, and then we’ll return you safely to where you belong.”
“How can I trust you? You kidnapped and dragged here without warning…”
“I apologize for the rough treatnt. I clearly told them to bring you here safely… but apparently, they’re too dumb to understand basic instructions.”
"……."
“Will you co with us?”
“If I say no, you’ll just force anyway, won’t you?”
"……."
“…Tell them to take their hands off . I’ll walk on my own.”
The sound of slow footsteps approached, followed by a tallic *clink* as a lock was undone. Uijae quickly closed his eyes. Instead of Gaeul, a man entered the container first. He crouched down next to Uijae, feeling under his nose and checking his pulse.
“What the… still alive. Damn, these Awakeners are tough as hell.”
"……."
“Alright, miss. Step in.”
"……."
“Don’t try anything funny. Let’s keep this peaceful.”
Light footsteps approached Uijae’s side. Gaeul sat down near him, curling up tightly. The door closed again with a *clang*, and the lock clicked shut. As soon as the sound faded, Uijae’s eyes snapped open, and he lifted his head. Gaeul gasped in shock.
Uijae whispered softly,
“What are you doing here, Gaeul? Weren’t you supposed to be at school?”
“Are… are you okay? They hit you really hard!”
“I was acting. Didn’t even tickle. What are you doing here?”
“How could I be at school… with everything going on? After I regained consciousness, I reported to the Director and was on my way to the Awakener Managent Bureau when…”
Gaeul wiped her tears and adjusted her crooked glasses. The vehicle rumbled to life, and the sudden shift in weight made them both tilt to one side.
“The people in white grabbed . They asked if I was Yun Gaeul. I said no, but…”
She held up her student ID with a miserable look. The na *Yun Gaeul* was printed in large letters. Uijae sighed and bowed his head.
“I forgot about my student ID… I wasn’t thinking…”
"……."
“So, they brought here. What about J?”
“I infiltrated this group to gather information. I don’t look like a Hunter in this outfit, do I?”
“Right.”
“My cover story was that I was looking for a lost sister. I used your details as a fake identity, thinking you’d be safe at school.”
"……."
“I didn’t expect to find you here…”
What kind of cruel twist of fate was this? Gaeul bowed her head sadly.
“I’m sorry… because of …”
“It’s not your fault. I got into this on my own.”
If Uijae wanted to, he could escape at any ti. All he had to do was tear off the container door and jump out. Sure, he might roll down the road a bit, but it wouldn’t even leave a scratch. As he lay on the floor, cheek pressed against the cold tal, he ran through his thoughts. Actually, this might be for the best. It seed like they were taking him to et the leader of Protheus—the very person who started all this. He couldn’t waste such an opportunity. Uijae murmured,
“Gaeul, I’m really sorry to say this…”
“…Yes?”
“I could get us out of here right now… but I’m not going to.”
Gaeul pushed up her glasses and wiped her eyes with her sleeve, nodding as she did. Uijae rolled his eyes toward her.
“You’ve noticed, right? The world’s end is accelerating.”
“Yes, the huge monsters… I rember. They’re the ones that show up at the beginning of the end.”
This world was already on the path to destruction. There was no escape. The apocalypse would keep chasing them until the end ca. There was no choice but to move forward. Uijae muttered,
“Our world has a major wild card—Protheus. A variable we don’t fully understand. Even if we want to stop the apocalypse, we can’t make plans without factoring them in.”
“You’re right.”
“If we can’t exclude them, we need to learn more about them. I plan to get all the information I can from this situation. What do you think?”
“…Do you think we can escape?”
Gaeul looked at Uijae with nervous eyes. Uijae propped himself up on his elbows and flashed her a confident grin, showing his teeth.
“I am J, after all.”
"……."
“Trust .”
The unease in Gaeul’s expression faded slightly, replaced by a faint smile. She nodded as she smiled. Uijae spoke more seriously this ti, making Gaeul tense up a bit in response.
“And… we need to get our story straight.”
“Y-yes?”
“Let’s say we’re siblings with different last nas. That’s common enough since the Day of Change, right? Families getting put together with non-relatives.”
Gaeul let out a sigh, her expression one of mild exasperation. Uijae checked his wristwatch, his thoughts wandering montarily. He’d once wanted to beco family with Lee Sayoung. He had known back then that his aunt wasn’t coming back, and maybe that’s why he clung to Sayoung so much. Sayoung was the only one left. He thought they could beco family, to bind each other close… maybe even tighter than that.
‘Do brothers kiss each other?’
The teasing voice echoed in his mind at the sa mont his head slamd into the tal floor with a *thud*. Gaeul let out a startled squeak.
…He hadn’t expected things to go in this direction.
Rubbing his forehead against the steel floor, Uijae’s mind, which had been spinning with countless thoughts, suddenly narrowed to focus on one na.
*Lee Sayoung.*
Was Sayoung okay? Uijae let out a short sigh.
Jung Bin had said that Sayoung had burned down the lab. That he’d been standing alone in the wreckage, surrounded by poison.
…But Uijae couldn’t rember much.
Had his brain erased the mory to protect him? It was hard to tell. His last clear mory of Sayoung was of that unbearable, suffocating heat, as if magma was boiling over inside him. Even that mory had only co back after much effort.
During the ti they had spent living with Jung Bin and Baewonwoo in that old house, they’d constantly asked him about it. *What was the lab like? Do you rember anything? Is there anyone from back then that you can recall? Even a small detail could help us find those bastards and get revenge.* But every ti, Sayoung would shake his head. His answer was always the sa.
“I don’t know.”
It was strange. He rembered his ti in the hospital so clearly, but no matter how hard he tried, nothing about the lab ca to mind. Sayoung had clutched Gayeong’s hand, escaping the hospital with great effort, before climbing into a strange vehicle. His mory cut off there.
“Maybe it’s a defense chanism.”
A shadowy figure muttered those words. Sayoung lifted his head. A black silhouette had erged from the floor, staring at him silently.
______________________
TL NOTE: Please don't skimp on the stars and likes of the translation - it inspires and gives the strength to write more. Thank you~!
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