TTOA Chapter 128

‘I told you it’s not time to resent me yet. It’s still far off.’

‘You said later. You said after everything is over… Isn’t now that later?’

‘I killed countless creatures.’

‘……’

‘I stopped the Creature Wave. Isn’t this what you were waiting for?’

‘……’

‘Isn’t that why you summoned a Creature army in my dreams, and trained me to be familiar with rifles, goggles, and actual combat?’

What Seo Eui-woo from the 1st timeline was thinking, how he was able to dig into Kwon Jae-jin’s subconscious and appear in his dreams, and what his ultimate goal was.

He couldn’t help but ask anymore.

It was time he knew.

‘Tell me. What is it?’

Kwon Jae-jin lifted his gaunt face. His tired eyelids were pale, but the dark pupils embedded within were clear and bright.

His unwavering gaze was still the same.

He slowly turned his head and stared directly at Seo Eui-woo with those eyes, but the 24-year-old Seo Eui-woo did not respond.

His no longer youthful, beautiful face was heartless. His gray eyes were dark and unfathomable. He looked like the eyes of a dead grim reaper, not a living human. It was cold and chilling.

‘……No, not yet.’

Seo Eui-woo released Kwon Jae-jin. The arm that had been tightly binding his waist loosened. He couldn’t tell what he was thinking.

‘It’s not even started, let alone finished.’

‘What……?’

‘Just wait quietly. I told you it would be later.’

Seo Eui-woo raised his lips and smiled.

His face was as perfect as if it had been molded from wax, and as transparent as a diamond. He looked like an inanimate object, not a living thing.

Even though he was smiling, it didn’t look like he was smiling.

‘What on earth…… What are you telling me to wait for?’

‘You’ll know when the time comes. It will be horrific.’

‘……’

‘Ah…… That’s right, the Creature Wave too. Do you really think it’s over with just that?’

‘……What are you talking about?’

‘Did you see any Alpha Creatures in today’s battle?’

Wait, could it be……?

Suddenly, an ominous realization flashed through his mind.

Looking back, there were definitely only Beta Creatures……

Somehow, it felt too early.

Today’s battle was not the real Creature Wave.

It was just the beginning of opening the gates.

‘It’s not time yet. You have to wait a little longer.’

‘……’

‘Wow, this is interesting. I was always the one being told to wait, but now I’m the one telling Jae-jin to wait…… It’s new. Right?’

His long eyes curved beautifully. A glint of light was visible in his dark pupils.

He could see the sense of incongruity lurking deep inside. Although cleverly concealed, it was as if he could hear desperate screams or cries from the depths of his distant eyes.

‘Isn’t this the first time Jae-jin waits for me? There are some things we’re doing for the first time.’

‘……’

‘You can be impatient. Just like I always was……’

The gleaming, white light in his eyes was a condensation of a buried obsession to hold Kwon Jae-jin and never let go.

‘Haha.’

*

He faintly regained consciousness.

He tried to wake up immediately, but his eyes wouldn’t open as he wanted. He was tired, and he couldn’t move while lying sprawled out.

‘Haa……’

‘I can’t just dismiss it now as just a nightmare and move on……’

Yes, even if he conceded a hundred times, it might have really been a dream in the beginning. He dreamed about the 1st timeline Seo Eui-woo a few times. At that time, he didn’t feel any unnaturalness.

However, as time went by, the dream became artificially altered, and now he had reached a point where he could no longer ignore the existence of the 1st timeline Seo Eui-woo.

He felt like the 1st timeline Seo Eui-woo, who was digging into Kwon Jae-jin’s mind, was gradually getting stronger.

As if he was parasitizing and growing on the new timeline given to the regressed Kwon Jae-jin……

‘What on earth are you telling me to wait for, and what do you mean it hasn’t even started?’

Creature Wave? If not, then something else……?

‘Whatever it is, why on earth won’t you reveal your clear intentions?’

Isn’t there something that Kwon Jae-jin shouldn’t know right now, and that’s why he has to hide it?

‘How am I supposed to know what’s going on in Seo Eui-woo’s head, that bastard……’

Kwon Jae-jin had been struggling to live a proper life with the 2nd timeline Seo Eui-woo, and because he had started a proper relationship, he had been subtly forgetting, but originally, Seo Eui-woo was an incredibly meticulous son of a bitch who couldn’t be dealt with.

He was a meticulous madman who had erased all of Kwon Jae-jin’s childhood memories and had even hidden the existence of Mental-type abilities. That was the 1st timeline Seo Eui-woo.

When he was with the 1st timeline Seo Eui-woo, was there ever a time when things went according to Kwon Jae-jin’s wishes?

As far as he could remember, there wasn’t.

He couldn’t escape even if he tried to escape,

He couldn’t die even if he tried to die,

He couldn’t hate him even if he tried to hate him.

Even now, after everything was over, even now, after he had sorted out the 1st timeline Seo Eui-woo as a past lover and put an end to it, Kwon Jae-jin couldn’t forget him.

Originally, he was going to live a new life with the 2nd timeline Seo Eui-woo and naturally send the 1st timeline Seo Eui-woo to the oblivion. He was going to slowly forget the past that was riddled with bitter love and hate and start the second act of his life anew.

However, the 1st timeline Seo Eui-woo wouldn’t even allow that to go according to Kwon Jae-jin’s wishes.

‘So that I can’t forget him even if I try to forget him……’

This son of a bitch……

Seo Eui-woo, you son of a bitch……

Even if he cursed meaninglessly, knowing it wouldn’t be conveyed, his sunken heart didn’t return. In fact, he couldn’t even swear out loud to his heart’s content. Because the 1st timeline Seo Eui-woo was carrying Kwon Jae-jin’s death on his back.

What would Seo Eui-woo have been thinking in front of the dismembered corpse……

What words would he have uttered……

What kind of expression would he have had……

And, what kind of……

What kind of feeling would he have had……

Right now, he couldn’t even guess what Seo Eui-woo’s purpose was, how he appeared in his dreams, or why he was telling him to wait, but he knew the answers to those things all too well. To the point that Kwon Jae-jin was even afraid to guess.

When he thought about it, the area around his chest became hot. It felt like a surging fireball was about to burst out of his throat. His head was dizzy and his eyes were stinging to the point of being painful.

‘……Hoo, okay. I have to get up now.’

Jae-jin, who had swallowed a tired breath, barely opened his eyes.

Seo Eui-woo was immediately visible in front of him. It was the twenty-year-old Seo Eui-woo with a youthful face.

His white, beautiful face was distorted. His skin was also dry.

He was silently watching Kwon Jae-jin regain consciousness without even blinking his eyes. His sticky, sunken gray pupils were intently scrutinizing every moment of Kwon Jae-jin’s awakening.

When Kwon Jae-jin’s eyes met his, a rainbow-colored flash flickered in his clear pupils.

‘……Ugh.’

He was about to call out, “Eui-woo,” but his throat was dry.

His entire mouth was parched as if he had swallowed sand. Seeing Kwon Jae-jin frowning, Seo Eui-woo put strength into his arms. He hugged him tightly and pressed down on him as if he would crush his ribs.

‘Keuk!’

He almost bit his tongue.

‘……I was worried, I was worried about you.’

The two people’s bodies were intertwined. The rain-soaked combat uniform rustled, and the fallen guns and goggles were scattered on the floor.

Seo Eui-woo grabbed Kwon Jae-jin’s face with both hands like a crazy dog and pulled him to repeatedly confirm that he was awake. He looked at him once to see if his eyes were open, kissed him on the lips, and then met his eyes again and kissed him. He was completely out of his mind.

Yeah…… He must have been very surprised.

He must have been worried because Kwon Jae-jin lost consciousness after the teleportation.

‘Take it easy…… It’s making me dizzy……’

Kwon Jae-jin weakly pushed Seo Eui-woo’s shoulder. He had severe muscle pain. He felt a dull sensation in his hands.

‘Why are you so weak, Jae-jin? You keep fainting at every chance you get.’

‘No, when did I ever do that at every chance I get……’

‘Then didn’t you? You kept fainting. You fainting-y.’

What’s with the “fainting-y”……

A bewildered Kwon Jae-jin frowned. His straight eyebrows were raised sharply.

‘I guess I was just a little dizzy from the teleportation.’

Kwon Jae-jin had gone to the battlefield and fought creatures, exhausted his mental strength to the limit, and witnessed the shocking disaster of an Esper runaway. He had accumulated a lot of fatigue and even teleported, so he just lost consciousness for a while. In fact, it seemed like he woke up quickly.

He protested with a valid reason, but Seo Eui-woo didn’t even listen.

‘A little dizzy? Is that why you have this face?’

‘What about my face……’

‘You look like you’re about to die……. Your pupils are dilated, and your lips are trembling. Your heart is beating really fast too.’

‘You look closely……’

‘Then what else would I look at if I didn’t look closely at Jae-jin?’

Seo Eui-woo clung to him with a slightly reduced momentum than before. He rubbed his lips against his temples and kissed down along his neckline.

As he was being pressed down by his heavy weight, and enduring the fiercely clinging Seo Eui-woo, he gradually felt relieved. His flustered mind regained composure, and his stiff body gradually relaxed.

Seo Eui-woo is by his side, and both of them are safe.

That’s enough for now.