TTOA Chapter 63

#63

Seo Eui-woo, in a frantic rush, reached out and embraced Kwon Jae-jin, who was floating in the air.

Confirming that Kwon Jae-jin was safely in his arms, he unleashed his immense power all at once, as if he no longer needed to hold back.

The bright and intense power, like the sun, painted everything white and consumed it.

Nothing in the forest could remain standing on the ground.

The densely packed trees all collapsed. Even ancient trees were uprooted, and the undergrowth vanished as if it had been mowed.

Rocks crumbled, and the swept-up unit members flew away like fallen leaves and lost consciousness.

By the time the violent winds subsided and silence returned, even the empty space had been cleared.

*

After teleporting to the Mountain Villa, Seo Eui-woo held Kwon Jae-jin and was unable to come to his senses for a long time.

His gray eyes were completely unfocused, and he couldn’t breathe properly, panting anxiously and roughly.

“Ah, ah…”

Overwhelmed with extreme and anxious emotions beyond his limit, he could only hold Kwon Jae-jin in his arms, unable to do anything else.

After a long time, Seo Eui-woo finally raised his head and cautiously touched Jae-jin, his fingertips twitching. He gently grasped his cheeks, carefully examining his features and checking his warmth.

Kwon Jae-jin was in a terrible state.

His body, wounded and injured, was covered in dirt, and his clothes were torn and tattered, revealing his chest. He was even barefoot, without shoes.

Wearing only indoor clothes in the winter weather, his whole body was as cold as ice, which didn’t even need explaining.

“Jae-jin, Mr. Jae-jin, are you, are you okay?”

Seo Eui-woo asked, flustered. He seemed desperate, as if his heart was aching and rotting away.

“…Seo Eui-woo.”

Kwon Jae-jin’s tired lips parted slightly. He tried to say something with his chapped lips, but stopped without uttering a word.

Seo Eui-woo seemed far more shocked, distraught, and on the verge of collapse than Kwon Jae-jin, who had gone through all sorts of crises.

It felt like saying anything to him would trigger a fit or cause something terrible to happen.

“He, Healing Factor, I’ll give it to you now. Just a moment. I’ll, uh, I’ll wash you. Wait.”

Seo Eui-woo stammered, endlessly stroking Kwon Jae-jin.

His mind seemed to have gone completely blank, as he fumbled several times while trying to take out the Healing Factor from his chest pocket. Even when he lost his rationality, he had never seemed so broken down. It was difficult to say anything.

With difficulty, Seo Eui-woo opened the Healing Factor and injected it into Jae-jin’s neck. The wound on his abdomen, where the wolf-type Creature had bitten him, began to heal, and new flesh grew.

“I came home, and there was a Creature corpse in the living room, and Mr. Jae-jin was, completely gone… I was, I was so surprised.”

Seo Eui-woo tried to take Kwon Jae-jin to the bathroom. However, his body didn’t seem to cooperate as he swayed several times while holding Jae-jin, as if his legs had lost their strength. He seemed completely out of his mind.

“…Is that so. You must have been surprised.”

Seeing Seo Eui-woo like that, Kwon Jae-jin let out a bitter sigh.

This bastard, he hated him to death, but he couldn’t bring himself to hate him.

“I was afraid that Mr. Jae-jin was already, dead. That I wouldn’t be able to find you, how much… Ah, what should I do. It must have hurt a lot. Mr. Jae-jin, Jae-jin hates being in pain. Ugh…”

Seo Eui-woo babbled incoherently, hugging Kwon Jae-jin’s waist tightly and burying his face deeply in his neck. He seemed to have given up on taking him to the bathroom. He looked like he needed to confirm Kwon Jae-jin’s safety before anything else.

“Yes, well, it hurt. Quite a bit…”

Kwon Jae-jin managed to raise his arm and stroke Seo Eui-woo’s hair. He had to move both hands simultaneously because the belt that Major Ma Tae-o had tied around his wrist was still there.

“Right? It must have. My Jae-jin, you’re so weak… You’re fragile, a baby, really, what should I do. Ha, I was so scared.”

“I’m not a baby. I know you’re scared, but.”

“I really hate this. How could this happen? Haa… I feel like crying.”

Seo Eui-woo rubbed his cheek against his dirt-covered neck. He didn’t seem to care about the dirt at all, clinging to him desperately.

Kwon Jae-jin kept stroking his hair and comforting him. As he consoled him, Kwon Jae-jin’s own heart gradually calmed down and became peaceful.

Seo Eui-woo was big, heavy, and warm.

He was like a living attachment doll.

“…I’m glad Mr. Seo Eui-woo came in time. I was waiting.”

“Really? You were? Are you sure I wasn’t too late?”

“Actually, I don’t know either. What’s going to happen.”

Jae-jin patted Seo Eui-woo’s shoulder with the back of his hand. He wanted to hug him back, but his bound hands were in the way.

“First of all, please untie this.”

“…What is this?”

Seo Eui-woo slowly raised his head. Seeing Kwon Jae-jin’s bound arms, he furrowed his brow slightly.

He looked like he couldn’t understand why Jae-jin was tied up.

“Mr. Jae-jin, what is this?”

His gray eyes sank deeply. They fluctuated and trembled with anger, in a different way than before.

Seo Eui-woo had been so desperately searching for Kwon Jae-jin that he hadn’t even noticed what situation Jae-jin had been in just now.

He only saw Kwon Jae-jin, and didn’t care about anything else. He seriously didn’t even know if anyone else was there.

Dozens of Espers had been swept away by the power he had unleashed, but he didn’t care about that either. He wouldn’t have noticed even if the Earth had been destroyed at that time.

Literally, only Kwon Jae-jin, only one person, whether he was alive, where he was, that’s all he cared about…

“Who did this? You were captured…? Who was it?”

Seo Eui-woo asked fiercely. He looked just as frantic as before, but now he seemed on the verge of unleashing a bloody storm.

If he answered that Major Ma Tae-o from the 7th Special Task Force had done it, he would probably go back to kill him right away.

Major Ma had already fallen into a crack in the rocks, and it was unclear whether he was still alive… If he used the Healing Factor, he might have survived, but he wasn’t sure.

“…Just, please untie me first. I’ll explain later. It’s uncomfortable with my arms tied.”

“Mr. Jae-jin, you’re hiding something from me again.”

“No, I can’t hug Mr. Seo Eui-woo like this. Please untie me because I want to hug you.”

“…”

“I was surprised too. It hurts, it’s hard. Let’s calm down first… And then I’ll tell you everything.”

Jae-jin lowered his eyebrows and reached out his hand again. He looked pitiful, clearly the victim.

Seo Eui-woo couldn’t vent his rising anger, and forced it down into his heart, painfully answering.

“…Give me your hand.”

His voice was choked with resentment, burning like fire.

Seo Eui-woo slowly released the restraints. Major Ma had tied his wrists so tightly that there were still some red marks left, even after using the Healing Factor.

“Eui-woo.”

Kwon Jae-jin hugged Seo Eui-woo. Seo Eui-woo also hugged Jae-jin. The two of them sat down on the floor of the hallway in the house, hugging each other tightly and only breathing shallowly for a long time.

Finally, it felt like everything had passed.

Seo Eui-woo and Kwon Jae-jin needed each other.

They wanted each other. Extremely.

“What should I do? Now, with this…”

“What do you mean?”

“How can I go out now, leaving Mr. Jae-jin behind? I’m so worried. How?”

“…Mr. Seo Eui-woo is just suddenly shocked, that’s why you’re like this. You’ll be alright.”

“No, I won’t be alright. I really feel like I can’t take a single step.”

“Seo Eui-woo, stop exaggerating.”

“I was complacent for a moment. The fact that Mr. Jae-jin is a Mutant… That meant that it could become dangerous at any time. I knew it, but I was overlooking it.”

“…”

“This place is surrounded by enemies. It’s the heart of enemy territory.”

Seo Eui-woo glared fiercely. After meeting his gray eyes, which were flickering disturbingly, Jae-jin felt an indescribable sense of despair.

He wanted Seo Eui-woo to feel at ease, but that situation would never come.

As long as Kwon Jae-jin was a Mutant Guide, Seo Eui-woo would inevitably have to commit crimes and live the rest of his life as a criminal.

He felt sorry for Seo Eui-woo.

As for Kwon Jae-jin himself, being a Mutant Guide… he had already lamented it many times, so there was no need to feel anything new, but he felt sorry for Seo Eui-woo.

So, emotions are truly mysterious.

Just a moment ago, he thought Seo Eui-woo was a son of a bitch and resented him, but now he felt sorry for him again, and he was so happy to see him again… so, so happy…

He didn’t know what to do in the future…

Kwon Jae-jin chose a few words that came to his mind and just smiled weakly and said this.

“Well… um, should we take a bath first? You said you’d wash me.”

Seo Eui-woo nodded. He kept nodding, but he couldn’t let go of Kwon Jae-jin and held him even tighter.

“Okay. I’ll do it for you. Anything, I’ll do everything for Mr. Jae-jin.”

“For now, a bath is enough.”

“Please, never disappear again. Experiencing this… it’s not something to do.”

“I don’t really want to go anywhere either. Please protect me well, Mr. Seo Eui-woo.”

“Okay. I will, haa… Okay. I will. I’ll protect you.”