TTOA Chapter 95

Chapter 95

Kwon Jae-jin once decided to live with this Seo Eui-woo for four years, and he even accepted that it wouldn’t be so bad.

He even thought becoming lovers wouldn’t be terrible. Though it wouldn’t be a proper romance, even if it was a twisted and broken form, he accepted that too.

If he was with this Seo Eui-woo, he felt he could live as a Mutant Guide, a half-baked hybrid neither a normal person nor an Esper.

But of course, that was Kwon Jae-jin’s past.

A past that had been swept away.

A past that was broken like a snapped stick, a dead end, irreversible.

‘You actually know everything, don’t you? What Jae-jin is aiming at. Where you should point the gun.’

‘…….’

‘What Kwon Jae-jin truly needs to do to live a new life…….’

Only Kwon Jae-jin remembers the Seo Eui-woo from the first timeline.

So, only Kwon Jae-jin could forget him.

In exchange for taking away Jae-jin’s memories, he was left isolated in Jae-jin’s memories, receiving the punishment of oblivion, slowly being forgotten and disappearing.

Kwon Jae-jin would leave him alone and live a different life with the Seo Eui-woo from the second timeline.

A new life completely different from what it had been until now…….

Bright, dazzling, new…….

Proper…….

Yes, proper…….

A realization dawned in his head. It was as if a great bell was ringing. The sound waves, “Deeng, deeng,” resonated, spreading in all directions. From the edge of the dark universe, white sunlight gradually spread.

‘Are you still thinking of running away?’

‘…….’

‘Are you going to choose the path of running away in the end?’

‘…….’

‘Don’t make a mistake at the crossroads. Don’t be like me.’

Jae-jin, who had been silent, fired his gun with fierce momentum. Hesitation vanished from his eyes.

The noisy gunfire, aimed at the endless creatures, erupted like fireworks celebrating his awakening.

Bang! Bang, bang!

It was a gunshot encompassing the past, present, and future.

Taang! Bang!

Bang!

Bang!!

*

Suddenly, Kwon Jae-jin opened his eyes.

He escaped from the dream, slightly panting, as if he had been thrown out.

Returning to his bedroom instead of the universe, he felt the soft blanket and warm body temperature. The familiar peace dominated the dimly lit bedroom interior.

Kwon Jae-jin silently turned his head to look at Seo Eui-woo, who was asleep next to him. His white and innocent youthful face was clearly visible in his eyes. His quiet face, showing no signs of waking up, was pleasing to see. He looked satisfied, like a well-fed lion.

Jae-jin briefly stopped breathing and watched Seo Eui-woo.

Soft curly hair was scattered silkily on the pillow, and his neatly closed eyes were still. His naturally slightly parted lips looked attractive and defenseless.

Without realizing it, Jae-jin reached out and gently pressed his palm against his flawless cheek and touched the corner of his lips with his thumb. His lightly colored lips stretched, and the moist inner mucous membrane was slightly visible.

“……Hmm.”

Seo Eui-woo purred lazily. Jae-jin raised his fingertips and gently touched the tip of his high nose. He slowly touched along the straight bridge of his nose until he reached his eyes, where he carefully tickled his eyelashes.

They were long, thin, and flawless eyelashes, no matter how many times he looked at them. It was like being enchanted. He would never get tired of tickling them all day. After hovering near his eyelashes for a while, Kwon Jae-jin’s hand was raised to Seo Eui-woo’s hair this time. He made a hand comb and swept back his transparent black hair.

He combed it in the direction of the part, then reversed his hand movement to change the part in the opposite direction. He remembered the 24-year-old Seo Eui-woo he saw in his dream. Kwon Jae-jin pointlessly repeated changing Seo Eui-woo’s part back and forth, then let out a sigh with a deflated sound and laughed.

There was no need to try to distinguish them anymore.

He could tell at a glance which Seo Eui-woo this one was. A hair part had long since become meaningless.

“Mmm…… Eui, Jae-jin-ssi?”

Seo Eui-woo, who woke up groggily, gazed hazily at Kwon Jae-jin with gray eyes that were not yet focused.

As their eyes met right in front of each other, Seo Eui-woo smiled sweetly like someone deeply immersed in a fantasy melted with happiness. His eyes gracefully folded, and the corners of his lips curved, as radiant as a landscape painting depicting a lush field. Seo Eui-woo seemed even more flushed today than usual. Always pink, as always.

“Why did you wake up so early……? I don’t think the sun has even risen yet.”

“……Just, somehow I had a noisy dream.”

“Ah…… What kind of dream was it?”

“…….”

“Was it about me?”

Seo Eui-woo pulled Kwon Jae-jin’s plain cheek and kissed his lips. Body heat overlapped, and he felt the other’s pulse. The throbbing was slow and regular. Seo Eui-woo rustled the blanket and covered Jae-jin up to his neck. He hugged him as he was and closed his eyes again.

“I guess it wasn’t about me……. Shouldn’t lovers dream about each other, like a couple dream? A dream date? Don’t normal people have such customs……?”

“Of course, no, we don’t have those things.”

“Why not? Let’s quickly suggest making one. I want to see Jae-jin-ssi even in my dreams…….”

Seo Eui-woo mumbled sleepily and became quiet again as if he had fallen asleep again.

Kwon Jae-jin took a deep breath and stared at him intently. It felt like he could still hear the firework-like gunshots. The successive bursts of gunfire warmed Kwon Jae-jin’s heart. It gradually became hotter, and in the end, it became desperate, as if it had caught fire.

How about it? Are you still thinking of running away?

Are you going to choose the path of running away in the end?

Kwon Jae-jin stood at a crossroads.

There was a direction to look at, and there was a target to shoot.

Something he had to choose without making a mistake…….

Until sunrise and the red morning sun rose clearly, Jae-jin was burning hotly as he pondered the dream. He remembered the creatures swarming in, and he recalled the bullets being riddled into them. The weight of his cherished rifle and the smell of gunpowder were vivid.

Right then.

The moment he let out a difficult sigh.

A loud warning sound brutally assaulted his eardrums.

‘What, what is it……?’

Kwon Jae-jin raised his head sharply. The mansion’s security system was ringing all at once.

‘The security system…… Could it be.’

Before he even had time to think, a ground-shaking explosion erupted with a bang.

Seo Eui-woo, who woke up instantly, grabbed Kwon Jae-jin roughly.

“Jae-jin-ssi! Come here!”

Without even having time to control the force of his hands, he roughly embraced Kwon Jae-jin’s body and drew up his ability. A barrier formed, enveloping the two, ensuring their safety.

Turning to the side, he saw that his eyes were chillingly hardened. An unpleasant wrinkle was deeply etched on the bridge of his nose, and his thick eyebrows were sharply angled.

The cold and eerie air filled the once peaceful bedroom. The smell of fear lingered.

His instincts, on edge, sensed something ominous.

“Seo, Seo Eui-woo, what is this…….”

“Shhh.”

The next moment, explosives broke the walls and windows, and smoke grenades entered through the broken gaps. A suffocating smoke began to rise from the floor.

‘This can’t be. Have we been discovered?’

Kwon Jae-jin’s face turned pale. Seo Eui-woo, who had been drowsy until now, suddenly changed and glared. His desolate gray eyes instantly took on a ferocious murderous intent.

“Stay right next to me. Don’t fall behind.”

At the same time as he heard the warning that was spat out as if chewing, the sound of multiple groups of people rushing into the mansion in formation, their military boots echoing, was heard. Elite special task force members stormed the mansion.

The search party had finally found traces of Kwon Jae-jin.

Even after causing a landslide and burying the villa mansion in soil and rocks, they persistently dug through the dirt, obtained clues, and tracked them down to this place with a Tracking-type Ability.

Following the search party composed of Tracking-type Espers, the 1st Special Task Force and other army special task forces, who were cooperating, joined forces to relentlessly pursue the S-rank Mutant Guide. After traversing half of the Special Residential District, they arrived at the coast and discovered a picturesque mansion at the end of the cliff. As soon as Brigadier General Oh was informed, an order was immediately issued to attack and capture.

And so it began.

The target: the S-rank Mutant Guide. The directive: capture alive.

Led by Major Ma Tae-o, the chief of this mission, and Lieutenant Colonel Jang Tae-san, the commander of the 1st Special Task Force with the highest rank, they established a siege surrounding the seaside mansion. A dense siege net was quickly completed, so tight that not even a rat could escape.

After completing all preparations, they launched a red flare signaling the start of the assault.

Paang!

Using explosives, they breached the walls of the 3,000-pyeong mansion in all four directions. They simultaneously launched smoke grenades through the collapsed gaps, and the special task force members, who had set their goggles to thermal imaging mode, rushed into the interior in groups.

It was an overwhelming operation.

Even for an Esper who had undergone high-level combat training, it was a desperate situation with no way to escape, so a Mutant who had been living a normal life in a normal residential district until just four months ago would never be able to avoid it.

It was only a matter of time before they caught him. The controversial S-rank Mutant Guide was now destined to be dragged out powerlessly. Once they captured Kwon Jae-jin alive, the rest would be simple. It would all be over once they dug into his head and investigated his memories.