Chapter 128: Interlude (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 128: Interlude (2)
The fallout from the Olympic Bridge Terror Incident showed no signs of waning over the weekend. If anything, it drew even more attention, even being mentioned in international news. As word spread that the primary culprit was a Superhuman, the voices of condemnation toward Superhumans and the Earth Defense Union grew louder.
In particular, the accusation that the Earth side had been the first to violate the treaty between Spacetro and Earth was unavoidable. People began to question the very purpose of the Earth Defense Union and the necessity of Superhumans.
Even those who had long been indifferent to the actions of Superhumans took an interest in this crisis. On internet video platforms, hundreds of new posts were uploaded in real-time.
From past exploits to the misdeeds of certain Superhumans that had never been reported by the media, testimonies from victims poured in. People combed through every trace of Superhuman activity as if searching for a needle in a haystack, desperate to uncover more scandals.
The area in front of the Earth Defense Union Seoul Branch was so packed with protesters that there was hardly room to step, and members of Team Hunter Killer began receiving calls from unknown numbers.
"As a Superhuman, what do you have to say about this situation?"
Some skipped greetings entirely and demanded answers, while others simply hurled insults the moment the call was connected. Text messages arrived incessantly, filled with vitriol directed at Superhumans.
It no longer mattered how they had obtained her number. These were the voices of the people she had tried to protect until now; this was how the world truly viewed Superhumans.
It wasn't that there were no people who viewed Superhumans favorably. However, she knew that those who blindly condemned them far outnumbered those who didn't.
She had known this, but this was the first time she had heard their voices so directly. Had she really become a Superhuman and worked so hard all this time just to protect people like this?
This was the first thought that crossed Blue's mind as she sat alone in her empty house before a table set for a meal.
Among the members of Team Hunter Killer, she had been active the longest and had seen and felt many things. Even so, she had thought she was fine. Until now, that was the extent of the value Blue—or rather, Yoo Hayoung—had placed on herself.
But now, her perspective on the world had changed. Someone who needed her had appeared, and she had found someone she needed.
When she hadn't even realized that it wouldn't be strange for her to run out of her house at any moment, he was the one who told her. He was the one who helped her realize what she wanted to do.
Thanks to him, she was able to cook the food she wanted for the first time. She had been anxious about the first proper meal she ever made, but he told her it was delicious. That was when she felt it.
‘I want him to be happy eating the food I make.’
It didn't take long for that feeling to turn into affection and then love.
And so, Blue found a reason to live diligently in this world and do her best as a Superhuman.
But the reality she returned to was cruel.
He—A—was Spacetro. He was her enemy.
Every week, they had pointed weapons at each other and fought, baring their hostility.
Sitting alone at the dining table, Blue was lost in thought.
The day she saw A. The day after. And even yesterday. She had tried her best not to think about it.
Surely there was a misunderstanding. Something must be wrong. A must have had his reasons.
However, it was now Sunday evening, the time he visited once a week. After waiting for a long time and seeing no reaction from the door, she felt it.
This was reality.
The warm meal she had prepared was losing its heat, growing cold. Blue stared at the untouched food with hollow eyes.
He was the one who taught her. He helped her think about what she wanted to do.
Because he was there, Blue had been able to choose her own path.
When she looked up, the peaceful scenery of her home came into view.
It was the house he had given her. When she thought about living a happy life with him in this house someday, she felt she could give up everything she owned.
He was the one who taught her. How to be happy, and what to wish for.
The happiness he showed her, the love he showed her, the hope he showed her.
For Blue, who had lived only for her own utility, he had allowed her to find a reason for living.
And yet, he did not appear.
The door he would open and walk through every Sunday evening remained silent, with no sign of anyone's presence.
…Would it really matter?
That was the thought that occurred to Blue as she sat there with vacant eyes and lowered her gaze. Did it really matter that A was Spacetro?
Wasn't that person from Spacetro, who had taught her love and made her capable of loving, far more precious than the people pouring arrows of condemnation at her?
‘What was I trying to protect?’
She had tried to protect an Earth where she could live with A. It was a task no one cared about and often drew criticism, but if she could be with A, the gazes and words of others didn't matter at all.
Blue, who had found a reason to fight with that thought, could feel the bleak reality now that she knew A was Spacetro and saw that he wasn't coming.
Was this punishment for trying not to think about it for the past few days? Thoughts she had suppressed came flooding back like a broken dam, and she couldn't organize her mind.
If he were to open the door right now and call her in that sweet voice he always used, she felt like she could return to her happy daily life.
Reality did not help her.
Blue pushed back her chair and stood up, walking weakly to the front door. He would come now. And they would eat a delicious meal together, talk, and let laughter bloom.
They would go inside together and whisper words of love to each other.
As Blue turned around, she saw the silent interior of the house.
Traces of him were everywhere. The furniture they had picked out together, the items they had moved together on moving day, the utensils A used, the living room he frequented.
This was the house where he had been. It was the house he had gifted her, a space where they had shared everything.
Everything was in its place, but one person—A—was nowhere to be found.
Meeting once a week had been fine. Just the fact that she could meet him every Sunday made her happy, and she was okay no matter what happened. It was all good. Because when the weekend came, she could meet the man she loved most in the world.
But the single fact of his absence was unbearable.
The warmth she had felt, his sweet voice, his large and warm hands that held her, the gaze that looked at her with so much affection. Everything had vanished.
"Right…"
The single word she muttered under her breath brought reality crashing down on her as she tried to flee from it.
A is Spacetro. He had been meeting all the members of Hunter Killer, and he had been injured before her eyes before disappearing.
"Ah… Ahhh…"
With a trembling voice, she collapsed and clutched her head.
He was the enemy. They had fought. She had attacked the man who had taught her love and happiness.
When she was struggling and in pain, he had unhesitatingly reached out a helping hand and always called her name with a smile.
‘And yet, I…’
She had done nothing for him. The house, the love, the happiness she received from him—even if she spent her whole life trying to repay it all, it wouldn't be enough. She felt a sense of despair at the fact that she had given him nothing.
Yes. That's why I'm being punished.
This was a punishment. A punishment for being complacent in her happiness and thinking she could live like this forever, and a punishment for attacking the man who had enabled her to live a better life.
But Blue could not accept that punishment gracefully. She didn't care if she suffered more. It would be fine if even harder things came her way, or if she lived a more wretched life than when she was at her brother's house. If only he were by her side.
Wrapping her arms around her trembling shoulders, she took one step at a time toward the master bedroom.
With every step, memories of what they had shared in this house came to mind. No matter where she looked, it felt like he was there. It felt like he would open the bedroom door and come to her at any moment.
"Honey."
"What are you making today?"
"It's delicious."
"Honey." "Honey." "Honey." "Honey."
She heard his voice throughout the house. The fact that traces of him were everywhere became a source of agony rather than happiness.
When she opened the bedroom door and went inside, she saw the bed where they had shared their first happy moments. The blanket they had shared. The pillow he had used.
Unable to control her trembling body, Blue collapsed on the spot.
"Aaaaaahhh!!!"
Spacetro? She didn't care about any of that. The memory that she loved A and that A loved her enveloped her mind and body.
And she felt pathetic and insignificant for not being able to give A any help in his difficult moments.
Seeing A looking tired, she had thought things would get better soon. That he would tell her if things were hard.
She had thought that, but what she got in return was this situation where A had disappeared.
She wished she could at least cry. She wished she could wash away even a little bit of the guilt.
The fact that A had been meeting all the members of Hunter Killer was certainly shocking, but the fact that she couldn't talk to him about it right now was an even greater shock. It would have been better if he had come to her and told her he was dating and using everyone in Hunter Killer.
Letting out a sound close to a scream, Blue slumped down and gripped the blanket she had shared with A. She gripped it so hard her veins stood out, and burying her face in the blanket, she screamed.
The hope she had finally found had vanished. Would there ever be another day in her life when a person like this would come to her?
No. No matter how hard she tried or did her best, a person who loved and cherished her this much would never appear again.
Having reached that conclusion, Blue stopped screaming.
Because it was over now.
She had wanted a family. Not people like strangers who neglected, ignored, and tormented her, but a real family.
Thinking about having a child with A someday and moving to a bigger house to live happily every day brought a smile to her lips just by imagining it.
"Honey."
A voice reached Blue's ears as she lay with her face buried in the bed in silence. As she slowly raised her head, her hollow eyes saw A lying on the bed, calling her.
"Honey…"
Calling him with a trembling voice, a smile spread across her lips.
Right. There's no way he would disappear. He loves me so much, and I love him so much.
There's no way he would suddenly vanish from before my eyes.
"I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…"
Apologizing for the thought that she had done nothing for him, she slowly approached him. A was smiling at Blue without a word.
He, who had done everything she wanted, would do everything he wanted. With that thought, Blue fell into A's arms and closed her eyes, falling asleep alone on the bed.
But the moment she opened her eyes, reality returned.
A, who had held her and smiled, was not there.
"Honey. Where are you? Honey… Honey!"
She rushed out of the bedroom into the living room and searched the entire house, but A was nowhere to be seen.
What greeted her was the meal on the table that had grown cold overnight.
Seeing the meal she had intended to share with him turned cold, Blue approached and silently cleared the table.
"No. I can't let you eat something like this."
Surely by this evening, by tomorrow, by the day after, and when the weekend came, A would return.
Believing that, she cleared the table.
"What would you like to eat?"
Smiling alone in the empty house, she thought about the meal she would prepare for A when he arrived.
As the issue regarding Superhumans grew more heated by the day, it became impossible for her to go to Headquarters.
Meetings were not held, and duels did not take place.
As a day or two passed, all Blue could do was re-read the messages she had exchanged with A.
But looking at the messages didn't mean she could hear his voice.
When she closed her eyes and quietly thought of him, it felt like she could hear his voice.
Blue closed her eyes and recalled his voice calling her gently.
And when she opened her eyes, A was there before her. He was looking at her with a smile, and the moment she moved to take even a single step toward him, he vanished without a trace.
The hand she reached out to him stopped in mid-air, and the smile she had barely managed to form upon seeing A turned cold.
Her aimless footsteps through the house led her back to the bedroom, and she lay down on the bed where even his scent was gradually fading and closed her eyes.
"Honey… when are you coming? Please come quickly."
Muttering words that could not be heard, Blue closed her eyes.
Because if she closed her eyes, she could hear his voice—or perhaps she could meet him in her dreams.
Hoping that perhaps A would be home when she woke up, she chose the dream over reality.