The Line That Vanished
"Ahem... Hmm..."
The cabbie cleared his throat.
He must have overheard our conversation. In a space this cramped, it would have been stranger if he hadn't.
"W-what are you talking about? Are you still drunk?"
"No. I'm perfectly fine."
Senior adjusted her crooked glasses and turned her face toward the window. Having my gaze fixed upward from her lap must have been uncomfortable for her.
Without meaning to, I found myself smiling at the sight of her like that. Looking at her this way, she had a rather cute side to her.
Moreover, judging by her reaction, it seemed I was within her range of acceptance — differently from what I'd expected. Not arrogance talking. The fact that she showed no particular reaction even after I said something that absurd meant exactly that. If she hated it, she would have gotten angrier, or sued me for sexual harassment.
Anyway — was I drunk? The words about having sex had come out without a shred of hesitation.
It was by no means because the feel of Senior's thighs against the back of my head had gotten me worked up. Seeing a senior who shared a past similar to mine, I simply wanted to make her into an Awoken.
She lost her family. Same as me. Shouldn't we both get our revenge on those bastards, nice and thorough? I now had enough power to make that possible.
It was a shame I couldn't use this power on myself, but if it were Senior, I was certain she would put that strength to proper use — unlike the other bastards — even if she suddenly became an Awoken. I knew better than anyone that Senior was a righteous person. And I was confident that even if she learned the secret of my ability, she wouldn't tell a soul.
The reason I'd started talking so freely about intimate relationship matters was probably in a similar vein. I'd have liked to give her mana right this second, but due to the nature of my ability, I had no choice but to sleep with her.
It wasn't that I wanted to screw Senior. Of course, Senior was an attractive woman, but...
"Ah, aah... that hurts, Senior."
She had pinched my nose. But seeing that her expression wasn't dark, it seemed my assessment was correct after all. Thank goodness. I'd actually been a bit worried that I'd jumped the gun too hard.
"Do you really not need to go to the hospital?"
"I'm fine. Even if I go get checked out, nothing will show up."
"Then for now, let's get out and talk. If you're fine, would you mind removing that heavy head of yours?"
"...That's a shame."
I deliberately twisted my head, trying to turn my face toward Senior's lower belly. The back seat was so narrow that turning only my head while my body faced forward made my muscles scream. Still, I wanted to breathe in Senior's scent and nuzzle against that spot.
"Ah, ah, that hurts!"
"What do you think you're doing?! There's a driver here!"
So if it were just the two of us, it would be fine?
I straightened my posture and lifted my head from Senior's lap. I had no choice — she was pushing me away with her hands. Clearly, with the cabbie watching, this was too much.
"Then... shall we go to your place, Senior? Or mine..."
"Shh! Please be quiet! Stop talking nonsense and sit still! Um... Driver. Could you let us off right here? I'm sorry."
At Senior's request, the taxi came to a stop almost immediately. The cabbie gave us a creepy smile and drove off.
And just like that, it was only the two of us left. But of all places, a motel stood right next to where we'd gotten out.
Had she been looking out the window to find a motel?
"Senior... I'm impressed. How did you spot it?"
"Don't get any weird ideas! I'm going home now, so if you've come to your senses, you go home too. Looks like you're hungry since you just broke up with your girlfriend, but I'll forgive you just this once. If you say that kind of thing to me again, you're in trouble."
Ah, so I'd been mistaken? It was awkward to ask again, and I'd put myself in a difficult position. To think I'd been getting ahead of myself all on my own. Had she only failed to firmly reject me because we were in the taxi?
Well, nothing I could do about it. Haah...
I pulled a cigarette from my pocket. If I wasn't going to go at it with Senior, smoking should be fine.
"I'm sorry. But I didn't say that because I wanted just one night with you. And it wasn't to soothe my loneliness either."
"Yeah. Yeah. I got it."
Senior looked like she didn't want to continue this conversation. Then I should drop it. With a bitter feeling, I brought the cigarette to my lips and lit it. And the moment I was about to take a deep drag—
"You quit smoking. Why are you lighting up again?"
Senior snatched the cigarette from my mouth.
So no sex, and no smoking either?
"Give it back. There's nobody left to nag me about not smoking anymore."
"I'll be the one to nag you, so stop smoking. Why smoke something that's bad for your health? Didn't you collapse today because you started smoking again?"
"I admit cigarettes are harmful, but I didn't collapse because of smoking. I'm not some chain-smoking old man who's been at it for decades. I collapsed because listening to your story brought back old memories. Call it trauma, I guess."
"What story? Are you blaming me right now? And what's this about trauma?"
"Cheonji Department Store. My whole family was there too. That day was my birthday..."
I pulled out another cigarette and put it in my mouth. Perhaps because I'd brought up Cheonji Department Store, this time Senior didn't stop me. The cigarette caught flame, and I squatted down on the main street, pitifully smoking the one between my lips.
But then Senior squatted down next to me. And she put the cigarette she'd taken from me between her own lips.
"Senior?"
"Khh, cough. Cough."
"What are you doing?"
"I wanted to know what it tastes like... Cough. Wondered if smoking this would make bitter memories fade somehow."
"What are you talking about. Give it here."
"Hold still. You get to smoke, but I don't?"
"Give it here. You don't need to smoke something you don't normally smoke just because of me."
"Then you don't smoke either."
I had no choice but to put out my cigarette. She put hers out too.
Honestly, this Senior's people-handling skills were something else... She seemed to know all too well that if she did this, I wouldn't smoke. Feeling somehow unwilling to lose to her, I tossed out a joke.
"I was going to smoke since I couldn't do it with you, Senior — and you stopped me, so how are you going to compensate me?"
"You're the one who said not to smoke? I was planning to smoke alongside you."
"Ah... Then shall I give you a gift?"
"No. You not smoking is the gift. You'll do that, right?"
Well then. I didn't think I could win a war of words with Senior. Since I didn't have any particular obsession with winning, I just laughed it off with a snort.
"You're the same as ever, Senior."
"What. So you've lost all affection for me?"
"No. I think I might fall for you."
"...Ugh, seriously!"
Senior hit my side with her small clenched fist. It was so weak that my shield didn't react at all. If anything, I wished she'd touch my body more — that said it all.
Today, I got to see all kinds of expressions from Senior that I'd never seen before. Until now, because I had a girlfriend, there had always been a line between Senior and me that we weren't supposed to cross.
Now that line was gone. I was seeing the Senior before me as a woman.
So what about Senior?
In the end, I walked her home and returned to my own place. It had been a time without holding hands, without kissing, without any kind of touch — and yet it had been richer than any other time.
The countless conversations that went back and forth. My past. Senior's past. And how we planned to live going forward. After hearing those stories, I wanted to make Senior an Awoken all the more.
No need to rush. I'd take my time and put in the effort going forward. Senior was more than worth it for me.
On the way home, many thoughts brushed through my mind. Especially what Senior had said about the Sand Garden.
"A gate within a gate..."
An ominous premonition suddenly brushed past me — that this kind of thing would happen more often from now on. A sudden chill ran through me. I didn't want to sleep alone tonight.
Putting a cigarette in my mouth — the one I'd promised not to smoke mere dozens of minutes ago — I wondered who to call, then called Lee Donggeul. If I buried myself in those soft breasts and fell asleep, I figured no thoughts would come at all.
The sweet holiday passed, and before I knew it, it was Tuesday.
Yesterday I'd been busy all day at the office editing the footage we'd shot inside the Haeundae Gate. Because today was F-Team's second full meeting.
The morning had been taken up by meetings and conferences for C-Team and D-Team — the company's cash cows — and F-Team's meeting would start at 2 PM. The first up had been Kim Chan-il's team, and now it was our turn.
In the rented conference room, Department Head Im and Deputy Head Park were waiting, along with the team leaders of C-Team and D-Team. Not having attended the morning meeting, I wondered what was going on. At last week's meeting there'd only been one higher-team leader, but today every team leader was seated as if there'd been a full assembly.
And Awoken were present in this room as well. Only the F-Team ones, of course. All eight Awoken from our team and Kim Chan-il's team were waiting for my presentation.
"Ahem, ahem. Good afternoon. I'm Kang Junghyeok, team leader in charge of F-Team."
Only after finishing the greetings, self-introduction, and introductions of our team's Awoken did the video I'd edited begin to play.
"As you can see, our team has no mage. Starting with our tank, Jang Yong..."
In the early part of the video, nobody showed any particular reaction. But as the Werewolves began to appear in earnest, one or two started to look surprised.
"Ooh... He can hunt just fine solo, without a party?"
"Hmm... Clean work. Mana must be limited, yet he severs them cleanly in a single stroke."
"Ranged attacks aren't bad either. High accuracy, and the penetration power is enormous. Doesn't look like a rookie who just joined at all."
Then the video switched. The scene of me throwing a Werewolf's head into the Wolf Forest.
"Huh? Don't tell me..."
"Interesting. Since they can't go into the forest, the idea is to lure them out and kill them, right?"
No, actually? I did that because filming inside the forest would have been hard?
I didn't bother correcting the superior's words and just nodded, continuing my explanation.
"The ones that came rushing in just now total twelve."
"That's a dangerous way to hunt. Is there any need to do it like that? Doesn't that just make it hard on the healer and tank? Picking them off one by one would be..."
"Thank you for the advice. However, doing it that way wouldn't have shown the healer and tank's true capabilities, so I deliberately proceeded like this."
The reactions of the people that followed were secretly enjoyable. I called out each of our Awoken by name, adding words of praise. I couldn't check the expressions of the ones watching from behind, but they must have been thoroughly excited by now, right?
"...Lastly, our healer Lee Donggeul has gone from being able to use Heal only twice to being able to use it more than ten times."
Ooh!!
Yes, yes. Be impressed just like that.
At this level, comparing them to Academy elite graduates might be a stretch, but at our company — which only brought in the bottom-of-the-barrel types — they'd receive evaluations as rookies good enough to count among the best. Already the reactions from the team leaders, Department Head Im, and Deputy Head Park were anything but ordinary.
"Kang Junghyeok. What kind of magic did you pull? This is a complete 180 from what I saw last week."
"You think so too, Department Head? Same here from where I'm standing. And even though it wasn't in the video, they cleared the boss monster too, didn't they? That Lycan Claw going up for auction tomorrow."
"Ah, right. A boss in an F-rank dungeon — looks like luck is on Kang Junghyeok's side too, huh? Ha, ha."
Completely hooked. Thanks, Deputy Head Park!
I could now feel that not just E-rank dungeons but D-rank dungeons weren't far off either. From here on, I was going to charge straight up without looking back! Before long, that seat where the D-rank team leaders — no, the C-rank team leaders — were sitting would be mine.
"We've seen the presentation. Awoken, step outside for a moment. Team leaders only, stay."
The Awoken from Kim Chan-il's team and our four rookies stepped outside for a bit. From here on, the evaluations would get raw, so they couldn't have the parties concerned listening in. After this time ended, they'd be called back in and notified of the meeting results. Then the next expedition destination would be decided soon.
I wondered what kind of compensation I might receive. That the next expedition would be an E-rank dungeon was a given, and if things went well, might I not become a D-rank team leader in the shortest time ever?
But what was this. The direction of the meeting began to flow completely differently from what I'd expected.
One of the D-Team leaders spoke up.
"Department Head. I rather like that healer — send her our way. Our team's healer seems to be looking to go elsewhere soon. No matter how much I try to persuade her, she doesn't seem interested in renewing her contract."
This was bad. I was about to lose Lee Donggeul to another team — and a D-Team at that.