#52 At Dawn (8)
#52 At Dawn (8)
Meeting Lee Eun-ha and receiving an apology from Hong Yuri didn't change how the Wolf spent his time at Dawn. He was either playing with Perry, who never left his side, or eating something. Those were the only two options.
"......."
—The vending machine coffee turned out to be surprisingly good. Tasting every single vending machine coffee on every floor had become the Wolf's new hobby. An experience he'd never have otherwise. Who on earth makes a point of sampling every vending machine coffee? Kang Tae-jun let out a wry laugh when the Wolf, after enjoying ten different beverages, returned to the room licking his chops with apparent regret. He'd definitely paid with bills, but not a single coin of change had come back.
"Still not satisfied after all that?"
"......."
"If you're really that unhappy, try the rooftop. There's a machine up there too."
"Rooftop?"
The Wolf immediately showed interest. Kang Tae-jun shook his head and handed over more money. —And so he headed to the rooftop, and the scene that unfolded drew a quiet sound of admiration from him. A wide-open space and an expansive night view. Even in Seoul, packed with high-rises, this was a prime spot with an unobstructed panorama. The Wolf tilted his head when he spotted someone leaning against the railing.
...Coffee first, though. Lee Eun-ha turned her head at the sound of the vending machine operating. She spotted the Wolf and murmured, puzzled.
"...Alpha?"
The Wolf nodded and pointed a tentacle at the machine. Faced with the would-you-like-one gesture, Lee Eun-ha hesitated a moment and then nodded. —The two sat together on the bench, taking in the night view beyond the railing. A quiet stillness... The Wolf just sipped his coffee without a word, and Lee Eun-ha, wrestling with whether to speak, finally couldn't hold back. Her lips moved.
"...Hey."
"......?"
"...Is it okay if I pet you?"
The Wolf let out a dry laugh. All that agonizing, and that was the best she could come up with. At his go-ahead, Lee Eun-ha's expression brightened. She laid a hand on the Wolf's back. The touch was careful as she stroked him. The coarse fur slipping through her fingers didn't match the puppy-like appearance. Each time it did, her worries seemed to dissolve. The day for entering the dungeon was tomorrow, and she'd been a bit on edge.
The people injured in Neverland kept surfacing in her mind. She knew the dungeon tomorrow was nothing like Neverland. But what if she ended up unable to do anything again— Yes. Helplessness. The first time she'd felt that emotion was in Jirisan. She'd felt it in her bones: alone, she ultimately couldn't do a thing. The green mass of mucus she'd seen right before the Warg nearly killed her. And now that thing was being called the Demon Wolf... The thought struck her as strangely moving, and a laugh escaped her.
"How have you been all this time?"
The Wolf turned at Lee Eun-ha's question. Their eyes met— he thought for a moment, then spoke.
"...Fought and ate."
"......."
A short answer, almost to the point of sounding half-hearted. But fighting and eating really was the sum total of everything the Wolf had done. Fighting the Prodigal Sons, or devouring monsters. He'd struggled, and to keep struggling he'd had to get stronger. ...Fighting something was never easy. His Regeneration skill healed his body, but it couldn't hold together his steadily fraying mind.
"...And met."
Perry and Baekrok. Without meeting those two, he might not have made it this far. Not because he'd have died or failed— because he'd have given up. He'd been that exhausted. As he thought of Perry, who was asleep now, the Wolf's mouth relaxed.
"Wow..."
Lee Eun-ha exclaimed softly, her expression tinged with regret. Because the moment she made that sound, the Wolf's loosened lips pulled back to neutral.
'He was smiling, right?'
Hard to say for sure, but it had felt that way. So he could make an expression like that... Lee Eun-ha gave a small nod. He left out so much that she couldn't guess what had happened, but she had a vague sense that a great deal must have. He'd summed it up so simply, yet even the scraps Lee Eun-ha knew included the Night of the Great Battle in Daejeon. They said he'd brought down a monstrous mage. And he'd saved So-yul during the Academy raid... Compared to that, what had she been doing...?
"I heard you're going to the dungeon tomorrow."
"Huh?"
Lee Eun-ha, who had been sinking into gloom, turned her head at the sudden words. The Wolf had already finished his coffee and extended a long tentacle to get a new one. She found it fascinating and reached out, then her eyes went wide. She'd expected a squishy texture, but it was surprisingly rough. A tentacle was, after all, part of the Wolf's body— technically a transformation of his fur— so that was only natural.
"...That's amazing."
"Is that why you've been staying here?"
"That... yeah."
Lee Eun-ha nodded. She'd considered going down to the underground training room and getting a little practice in, but what if that caused problems in the dungeon tomorrow? Still, she'd hated the idea of just going home, so she'd been up here on the rooftop brooding alone...
"Don't worry."
"......."
"You have talent."
"Talent......"
A bitter smile crossed Lee Eun-ha's face. That exact word was why a non-Academy graduate like her had been scouted by the clan in the first place, but now she didn't know anymore. The Alpha who had been nothing more than a slime when she first saw him was now... Even leaving Alpha aside, she felt shabby next to other people. Seniors, Team Leaders, Vice Team Leaders... or the Disciple of the Spear Saint.
"...I don't really know anymore."
Did she truly have talent? Lee Eun-ha heaved a sigh fit to crack the ground. The Wolf sipped his coffee. Still, it seemed her heart had settled a bit thanks to this. She thanked him and rose to leave— then felt a tap-tap on her and tilted her head.
"......?"
Then she smiled wryly. The Wolf was pulling the spiritual medicine out of his subspace.
"You want me to eat this?"
No answer, but he shook the spiritual medicine as if urging her on. What else could it mean but take it? Lee Eun-ha, feeling burdened, was about to refuse, then her brow furrowed. It wasn't just a single ginseng root.
"Deliver it on your way."
—To whom? She didn't need to ask. There were three roots. Lee Eun-ha gave a bitter smile as she recalled the faces of those who'd brewed and drunk it with her yesterday. This made it hard to refuse.
"...Thank you."
After Lee Eun-ha disappeared, the Wolf gazed out at the night view.
"Tomorrow..."
A rest that had felt fairly long would end tomorrow. The Wolf kept drinking his coffee, recalling Kang Tae-jun's words about placing a period on trust.
***
Hong Yuri's expression twisted at the knock on her door. What clueless bastard at this hour... If it was Kang Tae-ho, she was genuinely going to kill him. Grinding her teeth, she opened the door, and the person standing there was, unexpectedly, Lee Eun-ha.
"What. You didn't go home?"
"No. Well..."
Hong Yuri frowned as Lee Eun-ha hesitated and held out the spiritual medicine. She knew perfectly well where this stuff came from. Looked like she'd met with Alpha...
"There's a limit. You just grabbed this and brought it here?"
At Hong Yuri's scolding, Lee Eun-ha sheepishly put a hand to the back of her head. She felt the same way.
"I know, right..."
Hong Yuri clicked her tongue. Probably told to share it and couldn't refuse... Well, there was no harm in taking it. Only good.
"Put this away."
Baek So-yul moved the spiritual medicine at those words. Hong Yuri asked again.
"So why didn't you go home?"
"I had a few things on my mind..."
As Lee Eun-ha trailed off, Hong Yuri curled her index finger and thumb into a circle and— thwack— flicked her on the head.
"Stop with the pointless worrying and get lost. Sleep and come back to work tomorrow."
"Yep."
"Don't just give me a good answer... And as for you, Baek So-yul."
Hong Yuri tilted her head. The girl was fidgety for some reason... did she need the bathroom?
"Anyway. Just go to the dungeon and come back safe tomorrow. Don't get hurt like an idiot."
"Ah. Thank you!"
Hong Yuri shut the door on the bowing figure and frowned again. Because Baek So-yul was nowhere in sight.
"Now where did that one go?"
***
"So you were up here."
The Wolf tilted his head. Baek So-yul's breathing was oddly ragged. At her asking if she could sit beside him, he told her to go ahead— and then found himself scooped up. She settled him on her lap and began stroking him as if it were the most natural thing in the world. The Wolf was briefly flustered, then accepted the touch. It wasn't getting in the way of his coffee.
"Where's Perry?"
"Asleep."
Unlike the Wolf, who needed no sleep, Perry slept and dreamed. All their waking hours were spent together, but there was no need to wake her when she was sleeping so soundly. Baek So-yul nodded.
"Did you meet Eun-ha unni?"
The Wolf nodded. Probably came looking because of the spiritual medicine— that was what he thought, but Baek So-yul asked nothing. She simply spent the time stroking him. The already dark night deepened further, and the lights of the cityscape began to go out one by one. Baek So-yul exhaled deeply, seemed to wrestle with something, and then pulled the Wolf into a tight embrace.
"...Can I say something completely out of the blue?"
A lot of people are coming for advice today. The Wolf silently listened.
"I have dreams."
Dreams... Fantastic, dreamlike, impossible dreams. No matter how much she thought about them, they felt unreal. But to her, they'd already become another world.
"...I don't know if they're really dreams."
She couldn't be sure. Because every time she dreamed them, her magical power increased. ...A world tinged with blue-green, Baek So-yul said. All kinds of mystical things flying about, and an ocean suspended in the sky.
"......."
The Wolf furrowed his brow. The landscape she described was a world he knew very well.
"If it were just a dream... but it's not."
Baek So-yul hesitated, then lifted the Wolf and met his eyes.
"...It was a world I saw with my own eyes."
When they stopped the Witch's Calamity, Perry had taken Baek So-yul into the Phantom World. The visit hadn't been long, but she had set foot there. It was hard to believe Baek So-yul was lying. There was no reason for her to. If so, wasn't there a nine-out-of-ten chance there was a reason she was dreaming of the Phantom World?
Whether everyone who'd been to the Phantom World experienced this or it was only Baek So-yul, he didn't know...
"It's not that I hate it. But..."
She was uneasy because she didn't know the reason. The Wolf nodded. ...Once things were over, he'd need to ask Baekrok about it. When he told her not to worry, Baek So-yul smiled faintly, trusting him, and the night slowly deepened.
—The two didn't leave the rooftop until the hour drew close to dawn, and so the day that would take them to the dungeon broke.