Chapter 91
Chapter 91
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 91
Chapter Title: Epilogue
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Fire has been an incredibly useful tool for humanity from the past to the present. In the process of creating the necessities of clothing, food, and shelter required to live life, fire was an indispensable element.
The words of a certain scientist—"Fire is needed in every process of making everything necessary for human life"—were by no means an exaggeration.
Fire wasn't just a god's gift providing us with convenience. It was also a dangerous bomb that could, like a raging blaze, snatch away human lives and property in an instant.
My daily life with Han Cheong-ah felt just like a fire burning brightly.
Being with Cheong-ah brought a sense of warmth. It felt like the cozy comfort of slipping under the covers to sleep. My mood was dreamy, like floating high in the sky, and everything I did with her filled me with the excited thrill of a child.
But it wasn't all joy.
When we argued over something ridiculous—typical lover's quarrels—my mood would plummet to rock bottom for the entire day.
If I were ever to part from Cheong-ah irrevocably, the pain I'd feel would surely be far more agonizing than any suffering I'd endured before.
Han Cheong-ah was a warm and comforting presence to me, yet at the same time, a dangerous being who could shatter my daily life to pieces.
That made her just like fire.
Han Cheong-ah was the object that satisfied my love while simultaneously fueling my obsession.
I had to handle her with care.
It was the moment I truly understood the meaning behind the saying: Be even more cautious with those you cherish.
It was April, with pleasant weather stretching on endlessly.
The humanity shrinkage scenario triggered by Zero One had come to a complete end.
No more bizarre entities disrupted public order on Earth, and the incidents caused by the 21st Century Secret Society were gradually fading from people's memories.
The media and press covered celebrity gossip and the occasional Psyker incidents, just as usual.
Han Cheong-ah and I had become graduates. The same went for Yubyeol-ha, our classmate.
AOD members—excluding the busy Cheryl and Aria, who had vanished right after killing Zero One—gathered on a street blooming full of cherry blossoms after the graduation ceremony.
"Do-hyun, Byeol-ha, Cheong-ah, congratulations on graduating. The gowns suit you all so well."
Lee Gyeo-ul held out bouquets of nameless flowers resembling the color of cherry blossoms to the graduates gathered there.
"Thank you."
The graduates, including me, each accepted the bouquets with faint smiles. A pleasant fragrance wafted from the nameless flowers.
"Byeol-ha, are you planning to work as a hunter under Yang Soo-hyun now?"
Unlike her usual stiff uniform, Yubyeol-ha wore a graduation gown just like Han Cheong-ah and me. She nodded.
"Revenge is over, but hunting is the only thing I've learned up to now, and it'd be a waste not to use it after graduating. I'll work as a hunter and save up some money. Oh, and there's a rumor that Winter Unnie is returning to active duty—is that true?"
"Yeah, I'm heading back to the field in May too. Cheong-ah says it's better for her unnie if I live with her boyfriend, so what can I do? Now that Cheong-ah's graduated, there's no reason for me to stay in Academy City either. Well, if I'm under Yang Soo-hyun, we'll see each other often, huh?"
Lee Gyeo-ul shot me a piercing glare. I subtly averted my eyes.
I remembered the time I'd told her about dating Cheong-ah—how she'd glared at me with the eyes of a demon.
"If you make Cheong-ah cry, you're dead."
Those were the same words coming from Lee Gyeo-ul's mouth now as back then.
"Anyway, congrats on graduating, Byeol-ha."
I extended my hand to Byeol-ha, who had been a great help in the battle against the society. She took it, and we shook hands.
"Congrats to you too. Let's meet again if there's a chance."
"Yeah."
At Yubyeol-ha's feet sat a travel suitcase. She was probably heading straight to Korea.
The promised farewell was approaching, filling me with regret. Mimir sniffled with her witch's hat pulled down, and Han Cheong-ah looked heavy-hearted too. The usually chatty girl wasn't saying a word.
Yubyeol-ha smiled wryly and pulled Mimir and Han Cheong-ah into a hug.
"I'll keep in touch often. So treat me the same as always."
"Y-Yeah..."
"Understood..."
Yubyeol-ha graduated from Academy City with a refreshed expression.
I sincerely wished her path ahead would be filled with joy and happiness.
Mimir, who had been sobbing for a while, stared at the spot where Yubyeol-ha had left, wiped her face with a handkerchief, and finally stopped crying.
The reason she'd cried so much wasn't just because Yubyeol-ha was leaving.
"Mimir. You're leaving too, right?"
"Yeah. I have to go meet Anne now..."
To reunite with her friend who had passed away long ago, Mimir too had to graduate from this city.
With the humanity shrinkage scenario over, there was no reason for her to stay in Academy City anymore.
"Thanks, everyone, up until now. The past time was, uh, so much fun and enjoyable... C-Can we meet again someday? Then, I want to introduce you all to my precious friend..."
"Of course. Contact us anytime. I really want to meet this Anne friend of yours too."
Mimir burst into tears again, wailing loudly, while Lee Gyeo-ul and Han Cheong-ah hugged and comforted her.
After another long while, the white witch graduated from Academy City.
I stared at the empty spot where she had vanished like magic, then stretched.
This story, full of twists that began with Han Seo-ah's wish, had now truly come to an end.
I looked up at the sky with a bittersweet expression.
The sky was still blue, the clouds white and fluffy.
Tearing my gaze from the leisurely drifting clouds, I turned to Lee Gyeo-ul.
She shrugged.
"Being solo would suck, got it. Got it. Unnie will back off then. But no overnight stays today."
Han Cheong-ah shot Lee Gyeo-ul a dissatisfied look.
"Mimir and Byeol-ha are gone, so what are you gonna do alone at your place, Unnie! Play with me today! Unnie's bored! Just you wait!"
Lee Gyeo-ul pinched the cheek of the protesting Han Cheong-ah, who quickly submitted with a whine.
I watched Lee Gyeo-ul's back as she headed home. Her graduation was in May. Around then, we'd have to fully graduate from this city too.
But today, I didn't want to think about the future. Right in front of me, the dangerous one in my heart was gazing at me with expectant eyes.
"Do-hyun. Where are we going today?"
"Hmm. How about sketching for old times' sake? Winter Noona seems lonely today too. What if we draw in the art room for a bit and head home?"
"We're graduates."
"There's no law saying graduates can't enter the art room."
"Subtly logical—I can't argue with that."
"You just don't want to."
Han Cheong-ah and I held hands and headed to the art room.
The place where I'd first sketched Han Cheong-ah, the atelier of the painter Baek Do-hyun, where the paintings hanging in our room were born.
From today onward, this place would become a memory too, one we'd no longer see.
Cheong-ah sat familiarly astride the backless cylindrical stool, and I took my place before the canvas.
Lately, I'd been experimenting with new techniques to paint Cheong-ah. The method was sfumato, like the Mona Lisa—soft, hazy, with blurred outlines.
I set watercolor paints and a water jar on the desk.
The technique I'd used the first time I painted Cheong-ah in this art room was watercolor.
Back then, she wore her school uniform and was a quirky, otherworldly girl I couldn't quite grasp. But now, things were different.
She had grown even more mature than before, into my lovable girlfriend.
I sketched my lover in her graduation gown.
The blank white paper on the canvas held infinite possibilities. It was a world where I could pour in everything I saw and felt firsthand.
Countless colors filled the lines and dots.
Faint fragments without form gathered together, forming a single shape.
Someday, it would remind us of the emotions we felt now—like a music box that played a melody when wound.
I captured everything I felt at this moment onto the paper.
Probably, in this world, only two people would truly see this painting as beautiful.
It was a painting for Han Cheong-ah and me, after all—even the world's top collectors wouldn't be able to appraise its true value.
I set down the brush with a satisfied expression and wiped the beads of sweat from my forehead.
"All done?"
"Yeah. It'll take time to fully dry, but it's complete."
Han Cheong-ah gazed at my painting in admiration. Watching my girlfriend's face light up so visibly was always a joy.
Suddenly, Han Cheong-ah asked,
"What's the title of this piece?"
Looking at herself in the graduation gown, she demanded a title. As a collector, it was a fair request, so I pondered and soon came up with a fitting name.
"Epilogue."
Everything has a beginning and an end. That is an unchanging truth, an eternal and absolute fact.
But where there is an end, a new beginning follows.
The painting I'd just created symbolized that truth—my final work as a painter.
Now, I planned to draw webtoons.
"Let's head out. Winter Noona's waiting."
Han Cheong-ah nodded, cradling the still-damp painting carefully in her arms.
And so, we stepped into a new future right alongside our graduation.