Chapter 100
Chapter 100
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 100
Chapter Title: A Future Together
-----------------------------------------------------------------
“Whoa!”
I can't drop the phone!
Knowing she'd be in big trouble without a phone, Haon frantically cried out in her head and snatched his phone out of the air.
“Got it! Here you go.”
As she held out the phone with a proud expression, he hesitated before snatching it away.
His awkward touch and the intermittent trembling of his shoulders made him seem unstable.
Recalling her first encounter with him at his and Juyeol's safe house, Haon asked, just in case.
“Are you scared of me?”
“It's not that I'm scared, my body just... Anyway, it's not you...”
Whenever Chaser looked at Haon, he seemed to be reminded of 'Eun Haon' and struggled to even make eye contact.
*What on earth did she do to him?*
When she'd asked Juyeol, he'd said there was probably a lot Chaser hadn't told him.
He'd also mentioned that Chaser seemed to have been deeply shocked to see Haon by Juyeol's side after returning from a month-long break.
*'The trauma from that incident must be severe. If it's a mana-related problem, I might be able to help...'*
But she couldn't carelessly pry into the circumstances of someone suffering from trauma.
Haon quietly covered her face with her hand and asked.
“Should I cover my face? I think I can change my voice, too.”
“It's my problem. It's fine, just say what you were going to say.”
His aversion to 'Eun Haon' was so strong that he seemed unable to fully accept that this Haon was a different person.
Ever since she had risked her life to get Juyeol out of the water, the Heroes had accepted her as either a reformed person who had turned over a new leaf or as an Eun Haon who had truly come from somewhere else.
Since Hunter had confirmed it as fact, Chaser tried to accept it intellectually, but it seemed the memories lingering in his body and subconscious were beyond his control.
Still, seeing as he didn't refuse to investigate in her presence, it seemed Chaser was trying his best.
*'He's having such a hard time. I should be careful to keep my distance.'*
Haon took a step back from him and asked.
“Does abandoning the underground passage in Sector 2 that leads to the port mean they've built a new one in Sector 3? What does Headquarters do in situations like this?”
“Normally, we'd notify Two-Shot of an inspection and check Sector 3, but that was only possible when Halo had the Villains under her thumb...”
As if recognizing Haon's consideration, Chaser did his best to remain calm as he answered.
“When they're this closed off, even blocking the roads, only Ghost, who can hide his presence, or a Finder, who can see through walls, could take a quick look. Or we could search the port area itself.”
“The mechanical mantises can detect Juyeol even when he's hidden in the shadows, and the underground base is surrounded by a cloaking shield, so it won't be visible even with x-ray vision.”
The two began their conversation while maintaining a reasonable distance, but as they continued talking while checking the location of Bae Anjae's underground base on the phone, the gap between them slowly closed.
“When did you two get so close?”
A sharp voice cut in. Juyeol and River had returned from the port.
“Juyeol! How was the port?”
“Did the radar pick up anyth...?”
Chaser, who had asked with a brightened expression, fell silent as he watched Juyeol deliberately squeeze between him and Eun Haon. He exchanged a look with River.
River shook her head slowly with a look of disgust.
Juyeol ignored their reactions and held the radar out to Haon.
“The radar's practically useless. Just like you said, there must be a cloaking shield, because I can't get any idea of what's underground.”
River added disappointedly that she couldn't find any waterways accessible from underwater either.
Chaser watched with a strange expression as Haon told Juyeol and River what she had discovered in the collapsed underground passage.
It wasn't strange to see Eun Haon with Nova or Hunter, but seeing her with his fellow Heroes felt like looking at a photograph that had been taken incorrectly.
And the way Juyeol kept staring at her face the entire time Haon explained, projecting a hologram into the air.
Chaser had been with Ghost for a long time, but he had never seen him with such a relaxed expression or a gaze that seemed to drip with honey just because someone was next to him.
*'Same name, same face, same voice... how can he be like that?'*
His own hands trembled just from looking at Haon's face; he could only wonder what on earth had happened between the two of them.
“—I'll report this to Hunter, then.”
Their conversation ended as River nodded and operated her band.
Haon checked the time, then used her phone to engage all the locks at the research institute.
“I don't know if I'll have to wake up at dawn like today again, so I should probably stay in the old district for a while.”
“You want to sleep at my place then?”
River was horrified by the suggestion Juyeol made, as if he'd been waiting for the chance.
“You crazy—”
“You crazy bastard! That's enough!”
River's words were drowned out by the shouting of Chacha, who had just arrived.
Chacha hid Haon behind her and looked Juyeol up and down.
“Anyone would think Eun Haon is your helmet. Why are you so desperate to keep her tucked under your arm?”
“Tucked under my arm? What are you talking about...!”
Juyeol tried to pull Haon back to his side, but Chacha slapped his hand away and took a few steps back with Haon.
Annoyed at having Haon seemingly snatched away from right in front of him, Juyeol let out an irritated sigh.
“...You're the one who should know when to stop.”
“You're in and out of the penthouse every single day! Bani feels too awkward to even come over and hang out!”
“Th-that's why she hasn't been coming over? I thought it was because she was busy with her academy.”
As Haon mumbled hesitantly in her confusion, River grabbed Chacha and Chaser's arms with a weary look on her face.
“Let's leave these two and go get a beer. I'll come right down after I report to Hunter.”
“...”
At the mention of beer, Chacha obediently started to leave, but not before glaring daggers at Juyeol and turning her head away.
As the troublemakers disappeared, the furrow in Juyeol's brow vanished as well.
He led Haon toward Sector 1 and asked casually.
“Haon. How about getting your own place in the old district?”
“Huh? I have plenty of places to sleep, why would I do that?”
When Haon tilted her head in confusion, Juyeol averted his eyes for a moment before answering.
“The penthouse attached to the institute, the office in Sector 1... you're only using them as places to sleep. They're attached right to your workplace.”
“Isn't that enough?”
“It might be for now, but once this is all over, you should get a place where you can relax without a care, for the future.”
Hearing his words, Haon flinched.
“...Huh? The future?”
“Well, later... it'd be even better if it's a place where we can live together.”
“...”
Juyeol glanced at Haon, who had frozen solid without a word, and hastily added.
“Ah, if you're not up for it, I can just stay at my place and come over to yours at night. Like now. I mean, it's not for any special reason, just that you can't sleep without sleeping pills on your own.”
“...”
Haon still didn't answer.
*'A future in this dimension?'*
The idea was so vague that her mind went blank.
*'I won't be here in the future.'*
Once she returned home, she would be saying goodbye to this dimension forever.
Chacha, Bani, Nova, Solmae, whom she'd met here. And Juyeol, too—she'd never see them again.
“...”
Her heart sank.
With the Dimension Gate nearing completion, her departure in the near future was a certainty, and she knew that meant bidding farewell to this dimension. But why...
*'Why does my heart feel so heavy?'*
Haon wanted to say something, anything, to Juyeol.
That the days she had left with him might be numbered.
She felt like she had to tell him. She couldn't just suddenly disappear.
But strangely, the words wouldn't come out.
Her lips were dry and her heart was in turmoil; even though she hadn't said a word, she felt as if she had told a lie.
While Haon remained silent, Juyeol clenched his fists, trying to suppress his anxiety.
When he noticed her expression had darkened, contrary to his expectations, a corner of his chest began to ache.
To think his suggestion was so difficult for her to answer. Was this the extent of the relationship Haon wanted with him?
It felt as if an uncrossable line was being drawn between them, and Juyeol was afraid.
*'If I try to cross that line, will you run away?'*
Swallowing hard, he finally spoke lightly, as if it were no big deal.
“We don't even know when this will be over, so maybe that was too sudden. It's nothing serious, just something to think about.”
“...Okay.”
Haon couldn't bring herself to meet his eyes, managing only a small nod.
* * *
Over the past few days, Two-Shot had been wasting away.
Sector 3 was supposed to be his own backyard, but lately, he felt like he was trapped in a haunted house.
“Why are there only three people here? I stationed five.”
“Well... the two guys who were guarding this spot until yesterday suddenly disappeared.”
“Again?”
“We can't contact them, and their whereabouts are unknown.”
“Dammit! How many does that make now?!”
His subordinates kept disappearing. With no trace of them having fled Sector 3, it was a baffling mystery.