Chapter 12
Chapter 12
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 12
Chapter Title: A Hero for the Night
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“If it were up to me, I'd have fired several shots already.”
In response to his bitter words, Haon grabbed Juyeol's arm.
His forearm twitched.
“Are you going to shoot me now?”
“...What?”
This time, it was his eyebrow that twitched.
Haon asked with a desperate expression.
“Won't you shoot me with the sleep gun?”
“Are you crazy? Oh, right. You are.”
He gritted his teeth, sharply shaking off her hand and stepping away.
Haon didn't give up and moved right back to his side.
“Juyeol. I'm truly desperate. I'm so tired, but I can't sleep. My head's not working right.”
“Just bang your head against a wall and knock yourself out.”
After a moment of thought, Haon asked in an unsure tone.
“C-could you at least knock me out?”
“...?”
As Juyeol stared at her like she was insane, Haon hugged the blanket and nodded.
“I'm ready.”
“Crazy. Don't be ridiculous.”
“If you won't... can't you sleep in the bedroom too?”
“Fine. I'll sleep in the bedroom.”
At his words, Haon's face lit up.
“Really?”
“You get out.”
“...Huh?”
Haon was dragged out of the bedroom, the blanket still draped over her.
“W-wait. Juyeol...!”
She struggled and whined, trying not to leave the bedroom, but it was no use.
Pushed out to the living room sofa in an instant, Haon stared at him blankly.
“I'll sleep next to the Awakening Sphere. You can sleep out here.”
Juyeol scoffed and turned away.
Sleeping in the same room as Eun Haon, even if it was her penthouse?
It was out of the question.
But he couldn't leave Eun Haon alone next to the Awakening Sphere, either. So, this was the most logical solution.
“But it's my house!”
“Your house?”
Haon flinched as Juyeol turned to look back at her.
“You said you weren't the 'Eun Haon' who used to live here.”
A sneer played on his lips.
“...!”
“Then it's not your house, is it?”
Haon clenched her fists.
“You don't even believe me, but you use it against me when it's convenient—how petty.”
The bedroom door slammed shut.
*That detestable...!*
Fuming, Haon pressed her lips together and trudged over to the sofa, climbing onto it.
*That jerk isn't 'my Juyeol.'*
After grumbling for a while, she got off the sofa and wrapped the blanket around herself on the floor, like a nest.
*...Still, with someone just on the other side of the door... maybe I'll be able to sleep.*
Haon tried to think positively.
It's okay. Today was a good day.
She'd found the Awakening Sphere without a hitch, and the phone repair had begun.
Maybe she would even have a pleasant dream.
* * *
Rumble. Rumble.
She could feel the ground shaking through the thin, worn soles of her sneakers.
Whoosh—.
As she lifted her head against the murky wind, Haon's heart plummeted.
This was the Gimpo Bridge, with red smoke billowing up from it.
The scene of an unforgettable incident, where it had collapsed just one month after the war began.
Rumble. Rumble.
*Ah, I really hate this.*
The nightmare was repeating itself before her very eyes.
“Aaaah! Help me!”
“Kyaaaaah!”
Countless people were crossing the bridge, stricken with terror.
Behind them, mana engineering devices that unleashed mana like blades chased after them like a swarm of rats.
*I really... hate this...!*
Biting her lip hard, Haon took out her phone and shouted.
“Hurry, run! Get across quickly!”
And just as she had in countless dreams, she unfurled a mana shield.
While the panic-stricken people crossed the bridge, Haon blocked the attacks flying in from outside.
The bridge was too long to protect it in its entirety.
“Run faster! Don't look back!”
In that moment, as she urged them on until her voice was hoarse.
The mouse-like mana engineering devices suddenly let out a high-pitched whine and began moving at incredible speed.
They scurried underneath the people's feet.
The moment Haon hurriedly moved the shield beneath their feet.
BOOM! BANG! RUMBLE—.
The mana engineering devices exploded all at once. Wielding blade-like mana had been a trap.
It was like lightning striking all around, a deafening roar that made her ears ring.
Half of the bridge utterly collapsed. Along with countless people.
The color drained from Haon's face as she crumpled to the ground.
As always, a desperate scream tore from her lips.
“Noooo!”
She shot her eyes open, clutching the blanket tightly.
Haon scrambled to sit up and looked around.
This was the penthouse. Not the Gimpo Bridge.
“Gasp. Sob.”
She gasped for breath, pressing a hand to her chest. Her whole body was sticky, drenched in a cold sweat.
“Stop... just stop showing me this. I don't want to see it anymore.”
Muttering as if in a trance, Haon buried her face in the blanket.
“I don't want to see it.”
Her shoulders trembled faintly.
“I'm sorry...”
A small mumble was mixed in with her sobs.
Meanwhile, watching her from the shadows, Juyeol was taken aback.
*...What the hell?*
He had been taking advantage of the homeowner's slumber to search the place.
The chance to enter the penthouse of the suspicious and secretive Dr. Eun Haon was not one that came easily.
There had been dozens of cases where they couldn't apprehend Eun Haon due to plenty of suspicion but no hard evidence.
He had planned to look for hidden evidence this time, but she woke up after just thirty minutes.
Screaming, at that.
Juyeol, who had reflexively hidden his presence in the shadows, recalled that she had also woken up groaning in pain the night before.
*Is she like this every night? Is that why she asked me to shoot her with the sleep gun?*
But today was different.
A guilt-ridden face, faintly visible even in the dark.
A trembling voice.
A nightmare that made her apologize instinctively.
Juyeol had seen such a sight a few times before.
It was just like...
*Just like a hero who failed to save someone...*
He knew the thought was absurd, but he was still confused.
Juyeol furrowed his brow.
Why was Eun Haon crying with such an expression, berating herself in that voice?
*You of all people shouldn't be like that.*
He stood leaning against the wall, watching Haon until she cried herself back to exhausted sleep.
* * *
A few minutes after crying herself to sleep, Haon woke up again with a start.
After this repeated a couple of times, she got up with a sniffle, her hair a mess.
Wrapping the blanket tightly around herself, she approached the bedroom.
*Juyeol's probably sleeping, right?*
After hesitating, she quietly opened the bedroom door.
“...”
But there was no one there.
She looked around outside the bedroom, but there were only shadows.
Haon slid to the floor right where she stood.
“Hic, sob.”
She began to sob, hugging the blanket.
Every time fear and emptiness washed over her, she had told herself it was okay.
*I want to go home. Please send me back.*
It wasn't okay at all.
*I want to go home.*
How could it be okay?
She was a stranger in this unfamiliar world, with not a single connection.
Haon's small shoulders shook as she shed tears.
“Hey, what are you doing?”
“...!”
At the voice coming from above her, the stranger quickly looked up.
It was Woo Juyeol.
Her only family.
Her best friend.
Her precious comrade-in-arms.
Haon let out a cry and, like a heartbroken child, reached out her arms as if asking to be held.
“Juyeoool.”
As Juyeol just stared at her with a "What do you want me to do?" expression, tears streamed from her clear brown eyes.
Scowling deeply, he roughly ran a hand through his wavy black hair.
“Agh! Seriously!”
Then he effortlessly lifted Haon and carried her into the bedroom.
* * *
The faint shadow of a cloud passed over the bed.
The bed, with its red lace canopy, was empty.
The soft, rhythmic sound of breathing coming from under the bed was mixed with a mumble.
Haon, who had been sleeping soundly nestled in the plush blanket, slowly began to wake, stirring.
With a peaceful expression, free from any pained groans, she rubbed her cheek against the blanket.
*How long has it been since I slept this well? I didn't even dream.*
Savoring the afterglow of a deep sleep, Haon groggily opened her eyes.
“...?”
In her blurry vision, she saw something like a piece of metal moving.
She rubbed her eyes and looked again. It was a pistol.
Juyeol, sitting against a nearby wall, was spinning the gun in his hand.
“...!”
The man who had snapped at her last night, telling her to stop crying because he'd stay, was really there.
He was sitting right beside her. Like a hero chasing away nightmares.
A warm, fuzzy feeling spread through Haon, and the corners of her mouth relaxed into a soft smile.
“Juyeol.”
“...”
“Good morning.”
Even though she greeted him in a raspy voice, he just glanced at her silently.
Then he tossed the gun in the air, caught it, tucked it into its holster, and stood up.
“Hardly morning.”
At his muttered words as he left the bedroom, Haon sat up and checked the time. It was past 2 PM.
*...No wonder I feel so refreshed.*
Haon smiled in satisfaction.
She hadn't slept this peacefully in two years. Ever since the war started, she'd always been on edge, unable to sleep properly.
*Was it really about the person, not the place?*
Stretching languidly, Haon felt reassured at the thought that Juyeol would be spending the night at the penthouse today as well.
The prospect of a good night's sleep already put her at ease.
*I've slept enough. Now it's time to work.*
After quickly washing her face and changing her clothes, Haon sat hunched over on the bed, back against the headboard, and peered at her phone.
An error message was displayed on the screen of the phone under repair.
It seemed to be because the energy extractor was different from the one she was used to.
Tapping the screen, she slightly slowed the extraction speed and adjusted the energy input.
Like a hamster nibbling on sunflower seeds, Haon fiddled with the phone for a long while before setting it down.
*The repairs should be finished by this time tomorrow.*
After that, she had to go meet Solmae, the person Chacha had told her about.