Chapter 35
Chapter 35
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 35
Chapter Title: I Missed You
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The unexpected turn of events made her tears vanish and her heart pound.
“Ju-Juyeol!”
Juyeol watched Haon struggle with the rope around her ankle and let out a dry laugh.
“Are you a real idiot?”
“Ngh. Let me down…”
Haon clutched the hem of her T-shirt to keep it from flipping over, her face crumpling.
He grabbed the back of her plaid shirt, untied the rope, and set her down.
As soon as her dizzy vision cleared, Haon immediately studied Juyeol’s face as he stared down at her sullenly.
“Juyeol. Why are you so thin? Did you get in a fight? You’re hurt.”
He remained silent for a moment as if choosing his words, then asked indifferently.
“How did you find my safe house?”
“...Safe house?”
Her eyes wide, Haon tilted her head as if she’d heard something strange.
Then she stepped outside, disengaged the lock in an instant, and came back in.
“This?”
“...”
“How is this a safe house? Is ‘Safe House’ this place’s nickname or something? This isn’t safe at all! Do you know how long it takes Blue to pick a lock like this? One second. One second is the time it takes to blink, and—mmph!”
Juyeol’s large hand clamped over Haon’s mouth. It smelled faintly of iron.
He reached his other hand past her small head and tapped the front door.
“If you don’t like it, you can upgrade this door yourself.”
“...!”
Haon’s eyes lit up as she pulled his hand away.
“Really? I can?”
“What?”
“Am I still your engineer?”
Her face, as she asked while tightly gripping his hand, was filled with pure joy.
Juyeol looked down at the small hand wrapped around his, then scowled.
“...What is your problem?”
“What is?”
“Are you that desperate for money?”
Just as he finished his sarcastic remark, a loud growl echoed through the room.
“...”
“...”
Embarrassed, Haon let go of his hand.
“Th-that’s not it. I have plenty of money. I just forgot to eat today.”
“You’re something else...”
He turned away with a weary expression and rummaged through the refrigerator.
“There’s nothing here. Tsk.”
He then shut the refrigerator door with a snap and walked past Haon.
“Where are you going?”
“To buy something to eat.”
“For me? It’s okay! You don’t have to.”
“I need to stock the fridge anyway. Don’t touch anything, just sit still.”
He warned her with a furrow of his brow, then left the house.
Haon quietly surveyed the now-silent room before slowly stepping inside.
As soon as she did, Blue flapped its wings busily, circling above her head.
[Haon! Warning! Warning! Recommend destroying or reporting this area!]
Startled, she froze as a large, blue skull symbol materialized in front of one of the doors. It was a projection from Blue.
[This area has a high concentration of dangerous elements!]
“What’s in there?!”
[Detecting a large quantity of explosive materials, firearms, and bladed weapons. While firearm possession is not illegal under the laws here, many are unregistered!]
“...”
At Blue’s response, Haon stealthily backed away from the door.
A large amount of explosives and… why would things like that be in a house?
[Should I destroy the entire room? Reporting is also an option, but given the location’s characteristics, it’s uncertain when the police would arrive—.]
“No. Just leave it. They must be things Juyeol uses.”
[Cancel the hazardous area designation?]
“Yes, do that.”
[Understood! The hazardous area designation has been canceled.]
The skull symbol hovering in front of the door vanished.
Haon finally understood what Juyeol meant by ‘safe house.’
It wasn’t a house that *was* safe, but a house he could *make* safe if anyone broke in.
*He even uses his house proactively. Protecting the city must be a terrifying job.*
Nodding to herself, she carefully sat down on the sofa where Juyeol had been sitting.
“...”
She felt a strange sense of familiarity.
The house, furnished with only the bare necessities, had a stark atmosphere at first glance, but there were signs of frequent use.
*What were you thinking, sitting here?*
Haon’s gaze swept over the simple kitchen and the closed doors before rising to the ceiling.
“Ah.”
The ceiling was riddled with a chaotic pattern of bullet holes. Now that she looked, she could see a spent casing rolling under the sofa.
*What was I like back then?*
She remembered a child who used to call her “Haon nuna” in a voice like a sparrow’s chirp.
The child from the orphanage who had followed her around the most had not made it out alive from the building a terrorist had bombed.
That was before the war broke out.
Unconsciously gripping the arm of the sofa, Haon turned her head at the unfamiliar texture.
The fabric was pushed in and slightly torn, following the outline of a handprint much larger than her own.
“...”
As if to soothe his lonely and chaotic emotions, Haon slowly traced the handprint.
***
Juyeol stood in front of the safe house, a plastic bag in one hand, and stared at his empty one.
The warmth of her grip seemed to linger, and it made him uncomfortable.
The faint pressure, which he should have been able to shake off easily, felt strangely heavy.
That was why he had impulsively left Eun Haon in his safe house.
Her favorable gaze, and the unknowable intentions within it.
No. Were they really unknowable? When she was so transparent.
Eun Haon had been consistent ever since her memory problems began.
Whether to call it steadfast or foolish.
The face that would pop into his mind as he blankly let time pass was still the same.
An affection so transparent it made him want to doubt it, to call it unknowable.
*Just how great is this “best friend” in her imagination?*
Entering the safe house with a displeased expression, he was startled to meet an empty gaze.
Haon, sitting under the dim light, had a presence that felt bizarrely faint.
It was as if she might vanish without a trace at any moment.
*Did I used to sit there with that same expression?*
As he saw a reflection of himself in her small frame, light slowly returned to the brown eyes that were fixed solely on him.
The change was so dramatic that Juyeol had the illusion she had just appeared out of thin air.
Haon’s face brightened as if she’d spotted someone she was overjoyed to see, and she shot to her feet.
“You’re back soon. What did you buy?”
“...”
He looked at Haon, who was peering at him with a curious expression, a sense of confusion in his eyes, before heading to the kitchen.
He then put a frozen pizza in the microwave and turned back to her.
“Why did you come here?”
Haon, who had been about to sit at the table, flinched before lowering herself into the chair.
“To bring you your helmet.”
She then pulled a black helmet from her bulging crossbody bag. It was the one Juyeol had left at the research institute.
He stared at the helmet in silence, then placed the heated pizza on the table.
“Hm? Aren’t you eating?”
“I already ate.”
“Then, I’ll dig in!”
She had seemed hungry, and yet Haon’s brow was furrowed the entire time she devoured a slice of pizza.
After swallowing the last bite of the slice, she looked up at Juyeol with a moved expression.
“I haven’t had pizza in so long! It’s delicious. Eating something warm feels like it’s warming me up from the inside.”
“What do you normally eat?”
“Triangle kimbap or sandwiches from the convenience store. Or cereal? I eat a lot of energy bars, too.”
“...”
Had he gotten used to this eccentric engineer?
Juyeol was no longer surprised to hear such words from Eun Haon, who was often spotted at fine dining restaurants.
He just stood near the table with his arms crossed, watching the pizza disappear into her small mouth.
Just as he was feeling a strange sense of peace, a terrified scream echoed from outside.
“H-Help me!”
Startled a beat later, Haon stopped chewing. Juyeol waved a dismissive hand, telling her to just keep eating.
Then, with an annoyed expression, he opened the double-paned window and threw an empty vodka bottle.
A sharp *crack* was followed by a man’s groan.
A woman’s startled shriek followed, then the sound of a door hastily closing amidst grateful sobs, and then it was quiet again.
Juyeol shut the window with a snap and sat down at the opposite side of the table.
Haon, who had watched the whole exchange, smiled softly.
“What are you smiling at?”
“Because you were cool. And admirable.”
“What are you talking about?”
Haon tore off another slice of pizza and began to speak.
“I saw the news. They corrected the story to say the fire wasn’t your sister Hyeseong’s fault. The police who didn’t investigate properly back then also apologized.”
*Does that bring the dead back to life?* Juyeol swallowed the words that rose to his throat and sighed.
It was a result he’d already known when he put the cuffs on Gowon, and for that reason, it was a choice he sometimes regretted.
“They don’t normally go that far. They’re just sucking up because I’m with Hero Headquarters. Not to me, but to the Headquarters.”
“Ah...”
Haon nodded and muttered, “Still, that’s good.”
That was the end of the conversation on that topic.
*What am I doing?*
Juyeol asked himself as he half-heartedly cleaned up what Haon had eaten. He couldn’t find an answer.
Feeling frustrated, he rechecked the window lock, and when he turned back, his expression turned to one of disbelief.
Haon was dozing off on the sofa, clutching the helmet in her arms.
He looked down at Haon with eyes that had much to say and asked bluntly.
“So, why did you come here.”
“I... came to... fix the... front door.”
Her mumbled reply was already tinged with sleepiness. She couldn’t even lift her eyelids properly.
“Seriously, why are you here.”
Despite his chiding tone, Haon gave a weak, reassured smile.
“...wanted to.”
“What?”
“...I wanted to see you.”
*What did she just say?* Juyeol froze, stunned by her mumbled words.
Oblivious, Haon drifted off to sleep, adding hazily.
“I missed you... Juyeol...”
Her nodding head slumped forward, and the helmet tumbled to the floor.