Cutting Ties (2)
A bench in a park located in Jongno. If any passerby had spotted the man sitting there, they would've recoiled in disgust and quickened their pace.
It was 3 a.m., the dead of night. The man sitting alone on the empty park bench was laughing to himself.
"Ha, haha..."
The man—no, Yun-seok—glanced around. The night sky embroidered with stars. The roar of car engines speeding by fiercely. Everything was exactly as it had been before he was dragged into the Tower of Heaven.
Did time not pass in there at all?
'Even the time is the same.'
Yun-seok checked the park clock's hour hand and froze. For a split second, a thought crossed his mind.
What if everything he'd gone through was just a long dream?
Time until return: 23:58:41
If not for that timely evidence, he might still be second-guessing himself.
"It shows up here too."
The only difference from the tower was that the floating text was so faint it was invisible unless he focused.
Yun-seok pulled out his smartphone. It was completely dead and wouldn't turn on.
'Time didn't freeze after all.'
Which meant about three days must have passed since then. Yun-seok headed to the roadside and hailed a taxi.
It was absurdly ironic, in a way. He'd originally come to the park planning to save a few bucks by waiting for the first bus of the day.
But just as all values change with time, so had the value of time itself. With only 24 hours before he had to return, every minute and second was precious beyond words.
"To Sinrim-dong, please."
The taxi sped down Seoul Boulevard with Yun-seok inside. His destination was his rundown studio apartment.
The driver didn't strike up much conversation, and Yun-seok silently gazed out at the Seoul nightscape.
Nothing special, just an ordinary view. Yet tonight, it felt strangely fresh.
After staring for a long while, Yun-seok chuckled softly. The driver, catching sight of it in the rearview mirror, asked,
"What's so funny, kid?"
"Just... it's different from what I imagined."
He wasn't immune to the overwhelming surge of emotion. If asked if he was happy, he'd say yes, definitely.
But...
"I thought I'd be bawling my eyes out when I got back here."
Was it because this homecoming lasted only a day? Or because there were things he had to do?
To his own surprise, Yun-seok felt remarkably calm.
The driver, listening quietly, nodded along. "Sounds like you've been away for a while, huh?"
"Yeah. A really long way away. Seoul hasn't changed a bit."
"Eh, it has, more than you think."
As the driver rambled on about the hundred-story building in Jamsil, the redevelopment in Guro, and more, they arrived at the destination.
After paying, as Yun-seok went to close the door, the driver tossed out a casual question.
"So, how long's it been since you were last here?"
"...Three days."
"?"
* * *
"Hey! Room 603 kid!"
As he punched in the code for the shared entrance, the half-asleep security guard spotted him and jolted awake.
"Where the hell you been? It was total chaos!"
"Chaos?"
"Yeah! Some friend of yours came by, screaming for you, throwing a fit. Cops even showed up."
He didn't need to hear more to know who. Kang Hyung-woo.
Probably came storming here in a rage, thinking Yun-seok was ignoring him since he couldn't get in touch.
Feeling bad for the trouble caused to others, Yun-seok bowed apologetically to the guard.
"Sorry about that. Won't happen again."
The guard looked a bit dazed. "Kid... you seem different somehow."
"Do I?"
"Yeah, more mature, maybe? Anyway, not the point. Whatever beef you two have, sort it out nicely."
"Yeah, if I can."
"It's late. Get inside."
With that brief exchange, Yun-seok entered his place. A 6-pyeong one-room with a 500,000 won deposit and 450,000 monthly rent.
Seeing the room where every inch bore his touch, it finally sank in.
"I'm really back."
Unlike the stone chamber with just a statue. There was furniture to fill the bland space.
Above all, he felt hunger, thirst, fatigue.
Yun-seok plugged in his phone to charge, then opened the fridge to wet his throat.
One unopened can of cola remained. No hesitation.
Pssshhh—!
The crisp sound piercing his ears. It vaguely resembled the snort of the green monster from his first day—an illusion, surely.
Yun-seok chugged the cola.
'Whoa, was this always this good?'
The sensation of eating after so long. His tongue danced with delight at the sweet, fizzy tang.
'If cola tastes this good...'
Yun-seok turned on his phone.
"Gotta order some food first."
He started calling nearby late-night spots one by one.
* * *
Chicken, tteokbokki, pork belly, and more. When he came to, 90,000 won worth of late-night snacks had vanished into his stomach.
He'd planned to leave some for breakfast. But devouring it all alone...
'What's going on?'
Yun-seok could barely handle a solo chicken challenge. Yet he still had room after this much.
Enough to go pro as a mukbang streamer.
'Did my stomach expand without eating?'
Absentmindedly rubbing his belly, he flinched. Instead of soft flab, his fingers met rock-hard muscle.
Come to think of it, the T-shirt he'd used as sleepwear because it was loose felt tight today...
Yun-seok hurriedly lifted it. Revealed were abs sharper and thicker than in any movie or photoshoot—beyond that, even.
"Haha..."
He was laughing alone a lot today. Absurdity-induced chuckles, though.
'No way I can use skills like Weapon Enhancement here too... huh?'
Unique Skill Weapon Enhancement activated.
A red aura gathered on the plastic fork that came with the delivery food.
"...For real?"
Forks count as weapons? Weapon Enhancement worked.
Testing further, he tried Backstep too.
Counterattack state enabled.
This worked too. Who was he supposed to counter, anyway? Yun-seok had no idea.
"Haa..."
He let out a deep sigh.
The chat rooms had people claiming skills learned there worked in the real world. He'd dismissed it as bait.
"Who knew it was true..."
Truth be told, he hadn't entirely dismissed the possibility. If these powers worked in reality? He'd brushed it off as ridiculous, but after all the absurdities he'd faced, hope had crept in.
Accepting it now wasn't hard. Just the future was uncertain.
'This is basically becoming a superhuman...'
Among his physical stats—strength, agility, stamina—the highest was F+ agility. Yet with a wooden sword, he could take down a few MMA champs easily.
And the more arena battles he fought, the stronger he'd get.
'The problem is I'm not the only one in this situation...'
The Tower granted magic and supernatural abilities. If people with such extraordinary powers flooded society...
Chaos like no other.
What would the world become?
'Not the time to worry about that.'
Yun-seok picked up his phone, ignoring it during dinner. He checked the backlog of messages.
Kang Hyung-woo had sent the most: 32 texts, 117 missed calls.
'No wonder the battery died completely...'
Even the threat to visit his parents didn't spark rage. He'd expected it.
Yun-seok checked his parents' messages too.
Kang Hyung-woo's threats hadn't fazed him. But reading his father's texts, Yun-seok's hand trembled.
Maybe surviving near-death had broadened his view. Something he'd gloss over before now grated.
'Friends, right...?'
Dad wasn't stupid. He knew pressuring parents over a minor spat wasn't "friends."
Yet he'd urged reconciliation.
'Did he know my situation and pretend not to?'
A betrayal unlike any before stabbed his heart like an icy dagger.
Dad probably hadn't fully grasped Yun-seok and Kang Hyung-woo's dynamic. Much like ignoring suspicions that Kang started the fire.
He had hunches but turned away. Rationalized it. No need to dig.
Knowing changed nothing.
'But still... this is too much.'
5:30 a.m. Sun not up yet, but Dad might be awake for early work. Yun-seok steadied his breath and hit call.
"Yun-seok? Why no contact, you punk! You okay?"
Dad unleashed a torrent of words. Voice loud, worried yet scolding. Mom's sleepy "Is that Yun-seok?" murmured in the background.
Yun-seok ignored the questions. Just said,
"Dad, I have something to tell you. Will you listen?"
Dad agreed. Yun-seok spilled Kang Hyung-woo's bullying from elementary school onward.
A story too long for 10 or 20 minutes. Dad delayed work to hear it.
Questions at first, then silence as it progressed.
Thus, Yun-seok revealed his lifelong secret; Dad confronted the truth he'd half-ignored.
Maybe they got along fine. Bullying was just kid stuff. Hopes Dad harbored, crushed brutally.
"Sorry."
After Yun-seok finished, a long pause. Dad's apology came, voice trembling—sobbing?
"Sorry you grew up suffering with a worthless dad like me. I'll handle the debt somehow. Don't meet that bastard again."
"No. I'm meeting him to end it properly."
"You sure?"
"Yeah. I've got the courage now."
"You... you've grown. My son."
What was Dad thinking now? Proud? Resentful? Grateful? Guilty? Maybe all.
"..."
After, Yun-seok said regardless of how things ended with Kang, he'd take a leave, travel, reflect.
Dad approved wholeheartedly. Mom, listening beside, too.
"Hanging up. Phone's getting suspended, so contact might be spotty. Don't worry."
Family issues resolved, for now.
Why hadn't he done this sooner? Why shoulder it young?
Yun-seok swallowed the pang, then dialed again.
"...Choi Yun-seok? That you, you fucking dog? Wanna die?"
"Come out. Let's talk."
February 12, 2019, 7:10 a.m. The morning dawned to sever their rotten tie.