OL Ch 27

Chapter 27

“Don’t go! Don’t go. Please, please don’t go.” Hayun clung to Mookyeong’s clothes like a child.

“Let go.”

“I was wrong. I was completely wrong.”

“You were wrong?”

Despite his harsh tone, Hayun quickly nodded.

“Then give him back. Please give him back.”

“…!” 

Mookyeong grabbed both of Hayun’s shoulders tightly and pushed him against the wall so he couldn’t escape, starting to plead.

“I am begging you. If you want me to kneel, then I will kneel! What should I do? What can I do for you to return him?”

“No, don’t. Mookyeong-ah, don’t do this! Please, I…”

True to his words, Mookyeong began to kneel. Hayun tried to stop him but couldn’t overcome his strength.

“What did you do to everyone that they all think you’re him? You aren’t him. I know him better than anyone else, yet despite my insistence, why does everyone claim it’s you? No, you’re not him. He isn’t you. Please, give him back, just bring him back.”

“…..”

“I’m truly sorry for everything. So please, return him to me. Without him, I have nothing left. Absolutely nothing.”

It felt like a lump of fire was rising in Hayun’s throat, alternately fueling his anger and sorrow. He desperately wanted to scream, pleading for his Mookyeong to return. 

It was he who had nothing left, so he needed to be there for him. But unable to express these feelings, he swallowed hard instead. With trembling hands, he clutched at Mookyeong’s shoulders tightly, unwilling to let go.

Their hands ended up interlocked as they both clung tightly to each other’s fingers. At that moment, Hayun suddenly recalled what his mother and aunt had said earlier:

[You must make sacrifices.]

‘Make a sacrifice? How can I give up Baek Mookyeong?’

Despite having relinquished many things previously, his desire surged anew. Meanwhile, realizing his pleas were futile, Mookyeong grimaced. Upon acknowledging that Hayun couldn’t grant him what he sought, he composed himself as if nothing had happened.

In truth, Hayun had nothing tangible to offer Mookyeong. Yet, he couldn’t bring himself to abandon him either. As his determination to not let go grew stronger, the words “you must make sacrifices” echoed incessantly in his mind. If surrendering was truly necessary, then Hayun resolved to forsake himself rather than Mookyeong.

“You, how much do you remember? How far back can you recall?”

To proceed, he needed confirmation first.

The liar Pinocchio faced his punishment. He risked danger for others but arrived too late. Thus, the lying Pinocchio became ‘human.’ However, it was futile; nothing could stop Pinocchio from telling lies.

***

Hayun couldn’t fathom how his mind had endured this journey. His legs felt shaky, like those of a newborn giraffe. He tried hard to appear composed, attempting to shake off his nervousness. Naturally, Baek Mookyeong, walking ahead, paid no attention to his state.

“Ah, here we are.”

Hayun muttered softly as they approached the house where Mookyeong was currently staying. Seo Iju and Baek Jinha held high positions, so they had many enemies and faced numerous threats. In the past, Hayun used to think that they might be overly cautious about potential dangers, but now he understood their reasons were justified.

Regardless, this couple prepared safe houses in various locations due to their circumstances. Naturally, they also invested financially, acquiring buildings, land, and homes in prime spots around Seoul. While he wasn’t familiar with the properties elsewhere, Hayun knew the Seoul residences well since he often visited them with Seo Iju as part of his training.

‘Teacher mentioned she would eventually pass this place onto me.’

Seo Iju had three criteria for selecting houses: proximity to transportation and elementary schools, avoiding complex door configurations, and ensuring there was at least one door accessible to her. Since such cases were rare, she often created shortcuts by connecting doors through passages.

‘In this house, it should be around here.’

Hayun opened the shoe cabinet, which doubled as storage space. It was completely empty. He glanced at the undivided wooden cabinet interior. The door that used to be visible here was now gone. All he could see were a fire extinguisher and some small graffiti on the adjacent wall.

At first glance, it appeared to be random scribbles, but they contained Seo Iju’s unique numbering system. Suddenly, Hayun recalled how her name had scattered when the bracelet’s gogok shattered. His vision momentarily darkened. As if suspecting his intentions, Mookyeong grabbed Hayun by the neck and slammed him against the wall.

“Ah!”

The impact caused pain along with a loud thud. His glasses pressed painfully against his eyes.

“Don’t even think about any tricks. I can hear your scheming thoughts.”

“Are you afraid? Because you can’t handle one person without your ability?”

“I’m warning you beforehand precisely because handling you is trivial.”

“Oh, such a big talk for someone who needs advance warnings. So brave.”

Hayun pretended to be confident, but internally, his heart was pounding. The memory of Mookyeong throwing him aside yesterday was still vivid. However, Mookyeong firmly grabbed Hayun’s head before releasing him. It meant he found further replies annoying. 

Hayun brushed back his disheveled hair and removed his glasses. He checked his eyes in the mirror next to the shoe locker. There were slight scratches with raised skin around them. Of course, these weren’t the only injuries. Bruises had formed where Mookyeong hit him today, and marks were starting to appear on his neck from where it was grabbed earlier. Hayun covered the wounds as much as possible with his collar, then turned at the sight of something black flickering briefly.

However, there was nothing visible again. Hayun wiped away some remaining graffiti from the shoe locker with his fingertips before entering inside.

“It isn’t a trick. I just haven’t been here for a while.”

“It’s been a while since you’ve come here?”

“When Teacher owned this place, we used to visit together.”

Hayun referred to his outings with Seo Iju when they were house hunting.

“Teacher would spread out a map and mark primary schools first when deciding where to buy a house. Areas near these schools tend to have good security and proximity to shelters. Children struggle during evacuations, so it’s crucial to have both on-site school shelters and accessible external shelters evenly distributed. This approach also considered future resale value to ordinary people. Safety is always desirable, isn’t it?”

Mookyeong scanned Hayun from head to toe. Sensing Mookyeong’s clear distrust of anything he said, Hayun suppressed a chuckle internally.

“Moreover, doors shouldn’t be overly complicated. Instead, there should be one that you can easily pass through.”

“…A door?”

“Yes, a door. Because Teacher and I are doorkeepers.”

“……”

“I couldn’t explain this at the research institute. In our country, people generally don’t favor the term ‘doorkeeper.’ It’s similar with teleporters, but using the English term seems to soften their perception somewhat. The scarcity of these abilities also makes classification challenging.”

_{[TL/N: The English term mentioned here is teleporter (텔레포터), while the Korean term is 문지기 or doorkeeper. But here, I’ll use the word doorkeeper.]}

Hayun entered the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. Perhaps due to all the talking, his throat felt dry. However, he was taken aback to find it filled only with bottled water.

“Do you eat here?”

“Why does that matter? Just occasionally…”

“It’s important!” Hayun interrupted Mookyeong and opened the pantry door disguised as part of the wall. It was filled with preserved foods and essentials. He took out two packets of instant porridge and one cereal bar. After hastily peeling off the wrappers, he offered them to Mookyeong who shook his head, indicating he didn’t want it.

“You saw me take these from here yourself… Okay, fine. Is it because I peeled it? Here, have this unopened one.” Hayun retrieved the whole box of cereal bars. Showing that none were tampered with, he tore open the box and tossed one at Mookyeong. With a sigh, Mookyeong unintentionally caught it, peeled it open, and started eating.

Watching this, Hayun also took a bite of his cereal bar.

After all the talking and crying, he felt famished. Or perhaps it was due to fear.

‘From now on, I have to deceive Baek Mookyeong.’

His palms were sweaty, his heart raced, and his mind went blank. Nevertheless, he had no choice but to proceed.

At the research institute, Hayun had asked Mookyeong how much he remembered. Initially, Mookyeong tried to distance himself from Hayun, thinking there was nothing more to gain from their relationship. However, driven by desperation, he eventually sought out Hayun again. Despite Mookyeong’s attempts to shake him off, Hayun’s ambiguous responses kept him hooked.

Seizing the moment of hesitation, Hayun spoke up:

[I need to verify something, but we can’t discuss it here. Let’s go to your house.]

Mookyeong questioned why they had to go to his house, and Hayun responded with two reasons: security was paramount, and that it should be a place he could trust. Otherwise, his heightened sensitivity might get triggered, making things difficult for them both.

His explanation sounded somewhat forced, but despite being annoyed by Hayun, Mookyeong acquiesced, knowing that Hayun posed no threat to him.

How compliant was Mookyeong? After Hayun informed his assigned researcher about discontinuing rehabilitation sessions, he waited patiently while Hayun called his parents to let them know he’d be late as he was visiting a friend.

‘It’s fortunate it’s me.’

If it were any other con artist, they would have swindled a fortune and fled overseas.

In any case, while buying some time, Hayun pondered how to persuade Mookyeong. Whether it would work or not was uncertain.

“There’s something wrong with your memories, but we haven’t fully determined the extent of the issue.”

“What do you mean?”

“When the lawyer visited before, he mentioned that you had forgotten about him. Yet now, you can’t remember me either.”

“….?”

“You likely assumed forgetting about him was the only problem and didn’t consider anything else. Even if importance levels factor into memory, at the end of the day, what’s forgotten is still lost. Additionally, there hasn’t been anyone to properly assess what exactly is wrong with your memories.”

“And you’re saying that person should be me now?”

“Yes.” Mookyeong aggressively ran his hand through his hair as if dissatisfied with this situation. “Start making sense.”

“What doesn’t make sense?”

“You… Ugh, forget it.”

“…..” 

Hayun waited for him to continue despite his declaration.

Mookyeong eventually opened his mouth again. “If you needed me, you should’ve reached out earlier.”

“How could I when you blew up at me on our first meeting?”

“…..”

“And afterward, your lawyer got a restraining order against me.”

Hayun had lost his ability but was still classified as an esper. Since he signed the rehabilitation waiver, he would soon be reclassified as a non-esper, but currently, being labeled as an esper remained significant.

Unlike regular laws, some regulations were stricter for espers, and one such was a restraining order. The reasons included how stalking an esper could easily escalate to murder or that it made them feel more threatened. Espers stalking other espers faced harsher penalties due to the increased risk of homicide or loss of control. Naturally, there were reckless individuals who disregarded these consequences, but Hayun couldn’t afford to take any chances.

Considering where Mookyeong might reside as a fugitive, he refrained from even attempting to approach him.

“Mookyeong-ah, one thing is certain: I am the only survivor among those who shared memories with you.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. My mother is still…”

“Teacher… She passed away that day.”

“…How do you know?”

“I was the last person to see her on that day.”

As soon as he finished speaking, his body collapsed. This outcome was somewhat anticipated, so unlike before, he employed a controlled fall technique. However, there was still an impact, leaving him dazed.

“Who are you?”

“Me? Kim Hayun.”

“…..”

“The student of Seo Iju—doorkeeper Kim Hayun.”

Hayun mustered all his strength to stand up. He then faced Mookyeong directly, who seemed intent on killing him.

“And your forgotten friend, aside from him.”