OL Ch 35

When Hayun entered the house that day, he was prepared to be scolded severely. He had skipped the academy without permission, hadn’t been in contact until late at night, and his clothes and body were a mess. However, Hayun’s parents didn’t scold him much.

It wasn’t that they believed his excuse that he got into a fight after being provoked on the street. They were worried that he might rebel if they pushed him too hard. They just told Hayun that they trusted him.

It was just a word, but his heart felt heavy from the moment he heard it. Perhaps it was because he would have to keep many secrets from them in the future.

Anyway, since things with his parents were settled, Hayun decided to find Seo Iju, as he had boldly declared to Mookyeong.

But there were not enough clues. He didn’t think that among the markings he found at Mookyeong’s house, there would be the door that Seo Iju had moved through that day. He had to look at other places as well.

Perhaps anticipating this, Mookyeong urged Hayun to move immediately the next day.

‘Does he think it can be done in a snap? This heartless jerk. He thinks everyone is like him.’

Curses rose to the tip of his tongue, but the person who should hear them wasn’t there. In the end, Hayun covered himself with a blanket and organized his notes by the light of his phone. There were not many markings he found at Mookyeong’s house, so there was nothing useful. There was one that was suspicious, so he searched the map and road view based on its location.

He searched until the morning sun rose and his family woke up, but he couldn’t find a place that he was sure of. He picked out about three places, but there was a high possibility that they were wrong. But he couldn’t just dawdle. Hayun waited for his family to leave the house and moved quickly.

He had to visit all three places before going to the academy. If he moved quickly, he might be able to visit one more place in addition to the three.

Hayun met Mookyeong again with a heavy heart, a heavy body, and a busy mind. They didn’t greet each other or talk. Even when they got on the bus, they sat in opposite seats even though the seats were empty. They finally spoke when they were approaching their stop.

Hayun told Mookyeong, who was busy looking out the window, that they had to get off soon. Mookyeong still didn’t answer, but after that one sentence, Hayun started talking to Mookyeong.

“How did you handle school? You’ll be short on attendance if you take too many days off. Oh, I guess it doesn’t matter to you?”

“…..”

“Yeah, it’s not a place you can quit even if you want to.”

“…..”

“It’s cloudy today. The wind isn’t as strong as yesterday, but I think it’s colder on days like this.”

After he talked for a while, Mookyeong finally opened his mouth.

“Shut up.”

“…..”

He wasn’t very confident, but Hayun felt a sense of déjà vu while moving to the first location. There were low-rise commercial buildings and villas, and a blue Porter truck was entering the alley. Hayun stopped walking and turned his head.

‘What is this?’

It definitely wasn’t the place he had picked. Because he was on his way there. But strangely, he felt like this was the right place. The moment he was sure, Hayun started running.

The frequency of the appearance of the Labyrinth had a significant impact on the country’s economic growth. Previously, the appearance of the Labyrinth was treated as a special disaster that could not be dealt with, but with the recognition of the existence of Espers and the start of more systematic management of them, the perception that it could be dealt with to some extent spread.

Of course, this was compared to the past, and if the degree was severe, it became difficult to measure the extent of the damage.

As such, the number and quality of Espers affected national power. Therefore, they were particularly wary of the outflow of domestic Espers overseas, and conversely, they actively tried to attract Espers from abroad.

As part of this process, they actively encouraged marriage between domestic Espers. This was because it was difficult to move separately if they had roots in a family. Of course, there were cases where they moved as a whole because of this.

The basic rule of Esper management was to bless the birth but thoroughly extinguish the death. Of course, Korea was not so active in the death of Espers, but instead, they made the legal procedures complicated.

Therefore, in the case of Espers who had not received an official death declaration, it was difficult to report their death, so they were often treated as long-term missing persons. There were cases where people suffered losses due to inheritance or various debt relationships, but the country did not change the guidelines.

After all, Espers were only a handful of the total population of the country, and in the case of long-term missing Espers, it was rare for them to return alive and file an appeal.

They either died for real or abandoned everything and went to another country.

In the case of death while dealing with monsters that poured out of the Labyrinth, the country provided substantial compensation. Because of this, just thirty or forty years ago, the country did not actively extinguish cases of missing persons that were presumed to be actually dead.

Hayun and Mookyeong had heard since they were young that it might still be like that. Seo Iju and Baek Jinha were always prepared for their deaths and thought they were better prepared than other Espers. But when the situation actually happened, things turned out strangely.

Contrary to Baek Jinha’s death being processed even though his body was not found after ‘that day’, Seo Iju was treated as missing despite Hayun’s testimony. They didn’t actively search for her. It could be seen that they were unable to process it yet because the damage was large due to the opening of the Labyrinth in Seoul, which was at peace, but to the bereaved family, it just seemed like they were dragging their feet.

‘As if they don’t want to conclude it like this.’

Unlike his lack of confidence, Hayun found the place where he last met Seo Iju that day. He wondered how he found it himself. The clue he found at Mookyeong’s house was too small. Hayun eliminated certain areas based on the fact that there was no evacuation order in the neighborhood at that time and people were going about their daily lives, and eliminated a few more areas based on the accent of the person who lived in the building opposite.

Of course, that person might have lived in another place and moved due to some circumstances, but the matter was urgent, so he decided not to consider the details. Thus, he narrowed down the area, pointed out the arrival point of the familiar door he had seen at his old house, and narrowed the scope to an area he could go to before going to the academy.

Then he remembered the surroundings he had looked at while crouching next to the outdoor unit, and mainly looked at alleys similar to that place. He couldn’t confirm it with the road view because he had only glanced down from above, not from below. He tried various things in his own way, but in a way, he purely chose the place he was drawn to. But even so, he found it. If Seo Iju were alive, she would have been dumbfounded to see Hayun’s actions. She would have asked what he was doing with everything he had learned.

The traces left outside had disappeared due to rain, but fortunately, the inside of the secluded boiler room was completely preserved.

It seemed that the boiler had been working well, so there was no need to enter. While looking at the scene, Mookyeong made several calls. To the attorney in charge, the public official in charge of compensation for bereaved families, the person who would check the scene together to see if there were any manipulations, and so on.

It was as if he had rehearsed in advance how to act.

Until the people arrived, Mookyeong and Hayun looked around and were on guard. Hayun wondered if it was necessary, but he just followed Mookyeong because he was doing it.

Thus, an hour and a half that felt like four hours passed, and people began to arrive one by one. Until the witness arrived, Mookyeong prevented others from entering the scene, and Hayun poured out words that were difficult for him to understand.

A full-scale investigation began, and Hayun testified exactly as he had said before. Mookyeong’s attorney and the witness claimed that it was a trace that could cause death from excessive bleeding, and argued for the fact of death, but the public official in charge insisted that it was still unknown based on bloodstains alone.

‘It’s still unknown.’

Hayun really hoped so too. He hoped that Seo Iju was alive. But the person who knew for sure that she was dead, more than anyone else, was Hayun himself.

Still, the attorney said something hopeful. He said that since it was a state of great disaster, it was estimated that this much trace would be taken into consideration. He added that the actual payment of compensation might be a little later, but he just let those words pass.

Even excluding the property that was difficult to dispose of due to Seo Iju’s disappearance, Mookyeong had already inherited a lot of property. He could use the real estate that could not be disposed of himself. There were no safer places from the door than those places.

Also, as long as Mookyeong pulled himself together, there was no problem with making a living. No matter what anyone said, he was a very outstanding Esper.

Even so, the reason why Mookyeong was eager to report the death was probably because he wanted to hold a funeral for Seo Iju. Seeing Mookyeong looking somewhat haggard, Hayun didn’t mention the promise or offer comfort. He just tapped Mookyeong’s arm very lightly and turned around and went back the way he came.

On the way back to Seoul, Hayun remembered the last words Seo Iju had said. That she wanted to go to the West Sea on their wedding anniversary. But the thought didn’t last long. He had stayed up all night, and his body wasn’t in good condition. As the tension eased, he fell asleep as if he had fainted.

His world was gone, but the outside world was still functioning normally. It was a terrible thing. And the most terrible thing was the sound of the front door passcode being pressed right now. Mookyeong looked at the front door with his nerves on edge.

Not long after, an unwelcome face popped out.

After finding the last trace of his mother Seo Iju, Kim Hayun came to visit Mookyeong every day. Mookyeong consistently ignored Kim Hayun coming to his house, but Kim Hayun ignored Mookyeong. He tried using his hands or abilities and poured out abusive language, but he would just look at him with an uncomfortable look that day, and the next day he would show up again as if nothing had happened.

How could he be like that?

Did he have no pride? Or did he have that much to gain from him?

To Mookyeong, Kim Hayun was like an eternally incomprehensible, unknown creature.

He was always unpleasant, somehow suspicious, and just his presence nearby made his nerves stand on end. Nevertheless, the reason he didn’t completely get rid of him was that even such a terrible Kim Hayun was necessary. In addition, he couldn’t kick him out because of what he had said before. He just had to wait for Kim Hayun to get tired and fall on his own.

“Hey, it’s really windy outside today. And there’s a lot of fine dust.”

Kim Hayun moved around Mookyeong’s house as if it were his own. He put water in the electric kettle to make warm tea and asked Mookyeong if he wanted some too. Mookyeong turned around without answering and sat on the living room sofa. He thought about going to his room, but soon gave up.

If he went to his room, he might follow him again.

Mookyeong clenched the remote control in his hand at the sudden memory. There was a sound of plastic warping, but he didn’t care. He just stared at the TV screen he wasn’t even interested in.

In the meantime, Kim Hayun started searching the refrigerator. The reason was that it was mealtime and he was hungry. Then he turned around the dining table and spoke to Mookyeong.

“Huh? You stopped setting the table. Hey, let’s eat together. We just need to add rice and soup here.”

The meal wasn’t prepared by Mookyeong. The person who helped with the housework had prepared it. As Kim Hayun said, all that was needed was to add rice and soup, but Mookyeong had no intention of eating. So it didn’t matter to him whether Kim Hayun ate or not, but it was quite annoying that Kim Hayun was standing in the kitchen and moving.

He didn’t like the smell of food either. No, he hated everything that made him aware of Kim Hayun’s existence. Mookyeong opened all the doors and sat in the seat opposite Kim Hayun and asked.

“Can’t you just stop?”

“What?”

“…This.”

“Are you being petty about me eating some food?”

Kim Hayun stuffed rice into his mouth as if he didn’t care what Mookyeong said. The sound of the spoon clattering was annoying, and Kim Hayun eating was annoying. His very existence was annoying, so everything was unpleasant.

To be honest, Mookyeong hated and was horrified by Hayun. If he had followed his heart, Kim Hayun wouldn’t be alive and breathing in this place.

“You know I’m not talking about food. Why are you doing this ridiculous thing?”

“I told you. Because I’m your friend.”

“…..”

Friend my ass.

Mookyeong closed his eyes and took a long sigh to suppress the rising anger. In the meantime, Hayun swallowed the rice he was chewing and answered.

“If I’m not your friend, you’ll be alone. That’s why I did it. Because I can’t leave you alone.”

Mookyeong kicked the table leg. The dishes on the table shook violently. The soup in the bowl overflowed due to the recoil and spilled on Kim Hayun.

“Ah, it’s hot!”

Kim Hayun tried to get up from his seat but sat back down and glared at Mookyeong. When Mookyeong tilted his head to the side, he immediately lowered his head. Kim Hayun was a little angry, so he huffed alone for a while, then picked up his spoon again.