HIF 26

Not Busy Anymore

Now somewhat calmed down, Raen brightly lit the room again with fire. He said his magic had been unstable for a moment because his mind was scattered. I looked up at Raen’s face as he continued speaking. His cheeks were flushed red.

Hmm, it’s not really something to be embarrassed about.

I once heard from Min Joo-hyuk. That Raen is a genius. He said Raen has a naturally high Mana level and works hard, so he’s never missed being top of his class. It was apparently common knowledge among those who knew at the academy.

Raen, who had been staring at me intently, made an expression as if he had just remembered something he’d forgotten, then poof, he disappeared. And soon reappeared. He was holding a small bowl.

“If you’re okay with it, eat a little, Yi-han. Don’t push yourself.”

He said Park Yul had been making rice porridge every day in case I woke up. Park Yul’s cooking, eaten after so long, was warm and delicious.

Raen checked my condition several times. As I kept answering that I was fine now, a sudden question occurred to me. Isn’t Raen sleepy? Min Joo-hyuk fell asleep right after being healed.

“Raen hyung. Aren’t you tired?”

“Yi-han, are you sleepy now? Do you want to go to bed?”

“…No, not me. I was wondering if you weren’t tired, hyung.”

“Ah, I don’t sleep much normally.”

There were quite a few times Raen came down to the dining hall late for lunch. Wasn’t that because he overslept?

Well, if he says so, then that’s how it is, I thought. It wasn’t really something to dig into further.

“Hyung. Is Ha-gyeon hyung in the lab now?”

I thought it was about time to heal Song Ha-gyun and Park Yul too. Since the lab is closer from here, I figured I should go to Song Ha-gyun first for now.

Song Ha-gyun had told me the lab’s location before. It was around the time I was suffering from the nausea Penalty.

-Seon Yi-han. If you’re not feeling well, come down. …Anytime.

Of course, there was never really a time I felt unwell, so I had never been.

“Ha-gyeon is in the lab. Are you going there?”

“Yes. I know where it is. I’ll go alone.”

“Hmm… Okay. Then I’ll go tell Leader hyung and come back.”

Raen used magic to neatly organize the papers scattered on the floor, then opened the door. The hallway was dark. I walked slowly down the dark hallway. Raen matched his steps to mine from beside me.

Wait, hold on.

“Raen hyung, you said you were going to come back.”

“……”

Raen silently met my gaze. Then he smiled faintly. I felt a light touch on top of my head that lifted away.

“…Now, I’ll really go and come back.”

Raen flicked his finger. A sphere about the size of a fist appeared in the air and drifted softly towards me.

A pale light spread from the snow-white sphere. It wasn’t very bright, but it was enough to see ahead.

Unlike the one Song Ha-gyun had made, seeing it was spherical, it seemed the shape of the object containing the light magic could vary. It was fascinating.

Raen, who had placed a hand on my shoulder and lightly brushed it off, turned his steps in the opposite direction down the hallway.

After watching his retreating back for a moment, I also started walking again. Even if only briefly, the hallway I walked alone somehow felt more desolate. Was it because winter had already come?

The lab was soon reached. I knocked on the door and waited a moment. A voice from inside said, come in.

Creeeak.

I entered the lab. I saw Song Ha-gyun wearing a white lab coat with his Monocle on. He was holding a thick file folder in one hand and a pen in the other.

Darkness had settled in the room just like in the hallway. A soft white light was spreading from a round crystal ball placed on the desk. That light was the only one in the lab.

Song Ha-gyun turned his head towards me. Light flickered on his profile. His long, dark purple hair, tied and hanging down to one side, came into view. It looked exactly like the color of the dawn visible outside the window.

“Seon Yi-han?”

Unlike his quietly resonating voice, Song Ha-gyun slid towards me as if slipping, approaching so quickly it could be called urgent. A soft scent of grass permeated the surroundings.

Song Ha-gyun brushed my hair up. Then he lowered his head and met my eyes.

“…Where does it hurt?”

I shook my head lightly at the slowly delivered question. Song Ha-gyun’s expression was as calm as usual, but somehow it seemed tinged with a worried look.

The hand touching my forehead was cool. Suddenly, I thought Song Ha-gyun was like winter. A person as silent and still as a world covered in white snow.

Yet, I vaguely felt he didn’t seem entirely cold either.

I grasped Song Ha-gyun’s wrist, which seemed to be taking my temperature. Looking at the Status Window that appeared before my eyes, I used healing.

The blue light that had enveloped Song Ha-gyun poured into me as if flowing. For a moment, the focus in Song Ha-gyun’s eyes seemed to dissolve.

“Ha-gyeon hyung?”

I quickly caught Song Ha-gyun as he staggered slightly. Song Ha-gyun also seemed to be getting sleepy as his fatigue was relieved, just like Min Joo-hyuk.

Song Ha-gyun slowly blinked his dazed eyes. The pupils looking at me were hazy and unfocused. They also looked as if they had sunk into darkness.

“Ha-gyeon hyung, are you sleepy?”

“…No. Thank you.”

Song Ha-gyun pressed his eyes firmly beneath his Monocle. Then he stood up straight again and waved a hand to the side. A large chair appeared in front of the desk.

“Sit.”

A little strength entered Song Ha-gyun’s hand gently wrapped around my shoulder. I plopped down into the chair in an instant. It was plush.

Song Ha-gyun lightly tapped the crystal ball with the tip of his pen. A white halo of light spread wider around us. I looked up at Song Ha-gyun.

“Hyung, are you busy now?”

If so, I didn’t want to be a bother. I was thinking maybe I should go to the greenhouse garden where Park Yul would be, but Song Ha-gyun stared straight at me.

“Not busy anymore.”

It was his usual unwavering, calm voice. My reflection was held straight in Song Ha-gyun’s pupils.

Somehow, I wanted to avoid that gaze. It felt as if he was saying he wasn’t busy precisely because I was here.

Of course, that probably wasn’t it. I know that too.

This was the problem. Having been at the temple, it had been ages since I talked to anyone other than Teacher, so I kept overthinking even the smallest glances.

This is why interacting with people is important. I still couldn’t grasp what an appropriate mindset was. How far should I approach? How far do others intend to approach me?

Embarrassed by my own unnecessary overthinking, I quickly changed the subject.

“Ha-gyeon hyung. I met Min Joo-hyuk upstairs earlier.”

“Yeah. Min Joo-hyuk, he’s always there.”

“Just now, I met with Raen hyung and came here.”

“Ah. So that’s why…”

Song Ha-gyun shifted his gaze to my side. The light from the sphere floating in the air had already faded away. It seemed it had done its job, seeing I arrived safely.

Song Ha-gyun opened his palm and brought it underneath, and the sphere gently descended. Song Ha-gyun rolled it onto the desk, then tapped the crystal ball placed right beside it. A brightly shining map rose up in front.

The light reflected off the Monocle Song Ha-gyun was wearing, sparkling. Song Ha-gyun, his gaze fixed on the map, slowly opened his mouth.

“…An anomaly is occurring.”

He said until now, the Monsters had maintained their original form. But the ones that were in the place Raen and I visited last time were different from before, he said.

If it becomes certain that Monsters can seep into other places, he said there would be a limit to detecting them only with Raen’s magic as before.

“…We’ll have to investigate more to know for sure.”

If that’s really the case, he said we’d probably have to go around the dangerous areas step by step, and Song Ha-gyun finished speaking.

Song Ha-gyun’s long finger touched a part of the map. A red X mark was drawn there.

I once saw Song Ha-gyun doing a similar action in a Future Sight. It wasn’t exactly the same situation, though.

Seeing the future I saw seemingly come to pass like this didn’t feel very good. It felt unsettling, as if the future was all predetermined.

How is seeing the future even possible in the first place? If it’s something that can be changed, can that even be called the future?

I don’t know. Suddenly, Raen’s matter came to mind and I got goosebumps. My body trembled slightly.

Even if it’s something that can be prevented from happening, I didn’t want to see you all getting hurt. I averted my eyes from the map where the vivid red mark remained. I turned my head towards Song Ha-gyun.

“…Seon Yi-han.”

My eyes met Song Ha-gyun’s directly. Since when had he been looking at me?

“Are you, cold now?”

The slowly delivered question was still contextless. Since I wasn’t particularly cold or hot, I immediately shook my head.

Song Ha-gyun silently took in my appearance with his eyes. Then he summoned a large pillow and blanket into the air. Song Ha-gyun, grabbing them, draped the blanket over me as if wrapping me. The pillow held in my embrace was plush.

‘But didn’t I just say I wasn’t cold?’

To this extent, I seriously wondered if my expression of intent wasn’t clear, or if Song Ha-gyun had no intention of listening to what I said.

Still, since it was warm, I decided to let it go. I leaned back deeply into the chair backrest.

It was peaceful. The warm tea Song Ha-gyun handed me had a slightly bitter taste, but as I drank it, my heart somehow felt at ease.

While I was absentmindedly sipping the tea, a knock sounded at the door.

“Come in.”

As Song Ha-gyun spoke, the door swung open. Raen stood there, looking as if he had rushed over.

“Ha-gyeon, do you happen to know where Leader hyung is?”

His voice was urgent. Song Ha-gyun’s expression as he shook his head also seemed to have turned serious.

“If he went alone, it’s dangerous…”

Raen added in an anxious voice, biting his lip hard.

“The basement, have you checked?”

Raen opened his mouth as if to say something, then suddenly whipped his head around.

“Teleport.”

Raen muttered and looked back this way. Raen’s golden eyes seemed to shine brightly.

Outside the window, darkness was gradually lifting from the sky. Bright light was slowly pushing in. Raen continued in a clear voice.

“It’s Leader hyung’s Mana.”

I quickly followed Raen, who dashed out of the room as if kicking it open.

◇

It was a morning like dawn. The bluish light just before sunrise was settling in the large hall on the first floor.

In the distance, a person walking in slowly was visible. Golden hair fluttered softly.

“Leader hyung!”

Hearing Raen’s call, Park Yul looked this way. Then he approached us in an instant. The cold air from outside swept in. Beneath it, a faint floral scent seemed to linger.

Park Yul nodded once each to Raen and Song Ha-gyun as if to reassure them, facing them. Then he turned his gaze to me.

“Yi-han-ah, you’re awake.”

It was a gentle voice. Park Yul smiled softly, the corners of his eyes crinkling. A small scratch had formed right under his eye. A single drop of blood was slowly trickling from the wound.

Park Yul gently cupped my cheek with one hand, as if checking.