“It’s not that his personality changed after he awakened; it’s that a lot of his old memories were wiped out with his awakening, and he doesn’t seem to realise it, although he does feel a little uncomfortable about it.”
My heart thumped loudly again. Ki Yoohyun once told me that after his awakening, he felt like a completely different person. Like a part of him had gone somewhere.
I hadn’t understood what he meant at the time. I thought it was natural for him to have some confusion in his memory after everything he’d been through, such as dealing with the Demon God and regression.
Was this what had happened?
It’s an absurd fantasy…….
Surely, it’s an absurd imagination…….
The gate that opened upon his awakening, and the regression that occurred when he reached the Demon Gate. What if Ki Yoohyun’s soul had been lost during these events?
Is he okay now?
Oh Seoho continued, “…When I learned that, I decided to be Yoohyun’s friend, no, best friend.”
“Was it because Yoohyun-ssi helped Hunter Oh Seoho?”
“Well, there’s that, too.” Oh Seoho stroked his chin for a moment, as if choosing words, then he answered in a clear tone, “Memory proves the past. If I have no memory of yesterday, how can I prove that I am the same human being I was yesterday? Therefore, the Ki Yoohyun of today is a completely different person, and the Yoohyun who was in the church with me has disappeared.”
“…….”
“But by remembering the past, by seeing Ki Yoohyun as a friend, I prove that he is the same person he was in the past. The lively yet kind boy of the past.”
I recalled the young Ki Yoohyun I’d seen in my vision. The boy who was more cheerful than he is now, the boy who said he wanted to go to Jeju Island. A stabbing pain pierced my chest.
“So even if he doesn’t remember me, wouldn’t it be natural for me to regard him as a friend?”
***
A cold breeze shattered my wandering thoughts.
“Aaaah!” I screamed.
A deserted beach bathed in darkness. The sound of crashing waves invaded the silence.
I checked my phone’s GPS and it was indeed Jeju Island. It was a beach a little far from the city. I saw Ki Yoohyun trying to use the teleportation scroll, and I let him, but I didn’t expect to suddenly land on Jeju Island.
Well, it was a lot better than the dungeon.
Anyway, if you thought it wouldn’t be cold here just because it’s further south than Seoul, you’d be mistaken. The sea breeze was blowing like crazy. I had put on a coat earlier, but it wasn’t enough to fight the night sea.
“Ugh, it’s cold…….”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t think about the weather.”
I crossed my arms and shivered. Then, Ki Yoohyun, who was surprised by my reaction, pulled out a large shawl from his inventory and wrapped it around me. It wasn’t a very thick fabric, but it surprisingly kept me warm.
“It’s a cloth with cold resistance, so it should help.”
“……Thank you.”
As I buried my head in the soft shawl, I suddenly felt a doubt. If it’s this windy, why is this guy okay?
“Yoohyun-ssi, are you not cold?”
“Yes, I’m fine.”
I took a closer look at his attire: a thin coat on the outside, and it’s not that thick on the inside.
“Does that coat also have cold resistance?”
“No, it’s just a normal coat. I don’t usually wear items like that.”
Oh, I see. It’s simply because he didn’t get cold easily….
He didn’t seem to have come here for anything in particular. I mean, there’s no reason to be on a deserted beach at night. We just walked slowly, looking at the silent night sea. Something about Ki Yoohyun’s steady gait and white jawline caught my eye.
Anyway, it was nice to come to an open beach. Before I regressed, I saved money to go on a trip with my friend Shin Mira during the summer holidays, but in the end, I couldn’t spend the money and returned to the past. I never expected to be here at this time of day.
“Do you come here often?”
“Sometimes, jus for a little break.”
With those words, I suddenly remembered a boy who told me he wanted to go to Jeju Island. I had told Ki Yoohyun this once. Awakening doesn’t make you a different person. I wanted to tell him that no matter what happened to him, that boy from the past still existed.
“…….”
My head was spinning. As I remained still and allowed the sea breeze to wash over me, Ki Yoohyun suddenly spoke, “Did something happen?”
“Huh? No?”
Instead of asking again, Ki Yoohyun smiled bitterly and pointed to the corner of my eye with his hand. Ah, he noticed my puffy eyes after all.
“It’s just…..”
“….Just?”
After learning about my grandmother and getting past my overwhelming emotions, I was left with one concern.
“I’m just, uh, trying to find myself, like, figure out my career?”
“Finding yourself?”
“I should have figured it out when I was in school, but I missed the timing and ended up like this.”
My words were mixed with laughter, and Ki Yoohyun smiled along with me. His eyes, however, were still fixed on me. I fidgeted, realising that he had caught me trying to gloss over things as a joke.
I opened my mouth a little awkwardly, “I don’t know why I opened a cafe, why I have the skill to make coffee, what does everyone expect from me … my head hurts from thinking about all that.”
“That’s why your face is a mess.”
“What? Is it really that bad? I mean, sure, I looked like soaked bread dough the last time I checked, but at least I washed my face three times.”
“No, I didn’t mean that….”
“…….”
Silence descended on the conversation.
Ki Yoohyun reached for my hand. This time, he didn’t withdraw his hand halfway through, but gently brushed the corner of my eye. His gloved hand was cold from the wind, but I found the coolness of his touch pleasant. I absentmindedly leaned my cheek against his palm.
Ki Yoohyun looked taken aback, but didn’t move his hand away. I could almost feel his pulse beating fast through the thin leather glove.
He asked softly, “….and what is the conclusion that you got?”
His hand was still on my cheek. I suddenly felt a little shy, even though our bare skin wasn’t touching.
“Uh ……. well, I guess I’ll do what I want in the end.”
Unable to endure the embarrassment, I quickly pulled away. The cold-resistant shawl seemed to be working very well. Not only my body, but also the tips of my hair were warm and burning.
I continued to speak slowly. The more I spoke, the clearer it became as my thoughts organised themselves.
“Because that’s really all it came down to in the first place, doing the things I want to do. How can you possibly find a reason for everything you do? I just do it as if I was born to do it.”
Although a part of me remained saddened by the affection I couldn’t repay.
“It’s not like I can slay the demons like Yoohyun-ssi or save the world in a grand fashion, so I guess I can just follow my heart when it comes to my career path.”
“Haha.” Ki Yoohyun laughed, looking like he really wanted to make a joke with that, but wasn’t going to right now.
After walking along the road beside the beach for a while, we came to a convenience store. There were almost no other tourists enjoying a night stroll like us. It was night time and off-season, so it was quiet, but it seemed like a crowded place during the high season.
Ki Yoohyun went into the convenience store and bought a can of hot green tea. There was a bench nearby, so we sat down and opened the can. It was warm.
I took a sip of the canned green tea and said, “Thank you for bringing me here, it feels very comforting.”
Then my hand slipped and I spilled some of the green tea in the can. I jumped up from the bench in surprise.
“Ouch!”
Phew, I almost got in trouble. I wore cold-resistant shawl, so I don’t want to get it dirty.
“Are you okay?”
However, Ki Yoohyun misunderstood and grabbed my hand, thinking I had burned it.
“It’s okay, it didn’t burn me, I’m fine.”
“Ah … okay.”
Smiling shyly, he tried to let go of my hand, but instead of letting go, I held it tighter … because I had noticed something.
“Hey, what’s this?”
“…….”
My grip on his hand tightened, causing him to fluster. His earlobes reddened slightly and he stammered, “Rieul-ssi, my hand … please let go.”
But I didn’t let go of his hand. Rather, I held it tightly so that he couldn’t easily release it.
Then I slipped my other hand into his sleeve. The bare skin of his wrist touched mine. The coolness of my fingers startled him, and the red in his earlobe deepened.
“Wait a minute.”
“That ……. that’s difficult.”
I nudged the end of the glove with my finger. He didn’t dare to brush my hand away, and as he tensed at my touch, I hooked his index finger and pulled the glove off in one swift motion.
“……!”
And I was surprised.
It was exactly what I expected.
Blood? …… No, this was not it.
There was a speckled black mark on Ki Yoohyun’s hand. At first glance, it looked like a bruise, but it was darker and rougher. The skin in the discoloured area had become hardened. Even from a casual glance, it didn’t look like a normal condition.
I also pulled up Ki Yoohyun’s sleeve. The black marks had spread to the top of his elbow. The marks looked like scars where a giant monster had bitten his arm.
“What is this?”
“……It’s nothing.”
“It’s not nothing. Yoohyun, did it hurt?”
“No, it doesn’t hurt. It looks ugly, so please return my gloves.”
Ki Yoohyun took his glove back as if it was nothing. But there’s no way something like that would be nothing.
Hold on. When fighting the boss in the Monster Branch Dungeon, didn’t Ki Yoohyun seem to be in pain for a while? I made a guess that bordered on certainty.
“White light … was it caused by that skill?”
