164. When Dawn Finds Us 5

Next to Kim Du-eon stood a man of similar build, though a bit older, and he wasn’t an Arc agent. Yoon Tae-ha lowered her gaze to her tightly tied shoelaces.

Their voices drifted past her.

“The noodle shop in that alley serves pretty spicy dishes. The fried food place two blocks from the hotel isn’t bad either.”

“Have you gotten used to life here?”

“More than before. Anyway, places where people live are all pretty much the same.”

The two men on the descending escalator chatted about dinner as they went down. After confirming that Kim Du-eon and his companion had stepped off the escalator and onto the ground, Yoon Tae-ha immediately teleported.

Since the escalator was open on all sides, finding a landing spot was easy. Passersby, oblivious to the woman who had suddenly appeared, were busy going about their own ways.

Kim Du-eon and his companion didn’t seem as familiar with Cocytus’s geography as she was. After a bit of wandering, they entered an alley filled with restaurants. It was a district where you could frequently see outsiders with swords strapped to their backs.

“So this is what it meant to walk around with one eye closed,” Kim Du-eon’s companion said.

“It’s a headache to deal with them individually. Besides, this land is intertwined with complex interests...”

Yoon Tae-ha maintained a suitable distance and listened carefully to their conversation, but gained little information.

They strolled leisurely down the alley and entered a tavern.

After seeing the backs of the two men choosing ingredients in front of the griddle for the last time, she turned away. The mask, which allowed for near-perfect disguises, didn’t appear infinitely. It was too risky to approach closely and give them a chance to recognize her disguised face.

Was Kim Du-eon moving with Cheon Geon-young? The man just now seemed like a soldier too. Could they have been the ones who attacked the small hive? It looked like they had come down together after finishing their work. And if the battleship was near Cocytus, Cheon Geon-young would have arrived here too.

Having finished her thoughts, Yoon Tae-ha left the alley. Her pace unconsciously quickened. She felt like she was being chased for no reason.

After entering a restroom in a building owned by the Black Lion, she removed her mask and lenses, finally arriving at the hotel lobby.

She blamed herself for being so unprepared for this choice as she got into the elevator. The time to make a decision had arrived too soon.

Did I meet you at the wrong time? I wish I had met you later.

The back of her hand throbbed painfully. She exited the elevator and walked down the softly carpeted hallway to the door where he might be.

As she shed her mask, a layer of her confidence also peeled away, making her hand hesitate on the doorknob. She opened the door in that state. Upon entering the room, she realized without even looking around.

No one was there.

The door clicked shut behind her. It was a mournful sound, signaling the end of some act.

________________________________________

Just before disembarking from the airborne battleship, Kwon Hyuk’s call came in. Cheon Geon-young relayed the information he had obtained through his investigation. Kwon Hyuk expressed satisfaction, saying that using the battleship was worthwhile.

“Yoon Tae-ha, she’s with Baek’s team.”

Cheon Geon-young was convinced. She was innocent, merely trapped in this hellish place because of Professor Yoon, who was her family. The reason she, a survivor of a failed project, remained here was also too simple.

The people she loved. Those she grew up with, who shared similar pains, and thus were cherished. He couldn’t forget the happiness that seeped onto the woman’s lips when she recounted tales of fighting someone as if they were heroic exploits.

What would it feel like to enter that woman’s fence?

The vaguely imagined lovely smile, the excited voice, the trivial pranks that made him anticipate. Cheon Geon-young had experienced it. So he couldn’t return to a world without it.

“I will reveal my identity and recruit her to our side.”

From the other end of the machine, Kwon Hyuk said,

— “Are you already prepared to die? You saw the enemy’s abilities at the school. It could all be a lie. What if Yoon Jeong-hoon turned his granddaughter into a monster that’s only good on the outside?”

Cheon Geon-young said without hesitation,

“How do you trust me?”

— “What?”

“Chairman Cheon Seong-beom also condoned Yoon Jeong-hoon’s experiment. So much so that he sold his grandson.”

— “Are you and that woman the same? You lost your parents because of them.”

“Yoon Tae-ha didn’t kill my parents. She can’t be lumped into the same category as them. I wasn’t the one who said that victims of that project might still be alive in Arc.”

— “Those were my words before I sent you in. Make me regret it.”

The person who should have given her love pushed her, a child, off a cliff without warning. He understood the terror and misery of someone unexpectedly pushed. Could it be her fault that her clothes were dirty from rolling on the ground? She had only crawled to survive.

“Under no circumstances should Yoon Tae-ha be attacked.”

— “Is that an order?”

“She is someone who can bring us far more information than I brought to Changcheon.”

Cheon Geon-young had to get a definite answer from Kwon Hyuk.

“Promise me you won’t attack her.”

After a long hesitation, Kwon Hyuk said there would be no surprise attack on her. Saying that was the most consideration he could offer. Cheon Geon-young ended the communication after that.

He boarded a small airship to descend into the canyon. The flight was short. Cheon Geon-young was among the agents scattering into the city.

Joining the team attacking the research facility after receiving a call from Kim Du-eon was an intentional act. Where would Yoon Tae-ha and her friends go? He thought it would be the research facility.

She was a woman who didn’t lose her composure even when a giant monster suddenly erupted from the ground. Such a woman wore a vest with bulletproof plates and hid several small daggers on her body. It meant that her promise with her friends was not a charming picnic.

If so, he also had to go. To prevent Changcheon from recognizing her as an enemy and attacking her.

Fortunately, Yoon Tae-ha did not appear at the research facility. The mercenaries also briefly appeared and then receded like the tide.

Their identities were still vague. They could have been a cleanup crew sent by the director to eliminate witnesses, or they could have been a third force. Identifying them was crucial, but at that moment, his attention was solely on her.

Cheon Geon-young despaired as he cleared out the enemies in the research facility. It wasn’t because of their numbers. It was because he thought Yoon Tae-ha’s childhood was trapped somewhere within the gloomy facility.

His heart ached with pity and tenderness for her. Soon, the pain turned into a base desire. Only I can truly understand you. He felt self-loathing, but the joy of being able to be her unique existence blinded him.

Cheon Geon-young stopped in front of the hotel room door.

He thought she would be inside. Because he was the one who had delayed. But it didn’t matter. He would tell her. Let’s get out of here. If there’s anything that’s bothering you, I’ll erase it all.

With that resolve, he opened the door.

The dark interior momentarily made Cheon Geon-young mistake it. Had she not returned yet? But when he entered the bedroom, he noticed that one side of the bed was slightly raised. Yoon Tae-ha was buried under the covers.

Seeing her, Cheon Geon-young immediately went to the bathroom. Although he had showered on the battleship to remove the smell of blood and gunpowder, he washed his hands thoroughly with soap again. Until his senses were numb from the cold water flowing from the faucet.

Soon, he came out of the bathroom and gently sat on the side of the bed where she was lying. His gaze was serious as he first looked for any injuries.

It didn’t take him long to notice the injury his esper had sustained. Yoon Tae-ha’s injured hand was neatly placed on the blanket. The bandage wasn’t the kind used for abrasions. It was typically used for deep cuts or when poisoned.

Cheon Geon-young’s side profile turned pale as he ran his hand over the sleeping woman’s hair. You got hurt when I wasn’t there. Leaving me, moving alone. He easily became miserable. He even felt resentment.

He gently brushed a few strands of her hair away, but his insides began to burn black. Just then, Yoon Tae-ha rustled and woke up. Their clouded gazes met in the air.

“I’m back.”

Cheon Geon-young was the first to speak. Yoon Tae-ha slowly returned his greeting.

“I was waiting.”

“...”

“You didn’t come, so I slept first.”

Her eyes, hazy like faded glass, turned towards him. Her closed lips were beautiful, yet they also filled him with fear. Had she perhaps encountered Changcheon at the research facility? Had the soldiers hurt her? Just the thought made his world feel like it was turning upside down.

“It seems you didn’t have a good trip.”

He gestured with his eyes towards the back of her hand.

“My hand is fine. No, it’s not really fine, but...”

Yoon Tae-ha furrowed her brow as if even explaining was tiring. Lying on her side, she covered her eyes with her injured hand.

“A monster brushed against me. It was a strange, unique monster that used odd moves, so they just treated it carefully.”

“Did your friend treat it?”

She answered without looking at him.

“She’s a close friend. She wouldn’t do anything to harm me.”

Her hand returned to her stomach. The woman, with her hands neatly folded, closed her eyes.

He wasn’t someone who wouldn’t notice a gentle push away. Cheon Geon-young reached out a hand, heavily scented with soap. And carefully took hold of her fingertips.

“You don’t need guiding.”

His thoughts were suddenly read. Cheon Geon-young stiffened like a preserved animal. He stared at her without blinking. She must have felt his gaze, but she didn’t even pretend to wake up.

“I’m tired. Guiding wakes me up...”

He stubbornly held her fingers, but Yoon Tae-ha pulled her hand away from his grasp.

“Take off your glasses when you sleep.”

She muttered one last thing, then turned her body slightly, moving out of his line of sight. At her meaningful words, he felt weak and exposed, and brought his hand to his face. His fingers caught on the disguise glasses frame, which had no prescription. He had never worn them normally.

Moving without leaving a trace was his way. It was possible because he had never been off guard or rushed. But today was a failure.