A black hand flung out and grabbed him by the neck. It felt like his head was then being driven into a bucket of icy water.
Before, he could not understand what Yeorum was saying but now he could.
Perhaps she was trying to postpone the farewell. It was just that she was expressing it in a roundabout way with her crude words.
Seeing it from that angle, he could also understand why Yeorum was acting so strange during the fight.
“Yeorum.”
“…Yeah.”
“I will never let you die.”
“…Nn. Right?”
However, the farewell was unavoidable nor should it be avoided. Yu Jitae had to turn her request down no matter how.
“But, there is no reason to teach you anything else.”
“Hu, huh?”
She seemed confused by his sudden words.
“Apart from the psychological element, you were well above Javier. You will be able to survive after going back. I planned it, and you followed it well. There is no uncertainty there.”
“…”
“What you lack can be replaced by something else. In fact, I had something prepared a few years ago all for this moment.”
“…”
Yu Jitae took out a sword glowing with primary colours from his dimensional storage and gave it to her. The moment it showed itself, the surrounding scenery lost its colours and started being tainted into gray.
It was the longsword which was at the pinnacle of Level 4 artifacts, and was the weapon that had been used by the catastrophe-ranked demon, Noah.
[Dream Eater]
He handed her the sword which he had been planning to give at the farewell.
“Here. This is my last present.”
Just like that, his stubborn yet non-excessive refusal forced the clinging child to release her grip.
“…”
Yeorum did not reply nor were her eyes on the dream-eating sword. Her red eyes were instead facing the ashen eyes of the man, and they remained there for a long time.
Her eyes slanted down, before relaxing and eventually coming to a close.
Lowering her gaze to the ground, her mind continued an endless trail of thought as memories brought upon memories. Before long, incomprehension floated into her eyes and she tried to distance herself as much as possible from Yu Jitae. Her eyes turned to the empty plot of land.
Hesitantly opening her mouth several times, she closed them time after time and couldn’t find the right words to say. She uneasily licked her lips and bit onto the tip of her tongue.
Finally, after taking in the fact that it will be unavoidable, her eyes slanted down as her doubt left her mouth as a small mutter.
“…Why, does it have to be now?”
With that, she sealed her mouth. As if that was all she had to ask, she closed her mouth while earnestly wishing for his honest response.
Why, out of everything, is it now that they have to separate? That was her question…
Kaeul and Gyeoul had asked the same thing. ‘Why do we have to leave so quickly in such a hurry?’ In response, he gave all sorts of excuses to persuade both the kids and himself.
“I’ll be honest…”
There definitely was a reason why he had to make them leave soon, which he did not want to believe in himself.
“There is a music box in my room and I occasionally turn the tape. It plays a nameless song which sounds like a European countryside folk song. It didn’t make me feel anything but from an unknown point in time, it started to sound melancholic.”
At times, feelings were very complicated.
“I have never felt greed in front of food. I can survive without eating and I felt no joy from flavour. But one day when someone gave me a piece of a biscuit, it tasted very sweet.”
There were some phrases that could not be fully expressed even if one was to stay honest.
“When I saw you crumble during the fight against Javier, I was seriously annoyed, thinking what this stupid thing you were doing was. In the past, I never got annoyed no matter what you did, but now that is not the case. I started holding expectations of you.”
And lastly, disgustingly enough, he was feeling a deep romantic emotion for Bom.
These human emotions stemming from daily lives were drawing an extremely exponential graph. They were curling upward at a fearsome speed, and the more he treasured them, the bigger his sense of guilt became. Hug them tighter and the blade would pierce deeper into his heart.
Like that, right now,
His emotions were dashing towards ruin.
“That is why I’m sending you back. While I can.”
In other words, if he didn’t send them back now, he would not be able to send the kids back home.
Forever.
.
.
.
Yeorum chucked his present. Unable to hold herself back, she yelled but he could not remember what exactly she said. He suggested they go back to Unit 301 but Yeorum did not go.
Sitting on the ground, she continued smoking cigarettes throughout the night. There was a whole pile of cigarette buds next to where she was sitting.
Time did not wait for her.
By the time she came to herself, it was time to go back.
Taking the kids, Yu Jitae headed to the [Dimensional Cruise] as Yeorum followed the kids onto the ship. While Yu Jitae was briefly explaining the facilities, the kids etched his explanation into their eyes and ears while nodding their heads, but Yeorum could not do so.
Even when they were sharing their last meal, Yeorum did not say anything.
“You’re doomed ahjussi. Do you know we are actually very worried about you?”
“Why would you worry about me.”
“Because you’re an old man living alone…!”
The kids chuckled and the protector followed suit with its growls. Yu Jitae also gave an empty smile in return.
Their laughter ended with a snap. When Gyeoul stopped giggling, Bom and Kaeul also stopped immediately after her. Meanwhile, the protector who had been chuckling until the end without being able to read the mood, belatedly stopped its laughter.
They suddenly turned quiet.
“…What do you mean, old man.”
“Why. It’s true. You are an old man.”
“No.”
“It’s doomed. It’s over. How are you going to live without us ahjussi. You have no friends either. It’ll be boring.”
“Yeah. It will be quite boring.”
While they were quietly sharing a conversation, Bom took a small plastic bag from her pocket.
“Ahjussi. Give me the pocket watch.”
“Huh? Alright.”
The pocket watch Bom gave him as a present was always in his pocket. When he handed that over, Bom opened it and placed photos inside.
“These are the pictures we took during our last trip.”
“I see…”
Sliding it open, he looked at the photos. There were now more than two pictures of them.
“…”
When things turned silent again, Gyeoul walked up to him with outstretched arms. He tried to raise the child and let her sit on his lap but instead of sitting down, she stood on his knees and brought her head towards his head.
It was a familiar situation.
The child’s forehead was aligned to his forehead.
Her deep-blue eyes were the same as before and so was her pouty gaze. However, after blinking her eyes at the distance of touching foreheads, she did not smile brightly like before.
Gyeoul squinted her eyes.
“…”
She pulled her head away from him so he placed the child back on the ground.
“Ahh, instead of doing this…! Let’s have desserts, desserts!”
To shift the awkward atmosphere, Kaeul opened the paper bag she had prepared. Inside were all sorts of sweets including fruits, cookies, macarons and a cake.
He shared them with the kids.
Just like what he had confessed to Yeorum just then, he now understood what it felt to taste something sweet. However, he still did not know how it could brighten up his mood like what he heard before…
While the kids were poking their heads and inspecting the external design of the Dimensional Cruise,
When it was just the two of them, Bom leaned her head on his shoulder.
She then held onto his hand.
Her small hand was quite warm, so he returned the grip.
“Ahjussi.”
Bom released her grip when Kaeul called him while turning back with a flick.
“You have to live well, okay? Please stay healthy.”
“Yeah. You too. Be happy.”
After her was Gyeoul who opened her mouth with a sigh while fidgeting with her fingers.
“…When you miss me,
“…Please look, …at the memory crystal.”
Bending his legs and his back, he met his eyes with the child’s. Caressing her blue hair that had a cap placed on top, he gave a nod.
“Alright. I’ll watch it.”
Until the end, Yeorum did not say anything. Instead, she was the first to carry her feet to head to the cruise ship as Kaeul and Gyeoul followed their unni into the cruise.
Lastly, Bom walked up to him and even though the kids were still watching them, she kissed him on his cheek.
Her grass-coloured eyes were full of sorrow as she gazed at him.
Although there were a lot of words embedded into her gaze,
Bom turned her body without leaving any words behind.
Like that, the kids were finishing off their last greetings but Yeorum stayed silent the whole time.
“Unni, are you not going to say bye?”
Kaeul couldn’t help but ask her.
“Me? I’m, well…”
Yeorum mumbled.
“I…”
Is that really enough.
“…”
In that moment, when the thought that this would be the last moment flashed past her head, Yeorum felt an emotion soaring from the depths of her heart.
Looking at her two younger sisters, Yeorum thought they were turning themselves away from the farewell because they were young and foolish.
But she was wrong. She herself might have been the one that had been turning away from the farewell until the very end.
Yeorum felt stifled.
The kids were all inside the cruise shaking their hands at him. None of them were crying – every one of them was smiling.
“Thank you for everything!”
Kaeul shouted and he waved back. Bom and Gyeoul also waved their hands while swallowing their tears.
Soon, the cruise was activated and the door slowly closed in front of her.
This was the end.
This was their last moment.
When the fact that this was their ‘farewell’ finally reached her heart,
In that instant, Yeorum–
She felt the past memories flooding in like a tidal wave.
“…”
When she was crying at her first defeat – his words offering her to become his disciple.
When she was afraid of the uncontrollable shivering of her heart – his face as he stayed next to her under the moonlight.
When she stumbled like a newborn deer, unable to walk by herself – his hands that held onto her as they walked together.
‘Yes. You did very well.’ His words that verified her life for the very first time.
The voice consoling her when she was anxious from her competitive mindset; the time she learned gambling from him; those joyous times; all those gestures when awkwardly dancing together; the sweet fragrance of alcohol; the blood he shed to create the same wounds as her when she was crying from the unfathomable pain, and all the hardships she overcame holding onto his hand.
All of them resurfaced in her mind.
When the one who had contemplated through all those moments for her survival – as the one who gave him all the good things of the world, who together with her had suffered, grieved and yet supported her like an adult and cheered for her–
When her partner that she would never ever find a replacement for in her entire life,
When he was slowly being covered by the closing door,
Unknowingly, Yeorum squeezed through the gap and jumped outside.
“Yeorum!”
In surprise, Bom stopped the ship. Kaeul and Gyeoul also widened their eyes into circles as they gazed at Yeorum.
She couldn’t leave like this.
Even though she had always been on the receiving side, she had never once expressed her gratitude properly. Raising her ego, she had been turning away from it the whole time.
But when she was met with a farewell; when she realised that she would never be able to say anything to him after this.
Yeorum suppressed her emotions and the bursting tears to call him from a distance with a ripped throat.
“Master–!!”
She failed at suppressing them. With tears falling down her cheeks, Yeorum kneeled and crouched down. She then drove her head into the ground. It was a kowtow.
“Thank you, thank you so much for everything–!!”
The teary shout was carrying all the honest thoughts that Yeorum could not convey before. She continued yelling with a lump in her throat.
“Thank you for taking in a retard like me as a disciple–”
While the watching kids were also bursting into uncontrollable tears behind her, Yeorum continued her outburst, so that the words she couldn’t convey would not end up as a regret.
“And thank you for raising me—!!”
Lifting her head again, Yeorum forced a bright smile onto her face that was crumbling from tears.
“I will survive. No matter what!”
Yu Jitae smiled back, and gave a nod.
That was their last moment.
.
.
.
The kids left.