Chapter 173
“You’re alive?”
His sudden question left Lee Suhyuk speechless.
Just moments ago, he had been wondering how to start the conversation. But with that one question, the man erased all his worries.
“No.”
Suhyuk shook his head.
“I’m not exactly alive.”
“If you’re not alive, does that mean you’re dead?”
“Well, I was dead back then.”
“What are you talking about?”
Seeing him chuckle slightly brought a brief sense of relief. But soon enough, upon noticing his pale face and his half-tattered state, Suhyuk snapped back to reality.
It was a miracle that he was able to breathe and converse even now. Hwang Gyuseong’s condition was so dire that it wouldn’t have been surprising if he had ceased breathing at any moment.
“Well, that’s how it is.”
His words held countless meanings. He continued speaking without any sign of pain or hardship.
“Don’t waste your energy trying to save me. I don’t plan on wasting my time trying to stay alive either. It’s too precious to squander on futile efforts, right?”
At his words, Suhyuk stopped what he was doing.
He understood. It was impossible to save him.
Even if An Jiyoung, their team’s best healer, had been there instead of him, she wouldn’t have been able to save him with certainty either.
True.
Wasting precious time and energy on an impossible task was just too unfortunate.
Eventually, Suhyuk withdrew his hands and asked,
“What happened?”
“I got double-crossed, like an idiot. This time, it was by that guy’s brother.”
“Lee Wonjae?”
Suhyuk’s eyes flashed with intensity. He had asked with certainty, but Gyuseong brought up something entirely different, likely pressed for time.
“By the way, I’m relieved…”
He smiled brightly, a stark contrast to his dying state.
“I thought I couldn’t keep my promise… to avenge you.”
Each word was a struggle to get out.
“As long as you’re alive… it means I didn’t entirely fail.”
“Idiot, who asked you to keep such a promise?”
Frustrated, Suhyuk regretted his words immediately.
Now wasn’t the time to act on shallow emotions. Bowing his head deeply, Suhyuk bit his lip.
“No, forget what I just said. I’m sorry. Honestly, thank you so much. Really…”
“Don’t worry about it… It’s not a misunderstanding. If it were me… I would’ve cursed too. Ha-ugh.”
Gyuseong’s sudden burst of laughter caused him to cough up blood, which he must have been holding back.
Realizing time was running short, he stopped laughing and continued,
“Do you… remember? ‘The event that will start eventually’.”
“Why bring that up now?”
“I can’t explain in detail…”
Gyuseong seemed aware that his time was almost up.
“Try to meet… the Three Demon Kings if you get a chance. Then… you might understand.”
“Why mention this all of a sudden?”
“Just, do as… you’re told, ugh!”
Gyuseong’s blood splattered onto Suhyuk’s face.
Lee Suhyuk tried to engrave every single word into his mind instead of worrying about his own condition.
“Yes. Got it. Understood.”
“You… understood? Wow, damn. I’m… dying here.”
The light in Hwang Gyuseong’s eyes gradually dimmed as he groaned in pain.
“One last thing… this is really… important….”
“Take your time.”
“Hyomin… was captured by Ilsoo.”
“…!!!”
Lee Suhyuk was so shocked that he briefly forgot Hwang Gyuseong was dying right in front of him.
Lee Hyomin. She was one of the four people whom he had assumed to have been killed along with Hwang Gyuseong.
Unlike Shiwoo or Yerang, there was no clue about her; he naturally assumed she was dead.
“She’s alive? Then?”
“She is… alive.”
She was alive. Lee Suhyuk’s mind heated up at those words.
Why hadn’t Hwang Gyuseong shown up for more than 20 years? Why did Shiwoo and Yerang not reveal the truth of that day?
Those questions began to unravel.
“That crazy bastard-.”
“But… it’s a relief.”
Before his anger fully ignited, Lee Suhyuk’s pupils shook as he looked into the dimming eyes of the dying Hwang Gyuseong.
“Because… you… came back….”
“…What?”
“Now… Hyomin…”
He couldn’t finish the sentence.
The light went out in his dead eyes. Eyes that Lee Suhyuk had seen countless times before, cold and lifeless. His hand moved instinctively.
“… Hey.”
Crackle-.
He shot lightning into Hwang Gyuseong’s chest.
“Don’t die.”
Zap-!
Hwang Gyuseong’s body convulsed and shot up from the ground.
Hoping for his heart to beat again, hoping for a miracle, just momentarily.
“I barely made it back… as you said….”
Zzzzt-!
Lee Suhyuk continued to hit Hwang Gyuseong’s heart with bolts of lightning.
“What do I do if you leave now, you bastard-!”
* * *
Had his body ever felt this comfortable?
The temperature was just right. The air was as soft as down feathers. The monochrome scenery was neither dazzling nor dark.
Standing in the middle of it all, Hwang Gyuseong couldn’t comprehend why he was there.
Suddenly.
“Ah, I see, I’m dead.”
Realizing his situation, he scratched his head with his thick hands.
There probably isn’t a person who hasn’t wondered what dying feels like. People think about death because they either want to die or want to live.
“So, this is it. Nothing special.”
In that sense, it was anticlimactic.
He expected something more extraordinary. But at the end of life, there was nothing.
Thud-.
He started to walk, determined to follow the path to its end, even though he did not know where it would lead.
It felt as though he was taking steps in place, as the scenery did not change. He began to wonder whether this path had an end.
How long had he been walking like that?
“Huh?”
For the first time, he saw something different.
Faint human-like silhouettes appeared. They waved at him.
‘Do they know me?’
He could not see their faces clearly. The only distinguishing characteristic was that the person in the middle was very tall.
He needed to get closer to be sure. The silhouettes seemed to be saying something to him.
His pace quickened.
As the distance between them lessened, their forms became more defined.
“… Huh?”
Three familiar faces greeted him.
The tall one in the middle became clear first.
“Suhoon-.”
To the left stood a small and talkative guy.
“Minjae-.”
To the right was someone he had liked for a long time.
“… Jiyoung.”
They waved at him.
Suhoon appeared delighted, minjae seemed on the verge of tears, and Jiyoung looked angry.
Thump-.
He ran. He had never run this fast before, with all his strength.
The distance closed quickly. As he had hoped, they were his friends, Hwang Gyuseong’s friends.
“Heyyyy-!”
He shouted as he rushed toward them, hugging all three at once.
For a while, he could do nothing but suppress the emotions surging inside him.
It took a long time before he loosened his arms from around them.
“I must really be dead, seeing you guys again.”
-Or this is all just an illusion.
He did not voice the doubt that flashed through his mind. If it was true, he feared this fantastic illusion would vanish the moment he spoke it.
Had he really met people who had died, or was it just an exceptionally realistic illusion because he knew them so well?
As expected, Jiyoung was the first to express anger.
“Are you happy with this?”
“Aren’t you glad to see me?”
“Do you think we’d be happy that you’re dead?”
“Suhoon seems pretty happy.”
At that comment, Suhoon’s face twitched with a guilty expression.
“It’s been a while. It happened without thinking.”
“And you can laugh right now?”
“Gladness is gladness. Jiyoung, you should smile too. Smile~”
“Yes, Jiyoung, calm down. Gyuseong tried… very hard.”
Choked up-.
He tried very hard.
Something boiled inside him at Minjae’s added words.
He had fought tooth and nail against the demons to keep one promise. He had saved Hyomin and isolated himself for decades to prevent Shiwoo and Yerang from being tainted by his corruption.
It was lonely and painful.
In truth, he wanted to come back.
To this place where he could never return again.
“W-wait? Hey, he’s crying?”
Hwang Gyuseong cried loudly.
When things were so hard, not a single tear had fallen.
But seeing these three faces, his tears flowed uncontrollably as if his tear ducts were broken.
Swish-.
“… You did well.”
Jiyoung embraced the sobbing Hwang Gyuseong.
“You really did well, Gyuseong. Thank you.”
The tears didn’t stop and it felt like his throat was tearing apart.
Jiyoung didn’t try to stop him from crying. Instead, she gently patted his back as if saying it was okay to cry more.
Hwang Gyuseong, who had been crying in Jiyoung’s arms for a long time, thought.
He retracted his words that it was nothing.
* * *
Naturally, Hwang Gyuseong’s heart never beat again.
Lee Suhyuk sat there for a while, blankly staring down at Hwang Gyuseong’s face.
“… He’s smiling.”
He didn’t know how he himself was feeling. Hwang Gyuseong had the happiest smile Suhyuk had ever seen.
It was thanks to him.
Emerging from the shock, being able to get up again.
“Alright. You go first.”
Hwang Gyuseong had left, leaving all his burdens behind.
If left here, Hwang Gyuseong’s body would fall into the hands of Blue Zone and Murim.
They would probably take pictures, releasing them, and perhaps even mark him as a traitor and display him.
Crackle-!
Whoosh-.
Lee Suhyuk snapped his fingers, causing sparks around Hwang Gyuseong’s body. The continuous sparks set the body on fire.
Watching his friend’s body burn brightly, Suhyuk continued the words he hadn’t said earlier.
“I’ll take care of Hyomin.”
Considering his personality, it was a miracle he had endured until now.
He probably couldn’t act recklessly for Hyomin’s safety.
“Don’t worry. I’m better at holding back than you. I won’t do anything foolish.”
He wanted to storm into the Blue Zone right now, grab Kim Ilsoo by the collar, and demand Hyomin’s release.
But he knew he couldn’t do that.
Even with the same level of power, the one holding the hostage had a significant advantage. Currently, he couldn’t even face Blue Zone, let alone Kim Ilsoo.
Nevertheless.
“It probably won’t take long.”
Lee Suhyuk promised his burning friend.
Just as he had spent decades keeping his promise to him, he too would do the same.
He sensed people slowly approaching from afar.
There was no more time to delay. It was time to conclude the farewell.
“Rest well. I’ll be back again.”
Biting his lip hard enough to draw blood, he turned away.
And belatedly, he added the words his friend might have been waiting to hear.
“Next time, with Shiwoo, Yerung, and Hyomin. All together.”
TL’s Corner:
Fuck, I feel emotional with this chapters. There are invisible ninjas cutting onions somewhere.