episode_0103

There is a rumbling sound and the bus moves.

Not long ago, something big happened, but people’s daily lives have recovered and are functioning again.

It’s hard to say that my vitality has completely returned, but I think I’ve returned to my daily life to some extent.

Although people’s faces are still lackluster and they react in surprise when they make eye contact with people around them, they still continue to live.

And a boy who attracts attention just by walking. Sejun Han was sitting in the back seat of the bus, feeling uneasy, forcing himself to look out the window.

─Uh, is that person by any chance?

─I’ve seen this on TV. Isn’t that Han Se-jun?

─It must be real! It’s Han Sejun! Wow!

Since all events took place only in Ellada and people lived there, many people got used to it and forgot about it, but for the general public, Elm Academy is a dream school.

And even for the academy students attending there, it was something they would do as if they were celebrities popular in society.

“You are Sejun Han, right? Please sign! I’m a fan!”

“Wow! It’s really Han Sejun, he’s just like the one you see on TV! Jooyoung! Come quickly and get my autograph too!”

“Uh, ahaha. Yes, hello.”

He has an innocently handsome face and a solid body built up through hard training, plus the reputation of being a social celebrity.

Everywhere he passed, people of all ages and genders flocked to him, just like celebrities flocking sasaeng fans, and it was to the point where I was completely shocked.

“Everyone, I’m sorry, but I have to go somewhere, so can’t we just stop here?”

“Eh, please just do it for me!”

“Take a selfie together just once! Mr. Han Sejun! Please show me this skill, that fireworks are roaring!”

“Kyaaa! Can you strengthen me? I want to give it a try.”

Of course, it’s not that he didn’t expect this.

Originally, I had planned to take the subway and transfer lines several times to get to Incheon, where he lived, but considering the above, I chose to take the bus where I would meet as few people as possible along the way.

However, when I thought about it, the problem was that it wasn’t much different. If I had to be honest, it was better than the subway, where I had to constantly bump into people.

Sejun sighed softly as he scribbled his name with a pen in the notebook the fan held out, saying he should have taken a taxi as recommended.

‘I think I know why the Dean doesn’t come out of the Dean’s office often.’

After making a fuss at the bus stop, I was eventually able to catch an intercity bus.

Of course, he just stared blankly out the window, forcing himself to ignore the gazes pouring in on him.

Sejun, who was extremely tired, was giving off the vibe of “don’t come near me anymore”, so the people on the bus could only glance at him.

That’s why the girl sitting next to Sejun seemed to be going through a great emotional conflict, and was making a funny face by narrowing her eyes, then frowning, then opening her mouth, then closing her mouth again.

If other people had seen it, it might have been a very interesting sight since it was a girl who looked quite cute and had a pretty style.

In any case, the man in question was not paying any attention to the girl sitting next to him, so it was a very sad sight for the girl.

Cat talk~

I saw a message on my smartphone, so I slowly picked it up and saw several greetings from my team members.

It seemed like they were talking briefly as they said goodbye to each other as they left for their hometowns, but Sejun was unable to read the messages as he was surrounded by people.

─Jun! Why is there no reply? Why are you saying hello? Is this because we caught all the fish now? huh? (*･д-*)~@

─Muriel, don’t be like that. Sejun must be busy too.

─It would be unfair if I were the only one to have a good trip. I’m getting on a plane soon!

─It’s obvious. Isn’t he probably surrounded by people right now? ( ´̈ ᵕ `͈) Just looking at it, Sejun doesn’t seem like he can turn down a request for an autograph.

─Yue is right. Looking at Twitter right now, the hashtag “Han Se-jun appears in Gangbuk, Seoul” is all over the place. Ugh.

─Really? I wonder if Jun deserves it hehe.

“Keuhm.”

Sejun tries to straighten his wrinkled expression and forcibly stares at his smartphone to send a reply.

─Sorry, I didn’t see the group chat.

─So, I told you to take a taxi. You’re taking the bus to save a few pennies. A person who receives a lot of dignity maintenance fees from the leader.

─You were originally going to take the subway, right? If that were the case, it would have been more shocking.

─But does signing autographs count as volunteer work? That’s not the case, right?

─Of course not, Tania. (=’ :’)

─Hmm. Still, I thought it might be possible to provide something like public support. It was unfortunate for Sejun.

At that time, Sejun was talking with them on his smartphone for a while.

“Hey?”

“… .”

At some point, the girl sitting next to me seemed to have gained a lot of courage and opened her mouth to Sejun.

However, Sejun did not give any answer as he had been sitting in silence until now, probably because he did not hear her voice.

“Hey, over there.”

When there was no response from Sejun for a few seconds, the girl straightened up with a slightly surprised expression.

I call Sejun once again, but I still get no answer from him.

The girl narrowed her eyes and shook her head at Sejun’s attitude, which was now considered rude.

“Hey, I don’t know if you don’t like being bothered, but isn’t it rude to ignore them like that when they keep calling you? If nothing else, I’m having trouble right now because of that person.”

He spat it out like a sharp shot.

As if the wind had brought him to his senses, Sejun quickly looked around and made eye contact with the girl.

“Uh, ah, sorry. I’m a bit distracted by something else. I didn’t mean to ignore it.”

“… .”

“I’m sorry. Oh, do you need an autograph? Please give it to me as an apology.”

Sejun just thought normally and said that. No, I was trying to say that, but I blinked.

“Huh?”

The reason was because the person in question was looking down at himself with an expression of contempt mixed with a bit of patheticness.

“… That’s not it, it’s all there. I was trying to tell you that.”

“This is the final stop. Guest.”

I can hear the girl’s gloomy voice, as if the illusion has been shattered, and the bus driver in the distance, leaning his arms on the seat and looking in this direction.

The bus Sejun was riding had already arrived at the terminal, and all the passengers except Sejun and the girl next to him had long since disappeared.

“Ah, ah… Sorry.”

Feeling embarrassed and wanting to hide in a mouse hole, Sejun hurriedly packed his bag, got up from his seat, and almost ran out of the bus.

I thought I heard the bus driver giggling behind me, but I didn’t have time to pay attention to it.

Anyway, it was that kind of day.

─Oh Sejun, was there also a hatchet soldier? A strange tweet came up.

─Oh please.

*

Sigh.

The old iron door opened and Sejun stepped inside.

“Dad, I’m here.”

It’s the same as the past.

An apartment with a musty smell due to humidity, a rusty iron door, a rough exterior wall plastered with coarse cement that looks as if it will collapse, and the door lock password still the same.

The house he lived in with his father before entering the academy was in the same dire straits.

Why is he still living like this, even though he says he wants to benefit himself?

Sejun was so excited that he threw his bag at the front door and walked into the room without hesitation.

“I came.”

It’s a single-room apartment with a total area of just over 10 pyeong. Sejun opened the master bedroom door wide.

There.

“… Eng.”

Sejun, who was a little angry and bit his lip as he entered the house, lost his composure and made a foolish noise.

The feeling of getting angry and asking why I was still in such a bad mood had already disappeared.

“Oh, are you here, son? When I heard you were coming, I prepared a table for you.”

His father was there, tilting his head and looking at Sejun with a disdainful smile that only a proud winner could wear.

“You can’t be a nobleman. I knew it anyway. Less than 10 minutes have passed since delivery. Come on, eat.”

“What is this?”

“No, my son also ordered two so that he could eat as much as he wanted.”

There were two chickens placed in front of it. Glistening, delicious chicken with warm steam rising as if it had just been delivered.

Actually, looking at the packaging, I didn’t specifically order two chickens, but it seemed like they were showing off by using what I originally ordered from the Two Chicken brand.

Sejun, unable to say anything due to the natural response, sat around the table and blankly watched his father tearing off a chicken leg.

I’m sure there was something I wanted to say to my father when I met him, but now I can’t think of anything.

Just naturally. It felt like we had returned so naturally to the past when we lived together.

“No… What is that?”

“Are you not eating? You know this guy eats the legs first, right? If you don’t eat, your legs will disappear?”

His father says as he opens a can of beer and hands it to Sejun. One hand is still holding the chicken leg.

In an unknown situation that was unfolding so naturally, I randomly grabbed a can of beer and took a sip.

It’s not even proper beer, it’s cheap sparkling wine. A product from that manufacturer that costs less than 2,000 won each.

It may have been a little absurd, but the rule is that when you drink alcohol, you have to pick up a snack, so Sejun unconsciously picked up a small piece of chicken and brought it to his mouth.

Sejun felt a sense of nostalgia because it had been a long time since he had real, original Korean fried chicken, rather than the overseas-style chicken you can get at Elada.

“No, wait a minute.”

Sejun, who was calmly chewing chicken, suddenly realized something and came to his senses.

Although he was so embarrassed that he forgot about it for a moment, he was clearly trying to say something to the painted man in front of him.

“Aren’t you eating?”

When I looked at my father like that, he was acting like he always did, but somehow he had a smile filled with deep thoughts and a smile that cut off my thoughts.

My face is clearly smiling, but why do I feel this way?

is it.

Obviously, this person would find it awkward to be in that kind of atmosphere.

“… Did your father know everything?”

“… .”

At that moment, a clicking sound was heard. The can of beer his father had been drinking was slammed down on the table.

Then he turns his gaze from Sejun and looks at the TV.

There was a rerun of a weekend soap opera that ended a long time ago, full of new and shocking dramas, on the television, but I didn’t seem to be looking at the TV.

At that moment, Sejun felt something.

The atmosphere somewhere changes, and although it is very subtle, the mana around it moves even slightly.

“When did you know? Did the dragon head tell you that?”

“No. That’s not what the dean said. devil. These were the guys who called themselves devils.”

“I see. In the end, it came to you too.”

Somewhere, the feeling of his father’s regret flows into Sejun through the mana around him.

His father was neither an awakened nor trained to manipulate mana.

Nevertheless, the fact that he can do this is probably proof that his father, like Sejun, is a person who has been artificially bred for a long time.

It’s true, although we often forget it due to its rough behavior and often rude behavior.

“… So what is your choice? Did you finally decide to follow their words?”

“No.”

That much I could say with certainty. I have no intention of following their will.

That judgment was so clear that it was the one truth he had decided on that he had no intention of breaking, no matter how much external pressure came, even if someone else came.

“I’m going to change it. The dean decided to do so. So all I have to do is follow him.”

“… I know that the lizard is strong, but will it really be that way?”

“It is possible. It’s absolutely possible. I’m not even thinking about failure. If he does it, it will happen. Because he is that kind of person.”

He will help himself there too. We will all help. So I never think about failure.

Sejun swallowed the words that followed.

I can feel my father’s gaze turning to those words.

There is nothing to be ashamed of for looking up to the heavens for your choices. So there is no reason to avoid eye contact. In this way, his gaze filled with determination clashed endlessly with the gaze of the demon of suspicion.

In a way, the man in front of him is also a victim.

To be honest, it’s not a good thing to be unemployed and have your son earn your living expenses like a beggar – Sejun has no intention of giving up on this – but in the end, the reason he ended up like this is because of the truth he realized.

When Sejun sleeps in bed, he puts the blanket under the bed and sleeps on top of the bed, but isn’t he still his father?

He may have done many absurd things, but he was still a father to some extent.

“Yes. Actually, ever since the dragon head came out into this world, I have been wondering if he would have done something like this. I haven’t heard any news about Northmund from the demons.”

“Yes. Even the demons didn’t seem to know anything about the Dean. Because I said the plan was going astray.”

Sejun said that, picked up the can and took a sip of beer. A cool, refreshing feeling spreads through my body, and I begin to feel energized once again.

“Devils who try to block humans’ free will will ultimately fail. So, father, you don’t have to worry either.”

“… I see.”

“So, live a little properly now. Don’t live like this. Because my father is no longer a being raised. I mean, live freely like a human being.”

“Huh, look at this bastard. Now I’m preaching to Abby.”

“Of course, right?”

Sejun grinned when he saw that.

And because he could see the darkness gradually washing away from the face of the man receiving the smile, Sejun was able to smile with endless joy.

Then, he snapped his fingers and lit up the flame of his special ability, Ganghwa.

“… Because I have the ability.”

“That’s so fucking unlucky, Saeki.”

Even though I heard it, I was a little embarrassed, so I giggled and nodded.

It wasn’t long before he realized that all four chicken legs were gone, so he frowned and glared at his father.