Chapter 55: The Distance Between Us

“Jiwoo, are you busy today?”

“I mean… I’m technically free, but….”

Sung Jiwoo glanced at Yoo Heero. He had planned to give today entirely to Heero, so he couldn’t confidently say he was available. But he’d already let Heero do what he wanted—didn’t that count as fulfilling his obligation?

“Actually, I came because I have a favor to ask of you.”

“A favor?”

“Yes. About that group order we took last time… from the guild.”

“A group order… Helios?”

Helios—one of the TOP 3 guilds in the country, and the guild to which Lee Hyerin and Shin Yoonjae belonged. As Jiwoo expected, both had successfully joined it.

“That guild with your friends in it, right? The really cheerful guy.”

“Yeah.”

From what he heard recently, Hyerin was expected to enter the top 50 in the individual rankings next quarter. It meant she was settling into the guild extremely well.

Jiwoo was benefiting from that too—Hyerin had recommended his shop to her guildmates, and he’d gained a steady flow of regular group customers. Not the occasional drop-in types—actual regulars. So he couldn’t delay their request.

“Jooan and I need to get to work now. Heero, you should go too. You’re not planning to stay ‘missing’ forever, right?”

Heero also clearly had issues he needed to sort out. It seemed best to end today’s escapism here. But Heero stubbornly refused.

“…Go ahead. I’ll wait for you.”

Jiwoo let out a sigh.

“Heero, you know you can’t do that. And besides, you… have to go.”

He had to tell him, no matter how unfortunate it was. The four years Jiwoo had lived, and the four years Heero spent alone in school and in the dungeon—they were completely different. The gap was real.

The world had changed in four years, and so had Jiwoo. Which meant… Heero was burdensome now.

Heero’s memories, still stuck four years in the past. His changed status and position after those four years. Nothing between them could be the same anymore.

“You know Hyung cut you a lot of slack since you just returned….”

Heero gazed silently into Jiwoo’s eyes. Jiwoo didn’t avoid the stare. His reflection shimmered in Heero’s deep brown pupils, as always.

“…Can’t you cut me a little more slack?”

The softly spoken words sounded like pleading… or begging. Heero let out a weak laugh.

Without giving an answer, Jiwoo left the shop. Gam Jooan kept glancing at the abandoned Heero, asking if it was really okay to leave him there like that, but Jiwoo remained silent.

The two eventually reached Helios headquarters.

“Hello, friend!”

Hyerin greeted him brightly at the lobby.

“What’s with the weird greeting?”

“I just felt like trying it. …But you came empty-handed? I thought you’d bring a proposal or some samples.”

“Something came up.”

He actually had planned to bring everything she mentioned. They were already prepared at the shop and Jooan’s workshop.

But he’d left in a rush because of Heero—more accurately, he’d run away. Staring at Heero made him feel a strange guilt.

Back at the shop, Heero let out a hollow laugh. A laugh with a faint edge of irritation. He downed his cold tea in one gulp; its bitter lukewarmness stung faintly.

It was hard. Sung Jiwoo was too difficult.

Heero thought:

It’s only because we don’t have a reason to stay together anymore.

In the past, they’d existed as mentor and mentee. But now there was nothing tying them. That was the problem. Jiwoo could be ruthlessly sharp in matters like this.

He suddenly realized—Jiwoo was someone who could be kind and friendly to anyone, yet never let anyone truly stay by his side.

Jiwoo seemed to believe that “no relationship lasts forever.” Whatever he’d gone through to make him believe that… he never said. He never talked about himself.

He always looked like he was… getting ready to leave. As if something made him anxious or scared.

Heero only wanted one thing:

For Jiwoo to keep seeing him.
For him to continue existing within Jiwoo’s line of sight.

If that happened long enough, he might naturally settle beside him.

Jiwoo seemed to get scared the moment he realized someone was by his side—though he would deny being afraid at all.

The large dog whined and paced restlessly near the doorway, scratching at it. It was pointless behavior.

“Divine beast or not, he’s basically just a big mutt, like Hyung said.”

The resemblance made Heero laugh bitterly.

“…Are you listening?”

While Hyerin rattled off the guild members’ detailed requests, Jiwoo sat there spaced out. She finally slapped the paper down with a thud.

Jiwoo blinked in confusion.

“Why are you so out of it today? You had a lot of customers?”

“No… the shop wasn’t open today.”

“What? It’s not even your day off.”

Hyerin grew serious.

“Heero said he wanted to do something….”

“Heero? He said he wanted to? What did he do?”

It was surprising—Heero had behaved like someone who wanted nothing inside the Gate. Well, except for one thing. Hyerin eyed Jiwoo and he sighed before confessing.

“…He bought me shoes.”

“Shoes? …He bought you shoes?”

Jiwoo looked like he’d been struck. Normally he should be the one giving the returning hunter a gift. But somehow he’d ended up receiving one. And the shopping trip had basically been compensation for missing Heero’s return ceremony.

‘Am… am I trash?’

Hyerin gave him a look of disbelief.

“He searched for you endlessly inside the Gate… can’t you treat him a little better?”

“That’s what I don’t get. Why me?”

“Because he likes you.”

“Why would he like me?”

“Because you’re a good person.”

She said it without hesitation. Jiwoo looked stunned.

“I’m… a good person? Hardly.”

“You are—at least to us. And Heero met you when things were at their worst, and thanks to you, they got better. Of course you’re special to him. To exaggerate? You were practically a savior to him.”

“…I don’t remember doing anything that grand.”

He believed Heero’s improvement was due to Heero himself. His difficulties had been largely physical—he hadn’t known how to use his abilities. Jiwoo’s influence had been more conceptual, like “world peace.”

But if Heero really saw him that way… then he was deeply mistaken. Jiwoo wasn’t remotely that great.

Hyerin waved it off.

“He’ll find his place soon. Until then, cut him some slack. Newly returned hunters are basically kids, you know.”

Newly returned hunters were considered “young”—a common phrase among hunters. Jiwoo’s earlier talk about the gap between worlds referred to that too.

Two years of isolation from society, combined with the fact that time didn’t feel real inside Gates—no wonder they struggled to adapt. They needed help. Even the Hunter Association had adaptation programs.

Usually, guilds took on that role. That’s why returning hunters joined guilds so quickly.

So it made sense to help Heero find a guild. If he’d come looking for a school senior he separated from four years ago… he must really have no one else.

“…Alright. Give me the paperwork. I’ll look it over and get back to you. And something needed repairs, right?”

“Oh, this.”

“I’ll fix it later. Come pick it up.”

“Sure. Say hi to Heero for me.”

After a brief goodbye, Jiwoo headed straight back to the shop. He hesitated, then decided to fulfill his duty as the elder. Heero’s path was clear.

After dinner, Jiwoo made a phone call—the first step in helping Heero.

“Hyung… what are you doing?”

Heero looked confused. Jiwoo stayed silent, feeling oddly guilty for not asking Heero’s opinion. But this was necessary. Something he had to do regardless of Heero’s feelings.

A stranger’s voice came from the phone.

Heero’s expression immediately soured.

“Who is that?”

As he stepped closer, the voice grew louder.

[—Hello? This is the Hunter Association Emergency Response Team. …Hello? Please speak. Hello!]

“….”

The room grew silent. Heero had heard everything. His expression darkened. Jiwoo couldn’t face the disappointment in his eyes. Heero snatched the phone and hung up.

“…You’re really going to leave the missing person report alone? You need to clear it up. I feel bad because I think it’s my fault….”

Jiwoo thought they needed to resolve the missing report tying Heero down. Remove obstacles. A defiance mark from the Association would be terrible.

“You’re still disoriented after coming out of the Gate, I get it… but this isn’t something you can ignore. And you didn’t look like you planned to go.”

“Hyung. Look at me.”

Heero turned Jiwoo to face him. At that moment, Jiwoo was the one looking shaken.

He suddenly realized he had been avoiding Heero’s eyes all along—because he felt like he was doing something cruel.

Heero spoke calmly, gently, like comforting Jiwoo.

“They know I’m here.”

“…What?”

“This missing person thing… it’s just a threat. They want me to walk in on my own. They want to assess whether I’m a threat or not.”

Jiwoo’s eyes widened.

“….”

Heero continued.

“If I go to them first, it becomes a headline… and people might feel reassured.”

“…What.”

“Everyone calls me amazing, but they’re scared of me. They want to keep checking that I’m in their grasp.”

“…Heero.”

He let go of Jiwoo. The pain in his eyes was unmistakable.

“I just… wanted you to look at me. So yeah—I pretended not to notice that you felt burdened. Your not coming to my return ceremony? Yeah, that hurt. But what can I do? You didn’t want to come. You didn’t care whether I came back or not.”

“….”

Jiwoo wanted to ask why.
Why Heero was hurt because of him.
What kind of relationship Heero thought this was.
What he expected from him.
Whether Jiwoo could even handle it.

But he couldn’t ask. He was afraid to hurt him again. And he didn’t understand why he cared so much.

Heero bit his lower lip. His eyes were slightly red, his lashes wet.

“But still.”

He took a breath and said, voice trembling:

“You said you wanted to see me.”

And with that, Heero stood and walked out of the shop.

He left—just as Jiwoo thought he wanted—but Jiwoo felt no relief. Only a growing heaviness.

He’d pretended he was doing everything for Heero, but maybe… he was only doing it for himself and for “world peace.”