Chapter 100: An Unexpected Situation

“…Thank goodness. I’m so glad you’re safe.”

Does this kid not know what’s going on?

As if he didn’t even know the gate had closed, Jaeyul hugged me as if to crush me, feeling relieved all by himself.

I was so curious how he had suddenly entered the gate, and what on earth had happened while we were apart, but it seemed okay to postpone those questions for a little while.

“You too. I’m glad you’re safe too.”

I hugged Jaeyul back.

I had been worried and anxious, thinking he was missing.

I could truly feel what it was like for one’s blood to run cold.

Seeing Jaeyul, perfectly fine, with my own eyes, that anxiety melted away in an instant.

For now, this was enough.

The past and the future didn’t matter.

Just the fact that Jaeyul was safe was enough.

How much time had passed?

I held Jaeyul until my heartbeat returned to normal and my tense body became languid.

Naturally, my reason was also returning to its place.

“…Do you know the gate exit has disappeared?”

I asked as I awkwardly pulled away from Jaeyul.

It was a question I asked not because I was genuinely curious, but to ease the awkward atmosphere a little.

The more I came to my senses, the more embarrassed I felt for holding on for so long.

As if we had been separated for half a lifetime.

But it was also ridiculous to suddenly push him away as if we were strangers, so I carefully put some distance between us.

“Of course I know. I was so anxious I wouldn’t be able to get in because the gate entrance was so small.”

He knew and he still did that…?

He doesn’t seem to be in his right mind either.

If he didn’t know about the existence of a back door, it means he jumped into a collapsing gate.

I really can’t figure out what he was thinking.

“Haah… first, let’s sit down somewhere and talk.”

It seemed like a lot of conversation was needed.

There was no way there would be a comfortable place to sit and talk inside a gate… ah, there’s that place!

The strange cavern with the spring I found while wandering the interior.

It seems we can use that place as a temporary shelter until we get out of here.

“Strange. I couldn’t find a place like this when I was subjugating.”

Jaeyul, who had entered the cavern with the lake that Poppy and I had discovered, couldn’t hide his admiration.

Looking at it with a calm mind, it did seem to exude a mysterious aura to my eyes as well.

A transparent lake so clear you could see the bottom, and nameless trees forming a small forest around it.

Even the grass that filled the floor like a carpet.

It looked just like a lakeside scene from a fairy tale.

“You probably couldn’t find it because the passage was too narrow. It’s rare to find a place like this in a gate, so we were lucky.”

“There are other places like this? I’ve never seen one, have you, hyung?”

I had spoken of my past experiences without thinking.

Even I, back then, had only seen such a rare place a few times.

But it wasn’t that they didn’t exist at all.

Gates where trees grew or where drinkable water existed were very common.

It was just that places where all of that came together, such cozy places, were rare.

“…Where would I have seen one. I-I saw it in a documentary!”

“You have no reason to ever enter a place like this again, so why would you watch something like that.”

Fortunately, Jaeyul didn’t probe any further.

A documentary.

Even I think it’s a ridiculous story.

I’ve never even watched one properly, except as a substitute for sleeping pills.

I gave an awkward laugh and sat down facing Jaeyul, who had settled on the grassy field.

“But hyung.”

“Jaeyul-ah.”

My voice and Jaeyul’s voice overlapped.

I had opened my mouth to resolve my questions, and it seemed the question Jaeyul was about to ask was not much different from what I was about to ask.

“You go first.”

At my words, Jaeyul spoke what he was about to say first.

“What on earth has been going on all this time? How did a person on a business trip to Busan end up in here?”

Ah, as expected, Jaeyul also doesn’t seem to know what’s going on.

Suddenly, Ri-hyun’s face popped into my mind, and the calm feeling I had just a moment ago turned to anger.

I tried my best to compose myself and opened my mouth.

It’s not like I can take revenge on Ri-hyun by exploding in anger here.

“It’s a bit of a long story.”

Jaeyul nodded his head as if he was ready.

I explained in detail what had happened from the moment I boarded the helicopter to Busan.

So that Jaeyul could compare it with what he had experienced himself.

The signal being blocked, guiding unnecessary agents at the Support Administration’s command, meeting a tear-stained Ri-hyun on the way back, and entering the gate with Poppy.

Jaeyul’s expression changed from moment to moment as my story continued.

Sometimes he looked like he couldn’t understand, and other times his face showed him trying to suppress his anger.

By the time the story was over, it was clearly visible that he was clenching his teeth and holding back some emotion.

“…So that’s how I ended up here. It’s also my fault for thinking that they would have left at least one monster.”

Even after my story of the past five days was over, Jaeyul said nothing.

It looked as if he was sorting out the story in his head.

He seemed to be concentrating, so I didn’t rush him and just waited quietly.

Of course he would have a lot on his mind.

How could he be okay after being so thoroughly backstabbed by Ri-hyun, whom he was sure was not a bad kid?

Even I would be shocked.

“But hyung.”

Finally, Jaeyul’s anguish seemed to be over.

“Yeah?”

“Why did you stay one more day in Busan? According to your explanation, shouldn’t the work have been finished before that?”

Ah….

I had intentionally left out the story about Song Jihan, but Jaeyul had accurately pointed that part out.

I couldn’t tell him that Song Jihan and I were closer than best friends, so I had to help him.

Because that was all in the past, a memory that only remained in my memory.

“Well… the leader of the subjugation team there was not in a good condition, so I couldn’t just leave him. If an S-rank esper was out, they wouldn’t even be able to attempt the Busan gate subjugation.”

It wasn’t a complete lie, so I was able to gloss over it moderately.

It’s just that the story about the person named ‘Song Jihan’ was left out… is what I tried to think, but I kept glancing at Jaeyul.

It wasn’t a lie, but it felt like I was lying.

“…I see. Well, if they had planned this so meticulously, it wouldn’t have mattered whether you came on the fourth day or the fifth.”

Jaeyul believed my story more easily than I thought.

Even though it could have sounded like a paranoid delusion, and like I was slandering Ri-hyun without reason.

Who would believe at face value that they tried to kill an SS-rank guide with infinite uses, and that they had mobilized numerous personnel and even blocked the nationwide airwaves?

Even I haven’t figured out why the Agency Head chose to abandon me yet.

If it weren’t for Jaeyul, no one would have believed it.

“So what happened to you?”

This time, it was my turn to resolve my questions.

I needed to know what Jaeyul’s five days were like.

The explanation that followed was similar to what Ri-hyun had told me.

Since Jaeyul was in a position to lead the entire team, it was difficult for him to know the movements of Ri-hyun’s party in detail, but after leading the subjugation team and clearing things up inside the gate, he said he left the gate, leaving only one monster behind.

The story after that began to differ from what Ri-hyun had said.

“So… the situation was orchestrated to make you have to go into the gate to search for the missing people?”

“Yeah. The Agency Head was there at the time too, and it seemed like he strangely wanted me to go in. To be honest, I didn’t really want to go in.

A subjugated gate is safe enough for a civilian to enter, so anyone could have gone. Besides, they’re agents who can be called top-tier, so what could happen to them in an empty gate.”

“But you couldn’t have said you didn’t want to outright. After all, they’re your team members.”

“That’s right. If even by a one-in-a-million chance a problem occurred, it would tarnish the successful subjugation.”

It seems they executed the plan very meticulously.

There was a reason why they took all the agents who remained at the scene to the Support Administration after Jaeyul entered the gate to look for the missing people.

They made it so that no one could confirm Jaeyul coming out of the gate.

They took measures so that by some one-in-a-million chance, someone wouldn’t tell me that fact and mess things up.

Of course, Jaeyul said he came out with the missing Im Chan and Hwang Jiyu in less than an hour.

“I get it up to that point. After that, the Support Administration must have controlled the entire gate. Until I came in.”

The staff guarding the gate must have been the Agency Head’s trusted subordinates.

It was clear that he had only placed people who would absolutely not leak this matter.

“But Jaeyul, how did you know I was here? And why couldn’t you stop by the house after the subjugation was over?”

I asked what I was curious about all at once.

Even after hearing Jaeyul’s explanation, my questions were not completely resolved.

Ri-hyun and the Support Administration had set up a seemingly perfect stage, so how on earth did he know I had entered the gate?

And Jaeyul hadn’t told me the story from after he found Im Chan and Hwang Jiyu until now.

“That’s….”

It wasn’t a difficult question, but Jaeyul’s mouth didn’t open easily.

It was a question I had thrown out without much thought, but seeing him postpone the answer like that, it seemed strange.

“That’s…?”

“Th-that… is….”

No.

He’s not avoiding the answer.

Listening closely, it was more of a rough breath than a voice that was coming out of Jaeyul’s mouth.

Even though there was a distance between us, I felt a hot heat.

His expression was also very bad, and I could see his chest rising and falling greatly with each breath.

I was flustered by the sudden situation.

Just as I was about to ask if he was okay, Jaeyul’s body collapsed weakly to the floor.

“Jaeyul-ah!”

At the same time, a thick pheromone began to spread rapidly inside the cavern.

A familiar… scent of the forest.