Chapter 123: When the Fire Is Swallowed

Park Ji-chan leisurely straightened up. Seeing his reaction, Son Seong-cheol looked startled in turn. Ji-chan shrugged, clearly amused by how obviously the man had recognized him.

“…Why are you here…?”

He’d heard the Association President was sending someone, but the person who showed up didn’t seem all that important. Judging by the fact that he didn’t know who Ji-chan was.

Or maybe he was still in the process of being trained.

Either way, Park Ji-chan felt no need to explain himself and crooked his lips into a lopsided smile.

“I’m here because it makes sense for me to be here. You came because the Association President called you, didn’t you?”

Doesn’t really look like someone capable of pulling off something big. Has the President lost his eye for people with age?

Only then did Son Seong-cheol notice Jung Joo-hoon bound tightly nearby—and nearly fainted in shock. Watching him, Park Ji-chan clicked his tongue. Normally, he wouldn’t care what happened on their end, but the thought that such an unreliable person might mess things up for no reason irritated him.

“You two haven’t met before, right? Say hello.”

At his casual tone, both Son Seong-cheol and Jung Joo-hoon frowned simultaneously.

Anger was nothing but a wasteful emotion. Park Ji-chan preferred to resolve things pleasantly whenever possible—he was the kind of person who would even offer tea to someone about to die.

And since he’d already received nearly a year’s worth of medication in advance as payment for this job, he was in the generous enough position to offer not just tea, but cookies on the side as well.

“…I’m Son Seong-cheol. From the Hunter Association.”

“Ah… yes. I’m Jung Joo-hoon.”

An awkward exchange of greetings followed. Son Seong-cheol paced restlessly around the bound Jung Joo-hoon, while Jung Joo-hoon did nothing but blink.

“If you’re done greeting each other, you should get to work.”

Beckoning at Son Seong-cheol, Park Ji-chan pulled something out of his pocket—an object wrapped in cloth and a small container. He unraveled the cloth, revealing a syringe inside.

When he shook the container, it rattled softly.

“This one’s self-administered. And this one… is for him.”

He set the container on Jung Joo-hoon’s knee and placed the syringe into Son Seong-cheol’s hand, then brushed his palms together as if his job was done.

“What is this…?”

Staring blankly at the syringe in his hand, Son Seong-cheol asked stupidly. Jung Joo-hoon frowned at the container on his knee.

With both arms bound, he couldn’t properly check it. When he shifted uselessly, the container slipped and fell to the floor.

The cylindrical plastic rolled, its lid popping open, and something tumbled out—two pills.

“This one makes your heart race and excites the sympathetic nervous system. And that one’s the opposite, I think. I’m not too knowledgeable about that side of things.”

Picking up the fallen pills, Park Ji-chan even blew dust off them before gently placing them into Jung Joo-hoon’s mouth. Jung Joo-hoon bit down hard on his lips, the pills resting on his tongue.

Son Seong-cheol’s hand trembled violently as he held the syringe.

“Honestly, guns and knives are way too scary and cruel in this day and age.”

Though he shuddered as if merely imagining it was horrifying, Park Ji-chan’s face remained eerily calm. Watching him, Son Seong-cheol felt an inexplicable chill crawl up his spine.

“I’m innocent, you know. You two did this all on your own.”

Taking a deliberate step back, Park Ji-chan quickly adopted the posture of an observer.

“I wasn’t here today. Even though I prepared all of this.”

Chuckling as he spoke, Park Ji-chan abruptly stiffened his expression and smacked his lips.

“What a boring reaction.”

He was enjoying this situation as if it were a game.

Son Seong-cheol was left speechless. Toward a man who had once been hailed as a national hero, he felt a profound sense of betrayal.

Yoo Hee-ro irritably raked a hand through his hair as he stared at Sung Ji-woo’s back. Jung Soo-han’s eyes, already stripped of reason, were completely hollow.

Even so, Sung Ji-woo tried to meet his gaze. Mumbling incoherently, Soo-han shrank further into himself. From his unblinking eyes, hot tears streamed endlessly.

His own flames had scorched his clothes and the ends of his hair into an ugly mess. His burned skin had blistered—but something else seemed to hurt him far more.

“Soo-han.”

Sung Ji-woo called out calmly. Soo-han’s gaze wavered anxiously.

“Soo-han.”

This time, his voice was firmer. Soo-han reacted faintly. Seeing his shoulders twitch, Sung Ji-woo reached out a hand.

“Don’t come!”

Soo-han screamed, and in that instant, flames engulfed him. Yoo Hee-ro swiftly pulled Sung Ji-woo into his arms.

Thud. Sung Ji-woo’s back slammed into a solid chest as he squeezed his eyes shut against the torrent of fire. The flames stretched right up to his nose.

Instinctively, Sung Ji-woo erected a barrier around himself. Fire lashed violently across its surface.

“…Huff—huff.”

As Sung Ji-woo panted, Yoo Hee-ro ground out his words behind him.

“I told you not to go.”

“Hah… no, it’s fine. I was just startled for a second.”

His heart still hadn’t settled. The pounding echoed loudly in his ears. Even so, Sung Ji-woo patted the arm wrapped around his waist, trying to soothe him.

Who’s worrying about whom right now? Yoo Hee-ro let out a hollow laugh. Without Sung Ji-woo noticing, shadows coiled tightly around his wrists and ankles.

He needed to minimize ability use—but once Sung Ji-woo was involved, he couldn’t just stand by. His own safety came second.

“Let’s go back. Even now.”

“What are you talking about? If we leave, what about him?”

“Since when were you close enough to care this much?”

Yoo Hee-ro’s overly rational words sounded cold. At the same time, they struck Sung Ji-woo right in the core—digging up the life he’d lived, almost pathologically indifferent to others.

Sung Ji-woo muttered self-mockingly.

“Yeah. Since when did I start caring so much about other people’s business?”

As he spoke, he tightened his grip on Yoo Hee-ro’s wrist. After all, it was Yoo Hee-ro who had first made him care about other lives.

“You don’t have to care, hyung. You didn’t do anything. For now, this still has nothing to do with you. So you can just leave.”

He could hear Yoo Hee-ro trying to coax him away. Sung Ji-woo pulled his arm free.

“It was always going to end up like this anyway.”

All the effort to keep distance, to pretend not to know, to run away in secret, to deny it all—maybe it had all been pointless.

Not understanding what he meant, Yoo Hee-ro frowned. Sung Ji-woo turned to face him.

“I’ve already come too far to pretend I don’t care anymore.”

Whether he meant Yoo Hee-ro, or this entire situation, was unclear.

Just as Yoo Hee-ro was about to respond—

“Hngh…!”

A cry of agony rang out, and at the same time, the flames rapidly died down. More precisely, they were being sucked back into Jung Soo-han.

He was absorbing the fire.

Faced with the vivid scene unfolding before him, Sung Ji-woo’s eyes flew wide open.

“What was that just now? You saw it too, right?”

“……”

“What is it? Why is he absorbing it?”

Normally, when fire-type awakened withdrew their power, the flames naturally extinguished from their ignition points. But Soo-han wasn’t extinguishing the fire—he was swallowing it with his entire body.

“Is this some kind of side effect too?”

Having heard that Yoo Hee-ro was being consumed by darkness as a side effect, Sung Ji-woo couldn’t help but worry. Was this child, too, being consumed by his own ability?

But that concern barely lasted a moment.

Jung Soo-han absorbed even Sung Ji-woo’s barrier.

As the light vanished in an instant, Sung Ji-woo froze stiffly.

“What the—”

An incomprehensible situation was unfolding. Even Yoo Hee-ro’s shadows, spread out protectively, were helplessly dragged into Jung Soo-han.

Yoo Hee-ro poured more power into stopping him, but every bit of it was devoured. Soo-han writhed violently as he absorbed it all.

Only after every ability had disappeared did he finally calm down. His body collapsed limply, gasping for breath.

It was something neither of them had ever seen before—absorbing another person’s ability.

“Is this normal?”

When Sung Ji-woo demanded hoarsely, Yoo Hee-ro slowly shook his head. Even he looked genuinely shaken.

“This is my first time seeing anything like this.”

“…Then all those times the flames flared up and vanished earlier—he was absorbing them too?”

Creating fire, absorbing fire—everything had been Soo-han’s doing? Both of their gazes fell on the small body, coughing weakly.

The abilities he’d taken in seemed too much for him; it looked like he might stop breathing at any moment.

Sensing that the danger had finally passed, Sung Ji-woo gathered him into his arms. At the same time, Yoo Hee-ro took Soo-han from him.

“I’ll do it.”

“It’s oka—”

“I’ll do it.”

Sung Ji-woo didn’t argue further. Soo-han seemed completely unconscious. His body burned like a furnace, making Sung Ji-woo check him anxiously.

Abandoning the now-ruined plan, Yoo Hee-ro fastened the restraints he’d prepared around Soo-han’s arms and neck.

When Soo-han eventually opened his eyes, there was no way to know whether he’d feel relief at being alive—or despair.

Yoo Hee-ro quietly looked down at the child’s face, filled with the blazing light of life. His body, desperate to live, was instinctively drawing in breath.

BEEEEEEP—

Far too late, the fire alarm finally began to blare. It seemed someone was on their way.

📚 Also on NHV Novels

Enemies on a Single-Log Bridge

AcademyBattleBL

Read Now →
Not interested