Chapter 122: The Hour Between Dog and Wolf

Even after a long while, Jaeyul still couldn’t bring himself to get to the point.

Was it something serious?

How important did it have to be for him to hesitate like that.

The heavy air inside the car made even me start to feel tense.

Had he remembered what happened during the last rut…?

If so, his behavior would make sense.

“…So what is it?”

In the end, I spoke first.

I asked as if to say I was ready for whatever he wanted to say,

but in truth, I was desperately hoping he wouldn’t say the worst thing I had imagined.

“Haah….”

Jaeyul let out a deep breath, his chest rising noticeably, and released my hand.

“Let’s talk about it later. It’s nothing important.”

After looking that serious, he was saying it was nothing.

At least I’d avoided the worst-case scenario, but now I couldn’t help being curious.

What had he been about to say?

What could have made him that tense?

Had something happened that I didn’t know about…?

If so, even if I couldn’t help much, I wanted to support him however I could.

“Jaeyul, nothing’s wrong, right?”

“Wrong? What do you mean?”

“If nothing is, then that’s fine.

But if anything’s bothering you, you have to tell me.

I’m always on your side.”

Ever since I started seeing Jaeyul differently, I might have grown a bit careless.

He was a grown adult now, so I figured I didn’t need to look after him the way I used to.

He was much stronger than me too, so I thought my protection wasn’t necessary anymore.

No matter how my feelings toward him had changed,

the fact that I was on his side hadn’t.

Just like how he’d always been gentle with me.

“…Me too. I feel the same way, hyung.”

Cute bastard.

For a moment, I could see ten-year-old Jaeyul overlapping with him.

“Ahem. Should we take a walk, hyung?

The neighborhood looks pretty safe.”

“What are you talking about.

There are two SS-rank special agents here.

Where wouldn’t be safe?”

“Oh. Right.

Then let’s walk around for a bit.”

We got out of the car and started walking through the familiar alleyways.

I believe every place and every person has its own scent,

and even the air here felt exactly like it did in my memories.

Back then, I hadn’t even noticed the smell,

but now I felt like I could find our neighborhood by scent alone.

“Remember?

You were crying and washing clothes in that park over there.”

“Of course I remember.

You went to school and got beaten half to death because of that.”

“Right, that’s what—

Wait, how do you know that?”

“I followed you and watched.”

The park where I first found Jaeyul.

The small shop where we bought daily necessities.

The high hill where both of our houses used to be.

Even the back alley lined with illegal shops.

It was a small neighborhood, but as we walked through each place and recalled our memories, time flew by.

Maybe because the memories were so warm,

for the first time, I felt regret over the fact that time couldn’t be turned back.

I’d never once wished to return to the past before.

I treasured the Jaeyul of now, but every Jaeyul in my memories was precious too.

Not having spent more good time together felt deeply regrettable.

“Huh? This place is still here.

You really loved the tteokbokki from this place.”

“No.

You’re the one who liked it.

Want to eat some?”

He was the one who used to run over excitedly to buy it,

yet he didn’t remember.

Our memories differed a little here and there,

but so what.

It was still something we’d eaten together often.

That was enough.

“Yeah.

I want to eat it, it’s been a while.”

I hoped it still tasted the same.

“Wow… I’m so full.

I told you we should’ve ordered just two portions.”

“…Sorry.

I didn’t know they’d give us that much.

Here, drink this.”

How could someone be this foolish.

I was so full I could barely walk, so I was buying digestive medicine.

We’d ordered three portions of tteokbokki and added fried food too.

I gave up first, and Jaeyul finished the rest.

To explain myself, I thought two grown men ordering just two portions didn’t make sense,

so I ordered three.

But the portions were enormous.

The owner had piled it on, saying there weren’t many customers today.

We ended up eating what felt like ten portions disguised as three.

Well, most of it was Jaeyul.

I think I ate about one and a half portions.

“Back then, if I couldn’t finish my food, you ate it for me.

Now it’s the other way around.”

“Yeah.

But don’t you think we’ve been talking about the past too much today?

It feels kind of strange, like we’re wrapping up our lives.”

The sun that had been shining warmly all day was sinking low.

As we walked slowly to help digestion, the town felt different from how it had during the day.

It was hard to pinpoint exactly what,

but daytime and nighttime versions of the village felt like entirely different places.

“We are wrapping things up.”

“…Huh?”

For a moment, I couldn’t understand what he meant.

I’d been joking, so I never imagined he’d agree so plainly.

Wrapping up our lives…?

What did that mean?

“Do you remember this place?”

Jaeyul stopped and pointed to an arcade.

The sign had fallen and it was covered in dust, clearly out of business,

but I recognized it immediately.

“Of course.

It’s where we first met.

…Why?”

I could never forget it.

If we hadn’t met here by chance, our lives would’ve been completely different.

I’d have wandered without a reason to live a second life,

and Jaeyul might have become ‘X’ as originally destined.

This was our starting point.

“From then until now, we were family.

To me, you were my guardian, my sibling, like a parent.

And to you, I was probably a little brother you had to protect and take care of.”

I couldn’t tell where he was going with this.

He was stating things I already knew, things that were obvious,

but I couldn’t imagine what would come next.

The red-tinged sun disappeared completely.

As dusk fell, the time that was neither day nor night arrived—

the hour between dog and wolf.

A time that mirrored my confusion,

when it was hard to tell whether what he was about to say would be good or bad.

It was almost certainly connected to what he’d tried to say in the car earlier.

He’d hesitated then, but it seemed he’d decided to say it here instead.

I was anxious.

Bringing me to the place where we first met to “wrap something up”

could only make me uneasy.

“…Is that why you brought me all the way here?”

Thinking back, it was strange.

Both of us kept reminiscing about old memories,

as if trying to gather them all up and store them away somewhere.

Jaeyul nodded in response.

Only then did I understand why he’d struggled so much to speak earlier.

He probably had a lot he was grateful for,

which made it hard to be straightforward.

I was just as flustered by the sudden situation,

but I didn’t want to make things harder for him.

“Okay.”

“…Huh?”

“I’m not that clueless.

So you don’t have to say it.”

“Really…?”

A fleeting, almost-smile crossed Jaeyul’s face before disappearing.

It seemed he was grateful that I’d spoken first.

Right.

Maybe using this opportunity to put some distance between us wouldn’t be so bad.

The less time we spent together,

the easier it would be to sort out my feelings.

“Then now… let’s stop… and—”

“Yeah.

I’ll move out as soon as possible.

I have enough saved for a deposit now, so don’t worry.”

Our voices overlapped.

I barely heard what he said.

But I heard “let’s stop,” clearly enough.

“What did you say?”

It seemed he hadn’t heard me either and asked again.

“I said I’ll move out quickly.”

“What the hell are you—

No, are you crazy… haah….

Why would you say something like that now?”

I nearly had a heart attack.

His raised voice startled me badly.

Judging by his reaction,

this clearly wasn’t what he’d been planning to say.

That couldn’t be right…?

In this situation, that was the only thing that made sense to me.

“…It’s not that?

I thought that’s what you were going to say.

Then what were you going to say…?”

Should I call this relief?

Just moments ago, I’d been ready to leave his side without hesitation,

yet hearing it wasn’t that made my heart relax instantly.

Now, no matter what he said,

I felt like I could handle it.

“Haah… Just listen to me calmly.”

“O-Okay….”

I waited with an oddly calm heart for him to continue.

After clearing his throat, Jaeyul shed his irritation and grew serious again.

Even if it wasn’t the worst scenario,

it still seemed like a heavy topic.

I steadied myself and focused on his lips.

“What I’m trying to say is… from now on, we—”

Just as Jaeyul was about to continue—

Beeeeep! Beeeeeep!

A piercing alarm tore through the air.

It came from both of our phones.

This meant something big had happened again.

“Huh… what is it?

They’re telling us to come back immediately.”

The message ordered all personnel to return to the center at once, with no details.

After checking his phone, Jaeyul’s face darkened.

Had he received a different message?

Why did he look so serious?

“Ah—so what were you going to say?”

I asked about the unfinished words.

Instead of answering, Jaeyul let out another deep sigh.

“Never mind.

I’ll tell you later.”

He started walking toward the car, clearly done with the conversation.

What had he been about to say?

I was curious.

Next time, I’d make sure to ask.

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