Chapter 128: Flowers Bloom Even in the Midst of War

A massive sphere, as large as another sun.

A sinister red, as if all the world’s evil had been condensed into it.

No matter how much time passed, it was a memory I could never forget.

Back when I was still fighting against ‘X,’ I’d had countless nightmares of X’s gate being created.

In a way, that moment marked the beginning of my misfortune and suffering, so even if I wanted to forget it, I couldn’t.

That gate—one that had remained as a horrific memory—appeared once more above my head.

“Could that be a gate…? How can it be that big?”

At the voice beside me, I turned my head to look at Jaeyul.

Seeing Jaeyul sitting next to me, perfectly fine, only made everything more confusing.

‘X’ was supposed to come out of that gate… which meant Jaeyul was supposed to be there.

But Jaeyul was right here.

Then how had the gate been created?

Unable to believe the reality before me, I reached out and touched Jaeyul’s face.

“Are you okay, hyung? What’s with that look? Did it scare you that much?”

Soft and warm.

His eyes, looking at me, were filled with gentleness.

Even his voice was no different from the Jaeyul I knew.

Even after recognizing that everything was real, accepting it wasn’t easy.

Had I been completely mistaken all this time?

Maybe Jaeyul wasn’t the worst villain, ‘X,’ after all.

Maybe, by some incredibly slim chance, he just happened to resemble ‘X’ like a twin and possess similar abilities.

This was the only possibility my mind could come up with.

And aside from that, there was simply no way to explain the current situation.

“Uh… I was just startled…. Are you okay? Is there anything, even a little, that feels different from usual?”

Or maybe ‘X’ inevitably awakened as absolute evil the moment a gate appeared.

“What would be different? The gate’s a bit… big, sure, but it’s still just a gate. Don’t worry about anything, hyung. Everything will be fine.”

It wouldn’t be fine.

I didn’t understand how this had happened, but if this gate truly belonged to ‘X,’ and if ‘X’ emerged from it, there was no way things would be okay.

No matter how immense Jaeyul’s power was, he couldn’t guarantee a victory against ‘X.’

Countless people we’d laughed and cried with would die, and the world would rush toward ruin.

That was only natural.

Destroying things was far easier than fighting to protect them.

Beeeeeeep!

An emergency alarm blared from both the gridlocked road—frozen like a parking lot—and our phones.

For civilians, it was an evacuation order.

For special agents, it was a summons to assemble.

“With traffic like this, I don’t know how we’ll even get to the center. Should we just head out for now?”

Jaeyul spoke as if going to the center was a given.

That meant he didn’t grasp the seriousness of the situation at all.

I grabbed his arm as he tried to get out of the car and stopped him.

“Jaeyul, let’s leave. Let’s take all the team members and go somewhere quiet.”

“What are you suddenly talking about…? Just because one gate appeared, you want to run away?”

The wisest option I could think of was running.

Taking only the minimum number of people we needed to protect and hiding in some remote, uninhabited place.

‘X’ targeted densely populated areas, so somewhere without people would stay relatively safe for quite a while.

After my disastrous previous life ended and I went back in time to meet Jaeyul again, I’d even waited for the day the world would end.

I’d indulged in the fantasy that the villain I’d raised with my own hands would take revenge on the world in my place.

But now that the end was right in front of me, my feelings had changed.

Even if the world were to end, I wanted to save Jaeyul—and at least the people I could call friends.

“Hyung, we’re never running away again. No matter what’s inside that lousy gate, I can wipe it all out.”

Again.

Just like when an SS-rank gate had appeared, he was talking like this again.

Sure, with your abilities, you might be able to keep that promise.

If you added in the power of all the Petra you’d consumed, you might even be able to defeat ‘X’ when he came out of the gate.

“Why do you have to take on that role in the first place?”

I could say this with certainty—Seon Jaeyul’s life was just as much of a mess as mine.

A father who killed his mother.

A childhood spent enduring abuse.

Days of wandering from gate to gate without even being able to attend school properly.

Loneliness without a single friend.

Even now, he was saddled with every dirty, thankless job at the center.

I couldn’t even begin to fathom the heart that made him want to protect this damned world.

“Even if you don’t step in, other people will handle it. And even if they don’t, isn’t it enough if we’re the only ones who make it out safely?”

What grand sense of justice demanded that he gamble his life on an outcome he couldn’t predict just to protect strangers?

For me, Jaeyul, Bbobbi, and a handful of others were more than enough.

I didn’t care what happened to the world.

“I get how you feel, hyung, but I don’t think that way.”

“…What…?”

“I’ll protect you and Bbobbi, but I’m also going to save and protect as many people as I can.”

This was the first time I’d ever heard Jaeyul’s true feelings.

They were thoughts I’d been curious about but never dared to ask—why he hadn’t awakened as ‘X.’

I knew he was kind and soft-hearted, but to be this righteous?

It made my insides burn with frustration.

“Why! Why do you insist on pretending to be so righteous! Do you think anyone’s going to acknowledge you for it? Do you think people will even be grateful?!”

My anger exploded.

It was something I was saying to Jaeyul, but also to Jin Sehyun from my past life.

I wanted to stop Jaeyul from walking the same path I had.

Because I knew better than anyone how hollow and futile the end of that road was.

My grip on Jaeyul’s sleeve tightened without me realizing it.

“I’m not as righteous as you think. I’m not fighting because I want recognition, and I’m not doing this to hear words of thanks.”

Unlike me, who was venting my emotions, Jaeyul calmly took hold of my hand.

How could he stay this rational in a situation like this?

That, too, annoyed me.

It felt like he wasn’t really listening to me at all.

“And thanks for worrying about me. It actually feels nice that you care enough to get this angry.”

It seemed he still wasn’t taking the situation seriously.

The corners of his lips lifted into a light smile.

“…Why are you like this….”

Strangely, as I looked at the calm Jaeyul, the heat that had filled my chest began to subside.

That didn’t mean my frustration disappeared, but at least I could ask for his reason now.

“Um… because of you, hyung.”

“I never asked you to save anyone. I even told you not to do anything dangerous. So why is this my fault?”

“It’s not your fault. It’s for you.”

I couldn’t understand what he was saying.

Protecting this shitty world and trying to save people—for my sake?

I sent him a questioning look, unable to resolve my confusion.

“This is where you live. There are restaurants you’ll line up for just to eat at, a department store you impulse-buy from every time, and a café where you grab coffee on your way to work. There’s the park where you walk Bbobbi, and a home where the three of us can rest comfortably.”

Jaeyul squeezed my hand a little tighter.

My entire attention was already fixed on his mouth.

I didn’t want to miss a single word, a single inflection.

“Like you said, I’m not that righteous. Honestly, I don’t care about protecting a world like this at all. There were countless times I wanted to kill everyone with my own hands or erase the world entirely. But if you’re here, it’s different. How could I not protect the places you love? I just want to protect the place where you’ll live.”

Because of me…?

The reason Jaeyul, unlike the ‘X’ I remembered, had grown up right.

The reason he hadn’t awakened as a villain.

The reason he’d worked so desperately, as if bound by a weakness.

All of it… because of me….

I felt dazed, and at the same time, it didn’t quite feel real.

From the start, Seon Jaeyul could have become the evil that dragged the world to ruin, or a savior who blindly protected it.

All because of… one person’s effort.

I wasn’t certain, but perhaps the difference between the past ‘X’ and the present Seon Jaeyul was whether there had been someone by his side.

‘X,’ who must have always lived in hardship and loneliness, and Seon Jaeyul, who had me to lighten at least one burden of his harsh life.

That tiny gap might have created a difference beyond comparison.

Thinking that way, I couldn’t help but feel sorry for the ‘X’ of the past—Seon Jaeyul.

“If I just put up with a little inconvenience, you can live comfortably and safely, hyung. Shouldn’t I choose that, of course? What do you think you’d do if you were me?”

Maybe the reason I didn’t become an esper in this life was an arrangement made for my own sake.

If I’d come back with my past powers, I would’ve fought against any situation to protect Jaeyul.

Even if that meant facing ‘X’ again.

And I would’ve resented being forced to protect the world once more.

Maybe that was why I’d been allowed to live this life as a guide instead—so I wouldn’t have to struggle with that conflict again.

If I’d had power as great as Jaeyul’s….

The answer was painfully obvious.

“…Let’s go. But move carefully, just in case.”

I wouldn’t have been any different from him.

I might not have tried to protect everyone like he did, but at the very least, I would’ve protected a world where Jaeyul could live the life he wanted.

“Thanks, hyung. For trusting me again this time.”

To protect someone as kind as Jaeyul, there was nothing I couldn’t do.

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