Chapter 155: Revelations of the Past

With a short sigh, Dokyeom set the medicine box aside and picked up the notebook that had drawn his attention the most.

It was also quite worn from use. By “worn” he meant the traces of handling.

There were signs of long use, enough to make it look shabby.

A ballpoint pen with the guild’s name was stuck in the side of the notebook, and the snap button that opened and closed was fastened securely. Yet, the diary was bulging and thick, as if stuffed with something.

This too was a diary with the guild mark, provided by the guild every year, so Dokyeom realized anew how frugal Han Yuseong had been.

…I should have asked him something.

Even though he saw him that often, Dokyeom knew little about Han Yuseong. Just that they had been inside a gate together for a while. That he ate what was given without complaint and cleaned up neatly afterward. That he didn’t sleep much, but when he did, he leaned against something and dozed off, as if it were a habit.

Yet, there was no fluctuation in his demeanor or mood. He was that calm and cold. Though nine times out of ten, when he looked at Dokyeom, it was with a displeased expression.

“……”

Still, it was a personal item. He thought he shouldn’t look.

So he was about to dust it off and put it back aside when something fell from the bulging notebook with a rustle.

Bbie-

The one who picked it up and handed it to him was Dali, who had been eating a rice ball across from him. Before Dokyeom could bend down, Dali quickly got off the chair, got down on all fours, picked up the paper, and thrust it at Dokyeom.

“Ah. Thanks, Dali. I’ll pick up the rest, so you finish your meal…”

Dokyeom, looking at Dali with proud eyes, unintentionally stopped talking. His gaze fell on the faded paper Dali had handed him. A scrap of newspaper that looked like it had been cut with scissors.

The black-and-white piece of paper with a photo and text seemed to be a newspaper clipping. But it oddly struck his heart. Because it contained a word too closely related to Dokyeom.

It was a photo of a middle-aged man with a leg injury using crutches, having a snowball fight with children. The man looked kind, and the children’s faces were full of smiles as they looked at him. A heartwarming scene.

Hope Orphanage.

In the small text below the photo, Dokyeom encountered a familiar word. He didn’t expect to see it here. It was a word so overly familiar that he even sighed.

The place where Dokyeom had been until he was 19 was also called ‘Hope Orphanage.’

Strength went into his fingertips. Looking around, the scattered papers were also newspaper clippings with photos.

The articles ranged from five years ago, collected steadily, up to recent times when the controversy was revealed. The last article was from six months ago as of today.

It was an article attached with the names and faces of young people introduced to brokers. Even two of them…

“Ha.”

They were ones with ‘seals’ on their cheeks and necks. Such people went to the gate for mining work and died, it said. At the young age of 19.

Bbie?

Dali blinked worriedly, perhaps because Dokyeom’s expression darkened.

What was Han Yuseong’s gaze like when they first met? When he handed over the seal to Agon, that gaze was full of hatred. Because he gave magical power.

The ‘illegal use’ of seals mentioned in the media mostly referred to raiders taking magical power from seal holders. Or using them as bait for monsters.

‘So that was it.’

Now he understood. Why Han Yuseong was so guarded, why he showed that emotion only about seals. All of it.

With a heavy heart, Dokyeom let out a long sigh. It was a moment when his thoughts were tangled and suffocating.

“Dokyeom, were you here first?”

The lounge door opened and Beom Yeonhu, who had gone out to buy lunch, strode inside. As he placed the bag he was carrying on the table, Beom Yeonhu saw Dokyeom, who had frozen while holding the paper, and hardened his indifferent mouth.

His curious gaze soon turned to Dali, who was picking up the papers. Then, upon seeing a large cut piece of paper in the middle, he slightly raised his eyebrows. Beom Yeonhu seemed to know the article too.

“Hyung.”

Dokyeom grabbed the newspaper scrap in his hand as if to crush it. There are such scum everywhere. Beasts that do not hesitate to sell others for their own profit.

He didn’t know why Han Yuseong collected these himself, but judging from the circumstances, it seemed he wasn’t entirely unrelated. Whether he wanted to deny it or engrave it painfully in his heart, it didn’t matter.

“Do you know about this case?”

“Ah… I don’t know much, just saw it a few times on the news.”

“Do you know what happened to this orphanage?”

“There was an audit for a while and it caused a lot of talk, but I think it’s closed now. All the children were sent to other orphanages.”

Dokyeom, looking at Beom Yeonhu who answered without hesitation, received the remaining newspapers from Dali and stared blankly at them. Beside them lay Han Yuseong’s diary, heavy.

Should he look at that or not.

He wavered, but the hesitation was short-lived.

Click-

Dokyeom unfastened the snap button and opened the first page of that notebook, full of Han Yuseong’s traces. Then he inserted the newspapers into the first page and fastened the button again firmly.

He wasn’t going to look right away. When he wanted to know more about him. Or when he really didn’t know what to do. Then he would recall him and look, he decided.

Like Beom Yeonhu, he planned to cultivate it step by step, even if it was late. Yes, let’s not be impatient. In this matter, the more impatient, the more loss.

Beom Yeonhu was already hurrying to prepare to eat, opening a lunchbox nearby. He placed the most appetizing lunchbox in front of Dokyeom.

“But hyung. You said you’re meeting friends today.”

At those words, Beom Yeonhu flinched his fingertips. He had a look of having forgotten too. Quickly checking his phone, Beom Yeonhu saw the date marked on the calendar and made a sour expression. He seemed to want to cancel, but he seemed afraid of Kim Seongyun’s retaliation.

Was it four friends including Kang Taesan?

He had thought shallowly that he was bound to hear no good words even if he went, so why bother? But Kim Seongyun’s eyes were so sharp that he couldn’t utter a single word after that.

Well, it was something he had to go through at least once.

Dokyeom tapped his chin in thought, then when Beom Yeonhu met his eyes with an uneasy expression, he spoke.

“Why, what. Are you scared to go alone? Why are you making that face, like you’re being dragged to a slaughterhouse. Want me to go with you? It’s not that hard.”

“…It’s not impossible… but, Dokyeom.”

“Hyung, how about a raw fish restaurant where we can give Agon some fish? I was also in the mood for tuna.”

“You wanted to eat sashimi? If you wanted to, you should have told me. Then I would have bought it.”

“Come on, buy it next time. For now, I’ll search for a good place. When Seongyun hyung contacts you, tell him we’ll buy tuna. Then he’ll come running… No, just say we’ll buy sashimi. On second thought, tuna is too expensive. Dali, today it’s Yeonhu hyung’s treat, so let’s only eat a little sashimi? I’ll buy you something tasty before hyung goes.”

Bbiek-

Beom Yeonhu quietly shifted his gaze, then finally nodded with a short sigh. He also scratched the tip of his eyebrow, looking troubled. It was obvious he was pondering how to explain this to Kim Seongyun.

Perhaps because of that, lunch was unusually quiet. When they finished eating together and Dokyeom put down his chopsticks, Beom Yeonhu, who had already emptied his own lunchbox, took Dokyeom’s and silently began to eat the leftovers.

These days, Beom Yeonhu ate whatever Dokyeom left. It was useless to stop him. Dokyeom tried not to leave food, but next time, twice the amount was prepared, so he only realized that it was better to eat only as much as he could.

Watching Beom Yeonhu eat silently, Dokyeom turned his gaze back to Han Yuseong’s diary.

The articles were neatly organized. The source at the bottom of one photo had been bothering him. Probably because it was a familiar place.

It was the ‘Haeil Daily’ where Ju Nohaan was.

He seemed to have stared for a long time. That persistent gaze, as if contemplating what to do, reached a conclusion around the time Beom Yeonhu finished eating Dokyeom’s portion and put down his chopsticks.

Dokyeom immediately searched for his phone. And while Beom Yeonhu got up to clean up, Dokyeom wrote a long message in the window.

He sent a total of three long messages to someone, then leaned back in his chair and let out a long sigh.

Now all that was left was to wait a while.

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