Chapter 124: The Festival and Hidden Truths

A grand festival was underway in the village. Grills overflowed with sizzling meat, and tables were laden with towering cakes. It was the last celebration before the white snow blanketed the world, a final revelry. This annual festival, typically marked by apple pies and abundant roasted turkeys, was exceptionally lavish this year.

“Hey, who put lobster at a festival?”

“Are you insane? That’s caviar! And what’s this aroma? My heavens, did they use truffles too?”

Despite their good-natured grumbling at the array of rare ingredients, smiles lit up everyone’s faces. They knew the village coffers were richer than ever, thanks to the sale of two dismantled warships.

Kang Tae-han, having entered the lively crowd, surveyed his surroundings before shaking his head.

“I know everyone’s in a good mood, but let’s keep it in moderation. Even so, roasting turkey with truffle oil is a bit much, don’t you think?”

“Then what’s that around the Captain’s neck?”

“……”

“That gold is quite radiant. Wait, that doesn’t look like 18K. Are you actually wearing a 24K necklace?”

Kang Tae-han cleared his throat, then immediately turned away, hastily tucking the gold necklace beneath his clothes to conceal it. When they had only secured one warship, he had worried about how to best utilize it. But with two, everyone had thrown caution to the wind.

Airain was a haven for refugees. Many had arrived here with nothing but the clothes on their backs, leaving behind all their possessions and memories. Their lives weren’t severely lacking, but they certainly weren’t abundant either.

Now, enjoying a long-awaited period of prosperity, everyone was smiling brightly and savoring the moment.

“Well, it’s a gold investment. A gold investment.”

“Then the Captain can just focus on his gold investment and skip the turkey. We’ll be busy gilding our stomachs.”

“Ah, that’s unfair!”

Watching Kang Tae-han and the villagers converse, Kang Ah-jun scratched his cheek. Stealing the warships hadn’t been his original intention, but it had certainly worked out well in the end.

As he was about to turn away, delighted by the villagers’ excitement, someone approached him from behind.

“Oh, Mr. Kang Ah-jun, our great benefactor! Have a bite of this.”

Kang Ah-jun accepted a freshly baked, warm apple pie. Enticed by its delightful scent, he took a bite. Fragrant apple jam spread from between the thin pastry layers.

“This is truly delicious.”

“Eat plenty. It’s thanks to you that we’re living so prosperously.”

“It’s not entirely thanks to me, though….”

Kang Ah-jun offered an awkward smile, embarrassed by the excessive praise. While it was true he had brought the warships, the greatest credit belonged to Jin Sa-yoon.

Kang Ah-jun had come here for Sa-yoon, and it was Sa-yoon who had acquired the second warship from Kim Chae-jun.

Receiving accolades while the true hero remained unacknowledged didn’t sit well with him. Sa-yoon, for his part, had been recuperating ever since returning to the village.

His condition had been poor even upon their return with the warships. Sa-yoon had struggled with severe headaches and chills, barely managing to rejoin the others before collapsing the moment he faced them.

While everyone else was flustered, Kang Ah-jun understood the reason perfectly. It was a common symptom among Guides when they performed excessive guiding suddenly.

Having witnessed it often during his service at the headquarters, he recognized it. Jin Sa-yoon must have encountered Han Do-hoon, and since the two were imprinted, intense guiding would have occurred between them, even if they hadn’t wished for it.

Kang Ah-jun took another bite of the apple pie, his expression unreadable. The fact that Han Do-hoon and Sa-yoon were imprinted was top-secret.

Only a few high-ranking officials at the headquarters knew, and Jin Sa-yoon himself seemed unaware. Kang Ah-jun had no intention of telling Sa-yoon.

Kim Chae-jun likely felt the same. Imprinted Espers were tethered to their Guides, and the same applied to Guides. Humanity had yet to grasp the specific reasons behind imprinting, meaning they also lacked knowledge of how to undo it.

Both Kang Ah-jun and Kim Chae-jun wished for Jin Sa-yoon not to be swayed by Han Do-hoon. This decision stemmed from their understanding of their team leader, a man who, despite his gruff exterior, possessed a profound sense of loyalty.

In their current position as adversaries, it was difficult to predict what decision Jin Sa-yoon would make if he learned that Han Do-hoon would self-destruct without a Guide.

“Hmm….”

“What’s wrong? Is the pie not good?”

“Not at all. It’s so delicious I was speechless for a moment. Could you pack some pie for me? I should go check on Sa-yoon.”

“Then I’ll make sure to give you some of the specially well-baked ones. Please wait a moment.”

Kang Ah-jun received a hastily packed paper bag and bowed his head. Just as he was about to head to Sa-yoon before the warm apple pie in the bag got soggy, someone called out to him from behind.

“Mr. Ah-jun! Hold on. Are you going to see Sa-yoon? Then let me ask you one thing.”

The person who rushed over, panting, was an Esper with whom he had been on several missions.

“Are your headaches a bit better now?”

Jung Hyun-woo asked as he removed a device from Sa-yoon’s body. The room was filled with high-end medical equipment, some still in their plastic wrapping. As soon as money became plentiful, Jung Hyun-woo had requested the most expensive items he needed, and Kang Tae-han had granted every wish.

“If you feel even a little uncomfortable, tell me immediately. Your health is the most important thing.”

“I feel a bit better now.”

Upon first arriving at the village, he had been so overwhelmed that he could barely keep his wits about him. He had vaguely suspected it was due to contact with Han Do-hoon, but his physical condition had deteriorated far too severely for that alone.

It seemed the combination of his unrecovered state and contact with an Esper had created a synergistic, debilitating effect. Just what kind of state was Han Do-hoon in for Sa-yoon to struggle so much from such brief contact? Sa-yoon grumbled inwardly, blaming Han Do-hoon.

“Still, you should be able to go without examinations for a while. Though the readings are still unusual, they’ve returned to a regular state.”

“You’ve worked hard, Hyung.”

Sa-yoon smiled, looking at Jung Hyun-woo.

“Hearing you call me ‘Hyung’ always feels good.”

“I’ll call you that as much as you like from now on.”

The smiles on both their faces deepened. This was no longer the stifling headquarters where they had to worry about others’ eyes. It was a place where he could freely call him ‘Hyung’ and relax.

Though they were hiding in a remote village where only stars were visible at night, these were the most peaceful times Sa-yoon had ever experienced.

“By the way, it’s a shame. I’ve got good equipment now, and I wanted to do all sorts of tests, but your condition….”

Sa-yoon’s body, having undergone Rain cell implantation, existed on an ambiguous boundary between human and Rain. Testing with machinery designed for humans yielded inaccurate readings, making it difficult for Jung Hyun-woo to properly assess.

This was why the ambitious medical equipment still sat in its plastic wrapping. “I should use this opportunity to research Rain as well. After all, Jung Hyun-woo, who was once called a genius in the medical field, can’t let his reputation be tarnished.”

Jung Hyun-woo was fired up with ambition. A faint glimpse of his past self, who had once decided to dedicate his life to research and earned a medical doctorate, flashed through. Indeed, Jung Hyun-woo was someone who most enjoyed researching and living alone.

He had somehow become entangled with Sa-yoon and joined the Esper unit, but otherwise, he would have been writing papers somewhere, engrossed in his research. “That sounds good. If you need anything for your research, call Hyung Tae-han and use him. He’s been busy spending money lately; he needs to rein it in a bit.”

“…Ahem.”

“Why that reaction? Oh, don’t tell me, Hyung Hyun-woo, you bought something too?”

Jung Hyun-woo avoided Sa-yoon’s gaze. It was only yesterday that he had scolded Kang Tae-han for his recent obsession with collecting gold, and he hadn’t expected Jung Hyun-woo to follow suit.

As Sa-yoon, feeling betrayed, persistently followed Jung Hyun-woo’s gaze, Jung Hyun-woo eventually slumped his shoulders and reluctantly confessed.

“Well, some rare movie DVDs were released at an auction recently. So, I… splurged a bit.”

“You liked movies, Hyung?”

As far as Sa-yoon knew, Jung Hyun-woo was far removed from cultural activities. It was surprising that someone completely uninterested in popular culture, music, or movies would buy movie DVDs. Moreover, DVDs were an old media storage format, circulated back in the day.

“What kind of movie was it?”

“That….”

“Don’t be shy, tell me. I’ll understand even if it’s an adult film. You’re old enough, Hyung.”

“It’s not that kind of thing.”

Jung Hyun-woo cut off Sa-yoon’s words urgently, his face troubled. “It’s just a hero movie. From the early 2000s.”

Sa-yoon, who had been smiling mischievously, let his lips drop at those words. He knew well who loved that movie: Jung Myeong-ah.

“I thought… maybe I’d meet her someday. I wanted to give it to her then. No, actually, once I watched it, it wasn’t bad. The CGI was a bit awkward, but the story was good….”

Jung Hyun-woo’s voice trailed off as he spoke, but then he squared his shoulders against the melancholic atmosphere. “Hey. I watched it for the first time recently, and it was incredibly expensive. I wonder where she used to watch such things and love them so much.”

“It used to air on television quite often when we were kids.”

He remembered sitting with a young Jung Myeong-ah in front of an old television, waiting for the movie to begin. He also recalled Jung Myeong-ah, who, despite Sa-yoon’s dislike for the childish movie, insisted on having him sit beside her and gave him a cushion.

Despite Myeong-ah’s efforts, Sa-yoon would fall asleep about an hour into the film. Because of this, he only remembered the introduction of the movie.

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