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This habit of stubbornly trying to carry everything alone was a vice born from Dokyeom’s obstinacy. And yet, he always let it slide, convincing himself it was the bare minimum system to protect himself.
That was precisely why he had been hardest on Taeseongyeon.
And Taeseongyeon knew it all too well.
“…Why can’t you think any other way? Why do you keep defining this relationship as a transaction? What makes you so suspicious?”
Dokyeom opened his mouth to say something, then closed it again. The emotion Taeseongyeon conveyed hit him clearly. Taeseongyeon was angry now. Angry at Dokyeom’s attitude of always binding their relationship with a ‘transaction.’
“You rush over because you’re worried, and the first thing you do is talk about a transaction.”
Had Taeseongyeon ever scolded him so coldly? He had been scolded many times before, but never with such reproach.
How did they end up in such a tangled relationship?
Looking back, all he could recall was his first meeting with Taeseongyeon, and the meetings that followed.
Sometimes, he wondered. If Taeseongyeon had remained the person he knew, or if their first meeting hadn’t gone that way, would their relationship be different now?
No, it wouldn’t.
It was because of the current Taeseongyeon that everyone had come this far. It was because of the changed Taeseongyeon that Dokyeom had been able to live countless times. The one he had helped with all his might was not the character from the original story, but the current Taeseongyeon.
And the one he wanted to keep going with was no one else but him.
Just that alone gave Taeseongyeon more than enough right to criticize someone.
“A transaction… Fine, let’s hear it. Let’s see how amazing this transaction is that Han Dokyeom keeps pushing me away and measuring people like this. Go ahead, let’s hear it.”
“……”
He had expected Taeseongyeon to raise his voice. But Taeseongyeon let out a hollow laugh and suppressed his emotions. It was a moment that revealed a lot. His own urgent situation and Taeseongyeon, holding back so much.
Dokyeom’s lips moved as if to say something, then he steadied himself and spoke. In the end, it was something he had to say someday.
“…Just three times. All you have to do is grant my requests three times. No need to go far, they can be done right here. They’re all things you can answer, so it’s nothing big.”
“That might be ‘nothing big’ in your opinion, Han Dokyeom.”
A hollow laugh trailed at the end of his words. Rough, yet quiet, as if suppressing even that.
Even their locked gazes were silent. He swallowed dryly. In that brief moment of tangled gazes, Dokyeom suddenly felt that the distance between them had become too narrow.
It used to be farther. Was there a line drawn? He didn’t know who had crossed it first.
Maybe it was Taeseongyeon.
Reaching out first, bumping bodies, breathing together. What he exchanged with Taeseongyeon was at least something he had never received or given before.
He found it unfamiliar. Perhaps even more so because it was different from what he shared with Agon, Beom Yeonhu, and Dali. His feelings for them were close to ‘parental,’ and that would never change.
Originally, Taeseongyeon should have been the same,
‘Why is it different?’
He still didn’t know how to express this feeling, which had once been dominated by curiosity. However, Dokyeom clearly recognized that the distance with Taeseongyeon was different from that with others.
He had just been ignoring and letting it slide under the pretext of various incidents.
Taeseongyeon had already come too deep and too close, to the point where it was easier to find places untouched by his reach.
The events leading up to this moment were exactly that. Every time Dokyeom stumbled somewhere, Taeseongyeon inevitably reached out and caught him, pulling him back up.
Until now, he had been under an illusion.
That he had done everything himself. That he had climbed that high cliff without help. Then, when he slipped, he would slide down and brood over what went wrong, looking back alone.
But that wasn’t it.
What stood at the beginning and end of everything was Taeseongyeon.
“…In a little while, someone from abroad will come to see you. All you have to do is accept the transaction they offer, no more, no less.”
“What is the subject of that transaction?”
Everything that had happened so far was possible because he was the guild master of Sahyeon Guild, and Dokyeom had abused that authority to seek the center of events.
‘Han Dokyeom’ was that kind of person. Just an ordinary E-rank Hunter who couldn’t do anything alone.
“A power.”
This time was the same. The transaction that the foreigner coming from afar would propose.
Dokyeom had no justification to make a deal with that foreigner himself. But if it was Taeseongyeon, the situation changed. With wealth and power, Taeseongyeon could give and take what was desired on equal footing from a supporting position without any lack.
However, what the foreigner from afar offered was a transaction of no value to Taeseongyeon. The sincerity they showed was a foundation for the future, not the present. And even that was for Dokyeom.
“What they want is the ‘Power of Mercy’ that you have, but what they offer probably isn’t the power you want.”
“Then?”
“It’s most likely the ‘Power of Greed.’ It may seem like no immediate benefit, but the deal must be made. If that deal falls through, you won’t get the ‘Power of Pride’ that you want.”
What they offered was just the ‘place’ where the power was buried. In other words, to obtain the ‘Power of Greed,’ he would have to enter the gate again and struggle to overcome trials.
This was a power that absolutely had to be obtained. Not only because it was a prerequisite for the ‘Power of Pride’ that Taeseongyeon so desperately wanted, but also because it would create an opportunity to save Han Yuseong.
Taeseongyeon merely tapped the armrest with the edge of the documents, not giving any answer. Still, he seemed to accept it. It was at that moment when the night scene briefly passed over his eyes. Dokyeom spoke again.
“And about Han Yuseong.”
Their interlocked hands tightened. Taeseongyeon closed his eyes slowly, as if he knew that was coming, then opened them.
He had probably expected Han Yuseong’s name to come out of Dokyeom’s mouth. It was none other than Dokyeom who had told him to save the body, regardless of Han Yuseong’s life or death.
“I’d like you to reverse the death declaration.”
“Reverse?”
For the first time, Taeseongyeon frowned and questioned. By the time a week had passed, the gate wavelength on the body would have disappeared, and decomposition would have begun. Even now, it was too late to preserve a soulless body.
“If possible, say he’s still alive, that he was just in a vegetative state. Publish an article like that and reverse the funeral. And…”
To prevent that, Han Yuseong shouldn’t be here.
“Give me Han Yuseong’s body. I’ll keep it.”
This was the last favor Dokyeom could do for Han Yuseong.
Again, Taeseongyeon didn’t answer. But Dokyeom vaguely sensed that it was a yes. A silence neither short nor long lingered in the hospital room.
That unfamiliar air, neither uncomfortable nor comfortable, now felt merely alien. It was Taeseongyeon, who had been silently watching Dokyeom, who broke the awkward silence.
“Is that all you have to say? If you’re done, I have something to say to you too.”
“…No, there’s one more thing.”
There was still one most important thing left. A question that could instantly twist their relationship.
“……”
But Dokyeom hoped that the answer to this question would be different from his expectations. He had just acknowledged this distance. He didn’t want to awkwardly widen it again, not yet.
So, if possible, he wanted to confirm. Whether Taeseongyeon was someone he could fully trust and be close to.
“Taeseongyeon-ssi.”
The irritating sound of the document envelope tapping the armrest scraped his ears a few times. When a horn blared from the roadside, the sound stopped as if cut off.
It was around then that Dokyeom opened his mouth.
“…What are you?”
His voice was calm and serious. But he poured it out like a burst dam. All the things he had been holding back. The things that had been questionable and unsettling.
“What are you that skills that work on everyone else don’t work on you? What are you that you took down two S-rank Hunters without lifting a finger? What are you, Taeseongyeon-ssi?”
What had he thought after watching the video from the place Baek Jiun vacated for him? Was he stunned?
No matter how numerous Taeseongyeon’s Hell Legion was, with soldiers typically above B-rank, there were only four general-class at most. As far as Dokyeom knew, the rank of general-class undead was A-rank. And even that was on the scale of summoned beasts, different from the A-rank of Hunters.
Could such beings possibly kill the S-ranks representing China?
Moreover, Dokyeom, even as an S-rank, had killed only one Hunter. One. And that was only possible with the sacrifice and coordination with Jeong Ilun.
Yet, Taeseongyeon, without lifting a finger, had his Hell Generals slaughter such S-rank Hunters. Because the Chinese Hunters didn’t resist? That was ridiculous. The video showed countless traces of their resistance.
At that scene mixed with screams and curses, there were at least dozens of signs of resistance identified as shadows.
How was this possible?
You’ve got to see this next! My Star, Your Star will keep you on the edge of your seat. Start reading today!
Read : My Star, Your Star
