A Side Character's Mission ↠ Solo Leveling

Chapter 25: Breaking Point

Seungeun didn't say anything about the windows that popped up in front of his eyes with a 'ding' continuously and overlapped each other. He picked up the other man and carried him on his back.

The two figures disappeared as the cold wind howled in the dead of night.

.....

One second he was inside the car, another second he was laid down on the road.

Under the heavy rain, inside the wrecked car, he could vaguely see that his father was leaning on the seat, not moving, and his mother had her forehead pressed on the board, also not moving. On the back seat, his sister's head was leaned on the window.

She was blabbering about her day in the primary school while they were listening, laughing at her cute antic.

'And then- and then... What happened?'

Cloud of black smoke came out of the car and people were shouting in panic. Some tried to get buckets of water to extinguish the fire, some only watched and do nothing and some called the ambulance.

Someone was calling for his name and asking for him to stay conscious, but his head was buzzing and darkness was lulling him to fall into slumber. He tried desperately to keep himself awake, but in the end, his attempt was futile. The last thing he heard was a loud explosion.

After he woke up and informed that all of his father, mother and sister couldn't be saved, he cried and demanded everyone around him to get them back.

Time passed in a blur.

He was standing in front of children younger than him. All of them had bright smiles and greeted him enthusiastically, calling him 'hyung' or 'oppa'.

One girl suddenly grasp his hand, reminding him of his sister's small hand that he usually held when they walked together.

On the first day of his stay in the orphanage, he couldn't help but weep in front of everyone.

A child that was still in their development state usually got more easily adapted to their surrounding. After time passed by, he quickly adapted to the new environment and accept both the adults and children as his new family. The traumatic event was left at the back of his head.

On a particular day, there was a new child that came to the orphanage. He was short, skinny, malnourished and his dead golden eyes spooked the other few children into tears. They were very cold and even he felt intimidated by them.

As the oldest, he was obligated to introduce himself and make the younger ones feel welcome. "Hello, my name is Seyoon. What's your name?"

The child didn't reply. The caretaker beside him was the one that talked. "This is Seungeun. He's quiet and shy since this is the first time that he meets new people. So everyone, please be nice to him. Why don't you get him to play, Seyoon?"

Seyoon moved his hand to take the younger one's, when he suddenly felt a stinging pain on it.

"Seungeun!" The caretaker gasped in shock.

The child flinched and bared his teeth in aggression. It reminded Seyoon of a hissing kitten that was wary of humans.

"This child..."

Seyoon rubbed his hand. There were children that acted arrogant and like to hit people for fun or childish anger,  but he could sense that it wasn't the case for this one. "Is he scared?"

"Well... he's a bit scared. But since we're one whole family now, we should get used to each other's presence. Why don't you try to talk to him again next time Seyoon?"

"Okay..."

True to his thought, Seungeun was different from other children, a strange one. He didn't touch the toys that were given to him. He didn't find anything to be intriguing or fascinating. He didn't smile nor laugh like a normal child would. But he was obedient enough to do anything the adult told him to do. Seungeun spent his free time by zoning out as he looked at the blue sky.

The problem that he had- that made the caretaker sighed and lamented of his misfortune, was when he would instinctively hit other children that came too close to him. The children around his age started to dislike him and no longer try to invite him to play or get near him.

Seyoon was the only one that didn't give up.

It was a long, long time, at least to Seyoon, after his nth attempt that his efforts finally bear fruit. Seungeun finally talked to him willingly and started to open up.

After the dean personally adopted the two of them, their bond continued to get stronger until they were almost inseparable.

"What are you making?" Seyoon peeked from behind him.  The other was hiding away from the sunlight by sitting under the shades of a tree.

"Sit there." Seungeun pointed at the spot in front of him.

"Seungeun, it's not polite to ask like that. Can't you be a little bit nicer? Say, 'hyung, can you please sit there?'"

The other only gave him a deadpanned look. Seyoon sighed as he moved and then sat crossed legs.

Seungeun placed the flower crown on his big brother's head. "Happy birthday hyung."

Seyoon blinked his eyes.

"Seungeun you-" Tears spilled and dripped down his chin. "It's pretty! Is this my present? How did you even learn to do this?"

"From a book..."

"Is that so? I really like it! I didn't know you are talented in this kind of thing!"

Seyoon continued to praise him non-stop in tears and even hugged him. Seungeun patted his back with a small smile.

"My dongsaeng is so cute. What should I do?"

"What's your wish for your birthday?"

"I wish... I wish we'll grow up happily together! Promise me, Seungeun."

"Okay, if that's what you want hyung."

.....

Somewhere in Japan, a man in his late forties was sleeping in his own bedroom. The constant knocking from the door jolted him awake. He tidied his clothes and the sound continued to resonate in the quiet house.

'Who is coming this late?' The digital clock in the living room showed that it was almost at four in the morning. The sun hadn't even came out yet.

Grabbing the umbrella next to the door, he asked, "Who is it?"

"It's me, Seungeun."

The voice was very familiar on the other side and he didn't hesitate to open the door.

There, his adopted son was carrying someone on his back. It was precisely none other than his own brother.

Seungeun cried, "Abeoji[1], please help me..."

[1] Abeoji is the standard word for 'father' in Korean.