"Eomma, oppa!"
Jin-Woo woke up from his turbulent dream.
Amongst numerous students in the hall, he could see Jin-Ah dressed neatly, with a robe and mortarboard hat approaching him and their mother.
He smiled slightly, and the cameramen and reporters that were trying to get into the school gate immediately flashed their cameras and captured his smiling face.
"South Korea's National Hunter is attending the graduation ceremony of his sister!"
"Oppa, you are too famous here." Jin-Ah sighed. "Look. Everyone at school keeps on telling me that they want to take a picture with you. It's annoying but I couldn't refuse directly or else they wouldn't stop bothering me."
"A lot of people like my son, huh."
The students and their parents looked at the trio with anticipation.
They hired a cameraman and took a picture together, and then Jin-Ah went to Song-I and her other friends.
Jin-Woo looked around him and then his attention was caught by three peculiar students.
"Ahhh, I really miss him!" Girl 1 sobbed as she used Girl 2's shoulder to wipe her snot.
Girl 3 approached them while holding a portrait of a blonde person. When she had arrived at the ceremony with it, the framed picture was almost snatched away by the principal and she had to wrestle him in order to protect it.
She teared up and opened her arms and crashed on the two girls. They were graduating.
"Ever since he was gone, Hae-Seong never attended school again."
"Life is too painful to go on without the most important person by your side."
"Hwan Jae also became depressed and kept on looking at Seung-Eun's empty seat."
Jin-Ah returned back to her family and noticed that Jin-Woo was looking at the three girls.
"Where is he? I have prepared a present for him."
Jin-Ah looked at the carefully wrapped small box in his hand. She swallowed the lump in her throat.
"Oppa..."
"Jin-Woo, didn't you say that you have work to do at Ahjin guild?"
Jin-Woo looked at both his mother and sister. "I'm sorry. I'll be going first."
Jin-Woo went to the Ahjin guild, where he met Jin-Ho and went through his usual day. As he sat at his desk and glanced at the gloomy sky outside, he realized something.
"I thought Seung-Eun said that he would visit the guild this afternoon. He's late," he said with a hint of concern.
Jin-Ho tensed up as he looked up from the paperwork, "Hyung-nim, that..."
"What is it?"
"It's nothing."
Jin-Ho smiled bitterly.
Later, when Jin-Woo returned home, Seung-Eun was still nowhere to be seen. The sky remained gloomy, with rain starting to fall.
As he walked, he unexpectedly met Se-Yoon, who had just walked out of the apartment building. Without warning, Se-Yoon threw a punch towards him, and Jin-Woo didn't attempt to dodge, letting the punch hit him.
"What's the meaning of this?" Jin-Woo asked calmly.
Se-Yoon's face was contorted with anger. "Bastard! You fucking murderer."
Jin-Woo looked at Se-Yoon with visible confusion.
"I'm moving out. There's no meaning even if I stay here until I die. He will never come back."
"Moving out? What about Seung-Eun? He is still a hunter here and he said that he will join Ahjin guild..." Jin-Woo asked.
Se-Yoon couldn't contain his frustration. "Did you become fucking stupid or something?!"
He glared at Jin-Woo but then fell silent as he looked at him closely. Something was off about Jin-Woo.
"Why the hell do you look worse than me?" Se-Yoon finally said.
His body was here, however his eyes seemed to be empty and lost.
Jin-Woo didn't respond, and an uncomfortable silence hung between them.
During the Jeju Island raid, Se-Yoon arrived at the scene too late. He could see Jin-Woo standing alone under the rain and there was a motionless body in a pool of blood on the ground.
Se-Yoon couldn't recall what happened after that, but when he came home, he found a letter on the dining table.
Hyung, I don't know how to write a proper letter. Is the format supposed to be formal or informal? Do I need to include an address as well? But we live at the same place though.
Ehem. Anyway, I don't know how to say it but I hope you understand what I want to convey.
I'm sorry. And thank you for everything. If there's a next life, then I want us to be family again.
Farewell, Han Seung-Eun.
Ps. Please don't blame Jin-Woo hyung.
'Ungrateful son of a bitch. If you are sorry, then why the hell did you do it?!'
"He's dead." Jin-Woo said.
"What are you trying to say?"
"I... don't remember that he had died."
"Cut the crap. I don't want to see your face again."
"..."
Se-Yoon felt that it was pointless to continue venting his anger.
"Han Seung-Eun is dead. So you have to move on, hunter Sung Jin-Woo."
He felt like he was actually trying to convince himself.
Se-Yoon left. His hand was stuffed in his pants' pocket, holding the worn letter.
Jin-Woo looked at the rain falling.
...
Hwan Jae raised the wooden sword and brought it down. He heaved a sigh and looked at the spot next to him.
"Even if you glare until a hole is formed on the floor, he still won't appear."
Song Chi-Yul entered the dojo with a sigh.
"I don't think I have anything else to teach you. Won't you be busy after graduation?"
"Yes, I'll join my father's company and enter an internship."
"I see..."
There was a momentary silence in the room.
"If I had known what he was going through, I would have tried to help him. Hwan Jae, you knew him at school, right?"
"Yes."
"I want to hear his story."
So they sat on the floor and talked the whole afternoon.
...
'The world is beautiful.' Lanze traveled around the globe, and he went to both the human and monster world. He met many kinds of creatures and interacted with them.
He had asked him what he wanted to do once he was free from the contract.
After losing him, Lanze began to think carefully and then he came to a decision that he wanted to see the world that his sire had sacrificed himself for.
So he continued to live.
...
Hyun-Su drew on the notebook and scratched the drawing.
"It's so ugly. Seung-Eun hyung-nim can draw better." He grumbled. "But hyung said he would not come here again. Is it because I annoyed him? No, it must be hyung's fault."
...
"Even after several months, your face still appeared on the news. They said that you are a traitor of humankind."
Hae-Seong looked at the sea. There was no one that replied to him. He didn't know where else to talk when Seung-Eun didn't have a funeral. No, rather, there was no deserving peaceful funeral for a criminal that people condemned to death.
"You always talked about being a side character of a story. A character that isn't important and can be discarded anytime. Then I hope I can be the main character in the next life."
He made a declaration.
"And I won't ever let you die again, my stupid best friend."
[END]