# Chapter 124
No going out, no deliveries either. Lee Hwan was left alone with Taesung on this isolated island, surrounded by walls that somehow even gave a sense of security.
However, rather than being purely happy about the situation, he somehow felt like they were stranded in a mountain cabin during a rainstorm.
‘To think I have to spend several days in this atmosphere.’
Lee Hwan sat on the sofa with his legs gathered, staring blankly at the TV. Living without even a cell phone, he would come out of his room several times a day to watch the news.
Economy, politics, society… The existence of Awakened individuals was inserted into every kind of news without discrimination. Wondering if Taesung’s story might be buried somewhere within, he routinely searched the internet and watched TV.
—”There has been ongoing fierce debate for years about the affiliation of high-ranking Awakened individuals. There are conflicting opinions: one side argues that the government should again protect and manage A-class and above Awakened individuals and make them work for the public good, while the other side insists that the rights of Awakened individuals should be protected and the broad use of their abilities encouraged.”
—”This has been a steady topic of discussion for 20 years. But hasn’t it only recently begun to burn so intensely?”
—”That’s right. The argument that Awakened individuals with abilities above a certain standard should be affiliated with the state has been consistently raised since the management of Gates was transferred to the private sector. However, it truly ignited after the emergence of Kang Taesung, the first privately affiliated S-class Awakened Hunter. The interview with Ji Hyungchul, a retired state-affiliated S-class Hunter at that time, also became a big topic…”
If he decided to dig thoroughly, he could easily scrape up dozens of stories about Taesung. The youngest S-class Hunter was a welcome topic of conversation anywhere.
However, despite Naru causing a Gate accident and persistently chasing Taesung, he couldn’t find a single line of news or articles about it. As if someone was thoroughly blocking it.
‘I wonder if this should be considered fortunate…’
Semi-Awakening was a project that involved figures from both political and business circles. Prominent members of the Health Promotion Association had proven that hypothesis. As Lee Hwan had no money or power to leverage, he had imagined becoming a fugitive after stealing the drug several times.
However, as Lee Hwan had previously speculated, Naru seemed unwilling to inform the big players about the leakage of the Semi-Awakening project. Both the Association and the Management Bureau remained quiet. Taesung had said that those chasing him were most likely unregistered Awakened individuals.
‘I might not be chased by public authorities, but perhaps it would be better to be caught by them instead.’
At least they wouldn’t kill and dispose of him without a trace.
While Lee Hwan was sighing, hugging his knees, he suddenly heard the sound of a door opening. Turning his gaze from the TV, he saw Taesung walking out from the large room in the corner.
Lee Hwan quickly changed the channel that was still babbling about him, and glanced at Taesung’s face.
An expressionless face. The way he hid all expressions and emotional fluctuations reminded Lee Hwan of Jade. It seemed strange that someone like him would become such an affectionate person within four years. Lee Hwan felt newly amazed.
What kind of time had he spent in the past that Lee Hwan hadn’t been involved in?
Since waking up on the first day, after organizing the weapons hidden throughout the house, Taesung hadn’t shown much movement. Nevertheless, Lee Hwan was conscious of his every presence. Whether in a room or living room, even when absorbed in other things, he found his ears perking up at every sound of doors or footsteps.
‘Am I being too obviously conscious of him?’
While self-reproaching like that, Lee Hwan guessed that Taesung probably wasn’t much different from himself. It was because Taesung kept coming out of his room strangely often whenever Lee Hwan was sprawled in the living room.
At first, he thought they might just be coincidentally crossing paths after going in and out several times. But when he realized there were no footsteps when he wasn’t in the living room, Lee Hwan thought Taesung was monitoring him.
‘No, we could all die if things go wrong, but he still can’t trust people.’
What could he possibly do in a common space? Lee Hwan felt a subtle disappointment wash over him.
Then, just the previous day, when Lee Hwan woke up after dozing on the sofa, he sensed that Taesung’s actions might not necessarily be a negative sign.
He already knew that the probability of dreaming was high when napping during the day. However, since he started running away, Lee Hwan hadn’t been able to sleep well at night.
Since Taesung joined, his tension had eased somewhat, and fatigue would come upon him bit by bit during the day. Especially when the TV was on, he would doze off once or twice a day.
When he suddenly woke up with his eyes flying open without any warning, Lee Hwan unexpectedly met eyes with Taesung, who was sitting at the dining table watching him.
“…”
“…”
Taesung’s eyes, which were pretending to look away nonchalantly, were slightly widened. As if he hadn’t expected Lee Hwan to open his eyes.
But soon even that surprise melted away smoothly, and as he returned to his expressionless state, he rose from his seat where he had been sitting in a stable posture.
‘What the…’
Lee Hwan, looking at him with a bewildered expression, embarrassedly moved his half-reclining body and put away the laptop. Would Taesung have come out to monitor him this time too? Had he been monitoring him like this when he dozed off before? Silently speculating.
Then Lee Hwan suddenly thought that Taesung surely wouldn’t be monitoring someone who was asleep. No matter how much he bounced around, Taesung wouldn’t think he’d be plotting something while sleeping.
‘Then why is he doing this…?’
Even in his confusion, Lee Hwan glanced at Taesung and fumbled to fix his hair. Since his hair had grown longer, it would often lie in strange directions or stand up after sleeping. The relationship was already awkward, and he didn’t want to show that appearance to Taesung.
Fortunately, just leaning against the sofa briefly hadn’t created a bird’s nest on his head. Next, Lee Hwan nervously wiped his face, concerned he might have drooled.
His face suddenly felt warm.
‘What am I doing now…’
His actions felt like someone trying to make a good impression.
Moreover, amid all this, he had the meaningless worry that he might have made groaning noises while sleeping. It was quite pathetic. Despite being tired, he should regret having slept so defenseless.
Lee Hwan remembered his reflection in the bathroom mirror. Since all the prepared clothes were sized for Taesung, he felt like he looked shabby no matter what he did.
Looking like that and nodding off like a sick chicken, wouldn’t Taesung wonder what kind of person he was?
“Ahem, ahem… What’s going on?”
When Lee Hwan cleared his throat needlessly and belatedly tried to act serious, Taesung, who had been rustling around in the kitchen, silently placed a bowl on the table.
At the same time, the smell of food spread throughout the house. Glancing around, Lee Hwan noticed five empty stew cans piled next to the sink.
Only then did he see that it was 7:30 PM, and dinner time had been delayed. While Lee Hwan had been hastily fixing his hair, Taesung seemed to have prepared a simple meal.
Lee Hwan, rising with a doubtful expression, twitched the corner of his eye when he saw the stew boiling on the induction stove. A narrow, deep pot was filled with chunks of meat and vegetables swaying in the liquid.
“I found something. Let’s talk over dinner.”
As if he had come out to heat food from the beginning, Taesung naturally changed the subject. As if he had completely forgotten that he’d been watching someone sleeping just moments before.
Lee Hwan approached the kitchen as if entranced. He briefly thought it was strange why everyone seemed eager to feed him these days.
‘Do I look that starved?’
Flexing his arm slightly, he noticed that although thinner than before, his muscles still stood out firmly. If he had to hunt prey right now, he could catch a wild boar barehanded.
By any measure, he wasn’t someone who couldn’t manage to feed himself.
‘I never even said I was hungry, but at every mealtime he keeps putting food on the table and not leaving…’
Perhaps the memory of Lee Hwan constantly munching on things when they were stranded in the Gate had left a strong impression.
Then suddenly, Lee Hwan recalled meeting him one more time during a period when his energy was running low.
At a café, when he received an offer to join from him.
Lee Hwan had always been someone who used a lot of energy. Although he hadn’t noticed it at the time, it was also when his strength was being rapidly drained due to the regression skill. On top of that, combined with his pre-regression habit of eating whenever possible, that day Lee Hwan had practically drunk his dessert.
‘Haa… Surely not that.’
At that time, Lee Hwan had placed several sweet dishes in front of him and ate them all without giving Taesung a single bite. He was hungry, but also did it out of resentment. For suddenly having to be with Kang Dongha. He wanted to waste even Taesung’s pocket change.
However, not knowing Lee Hwan’s inner thoughts, Taesung had only seen him swallowing cake or madeleines in big gulps, so he might just think that Lee Hwan was someone who extremely enjoyed eating.
‘Well, I do like it, but…’
Still, he didn’t want to appear that way to him. Lee Hwan made an indignant expression while throwing his own private pity party.
But all these stray thoughts ended when Taesung pulled out a chair at the dining table. As he sat down with efficient movements, Lee Hwan also took a seat across from him as if entranced.
Without any invitation to eat or announcement that he would eat, dinner began in an instant.
“…Do you have anything in mind regarding Naru?”
Lee Hwan asked first, while receiving the ladle and scooping up stew. Taesung paused with his spoon and glanced at Lee Hwan.
“Well. Since the last place where we were detected was near the harbor, I think they might be spread out all over that area.”
“It would be better to meet Praxis away from that neighborhood then.”
“That’s right. Has contact been made?”
“I’m planning to make calls starting tomorrow morning. It seems they haven’t entered the country yet.”
As he finished speaking, Lee Hwan put a large chunk of potato in his mouth. The taste of the food melting on his tongue wasn’t bad for canned food.
“It seems that information about them or Naru hasn’t been leaked anywhere yet. I can’t find even similar news on the internet or TV.”
“They want to handle it silently.”
However, the monotone response only dampened the already gloomy atmosphere further. There was no need for even meal times to be like this.
Lee Hwan roughly chewed and swallowed a piece of well-cooked, wobbling meat, then decided to find value in simply having a conversation with Taesung. Originally, he had only wanted to survive in the safe house, not expecting an affectionate moment with him.
Still, there was a need to lift the atmosphere that was sinking through the floor. Lee Hwan picked up a carrot, then dropped it back onto the stew with a plop, and spoke in a meaningful voice.
“That sound… We might be able to create it ourselves. Would you be interested in hearing how?”
