# Chapter 106
“It was ridiculous… but not incomprehensible.”
To Hyegang, his brother, while peculiar in character, had always been an impressive and cool person. A hero protecting the city. A strong and famous hunter. Hyeseong always said he wanted to help people with his abilities and was glad he could, and even young Hyegang knew that keeping such a commitment wasn’t as easy as it sounded.
And Hyegang himself wanted to be like his brother.
Hyegang’s aspiration was to be like Hyeseong. To become a skilled hunter like his brother, to become a strong person like his brother.
Like his brother.
“So I took the superhuman ability assessment test.”
But Hyegang’s result was tier 1. Radio wave interference was an ability that made physical combat impossible, to the extent that he couldn’t even participate in superhuman combat, so there was no opportunity to look forward to.
“I was definitely fine throughout.”
Hyegang’s eyes remained calm. His clear eyes were completely dry.
“Why did it feel so much like the end of the world back then?”
When he received the superhuman assessment results, the strength drained from his body. What should I, who cannot become like my brother… what should I do?
The place he thought would naturally be there for him wasn’t. For the first time, he felt abandoned in the vast open sea.
Something he hadn’t even realized he was holding in burst forth. Not wanting to go home, he walked wherever his feet took him. After wandering through unfamiliar neighborhoods and streets for a long time, it started to get dark. In the chilly temperature, he crouched down anywhere that could shelter him from the wind.
Hyegang knew this wasn’t a big deal. Only a tiny minority of people in the world could become hunters. Hyeseong was the special one.
Hyegang had plenty of outstanding abilities beyond superhuman powers. He enjoyed programming and had many other hobbies. Their family was even wealthy enough that he’d be fine doing nothing at all. His brother wouldn’t cut off his support just because Hyegang had grown up a bit. So this wasn’t such a significant issue…
‘Excuse me… aren’t you cold?’
That’s when he met Iyeon.
“I remember. You were shivering so much.”
Iyeon said, nodding his head. Hyegang chuckled at the exaggerated expression.
“Come on, it wasn’t that bad.”
Iyeon, convinced that Hyegang, who was crouched on some commercial building steps, was a delinquent youth, tried to engage him in conversation.
‘Aren’t you going home? Your parents must be worried.’
‘I don’t have parents.’
‘…Still, you should go home…’
‘There’s no one there.’
Hyegang murmured in a lifeless voice.
‘There’s no one at home.’
After staring at him blankly for a while, Iyeon reached out his hand again.
‘I don’t have parents either.’
‘…What?’
At the unexpected confession, Hyegang unconsciously looked up. A white-skinned, gentle-looking man was looking at him.
‘So, should we eat together?’
His blank face smiled lightly. Even with the poor visibility in the darkness, Hyegang stared as if entranced.
“I really thought you were a weird person back then, hyung.”
“Was I that strange?”
“I’d encountered a lot of perverts who approached me like that.”
“…”
It might have been a simple whim, but he just wanted to do it. It seemed like it would be okay.
So Hyegang took Iyeon’s hand.
Since it was almost midnight, the only place they could go was a 24-hour fast food restaurant. The store was filled with blaring music, brightly lit, and had tables and interior in so many primary colors that it made his eyes dizzy.
In that chaotic atmosphere, while eating, Hyegang learned that Iyeon was a tier 2 hunter and ran an office alone. Iyeon, who was grumbling that there was surprisingly a lot of work to do alone, was already emptying his third tray.
Hyegang’s words were quite impulsive.
‘Can I work there too?’
‘Huh?’
‘I’m tier 1, so I can’t help with combat, but I’ve studied programming. I’ve won awards in hacking competitions. I can do office work too. I’m good with computers, and I can learn document work quickly…’
He appealed quite passionately. Iyeon, who had been watching the boy list his credentials while putting down his spoon, swallowed his food and his eyes sparkled as if he’d had a good idea.
‘Then you could be an operator.’
‘An operator?’
‘Yeah. I’ll do the legwork, and you tell me where to go. Find information about mutants when I’m fighting, find paths for me. Like a commander.’
Operator. Hyegang silently mulled over the word. Iyeon subtly tried to entice him with smooth talk.
‘You said you can hack, so maybe your superpower could be useful somewhere? Aren’t computers and radio waves similar?’
‘…They’re not really similar.’
‘No? Anyway. It seems like a good ability.’
Iyeon spoke like someone ignorant about computers, and he did seem genuinely ignorant, but he had surprising insight. Only then could Hyegang think about his radio wave interference ability rather than his tier 1 ranking.
‘If you do that, I’ll make you a partner, not just an employee.’
Iyeon smiled mischievously, as if plotting something.
‘How about it?’
The two looked at each other. Hyegang, who had been staring seriously at Iyeon, suddenly smiled along.
“Now, I don’t think about wanting to be like my brother anymore.”
Hyegang was smiling with exactly the same face as back then.
“I’ll do things my way.”
His solid smile was shining with conviction.
“My judgment was phenomenal at that time.”
Iyeon boasted greatly while taking a sip of his Americano with a slurp. Even in hindsight, recruiting Hyegang was among the best things he’d done in the last 10 years. If Hyegang had experienced any social life and realized what level his abilities were, he wouldn’t have even looked at Iyeon’s tiny office, so one could only say the timing was artful.
“That Hyegang who sat on the stairs sniffling is already twenty-two, and now he’s reunited with his brother… time really flies.”
“Don’t talk like an old man. I wasn’t sniffling, you know?”
When Hyegang lightly chided him, Iyeon pretended to be distracted, pointedly sucking on his straw. Hyegang also smiled slightly at his antics.
This wasn’t the first time Iyeon had listened to someone’s personal circumstances. When handling requests, there were often cases deeply connected to the client’s personal situation, and he had frequently inadvertently heard intimate family matters.
This wasn’t a transaction. Just because he listened didn’t mean he necessarily had to share his own story too. Iyeon had never felt responsibility or guilt about it.
It was the first time he wanted to tell his own story after hearing someone else’s.
He suddenly felt the urge to tell Iyeon’s story to Hyegang, who had shared his own. He wanted to confess, “Actually, I too…” and reveal the circumstances of his past. He wanted to be understood. He wanted empathy.
But Iyeon was different from Hyegang.
Unlike Hyegang, who simply hadn’t spoken about it, Iyeon had clearly lied. His ability. Tier 2 hunter. The relationship had started with a lie from the beginning.
Lies had inertia. At first, it was just deceiving about one ability, but to cover that one lie, he had to tell another lie, and another… In the end, the number of times he had deceived Hyegang over the long period became countless. How many times had he awkwardly played along with the puzzled Hyegang, saying things like “Yeah, that’s strange”?
If he had told from the beginning that his ability wasn’t image materialization… Iyeon sometimes made such hypothetical scenarios.
Even now, if he told the truth, Hyegang might understand and say it was okay. Hyegang had a calm and impassive personality that made him appear detached, but he was actually a kind and sensitive person. A good younger brother.
But revealing the truth only after figuring out his personality—wasn’t that the real deception? Iyeon didn’t want Hyegang to get hurt.
No, no. This was just an excuse. Iyeon was simply afraid.
He was afraid of Hyegang’s reaction when the truth was revealed. He was afraid that Hyegang would be disappointed when he learned of all the lies. Afraid that even if Hyegang said it was okay, he wouldn’t trust Iyeon anymore, that he wouldn’t share family stories anymore. Afraid that their relationship would change.
That’s what he was afraid of. Hyegang was the most precious connection that Iyeon had made as “Jung Iyeon.” He didn’t want it to change because of his own mistake.
‘Nothing has changed since 10 years ago.’
Even with his faint self-deprecation, it didn’t give him courage that wasn’t there.
He was in a situation where he could neither take back the lie he had already told nor continue with it. His wavering heart shifted weights from time to time.
“…Je Sano isn’t coming.”
But in the end, the coward won.
“Yeah. I wonder if he’s not coming at all today?”
Hyegang answered nonchalantly. The Americano they bought for Sano already had all its ice melted, with water streaming down the surface of the cup.
It wasn’t as if Sano hadn’t been absent like this before, but perhaps because it had been a while, it felt awkward. Iyeon fidgeted with his phone before putting it back. Having never properly contacted him before, he was now self-conscious about calling, worried it might seem overdramatic.
Instead, Iyeon stood up from his seat.
“I’m going to take a quick walk.”
“Why a walk?”
Hyegang asked in surprise. Though he’s not as confined to indoor spaces as Hyegang, Iyeon also prefers lying down if there’s no particular purpose.
“Just… I should go see Director Jin again.”
Iyeon gave the most plausible excuse he could think of. At this point, it was fortunate that he hadn’t been able to meet Heesu for a while. Hyegang nodded in understanding and added:
