# Chapter 108
It felt like suddenly falling from a high building all the way to the ground. Dohyuk, startled, jolted upright.
It was an unfamiliar space.
There was a large window with blinds pulled down next to the bed, and sunlight shone through the small gaps in the blinds, suggesting the sun was up. The bedding Dohyuk had been lying on was soft. It looked like an ordinary spacious studio apartment.
As he gasped for breath like someone who had barely escaped a nightmare of being strangled, someone patted his back.
“Are you conscious?”
Dohyuk quickly turned his head at the gentle voice. A beautiful man sitting in an auxiliary chair beside the bed was looking at him. Though slightly thinner than he remembered, making his jawline sharper, it was still a familiar face. Black hair adorning a flawless, snow-white face and gentle-looking eyes.
“…It’s been 12 years.”
A thudding sound was heard from somewhere. Something seemed to sink within him, whether in his head or heart. Dohyuk thought this psychological pain was causing confusion in his hearing. But contradicting his thoughts, another sound followed—urgent, unstable footsteps rushing from far away.
***
“There’s no way I should be alive like this…”
Though he thought it was a fairly luxurious studio apartment, this place was actually the recovery room inside Junwoo’s research facility. Having been tormented by Junseo for quite some time for making a tasteless joke to someone who had just woken up, Junwoo was finally granted the authority to administer vitamins to Dohyuk. At Junwoo’s correction that he had woken up after three weeks of being unconscious, Dohyuk, still with a bewildered expression, just blinked his eyes.
“Well, actually, that’s true. Junseo did something reckless.”
The content Junwoo spoke of was unfamiliar even to Dohyuk.
In fact, Dohyuk had thought until now that he was an Esper created by combining a monster’s byproduct or monster cells. But according to Dr. Jeong’s research journal, Dohyuk was a human fused with an S-class dungeon core. The monstrous transformation was caused by the human body gradually being worn down by nuclear energy and changing grotesquely.
The strange incidents that occurred within the dungeon were also due to Dohyuk’s ‘gap’ that Junseo had mentioned before. After escaping from Hochang’s jungle, nuclear energy finally began to leak from Dohyuk who had reached his limit.
A dungeon can only contain one core. Therefore, when Dohyuk’s core clashed with the dungeon’s core, various variables occurred, such as the dungeon core being absorbed by monsters or destroyed. If Junseo hadn’t consistently blocked Dohyuk’s energy, even if temporarily, the situation would have become even more complicated.
The doctors couldn’t make an accurate diagnosis of Dohyuk’s condition. There was a lack of will, cost, and even samples to formally proceed with research that had been tentatively concluded as a failure. Even Dr. Choi’s later examinations were merely a façade. Kang Chakwon, the Esper Director, wanted to dispose of all evidence after concluding the experiment had failed. When all assassination attempts failed due to the appearance of Yu Junseo, his partner Guide, their final method was for Dohyuk to take his own life. Dr. Choi’s goal, under Kang Chakwon’s instruction, was to encourage Dohyuk to commit suicide as quickly as possible by fostering despair about his current state.
“A reckless act?”
“No, I was careful. I told you before. You have to stick when it’s time to stick, and not miss the timing to lay down your cards.”
The response to the question came from Junseo, who still had no intention of detaching himself from Dohyuk. Though Dohyuk was embarrassed by Junseo’s behavior, showing no consideration in front of Junwoo, he could only groan without even being able to complain, having made the mistake of opening his eyes during the 10 minutes Junseo had briefly stepped away.
It was rather fortunate that Junwoo maintained an indifferent expression, regardless of whether his younger brother was clinging to a man nearly thirty years old. If they had both looked embarrassed, the awkwardness would have been tripled.
“Your cards weren’t even confirmed yet. If you hadn’t done it properly, you both would have died. You even got hurt, and Dohyuk-ssi is actually…”
“Hyung Junwoo.”
Junseo quickly cut off Junwoo’s words. “Haah,” Junseo let out a thin sigh and shot a cold glance at Junwoo behind Dohyuk’s back.
“Didn’t you say you were busy today?”
“…Sigh, yes. Junseo. Though there’s nothing special, your busy brother has a headache, so I’ll be going. Anyway, regular check-ups are necessary. I’ll be in charge, so don’t worry. Dohyuk-ssi, get plenty of rest too. I’ll label all the ingredients in the prescribed medications, so take them with confidence. I’ll minimize the sedatives as much as possible.”
“Ah, yes… Thank you.”
Dohyuk awkwardly nodded to Junwoo, who was organizing the empty IV and leaving the room. It was difficult to move with Junseo still wrapped around Dohyuk’s torso with both arms.
He was still dazed. The fact that he was alive felt so unreal. Even now, he sometimes wondered if this might actually be the afterlife.
As soon as the door closed, Dohyuk detached Junseo, who had been burying his face in his shoulder. The usually smooth face stared intently at Dohyuk with dissatisfied eyes. While pushing away the body trying to cling to him again, Dohyuk carefully examined him. Only then did Junseo narrow his eyes thinly and smile. His long eyelashes touched his plump aegyo sal.
“Are you looking for where I got hurt?”
Junseo moved a little closer and whispered in an insinuating tone. “But if you want to see the wound, I’ll have to undress more. Do you really want to see it?” His lips touched the earlobe with every word. Though he expected Dohyuk to be flustered and struggle to pull away as usual, Dohyuk just remained stiffly frozen.
“Was it me who hurt you?”
Anyway, Yu Junwoo. I was trying to enjoy a tender reunion, but you weren’t helpful at all—thinking this, yet with a gentle expression, Junseo shook his head.
“You were almost in a rampage state then. It’s not a big wound, so he was making a fuss for nothing.”
“…Still, at the end, I—”
If only I hadn’t grabbed you, you wouldn’t have been hurt.
He still remembered that faint moment. Despite not having confidence in controlling his ability, he couldn’t suppress his desire and reached out.
Perhaps noticing the words Dohyuk couldn’t utter, Junseo’s fingertips gently caressed Dohyuk’s hair, forehead, and cheeks. Whenever his hand left, his lips followed in its place.
When his lips touched Dohyuk’s cheek, Dohyuk couldn’t resist and met Junseo’s breath. The eyes facing him were still smiling. Finally, a hand enveloping Dohyuk’s hand drew him closer.
Smooth skin touched his fingertips. It was a firm body, hard to imagine from his delicate face. Unlike Dohyuk’s body, forged through life and death with various scars, it was like a work of art created with each muscle meticulously calculated and crafted. Whenever Dohyuk left bite marks on this body, he felt sacrilegious, as if damaging an important heritage. Even marks that would soon disappear felt that way, but the place Junseo had guided him to was so rough that Dohyuk had to hold his breath. Though he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes yet as it was engraved on the left side of Junseo’s lower back, it felt like severely damaged skin with new flesh just beginning to grow.
A surprised gaze turned to Junseo. Junseo licked his wet lips with his tongue.
“Why are you about to cry again? I actually like this scar.”
The scar was similar in size to Dohyuk’s hand. No, it would be identical.
“I wish it would stay forever.”
“You… What on earth were you thinking when you came to me then?”
It couldn’t help but feel unreal, to the point where he mistook it for an illusion. Who would willingly walk toward an Esper on the verge of rampage? Moreover, Dohyuk wasn’t in an ordinary rampage state. No matter how much of an S-class Guide Junseo was, there was no way he could have managed it with guiding.
The rampage had almost progressed, and according to Junwoo, the dungeon core kept at the headquarters happened to share the same attribute as Dohyuk, so that energy was also absorbed by him. It was like blowing more air into an already unstable, inflated balloon. Dohyuk thought it would end with a pop, shattering into pieces.
“There wasn’t absolutely no possibility. Do you remember in the underground nation when Agwi ate the wooden doll first?”
Junseo explained that when Dohyuk’s blood stained the wooden doll, strong energy spread throughout the dungeon shortly after. At that time, they thought it was a normal situation, but in reality, it was an anomaly caused by the clash between the nuclear energy flowing from Dohyuk and the core inside the dungeon.
Attempting to control the energy was by chance. It might have been survival instinct. With the sole thought of creating a decoy to buy time, Junseo says he put the strongest energy he felt before fainting into the wooden doll. That was why Agwi became interested in the wooden doll containing nuclear energy even before Junseo.
Afterward, seeing the destroyed core, he went through a verification process at Junwoo’s laboratory, wondering if that energy might have been nuclear energy.
“I thought I could do something similar. That I could extract the overflowing energy and scatter it away. Well, it was a gamble.”
“What would you have done if you had failed?”
“I would have died with you.”
“Junseo.”
Junseo pressed his lips to Dohyuk’s forehead and moved even closer.
“What can I do? I won the bet, but if you weren’t here, I couldn’t even get my reward.”
Dohyuk, who paused briefly, seemed to recall an old memory and let out a low sigh.
“What reward is there? If you just ask, I would…”
Just give you everything.
The moment he brought those words to the tip of his tongue, his body was pushed back with a thud. The weight of the body straddling his abdomen was sensual. When Dohyuk couldn’t finish his sentence properly and just blinked blankly, Junseo smiled brightly.
In truth, Junseo had something he hadn’t told Dohyuk.
Dohyuk, who had been consumed as a test subject for a long time, was still unstable. Due to his body already being suitably modified, it was impossible to completely remove the nuclear energy fused with his body. Dohyuk wouldn’t last even a month alone if Junseo wasn’t by his side to circulate the nuclear energy flowing through his body. Unable to sustain himself without someone else’s help—it was a terrible conclusion.
But finding this fact only exciting, Junseo felt uncharacteristically sorry for Dohyuk. Even if he were to find a way for Dohyuk to stand alone, he wanted to keep it a secret forever—a petty desire.
“Live only by my side.”
“……”
“You said you’d give me everything. Don’t you want to?”
“No. No, …really, am I allowed to?”
Dohyuk blushed at his nape as if he had heard the most desired words, not even knowing.
“Am I allowed to live with you?”
Instead of answering, Junseo bit the heated neck with his lips. Each time that small area was touched, the scene before his eyes bloomed brilliantly.
Suddenly, a thought occurred to him. We were undoubtedly created for each other.
Until the sunlight, filtering through the blinds, turned deep red, the two bodies didn’t separate.
The End.
