The Saint Just Wants to Rest 8

The first person to step forward and speak was Yoo Nabi.

“We’re not entering gates to die. It’s for the sake of our precious people. So Guild Master, stop having regrets and let’s go out together. If you barely make it out this time too, I don’t think Hong Seoyoon-ssi or Yoon Taegyeom-ssi will stay quiet.”

“I suppose so.”

When Choi Jaeheon re-awakened to S-rank, the interference decreased, but still, they remained by his side as friends. And they still tried to meddle in Choi Jaeheon’s life. He was grateful for their feelings, but sometimes it also irritated him.

‘My life has already lost its light.’

Someone might scold him saying even so, would you go that far just because you lost your younger brother? But to Choi Jaeheon, Ian wasn’t simply family. He was the only reason that made him live in this world.

There was someone who came to find Choi Jaeheon, who had lost his parents and was bouncing between orphanages.

“Hello. I’m Choi Hyeok.”

Choi Hyeok said he was his father’s close friend.

“I’ve been looking for you for a while. I received a lot of help from your father. So now it’s time for me to repay that.”

He took in Choi Jaeheon. The environment was much better than living in an orphanage, but still, Choi Jaeheon couldn’t understand why he should live. And during that time, he met Ian.

Ian, who said he lived with his grandparents because his body was weak, smiled brightly as soon as he saw Choi Jaeheon.

“Are you hyung?”

He felt like he understood what love at first sight meant. Choi Jaeheon came to love his new younger brother. He granted whatever his younger brother wanted and raised him with utmost care. Seeing this, Hong Seoyoon even spouted nonsense asking if Ian was actually Choi Jaeheon’s child.

“Hey, age. Age! How old would Choi Jaeheon have to be when he got the baby’s mother pregnant to have Choi Ian?”

Fortunately, Yoon Taegyeom punished Hong Seoyoon for saying such absurd things. After that, misfortune visited once more, but Choi Jaeheon overcame it. Unlike before, it was because Ian was by his side. Because he could do anything to protect him. Choi Jaeheon was able to stand up even after his adoptive parents’ deaths.

‘I need to get Ian through high school graduation and send him to college.’

He planned to postpone military service as much as possible. In fact, if he had his way, he never wanted to send him at all. How could he send such a tender child to a harsh place like the military?

Around the time Ian became an adult, Choi Jaeheon luckily became an awakener. No matter how low the rank, hunters earned better money than ordinary office workers.

Because Ian hated Choi Jaeheon doing dangerous work, he couldn’t push himself to enter gates. Still, life gradually improved. He thought happiness would continue like this. That is, until Ian went missing.

Terrible days continued. He had to find Ian somehow, but no clues appeared. Even with help from Yoon Taegyeom, who came from a fairly well-off family, and Hong Seoyoon, who awakened as an S-rank esper, they couldn’t find him.

To Choi Jaeheon, this world felt like hell. And that hadn’t changed even now. As he finally exited the gate, he thought about what to do next. First, he had to track down that strange being that disappeared in an instant. After that, he needed to report the gate rank change to the Management Bureau and find out if similar incidents had occurred.

Perhaps all of this might become a clue to finding Ian.

Grasping at the thin thread of hope, Choi Jaeheon steeled his resolve.

In Hong Seoyoon’s car, Ian looked outside. Even though five years had passed since his disappearance, the world hadn’t changed as much as he thought. Well, gates had opened much earlier than that. Although much development occurred after gates appeared, nothing particularly amazing would have happened in just five years.

“When do we arrive?”

At Ian’s words, Hong Seoyoon answered.

“Soon. Ah, I can see the Stigma guys over there.”

“Stigma?”

“Choi Jaeheon’s guild name. Even though I told him I’d recommend something cooler, he went with that.”

Hong Seoyoon grumbled and turned the steering wheel. After parking the car, he immediately opened the window and shouted.

“I’m here!”

“Huh?”

Among the group, the only person wearing a suit pushed up his glasses and approached.

“Hong Seoyoon-ssi, what brings you here?”

“What brings me! I came to see my friend!”

“That may be so. Did you perhaps come because of what happened today?”

“That too.”

Hong Seoyoon got out of the car, then immediately opened the back door. And he picked up Ian and gently set him down on the ground.

“I can get out by myself, you know?”

Ian voiced his complaint, but Hong Seoyoon didn’t listen at all.

“So, did the gate clear finish?”

“It seems to have just finished. They’re coming out of the gate now.”

“Ah, right. I can see Choi Jaeheon over there.”

Hong Seoyoon made a visor with his hand and looked in the direction where Choi Jaeheon was. Naturally, Ian’s gaze followed him. And after five years, he took in his one and only hyung with his eyes.

Ian’s lips parted slightly then closed again. His fingertips trembled faintly. Still, he didn’t back away and stepped forward.

One step, two steps. As the number of steps increased, he gradually got faster, then soon began running.

“Ah!”

Someone made a sound as if flustered seeing him, but didn’t stop him. That was because his companion was Hong Seoyoon. Thanks to that, Ian could approach his hyung without any interference.

His chest heaved greatly with roughened breath.

“…Hyung!”

At Ian’s shout, Choi Jaeheon’s eyes widened. He stopped still and stared at Ian in a daze. After a bit of time passed, Choi Jaeheon also did the same thing as Ian. With an expression of disbelief, his lips trembled, then with shaking hands, he pulled Ian into a tight embrace.

“A dream, is this a dream?”

Even while holding Ian in his arms, Choi Jaeheon let out such words.

“It’s not a dream!”

Hong Seoyoon, who had approached at some point, shouted at such a Choi Jaeheon.

“It’s definitely not a dream! And it’s not fake either!”

The arms of Choi Jaeheon holding Ian gradually tightened with strength.

“Really, is it you?”

“Yeah, it’s me.”

Only then did Choi Jaeheon relax his strength and drop his head on Ian’s shoulder with a thud. Before long, the shoulder area began to get damp. At the hot tears of his only family, the hyung he had missed so much, moisture also welled up in Ian’s eyes.

“I really, really missed you!”

Even after being dragged to another world, he desperately held on. To return to the world where his hyung was. The brothers held each other and cried loudly for a long while.

The guild members who were blankly watching that scene exchanged glances with each other, then vacated the area.

“Are you okay?”

At the words Hong Seoyoon let out, the man in the suit, Park Daegi, smiled faintly. He knew why he said that. It must be because most of those here had similar circumstances.

“It’s good.”

“Good?”

“We have hope now.”

No matter how strong a person is, they can’t endure without hope. That’s why they felt joy in the fact that someone found their family, even in this way. Perhaps I too, perhaps we too can find our families.

“Tsk.”

Hong Seoyoon only clicked his tongue and said nothing more. Like that, under the command of Stigma’s vice guild master, everyone withdrew. Now the only people remaining in this place were Choi Jaeheon, Ian, and Hong Seoyoon.

“Alright, alright, both of you stop crying.”

In the meantime, they cried so much that Ian’s eyes swelled up like a goldfish. At least Choi Jaeheon’s body was sturdy, so his eyes only turned red.

“If you’re going to cry, move locations first then cry.”

Saying that if he kept watching, he’d end up crying too, Hong Seoyoon put the two people in the car. The two left Hong Seoyoon alone and sat side by side in the back seat. In the past, he used to sometimes sit his younger brother between his knees, but since it had been five years, it seemed still awkward.

Hong Seoyoon whistled, then got in the driver’s seat and gripped the steering wheel.

“Where should we go? My place?”

“No, to my house.”

“That’s disappointing.”

Even while saying that, Hong Seoyoon naturally headed toward Choi Jaeheon’s house.

Choi Jaeheon and Ian lived in a house in Seoul. Originally they lived in an apartment, but their parents said they wanted to try living in a house. So they sold the apartment and purchased a two-story house in a villa district.

It was a house over 30 years old, but there were no particular inconveniences. Though it had a concrete floor, it was nice because it came with a small yard.

“Wow.”

The house was right before Ian’s eyes, exactly as it had been before. Since his hyung became an S-rank esper, he wondered if he might have moved. But knowing he stayed in the house they originally lived in was both amazing and gratifying. Hyung waited for me all this time.

Without realizing it, a smile leaked out. So this is how happy it is when someone waits for you. But on the other hand, it was regretful and he felt sorry. What did hyung think about while waiting for him for such a long time? When he first came out of the gate, Hong Seoyoon had held his hand tightly, but this time, his hyung was holding his hand.

His hyung, who had been tall even before, seemed to have gotten even more built while they hadn’t seen each other. But he must have gone through many things to get a body like that. Thinking about that made his heart ache.

“Let’s go in.”

Choi Jaeheon opened the front gate. Ian followed him in and let out another exclamation at the appearance of the house that hadn’t changed at all.

“Should I come in too?”

Hong Seoyoon asked from outside the gate.