# Chapter 121
‘…It’s a sighting report.’
He surely would have covered his face while on the run, yet someone discovered and posted about it. It was a situation where he didn’t know whether to call it impressive or creepy.
Lee Hwan felt somewhat curious about how Taesung, who had been fleeing rather well, had ended up being spotted by others, and clicked on a post.
Title: I think I saw Aesung in the park…?
Caution: might not be him
The other side of the park trail doesn’t have many people walking around
I have a large dog so I only go there when walking him
But yesterday there was a tall, well-proportioned person sitting there with a hat on
My Taeri suddenly barked like crazy and he made eye contact with me
It was definitely Aesung, I’ve been an Aesung photographer for 3 years so I can tell just by his silhouette and jawline
As soon as I recognized him and my eyes widened, he suddenly got up and disappeared at an insane speed
29 comments ▼
[Ejong] Isn’t it just a tall person you saw? lolololol
└ [Hinki] How many people in this country have that height and proportions
└ [Ejong] Sudden facts..
[Eguma-tang] ??????? Where?
└ [Hinki] The edge of Ulsan.. I’ve been to Seoul but never seen Aesung here before…
└ [Eguma-tang] True, Changwon is an Aesung sighting spot but
[Hinki] But after that I saw quite a few people patrolling the park with walkie-talkies… The atmosphere was strange and Taeri kept barking so I just went back home
└ [Eguma-tang] You should have told Taeri to track his scent
└ [Taelarang] What is this, are they mobilizing Aesung and hunters to find something?
└ [Ejong] Did monsters overflow from somewhere..?
└ [Taelarang] No way.. That would have been on the news
└ [Hinki] There are no gates around my houseㅠㅠㅠ So I thought they were looking for a person
[Merogui] What is this lol No gates nearby, ran away quickly, the description feels like… you’re writing as if Aesung is being chased
└ [Hinki] ? That’s not what I meant
└ [Merogui] I’m just saying that’s how it comes across. Plus there’s not a single photo, how can we believe this
└ [Hinki] The dog was scared and causing a commotion, how could I take a picture, you idiot? Should I have dropped the leash to take one?
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The rest was a chaotic mess of people tearing into each other. One side worried about Taesung, while the other side scolded them for posting unverified information that cluttered the board.
When accusations of fabricated posts from the past sprouted up like mushrooms after rain, the rest were clamoring for people to stop writing derivative posts because it was so annoying. There were only a few special members, yet the comments on each post stretched endlessly.
‘What a mess.’
The controversy over authenticity continued, but as dawn approached, the posts gradually diminished as people said they were going to bed, and the atmosphere changed. The victors of the argument were those who stayed awake to comment until the end. Lee Hwan vaguely understood why Yeomhwa had warned against engaging with them unless necessary.
‘But still…’
If that post wasn’t a lie, someone had definitely spotted Taesung. At the edge of Ulsan, being chased by someone.
Moreover, he had been sitting in the middle of a park where people come and go. If he were in his right mind, that wouldn’t have happened. If he wanted to hide, he would have chosen a different place, and if that wasn’t possible, he would have blended into the crowd instead. It would have been difficult to drag someone away in front of others’ eyes.
This meant he was in a situation where he had no choice. Lee Hwan felt a sudden chill in his chest.
His own ability penalties were quite bad, causing him to stagger occasionally. But not Taesung. If he had been like that on the street, it meant his condition was really not good.
Lee Hwan closed the laptop with a thud and placed it on the seat beside him. Then he jumped up, paced around the living room, and hurried up to the second floor to sit and look out the window.
Somehow, the guy who should have left first still hadn’t arrived. The alleyway remained deserted, with no sign of Taesung or even anyone resembling him.
‘Should I go out? No, how would I know where he is.’
He tried to find his composure, but unfortunately, the dream he’d had the previous night had been too ominous. Lee Hwan suddenly heard his own heartbeat ringing in his ears and firmly closed his mouth.
Amidst worry and anxiety, he endlessly watched through the window. He even brought his laptop and snacks upstairs, staying by the window, constantly refreshing the site.
He was just like a cat staring into a fish tank. Lost track of time while gazing at the alley, and before he knew it, the sun was setting.
How could a day pass so quickly? Lee Hwan was fiddling with an empty energy bar wrapper, then dropped his head in deep disappointment.
There were still no suspicious people, and Taesung hadn’t arrived.
Ironically, despite all this, he was thoroughly hungry. Lee Hwan looked around and realized he had devoured around twenty energy bars.
No wonder he’d been able to hold out. After gathering and disposing of the trash, he sat on the bed and continued looking out the window, feeling a wave of unrelieved fatigue.
Using up his strength, having strange dreams, and not sleeping properly—his body, which already consumed a lot of energy, seemed to be groaning.
Starting tomorrow, he would need to eat better food. That way, when Taesung arrived, he could greet him in a decent state. Lee Hwan clenched and unclenched his fists, exerting force, then let out a long sigh.
Perhaps the thought of being in the safe house had somewhat suppressed his sharpened nerves. At some point, Lee Hwan realized he was dozing off.
I need to stay alert—with that final thought, his memory cut off, and when he sharply regained consciousness, it was after hearing an unfamiliar sound at the first-floor entrance.
Click—
‘!’
The faint sound of a door opening reached him. His eyes flew open, and as the subsided tension rushed back, Lee Hwan sprang to his feet.
The back of his neck prickled, and his heart pounded. The window outside, now darkened, was still empty, and the sound from inside the house quickly ceased. But Lee Hwan could clearly tell. Someone had just entered.
All his belongings were on the first floor. Even the gun that could serve as a weapon was there. It was truly a shame that he couldn’t bring the Dolpeung.
Lee Hwan removed the lampshade from the bedside table lamp, gripped the base, and left the room. Moving silently in the darkness without turning on the lights made each step feel like he was running out of breath.
Halfway down the stairs, Lee Hwan tensed the muscles in his legs and back, positioning himself to spring forward at any moment.
Then suddenly, pak! he shot forward like an arrow, rushing toward the entrance. Strike first to win. It was a tactic that generally worked in any situation, in any battle.
However, Lee Hwan, who was trying to pounce on the intruder with swift movements down the stairs, stopped abruptly in the living room. The lamp in his hand rose skyward then slowly fell.
“…?”
Taesung, whom he had been waiting for so desperately, had collapsed at the entrance. As if he didn’t even have the strength to enter the house, he had almost tumbled over, leaning against the door.
Even when nudged, there wasn’t the slightest movement. Lee Hwan quickly approached the door and first checked outside through the peephole. By then, the lamp had gone out, and he couldn’t see anything.
He put his ear to the door to sense any presence, but it didn’t seem like anyone was waiting for them outside. Only then did Lee Hwan lift the unconscious Taesung and half-slung him over his shoulder.
“Oh, shit…”
His heart beat even harder. Why was this guy collapsed like this? Hurriedly entering any available room and laying him on the bed, Taesung’s head tilted to the side, making Lee Hwan’s heart sink.
He hastily put his ear against Taesung’s chest. Thump. Thump. Only after feeling a pulse that was neither slow nor fast did Lee Hwan breathe a sigh of relief and grab his wrist.
Fortunately, his pulse wasn’t weak. Turning on the light and checking his eyes by pulling the lids back, it seemed he was fortunately just unconscious.
“What the hell… what did you do to pass out like this?”
Lee Hwan muttered aloud without realizing it. His heart, which had aged ten years, was still pounding. As he tried to position Taesung comfortably, he finally realized just how filthy he was.
A face and hands covered in dirt as if he had rolled around at a construction site. His clothes were equally dirty, and he hadn’t even removed his shoes when hastily moving him.
“Haah…”
Why did he look like this? His slightly pale face made Lee Hwan feel bad, to the point where he regretted inwardly blaming him for not arriving sooner.
Lee Hwan bit his lips again, which were now almost stinging, and headed to the bathroom. There, he wet a couple of towels and quickly returned to the room where Taesung was lying.
Though Taesung probably wouldn’t like it when he woke up, Lee Hwan couldn’t just leave the pitiful guy as he was.
“Heup-cha.”
Lee Hwan rolled up his sleeves, approached the bed, and first took off Taesung’s outer clothes. Having apparently rolled on a dirt floor, fortunately, the inner clothes weren’t as dirty as the outer ones.
Then, hoping he would lie more comfortably, he also undid his pants buckle.
‘This is really dirty…’
He couldn’t dare to touch more, fearing a later outburst. Instead, he neatly removed his shoes and socks and tossed them by the entrance.
Lee Hwan gently rubbed Taesung’s face with a wet towel. From his scratched face, faint blood mixed with dirt came off. Seeing that fair face scratched all over made his insides twist.
He also brushed his hair and rubbed his neck clean. Even though he was touching vital areas, Taesung still didn’t stir.
If he had been injured to the point of being like this, he should have been covered in blood. It seemed more likely that he had been injected with some kind of anesthetic.
Even so, to be this defenseless—thinking that if he had been captured by Naru in this state, he wouldn’t have fared well, Lee Hwan felt chills run down his spine.
‘Yes… you escaped well. No matter how you got here.’
Lee Hwan gently licked his stinging lips and held up Taesung’s hand, which was as big as a pot lid. His hands too were full of scratches, giving a vague idea of how difficult his journey here had been.
After roughly cleaning all the exposed skin and neatly brushing up his hair, Lee Hwan thought he looked quite handsome even with his eyes closed. However, he lay so still without any sign of life that Lee Hwan impulsively placed his hand under his nose.
A breath tickled his fingers. When Taesung lay like this, Lee Hwan kept checking if he was alive. Suddenly remembering the cool hand from his dream, after much hesitation, he firmly held his hand too.
The limp hand felt quite warm. Lee Hwan had always liked this temperature. Feeling his eyes stinging for no reason, he just stared blankly at the hand he was holding.
