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“Yang Yohan!”
At the sharp voice calling his name, Yohan flinched. His family stood before him, their faces cold and irritated, staring him down with sharp eyes. Already deflated, Yohan dropped his gaze to the floor.
“You don’t even have to match your brother. But how can you fall so short?”
“Every time someone asks what the second son is doing, I’m too ashamed to even answer.”
“Crying again? You’re a grown man, and all you do is cry... Pathetic.”
The barrage of scolding came from his father, his mother, and then his brother in turn. Yohan had so many things he wanted to say. Was it his fault he didn’t get grades as good as his brother, no matter how hard he studied? Was it his choice to have no interest in academics? Was he supposed to change the fact that he was born overly emotional? He tried to speak up, point by point—but no one ever listened.
“You’re not good at anything. It’s frustrating—just frustrating!”
“When you graduate, we’ll make a spot for you at the company. Just work hard under your brother.”
“This clueless kid... how’s he ever going to survive in the world?”
I don’t want to work under him! I’ve spent my whole life being compared to him—I don’t want to keep living like that! The moment he shouted that out loud, Yohan woke up from the dream.
“Gasp—hhn...”
His eyes flew open, and Yohan let out a weak groan, twisting in place. His nose began to tingle, and tears streamed down his cheeks. The dream had been crueler and more vicious than reality, but just seeing his family’s faces—even like that—filled him with an aching sort of joy. He almost wished the dream had lasted a little longer.
Yohan thought of his older brother, Yang Yosep. They were three years apart, and Yohan had always lived under Yosep’s thumb. Even their parents had done nothing to stop it. Yosep was flawless in every way that Yohan wasn’t.
Everywhere they went, Yosep was always the one who came out on top. He entered school as valedictorian, graduated the same way, and spoke and acted with effortless polish. Having raised such a son, their parents had little patience for someone like Yohan. He was constantly compared to his brother and rarely, if ever, praised.
Still, Yohan had managed to live a decent life. No, he wasn’t top of the class, but he was in the upper tier. He hadn’t made it into the same prestigious university as Yosep, but he’d done well enough to get into a good one. In another family, that might have been something to be proud of. But not in Yohan’s.
That was exactly why Yohan had joined an Awakening Party team. As if to spite him, Yosep had achieved even a mid-tier Awakening. And now their parents were telling him to work under his brother for the rest of his life? It was unbearable. Even though the world had grown harsher after the rupture incidents, and even though his parents could have guaranteed him a job, Yohan couldn’t just feel thankful.
But now... all of it felt like the whining of someone who’d had it too good.
“I should’ve just endured it...”
He’d lashed out on impulse and gone off to Awaken, only to end up falling into the Abyss. If that wasn’t overkill, then what was? Now all he wanted was to return to his cozy home. Sniffling with regret, Yohan sat up, his eyes puffy from crying the moment he woke up. Across from him, Hyunmook looked over.
“Good morning...?”
Yohan tried greeting him, but there was no reply. Hyunmook just sat there, staring into space with a blank, vacant expression. It looked like he’d gone mad again in his sleep. Yohan sighed and checked the state of his leg. Thankfully, the fever had gone down and the pain hadn’t worsened. The treatment was working.
After that, Yohan stayed in the shelter for a few more days with Hyunmook, sharing food and rest. Eating and sleeping properly helped, and soon there was no more discharge from the wound. A scab had started to form, and the swelling had gone down significantly. Yohan beamed with relief. At this rate, he really would recover fully.
“My leg’s looking a lot better, right? Just a little longer and I’ll be fully healed!”
Chattering to himself, he instinctively rummaged through his backpack. He pulled out one of the few remaining, precious chocolate bars, broke it in half, and placed one half in the vacant-eyed Hyunmook’s mouth. The other half, along with the crumbs, he popped into his own. As he chewed and continued organizing, he absentmindedly pulled out his phone.
“Not much battery left...”
He muttered in a slightly disappointed voice. He still had a portable charger, sure—but he didn’t know when or how he’d need the power, so wasting it now felt wrong. Not that he had any real use for the phone anymore. The top of the screen read No Service Area in bold letters.
When Yohan pulled out the phone, the madman beside him leaned in curiously. Then, yawning, he mumbled something incomprehensible.
“Today’s weather: clear skies, blood wind, time to hang the laundry. Alert, alert, alert. Typhoon incoming.”
“The wolf goes nom-nom, crunch-crunch, gulp-gulp. The stones in your belly taste delicious. Roll-roll.”
“Lipstick, apple, tripe, rose, lantern, sunset...”
Complete nonsense. Outside, the sky was anything but clear—it was still shrouded in darkness. Yohan peeked out, just in case, but all he saw were the occasional monsters lurking in the distance.
Letting the creepy rambling slide out one ear, Yohan curled up on a padded coat and tapped on his phone screen. With less than 10% battery remaining, he opened the photo gallery. The images from outside the Abyss made his eyes sting. Even something as ordinary as a café now looked dazzling. As he scrolled, he came across a photo of Park Seungmin and grimaced.
“You fucking bastard...”
Grumbling, Yohan deleted every picture of Seungmin from his phone. Soon, the battery was down to under 3%. He knew he should conserve it, but he couldn’t help himself—for his own sanity, he decided to keep going. Hurriedly, he pulled up a photo of his family and stared at it, eyes brimming. When the battery hit 1%, he opened the message thread with his family. The most recent exchange was with his brother.
Hyung
Stop lazing around at home and study.
Just because you’ve got a guaranteed job doesn’t mean you can slack off.
If I hear anyone say you’re a nepotism case from the Yang family, you’ll regret it.
Me
If you’re gonna nag, at least pay me.
And I told you—I’m getting a job somewhere else.
Hyung
Cut the bullshit.
Yang Yosep has sent you ₩500,000. Please check via mobile.
I had plenty to say anyway—this works out.
Now that I’ve paid you, if you leave me on read again, I’ll kill you.
Me
Okay......
Even the biting scolding that followed made his eyes sting. As Yohan sniffled, scrolling through those old messages, a lazy voice brushed against his ear.
“Little brother?”
“AAAH!”
Yohan shrieked and jumped in shock, completely off guard. Clutching his pounding chest, he turned his head to see Hyunmook suddenly right next to him, looking down at his phone.
“Wh—when did you come back to your senses?!”
“Since you started getting allowance from your brother.”
“Now that I think about it, I didn’t even get to spend all of it yet...”
Once his panic subsided, the joy kicked in. More than his own family, Yohan had missed this version of Hyunmook—sane and coherent. He’d been so afraid that it might be months before he’d see him like {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} this again. Without thinking, he exclaimed brightly and grabbed his hand.
“You came back quickly this time! I’m so glad it’s happening more often!”
“...Mm, yeah.”
Hyunmook looked at Yohan’s hand but didn’t pull away. He seemed slightly reluctant, but not enough to resist. Yohan belatedly realized what he was doing, but the warmth of another human’s touch felt too nice—so he pretended not to notice his own shamelessness for as long as he could.
“Ah, and yeah, I’m the youngest. There’s a three-year age gap between me and my brother. I’m twenty-three...”
He was rattling off personal details that Hyunmook absolutely hadn’t asked for when the phone finally shut off. The battery had run out. Yohan sadly stroked the dark screen and tucked it carefully into his bag. He’d only charge it a little—only when he truly missed his family. Hyunmook nodded and said,
“Let me take a look at your leg wound.”
Yohan obediently rolled up his pants. The former doctor peeled off the gauze and inspected the wound with a glance, nodding.
“It’s healing nicely.” freёweɓnovel.com
“It’s all thanks to you! Really, I thought I was going to die—or at least lose the leg...”
Yohan was pouring out his gratitude with genuine emotion when his eyes caught something unbelievable: a faint smile spreading across Hyunmook’s face. For the first time, Yohan realized—
‘Now that I think about it... he really is handsome.’
He’d known that, of course—Hyunmook’s face was familiar from countless media appearances before the Abyss. But now, in this quiet moment, it truly hit him. He tried not to stare too obviously, but just then, Hyunmook said,
“Take your clothes off.”
“...What?”
Still marveling at his face, Yohan blinked in disbelief. Hyunmook’s expression was calm, devoid of any mischief or teasing.
“I need to check if there are any signs of contamination. Sometimes it’s better to cut it out entirely.”
He pulled out a scalpel and disinfectant, and Yohan’s leg instantly began to tremble. Even though Hyunmook said he was just checking for symptoms, his demeanor suggested he was sure something had to be removed. Scared stiff, Yohan started to inch away.
“I-I mean, I really think it’s okay...”
“You didn’t check the back, did you?”
“...W-Well, no, but still!”
Half embarrassed, half terrified, Yohan hesitated. Then Hyunmook, in a heavy, commanding tone, said:
“Strip.”
