Free Web NovelYohan’s eyes widened in confusion, just as Yoon Seungryong opened a window on the top floor of the building and shouted,
“The cleaning’s all done! You can come up now!”
Leaving that cryptic remark behind, Lee Hyunmook casually pushed open the building’s door and went inside. Snapping out of his daze a moment later, Yohan hurried in after him, purifying the thick miasma as he went.
A feeling like... fan devotion? And now he was saying he was disappointed—what the hell did that mean? ...Did that mean he preferred feelings that weren’t like fan devotion?
Still bewildered, Yohan focused on purifying the building. Judging by the layout and furniture, the place they’d chosen as their shelter had once been a small guesthouse. The three of them carried the toxin-melted corpses outside and tossed them beyond the street, then cleaned everything that reeked as best they could.
Once the cleaning was done, hunger gnawed at them so hard Yohan’s stomach growled audibly. Yoon Seungryong, hearing it, quickly set about preparing a meal.
Today’s dish was an unidentifiable hot pot. It was no wonder—he’d just hacked up some smoked snake meat caught in the jungle, tossed in some edible but unknown mushrooms, along with dried vegetables, and boiled the lot together. The broth had turned a milky white, and the vegetables and mushrooms were cooked to tender perfection. Yoon Seungryong served it out with reverence, and Yohan accepted his portion carefully before tasting it.
“Oh... it tastes like samgyetang broth. Does it suit your taste, Mr. Lee Hyunmook?”
“It’s good.”
Hyunmook’s short reply was followed by an unexpected smile with his eyes, making Yohan gulp down the still-hot broth without cooling it first. He nearly burned his throat. Flustered and choking, he was silently grateful when Hyunmook handed him water without a word. Trying to act calm, Yohan drank while quietly crying inside....
“Well, of course. I’m the one who made it.”
Completely unaware of the subtext, Yoon Seungryong puffed himself up in pride, and the three of them finished their meal in a warm, pleasant atmosphere. After enjoying what might have been the most leisurely and happy moment in the Abyss, Yoon Seungryong suddenly jumped to his feet.
“Then, before we rest, how about we do a little scavenging around here?”
“Sounds good!”
The two who were most serious about stockpiling food were of one mind. Their first find was a branch of a famous chain store, and they ran straight to it. As expected, most of the edible goods left were canned or tinned, but they still managed to secure a large supply of water and long-lasting food, which was a relief. While rummaging, Hyunmook handed something to Yohan.
“Looks like we won’t have to worry about food for a while.”
“Right? And a lot of it’s still intact. The canned goods we found in the jungle were barely half full... Huh?”
Happy to purify the cans and tins, Yohan took what he assumed was more food—only to find it was a plush toy. It had devil-like horns, was grimy and faded, and when he purified the plush keyring in confusion, he discovered it was actually a cute sheep doll.
“A sheep...?” freeweɓnovel.cøm
The image of the insane Hyunmook calling him “Yangyang” and telling him to bleat like a sheep flashed into Yohan’s mind, and he quickly turned his head. When he glanced back, Hyunmook’s face was unreadably calm, as if he had nothing to do with it.
“Soft and squishy—just like Yang Yohan. A squishy.”
“...Me? What’s a squishy?”
“No, I meant the sheep doll.” freēwēbnovel.com
“I could’ve sworn you just said ‘Yang Yohan.’”
“Maybe I mixed them up because ‘Yang Yohan’ and ‘sheep doll’ start with the same consonants?”
When Yohan looked up at him, eyes wide in confusion, Hyunmook’s lips curved playfully.
“I’m kidding, Yohan. The truth is, I’ve started remembering the times when I wasn’t in my right mind—like how I used to call you ‘Yangyang.’ Thinking about it now, it’s kind of a cute nickname. Yangyang.”
In truth, it was less a nickname and more a name born from the fact that he’d only remembered Yohan’s family name. Even so, Yohan liked the idea of it being a nickname, so he couldn’t bring himself to correct him. Actually, he was far too flustered to correct anything. He’d been suspicious since they’d started cleaning the shelter, but now he was fairly certain Hyunmook had been aggressively flirting with him this whole time...!
“Yohan, do you prefer me calling you Yangyang?”
Hyunmook leaned in far too close.
“Yangyang? Or Yohan? I like anything, as long as it’s what you want....”
Faced with that bright, gentle smile calling him by an ‘endearing’ nickname, Yohan couldn’t hold it in anymore and screamed.
The sudden shout startled even the highly sound-sensitive Awakener Yoon—busy scavenging food and useful tools nearby—into screaming back from behind a shelf.
“Team leader, why the hell are you talking like that?! Did you lose your damn mind?!”
Ah? Is that it?! ...So that’s what it was! He’d lost his mind! With a great flash of insight, Yohan immediately unleashed purification. Bathed in a flood of dazzling light, Hyunmook squinted against the glare. He blinked a few times, and soon the bright smile on his face faded away.
“...Ah.”
Letting out a low sigh, Hyunmook covered his face with one hand. It seemed he was embarrassed now that he’d reflected on his behavior. As his usual calm, slightly vacant demeanor returned, Yohan felt relieved. Good. So it wasn’t that Hyunmook was in his right mind after all....
...Wait. Was that really good? Feeling oddly disappointed, Yohan asked hesitantly,
“Are you okay?”
“Mm, sorry. ...I guess it was a bit much for you?”
Regaining his composure, Hyunmook stepped back, widening the distance that had grown far too close. Now he was acting more like the Hyunmook Yohan knew. Though, ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ come to think of it, ever since the meal, he’d been smiling with his eyes and making embarrassing comments about how it was fine to have personal feelings.
“It’s fine! Anyway, it’s much better than when we couldn’t communicate at all!”
“...Well, that’s true.”
Smiling faintly, Hyunmook left, saying he’d go look around the area. Yohan, trying to calm his pounding heart, suddenly busied himself rummaging through a shelf. Still, he quietly slipped the worn sheep keyring into his bag.
After a decent haul, they moved on to search other buildings. While exploring, something caught Yohan’s eye.
“A frozen road?”
The cracked and badly damaged concrete street was littered with abandoned cars and bicycles, covered in a thick sheet of gray ice. Yoon Seungryong quickly stepped up beside Yohan.
“Well, look at that—Hoyoung’s still alive after all.”
“Gasp. This is Mr. Joo Hoyoung’s ability?!”
Excited to see signs of Joo Hoyoung’s power, Yohan gripped the stone-tipped spear Hyunmook had made for him. Just then, Hyunmook returned from scouting. Seeing Seungryong so close to Yohan, he instead kept his distance and scanned the surroundings slowly.
Yohan tensed up, but fortunately—or unfortunately—Hoyoung didn’t appear as they walked across the icy road.
Seungryong studied the ice with a serious expression, then suddenly began smashing it with his spear. Thinking it must be some defensive measure against Hoyoung, Yohan asked nervously,
“Should I help?”
“Yeah, sure. Let’s just break this much.”
Yohan joined in. The stone-tipped weapon was even better than the spear for breaking ice. With a high-rank Awakener and a mid-rank Awakener close to high rank working together, they quickly piled up a heap of shattered ice.
“But... why are we breaking this?” Yohan asked while working.
“So we can make patbingsu.”
“...Excuse me?”
Yohan was so dumbfounded he froze mid-swing. Seungryong swallowed audibly, speaking with complete seriousness.
“When we were scavenging earlier, I found canned fruit and canned red beans. We can use those to make patbingsu. Or mix fruit with sugar water and make a slushie or ice cream. Oh, and I found a shaved ice machine, too—it’s stashed away.”
“...You’re not even thinking about Hoyoung ambushing us, are you?”
Still, slushies and ice cream were tempting enough that Yohan sighed once and went back to helping him gather ice. That was when it happened.
Crackle! ...Kaaaahhh!
“Ah, ow!”
The edge of a sudden burst of electricity from Hyunmook scorched Seungryong’s arm, making him leap up in shock. Almost at the same time, a pained screech rang out. Startled, Yohan clutched his stone-tipped spear and poured out light.
“What was that?!”
“That bastard Hoyoung’s fast. I barely noticed him myself.”
Rubbing his scorched forearm, Seungryong glared, but Hyunmook didn’t so much as twitch an eyebrow. As Yohan darted his gaze around, Hyunmook—who’d been keeping his distance to avoid putting Yohan in the attack range—lowered his weapon and came closer.
“He’s already gone. He won’t be around here now. We should head back to the shelter.”
“Wow, even for Hoyoung, is that all you can do to block him?”
Seungryong grumbled in dissatisfaction, but Hyunmook acknowledged it without protest.
“As you can see.”
Trying to provoke his pride brought no satisfaction, and Seungryong sighed.
“...Tch, that’s a pain. Let’s just head back for now.”
“That would be best.”
Hyunmook agreed. On guard against another ambush, the three of them quickly returned to their shelter. Against an opponent so fast that Hyunmook could only block him, Seungryong could barely detect his presence, and Yohan couldn’t even see him, staying within a solid physical barrier was the smartest move.
Just in case, Yohan glanced outside before shutting the door, breathing a sigh of relief.
But that relief didn’t last long.
