Ever since he had come home, the timing had never been right, and he had been unable to say it, but Yohan had wanted to say these words for so long. Hearing them, Kim Yeju was the first to grasp the truth.
“So, you Awakened there? Then... that bastard Park Seungmin...”
“Yes. He can never become a high-tier Awakener.”
The first Awakener of any given ability line was always the high-tier, and since Yohan had Awakened long before Park Seungmin, it was impossible for Park Seungmin to surpass him. Kim Yeju, who had been sitting in a daze while turning over what had just happened in her mind, suddenly grew heated and burst out.
“But then why is that bastard being treated in your place?! That swindler should be immediately just—!”
“Let’s talk outside first, Mom. You’ll wake up my brother.”
Knowing just how sensitive an Awakener’s senses could be, Yohan gestured. At that, Kim Yeju and Yang Hwapyeong finally glanced at Yang Yosep and then left the room, turning off the light and telling him to sleep well. Yohan sat down on the living room sofa and explained to his parents.
“I Awakened not long after entering the Abyss, and thanks to that, I was able to survive without being contaminated. Because of this ability, I was also able to escape the Abyss.”
Of course, he did not speak of the countless shocking and grotesque ordeals he had endured even with that ability. The fact that Lee Hyunmook and the others had been so heavily contaminated that they had lost their human forms was something he would never tell anyone, not even family. Hearing Yohan’s words, Yang Hwapyeong finally understood what Hyunmook had meant before.
“So that’s why he said that. I wondered why someone like Lee Hyunmook would claim to owe such a great debt.... I thought it was just empty words. But our son has become an incredible man.”
Yang Hwapyeong and Kim Yeju looked at Yohan with gazes full of pride and deep affection. Their faces held both the tenderness of parents for the son who had returned alive from the Abyss and the pride that he had become a high-tier Awakener who had even been able to help someone like Lee Hyunmook.
But for some reason, Yohan felt more choked and overwhelmed than joyful.
Though he had always been compared to his brother, that did not mean he had been unloved. He had seen love in the way Yosep had gotten contaminated for his sake, and in the way his parents had searched everywhere, worrying and grieving to find him. And yet, there was still a bitter taste in his heart.
Yohan remembered how, when he had first said he was a low-tier Awakener, there had been no light of joy on his parents’ faces. Their standard for joy had no doubt been Yosep’s Awakening grade of at least mid-tier. As always, Yosep had been the measure against which he was judged, leaving Yohan feeling hurt. But for now, he concealed his emotions and explained.
“Hyunmook hyung advised me that it’s best to keep my Awakening secret for now. Do you know how many people are desperate for a purifier? I could be kidnapped without anyone knowing. And above all, the government can’t be trusted. Someday I’ll reveal it, but not now. So please, you two must also keep this a secret for the time being.”
Since they themselves had once hidden Yang Yosep in the basement out of distrust for the government, they understood, nodded firmly, and chose to look further into the future rather than the immediate gain at hand.
Now that both their sons were safe and healthy at home, Yang Hwapyeong and Kim Yeju’s faces grew peaceful, as though all worry and sorrow had melted away. By the end of the conversation, they were even ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) smiling. After checking on Yosep once more and tucking Yohan in, the couple returned to their bedroom and, for the first time in days, fell into a deep sleep.
Back in his own room, Yohan also felt more at ease. Having purified his brother’s contamination, his sense of guilt had lessened.
‘It was a reckless act....’
Even if Awakening Parties were not illegal, no one could deny that they were dangerous. He had acted out of frustration, but in hindsight, that had been the starting point of his family’s misery. It was something Yohan would regret and repay for the rest of his life.
And yet, in another sense, he was grateful. His recklessness had led him into an Awakening Party, into the Abyss, and in the end had made him a purifier. Because of that, he had met Lee Hyunmook and the others and had escaped the Abyss with them.
‘I wonder what everyone’s doing right now?’
When Yohan entered the group chat, a few photos from the team dinner had been uploaded. The warm and cheerful atmosphere in every picture made it impossible to imagine how these same people had once looked in the Abyss—mangled, ruined, and enduring such horrific suffering. After saving the photos, Yohan typed a message.
I’m going to sleep now. Everyone, have a good night!
Seo Yakrin
Sleep well, youngest ^^
Joo Hoyoung
Good night!
Lee Chanha
Wishing you a good night as well, Yohan.
Yoon Seungryong
Yohan, goo’night!
Almost instantly, replies from his teammates came flooding in, and at last, one final message appeared.
Lee Hyunmook
Sleep well, Yohan.
It felt as if Hyunmook’s gentle voice reached him even here, and Yohan stared at the message for a long moment before smiling. Meanwhile, a few vulgar, low-grade texts came in from Park Seungmin, but he did not even care. That fool probably still had no idea that instead of taking revenge, he was being used. Yohan both hoped the delusion would last and wished it would end quickly.
In the peaceful, quiet atmosphere, Yohan finished organizing the photos from the team dinner and drifted into sleep.
Yet his peaceful sleeping face soon began to twist. Cold sweat beaded on his forehead, and his lips moved. He tossed and turned restlessly until, with a jolt, he shot awake. Frantically glancing around, he rubbed his eyes and let out a sigh.
“It was a nightmare....”
He had dreamed an unbearably unpleasant dream. In it, Yohan was in a heavily contaminated city. He could not tell if it had been the Abyss or a rift zone. The stench was foul, monsters prowled everywhere. But that was not what made it a nightmare.
In the darkest corner of that city, there had been a hole. A small hole, infinitely black, so abysmal that simply looking at it was horrifying and nauseating. The hole grew, swallowing an entire building. And from it slithered out a grotesque existence, twisting everything living, a being of unbearable revulsion....
Yohan could clearly feel its malice directed at people, at himself. The dream was so vivid his forehead was slick with sweat. His chest throbbed with a sense of ominous dread. It reminded him of the nightmare he had had right before Bumram had descended in the Abyss, and he shuddered.
“This isn’t the Abyss anymore. I’m back on Earth. This is a safe home.”
Murmuring, Yohan curled up and whimpered softly. He floated a few gentle light-orbs in the room like a mood lamp. Even if Bumram came, it was okay. It was okay.... Comforting himself, he watched the scattering starlike motes for a long while until he finally fell asleep again.
Even after he drifted off, the lights did not fade. They continued to glimmer. Then, from under the nightstand, a shadow crept out. Slowly, it began swallowing the scattered orbs of light one by one. The room grew darker and darker—not merely night-dark, but unnaturally, oppressively black.
Now the only source of light was Yohan’s faintly glowing body. The shadow that had devoured every orb of light crawled onto him. Like a cool breeze, like a shade under the sun, it quietly and gently wrapped around the glow. Its tip reached up to Yohan’s face. At that moment, perhaps sensing something, Yohan furrowed his brow.
“Don’t... eat my cheek....”
Even as he mumbled in his sleep, his frown eased. Wrapped in the cozy, soothing embrace of the shadow, Yohan sank into a deep slumber without a single dream.
* * *
Somewhere in a rift zone.
A contaminated monster crawled frantically along the road, probing around with its long whiskers. With its screeching, high-pitched cries and its grotesque gait, one could guess it had once been a rat before contamination. As it scurried among the rubble in search of food, it suddenly froze.
Its unnaturally long whiskers dipped into a darkness too deep and black. The rat stiffened, unable to move. And then, from the shadows beneath the rubble, something began to crawl out.
