Quick-witted, Yoon Seungryong pressed the keypad and opened the door. Leaning against her younger brother, Lee Hyunmyung staggered inside. Watching her pour out the grief she had been suppressing all this time, sobbing in his arms, Yohan felt tears spring up in his own eyes and hurriedly wiped them away. The others gave the siblings space. Seo Yakrin pulled Yohan into his embrace, eyes glistening.
“Our Yohan must be missing his family too, and yet can’t go see them.”
“I’m fine...! It’s not just me who can’t see them.”
Yohan answered firmly. They had said the embargo wouldn’t last long—he could endure a few more days.
“His sister probably got permission because she’s the director of a Rift Management Agency–affiliated hospital. She often handles official duties that require strict security.”
As if reading Yohan’s mind, Seo Yakrin explained. Listening to him talk about Hyunmyung running Hyunsan Hospital, Yohan heard the voices and sobbing gradually fade. The sound of water came and went from the bathroom. Then the door opened, and footsteps approached. Yohan’s ears pricked up.
Lee Hyunmyung came back smiling. She had tidied herself so neatly that, aside from her reddened eyes, no one would guess she had been crying.
“It’s such a relief you all came back without losing a single one. You must have suffered so much. My goodness. Look at how thin our Seungryong’s gotten....”
She fussed over each team member in turn, then hesitated before Yohan, gazing at him with a questioning look before turning to her brother.
“Hello, my name is Yang Yohan.”
Yohan seized the chance he had been waiting for and bowed quickly. Hyunmook wrapped an arm around his shoulders.
“Yohan is our team’s savior. The reason I’m standing here safe, the reason we escaped the Abyss—it’s all thanks to Yohan. Without him, we’d still be trapped in there forever.”
“M-me? No, no, it wasn’t just me.... I helped, sure, but I could never have done it alone!”
How could he take credit alone for surviving and escaping the Abyss? Flustered, Yohan tried to insist it was because he met Hyunmook and everyone had helped him, but before he could, Hyunmyung clasped his hand tight. Her palms were warm, damp with sweat.
“Yang Yohan, thank you. Truly, I don’t even know how to express it.... I thought I had lost the only family I had left forever, but thanks to you, I can see Hyunmook again.”
“No, really, it wasn’t just me. He’s exaggerating. Please, just speak to me comfortably, don’t be so formal....”
Her gratitude, so earnest it sounded like that of a parent, left Yohan squirming. Even as she looked at him warmly, her eyes carried curiosity. What kind of ability did Yohan have, that a top-tier Awakener like Hyunmook would credit their escape to him? But she kept her questions to herself and rose.
“Yohan, I’ll repay this debt of gratitude for the rest of my life.”
Though he had begged her not to be so formal, she kept speaking with heartfelt affection, brushing away fresh tears with a smile.
“You must all be exhausted. I’ll go now. If you need anything, call me anytime.”
“Wait, I’ll see you off.”
Hyunmyung gave a wry smile, eyes soft with affection as she looked at her brother. Aside from his hair, his appearance was unchanged, as Awakener aging was slow.
“What’s the point of an escort?”
“There are still reporters outside. And... I have something to tell you.”
Hyunmook gave Yohan a gentle look, then opened the door and stepped out with his sister. He called back to the team:
“I’ll pick up dinner on the way back. Rest until then.”
“Yes, sir! Have a safe trip, Director! You too, ma’am!”
Cheerfully saluting them off, the team stood in silence, staring at the closed door. Yoon Seungryong scratched his head and murmured:
“It’s been so long since I saw her. Thought I’d forgotten her face, but... I remember it all.”
“Same here. Somehow I’ve gotten old enough to be her older sister now.”
Their conversation carried emotions Yohan couldn’t even guess at. Having spent far too long in the Abyss, they were now decades older than Hyunmyung. Yohan tried to lighten the heavy mood by asking guilelessly:
“But isn’t the age gap between you and Hyunmook huge?”
“Ah, our team leader’s the youngest of his family. Yohan, have a seat.”
Youngest...?! Hyunmook, the youngest? To Yohan, who thought “youngest” was the last word that could apply to him, it was a shock. He sat down heavily on the sofa at Chanha’s urging. It was so soft he sank right in. Whether it was due to careful upkeep or Hyunmyung’s prior cleaning, not a speck of dust showed.
“How can Hyunmook be the youngest?”
He asked in genuine disbelief, making everyone laugh. Seo Yakrin plopped down beside him and said:
“The captain had five older siblings. A late-born baby, with such a huge age gap that his sister practically raised him. But... during the First Great Rift, only the two of them survived.”
“Ah....”
The Great Rift. That was when localized rifts suddenly erupted on a massive scale. And wherever a Great Rift occurred, the Abyss followed soon after. Korea alone had endured three Great Rifts, each leaving countless dead and missing. Hyunmook had awakened during the first.
“Imagine how hard it must have been for her, carrying on alone.”
At Yoon Seungryong’s words, Yohan nodded. Having lost her whole family, only to have her precious youngest brother vanish into the Abyss—her pain must have been unbearable. Seo Yakrin sighed.
“I should visit my family too. But I don’t even think I’ll cry. Feels awkward already.”
“Yeah... me too.”
Yoon Seungryong agreed. Like Hyunmook meeting his sister so calmly, their emotions seemed dulled, worn down by too many years in the Abyss. Yohan alone felt stung with guilt. Joo Hoyoung, who had lost his family in the Great Rift and thus had nothing to feel ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) awkward about, asked casually:
“Chanha, what about your girlfriend? And your little brother?”
“Well, I haven’t checked yet, so I’ll have to see if I can reach them. My brother and I never got along, but he’s probably fine on his own.”
As they chatted, the door opened. Agitated by the dry, brittle talk about family, Yohan shot up and dashed out like a bullet. Yoon Seungryong darted after him. Hyunmook returned, his hands full of food.
“Chi... chicken! Pizza! Jokbal!”
“Cola! Tteokbokki! Pork stir-fry! Jajangmyeon!”
A moment ago indifferent to family, Seungryong and Yakrin dropped to their knees in ecstasy before the food. Yohan was no less moved. The spread glittered before him. The isolation room meals had been tasty enough, but now, with MSG-laden delivery food piled high, the flavor of freedom was overwhelming. Joo Hoyoung had already snatched up the spicy chicken feet.
Meanwhile, Hyunmook and Chanha continued their serious discussion, undistracted by the feast. Catching Yohan watching curiously, Hyunmook smiled.
“Eat up, Yohan.”
“You too, Hyunmook, Chanha! Let’s eat first and talk after.”
At Yohan’s urging, they finally joined in. For a long while, the house was filled with the sounds of eating and drinking. Hyunmook had brought enough food to feed an army, yet it vanished so fast they had to order again.
Only after dessert did the binge end. Yoon Seungryong, gluttonous from contamination, sprawled out in deep satisfaction. Even though Yohan had eaten less than anyone, he was stuffed and panting. As he had learned in the Abyss, his companions’ stomachs were like black holes.
“But... I have a question.”
Adjusting his posture, Yohan looked at the team, who were watching him kindly.
“Why do I have to hide that I’m a Purifier?”
The moment they escaped the Abyss, Yohan had felt the flow of energy in his body, like a stream waiting to burst forth. Just as he had awakened the Eternal Stones on the Black Mountain, he knew instinctively that if he released this energy, dozens, even hundreds of Purifiers would awaken. The impulse felt like an Awakener’s instinct. But he had suppressed it, trusting Hyunmook’s warning to keep it hidden.
“There are several reasons. But mainly—it’s because we can’t trust the government.”
At Hyunmook’s words, Yohan set down his cup of cola. He asked carefully, not particularly shocked:
“Did the government do something to the Sunrise Team?”
During his time in the Agency’s quarantine facility, Yohan had turned this over in his head. Why must he hide being a Purifier? Why refuse the Agency’s offer? He wasn’t stupid—he knew his companions were wary of the government, especially the Rift Management Agency.
“You know the government’s policy has been to suppress Awakeners, right?”
“It did seem that way.”
Yohan nodded. At first, the government had forcibly conscripted Awakeners. Now, they hunted and imprisoned the contaminated. On top of that, they had passed countless laws stacked against Awakeners. Their emigration screenings were brutally strict; depending on the situation, even their residence could be restricted for national defense. If they harmed civilians, the punishments were harsher, and they were forced to undergo humiliating regular contamination tests at designated institutions.
Such laws were inevitable in a crisis like the rift disaster. But it was also true that the government had used them as an excuse to oppress Awakeners beyond necessity. Yohan had once thought it had nothing to do with him—but now it did.
“Yohan, I believe the government was involved in our disappearance into the Abyss.”
