“What do I have to do?”
The clear eyes pierced Yoon Taehee. In an instant, he felt a strange joy piercing his lungs.
“…”
He silently lowered his head and looked at his palm. He slowly opened and closed his hand, but he had the illusion that the pulsating sensation from the boy’s neck was still lingering in his hand. Like a phantom ache.
“I asked. What do I have to do?”
Jaegyeom asked Yoon Taehee, who was silent for a long time.
“First, steal ‘Yoon Taehee’.”
It was a cryptic answer. Before Jaegyeom could ask anything back, he pointed at his chest with his index finger raised.
“The three characters of my first name.”
To get his name back.
This would be the first step towards his treason.
***
“Do you remember? What pegasus said then.”
The other day, Yoon Taehee sent the black birds to the exorcists, who were his allies, and in return, he suffered a death-like pain. The pegasus pointed out the cause of the pain, and it was indeed an accurate diagnosis.
“All exorcists belonging to Naryecheong must sign a contract of blood. It means that they cannot use evil techniques or inflict harm on fellow exorcists without warning. If they violate the contract and break the taboo, they will suffer greatly from the repercussions.”
Jaegyeom recalled Yoon Taehee groaning and coughing up blood. It seemed as if the heavy sensation of him leaning on his shoulder, in agony to the point where he couldn’t come to his senses, was revived. And even though Yoon Taehee experienced such pain himself, he calmly explained it as if he were a stranger to it.
“The gist of this contract is simple. That you shouldn’t attack fellow exorcists. They say it’s for safety, but in reality, it’s like a minimal line of defense against enemies from within. To put them on a leash to keep them from becoming traitors like me.”
Yoon Taehee’s face was cool as he continued to speak.
Even without these restrictions, the exorcists were highly loyal to the source. However, mutations exist everywhere. And Naryecheong was a meticulous place that did not tolerate even a very slim possibility.
A huge iron gate that sealed off division and rebellion. Rebellion was impossible unless one broke through this iron gate. The final destination of this treason was the Commissioner of Naryecheong. In order to get to the Commissioner, of course, he would have to deal with many opponents who would be guarding the road. Standing against Naryecheong without being able to shake off this contract was close to committing suicide.
“When you officially become an exorcist, you must engrave your name on a wooden plaque with blood and submit it. You sign a contract through that wooden plaque. And this wooden plaque is kept in the Naryecheong Register Office. And what you have to do is return ‘Yoon Taehee’ to me.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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“To steal a wooden plaque with my name on it. That’s what you will have to do.”
A gatekeeper who would open a tightly closed bolt. That was the boy.
“So, then what?”
To Jaegyeom’s question, Yoon Taehee softly added.
“We must start a war.”
‘War’. The face that let that word was calm.
“We’re going to invade Naryecheong.”
At the words that followed, Jaegyeom looked at Yoon Taehee with calm eyes. A moment of silence passed. Under Jaegyeom’s gaze, he wanted to smile at him at some point, and then his thumb and middle finger collided with each other and made a snapping sound as if to break the heavy, serious mood..
“Now, you can think of this as a rough outline.”
Yoon Taehee leaned halfway across his table and opened his mouth in a languid posture.
“I will tell you the details slowly. For now, the first thing to do is to enter the Naryecheong.”
There was no need to rush right away. He had to match the luck and timing so that the board, which he had painstakingly planned for a long time, would not collapse. First of all, it was important to understand how Naryecheong was run and get familiar with the atmosphere. The first month or two would be an adjustment period. During that time, Yoon Taehee also had other things to do.
“I get it.”
Jaegyeom, who had been silently listening, finally nodded his head. At that, Yoon Taehee’s eyes softened. “Good, then…” He trailed off and headed towards the back of his desk. He picked up the phone he had put aside and touched his screen.
“Does the house you’re moving into have to be similar to the one you live in now?”
Jaegyeom raised his eyes slightly at the sudden question, “what?” Yoon Taehee mumbled, with his eyes fixed on his cell phone. “Is it okay as long as it’s next to a mountain and a remote place?” He touched his lips and scrolled through his screen with one hand.
“The closest mountain to Naryecheong is Mt. Bukak. But the place is so developed that Mt. Inwang might be better than Mt. Bukak. It’s much quieter. Instead, it’s a bit low and…”
***
Jaegyeom, who went to school early in the morning, returned home in the dark of the evening. As he crossed the yard and stepped onto the front porch, he heard a light rumbling of the floor, ‘dadada~’. Mesani hurriedly came out to meet him with a big smile.
“My lord! You’re home?”
Jaegyeom took off his Converse sneakers and entered the house. Immediately after that, Mesani came clinging to the waist.
“Did you play well?”
“Yes!”
“What were you playing with?”
“Mhm, with the raccoon!”
“The raccoon again?”
“Yes.”
“You must be sad you can’t see it anymore.”
“Yes…”
The two went to the living room, having a small talk. “Jaegyeom, you’re back?” Jeongju, who was sitting on the sofa and working on his laptop, looked back at him with a happy face. “Yeah. What are you doing?” Jaegyeom put the bag on his shoulder and asked indifferently.
“Uh, just looking at something…”
Bold headlines popped up on the Internet window. ‘Jeongju recovering health, ‘disappearance theory’ will Jeongju return, the recent situation of Jeongju’… Perhaps it was a bit embarrassing that he was reading articles about himself, Jeongju cleared his throat and closed his laptop.
“Did you have a good meal with that friend?”
He asked as he removed his laptop from his lap.
“Ah, well. Uh…”
Jaegyeom scratched his cheek and answered vaguely. Jeongju, of course, thought that he had dinner with Cho Youngwoo.
“What did you eat?”
“Just whatever. Something nearby.”
Feigning his usual indifference, Jaegyeom answered calmly.
“Jaegyeom, did something happen at school?”
Sure enough, Jeongju immediately asked. Compared to the morning, Jaegyeom’s mood had noticeably subsided.
“Uh? No… Nothing happened.”
Jaegyeom, whose consciousness was pricked, while fiddling with his tie.
“Ayee, what happened?”
Wondering if he was sad because it was his last day of school, the perceptive fox looked suspiciously at him. Just as Jeongju noticed a subtle change in him, Jaegyeom was in a complicated and gloomy state mentally in the meanwhile.
And seeing those expressions made him even more disturbed.
Until now, Jaegyeom had only pushed Jeongju and Mesani away. Fearing that he would be left alone, he seldom stood by their side. He tricked them over and over again to imagine and fear the shadow of the farewell to come. It was only a few days ago that Jaegyeom, who had been like that, decided not to grieve in advance for the sorrow that had yet to come.
And today… a new road opened before his eyes.
At the beginning of the road was Yoon Taehee. And, at the end of that road, there was the death he had been dreaming of. Now he could embrace the warmth comfortably. He thought that he was finally able to lie down within the boundary of ‘a family of three’. However, the moment he heard the two words ‘death’ from Yoon Taehee, Jaegyeom felt an indescribably great power. Because it was a rest itself that could not be compared to the peace of now.
Even if the world were to come to an end, he thought that he would be the only one left alone. But he couldn’t believe that there was a way to end this exhausting life. It was something he had longed for. But why couldn’t he rejoice to his heart’s content? Jaegyeom vaguely figured out the identity of this restless feeling. It was just guilt.
If I’m happy, will you guys be happy too? Of course. They’re nice people, so they’ll be happy for him like it’s their own happiness. Would what is good for me be good for you guys? Of course, there was no doubt that they would congratulate him more fervently than anyone else. But what if it’s death? If he died… ?
Would they welcome his death?
“I… I want you guys to be happy.”
Jaegyeom murmured.
“Huh? What? I couldn’t hear you well.”
Jeongju asked, pricking his ears. Jaegyeom just shook his head quietly, as if nothing had happened. He keeps getting lost in his thoughts. Silent for a moment, he sat down on the sofa.
Right. He should have died long ago. So it should be like that now. Anyway, with time, both Jeongju and Mesani would disappear. Only the order was different, because this was the right way. He tried to dispel his guilt and seize his heart.
“I have something I want to do.”
“Hmm?” Jeongju’s eyes widened at the unexpected words.
“I’m going to go to Seoul and become an exorcist.”
Sometimes certain resolutions need to be verbalized to become stronger.
Thank u
Thank you for the chapter!
Can’t wait for a proper meeting between Jeongju and Yoon Teahee and Jeongiu’s reaction next chapter XD
Thank you!