I felt it when I was admitted, but the Hunter Isolation Facility was truly in a remote location.
It was located right in the middle of a mountain, where there were no private homes, not even a temple.
As I stepped out of the building, there was nothing but trees surrounding the narrow road, and a figure as tall as the trees approached me.
“Jehee. Ah.”
“Ah.”
I instinctively opened my mouth, and when something white was gently pushed inside, I naturally accepted and ate it.
It smelled and tasted savory, and the texture was soft and fluffy… Tofu.
I chewed and swallowed the mouthful of tofu and looked up at Taehwan, asking:
“What’s with the tofu?”
“People eat tofu when they come out of a place they’ve been locked up in.”
“Isn’t that for prison? … Hmm, is it similar?”
Thinking about it, it did seem similar.
Although there were unavoidable circumstances, I had done something bad, caused a lot of trouble for people, and was detained and released, so there was some logic to it.
When I nodded as if I understood, Taehwan’s face flushed red, and he suddenly raised his voice.
“Wait a minute. What are you saying! What did you do wrong? I didn’t buy it with that intention.”
“Then why?”
“I just wanted to feed you something white and soft. I stood in line at a famous place to buy it. How is it?”
“Yes. It’s delicious.”
“I bought a few more blocks. I’ll cook it even more deliciously for you when we get home.”
“That’s right. It would be really tasty with kimchi. Of course, it’s good plain too.”
“Do you want more?”
“Yes.”
It was more savory than ordinary tofu and had a subtle umami flavor.
The texture was also soft, not too hard or dry.
Considering he said he stood in line to buy it, was it handmade tofu?
In any case, there was no reason to refuse something Taehwan bought for me.
I was enjoying a few more bites when I suddenly felt a burning gaze.
Taehwan was looking down at me, and his eyes somehow seemed to yearn for something.
I quickly swallowed the food in my mouth and stood on my tiptoes.
— Mwah.
I kissed Taehwan’s lips and carefully met his gaze.
A spontaneous smile floated to my lips.
“I’m back.”
“Ung, welcome back.”
As expected, his expression brightened, indicating it was the right move.
His slightly parted lips, due to his smile, were tempting, and I was about to seriously reach out my arms when a loud voice rang out from behind us.
“Hey! You lovey-dovey couple over there! Stop being so affectionate and hurry up and get in the car. I’m hungry!”
It was Eunseo.
Only then did I realize that Taehwan hadn’t come alone.
The twins and even my mother were waiting for me.
Everyone except Eunseo had slightly flushed faces and had turned their heads away.
No, everyone should have been gathered here waiting for me, so I didn’t know why I had only seen Taehwan.
I had even been told yesterday that they would be coming.
“Let’s go quickly.”
I felt awkward belatedly and my body stiffened, but as soon as Taehwan grabbed my hand, I became perfectly fine again, as if under a spell.
I firmly held his large hand and smiled at Taehwan.
“Ung.”
Two weeks had passed since the incident where I was kidnapped by assailants and caused a rampage inside a Gate.
Although I was caught up in a crime, it was true that my rampage had caused a great threat to society, so I couldn’t completely avoid responsibility related to that.
Strict standards are always applied to Hunters with combat-oriented abilities for the safety of civilians. Especially in my case, since my rank was high, even more so.
Fortunately, no one was seriously injured except for my mentor, Cha Taeyang, and I was still a probationary Hunter.
Also, the fact that I stopped the rampage myself, albeit with Taehwan’s help, was duly taken into consideration.
Furthermore, the Hunter Management Bureau admitted responsibility for the lack of psychological examination and management regarding my unique childhood experience, so the issue did not escalate into a major problem.
At least publicly, although personal trust issues were unavoidable.
Thus, I was only given a simple two-week isolation order and released.
Even this isolation was ambiguous to call ‘punishment’; it was more about monitoring my progress to see if I would rampage again, since I had rampaged once, and it was for examining and stabilizing both my body and mind, which had been overworked during the rampage.
The isolation facility was quiet since there was nothing around, and my freedom wasn’t particularly restricted besides being unable to leave.
Thanks to this, I fully rested and slept, completely recovering from the cumulative fatigue of busily traversing dungeons and carrying out Hunter work recently.
I also spent time in the facility’s library and read many books.
The food was healthy and delicious too.
Although Taehwan made a fuss by even buying tofu when he came to meet me, I had actually seen his face almost every day, even during my isolation.
That’s because Taehwan came to visit every single day.
He had even rented a camper van and parked it right in front of the facility, or so I heard.
Since we had to meet with a glass wall between us, we couldn’t touch, but it turned out to be a good thing for us.
…If physical contact had been possible, I feel like we wouldn’t have had any real conversations because we would have been busy with body language.
‘Hmm. I don’t know where to start talking about…’
With the glass wall between us, we faced each other and talked about many things.
To be precise, Taehwan told me many things.
About what his feelings were during the past thirteen years he was by my side, how he became the mystery Hunter ‘Grey Coat,’ how he felt after I awakened, why he repeatedly rejected my confession, and even how much he liked me.
I thought I already knew everything about Taehwan, but that was my arrogance.
I had so much I didn’t know about Taehwan, and through the honest conversations we had this time, I learned many new sides of him.
But even so, I could assert proudly:
‘Let’s be clear about this. No matter how much you like me, I like you more.’
‘Wow, Jung Jehee. What are you talking about all of a sudden? How many years have I liked you?’
‘How do you know? Maybe I liked you first. Come to think of it, I think I’ve liked you for a really long time.’
‘What nonsense, when you only realized it recently.’
‘But I confessed first. Twice.’
‘No, that is… I couldn’t because of my situation…’
‘I confessed even while I was in a difficult situation!’
‘Haa… Fine. Think whatever you want. …I can’t exactly tear open my chest and show you, so what can I do.’
In the end, we became lovers.
Although no grand words like “Let’s date” were exchanged after the confession in the Gate, I knew now even without any confirmation.
That I had become Taehwan’s, and Taehwan had also become mine.
As soon as we returned to Seoul and parted ways with my family, I immediately sought out the hospital where Cha Taeyang was admitted.
I had caused trouble for many people this time, but the person I felt most sorry for was definitely Cha Taeyang.
I had inflicted a severe injury on him.
On the day the incident occurred, Cha Taeyang had collapsed immediately after confirming I had safely exited the Gate and was transferred to the hospital, while I was immediately handcuffed and taken away.
So, I was only able to meet Cha Taeyang today, after quite a long time had passed…
“Ah…”
I happened to visit at the time he was changing his bandages, and the wounds I inadvertently saw were much worse than I had imagined… my mind went blank.
I swallowed the sob rising in my throat and barely managed to speak.
“I am so sorry. Because of me…”
“It’s okay, you idiot! This much will heal if I just put some spit on it.”
That was ridiculous.
A considerable amount of time had passed since the injury, and Cha Taeyang, an A-class physical reinforcement Hunter, should have a recovery rate better than most Hunters, yet his wounds were still so large and deep.
I couldn’t even imagine what they must have been like at the time.
It was a good thing that emergency first aid was applied quickly; if anything had gone wrong, it could have been a truly serious disaster.
The mere imagination made it difficult to breathe.
“I am truly sorry.”
“Hey. It’s really okay. It was my fault for not being able to avoid it, as a mentor and all. You did nothing wrong.”
“Ugh, but…”
“And I had already heard about your trauma from Im Taehwan a long time ago. I also knew that strange guys kept lingering around you. Not only did I fail to prepare despite knowing, but I also failed to protect my mentee and probationary Hunter’s safety and let her get kidnapped, so my fault is huge. If anything, I feel like I should be resented. So, Jehee, cheer up. Don’t cry. You’re making me feel depressed, and my wounds will worsen.”
Cha Taeyang told me it was alright repeatedly, even though I eventually burst into tears, but my heart remained uneasy.
I wanted to somehow offer to pay for the hospital bills or provide other financial compensation, and I opened my mouth to suggest it… when Cha Taeyang suddenly flinched greatly.
“Ah, the, actually… Haa… You shouldn’t get mad when you hear this, okay?”
“Yes…?”
He studied my face for a while, like a person who had committed a grave sin, before speaking heavily.
