Sa-young knelt on one knee and laid Ga-eul's body properly on the ground. Then, after glancing around, he began walking past the collapsed figures. The hem of his black coat fluttered with each step, leaving footprints wherever he walked. The world where the apocalypse had come was silent. When his steps halted, the fluttering coat also fell still.
"..."
'Had Cha Eui-jae stayed in a place like this too?'
A place where there was no trace of human voices, no wind blowing, no insects, no birds.
A silence so complete that the only sound was his own breath.
It must have been difficult for him, because he liked people.
The world covered in white ash looked like an endless snowfield. Sa-young walked wherever his feet carried him. His business here was finished. He had a place to return to, people waiting for him, someone who would come for him. Yet he did not hurry.
With his hands in his coat pockets, Sa-young gazed at the white horizon.
He wanted to understand Cha Eui-jae a little more.
To know more about him beyond the things he had shared.
Even the deepest places, the secrets he kept hidden away.
'I want to know everything about you, from head to toe, eyes, nose, mouth, eyelids, and every strand of hair. Tell me your weakest part.'
But a person as precious as that would never willingly reveal their weakness.
It was a stubborn, incurable habit. Only after endless coaxing would he reveal even a sliver.
That was why Sa-young could not let this chance slip by.
"It takes a lot of work..."
Under his tangled hair, violet eyes glimmered.
The little information Eui-jae chose to reveal was no longer enough. Sa-young was no longer a child satisfied with just brushing the cheek hidden behind a mask.
His desire had grown, his greed had taken root, fueled by years of waiting.
His ash-stained boots began moving again. He walked down a road with no trace of life, savoring the peculiar sensations one could only feel in a world devoid of it.
He savored the loneliness Cha Eui-jae must have felt.
He thought of Cha Eui-jae.
He could think of nothing but Cha Eui-jae.
A faint sigh slipped from Sa-young's lips.
This too was a kind of fever.
***
"A little more to the right!"
"..."
"Too far! Back a little left!"
"..."
"If you dig there it'll all collapse! Geez, you really can't handle delicate work, can you, friend?"
"Shut up!"
Eui-jae threw down the shovel he was holding and shouted.
"I catch you from falling and you don't even say thanks, you just boss me around and nag nonstop! I said I'll handle it, so just stay quiet!"
"Aw, come on."
"Say one more word and I'll gag you. I really mean it, be quiet."
Hong Ye-seong immediately slapped a hand over his own mouth.
Eui-jae took a deep breath before picking the shovel back up.
They were digging near the mound where Eui-jae had fallen. According to Ye-seong, whenever the Apocalypse moved, various things would fall here, corpses, building debris, and so on.
"No living people ever fell?"
"Of course not. They fall from the sky into this place. Even if they're swallowed alive, once they drop here, they're dead."
"..."
"We're Awakened, that's why we survived! Tough as nails!"
...Anyway, it was while Ye-seong was scavenging for something useful that he ran into Eui-jae.
As he dug through the rubble, Eui-jae asked.
"I heard you went missing. So why are you in a place like this?"
"Oh, I almost died to the Apocalypse, but just before getting crushed I twisted my body just right and, bam, got swallowed whole. Next thing I knew, I woke up here. Hey, that! Tear out the car seat for me. Don't rip the leather."
"What for?"
"No sofa here. Funny enough, those big-mouthed bastards don't eat sofas."
"..."
"It's human instinct to want something soft to sit on."
Hong Ye-seong puffed his chest out like a proud rooster.
Eui-jae detached the sports car's back seat and, while doing so, glanced sideways at him. Then he asked casually.
"What happened to your eye? Did you get hurt?"
"Huh? Oh, nothing serious. I looked at him with the Eyes of Appraisal, and pop, just gone."
Ye-seong fiddled with the bandages as he grumbled.
"Guess it's a creature who can't be judged with my ability."
"...So you can't see at all?"
"Yup. But it's fine! My other eye works just fine."
Was he pretending to be carefree, or was he really fine?
Instead of saying something comforting, Eui-jae glanced at the crutch.
"And your leg?"
"Broke it! But it's healing well. Won't be long before I can walk without this."
"..."
"Well, being alive is what matters. Now, can you carry that seat over here?"
"Fine."
Ye-seong hopped along on one leg, crutch under his arm. Eui-jae carried two detached seats on his back and followed. The ruins covered in white ash reminded him of the West Sea Rift. Or maybe...
Maybe the West Sea Rift was modeled after this place.
"Tada! Welcome to my sweet home."
He pointed with his crutch at something like a tent. It was a makeshift shelter, patched together with building walls, fabric, and broken trees.
"Did you build this yourself?"
"Of course. Can't sleep on the bare ground forever."
"What about food?"
"You don't get hungry here. Or thirsty. Weird, huh?"
"..."
In this space, there was no hunger or thirst.
For a moment, Eui-jae's vision turned red. He set the car seats down and replied in an even voice.
"How long have you been here?"
"Hmm, no idea. Hard to keep track without night and day."
"And no monsters or other threats?"
"Peaceful as can be. Almost boring!"
Eui-jae bit the inside of his cheek. Nothing was as expected.
"...I thought this was the source of the Apocalypse."
"Oh! You're half right. The real source is deeper in."
He sat down on a white plastic chair and drew a circle in the air with his finger.
"This place is like... a terrarium. It swallows worlds and observes them."
He tied his shoulder-length hair back roughly with a yellow rubber band.
"And you showed up at the perfect time! Usually, it keeps watching."
"Watching?"
"Yeah, from the sky."
Eui-jae looked up. The hazy sky was spotless, no black hole, no trace of a white hole.
"When it's watching the other world, it looks away from this one. Guess it only has one eye."
"Sounds about right."
"You're saying it is right?"
"Yeah. I destroyed one of its eyes. My past self did, anyway."
Eui-jae rolled his eyes before adding.
"...Probably."
"Ohhh."
Ye-seong clapped softly, impressed.
"You're amazing."
"Shut up."
"So you came here to take out the other eye too?"
"Yeah."
Eui-jae leaned back against a broken tree trunk.
"If it opens its eye, the damage is catastrophic. If we drag things out, this world will end just like the first one. Destroyed before anyone can even fight back."
"So you're going for a swift kill?"
"Exactly. Before it gets out of hand."
"Mm-hmm."
Ye-seong crossed his arms, nodding thoughtfully. Then suddenly lifted his head, eyes wide.
"But what about Lee Sa-young? Why'd you come alone?"
"He's still in the Memorial Dungeon. I went to get him, but he said he'd stay until the vaccine was finished."
"What?!"
His one good eye widened. Eui-jae scratched his head awkwardly.
"I wanted to wait too, but Prometheus woke the Apocalypse again. I didn't have time."
"That's bad..."
Ye-seong rubbed his chin, frowning. He was talking like the Hong Ye-seong Eui-jae remembered, always muttering to himself.
Tapping the armrest of his chair, he asked.
"Why do you think you failed twice already?"
"...Lack of preparation? Or maybe because the Apocalypse appeared too suddenly?"
"Nope. It's because of you."
"Because of me?"
Hearing blame like that for the first time, Eui-jae asked in disbelief. Ye-seong wagged his finger.
"You're too diligent. Why do you even work as a hunter?"
"Well, I awakened. It's my job..."
"Why so serious about it?"
"Because I can do it."
"And that's exactly why everyone relies on you. You do everything. It's like a group project, why are you doing it all yourself? You never did group projects in college, did you?"
"Of course not."
"See? Do that in school and people hate you too. Try trusting others a little. Delegate some of the work."
"I did. I left things to Jung Bin, Honeybee..."
"And Sa-young?"
"..."
"See, see? You don't trust him."
"It's not that I don't trust him, I just..."
The words stuck in his throat. Did he not trust Lee Sa-young? No, he did. Even if he couldn't trust the whole world, Sa-young was the one person he could.
The one who endured endless waiting...
"...I just want him to live."
"..."
"No matter what it takes, I want him to survive. I... I..."
Eui-jae swallowed hard. Before he realized it, a black coffin stood before him.
Through the slightly open lid, he saw black curls and pale skin.
Gazing at those bloodless lips, Eui-jae muttered
"Lee Sa-young must never die."