Watching From the Gaps

2 PM. Shoes so clean they didn't have a speck of dust on them stepped onto the dirt. A large stone wall had a space in the middle, with a signboard hanging above it that says,

[Bogungmun]

Bogungmun used to be a popular route for hikers climbing Bukhansan. However, shortly after Hong Ye-seong moved into the Jang-in Village on Bukhansan, he blocked off access to the area, using restoration work as an excuse. Jung Bin took a yellow talisman out of the inside pocket of his suit. Then, without hesitation, he stepped towards the space under the stone wall.

Soon, a completely different landscape appeared. Beyond several layers of ropes with sacred charms, a courtyard with lush green grass came into view. In one corner of the yard was a large kiln, and beyond the yard stood a traditional straw-roofed house. It was the place where Hong Ye-seong, exiled to Bukhansan, was staying.

Jung Bin ducked under the sacred ropes and entered. A chicken chirped clearly.

"Hong Ye-seong-ssi. Are you here?"

"…Huh?"

A brown lump that had been lying on the porch like a blob of slime slowly lifted its head. Despite not being in exile for long, Hong Ye-seong already looked like a wreck. Dressed in a green tracksuit, he rolled over and looked at Jung Bin. His eyes, which had been hazy, began to sparkle.

"Could it be? Is the exile already over?!"

"No."

Jung Bin cut him off firmly, clasping his hands behind his back.

"I came to ask you something. Do you have a moment to talk?"

"Eh… I'm busy."

Hong Ye-seong repositioned himself more comfortably, stretching out. Jung Bin shrugged his shoulders.

"Weren't you just sprawled out like a blob of slime?"

"That was all part of the thinking process, Official-nim."

"Oh dear…"

Jung Bin sighed loudly, making sure Hong Ye-seong heard. Then, he half-pulled out a warm chicken box from the air.

"If you're that busy, I guess you won't have time to eat the chicken I brought. That's unfortunate."

"…"

"I guess I'll just have to give it to the team members at the Awakened Management Bureau…"

"No!"

Hong Ye-seong sprang up like a bolt of lightning, slipped his feet into his slippers, and quickly crossed the yard to Jung Bin. He hunched over and whispered urgently.

"Quick, hide it before Kkokko sees!"

"Is your busy schedule a bit more manageable now?"

"It's manageable now, so hurry!"

Hong Ye-seong pushed Jung Bin towards the straw-roofed house, practically shoving him inside as soon as Jung Bin took off his shoes. After both were inside, he slammed the door shut. Pressing his ear against the door, listening for any sounds outside, Hong Ye-seong finally sighed in relief.

"Phew, that was close."

"Then I'll ask you a few questions."

"Chicken first?"

"I'll give it to you if you answer."

"Ugh."

Hong Ye-seong grumbled loudly, but Jung Bin ignored him. He pulled out a necklace from his coat pocket and held it out.

"This necklace… it looks like you made it. Is that correct?"

"…Huh? What is this?"

Hong Ye-seong squinted and stared intently at the necklace. He tilted his head, as if struggling to remember. Jung Bin pointed to the spot where the initials were engraved with his finger.

"HYS. You engraved this, didn't you?"

"…Ah! Oh, right! I remember. Yes, I made that."

Nodding quickly, Hong Ye-seong rubbed his chin and rolled his eyes.

"You know, that student wearing pajama pants found some kind of fragment in a golem. It was a piece of… a piece of… what was it called? Anyway, she was fidgeting with it in her pocket, so before the government official took her to the Seowon Guild, I made it into a necklace for her."

With a face that seemed to say, "Didn't I do well?" he looked up at Jung Bin with sparkling eyes. Jung Bin closed his eyes tightly, overwhelmed by the flood of information contained in that one sentence.

"A piece of… was it a Fragment of the World, by any chance?"

"Yep! That's it. This piece here… oh? It looks a bit different now, but anyway, this."

Hong Ye-seong pointed to the white piece attached to the necklace. What he had thought was an ordinary gemstone fragment was actually a Fragment of the World. And it wasn't something that only appeared in Yoon Ga-eul's dreams. Jung Bin stared at the necklace, his face a mix of confusion. But he quickly regained his composure. The situation was urgent.

"Then, by any chance, have you heard anything more from J about the rifts or eroded dungeons? It would be even better if you could contact him, but I doubt that's possible…"

"Huh? Oh~ of course I can!"

"What?"

"Contacting J!"

"…How is that possible?"

Jung Bin had asked the question with no real expectations, so he was surprised by the confident answer. What on earth was happening that he didn't know about? Jung Bin's mouth opened slightly. Hong Ye-seong grinned mischievously, his lips twitching.

"That's because we're really, really close. Aren't you curious? Aren't you curious?"

He didn't want to know. He didn't care about their friendship.

"…"

But actually, he was a bit curious. No, he was very curious. Not only was there a connection with Lee Sa-young, but also with Hong Ye-seong? Why? How? Where did they meet? Why, of all the top-ranked hunters, did they have connections with the ones most people avoided? Jung Bin began to genuinely worry about his former colleague J's social life.

However, he knew that if he asked about it, Hong Ye-seong would only become more boastful and insufferable. So, with superhuman patience, he kept his mouth shut. Like a dog seeking attention, Hong Ye-seong circled around him, but when he saw that Jung Bin wasn't interested, his shoulders slumped.

"What, you don't need it? You're not curious?"

"…Just please contact him."

"Ugh."

Pouting like a duck, Hong Ye-seong cracked the door open slightly. Then he shouted toward the yard.

"Kkokko!"

A chicken perched on a roost lifted its head. Its round white body gleamed in the sunlight. Cupping his hands around his mouth, Hong Ye-seong yelled.

"Go to J! When you get there, turn on the communication device!"

"Bawwk…"

"Oh, I know it's hard. This place is on a cliff, so it'll be even tougher. But please, I'm asking you. Okay?"

"Bawk."

The chicken hopped down from the roost and sadly trotted out the gate. Could this really work? As Jung Bin skeptically watched the chicken disappear, Hong Ye-seong suddenly made a sound of realization and got up.

"Oh, right. I made some sikhye, want to try it?"

"Aren't there more important things to do… And this isn't the time to be…"

"Oh, come on."

Without waiting for a response, Hong Ye-seong dashed to the kitchen and returned with a clear plastic bottle, pouring the sikhye into a paper cup and offering it to Jung Bin. With a dubious expression, Jung Bin accepted the cup and took a sip. His eyes widened.

It was delicious.

"Good, right? It's good, isn't it? Amazing, right? Maybe I should start selling sikhye when I retire."

Without a word, Jung Bin continued sipping the drink, lost in thought.

'Please, stop using your skills for things like this…'

***

At 3 PM, Cha Eui-jae was sweeping the floor as usual. After sweeping away all the dust, he straightened his back and let out a deep sigh.

After Yoon Ga-eul's fragment disappeared, early in the morning, Cha Eui-jae woke up in his small room. It was as if everything he'd just heard— the trembling voice— had been a dream. He blinked at the dark ceiling. Just as he was about to get up, he realized there was something in his hand.

It was a white fragment, stained with a black smudge. It was proof that what he experienced wasn't just a dream.

"…"

Cha Eui-jae didn't know how, but he wanted to save Yoon Ga-eul. He knew what it was like to be alone in a place where there wasn't even a hint of human presence. But even if he were to go to the world Yoon Ga-eul had vanished into, he didn't know what he could do with this fragment. Even if he clenched it tightly or tried to infuse it with power, the fragment only flickered sporadically.

Then, something knocked on the door.

Cha Eui-jae swung the door open. No one was there. But when he looked down, something white and round was looking up at him. Cha Eui-jae greeted it warmly.

"Kkokko!"

But instead of a cute cooing sound, a mundane message came out.

—Target confirmed. Preparing to connect you to the master via communicator. Please be ready.

Cha Eui-jae's eyes widened as he quickly picked up the chicken and closed the door. Instinctively, he pulled out a mask from his inventory and put it on. 

A moment later, a familiar voice came from the chicken's beak.

—…Ah, can you hear me? This is Jung Bin from the Awakened Management Bureau.

'Shit.'

Cha Eui-jae steadied his breath and responded in an altered voice.

"So suddenly? What happened?"

—Ah, J. Thank goodness.

There was a sigh of relief in the voice.

—I wanted to ask you something. You mentioned that the cause of the dungeon's restructuring was you, right? Is that correct?

"…Yes, it is. But it's just a guess."

—Then, by any chance… do you know anything about the fragment Ga-eul picked up in the dungeon?

"What?"

Cha Eui-jae's eyes widened. Jung Bin spoke in an anxious voice.

—Ga-eul has collapsed. According to Hunter Nam Woo-jin, it seems her soul has been pulled into another world.

As Jung Bin explained further, Cha Eui-jae quietly listened while pulling out the fragment from his apron pocket. The one Yoon Ga-eul had left behind in his dream. After Jung Bin finished his long explanation, he murmured,

—I'm sorry to bother you with this, but… I was wondering if you knew anything that could help.

Cha Eui-jae answered briefly.

"I do."

—Excuse me?

"I think I now know how to bring her back."

As he fiddled with the fragment, Cha Eui-jae made eye contact with the chicken.

"Don't worry too much. I'll take responsibility and bring Ga-eul back."

—Wait, J! What do you mean by that?

Cha Eui-jae set the chicken down outside the door. Jung Bin's frantic voice was still coming from the chicken's beak. After flipping the sign to indicate it was time to prepare ingredients, Cha Eui-jae carefully locked the door and turned off all the lights in the restaurant.

Wasn't he taking the long way around when there was a simpler option?

'It means it's a situation where I could die at any time.'

Then there was no time to hesitate. Cha Eui-jae took a deep breath and held the small fragment between his thumb and index finger.

Then,

Snap, the fragment crumbled to pieces between his fingers. Brilliant light began to pour out from it.

…Cha Eui-jae opened his eyes.

It looked like the hallway of a house. Strangely familiar. A photograph of a bright blue ocean hung on the wall.

Warm sunlight streamed through the large window in the living room ahead. The white curtains gently swayed in the breeze coming through the slightly open window. He felt assured that this place was safe. Strangely so. The tension melted away sweetly in an instant. Cha Eui-jae took a step forward.

The wooden floor, warm from the sunlight, was pleasantly warm under his bare feet. Without thinking, he wiggled his toes. As he walked further, the sounds of rustling and clattering grew closer.

Cha Eui-jae reached the kitchen— a dark brown wooden table, the savory smell of eggs cooking, the slight warmth of a toaster browning bread, and a tall young man standing with his back to him. The man, standing in front of the induction stove, spoke without even turning around.

"Late again, aren't you, Hyung?"

His voice was mixed with a bit of laughter. It was strangely familiar. The voice, the black, curly hair that nearly covered his neck, and the tall build— all familiar. The young man, who seemed both in place and out of place in the warm home, was wearing a thin white T-shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows.

His scar-free hands moved skillfully. The shoulder blades that stood out on his back, and the light blue checkered apron tied around his waist in a familiar knot— something about it made Cha Eui-jae's throat tighten. His mouth moved on its own.

"I've been up for a while. Just didn't get out of bed."

"Always making excuses."

"A guy finally gets a break and decides to sleep in, and you've got something to say about it."

Words came out of his mouth as if he were an automatic answering machine. But Cha Eui-jae didn't find anything strange about it. He was simply immersed in a feeling of nostalgia, a warmth he hadn't felt in a long time.

Without hesitation, Cha Eui-jae approached the young man and rested his chin on his broad shoulder. He could smell the scent of fragrant fabric softener.

"What're you making, a rolled omelet?"

"Yeah."

"Omelet and toast? Shouldn't you be frying the eggs?"

"For someone who can't cook, you sure talk a lot."

"Oh, look at you…"

Cha Eui-jae subtly lifted his eyes to look at the young man's face. Plump lips, a slight smile at the corners of his mouth— everything was familiar. His black eyes, sitting under long eyelashes, glanced at Cha Eui-jae and narrowed into a gentle curve.

"Hyung."

His voice was affectionate.

Cha Eui-jae's mouth moved on its own.

"Yeah, Sa-young."