Cloudless Sky Chapter 71 (Patreon)

Chapter 71

...Now, paying attention would be of no use. His hand that had been ruffling his hair pressed the touchpad of the laptop as he put it down with a thud.

Click.

"Ah."

The mistakenly pressed click opened the link attached at the bottom of the email. It was the Rift Phenomenon Management Headquarters' channel where superficial information was uploaded under the pretext of communicating with citizens. An opening video that anyone could see was dull appeared. Next to it, related videos were floating. They all featured Soram or Tae-un.

The video located at the very top among them showed a scene of Tae-un gently holding Soram in the air like a princess. The thumbnail had text like "Intense romance in front of a 1st-grade dungeon?!" written on it.

Provocative videos or articles were familiar to Soram. However, the reason he couldn't pass it by indifferently as usual was because Han Tae-un in the thumbnail was staring intently at him.

Soram clicked on that video.

Soram, who had been thrown by the impact of the explosion, was held in Tae-un's arms as if being sucked in, just like the top comment said. Perhaps he used attraction here. And back then, he had no idea, but the expression on Han Tae-un's face as he looked down at the person in his arms... and Ayoung's teasing expression too...

"Huh?"

Suddenly, Soram felt a contradiction. If it was attraction, shouldn't it pull everything around him? However, Ayoung, who was also in the air with them, and even the sparks and smoke flying in all directions, were not sucked towards him. It was amazing that the range designation, which was likely to have a large margin of error because he didn't know the ability in detail, was this precise.

And there was one more strange thing. The form of Soram's ability, the blue mist, which could not be affected by anyone else's power, was being sucked little by little in his direction. He thought it was slow to stand in the air again at that time.

"Hmm..."

This seemed like something Han Tae-un would grasp a sense of first if they properly stuck together in a situation with many objects around. Until now, Soram's confrontations with him and his subsequent training with Ga-eul had all been done in a wide open, flat training ground.

At that moment, new videos related to Han Tae-un suddenly increased in number. Soram refreshed the page.

<[Live] Han Tae-un appeared ahhh I'm on board!!!!!>

<[Live] Everyone, hurry and turn on the broadcast, come in quickly, you'll regret it if you don't watch it now ㅠㅠ!!!!>

<[Live] Han Tae-un rift subjugation LIVE candid>

"What, Han Tae-un went to the middle of the city... Huh?"

The place where Tae-un was standing was none other than the rooftop of a university building. Below it, students who had found a spectacle more interesting than a festival were crowding together.

―Han Tae-un!!!!!

―Han Tae-un is so handsome ahhhh!

―Han Tae-un, please take off your jacket just once! Show us your back!!!

Tae-un seemed a bit startled by those words, so he pulled up the collar of his jacket with his hand to cover it.

"With that nice back of yours, show some service spirit."

Soram rested his chin in front of the screen and began to watch him.

Soon, Tae-un flew into the sky from the rooftop. And he drew the sword at his waist in front of the rift that had appeared above the library.

―Ooooh...!

―Whoa!

The students must have been notified not to go near, but when 1st-grade Han Tae-un came, everyone felt relieved and came out to watch. Hearing all kinds of cheers, Tae-un's back flinched slightly once more. It was no different from busking in a busy street rather than eliminating a rift.

Tae-un gripped the sword with both hands and slashed down the rift. His skills had improved quite a bit now, so the gap narrowed quickly with a single attack. As the rift elimination began in earnest, Tae-un focused on the rift without being conscious of the spectators. Still, the cheers continued inevitably.

Soram, who had been watching the video, fell into thought and put his hand on his mouth, then realized something.

"Huh."

Since when was he smiling?

Honestly, it was a bit of a funny scene, but he didn't know he had been smiling the whole time.

"Hmm..."

While Soram tilted his head, Tae-un finished breaking the rift and came down to the rooftop. The time taken was a little over 20 minutes. Glancing down with a sigh that wasn't noticeable, he jumped down with a resigned expression and landed on the first floor.

Bow.

He gave an inexplicable bow to the spectators. His stiff and timid appearance provoked more mischievous cheers and shouts. Surrounded by people, Tae-un looked in the direction where he had parked the car with a troubled face.

"You'd better bring the car at night and just fly back now. Even if you somehow make it to the car, will you be able to get out properly? ...Huh?"

Who's that?

A middle-aged woman approached Tae-un from one side of the screen. From her styled hair to the neatly worn two-piece suit, everything gave off an air of dignity.

―Excuse me for a moment. I'll pass through. Pardon me.

When such a person spoke with a statue-like smile, everyone made way, thinking she was a high-ranking school official. And that made Tae-un, a public official and a member of a national agency, have no choice but to stop in his place.

―What's the matter...

The next moment, a pointed kitchen knife emerged from the bosom of the woman who was three steps away from Tae-un.

Poof!

The remaining steps disappeared in an instant as the woman lunged and stretched out her arm. The blade of the knife disappeared into Tae-un's side.

―You hunter bastard who disturbs the providence! Die!!!

"...Huh?"

All of Soram's movements, who had been watching the screen, stopped.

―Eek, hic, kahaha! Kiaaaaah!!

The person who stabbed Tae-un let out laughter and screams at the same time with wide-open eyes, as if her dignified appearance from a moment ago was a lie. Even when the police who had been standing by rushed over and restrained her, that bizarre sound did not stop.

"..."

As people began to disperse with whispers, the person who had been broadcasting live also hurriedly turned around. As a result, Tae-un's figure disappeared from the screen.

"Wait, wait...!"

Soram grabbed the screen with both hands. However, the live broadcasts that had been on also stopped one by one.

A call came to Soram's cell phone, who couldn't take his trembling gaze off the screen.

―Chief Jin Soram-nim, Chief Han Tae-un-nim has been transported to the hospital due to an unexpected incident during the current dispatch.

  *

Soram, who flew from the Rift Phenomenon Management Headquarters to the hospital, rushed into the hospital lobby.

He ran his hand through his hair and bit his lips hard. The hand that touched his temple was trembling. Soram interlocked his fingers and pressed down on the vibration with force until he turned pale. He had to fix this no matter what. The outward agitation was too severe.

"Ah, Chief Jin Soram-nim. You're here."

Someone called out to him. Although Soram didn't know the person's face, he could tell he was an employee by the headquarters' access card hanging around his neck. He strode up to him and asked,

"What about Chief Han Tae-un?"

"For now, he is temporarily in a hospital room."

"It's the floor dedicated to the Field Operations Bureau, right?"

"Yes, that's rig... Chief-nim?"

Soram left him behind and ran inside. Seeing the crowd in front of the elevator, he chose the stairs. His steps climbing the stairs in strides were urgent. The image of Han Tae-un being attacked, the blade penetrating his clothes, kept flickering in front of his eyes.

"Ugh..."

He covered his mouth with one hand. His heart was pounding so much that his stomach churned. His quickened breath was felt as it was. It felt like he needed the assurance that Han Tae-un was safe right in front of his eyes right now.

Finally, he arrived at the floor assigned exclusively to the headquarters. Among them, the only room with the door closed was the very place where Soram had been hospitalized a few weeks ago.

Soram flung open the door of that room, which didn't have a nameplate attached yet, and entered.

"Ah."

Tae-un, who had been putting on a shirt, turned to look at the doorway. He lowered his hand that had been buttoning up and looked fine on the outside. The tension that had made his shoulders and lower back stiff drained away.

"How did you come?"

"Do you think the team leader wouldn't be contacted when a team member is injured? Let me see a bit."

Soram approached and lifted his shirt to take a look. Tae-un, who tried to grab the shirt, just obediently let his body be exposed. Soram bent his waist and examined the wound with sharp eyes. The gauze was only slightly red in the middle.

"Disinfectant. The bleeding stopped long ago."

Before he could say anything, Tae-un explained first. Soram, who let go of the shirt, crossed his arms with a displeased look.

"Are you bleeding from a non-awakener's attack? Return your 1st-grade badge."

"It was an awakener. 5th-grade."

"What? Then why didn't you block it?"

"I reflexively tried to strike it away, but I stopped thinking it was a civilian."

"Tsk. What a great hero you are. Is saving the person who wielded the knife more important than getting stabbed yourself?"

"Don't be sarcastic."

Indeed, if a non-awakener had stabbed him, there would have been no need to come to the hospital. He would have just returned to the headquarters and applied some ointment.

"If you're done checking, let me go."

Tae-un turned his body and hid his bare skin from Soram. He glanced back at Soram before buttoning up.

"Don't stare."

"It's up to me."

"Why do you want to watch someone getting dressed?"

"Did you take off your underwear? Don't let me see your top either."

"..."

Tae-un couldn't win whenever Soram started being brazen. He turned around and finished putting on his shirt. Instead of tying his necktie, he put it in his pocket and hung his jacket with a hole in it on his arm. The shirt he was wearing now was a new one he had changed into, and the blood-stained shirt was thrown in the trash can.

"Let's go. They told me to just go since the wound isn't deep."

Soram didn't move his feet and narrowed his eyes.

"Hey. I saw everything, so show it to me."

"..."

Tae-un clicked his tongue inwardly. In front of him, Soram's hand was stretched out like a thug extorting money. Sighing, Tae-un took out his hand that he had shoved into his pocket along with his necktie. The palm of his hand, which had just had the bandage removed not long ago, was wrapped in a bandage again.

"Was your hand stabbed too?"

"No. I grabbed the blade."

"The knife that stabbed you? You got stabbed and grabbed the blade?"

"Then what if she turned around and swung it at other people?"

Soram's expression changed to one that seemed to be cursing, sighing, and getting annoyed all at the same time. It was a face that said he had a lot to say, but since he had said it all before, he would leave it up to him to think about it.

"It's just a small cut. Don't worry. Relax your expression..."

Tae-un's hand rose close to Soram's face, then as if realizing something, it was withdrawn. It seemed like he was about to touch Soram but pulled back. He was doing his best not to make Soram uncomfortable.

However, in his gaze that he couldn't hide, there was something that Soram had never received from anyone else in his life.

"Let's just go now."

He turned his body first and left the hospital room. Soram released his narrowed eyes and followed him out.

The two walked side by side in the corridor. They took the elevator inside the emergency exit, passing through the familiar path where he had been indebted for a few days.

While waiting for the elevator, a call came to Soram's cell phone.

"Yeah, Ayoung."

―Soram oppa, I heard Tae-un oppa got hurt!

Ayoung, who had heard the news late during her break, called with a startled voice. The three of them were in a group chat together, but when she asked if they were okay, there was no answer from either of them, so her heart must have sunk even more. Both Soram and Tae-un had suffered quite a few injuries recently.

"He's next to me, so I'll hand it over."

As the elevator door opened, Soram handed the cell phone to Tae-un. They inevitably didn't get on the elevator and just sent it away.

"Hello. ...Yeah, I'm fine. I'm not hurt."

"That's a lie. Ayoung. Han Tae-un was bleeding profusely."

Ayoung raised her voice, asking if it was true. Tae-un pushed Soram away with his elbow as he tried to come closer to the speaker to make amends.

"It's not profusely. Yeah. I was just slightly cut by the tip of the knife."

What are you doing? Tae-un protested only with his mouth. Soram turned his head away with a hmph.

"Jin Soram ssi is just joking. It's to the extent that I can be treated and discharged right away. I was on my way back to the headquarters."

Soram turned his head again and stared at him as he talked. The person Han Tae-un struggled with the most was not Soram, whom he liked, but the sharp youngest, Ayoung. Seeing him answering while not knowing what to do with his large build was a bit refreshing now that his anger had subsided.

The voice that told her not to worry had become much more comfortable than when the two first met earlier this year. Ayoung's voice, which could be heard faintly through the speaker, also treated Soram and Tae-un very naturally.

"You used it well."

As Tae-un returned the cell phone, he caught the elevator again. The two of them got on the elevator and went down.

"...You two have become quite close."

"We've been together in the team for several months now."

"Is that so? It's already been quite a while since you came."

Also, the relationship between Tae-un and Soram had stretched in a completely different direction from before.

"..."

In the strange silence, Soram looked at the decreasing numbers.

The floor numbers that had been slowly decreasing like the remaining time ahead all ran out, and the elevator door opened. The lush trees, the thinned clothes of the passersby, etc. The scenery outside the hospital showed that summer had fully arrived.

"...When did time pass like this?"

"Because there were many things happening in the spring."

"Was there?"

Tae-un, who was one step below, turned to look at Soram, who had stopped. At this height, their gazes were at exactly the same level. The sunlight draped over the leaves drew shadows on the stairs where the two were standing, as if sprinkled.

"That's right. It was quite fun."

Soram muttered briefly, then after staring at Tae-un for a moment, he turned his gaze and stepped forward.

It would probably be difficult for him to develop the same feelings as Tae-un. To have romantic emotions, he had too many other feelings about him.

However, his thoughts about Tae-un were slowly tilting in a direction that was different from the beginning, a direction he had not anticipated. It was difficult to define in a single word what those emotions were, complexly intertwined.