The Damned - Chapter 48

“It’s a shame. At least stay for a meal.”

“Sorry, I have somewhere to be today.”

“Where?”

Oh Jin-Woo seemed reluctant to let Yeo-Woon leave after just finishing their drinks.

“Uh, well, somewhere…”

As Yeo-Woon tried to gently pull his hand away, Jin-Woo clutched it like a clutch bag, tucking it under his arm, refusing to let go.

“Aw, come on, where? Can’t I come along? It’s Friday night, and I canceled all my plans just to see you…”

“Aish… Next time, okay?”

“Where could you be going that you’re trying this hard to leave?”

“Halim-dong…! I have some business there.”

“What? Halim-dong? Why there?”

Yeo-Woon decided on the spur of the moment to visit the orphanage. Although he didn’t expect anything drastic to come from it, he hadn’t set foot there since that fateful day five years ago when his life hit rock bottom. Now, as a Hunter, he thought he might see things differently than before—back then, he’d had no space to take in his surroundings.

“That’s an unprotected zone. Sure, there haven’t been monsters lately, but…”

“See you next time. I’ll contact you first.”

At this, Oh Jin-Woo, still hesitant, finally let go of Yeo-Woon’s hand.

“Hey! Really, you better call! And answer when I call, got it? And messages too! Oh! And let me know when you get home!”

“Yeah, got it…”

After finally boarding the bus and escaping Jin-Woo, Yeo-Woon leaned his head against the window, taking a deep breath. Since there was no direct bus from the safe zone to the unprotected area, he had to transfer several times and checked the bus routes repeatedly.

Meanwhile, as Yeo-Woon’s bus disappeared from sight, Oh Jin-Woo immediately took out his phone.

“Yes, Commissioner. It’s me, Oh Jin-Woo.”

***

After switching buses for the third time, Yeo-Woon finally reached Halim-dong more than an hour and a half later. By the time he arrived, he was the only passenger on the last bus. Even the bus driver, looking at him curiously, muttered about why anyone would come to a place like this, sneaking glances at Yeo-Woon, who gave no reply.

It was understandable. Even among unprotected areas, the atmosphere in Halim-dong was starkly different from the entertainment district where Yeo-Woon used to live.

While both places had that same damp, unsettling vibe, the entertainment area had stores visited by Hunters and people scraping by in their harsh lives. Halim-dong, however, was a ghost town—a desolate ruin.

The reason why even non-Awakened avoided Halim-dong was the dreadful darkness that lingered there.

Just a hundred meters away stood the orphanage where Yeo-Woon had once been abandoned. Above Halim-dong’s skies, a pitch-black cloud loomed. To be precise, it wasn’t a cloud; it was more like a hole.

Yeo-Woon could still remember the day monsters had poured out from that place like rain.

Now, although it had remained dormant for over a decade with no monsters emerging, people had fled the neighborhood in fear that more might someday pour from that dark hole.

The Awakener Association had even sent Hunters in there, but no one ever returned.

After hundreds of Hunters ventured in, only to be lost, the government officially designated the hole as a no-entry zone.

It was officially nameless, but people who loved to name things called it the “Black Hole” or the “Infinity Hole.” To Yeo-Woon, though, it was simply a place of dreadful darkness.

‘Ever since that hole appeared, nothing good has happened in my life, so it’s not entirely wrong to think of it that way’, Yeo-Woon thought as he moved past a makeshift fence surrounding an open area beneath the ominous hole, turning a corner to reach the remains of the orphanage he once lived in.

It seemed like everything was frozen in time, the eerie atmosphere only intensifying since he last saw it years ago. Perhaps no one had disturbed it because of the foreboding black hole nearby.

Yeo-Woon approached the tilted utility pole where he’d left countless letters in his childhood. Tape marks stretched higher, matching his growing height, as if the pole bore witness to his life. As a child, fearing the letters would get soaked in rain, he had always left them here.

But now, he felt around, searching between the pole and the wall, only to find nothing.

“…It’s gone,” he whispered in disbelief.

Could someone have taken it? Maybe, after all these years, his brother had finally come by and taken the letter? The carefully placed tape marks were cleanly cut, as if someone had purposefully removed it. Not by the wind, but by someone.

“Could Hyung… really have come here?” he murmured, a glimmer of hope rising.

While circling the orphanage grounds, scanning the area, he spotted a sleek black sedan approaching down the empty alleyway.

Instinctively, Yeo-Woon stepped in front of it, memories flashing of the day his brother dropped him off in a similar car. He pounded on the window, “Hyung! Is it you?”

“Yeo-Woon… what are you doing here?” The person who emerged from the back seat, however, was Cheon Gwang-Nyeon, not his brother.

***

Cheon Gwang-Nyeon, seeing Yeo-Woon’s state of half-awareness, let him into her car. Once he collected himself, feeling slightly embarrassed, she casually suggested a Japanese restaurant in the safety zone. As if the earlier outburst hadn’t happened, they left without mentioning it.

The trip, which had taken him an hour and a half by bus, was just a 30-minute drive in her car, and soon Yeo-Woon was seated in a high-end restaurant in the safe zone, following her lead.

“Finally! I’ve suggested we have a meal together so many times, and here we are. Do you drink?” Gwang-Nyeon asked as she passed him a warm cup of tea. She seemed to have completely dropped formal speech.

“Uh… yeah.” Yeo-Woon nodded mindlessly, his throat tight from the recent emotions, a dull sound emerging from his voice as he cleared his throat self-consciously.

“Sake sound good?”

He nodded again, indifferent. Gwang-Nyeon proceeded to order various items to her liking. Yeo-Woon, unfamiliar with most of them, just agreed to whatever she asked.

“I didn’t expect to see you there, of all places. Guess fate has a sense of humor,” she commented.

“Yeah… I suppose.”

“Just saying, I’d love to know, but it seems rude to ask. I’m terribly curious, though.”

“Just… felt like visiting the place where I grew up, and… it reminded me of the past.”

“Thinking about your Hyung, too?”

At this, Yeo-Woon looked up, meeting her gaze with a sudden pang of wariness. Why did he follow her here? He started to think he should leave, worried that his involvement with the Waste Disposal Team might get compromised if he spoke too freely.

Maybe she was someone capable of imprisoning and torturing people like Cho Tae-Sook, just as Oh Jin-Woo hinted. He gripped the armrest, preparing to stand.

“Is your Hyung dead?”

“What?” he responded, startled.

“You called out to him so desperately that I just guessed. You don’t have to be so guarded.”

The server arrived just in time, and Yeo-Woon’s chance to leave slipped away.

“Try it. It’s not as good as wild-caught, but the sashimi here is decent.”

Yeo-Woon hesitated, realizing he’d never actually had sashimi before. With monsters polluting most waters, he’d always wondered where people got fresh seafood.

“You don’t like sashimi?”

“No, it’s just… my first time.”

“Really? Surprising. I thought Moon Beom would have brought you here at least once since he loves raw food.”

“Are you… close with him?” Yeo-Woon asked, bewildered by their relationship.

Sometimes they seemed at odds, yet they appeared to know each other well.

Gwang-Nyeon chuckled softly at his innocent question.

“If I answer that, will you answer my question?”

“Which question?”

“You haven’t told me yet. Is your Hyung dead?”