Chapter Text
Deep in Haeyeon’s underground, there’s an enclosure that mimics a wild dungeon environment. Fractured slivers of light fall through the cracks of the green foliage, catching nothing but dust.
Then, from the deepest well of that manufactured darkness, twin embers ignite.
Turning into the shape of something alive, the magic beast emerges from the shadows with liquid grace. It resembles a larger species of felines, its fur a depthless, jet black. It has a pair of long ears and twin sweeping tails.
Han Yoohyun stands still before the glass walls that separate the enclosure and the observation room shrouded in subdued darkness.
“Han Yoohyun-ssi, here's the translation item that you requested,” a man in a white lab coat says from behind him, “It will not be of much use, however, as the minds of magic beasts are usually filled with a chaotic jumble of words, making them nearly impossible to comprehend.”
Receiving no response, the man tries again.
“Han Yoohyun-ssi?”
Instead of words, Han Yoohyun offers his hand. The man places the translation device on his hand before excusing himself out of the room without another word.
The beasts infesting the dungeons have always been frank with their intentions. With teeth, claws, and skills that bend the rules of reality, they wholeheartedly throw their entire beings into acquiring what they desire. That may be the reason why Yoohyun always feels more at home inside the dungeons rather than inside the cold, empty walls of his apartment.
There’s something about this beast that reminds him of his long gone hyung. Perhaps it’s the way its eyes are looking at him, his gut feeling, or even the work of divine intervention itself.
Yoohyun pays the growling beast his undivided attention. Outside, it’s quiet, everyone has been dismissed for this long due reunion. Not that they have the faintest idea what could be so monumental that Yoohyun would cancel all his prior arrangements for the week.
Inside the cage, the air is charged with mana. The cat-like magic beast prowls the perimeter on soundless paws, assessing the hunter standing before it with predatory focus. Yoohyun is weaponless and his mana, in contrast to the riled-up beast, lies dormant.
“Hyung? Can you hear me?”
The muscle on the cat’s back roils with pure power, undulating like sand hills in the wind. When the light catches it just right, its coat reveals a pattern of dark violet rosettes. Its lithe body tenses once before lunging toward Yoohyun in the next breath. Yoohyun remains still.
At the last second before those vicious teeth can take a chunk out of his unguarded body, the beast changes course, missing his skin by the slightest fraction.
The same thing happened back in the dungeon. It’s the last piece of evidence that Yoohyun needs.
The creature’s eyes bore into his as it releases a displeased growl. The once indecipherible sound is being deciphered real time in Yoohyun’s brain with the aid of the item. Yoohyun is glad that his researcher’s doubt regarding the item’s usefulness is proven unfounded as a steady stream of words trickle into his understanding.
“You’re not going to pull out your sword? Is it by fire this time?” There’s a pause as though the beast is weighing its words. “Death by sword is much swifter but fire is okay too.”
Inside the swell of his ribcage, his heart picks up its pace for a cause other than the incessant drive to go into dungeon after dungeon to slay countless beasts. Yoohyun takes a moment to compose himself.
“I’m not going to kill you, hyung,” Yoohyun assures with a soft voice as he takes a step forward.
The growl goes louder. Yoohyun heeds the warning and stops.
“Don’t you remember? You are Han Yoojin, my older brother. We used to live together.”
The beast’s back is hunched in a stance meant to intimidate, ears flattened against its head. The steady growl and the agitated motion of twin lashing tails stall for a second.
“Are you speaking to me? A beast has no name.”
Yoohyun wavers. A great wave of conflicting emotions war inside of him. Confusion, regret, sadness, and a longing so deep that it carves a bottomless well inside his being.
“Hyung please, I know it’s you. You remember me, right? I’m your little brother,” Yoohyun pleads, doing little to hide his desperation.
The beast, no– Yoojin turns around and returns to the darkness.
Yoohyun’s further attempts at contact are met with failure. There's no concrete proof yet of the beast’s identity but there’s no doubt in Yoohyun’s heart. Still, despite his efforts, his hyung refuses to respond to him with anything other than silence or a perfunctory growl.
Half a day passes without any fruitful result. Yoohyun carries with him a bowl filled with fresh high-grade minced beef mixed with crushed magic crystals as he makes his way inside the enclosure. Closing in on the darkness, he calls out.
“Hyung, I brought food. Please come out and eat.”
As expected, there’s only silence. Yoohyun knows that his voice reaches his brother. And so he waits.
An hour passes and Yoohyun hasn’t moved a single step from his spot.
The shadow stirs and a dark shape glides its way through the heavy cover of greenery.
Yoohyun inhales a deep breath. The trees smell fresh, a row of verdant green which pleases the eyes. The mere sight of the beast makes every cell in his body sings, enlivening his very soul which previously was enveloped by a perpetual coldness, stirring the remains of a dull fire.
“Persistent, aren’t you? What do you want?”
Even through the translation device, Yoojin’s tone gives off the impression of distinctly scolding and Yoohyun’s heart leaps in delight.
Being careful not to show any unnecessary outburst of emotion lest he upset the wary beast, Yoohyun holds up the container. “Your lunch.”
Placing it down, he takes a few steps back. Distance puts Yoojin the most at ease, and Yoohyun will endeavour to do whatever necessary to make him as comfortable as possible.
Yoojin eyes the bowl but makes no move to touch it.
“Will you kill me after I eat this?”
Yoohyun’s reply comes with a sharp tone.
“No. I’m not going to hurt you.”
Again.
All Yoohyun has ever done is hurt his hyung. At that time, he believed their separation was a necessary sacrifice for his hyung’s own protection. Yoojin would be the safest without him until Yoohyun could grow strong enough until no one could oppose him. Only then would he be able to live happily with his hyung.
Yoohyun has imagined in his mind their reunion more times than he can count. Sweeping his hyung into a tight hug, his hyung smiling widely and accepting his stream of apologies with ease, taking back the little brother who has cruelly forsaken him nearly a decade ago with open arms. It is Yoohyun’s firm belief that the many painful years of estrangement will be worth it in the end.
Never in his wildest imagination does he expect it to be quite like this.
“That isn’t good. You should get rid of me soon.”
The beast’s ears flick. Slitted pupils sitting on blue irises pin him in an unblinking gaze.
“Hunters are meant to hunt magic beasts and grow stronger. Especially you Han Yoohyun, the venerable guildmaster of the Haeyeon guild.”
Yoohyun perks up.
“You do recognise me.”
Then the place between his eyebrows furrow, a heavy weight settling inside his chest.
“Hyung how? I thought that you’ve just been living quietly in our apartment and not like–” Unable to hold it, his mask cracks, revealing the wounded little brother within. “How did you end up in a dungeon and become a magic beast?”
The cat’s answer is simple.
“I have always been a magic beast. And you have always been a hunter.”
Yoohyun falls silent.
Licking his lip that edges a serrated row of teeth, Yoojin dives in to munch on the raw meat and magic crystal mixture.
“Thank you for the food, Hunter Han Yoohyun.”
Having found a warmed spot, the great feline is napping under the artificial sun of the cage. Yoojin’s eyes are closed, every now and then his tails lazily sweep across the grassy surface.
Yoohyun pauses, admiring the rare sight of the calm beast that usually recoils at his presence. Emboldened, he gets closer than he ever has before, taking a seat beside his napping hyung.
He’s carrying a different object this time. A photo frame that is placed by his bedside, featuring his smiling hyung whose arm is wrapped around Yoohyun’s own at his school graduation. They both look young. His chest aches upon the realisation that all Yoohyun has of his hyung’s most recent appearances is through photos supplied by his guild.
“Hyung, are you sleeping?”
The beast’s ears perk up, a sign that he is listening.
“I know that your memory is a bit hazy right now so I thought that something visual would help.”
Yoojin’s eyes open to inspect the framed photo offered to him with unbothered languor.
“That is a younger you.”
Yoohyun nods, pleased. “And on my left, that’s you hyung. We were celebrating my middle school graduation and that was the photo that you asked one of my classmates to take of us.”
Carried by a wave of nostalgia is an image of that day brought to the forefront of his mind. He can recall his hyung’s proud expression as if it happened yesterday, the way his eyes lit up, his voice filled with words of praises and adoration that he poured out for his baby brother.
Expectantly, Yoohyun waits.
The beast’ blue eyes remain neutral, betraying no emotion.
“I have no recollection of being the human that you spoke of in this photo.”
The hope that is quietly soaring deflates. Yoohyun hides his disappointment and starts filtering through more viable ways of jogging one’s memories.
“However, I do know that this is not my first time being a beast.”
Yoohyun’s stream of thoughts gets derailed by the beast’s next sentence.
“What do you mean?”
“Every time I die, I will be reborned as a new beast in my next life. I hide, scavenge for food, survive the fangs of other magic beasts, and try to live to adulthood. Sometimes I get lucky and achieve that. Most times, I die being hunted and devoured by the others.”
His hyung… has been repeating his lives as different magic beasts? Yoohyun almost can’t believe what he just heard. But it doesn’t sound like Yoojin is lying. There’s no denying that his hyung is here, inside the flesh of a full-fledged magic beast. It brings up a glaring question… what happened to his hyung’s human body?
A chill spears through Yoohyun’s entire being upon the thought of the missing piece of the equation.
“I try to get stronger and achieve full growth all for the sake of a single purpose. It is all I can think about, the sole command that drives my being from the moment I come into every new existence.”
Something whispers to Yoohyun that what he will hear next will shake his entire world, the very ground he’s standing on.
“What purpose is that?”
“To be killed by Han Yoohyun, the Haeyeon’s guild guildmaster.”
Yoohyun is stunned into silence. There’s a foreign sense of horror, akin to a knife lancing itself deeply in between the hollowed part of his ribs, brushing shy past a heart that gallops with a wild rhythm and threatens to jump out its fleshy confines.
“In every new life, I try my best to die by the hands of Han Yoohyun so that my blood may contribute to increasing his strength.”
Falling, the sensation of a solid surface being unearthed from underneath his seated body assaults him, and even with the full blast of artificial light the void still encroaches around the edges of his vision.
Hyung, that can’t be true, can it? Why would you–
“What are you waiting for, Han Yoohyun? Draw your sword or wield your fire and do kill me, please.”
The cat beast is seated in a relaxed posture. If it was located on a more elevated surface then it would have been draped over a high-hanging branch with limbs hanging loosely, surveying its surroundings with lazy apathy.
“Finally, I have achieved maximum growth as an A rank magic beast. This time, it should yield a nice amount of exp points.”
This time.
Bile rises up and Yoohyun’s breathing starts to get laboured even without any physical strain.
Yoohyun doesn’t need the aid of the communication item to know that the beast is pleased. His tails are swishing in contentment, ears perked up, waiting for death eagerly in a manner similar to a dog waiting for its coveted treat.
Glaring past the warmth that suddenly threatens to spill out, Yoohyun grinds out his answer with absolute conviction.
“I will not kill you.”
The beast stares at him with an untroubled light, before picking himself off the ground to stand at his full height and turning to leave.
“Then we are at an impasse. Come back when you have made up your mind on what must be done, Hunter Han Yoohyun.”
It’s difficult to build a sense of connection this way. All things considered, Yoojin’s current magic beast form isn’t the biggest issue, as long as he is living well, although Yoohyun plans to still leave no stone unturned in his efforts to return his hyung back to human form.
But this can hardly be called ‘living well’, when all that Yoojin seeks in every waking moment is death by his hands.
Every interaction they have so far ends with Yoojin asking when Yoohyun will end his life. The last straw is when Yoojin comes to the conclusion that he can’t get Yoohyun to change his mind so he tries to take his own life.
Perhaps the beast form is truly the factor which hinders his hyung’s ability to recall and subsequently relate to the memories he had accumulated as Yoohyun’s human brother.
Yoohyun finds a glimmer of hope in a hunter by the name Ananya Langbroek. Her skill to transform any living being to another species is invaluable in high-stake recon missions. Often hired by powerful families from the dark underworld or even by the government of multiple countries to aid their agents in carrying out covert operations, Ananya Langbroek’s ability is highly coveted even among the hunter’s world.
Time is of the essence and Yoohyun manages to summon her without much trouble.
Her entire face lights up when she enters his study and her perfect red lips curve into an elated smile.
“My, my, the one who called for me is truly Han Yoohyun himself, the guildmaster of the famed Haeyeon guild of South Korea. You are as dashing as I saw in the pictures.”
They both are wearing translation devices to facilitate communication without the aid of a translator. The fewer people who are privy to this matter the better.
Yoohyun gives a small acknowledging nod. “A pleasure to meet you, Ms Langbroek. I hope the trip wasn’t too exhausting.”
Ananya saunters her way toward him, her heels clicking on the marble floor.
“With the private jet that you so thoughtfully arranged for me, my trip has been very pleasant.”
Coming to a stop a respectable distance away, Ananya Langbroek is still wearing that sugary smile, head tilting up from their height difference to maintain eye contact. Her dark wavy hair is left down, long enough to cascade past the rim of her strapless black dress to her hips.
“I trust you are aware of what is being requested of you?” Yoohyun asks.
“To turn a magic beast into a human, correct? Worry not, I take my job seriously and am committed to complete all my client’s requests to the best of my ability.”
Her expression then shifts from professional to calculating, a subtle difference that doesn’t escape Yoohyun’s notice. A playful smirk then makes its appearance, one that raises his hackles even without an evident show of threat from her part.
“Aside from the standard payment rate, to get ahead of the long queue of those who have contracted my services, you’ve promised…” Placing a hand decorated with long nails painted with deep red on his chest, she all but purrs out, “...this too, right?”
His lower jaw clenches, but otherwise Yoohyun makes no move to remove her hand.
“Yes.”
Giggling, her hand slides down in a slow sensual manner before patting a particular spot on his shirt as if to smooth out the material.
“Aw, don’t frown too much, it won’t do your handsome face any good. Do you know how many men would jump at the chance to get in bed with me? I assure you that my ability in this area isn’t lacking compared to the one that pays my bills.”
There isn’t a single ripple of emotion betraying Yoohyun’s apathetic gaze. “When can you start?”
The coy smile drops.
“Tch, you’re no fun,” she grumbles, the annoyance clear as day in her tone, “Show the way then.”
Yoohyun leads her down several floors, all the way to an area that most Haeyeon employees have never stepped foot in nor even known the existence of.
Their presence doesn’t escape the beast’s notice, the only occupant of this dungeon imitation. Looking straight at his hyung who vocalises a short wary rumble from his throat, Yoohyun offers a curt apology.
“I’m sorry.”
From underneath the grass, numerous metal chains penetrate through the dirt as though being commanded by an invisible power and head straight for the beast that has been caught off guard. The cuff-shaped ends clasp around whatever body parts they can reach—around his paws, neck, and one loops all the way around his back before the excess lengths are swallowed back into the ground, bringing the startled beast off his footing and crashing down.
He yowls, snarls, and tries to claw himself free of the restraints, but the pulled-taut metal chains show no sign of yielding to his berserk trashing.
Ananya studies the cat beast and makes an intrigued noise. “How curious, I can sense a faint human consciousness within this magic beast, though it’s almost gone.”
Ignoring the mild alarm that offhand analysis induces in him, Yoohyun remains silent, letting her concentrate on completing her job.
She begins applying her skill as indicated by the wave of growing mana. Closing her eyes with slightly raised arms, the mana grows and then flows through the air to connect to the trashing beast, enveloping the surroundings with a brilliant glow.
Even as the entire area glows so brightly that it verges on being painful, Yoohyun can’t take his eyes off his hyung. Witnessing first-hand how the beastly form shrinks, fur disappearing to reveal an expanse of pale skin, powerful limbs changing to smaller, frailer ones, and the long snout compressing to a human head complete with a pair of eyes, nose, and mouth in proper configuration.
Yoohyun can hardly breathe. His body is frozen in place, unable to move a single muscle. It’s undeniably the familiar face of his hyung, and it gives rise to a wave of yearning so overwhelming that it almost brings him down to his knees. His heart is pumping a frantic rhythm, blood is rushing in his ears, and all his senses are concentrated on the being who defines his entire world.
Only loosely restrained now due to his body mass greatly reducing, leaving just the cuff around his neck still fixed in place, Yoojin appears visibly distressed and confused in this current moment. His gaze only darts past the two of them unseeingly before his attention returns to pawing at the metal collar around his neck, blunt human nails leaving no dent against the metal.
“That face… isn’t that your brother?” Ananya sounds so far away, even if she’s standing right next to him. “The rumoured good-for-nothing older brother who was said to be an ungrateful leech that you had a falling out with, who you publicly disowned many years ago?”
Clenching his teeth at that callous remark, about an accusation so far from the truth that degrades his brother’s true value, Yoohyun can do nothing to dispute it since one of the main perpetrators who created his hyung’s less than savoury reputation was none other than himself. The ungrateful, unfilial little brother who wants nothing more than to run over there, sweep his hyung in an embrace, and hold him tightly and never letting go ever again.
Alas, Yoohyun doesn’t deserve to yield to this selfish desire. Not at the moment, at least. He must concentrate on navigating through this situation without a single error or stressing his hyung much more than he already is.
“You are well aware that nothing that you see here should leave this room.”
Poised like a question and yet it sounds more like a statement, the words are edged with unmistakable warning. Coming from an S-class hunter, the pinnacle of human existence in this current era, the weight of these words is impossible to overlook.
“Rest assured, I have signed the S-class contract regarding the non-disclosure clause of this task. Your secret is safe with me.”
Yoohyun wrenches back control from his roaring desire and tears his gaze off Yoojin to pay Ananya his attention. The only hint of her having made use of her skill is the slight sag in her once prideful posture.
“His current form can last for a week. I heeded your request and had these made in advance. Each of these bracelets can further prolong his human transformation by thirty days.”
There’s three of them. They look nothing more than ordinary black leather bracelets.
“I hope by that time you can find what you’re looking for.”
Three months. The time that Yoohyun has to have his hyung as a human with him. The time to find a way to return him back his memories and permanent human form.
“Remember your promise.”
With that parting remark, Ananya takes her leave.
Which is fortunate, since Yoohyun can’t spare her his attention even a minute longer. He seldom has such difficulty controlling himself, akin to flailingly attempt to hold off a volcano on the verge of bursting. But with the subject of his affection right in his sight, the most precious being who lights up his entire universe, giving it colour and a reason for existing, it takes all that Yoohyun has to reign all his emotions in to do this right.
Yoohyun approaches the fidgety form tangled in chains and suppresses all his excess mana from leaking out. With a swift motion, another inconspicuous bracelet is fastened around Yoojin’s thin wrist—the shade of midnight blue, much like the colour of his beast form’s eyes. The three black ones he just received are safely stored in his inventory to be used accordingly at the right timing.
This item lowers the ranks of its wearer by five levels. It’s an incredibly rare item in the hunter’s market but there’s no price greater than his hyung’s safety. Yoohyun is unwilling to take any chances, no matter how slight, of his hyung breaking free of supervision to run away or do anything to harm himself.
His hyung, still dazed, pushes himself to a sitting position and almost loses his balance and falls sideways if not for Yoohyun’s hand that readily comes up to steady him. Yoojin is wholly naked, and with his effectively reduced stats, has started to shiver in the nature enclosure’s colder temperature.
Yoojin barely seems to notice the discomfort and his eyes adopt a light akin to growing horror. “Why have I become weaker? Is it because of this thing that you strapped me with?” The bracelet is given a quick once over before Yoojin tries to take it off in vain. The item can withstand an A rank’s struggle, an F rank’s strength barely gives its integrity a strain.
“No, I can’t become weak. Not anymore. There’s no meaning in being weak.”
The way his voice cracks elicits a pang deep inside Yoohyun’s being.
Yoohyun removes the rest of the metal chains from his hyung and deactivates the one still encircling his neck. Gathering the slightly shaking form in his arms, Yoohyun moves towards the enclosure’s exit. The warmth emanating from his hyung’s body, very much alive and human, loosens the previous tightness around Yoohyun’s lungs, flooding the center of his own body with warmth that radiates outward and all the way to his fingertips.
The first order of the matter is to clothe his naked hyung. Taking out clothes from his own wardrobe, Yoohyun picks out the ones with the softest material that he can find. Even his smallest shirt drowns his hyung’s slender frame, and the strings around the shorts have to be pulled to their limits to make the material rest snugly around his hyung’s bony hips.
Procuring new clothes for his hyung has slotted itself into one of his many highest-priority tasks, but it can wait for now.
After placing Yoojin on the sofa in his private living quarters, Yoohyun says in a soft tone that borders on coddling, “Wait here just a while, hyung. I’ll come back soon.”
He heads towards the kitchen and fishes out multiple ingredients out of his fridge. Meat, vegetables, and some sauces. Admittedly, it’s a bit barren, given his own lack of desire for food that excites the palate. But the situation has changed now, so he makes a mental note to stock up on more ingredients later to make more delicious and nutritious meals. Only the best for his hyung.
Yoohyun works in silence. He hasn’t cooked this much food in a long while but he’s much too enthused to care. Yoohyun is on cloud nine as he continues carrying out his task with deft motions.
The result is a selection of mouthwatering dishes fit for a fine dining establishment.
“Come eat with me, hyung,” Yoohyun says after setting up the table.
Yoohyun helps his hyung into a seat in front of the dining table all while Yoojin neither assists nor resists. He remains pliant, disengaged from any stimulation. The smell wafting off the cooked food prompts a rumble from Yoojin’s stomach, an evident sign that he’s hungry regardless of his lack of reaction.
“Would you like me to feed you?”
Yoojin stays mute. Yoohyun picks up a spoon and scoops up a proper amount of rice and meat, before bringing it to his hyung’s mouth.
“Open your mouth.”
Thankfully, Yoojin’s mouth opens easily.
Seeing his brother eat soothes a wound that has long since festered deep in Yoohyun’s core. He keeps feeding him, spoonful by spoonful, until the plate is clean of every single grain of rice.
Nudging a cup of water to Yoojin’s lips seems to elicit the same response. Yoohyun helps to keep the cup in place while tilting his hyung’s head back to pour the water into his mouth. Most of the water goes into the intended place, while a few excess drops that stain his chin are getting taken care of by dabbing a tissue around the area.
Despite his cold demeanour, Yoohyun is glad, at least, that his hyung has a healthy appetite. Yet, Yoojin doesn’t pay him any heed as if Yoohyun is a mere blade of grass in his peripheral vision, bearing nothing of worth to notice, not danger nor food. An inconsequential piece of background, not the dongsaeng he used to adore with his entire heart.
Yoohyun has never imagined it to be this painful to see his hyung looking at him as if he’s a mere stranger. No hint of the soft affectionate gaze he used to receive. The way the edge of his eyes and the particular spot on the bridge of his nose would crinkle when he smiles. Yet, there's no grounds for his disappointment. After all, the smiles have long since disappeared, ever since the day Yoohyun chose to sever their family ties with his own hands.
Back in the living room, Yoohyun makes sure that Yoojin is seated in a comfortable position.
His hyung is only staring straight ahead, effectively ignoring his presence like he has been doing since he left the enclosure. Yoohyun, for the most part, is content to just stare at his hyung, getting his years’ worth of fill.
“May I touch you?”
Yoojin gives no indication of having heard him. Yoohyun waits. Patience is no burden to him, not if he’s awarded even a single word from his hyung.
Time lies quiet as a still lake, until a faint breeze ripples through. The quiet shifts without quite breaking.
“Do as you wish.”
At the mere voice of his hyung, the flutters are back, hypnotic and soothing at the same time. Yoohyun finds that he’s quickly getting addicted to it.
His hand goes to cup his hyung’s cheek with the gentlest of touch, the back of his fingers brushing against the hair at his nape. He takes his time relearning the familiar curves of his facial features, matching them one by one with the visual knowledge deeply branded in the centre of his mind—the only knowledge that matters, a sight capable of lighting up every corner of his dreary world, lending even the most miniscule fleck of dust a golden glow.
Going down a bony shoulder, his hand continues to travel downwards to map the shape and exact curve of his back. And when Yoojin gives no indication of recoiling from his touch, Yoohyun brings his other arm to wrap around his hyung in an all encompassing hug.
There’s pressure growing behind his eyes. Yoohyun only buries his face deeper into his hyung’s neck. Underlying his brother’s familiar scent, which brings forth comforting memories of their childhood, is the distinct scent of common magic beasts.
Yoojin appears lethargic and disoriented. There’s a profound confusion that has never left his demeanour. He gives off the impression of a lost child, or a patient who has just roused from a deep coma.
With a gentle force, Yoohyun lowers his hyung into the bath tub. The water’s edge, set to a comfortably warm temperature, laps gently at Yoojin’s body. There’s meat on his hyung’s bones—he’s filled out, solid, and unmistakably alive. Yoohyun lets himself breathe.
“Hyung, does the water feel nice?”
His hand is scooping water over his hyung’s top half, repeatedly rubbing the warmth into skin. Yoohyun has thought his question will go ignored, just like his many others, when Yoojin unexpectedly offers one of his own.
“Why do you keep calling me hyung?”
Sucking a breath, Yoohyun keeps his tone even as he delivers his answer.
“Because you’re my older brother.”
Turning his head to look directly at him, the first time Yoojin has willingly done so after regaining human form, he fixes Yoohyun with an indifferent stare. The lack of recognition continues to rattle Yoohyun's well-kept composure.
“You are Han Yoohyun, the Haeyeon guild’s guildmaster. How can I be the brother of someone as accomplished as you?”
“It’s true. You are Han Yoojin, the older brother of Han Yoohyun. We were… estranged for a few years, but now I’ve come to regret my actions and wished for nothing more than for the chance to apologise and make it up to you. Let’s live together again.”
Not a twitch of emotion. Yoojin breaks off their eye contact and returns to the former position of leaning back against the bathtub.
“You must be mistaken. I’m nothing but a simple beast. All I need to do is die by your hands.”
The mere thought of him ever raising a hand to take his brother’s life is revolting. Even after regaining human form, Yoojin keeps insisting that he’s a magic beast. Given what’s at stake and as much as he hates to doubt his brother’s words, Yoohyun must not fail to consider all possibilities, whether his brother has lost his memories or whether this is merely an act to fool him.
Yoojin lifts the hand wearing the rank reduction bracelet.
“However before you do, be sure to remove this first. The higher ranked I am, the better the result would be.”
At a loss, Yoohyun can only mumble out a reply that borders on a desperate plea.
“Hyung, I’m your dongsaeng. Your Yoohyun-ie. Have you truly forgotten that?”
“There’s no use prolonging this… act. It’s only delaying the inevitable, what must be done.”
What must be done…
Stroking his brother’s neck, Yoohyun mulls while taking comfort in the sensation.
Yoohyun is fully prepared to see this through and earn his brother’s long-lost trust, even if he may not deserve it. He vows to bring Yoojin back to him, back to where he belongs.
Han Yoohyun stands in front of a towering window nestled in the quieter part of Haeyeon. The afternoon sunlight pours through in broad, slanted beams and his figure cuts a long unbroken line of shadow that stretches deep into the corridor behind him.
A second presence approaches with a quiet footfall. Stepping into the illuminated area, the face is revealed to be Suk Simyeong.
“Guildmaster, there’s an S class dungeon predicted to spawn near our guild building. Considering the rank difficulty, The Association has asked our help to conquer it.”
Han Yoohyun doesn’t turn around. His voice is steeped in a strange, unsettling gravity.
“You knew. You knew that my hyung was gone.”
The implication of those words isn’t lost on Suk Simyeong and he suppresses a shiver that threatens to break out.
“The truth is, we haven’t been able to pinpoint Han Yoojin-ssi’s whereabouts in the past two years. It’s like he has vanished without a trace. We… fear of what would happen if you suspect the worst has happened, so we kept this information from you.”
Han Yoohyun turns, deliberate and unhurried. Despite the evident control, his eyes are blazing with mana. “By fabricating my dead hyung’s life?”
The pressure grows to an immense level. Suk Simyeong fights to remain standing against the crippling force. “W-we had simply thought that he had managed to hide somewhere far away.”
The pressure is lifted just enough for Suk Simyeong to regain his strength, his breathing shaky.
“Guildmaster, how do you know for certain that Han Yoojin-ssi is dead?”
There’s no use entertaining this question with an answer when all Han Yoohyun can do is refrain from incinerating the man on the spot. Suk Simyeong seems to have picked up on this thought as he swiftly changes the subject.
“About the dungeon–”
“Let someone else deal with it.”
Suk Simyeong’s mouth clicks shut.
His departure is swift, and Han Yoohyun is left alone once again in the corridor’s quiet expanse.