Chapter 25 - Chapter 23: Episode 22 - The Call
When I told my mother I'd awakened, she insisted I come up to the main house.
I figured Executive Director Park Yu-ra had already filled them in on my situation.
Her voice had trembled over the phone, as if she sensed something was wrong, and she'd told me to be careful on my way over.
I had a massive headache trying to figure out how to explain my awakening to my parents.
If I told them I'd been violated by Yu-rin, that my neck had been crushed, and that I'd only survived because I awakened, both our families would be torn to shreds.
Our mothers were close—one was the other's superior—and since we'd been dating for so long, both sets of parents had already assumed we'd eventually get married.
For the sake of peace, that was a secret I absolutely couldn't spill.
After I'd finally managed to organize my thoughts, Yu-rin and I headed back to our respective homes.
"Son, it's been a while."
When I arrived, both Mom and Dad were there to welcome me.
Mom should have been at work at this hour. Why was she here?
"Seon-ah, you should've visited more often," Dad said, glancing at Mom with an "I can't stop her" expression. "Your mom missed you so much she even took the day off."
"How have you been lately?"
"I was living normally, going to university with Yu-rin. I'm on a leave of absence now because I want to try something else..."
In truth, it wasn't a leave of absence—it was a withdrawal. I wasn't going back there anyway.
Yu-rin wouldn't allow it, and I couldn't exactly show my face at a university where rumors about me might have already spread.
It was obvious I hadn't given up my studies by choice.
Dad smiled brightly.
"Seon-ah, don't be too disappointed. That's right—a person should do what they want to do."
I felt so grateful. How lucky was I to have parents who comforted and embraced me despite my failure?
I couldn't tear my family apart for my own personal mess.
The problem between Yu-rin and me was something I had to solve on my own.
"That's how it happened..."
I brought up Yu-rin's awakening first, letting them know what she'd done to save me.
By leaving out Minji and the details of my abuse, I painted a picture of nothing but Yu-rin's heroic performance.
My parents were terrified at the thought that they'd almost lost their only son.
Because of my looks, I'd dealt with stalkers since I was young—I'd always drawn attention—but this time was different.
It was my first kidnapping, and I'd nearly died.
Assuming I'd awakened due to the intense pain and mental stress, they asked cautiously:
"So, did the awakening happen because of that incident?"
They were clearly misunderstanding the cause, but I let it slide.
When I was kidnapped, I'd been violated to the point where my mind went blank. I was completely out of it.
Beyond just feeling good, I'd tasted pleasure so intense it was painful, and my memories of that time were indeed hazy.
"Yes, that's right... But I don't really want to talk about it in detail..."
Since I couldn't bring up Yu-rin, I had no choice but to go along with their assumption.
I didn't know how to answer if they pried further, so I played up the trauma.
"I'm sorry for asking something unnecessary. Seon-ah... you must have suffered so much inside all this time. It must have been hard, right?"
"If it weren't for Yu-rin, it really could have been a disaster. We should visit her parents to thank them, Seon-ah's dad."
As Dad felt guilty for triggering my trauma, my mother, Min-ah, praised Yu-rin and changed the subject.
I asked how they were doing, worried the atmosphere would sour if we kept dwelling on the bad stuff.
Sharing stories, I was glad to see them after a few months. It felt like my heart, exhausted from the constant tension of being with Yu-rin, was finally beginning to heal.
The main reason I'd come was to tell them I was going to join the medical center at the Hwaryong Guild headquarters.
If I just showed up there without telling my mother, I knew she'd be disappointed.
"I'm going to apply for the emergency medical field at the guild where you work."
Lee Min-ah looked surprised.
"Healers and recovery-type ability users are always in short supply, so they're always recruiting, but they don't accept anyone without experience for the medical staff."
She knew things I didn't. Her experience as a guild executive was undeniable.
"That is... they say the ability I awakened is a healing-type..."
For a moment, my mother's pupils shook so violently I thought I'd misseen it.
"I-is that so? If you want to, it wouldn't be bad to apply. But that's no place for a boy to stay. People come in seriously injured."
She sounded flustered, and her expression suggested she was hiding something.
Having lived with her for so long, I knew the signs: the stuttering, the darting eyes.
"I've thought about it a lot. But Yu-rin says she's going to apply as a duty hunter. I'm just so worried... I want to work where I can keep an eye on her."
"Still..."
My mother tried to talk me out of it.
Even in the medical center, the guild was a female-dominated environment; it was a tough place for a man to endure.
It was physically demanding, and there were plenty of violent, rough women.
Because of the nature of the work, many of them had a streak of violence from killing monsters.
Having seen countless people like that, Lee Min-ah knew her son could easily suffer.
Dad intervened.
"Still, Seon-ah's mom. We should let him do what he wants."
He'd been the one to support me when I wanted to quit university.
It was clear he wanted to help, not just with words.
The medical staff position wasn't what I actually wanted to do.
I was just terrified of what would happen if I disobeyed Yu-rin.
So, I applied, thinking I'd just do as I was told for now.
Hearing my mother's continued persuasion, I briefly considered making an excuse to back out.
But there was no telling how Yu-rin would react.
Even if I ran far away, I didn't know what she'd do to find me.
Her behavior had become extreme since she'd developed impulse control issues.
But she wasn't like that all the time.
She only lost control when it came to me.
I was the trigger for the chaos in her broken mind.
She'd try to hold it in, but she always acted without thinking whenever I was involved.
It felt like a weight in my heart, mixed with the guilt that I had to take responsibility.
"Son? You look pale. Is something wrong?"
My mother looked at me with a sad, worried expression.
"No, just a bad memory popped up."
Eventually, I persuaded them and got permission to apply.
While I stayed the night, I kept catching a sad look in my mother's eyes.
She kept turning her head so I wouldn't notice, as if there was something she wasn't saying.
As I was about to leave, she finally spoke.
"Son... take care of yourself. If things get really difficult, you must call me. This is the only time you'll get away with not contacting me like this."
"I'm sorry for worrying you... I definitely will."
I stepped out and headed for Yu-rin's house.
When Lee Min-ah had become a managing director, she'd been transferred to the Hwaryong headquarters.
Having worked there for four years, she knew almost every rumor in the building.
Healers were the rarest of all awakened individuals.
If someone was subjected to torture for a long time, reached a state of total physical exhaustion, and faced death, the chance of awakening as a healer was high.
Only when the longing to end the pain reached its peak could one awaken such an ability.
But my son had awakened as one.
Lee Min-ah doubted what I'd told her.
You couldn't awaken as a healer just from a simple kidnapping.
Even with high-intensity torture, the odds were low.
The condition of suffering for a long period of time couldn't be ignored.
She'd heard about the stalking, but the intensity of that pain was too low.
Based on her own speculation, Lee Min-ah thought it was highly likely that her son was still in that situation.
She knew about the abnormal behavior—the anxiety, the shrinking back, the tension.
The child who used to be confident and energetic before he left the house...
Now, he couldn't even meet people's eyes and sometimes had a dazed expression. There was no way she couldn't know.
It was as if he was being threatened by someone.