(NBin) unWRITTEN

[CHAPTER 38]

" Torn Inside"

Hongbin stayed behind to watch over Sanghyuk with Taekwoon. It was no longer about being able to trust Taekwoon or not, but it was mainly due to the fact that even Taekwoon looked unstable by himself. Maybe it's because Hongbin understood very well about Taekwoon's uncertainties that the two of them were able to have a proper conversation with one another.

"Here," Taekwoon offered a cup of tea to Hongbin as the two of them sat down in the living room.

"Thanks," Hongbin took the cup of tea and sipped it. It was calm and soothing, even for a split second, Hongbin felt at ease.

"Did Hyoshin or InGuk mention anything about me?"

"What do you think?"

"I guess so..." Taekwoon sighed. "I'll return. I don't plan on staying here any more. There's no use being here when things have already gotten so out of hand but once I leave, how can we guarantee that Sanghyuk will return to normal?"

"That's the problem. I thought that by bringing you back to Moirae's Edge, everything will revert to normal but seeing as to how things are right now, it doesn't feel that way at all. Anyways, those two as well as Jaehwan and Wonshik, have been racking their brains out to find a solution as well so we need to be patient."

"Patient? How? How much longer will we have to wait until Sanghyuk's time runs out? Can we really afford to wait?" Taekwoon asked.

Hongbin looked into his cup of tea, speechless because he knew the answer. Taekwoon's right, they can't wait and there was no use at being patient with their current predicament.

"What about you? Will you be going back to Moirae's Edge?" Taekwoon asked Hongbin.

"I..." Hongbin gulped. "Probably..."

"Did you talk to Hakyeon about it?"

"Not yet. At first, we both understood that whatever our decision is at the end that we'd respect that but..."

"Now? Did something happen?"

"You can say that. Because of Sanghyuk, Hakyeon have been really worried and losing sleep because he's feeling guilty about Sanghyuk's state. He knows that our being here on Earth has something to do with why Sanghyuk hasn't recovered yet. He knows about Sanghyuk's book as well... so, things have been awkward between the two of us."

"Is he angry at you? Me?"

"All of us to be honest. He doesn't say it aloud, but I can tell. I think you know how Hakyeon is when he's upset at someone right? He doesn't say anything, pretends as if there's nothing wrong and just stays quiet the entire time... it's more worrying than when he breaks down and cry or something," Hongbin said.

"That part of him still hasn't changed huh?" Taekwoon sighed.

"Hey, can I ask you something?" Hongbin said.

"Hmm?"

"Do you um, love Hakyeon?"

Taekwoon looked at Hongbin bewildered for a second at where the sudden question popped out of. He let out a deep sigh and looked straight at Hongbin.

"I thought I did," he told the younger.

"You thought? What do you mean?" Hongbin tilted his head in confusion.

"I admit that the time I spent with Hakyeon in the beginning was memorable and there was a point in time where I really thought I fell in love with him. If it wasn't because of my mission, I really might have thrown everything away to be with him because he's the first and only person that brought such light into my life. But in the end, I couldn't let go of my greed for power. Rather than love, I wanted recognition from the facility and the Goddesses. I decided to throw everything away in order to get what I wanted. When I found out that Hakyeon eventually moved on and fell in love with you instead, I was jealous. I was angry that he was able to just forget and throw everything away in order to be with you. Narcissistic to say this but I thought I was irreplaceable in his heart. So, when I came here again to erase him, and with the way he talked to me, I got even more irritated."