3 – Exile (1)
The two remaining in the room had completely contrasting faces.
Lyeoun had a troubled expression. She hesitated to speak to Yeoul, who remained calm and silent.
“Should I… call you ‘Oppa’?”
She smiled awkwardly and continued speaking.
“Come with me for now, Oppa. There are many things I want to say, but let’s go home and talk first.”
“Okay.”
Lyeoun took the lead, and Yeoul followed. Their footsteps echoed in the quiet alleyway.
They maintained silence throughout the journey back home. Lyeoun still seemed to be deep in thought. Though Yeoul could have had a conversation with his long-lost younger sister, he decided to silently follow her, as she seemed preoccupied.
* * *
As soon as Lyeoun approached the door lock, the door opened automatically, and with that, Yeoul returned home after a long time.
The address of the house was the same as before. However, inexplicably, his old apartment in the worn-out public housing complex had been replaced with a newly built apartment.
Many things had changed. Yeoul thought to himself.
However, somehow Lyeoun remained still at the front door, maintaining silence. Yeoul, as her older brother, could not simply go inside alone while she stood in his way, so he stood silently as well.
And so, this strange standoff continued for a while.
Finally, Lyeoun broke the silence and spoke.
“Oppa… Right?”
“Yeah. That’s what it seems like.”
“What does ‘that’s what it seems like’ mean?”
Lyeoun smirked.
“I can’t remember your face very well from when we were younger, but as soon as I saw you, I knew you were my Oppa.”
“I felt the same way.”
“It’s strange, isn’t it? It makes me wonder if this is what family feels like.”
Leewoon paused for a moment before speaking.
“Well…there are so many things I want to ask you, and so many things I want to tell you, but there are just too many… I can’t organize my thoughts well enough to speak.”
“It’s okay.”
“You seem really calm, oppa. Anyway… oppa… you went to another world, right?”
“Yeah.”
“What kind of world was it?”
“It was a boring place.”
Yeo-ul vaguely described the world he had experienced.
“So you went to a typical hero’s type of world. Then, you defeated the Demon King and came back to Earth?”
“Yeah.”
After killing the Demon King, he had to train for another five years to return to Earth, but what she said wasn’t entirely wrong.
Leewoon felt a slight uneasiness in his answer. The words she had heard from the supernatural police earlier, that he had no magical power, kept lingering in her ears.
It was common sense for returners to have magical power. This was a truth that was emphasized to the point of being obvious. However, her family contradicted this truth. Furthermore, he claimed to have defeated the Demon King without any magical power.
There was a possibility that all of her research so far had been wrong. It was only natural for her family’s words to be true. It was possible to defeat the Demon King without magical power. There was no other plausible explanation for his ten-year disappearance except for him being a returner.
But still, why was her heart so restless?
This problem would be clarified in a short amount of time, so Leewoon decided to put it aside for now.
Even if it wasn’t this, her mind and emotions were already in chaos, tangled with various thoughts.
It was impossible to organize her thoughts. It was impossible to say that her parents had already passed away in any emotion. It was impossible to predict how Yeo-ul would react.
It was so difficult for her to control her own emotions.
After a moment of silence and carefully choosing her words, Leewoon continued speaking.
“Oppa. During the ten years you were away in this other world, the world has changed a lot.”
“I think so.”
Yeo-ul could easily guess that fact through his conversation with the supernatural police.
“No, it’s probably more than what you imagine, oppa. I couldn’t have imagined that the world would change so much in just ten short years. It’s even difficult to recall what the world was like ten years ago.”
Leewoon forced a bright attitude as she spoke. It was because if she showed her uneasiness, Yeo-ul, her long-lost brother who had returned after ten years, might not be able to fully enjoy the joy of his return.
“I see.”
“In your world, were there different races? Like elves or dwarves. People similar to us but different in some way.”
“No.”
“Oh really? Now, different races live together with the people who were originally there on Earth. It’s fascinating.”
“Yeah. Fascinating.”
Although she didn’t feel amazed, Yeoru mechanically responded, “Yes, that’s true.”
“There are people with special abilities now. They have incredibly strong powers, use magic-like abilities, and can even shoot fire from their hands. And the truth is, I am one of those superhumans. I awakened a few years ago.”
“I see.”
“I don’t have any extraordinary abilities, just a bit of strength. But still, I am a superhuman, and I plan on attending a specialized high school for superhumans next year.”
“I see.”
“Technology has also advanced a lot. They discovered something called magic power, which is related to superhumans. Through science, they made many fascinating things possible.”
“I see.”
“But because of that, society is really chaotic now. Incidents occur every day, and the world changes constantly. It’s inevitable with the rapid changes. You’ll probably have a hard time adapting too, Brother.”
“That’s true.”
Yeoru, who had been trying to speak cheerfully about the changed world, felt a slight discomfort at this moment.
The consistently short and composed answers from Yeoul. And the fact that he appeared strangely calm.
It didn’t seem like the reaction one would expect from a returnee who had finally come back to Earth, his hometown, after a long and arduous journey of ten years. At least, that’s what Yeoru thought.
“Brother.”
“Yes.”
“But, you seem to have changed a lot too.”
“Do I?”
“I don’t really remember what you were like in the past… Yeah. I don’t know.”
She forcibly swallowed the words ‘You seem mechanical.’
“You’ve come back to Earth after such a long time, how do you feel?”
From Noble mtl dot com
“I don’t know.”
“I mean… whether you’re happy or sad.”
“I’m not sure.”
Does he not want to engage in a conversation with himself? No, it doesn’t seem like that.
“Ten years… It’s been ten years, but you still don’t know?”
“Yes.”
Or maybe being a returnee was a lie.
“Weren’t you missing Earth?”
“No. I was.”
“But then, why…”
Could he be a monster who has taken over Brother’s body? But then, he would have passed all the returnee identification processes.
“Oppa…”
Maybe, perhaps, maybe, perhaps.
“Aren’t you curious about your parents, oppa?”
“Yeah. Come to think of it, there are no parents at home.”
Negative thoughts that continue to spiral.
After a sudden reunion after 10 years, the emotional energy used to maintain a cheerful attitude, and her mind being overwhelmed by the unexpected reaction, her head was about to explode.
“Oppa. Actually, you know. Mom and Dad have passed away. A year ago.”
Finally, she expressed the obituary as if releasing something inside her.
“I see.”
“I see, really…?”
Reaching her limit, the sad memories of that time naturally resurfaced as she relayed the news of her parents’ passing herself, her young age when her heart was in turmoil, and the contrasting calm response from the other person, leading to her ultimate question─
“How can you be so unaffected, oppa…?”
“……”
“How can you casually respond when our parents have passed away? You didn’t really want to see Mom and Dad for the past 10 years?”
“……”
“How difficult it was after you suddenly disappeared. How burdensome it was for me to handle our parents’ funeral alone. How can you be like this?”
“Please calm down a bit─”
“No? I am completely calm right now. Completely composed. Like you, oppa. No, how is it possible? I am truly curious, oppa.”
“……”
“Yeah. Something feels off. You are not oppa. You are not. You are saying things like oppa. You cannot be the oppa I longed for during the past 10 years. You cannot be the oppa who played with me and made me happy. You cannot be like this. You cannot be like this…”
She started shedding tears, just like when she first faced the whirlpool.
“I need an explanation─”
“Leave.”
“Pity─”
“I said leave.”
“…I understand.”
Knowing that it is difficult to communicate with someone in such a state, Yeoul decided to follow her words for now. There was no need to ignore or resolve her words forcefully.
For now, calming down Ryeoun’s emotions is the priority. Yeoul made that judgment.
He silently opened the door and stepped outside.
The cold December wind filled the apartment hallway, instantly engulfing his body.
Tonight, I have to sleep on the streets.
With bare feet and nothing in my hands, dressed in worn-out clothes from this old world, Yeoul thought.
That’s how he ended up being kicked out of the house within 30 minutes of returning after ten years.
So killing a demon king takes five years of training. Maybe that’s why all returnees have the same time of returning.
He killed his emotion for many years to go back home but now hes kicked out of his home because of it. Smh
This is kinda heavy. Which strangely feels nice to read.