The S-Classes That I Raised

Chapter 615: Birthday Present

Han Yujin’s head thumped softly against the chest of Han Yuhyun, the one who had called himself fake. Blood–soaked hands and arms caught his body as it slid down. He gathered him up, holding him carefully, like he was the most precious thing in the world. Arms and legs hung limp as blood dripped down to soak the floor.

The cut on the back of his hand was shallow, but a pain like a red–hot skewer being driven in made Han Yuhyun let out a harsh breath. Only two sets of breathing reached his ears. One calm and quiet, the other ragged, ready to stop at any moment.

Han Yuhyun slowly blinked.

His brother was dead.

The moment he took that fatal wound, his breathing stopped. His sharpened senses, every nerve in his body, told him clearly that Han Yujin was dead. Even so, Han Yuhyun had not accepted it.

“…You.”

The one who had killed his brother was the same as him. The revulsion of facing an identical existence twisted his insides. On top of that, those gentle hands, that gaze holding his only affection, were all Han Yuhyun’s. They belonged to Han Yuhyun, who would never harm Han Yujin.

Han Yuhyun does not kill Han Yujin. And if Han Yuhyun ever did kill Han Yujin, there was no way he would remain unharmed.

“…Give him back.”

So Han Yujin had to be alive. Or could still be brought back.

Han Yuhyun yanked out the sword that had skewered his leg. He instantly dropped his fire–attribute resistance around the wound and cauterized it with flame. It all happened in a blink, and almost at the same time, Han Yuhyun sprang toward the being identical to himself.

Eyes sunk even darker stared at the one that was exactly like him, yet younger. Still cradling his brother’s corpse, the other twisted his body sideways and swung a long leg at the charging Han Yuhyun. It didn’t even look like he had put much strength into it. Han Yujin’s limp body barely swayed at all from that light, extended kick.

Thud!

Hit head–on before he could dodge properly, Han Yuhyun’s body rolled across the floor. Before he could even push himself up, the other was already standing right in front of him. At some point a sword had appeared in his hand; it pierced through Han Yuhyun’s remaining good leg, and his raised foot came down on his shoulder, mercilessly.

The floor caved in with a loud crack. Splinters of wood flew up, caught in the rising flames, turning to ash as they scattered.

The difference in physical ability was overwhelming. No S–rank Hunter, not even the innate S–ranks he knew, could compare to the Han Yuhyun standing before him. That was why he had tried to draw out Iryn’s power, but—

“…Iryn?”

The fire spirit was completely flustered, at a loss for what to do. In that moment, Han Yuhyun’s body was kicked away again, hard. His undefended body slammed into the far wall of the spacious living room. Cracks spread through the stone wall and the whole house shook. Even though it was Liette’s villa, built with special reinforcement, it was shuddering from a simple collision.

“Iryn.”

At the quiet call, Iryn circled in front of the fallen Han Yuhyun. Coughing up blood, Han Yuhyun struggled to raise his upper body. Watching that, a cold voice continued.

“From the standpoint of a fire spirit, I’m the more suitable contractor, aren’t I?”

“W–what…”

“A stronger, purer flame.”

His lowered–yet–open eyes were so indifferent it was hard to believe they were directed at someone identical to himself. There wasn’t even anger or disgust at his threatened uniqueness.

“You’re unfocused.”

Iryn, who had been circling, hesitated, then drifted toward his original master. But as if unable to fully choose one side, he sank into his skin and went dormant. Han Yuhyun spat blood again. A faint poison tainted the blood. Feeling his body go numb, his fingers scraped against the floor.

“Give me my brother.”

“To the point you didn’t even realize your brother was dying.”

His black eyes, rimmed red, flinched wide.

“Because you were distracted by something that wasn’t your brother.”

“…No.”

That had never happened, and never would.

“I don’t care if everything else disappears except my brother. There’s only ever one person I look at.”

Han Yuhyun’s entire world was Han Yujin. The very act of taking interest in others, of holding feelings for anyone, had been born because of Han Yujin. So how could he possibly truly look at anyone who wasn’t Han Yujin? The very heart called “emotion” that he possessed was itself Han Yujin.

“If you’re me, then you know that too!”

Flames surged up. But the dark–blue fire was pushed back and swallowed by pitch–black flames born from Han Yuhyun’s spilled blood. Poison is weak against fire. But poison born from flame kept burrowing into Han Yuhyun’s body with no way to stop it. He coughed, and the blood he spat out again was even darker.

“All I have… is my big bro…”

“Han Yuhyun.”

Footsteps approached and stopped in front of him.

“You, who want to be loved by your brother.”

The hand scraping the floor clenched into a fist without him realizing. His black eyes darted around. The sofa was in pieces, but the table had survived. So had the food on top of it, and the Christmas cake.

“We should have given up on our brother completely.”

His voice was dry, emptied out.

“You’re the result of failing to do that. And on top of it, you’re putting yourself first more and more. How could you even think of sending our brother out in front of other Hunters?”

“…I…”

“Because you want to stay by his side. Because he wants it. And.”

Thud. Han Yuhyun, barely sitting up, was kicked over again and collapsed helplessly.

“Because you’re afraid he might hate it. Hate you. Because you don’t want to be hated, you want to be loved.”

“…”

Han Yuhyun grit his teeth. Young Chaos’s offer suddenly came to mind. He hadn’t been able to give up his brother’s side. He had clung on, crying, unable to suppress his own desire.

“By accepting our brother, Han Yuhyun changed. By leaving him, Han Yuhyun was discarded.”

That was what it meant to abandon your own world.

“But you’re still clinging to him. As much as you want. Just like you said, nothing else matters. Except you. In the end, you accepted the self you had thrown away, and put yourself before your brother.”

“…No!”

He had never done that. There was no way he had. Han Yuhyun tried somehow to get up. But his injured legs didn’t so much as twitch, completely numb.

“I have always, always put you first–”

“Then you should have hidden it by force if you had to. Protected him by any means necessary. Before his body got worn down and worn down again, to the point he won’t even last a month.”

“…!!”

A month.

Han Yuhyun’s breath stopped for a moment. When he finally managed to let it out after a long while, it was mixed with a stifled sob. Everything that had happened since Han Yujin came back to his side flashed through his head. Ever since his brother hugged him, he had been strangely elated. Even then, he had still tried to hide his brother.

His brother wasn’t weak. There had been times he was much stronger than him. He always came back to his side, understood even his essence, and accepted him kindly. The little round fishbowl he had thought his world to be, where he had been curled up tight, had suddenly felt like a wide lake, like the sea.

It had definitely been like that, and yet, even so—

“…I was wrong.”

In the end.

“It was my fault…”

The tears running down his face mixed with the blood. Not knowing what to do, Han Yuhyun crawled across the floor. All he could do was beg to have his brother given back. No—did he even have the right to ask for him back? All the time they had spent together collapsed in an instant and crashed down on him. His whole body felt crushed under a heavy weight, his heart twisting in his chest.

“Shut up and listen.”

A cool voice fell over him. Han Yuhyun struggled to lift his head and raise his eyes. His vision was blurred and smeared.

“There were three lives left in the system connected to our brother. Not this world’s system, but a trace from the past. The moment he died, it linked to the point in time when that system had been applied. His physical state returned to that point as well.”

That dungeon in Japan.

Han Yuhyun’s wet eyes trembled.

“The mana engraving and the magic stone are the same, but all the damage he’s taken from then until now is gone. It isn’t simple healing, so it’s clean.”

“…Then.”

“But there won’t be a second time.”

The arms holding Han Yujin so carefully tightened just a little.

“Those three lives have been spent, and I can’t do the same thing again. It was only possible in that one moment.”

The moment when it was possible to fully pull the “Han Yuhyun” who had stepped outside the system’s domain into this world. When the sentient beings of this world recognized the twenty–five–year–old Han Yuhyun who hadn’t originally existed here, and then the day came when they celebrated his birth.

As someone who was both future and past, for a very brief moment he could rewind the system’s time and apply it to Han Yujin. But now the system had recognized and accepted him. The same distortion could no longer be created.

“So act properly.”

So you never lose him again.

“He won’t remember what happened just now.”

He carefully laid Han Yujin’s body down on the single–seat sofa that had come through unscathed. His back was turned, so his face wasn’t visible, but Han Yuhyun could vividly picture the expression he was making. A face filled with boundless, singular affection, deep longing, and sorrow. Eyes carrying the deepest emotion Han Yuhyun could draw out.

“It’s better if he doesn’t remember.”

He stepped back, leaving Han Yujin there.

“It should have been like that from the start.”

But despite his words and actions blaming Han Yuhyun, he too hadn’t been able to give up completely.

“Even now, throw away your greed.”

Without once looking back at Han Yuhyun, his figure vanished. At the same time, a faint sound of breathing reached him. Small but even, steady breaths.

“…Big bro!”

Dragging his unresponsive legs, Han Yuhyun made his way to Han Yujin. Along with the sound of breathing, he felt warm body heat. Swallowing a sob, he hugged his brother. His heart pounded so fast it felt like it would tear apart. As his poison resistance kicked in, his paralyzed body started moving properly again.

“…Hic, ngh.”

A relief so intense it was maddening, a joy so hot it felt like he would melt. Han Yuhyun gasped in the torrent of emotions crashing down on him. It wasn’t just simple happiness. Regret, rage, despair, sorrow. Every feeling blended into a stain and rampaged as if to tear his whole body apart.

His eyes took in Han Yujin’s unconscious face. He was happy, and it hurt.

“…Big bro.”

Sharp sensations he never would have felt if not for Han Yujin. If he had never come to know Han Yujin’s love, Han Yuhyun would never have known this torment either. The moment he came to know the warmth of this hand, the cold beyond it crashed over him as well.

The coldest warmth in the world.

If he had stayed sunk in the deep sea where nothing could be felt, it would have remained quiet. But now he could never go back. Even if the unfamiliar air tore at his lungs, even if cold and hot winds clawed at his body, even if jutting stones and branches split his skin. All that was left was to climb, somehow, to a sunlit hill, bury his face in the soft grass, and let out his last breath.

“…I, big bro…”

He didn’t know what he should do, but one thing was certain. The current Han Yuhyun could never give up. Not on the brother who had come to find him again, hold him, and accept everything. Even if a day came when he was crawling on the floor again, begging in regret, he could never let go again.

Shaking with agony, Han Yuhyun moved. He burned away the bloodstains and changed Han Yujin’s clothes. The injuries Han Yujin had suffered were gone without a trace. Only after carrying him up to the bedroom and laying him down did he take out a potion and finish treating his own wounds.

Then he spent a long time just looking at Han Yujin. He stood there blankly, staring and staring, before carefully lying down beside him. His tear ducts seemed broken; his face kept getting wet.

“…Yuhyun.”

Through his soundless sobbing, a hazy voice reached him clearly. Han Yuhyun jerked his upper body up, and Han Yujin looked up at him with drowsy eyes. His consciousness still wasn’t clear, but seeing his younger brother crying, he immediately wore a worried expression.

“…It’s okay.”

What had happened? Han Yujin struggled to trace his memories. He had been about to eat the birthday cake. Had he collapsed or something? He must have been really scared.

“It’s okay.”

“…No. It’s not okay.”

“It will be. Sleep.”

Han Yujin stretched out an arm, telling him to lie down. Han Yuhyun lay down beside his brother again. Han Yujin’s hand gently patted him.

“…Big bro, I’m sorry.”

“What are you sorry for?”

Maybe his consciousness was fading again; Han Yujin slowly closed and opened his eyes. Then he lifted the corners of his lips in a soft smile.

“I really like you these days, Yuhyun.”

“…Big bro?”

“Yeah, I do. I mean… it’s okay if you’re different.”

Han Yujin blinked again.

“It’s okay even if you only say you like your big bro. Other people will probably think it’s weird… but if that’s you, Yuhyun, if that’s your honest, real self, that’s enough. I like that kind of little brother too. But…”

But.

Furrowing his brows just a little, Han Yujin went on.

“Just one person. I want you to really like yourself, Yuhyun. I want you to like yourself more than you like me. Or at least, as much as you like your big bro.”

“…I, big bro…”

“That’s why you’ve looked good lately. You were greedy with me today too. No, I guess you can’t even call it greed…”

Han Yujin’s hand gently stroked his little brother’s head. His eyes were almost closed. His voice had grown so faint it was barely audible.

“If you really, really want something, Yuhyun, you don’t have to worry as much about me. It’s fine. You don’t always have to be the good little brother.”

A faint chuckle slipped out.

“They say Santa doesn’t give presents to bad kids. But I will. Always, no matter what.”

“…As long as it’s from you, big bro, I’m fine with that.”

“Yeah. You can be stubborn. You can be bad sometimes. You’ve been way too good of a little brother, up till now…”

Han Yujin closed his eyes completely. Within his brother’s touch, Han Yuhyun closed his eyes as well. He really couldn’t give him up. Even if he himself blamed him, this time—

Han Yuhyun opened his eyes. He was in an endlessly wide garden. Next, the sword in his hand pointed at his own throat without hesitation. Right before the tip could pierce through his neck—

[Not yet.]

A swarm of butterflies wrapped around the blade. The sword melted away and vanished, and one of the butterflies fluttered around Han Yuhyun.

[You got to extend Han Yujin’s lifespan just like you wanted. So this time, you have to bring me what I want.]

Han Yuhyun silently watched the butterfly.

“I’m going to disappear soon anyway.”

[You won’t have to wait long. Just like Whitey said, it’ll be coming out soon enough. So stay asleep just a little longer, until then.]

Han Yuhyun’s eyes closed and he collapsed onto the soft grass. The swarm of butterflies wavered like they were dancing and then disappeared.