The S-Classes That I Raised

Chapter 624: Happy Ending (3)

The moon was high. Bluish moonlight flowed over the eternal snow, pouring down in a flood of pure silver white. Through the shattered ceiling it dripped, drip, drip, endlessly filling the space until the moonlight was thick enough to choke on. Between those layers of swelling light, the scent of flowers and blood seeped in.

A white outfit, now so scarlet he wondered if it might have been red from the start, filled Han Yujin’s eyes. Hair whose color had always been unclear – murky gray, soft wheat, melted silver – was now distinctly red. Splashing in the pool of his own spilled blood, Seong Hyunjae braced himself with his hand and lifted his head.

Han Yujin did not move, only watched. He did not run over to support him; he did not offer words of concern. Unable to fully stand, Seong Hyunjae let out a long breath. His golden eyes, still out of focus, trembled faintly as he looked up at Han Yujin. Tilting his head a little, he let the corner of his mouth curl.

“In a day, you’ll come track me down?”

“…Just shut up and get out of my sight.”

“No.”

“You said you didn’t want to die.”

“As you can see, this body can’t even die.”

Seong Hyunjae’s fingers scraped along the floor. Even as he slipped in the blood, he dragged himself a little closer to the stairs.

“You said you wanted to live.”

“Which is why, all the more, I don’t want to.”

Han Yujin lifted his head. Between the heaps of flowers shining snow–white in the moonlight, he saw the people he wanted to protect. Whatever he had to do. Whatever he had to do.

“I have no intention of coming after you.”

Turning his gaze completely away from Seong Hyunjae, Han Yujin stepped down one stair.

“I am so done getting tangled up with you.”

At the bottom of the stairs, the tip of his shoe stepped into blood.

“To begin with, this has nothing to do with us.”

Han Yujin’s steps passed by Seong Hyunjae. Red footprints soaked into the red carpet and vanished.

“Crescent Moon only wants you. There’s no reason we – I – have to get hurt.”

Moonlight and silver chains trailed after Han Yujin like a long, flowing veil. With each step, they chimed softly.

“Still, for old times’ sake, I’ll tell you this – run.”

Han Yujin’s feet stopped in front of the fallen Mari. Mari struggled to lift her head and look up at him. Her bright green eyes blinked slowly. Han Yujin bent down and held out a hand to her. In a voice quiet enough that only Mari could barely hear, he said,

“I’m not really the one who should be saying this, but.”

His silver–tinted eyes twisted slightly, as if in a smile.

“Don’t throw away your life for someone else. The person most precious to Mari is Mari herself. Right?”

“…I like me.”

Mari answered. How could she not like herself? She was a wonderfully adorable princess, after all.

“But this was something I did for my own sake.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s a happy ending.”

The final chapter that ends with a wedding. Han Yujin helped Mari to her feet. The crumpled hem of her dress spread out like flower petals.

“Mari, you’re going to keep on living. You’ll meet many more, all sorts of people from now on.”

So.

“Go.”

“…Huh?”

“Leave this place, watch the sun rise, and if you find yourself curious about anything after that, come back and ask me.”

Mari took a step back. She stared straight at Han Yujin, as if she didn’t quite understand. Han Yujin smiled. Then he turned around. In the middle of the blood pool, Seong Hyunjae was standing.

“Tell me.”

“I’ve got nothing to say.”

With a metallic clatter, the shattered golden chains regained their shape, rippling like waves.

“Because I have no intention of running.”

Blood pooled on the floor splashed up. Han Yujin’s hand shot forward, silver chains coiling into his grasp. KAAANG! The long–swinging chain collided with another, and as light surged up, Han Yujin grabbed a chain hanging from above with his other hand, using the recoil to yank hard. THUD! Kicking off the ground, Han Yujin’s body shot into the air.

Moonlight, the moon’s chains, tangled like a web. Stepping on those strands of light, letting them coil around his body, Han Yujin dropped toward Seong Hyunjae like a meteor.

KRAKABOOM–!

The raging silver light tore up the carpet and the marble beneath it. The Seeker’s chains barely managed to withstand the storm that would have shredded anything it touched. KANG, KANG! Cracks ran through the golden chains and fragments flew. The Seeker’s chains were left in tatters, and even the whirlwind of silver chains flinched and weakened. Not missing that brief opening, Seong Hyunjae reached out his hand.

Cleverly, aiming precisely at the one tiny weak point that kept shifting within the rotation of countless lines.

CRASH!

Golden light exploded outward, swallowing the silver. Powerless pieces of moonlight fell like rain with a faint chime, and Han Yujin flung one remaining length of chain toward Seong Hyunjae. The chain wrapped around his neck with perfect accuracy, and Seong Hyunjae caught hold of it with his hand. Only his eyes moved as he scanned their surroundings.

Even within the violent maelstrom of light, the flowers on both sides only fluttered gently. A few leaves fell, that was all; the full blooms and the people among them did not bear a single wound. Even though, unlike the flowers, these people would not be crushed so easily even if they were dragged a little into the fray.

“You’re strong and kind, Han Yujin.”

“…No. I’m weak.”

Han Yujin spat the words out like something he was grinding between his teeth.

“So unlike you, I can’t let go of anything.”

His silver eyes blinked. He was trying his best to suppress his emotions, but his bloodless face was stained with a swirl of colors.

“If I let go now, I don’t know when I’ll ever get it back. Getting things back is just too hard.”

There’s something better here than what you’re holding. So put down what’s in your hand for a moment and take this. Of course you should drop one and take the other. But if the thing you have is the only one in your hand. If your circumstances are such that once you let it leave your grasp, getting it back is nearly impossible.

Besides.

“Because I’m weak, if I give up one thing, I feel like I’ll just keep giving up more.”

A sturdy steel can doesn’t change even if you take one bead out of it. But a loosely woven pouch – once the thread starts to tear and one bead slips out, the shape goes hollow and warped, and the unraveling thread keeps going, spilling out everything it held.

Those few beads are everything.

His hand tightened on the chain with a grinding strain.

“So I can’t help it…”

Because he was weak. Because he didn’t have much. Because it was already all he could do to protect that little bit. So all the more, he had no choice but to cling to everything he had like a fool, unable to let go of anything.

You only have to throw away one thing. Then you can be happy. Han Yujin smiled.

But I couldn’t do that, and that’s why I ended up here.

If, as a child, he had just once squeezed his eyes shut and given up. He wouldn’t have been abandoned by his parents – that warm world that was everything to a child. But now, after all this time.

“Even if I say I want to protect them.”

Even if the thing he longed for more than anything was placed in his hands. He could not give up what he had once pulled into his arms. Even if that meant the world would cast him out, he could not be the first to throw it away.

“Han Yujin.”

“Get out of here!”

Han Yujin shouted. His silver eyes grew wet. It felt like something inside was being ripped to shreds. Just because he couldn’t let go didn’t mean it wasn’t torment. Deep in his chest, a bright red voice echoed, telling him to hand Seong Hyunjae over to Crescent Moon. It was such an enticing voice. He wanted to do it right this moment.

If you’re not going to give up and just cling on, then what. You don’t even have a plan. There’s no way to stop Crescent Moon, so how are you going to block the Source. What about the other Transcendents. And your brother. How are you going to find your brother.

Irresponsible bastard. Turning your back on the safe path that would protect the people you love. Pathetic bastard, running away even when the thing you wanted so badly was placed in your hands.

Han Yujin’s body crumpled. Tears fell, hitting the floor with his knees. Han Yuhyun fought his way through the flower stems, struggling to get to his brother. Seong Hyunjae took a step back. With a small clatter, the silver chain slipped from around his neck.

Han Yujin panted. His fingers scratched at the empty skin of his neck.

“Han Yujin.”

His voice was as gentle and kind as could be.

“I’ll be waiting.”

Without any promise of when. Seong Hyunjae began to walk. He passed by Han Yujin, his back drenched in dark red growing more and more distant, toward the sunken darkness where the moonlight did not reach.

“Hyung!”

Once Seong Hyunjae’s figure had completely disappeared, the moon’s power that had filled and pressed down on everything lightened noticeably. The moment he could move again, Han Yuhyun ran to Han Yujin. As soon as he threw his arms around him, the sobs Han Yujin had been holding back burst out between his lips.

“Yuhyun, ah, I’m sorry! I’m so, sorry…”

“…No, hyung. No.”

Not even knowing the reason, Han Yuhyun shook his head. He hugged his brother as if he wanted to hide his trembling body.

–Kkuuung

–Dad…

Peace and Hangyeol paced anxiously in circles around the two. Park Yerim hovered helplessly, looking back and forth between Song Taewon and Noah. Song Taewon looked at Han Yujin, then toward the direction Seong Hyunjae had vanished, and swallowed a deep sigh. Noah only opened and closed his hands, unable to say a word.

“It’s okay, hyung. Everything’s okay. It’s okay. You didn’t do anything wrong, you don’t have anything to be sorry for.”

Han Yuhyun did his best to soothe Han Yujin, who kept blaming himself.

“You didn’t do a single thing wrong. No matter what anyone says, I’m on your side. You’re right, no matter what.”

They were gentle, sweet words. But in this moment, Han Yujin couldn’t accept that sugary voice. He wanted to grab hold of Seong Hyunjae even now. To cling and beg.

He couldn’t give up. He couldn’t demand sacrifice from him either. That much, at least, hadn’t changed.

“…I’m sorry, I’m sorry…”

He was so sorry to his brother, to the people who believed in him and stood by his side. The guilt, as heavy as the love he felt for them, pressed down on his whole body.

Mari slowly started walking. As an S–rank Awakened, the high heels she’d been wearing without a second thought suddenly felt uncomfortable. In the end, she grabbed her skirt and gave one foot a sharp shake. Her white heel rolled and clattered down the dark hallway. Then she flung the other shoe away just as roughly.

“…I like my height, too.”

Not short, not tall, just right. It was only because her fiancé was so tall that she’d tried to match him. To look like they fit together. It wasn’t like anyone was even watching.

“What is this.”

Without shoes, her dress dragged far too much. She didn’t like it.

“…I should have had it fitted to me from the start.”

The wedding too. She had wanted an outdoor wedding. With an arch full of flowers and pretty benches for the guests. She’d wanted plenty of guests. And more than anything, she’d wanted to be blessed. To stand in a place full of people who loved her, with someone she loved by her side.

Holding up her skirt as she walked, she stopped again. A rumbling sound echoed from the corridor behind them, but she pretended not to hear it and drew her sword. Shrrk – the bottom of the dress was sliced off to match her height. The threads frayed and the dress turned ragged, but she liked it better than before.

What would happen now. She didn’t know. But if, just like this, the job she had to do had disappeared.

“Should I go on a trip?”

To a nice resort. It was supposed to be time for a honeymoon anyway, so it seemed fine. After that, she had no idea what she should do. For now, she decided to just try doing whatever she wanted. Mari fussed with the shortened hem of her dress. She threw off the stifling gloves and pulled out her hair accessories. Her blond hair fell down bright and sunny like sunlight. She liked her own sparkling hair too.

“…He wasn’t as bad a person as I thought.”

Someone who tried to ruin her wedding. Someone who took the title of partner that should have belonged to Mari. So she was supposed to hate Han Yujin. But now she didn’t.

Once the reasons she was supposed to hate him disappeared, he turned out to be a pretty decent guy.

“He went through a lot, too. And it wasn’t even a happy ending for him.”

Mari’s eyebrows wobbled this way and that. The little brother he cherished so much and had been so desperate to get back had died. It was a very, very sad ending. Mari reflected a little on how much she’d resented Han Yujin. He needed a happy ending just as much as she did.

“And earlier, he looked really sad too.”

“He did look sad, didn’t he.”

A voice suddenly came from behind her. Mari’s eyes snapped up, and she spun around. Out of the dim shadows, Seong Hyunjae was walking toward her.

“What, I’m not planning on marrying you anymore.”

“I’m delighted our opinions match.”

Seong Hyunjae walked past Mari. She glared at his back, then hurried her steps to match his stride. She glanced back over her shoulder.

“Why are you here alone?”

“Because I felt like I shouldn’t be there.”

“Honestly, I hate the way the Sesung guild leader talks. So that’s it, right? Did you hurt her, like you hurt me?”

“It seems my very existence is what hurts.”

Silver eyes, cracks spreading through them as if they might shatter at any moment. Mari tilted her head. His existence, really – he was fine as long as he kept his mouth shut.

“I don’t know exactly what she said.”

The corner of Seong Hyunjae’s mouth twisted.

“No, it’s not that I can’t guess.”

“She?”

“So I’d like to meet your mother.”

Seong Hyunjae stopped walking. Mari flinched, then half–hid herself behind his back.

“Looks like she’s been waiting.”

From the chair left all alone at the end of the corridor, Marisa rose to her feet.