[CHAPTER 20]

"His Tears"

”Hongbin-ah!”

Lee Hongbin! Hongbin! Where are you?!!

Hakyeon ran through the blizzard in desperation as tears fell uncontrollably. His memories have returned but why did he forget them in the first place? Even if he can remember, Hongbin was no where to be found. 

Hongbin, where are you!?  

“Ah!” He slipped forward from the slushed snow and scraped his knees and palms. “It... it hurts.”

Was it his heart that was hurting or was the pain actually there? Did his feeling of pain return after so long? He’s forgotten about the feeling since Taekwoon passed away yet now his body and mind was in pain. 

“It hurts Lee Hongbin, where are you? Why aren’t you here?” Hakyeon called out in tears as his voice shook endlessly. It was becoming so hard to breathe.

He ran all the back to his apartment complex, while his legs were still bleeding. Yet he did not care. He only wanted to know one thing and to see one person. 

Bang! Bang! Bang!

”Dammit Lee Hongbin! Where are you? You’re in there aren’t you? Answer me already... come out already...” Hakyeon shouted out.

I miss you.

”Hongbin-ah!”

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Hakyeon continued to bang desperately into the door next to his own apartment. The same apartment in which Hongbin lived in, at least that’s what his memories and his heart tells him.

”Hakyeon-ah?” The landlady came out from her unit and to her surprise, she saw Hakyeon filled with tears and injuries,” what’s wrong?”

”He’s.. hic ​​​not here.​​... where is he?” Hakyeon cried and cried , shocking the old lady.

”What do you mean? Hakyeon-ah, are you okay? No one has lived in this apartment for years, remember?” She asked in confusion.

”You’re wrong ,” Hakyeon told her, “he was here. I’m sure of it.  He used to live here not too long ago, I just know it.”

Hakyeon cried even harder when he realized that Hongbin have been forgotten. It was just a simple piece of memory that people have lost but it’s as if Hongbin’s entire existence was suddenly erased.

”Hongbin-ah! Hongbin, where are you?” He continued to pound onto the door so desperately that the sides of his hands were chapped and bleeding. 

He cried and cried yet there was no reply. No one could answer him and his question as to why Hongbin was gone and why everyone, including himself, have forgotten all about the boy named Lee Hongbin.

"Hakyeon? What's wrong?" the old lady was frightened by the younger man's sudden breakdown. "Hakyeon-ah!'

Everything turned black. 

Hongbin-ah, where did you go? Why aren't you here? What happened to you?

* * * * * *

“Still moping around like beforehand huh?” An unexpected visitor came by.

”You’re!? Seo InGuk...” Hongbin was alarmed as he went outside to the kitchen and saw his former Supervisor sitting at the dining table. “What are you doing here? How’d you get in my house?”

”Your mom invited me inside.”

”Why are you here?” Hongbin tried to calm down a bit. “I have no business with anyone from Moirae’s Edge. Leave.”

”I can but you’ll regret it,” InGuk said.

”What?” 

“Aren’t you curious at all about what is happening within the academy right now?”

Hongbin hates to admit it but he is curious. Dying to know what was going on within the place he was forbidden to reach. 

“Did you forget that I’ve been exiled from the academy? What happens to it doesn’t have anything to me,” he lied.

”Everything that is happening within the facilty has everything to do with you. Aren’t you curious?”

”About what?” He took the bait.

”About Cha Hakyeon.”

 Hongbin rushed up to InGuk curious to hear such a name come out from the man’s mouth.

”Don’t you dare mention Hakyeon’s name!” Hongbin shouted  in anger. “His story was a mess because of you guys in the first place yet here I am, being the only one who’s getting punished! Do you know how much I want to see him? Want to know if he’s okay?!”

InGuk grabbed Hongbin’s hands away from his collar, his strength was far more powerful than the younger.

”Whether or not you find that’s fair, Jung Taekwoon has  completed his mission and is now the Supervisor of the Scholars. You on the other hand, is nothing but a criminal. One who broke the law and threatens the fate of humanity.”

”Grr,” the younger bit his lips in frustration, unable to win the argument.

”You’re right that it isn’t fair. Life was never fair to begin with. If neither you or Taekwoon interfered with Cha Hakyeon’s life, he might have led a different story and a different ending. But the fact that you two have encountered him caused his story to take a different turn. Do you even know the reason why his encounter with the two of you can change so dramatically? Do you know why we ban all residence of Moirae’s Edge from interacting with those on Earth?”

”What are you trying to say?” Hongbin was confused. 

“Everyone here in our world thinks that working for the three Goddesses is some sort of blessing and something to be proud of. And all of you are too dumb to realize the truth.”

”W-what do you mean the truth?”

“The truth about the Goddesses, the truth about Moirae’ Edge and the truth about everyone who was born here in this part of the universe, including both me and you.”

The truth. 

What is the truth? Why haven’t anyone asked about it before? Why wasn’t anyone curious about this so called truth that Seo InGuk is talking about?

It’s as if no one was aware, as if everyone thought that their lives and duties here within this universe was normal and that everyone should serve ‘fate’ since the day they were born.

A/N: Very short chapter this time but I promise things will start to unfold in the next chapter :))