Ji-Won pushed the emergency exit bar.
The afternoon Seoul sunlight hit him like a physical blow. He had to squint. The air outside was hot, humid, and filled with the relentless noise of the city: car horns, the roar of bus engines, the chatter of pedestrians, and the sound of the giant digital billboards on the adjacent buildings.
[The Harmony Tower Welcomes You To Your Future!]
My future. What a joke.
Ji-Won looked up at the giant screen overlooking the plaza. It was now showing live footage of Park Seon-Jin waving to the crowds, the faint golden aura of his 'Dragon Echo' swirling around him.
Ji-Won turned his back.
He started walking.
Where do I go? Home? What will I tell Mrs. Ahn (the landlady) when she asks for the rent?
He wasn't walking anywhere specific. He walked past the bus stop he'd arrived at. He didn't have enough money for a taxi. He just walked.
The streets of Seoul, which just yesterday had seemed full of opportunity, now looked like a hostile concrete jungle.
He kept walking. Across the Mapo Bridge. The slow-moving current of the Han River below seemed to stand still. He stopped for a moment, leaning on the cold railing. He looked at his reflection in the murky water.
A pale young man. Hollow eyes. A cheap shirt plastered to his back with sweat.
A failure.
He pulled out his phone. The cracked screen barely lit up. He opened his call log.
[My Sister Hyun-Soo]
Oh God. Hyun-Soo. What am I going to tell her? Lie? Tell her I got a weak Echo? No... I can't lie to her. She's the only real thing left.
He pressed the green button.
Ring...
Ring...
Maybe I should hang up... No. Be a man.
Ring...
"Oppa?"
Her voice came through, weak, but alive. Her voice was the only pure thing in his world.
"Oppa! Are you done? How did it go? Did you get a cool power? Are you going to be a 'Walker'? Did you get a 'Fire Echo' like the hero in the manhwa I'm reading?"
Ji-Won closed his eyes. He felt a lump clog his throat, sharp as glass shards.
He opened his mouth.
Hyun-Soo... I...
"Oppa?"
Her voice came again, thinner this time, a fine thread of anxiety creeping through the phone's white noise. "Oppa, are you there?"
Kang Ji-Won squeezed his eyes shut. His fingers gripped the cold metal of the bridge railing.
Say something. Anything. Lie.
"Ah... yeah, Hyun-Soo. I'm here." His voice came out as a croak, strange even to his own ears. "The... the street noise is just really loud."
Coward. Is that the best you can do?
A massive truck rumbled past on the bridge, the roar of its diesel engine shaking the asphalt beneath his feet. It was the perfect excuse.
"Oh!" she exclaimed. "Okay! So... is everything okay? Did you... Did you get it?"
Did you get it?
The question was so simple. Almost childish. A yes-or-no question that would decide the fate of two lives.
Ji-Won looked down at the dark water of the Han. The sun had begun to set, sending long orange and violet streaks across the sky, dyeing the river the color of an old bruise. It was beautiful... and cruel.
How can the world be this beautiful the moment mine just died?
"Ji-Won?"
"It... It just finished," he finally said, picking his words with painful care. "I'm... I'm on my way home now, Hyun-Soo."
A silence.
For three full seconds, there was nothing but the faint sound of wind in the receiver. Three seconds that felt like three eternities.
She felt it. She's smart. She always knows.
"Oh," she said finally. One small word, but the light had vanished from her voice. She wasn't asking about the rank, she wasn't asking about the power. She'd heard the defeat in his voice. "Okay, Oppa. Okay."
He felt a sharp sting behind his eyes. Don't cry. Damn it, don't cry now.
"Oppa, are you okay?" she asked, her voice soft. "Your voice sounds..."
"I'm fine," he cut her off, probably more harshly than he intended. He softened his tone. "I'm just... a little tired. That's all. It was a long day."
Tired. Yeah. That's a good word. Tired of all of it. Tired of being me.
"Okay... Okay, Oppa. I'll wait for you. Bring me some candy if you can?"
"Of course," he said, knowing he didn't have a single won to spare on candy. "I'll see. I have to go, focus on the road. I love you."
"Love you too, Oppa. Be safe!"
...Beep.
The call ended.