After Honeybee and the family had departed, only Matthew, Cha Eui-jae, and the monsters burning alive in the flames remained.
Eui-jae bit the inside of his cheek. Leaving now would have been the wiser choice. And yet, his feet wouldn't move. Whether it was because of Honeybee's request, or some unexplainable instinct, he didn't know.
Matthew stood with his back turned, incinerating the monsters. With every movement of his hand, the flames surged like crashing waves at once elegant and sharp, like the gestures of a conductor leading his orchestra.
The blazing fire drowned out the monsters' screams. Even as the flames swelled as though they might consume the entire world, the air was strangely quiet. Only the faint crackle of burning could be heard.
And that silence was what made it so unsettling.
"You're not leaving," Matthew said.
"...No."
"There must be places where your help is needed. Like that family you just met."
"..."
"Had it not been for you, they would have wandered the streets until death claimed them. Or perhaps…" His voice was cold, detached.
"Perhaps they were put in danger precisely because you found them. After all, these monsters writhe and struggle only to reach you."
He was right. Even as their limbs burned away, even with the deep valley keeping them apart, the monsters clawed their way toward Eui-jae.
'So… did meeting me put that family in danger?'
' ...Perhaps. Perhaps it did.'
A wave of heat surged, sweat gathering on his brow. Matthew slowly turned halfway, his gaze settling on Eui-jae.
"Your breathing changed. Am I right?"
There was no point in trying to conceal anything. Matthew would see through him regardless. Eui-jae answered shortly:
"I won't deny it."
"Thank you. For your honesty."
One of the monsters, engulfed in flame, leapt at Eui-jae
Snap.
With the faint sound of fingers snapping, the creature was reduced to ash before its claws could touch him. Eui-jae stared at the embers dissolving into the air.
"But in truth, that doesn't matter. For me, this is a good opportunity. I wished to speak with you at least once. Even in a place like this."
"..."
"If you're uncomfortable, you may leave."
"I'm fine. For now."
Besides, Honeybee had asked him
"Could you please look after Matthew?"
Matthew let out a low, mirthless chuckle.
"You carry a heavy sense of duty. That will poison you. Perhaps it already has."
His words carried an uncanny weight. He named the truths Eui-jae had avoided, pointed to places he had not thought to look, forced him into reflection.
"Excessive responsibility devours a person from within."
"You're right," Eui-jae admitted without resistance.
Beyond the wavering flames, Matthew clenched his fist. The crawling monsters burst apart in small explosions.
"I have a question, if I may ask."
"Go on."
"If someone you cherished were to die because of you… could you forgive yourself?"
At once, an image surfaced. The black coffin. Eui-jae collapsed over it. Inside, Lee Sa-young slept in eternal silence. Eui-jae shed dry, hollow tears. Regret clawed at him.
'If only I had been stronger… He wouldn't have been taken so cruelly.'
Behind his coffin, white ash swirled like snow. His aunt walked into that blizzard of ash. Eui-jae rushed after her fading silhouette. The world dissolved into whiteness. The ground was slick with blood, comrades tearing apart monsters and devouring the flesh.
'If only I had stopped her. If I had gone in first. If I had entered alone. If I had been stronger…'
Regrets piled upon regrets, forming the ground beneath his feet.
Has Cha Eui-jae ever forgiven himself?
"No."
His countless failures and regrets had shaped him. He lived atop them, pretending he was fine.
"I can't."
Matthew had turned fully now, his burned arm glowing red, as if the wounds had only just been seared into his flesh.
"And yet…"
The only reason Eui-jae could still live, the only reason he could still pretend.
The world of ash vanished. He was suddenly seated inside a humble soup restaurant. A steaming bowl of bone broth simmered on the green table. The old woman peeled garlic while watching her flickering TV. At the next table, Ha-eun frowned as she doodled on her textbook.
The sliding door opened. Familiar faces filed in, filling the once-empty seats. Bae Won-woo, Kang Ji-soo, Yang Hye-jin, the rookie hunter, the one always hiding soju, Russian Bear, Honeybee and Team Leader Han, Jung Bin, Seo Min-gi, and countless others who had once sought this place for warmth.
Before he knew it, someone was seated across from him as well. Leaning lazily on his hand, violet eyes gazed at him. A faint smile touched gentle lips, those dim, unlit eyes curving softly in kindness.
Eui-jae blinked.
The soup shop vanished in an instant. Once again, the flames raged, devouring everything, and only Matthew remained, waiting for his answer.
"Even so… I can live."
"Even if you cannot forgive yourself?"
"Yes."
There are many good people in the world. Cha Eui-jae had been fortunate enough to meet many of them. In their presence, he, too, could be good. He could offer kindness, fill absence with new bonds, build success atop failure.
Matthew adjusted his glasses with two fingers.
"I see. Thank you for your answer."
"And you, Matthew? Do you think differently?"
"..."
He adjusted his glasses again.
"The Scriptures teach forgiveness. I grew up learning that lesson, and I tried to grant it freely."
"But…"
The flames surged violently, scarlet tongues swirling hungrily around him.
"No matter how I try… no matter how I wish to… I can't find a way to forgive myself."
The fire leapt skyward, far more savage than before. This was no longer flame meant to destroy enemies. This was fire without purpose. Consuming, destroying everything indiscriminately.
Danger. Eui-jae gripped the spear lodged in the ground.
Matthew's form flickered in and out of the blaze, heat warping the air itself. If this continued, disaster would strike. Eui-jae shouted desperately, blurting out the first words that came to mind.
"Those burns on your arm, they're not side effects of Prometheus's drugs, are they?"
"They're not. The Doctor treated the side effects perfectly."
"Then…"
Matthew brushed his scar with his hand.
"These, I kept deliberately. I must never forget."
"Forget… what?"
"That humans burn so easily."
Through the fire, Matthew smiled. The heat distorted his face into something eerie, almost monstrous.
"I killed my sister."
"..."
"It was her birthday. I was at her house. My sister, her husband, her child… they were all there."
"You must know it too. Awakening leaves one unstable, especially with powers as volatile as mine. They must be controlled at all times."
Eui-jae bit his lip. He remembered the second world. Lee Sa-young, locking himself in the hospital bathroom after awakening, afraid of his own power. Matthew must have been the same.
But unlike Sa-young, there had been no one by his side to help him restrain it.
It was easy to imagine: fire rising endlessly no matter how he tried to stop it, Matthew barricading himself inside a bathroom, his sister knocking on the door, asking what was wrong.
And the flames, far too strong to be extinguished with a mere trickle of water.
"..."
"So you say one can live without forgiving oneself…" Matthew murmured. The fire around him flared higher still, obscuring him completely. The monsters burned to nothing the instant they touched it. Sweat dripped from Eui-jae's chin. The flames crackled.
"If only I had met you sooner."
WHOOSH!
The fire roared, soaring into the sky.
"Matthew!"
At the same moment, Cha Eui-jae swung his spear, cleaving the wall of flame.
When his weapon dropped, pointing down
There was no one beyond the fire.
Nothing at all.