Chapter 112 - Birthday Party (2)

Yehyeon looked wearily at the cake.

"Yeah."

He half rose from his chair to blow out the countless candles, then gave a feeble puff.

"Isn't that a bit much?"

Jaeyeon scolded him, looking at the two-thirds of the candles still burning.

"You left this many lit!"

"There are too many candles," Yehyeon said tiredly.

I understood his exhaustion. Turning to Jaeyeon, I added sullenly, "Don't you know they make big candles? One of those stands for ten years."

"Are you dismissing all the effort I put into counting out seventy-eight candles one by one?"

Jaeyeon arched her eyebrows and shot me a sharp look.

I was about to say yes, and ask whether she really needed me to spell out something so obvious, when Yehyeon blew out all the remaining candles. Apparently, he had anticipated my less-than-friendly response.

"Good."

Jaeyeon clapped happily.

"Now let's have some roast chicken!"

Those damned mood swings.

I wasn't even surprised. Few could indulge this being's pathological whims. To be precise, Colton was the only one. I belonged in the category of those who could endure them, not indulge them.

Kyle and Ray had been so thoroughly sick of Jaeyeon that they had refused to have anything to do with Colton.

Colton, who had been young, arrogant, cold, and beautiful.

Sometimes his potential had taken my breath away. The big problem was that he only ever used it for bad things. Well, there was no point talking about that now. We started eating the roast chicken.

The roast chicken was infuriatingly delicious.

Jaeyeon watched us eat with a look of satisfaction. She tucked my white hair behind my ear.

"How are the sunny-side-up eggs?"

Perfect, damn it.

At times like this, she always made everything ridiculously well. I broke the yolk and soaked it up with the nicely browned toast, grumbling, "Perfect."

"I'm glad."

Jaeyeon propped her chin on her hand and smiled as if genuinely delighted. Then she turned her gaze from me, shuddering with chills, to Yehyeon, who was glumly wielding his fork beside me.

"And you? Is the food to your liking?"

"Yeah."

Yehyeon scooped up some scrambled eggs with his spoon.

"It's good..."

Should I knock her out with a blow to the back of the neck, even now?

I mulled it over as I pulled meat off the chicken. Wouldn't it be better to deal with her while she was being friendly and secure some peace? The problem was the very high likelihood that the moment I raised my hand for a chop, Jaeyeon would flip out and smash everything around her.

While I was debating, Jaeyeon held a gift box out to Yehyeon.

"Your birthday present."

This was going to drive me out of my fucking mind.

The red box was beautifully wrapped with a green ribbon. Yehyeon took it as carefully as if he were handling a bomb.

I honestly wouldn't have been surprised if it exploded the moment he opened it.

I tensed as my superior slowly undid the green ribbon. If anything went off, I would shield him immediately.

The box didn't explode.

"Go on, open it!"

As Yehyeon uneasily lifted out an enormous album or diary, Jaeyeon slammed her hand on the table.

BANG!

I caught a glimpse of eyes gleaming with anticipation.

"Go on!"

I stopped eating and watched my superior.

With pale hands, Yehyeon carefully opened the cover, turning past it and the gray flyleaf. I was certain I wouldn't be surprised even if the pages contained curses written in red ink, but there was nothing like that inside.

Instead, there were photographs. Several pictures of unfamiliar people, neatly arranged.

As I peered at the album, wondering what on earth it was, I noticed Yehyeon's face turning ashen.

"Your former subordinates."

Jaeyeon framed her chin with her hands, her long eyes curving into crescents.

"So you won't forget."

Oh.

God.

These were people who had died in the line of duty.

"You sick fuck."

I looked away from Yehyeon's trembling fingers.

Jaeyeon smiled at my brief curse.

"I have a present for you, too."

What an honor.

I shot her a look of contempt and disgust, then answered flatly, "How very kind. I'm sorry, but I haven't prepared anything for you."

"See how thoughtful I am?"

The woman gently stroked the braid trailing below her shoulder, then reached down with one hand and lifted a small box.

"Isn't this what the Christmas spirit is all about?"

I took the box.

Before undoing its blue ribbon, I reached out and shut the album.

SNAP.

At the sound, Yehyeon, who hadn't been able to tear his eyes from it, slowly raised his head. I pretended not to notice his unsteady gaze on me as I untied the ribbon.

The black box opened.

"Huh?"

The sound escaped me reflexively.

This couldn't be...

"No way..."

"You've been looking for this, haven't you?"

Jaeyeon flashed a brilliant white smile. It was beautiful enough to stop passersby in their tracks.

"Aren't you thrilled?"

FROM K.

The game had slipped from my thoughts for a while. Yet here it was before me, the game from the series I had been determined to collect and play in its entirety someday.

The FROM series, which I had discovered in the game shop I'd visited with Walker and Shu.

My jaw dropped.

I could sense Yehyeon lowering his head to study my expression, but I had no attention to spare for him.

Jaeyeon chuckled and tilted her head.

"This one's my favorite in the series."

Red-painted nails tapped the little black box.

"I like its message."

I stared blankly at Jaeyeon.

My hunger was gone. So was my resolve to drag this being out of here by any means necessary. I could only stare, speechless.

A being whose true appearance and age were unknown, who might not even be human.

That was when the change came. As though she'd keenly sensed my resolve to drive her out melting away, Jaeyeon suddenly smiled like a fox spirit and stood.

CLATTER!

The chair made a sharp sound as it slid back. She neatly pushed it in, then walked straight out of the cabin.

And just like that, she vanished.

As if she had never been here at all.

Without leaving so much as a single strand of fair hair behind.

* * *

It wasn't until long after Jaeyeon disappeared that we came to our senses.

I recovered first. Rising from my seat, I checked on my pallid superior.

"Commander."

Yehyeon lifted his head from where he sat frozen.

"Let me take you home."

Large, dark eyes.

Eyes in which sorrow and seasoned authority mingled, always making his thoughts difficult to read, looked up at me quietly. I held his gaze until he blinked, emerging from his shock.

The emotional impact was washing away.

Yehyeon slowly broke the silence.

"Question time."

A pale finger indicated my chair.

"Would you sit back down."

It wasn't a question, but an order.

Relieved that he wasn't treating me as his elder, I obediently sat. The roast chicken on the aluminum foil was going cold. The latte had stopped steaming, too.

Not that either of us was making any move to eat.

Once I was seated, Yehyeon spoke in his husky voice.

"It's just the two of us, so please feel free to ask whatever you like."

The commander-in-chief's politeness was businesslike.

"I expect to be busy for a while. It would be best if you asked everything now."

I kept silent, wanting to choose the right questions. This wasn't the moment to ask him to stop being so formal with me. Thinking quickly, I selected my questions, eliminating anything someone other than Yehyeon could answer. He didn't have that much time to spare.

I started with official matters.

"Once we start fighting the Titans, I won't be able to keep hiding the fact that I'm not human forever."

"No, probably not. It doesn't matter, as long as the existence of an elder stays hidden."

Yehyeon answered with his eyes lowered.

"As long as we can conceal the fact that the Titans have been on Earth for a long time, and that the elders who benefited from them are working behind the scenes in the cores. Of course, it would be best if your identity wasn't exposed. Most people will suspect and hate you if they learn you aren't human."

"A traitor never has anywhere to go."

I gave a short laugh.

"I'm prepared for that. I'll do my best not to be exposed. But if it looks likely, I'll respond according to your instructions."

Yehyeon nodded quietly, then went still.

He didn't seem to have fully recovered from the shock. I would be reeling too, if someone thrust something like that in front of me.

If he stayed this unwell, I would have to carry him home on my back.

As I studied his pale profile, his eyes rolled toward me.

"Anything else?"

I gave him a faint smile.

"May I ask you something personal?"

Yehyeon's expression suggested he was wondering what personal question I could possibly have for him. Unclasping his hands, he leaned toward me.

"If you wish."

"How long do you intend to keep speaking so formally to me?"

"If you're going to ask personal questions, I'll have to keep doing so."

His voice made it clear he thought I was asking something blindingly obvious.

I let out a small laugh, taking in the man staring at me with wide, attentive eyes.

The unfortunate child who had inherited my sword.

"Lee Seunghyeon didn't do much to celebrate your birthdays, did he?"

Yehyeon's eyes widened.

For an instant, he became a wounded child again. The hurt and sorrow his father had caused flickered through his dark eyes, then vanished.

His reaction alone gave me my answer.

I had guessed a great deal the moment I'd heard the name leave Lee Seunghyeon's mouth that day. But what had briefly surfaced and disappeared now told me much more. Bitterly, I watched Yehyeon open and close his mouth.

"Have you ever received a birthday present from Lee Seunghyeon?"

Yehyeon stared at me. After a long while, he slowly shook his head.

It was the answer I had expected, but anger surged through me all the same. I smiled as I swore.

"Lee Seunghyeon, that fucking bastard."

"... Still, I survived the war thanks to my father."

"Did he hit you, too?"

"... Not particularly, unless I defied him... And since he had an enhanced body, he never completely lost control and beat me senseless..."

So sometimes he was hit even when he didn't defy him.

I read the unspoken answer and suppressed the urge to sigh.

Silence settled over us.

It was an uneasy silence, but I let it linger. I had nothing to say, for one thing. I'd asked what I wanted to ask. There was no need to press for details, and doing so would clearly only hurt Yehyeon.

I would do this last thing, then send him back to the Choi siblings.

Right up until I got what I wanted from an angry, bewildered Lee Seunghyeon, I had worried I might be overstepping.

I looked up at the silent Yehyeon. After checking on him, I slowly rose.

"I'm going to give you your birthday present."

I walked over to the television and picked up the envelope I'd carefully set on top of it. Returning to the table, I held it out to Yehyeon as he blinked at me.

"I got this from Lee Seunghyeon."

Yehyeon's expression filled with questions.

He reached out without a word. Fear and hesitation showed in the way he took the envelope.

But I offered no explanation. I simply stood beside him and watched as he hesitantly opened it and took out the photograph.

The photograph revealed its subject.

A beautiful, fair-skinned woman.

"Sasha."

I looked down at Yehyeon's widening eyes and whispered, "A picture of Sasha."

Yehyeon's hands trembled in short, sharp spasms.

He jerked his head up, staring at me with eyes wide with shock.

I smiled faintly as I watched them fill with tears.

As Yun had said, it was a request that could very well have gotten me killed with a broken neck. I might have been beaten to a bloody pulp and killed by the man said to be the strongest living human.

Thank goodness I had made it back alive.

"He said I could give it to you."

I whispered as I watched the tears fall, drop by drop.

"Though it pisses me off that he said it like he was doing you a favor, when it should have gone without saying."

I hoped this might help heal even a little of the hurt from his childhood.

I reached out to catch the photograph as it threatened to slip from his trembling hands, and he caught my arm. I let him pull me toward him.

He didn't let go.

Clutching my arm tightly, Yehyeon bowed his head and cried. Tears pattered down, wetting the cabin floor. His thin body shook.

Stifled sobs.

If I had shown him even the tiniest bit of interest back then, he would have been so much happier.

I should have asked his name. I should have asked his birthday. Full of regret, I let Sasha's son cry for a long time.