Chapter 139 – #30_Homecoming(2)

#137

One.
The eyesight fluctuates lightly.
The magic of ‘Moon’ created by Duke Keter is a magic that is quite deeply related to Siwoo.
Maybe that’s why I felt the familiar flow of magical energy enveloping my body.
Before I even concentrated, wondering if there was something I could salvage, the heavens and the earth had changed before I knew it.

As if a flashlight had gone off in front of you, your vision would become brighter.
A bright, open sky with an intense roar.
I could see the glass-clad skyscrapers lined up like a tidal wave.

-Paaaaang!

The sound of horns and cars that are reflected off the building’s outer wall and are heard like an echo is so loud that one wonders, “Is it really this loud?”
Compared to Gehenna, where most of the places are secluded and quiet, the noise peculiar to the city made the ears tired enough to believe that it was going to war.

“Ah…..”

Siwoo, who had been standing there blankly for a while, took a breath.
Louder, louder, louder.
He inhaled until his lungs became full.
A tingling bitter taste that penetrates the alveoli.
The sharp smog that tingled my throat left a tingling feeling as it cleared my nasal passages.

Siu looked around him.
A river that divides the two cities.
A wide bridge and cars running vertically across it.
The building, which was famous for being the tallest building in Korea for a while, and the large Hangang River stretching far into the distance and the promenade around it are all visible.

The streetlights looked like that, the buildings were this high, and the asphalt turned this color when it got wet.
Landscapes that I had only seen in my imagination or dreams became reality and passed before my eyes.

“I’m back.”

I’m back.
In this world that I thought I would never be able to step on, Korea, Seoul, and Hangang Park.
It will come back

“I’m back… I’m back…”

Legs were weak.
Siu, who fell to his knees, wept sobbing with tears flowing drop by drop.

Wouldn’t this be a dream?
It can’t stay like this.
Siu wanted strong conviction.

He casually stretched out his hand and picked up the weeds and dirt around him and shoved them into his mouth.
The salty sand and weed roots scratched your mouth, giving off a rich earthy taste and bittersweet grassy taste.
There was a Shinto fire.
This is the earthy taste of Korea that I missed.

“Mom! He eats dirt!”
“Shh! You can’t make eye contact!”

Siwoo didn’t care about the pouring stares around him, and for a while, he crouched down with his mouth full of dirt and weeds, and generously poured out the tears that burst out.

2.
Siwoo stopped by a convenience store near the promenade and bought a 1.5L bottle of Coca-Cola and an African Lulu.
Strangely, Coke did not come to Gehenna, and only a limited number of cigarettes (completely old brands) came in, so the opportunity to experience domestic cigarettes that had been blooming for a long time was clear.

While snooping around a convenience store where quite a few things had changed, the chicken looked so delicious that I bought one too.
When paying the bill, the convenience store part-time worker tilted his head as if he wanted to see all the rare cards, but when he saw Siwoo drooling, the madman hurriedly finished the bill and packed the chicken as if he didn’t want to stay with him for a long time.

“These days, convenience stores fry chicken.”

At best, I thought of frozen chicken, but my heart trembled when I saw the crispy batter and the scent of oil coming up.
Siwoo, who had been walking on a jogging path made of polyurethane for the first time in a long time, sat down on the bench next to his legs and gulped down a coke.

Exciting carbonation that goes beyond the esophagus.
Carbonated water cannot even imitate it, and it is the best drink that will cool off the bitterness in your mouth left by soil.
Besides, it’s so well stored on the shelf that it’s cold enough to make your head cold.

“Keep it off!”

As I gulped down almost half the bottle, my throat sore so much that tears welled up in my eyes.
Without hesitation, he picks up a chicken leg in a paper box and pulls it apart.

The moment you put it in your mouth, the crumbly batter and the oil that has permeated between them burst like water droplets.
Convenience store chicken was convenience store chicken, so the quality wasn’t very good, but Siu couldn’t afford to distinguish it.
When I came to my senses, I almost ate one chicken leg like drinking and was reaching for the next leg.
Had I been careless, I would have chewed the whole bone.

The chicken I ate as a late-night snack once a week was so delicious, how would the chicken taste after 5 years?
Siwoo munched chicken to make his cheeks burst, and when his throat got too clogged, he poured coke into his mouth and swallowed it repeatedly.
After doing this for about 5 minutes, the wrapping paper full of chicken is empty.

“Wow… Fuck, this is sex.”

The sex I had so far wasn’t sex.
Sitting on a bench in a riverside park, eating chicken and Coke together while looking at the leisurely flowing river against the backdrop of a city built on scientific civilization.
This is the true meaning of sex.
Siwoo wailed for his ignorance of misunderstanding the meaning of sex until now.

Direct sunlight was hot because of the early summer season, but a pleasant breeze blows under the shaded bridge.
Maybe it was because I drank all the cola, but when I leaned back while holding my bulging stomach, I was mistaken for a moment.

Wasn’t everything that happened in Gehenna a fleeting dream, and in fact, he had been living this way all along?
It was like the day after being discharged.
Five years felt like such a long time, but as soon as it came out, it seemed like it was just a moment ago.

Siu, who wandered around looking for a smoking area with a smoker’s unique sense, swept the greasiness from his throat with sharp cigarette smoke.
If you just smoke a cigarette here…

“Fucking sex… So fucking good…”

Still, not much has changed.
First of all, people’s attire has changed a little.
Fashion is sensitive to fashion, especially for Koreans, there are trendy fashions that are in vogue every year.
Everyone walks around the riverside in slightly changed clothes, as if they were matched.

For some reason, as if men’s hair is natural, it’s either pomade or baby perm.
All the women are wearing tennis skirts and running down the promenade.

“What is that crazy thing again?”

People were running fast on strange electric quickboards.
Judging by the fact that not just one or two, but many people are riding the same design of quickboards, it seems that they were rented as a group.

When I first arrived in Gehenna, magic was so amazing.
Buildings piled up dozens of stories high, as if it were natural now, and cars slowly passing by exhaling smoke are more mysterious.
Looking at a scene like this, it doesn’t seem too far-fetched to say that sufficiently advanced science is no different from magic.
Siwoo extinguished his cigarette and left the smoking booth.

Okay.
I wanted something like this.
Normal daily life and natural scenery.

It was an extremely ordinary and longed-for sight, with no strange eyes looking at me because of a different skin color and race, where you could buy coke and other things at a convenience store if you stopped by for a moment, and no ruling class who used bizarre magic and took it for granted.

This was the paradise that Siwoo wanted to experience once again.
She feels that the homesickness that has dried up her heart is cured in the blink of an eye.

“Now, shall we go see Mom and Dad?”

Siwoo fixed the crooked eye patch and climbed the riverside slope to catch a taxi.
Now I must have some money.
Regardless of the distance, I jumped on a deluxe taxi.

“Where can I take you?”

After telling the driver his destination with a kind smile like a model taxi, Siu closed his eyes for a moment and put his head on the chair.

2.
Parents looking for a long time.
I bought a bouquet of flowers and a bottle of soju because I was going empty-handed.
By the way, the bouquet is mom’s and the soju is dad’s.

If Gehenna’s buildings are old-fashioned and luxurious, the modern buildings feel a bit old-fashioned, but much cleaner and more friendly.
I opened the revolving door and entered and moved to the second floor to make a list.

“Mom and Dad, I’m home.”

No matter how busy I was, I visited at least once every six months, or at least once a year, so it was the first time I had visited in such a long time.

“Did you miss your son a lot? Were you surprised that he didn’t come suddenly without saying anything? Now, this is my mom’s favorite gypsophila, and this is my dad’s favorite red soju.”

Siu slumped to his seat.
Only then does his eyes meet with his parents.
A picture of parents wearing cheap mountaineering clothes and putting their arms around their shoulders with wide smiles.

“Don’t say that I didn’t come too soon. It’s been 5 years, no, it’s been almost 6 years now. I tried really hard to see my real mother’s face.”

Siu stared intently at the photo.
The faces of my parents, whom I missed, also faded a little.
Is it because it gets a lot of light?

“Do you know what happened? Because it’s not even funny To be honest, I don’t think I would believe it. I was kidnapped in a fantasy world and changed to a witch.”

Siwoo covered his face and smiled wryly, as if he had no idea what he was thinking.
A witch or a fantasy world.
I took it for granted, but I couldn’t imagine feeling so out of place just because the background was changed to modern times.

“I met some crazy girl who couldn’t catch me and couldn’t eat me…. Well, later on, I found out that she wasn’t such a bad person…. Also, I hung out with cute twin girls. Oh Dad! And there are good people among Japanese. I went there and made a Japanese friend, but they educated me that Dokdo is Korean territory, right?”

Siu opened the cabinet at the enshrinement hall and took out his picture.
It was originally a family photo.
Siwoo, who should have been between her parents, has disappeared as if she had been edited with Photoshop.

“Can I take this? Photos of mom and dad, I thought I forgot my face because I didn’t have these.”

Suddenly, something hot surged in his chest.
It’s a strange thing.

“Mom and Dad remember me, right? Didn’t you forget?”

It was funny.
I had never truly believed in the afterlife, but when I saw in front of my eyes that the kite was cut and all memories were erased, rumors come to mind.

“Oh right. Could you please elaborate a bit?”

Siwoo grabbed the photo and brought up miscellaneous stories.
It was obvious that he would be worried if he only talked about his hardships, so he focused on moderately good experiences.

For example, the appearance of Border Town, how beautiful Trinity Academy is, the natural scenery of Gehenna that changes every season, and Latifundium, which is famous for growing magical plants.

“You really don’t need to travel anywhere in the future? Are there any destinations that catch your eye now? Europe is also crowded with tourists for no reason, so you have to be careful of pickpockets…”

Slaying a magical monster, evacuating two people against a terrifying outcast, and so on.

“Honestly, did I have to make that scene into a mad movie and play it at my funeral?”

I didn’t even notice the time passing, and I talked until my throat hurt.

“…I’m just telling you not to worry too much. I’ve been doing really well. Now I don’t have to worry about money for the rest of my life…”

Siu brushed his butt and stood up.
He carefully puts a small framed picture of his parents in his arms.
She wiped away the tears that were about to flow.

“Anyway, it was nice to see you after a long time. I will go now.”

Siu glanced back one last time.

“I will come often from now on. Even if it’s a bit boring, the two of you are getting along well.”

2025 days since he left his hometown.
Siwoo returned to Korea.