Roy didn’t tell Taeeon about his own awakening that day. He figured it was only a matter of ti before Taeeon realized on his own.
Still, he hadn’t expected Taeeon to notice only a week later.
‘But then again, that’s so Kim Taeeon.’
Roy felt a surge of happiness—he hadn’t expected Taeeon to reach out first. Smirking at his phone, he felt a pair of wide eyes turn up to him. Roze, cradled in his arms, peered at the screen.
“What’s that?”
“Mmm~ Oppa’s friend awakened just now.”
“Wow~ What’s that!”
“More than oppa?”
“No! Roze thinks oppa is the best in the world.”
Roze, perched between Roy’s legs eating a snack, grinned and leaned against him.
“Oppa’s a bit like a prince.”
Overwheld by how adorable she looked, Roy couldn’t contain his affection and nibbled her cheek.
“Kya!”
Hearing her giggle in his arms made him glow.
“Aa~ you’re so cute. But Roze, what was that again?”
“Heehee! I dunno.”
Embarrassed, Roze blushed and wriggled free.
“Where are you off to? Princess, co here.”
“I’m going to mommy.”
“Why? Co play with oppa more~”
He’d been away in Sokcho last weekend and hadn’t had ti to play with Roze, so this week he’d beco her shadow—but she already had plans.
“Roze’s playing with Sudy today. She’s going to show rabbits.”
Sudy was Roze’s friend in the Rainbow class at her English kindergarten.
“You’re playing with Sudy today? Then oppa?”
“Oppa... tonight!”
“Got it. Then a kiss instead.”
Smooch. Smooch.
Roze scampered over, planting kisses on both his cheeks.
“Aww, so sweet~ have fun with Sudy and the rabbits.”
“Okay! See you later~”
Once Roze and her mother left, Roy was on his own. There were servants in the house, but he couldn’t exactly ask them to play with him.
No choice, then. Since Taeeon had called, Roy dialed imdiately.
“Hello? Hyung, where are you?”
✧
Taeeon said he’d co to the neighborhood, so they t at a café near Roy’s ho.
“You live around here. I heard a lot of celebrities live nearby, too.”
“Really? I’m not interested.”
In a past life he’d been a celebrity, so he didn’t care about others.
“So, awakening, huh? When did you find out?”
“I learned yesterday and took the tests today.”
Taeeon had stayed in Sokcho to sort out the farm. With his leg still sore, he only visited a hospital after returning to Seoul, where they suspected awakening and recomnded detailed exams.
“What rank?”
“They said B. Honestly, I still can’t believe I’m an Awakener.”
His ears reddened. S-rank awakenings appeared once in a decade—an S-rank was heavenly. The common highest rank was A, so B was comfortably high.
“Congratulations! B is still amazing.”
“Thanks.”
“You must’ve had a lot of scout offers.”
“You know everything. When I left the clinic, they handed tons of business cards. Want to see?”
Roy, who’d never even seen a business card, pretended to know exactly what to do. Listening to classmates early in the sester finally paid off.
“Let see. How many did you get?”
Roy nodded, and Taeeon overturned his bag on the table. A mountain of cards—easily over a hundred—spilled out.
“...Why so many?”
“Ha ha. I didn’t realize there’d be this many.”
He rubbed his nose, embarrassed.
“Actually, I asked to et today because of this. I never imagined I’d awaken.”
“ neither.”
Roy never dread he’d resurrect in the Wilderness and go around gaslighting people.
Taeeon stared at space, uneasy. It embarrassed him to ask for help again after owing his life to Roy.
“There’s no one else I can ask... sorry.”
Taeeon had picked the wrong person to apologize to—Roy knew no more than Taeeon did.
“Huh? Don’t be sorry. You did right. Ahem. So what do you want to know? Ask anything.”
Roy had no intention of telling the whole truth. He straightened proudly.
“Do you have criteria for choosing a guild? And what do they teach at school? Also...”
“Whoa. One question at a ti.”
He needed thinking ti. Pretending to browse the cards, Roy started with his own question.
“What’s your attribute?”
“? That is...”
“It’s okay. I won’t tease you.”
“I’m elent-based. Earth attribute.”
Just as he rembered: during Shooting Star days, Junseo granted him earth power so he’d be the group’s solid leader. The earth master from the MV awakened with the sa ability here.
“Impressive.”
“No, you’re more impressive. You fought three blood fiends.”
“Ahem. True.”
Roy shrugged.
“So, criteria for guilds—why join one?”
“Justice...? A sense of mission or belonging.”
A silence fell. That answer surprised him. Right—Kim Taeeon was always like this.
“Justice... right. But there’s sothing even more important, isn’t there?”
Roy put down the cards, made a circle with his thumb and index finger.
“...Money?”
“Exactly. The biggest reason is to earn money.”
At least Roy thought so. Awakeners generally split into loyalists and runaways. Loyalists joined governnt bodies or guilds, driven by mission to protect peace. Most awakenings were loyalists—they handled reports and requests, divided into field and office teams. Field work was dangerous but paid well. Many preferred it despite the risk.
But loyalists had a choice—and Taeeon never hesitated to pick guilds because he wanted to avoid the Awakener Bureau’s brutal national exams: writing tests, practicals, psych evaluations, ethics, interviews—six months of exams to pass. Only true elites could endure that.
Runaways pursued private interests—mostly influencers or YouTubers—rarely treated like awakeners. Their money and curses were proportional.
“So you’re considering a guild because you’ve decided to sacrifice yourself for the country?”
“I haven’t decided... still thinking.”
“Right. No rush. With a B-grade elent, guilds will hunt you down anyway. Let’s raise your price while we wait.”
“Like the two-oh-oh guys?”
“Pfft!”
Roy bursted out laughing at his own nonsense while sipping his drink.
“Gasp. Sorry, are you okay?”
“Mm... I’m fine.”
Taeeon wiped his face, forcing a smile.
“Anyway, guilds are premature. Your dream was to run a café, right? You just made that dream co true—why quit already?”
“No?!”
Taeeon exclaid.
“See? No need to decide hastily.”
“Thanks. Talking it through helped a lot.”
“And what else did you ask?”
“What do they teach at school?”
“Just tests, exercise, and individual practice.”
“Individual practice?”
Since awakeners’ powers vary, most practical classes were one-on-one except theory. Common subjects were shooting and Krav Maga—combat skills for real scenarios. Instructors said awakeners must prepare for situations where they can’t use powers.
“So that’s why early awakening is touted...”
“But you’ll have to go to training camp anyway, right? Adult awakeners have mandatory education?”
“Right. I looked it up—camp only teaches basic self-defense. Probably because it’s short.”
“Aha~ that’s why you’re weighing guilds?”
Taeeon nodded.
“Between the farm incident and feeling mandatory training isn’t enough.”
“Fair. It makes sense. Want to teach you?”
“Really?”
“Yeah. I can’t do it often because of school, but I can teach you when I can. You saw fight, right?”
To defeat Chaos Evil, the mbers needed maximum combat power.
“One more favor.”
“Sure! Just say it.”
“I’m looking for soone. But you know I live in the dorm, so I can’t get out on weekdays.”
If Hojin were here, his eyes would’ve popped. He knew how Roy could scale walls like breathing.
“Of course. I’ll look into it. Any info?”
“Just na and age. Maybe athletic scholarship candidate?”
“No photo?”
“No, but I’d recognize the face.”
“Tough, but I’ll help.”
Roy bead.
“After all, you’re my lifesaver. My life is yours.”
But the reply was odd.
“Huh? You don’t have to—”
“No! If you hadn’t co that day, I’d be dead. You saved .”
Saved?
Why the heck did it co to that...?
Roy was speechless at Taeeon’s cult-like devotion.
“Roy, you’re the savior of my life. That won’t change even if the world ends.”
No, you lunatic. That’s not it...
Roy broke into a cold sweat. Godslighting was terrifyingly powerful. After two victims, he realized its danger. He resolved to avoid using it on people.
Quickly shifting the subject before more of this cult talk:
“S-so, should I send you the info now?”
“Ah, yes. Send whatever you have on ssenger.”
Roy °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° hurriedly sent Yeonwoo’s info. Contrary to expectations, progress happened imdiately.
“...Park Yeonwoo?”
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