Chapter 25- Preparation And Time

"So, what route should we take to the subway? It's at least 15 minutes away from here if we run." Talon asked as he looked at the map.

The subway was 5 kilometers away from them which was going to take them some time to reach. So, they weren't entirely done with the problem of Dimension Walkers.

"That's the only problem we have now. We need to somehow reach the subway. If we do that, we will be safe till we reach the university."

"Hmm…" Talon squinted his eyes as he picked up the phone and started looking at the map carefully. Although he knew the neighborhood very well, he still could forget the smaller alleys that they could use to traverse this distance.

"Ok, look. Our only choices at the moment are two. Either we try to use the initial plan of moving through the broken structures of the area. Or…"

"Or?"

Talon's lips parted into a mischievous grin. "Or we can do something far more reckless but can really bring us to our destination way quicker."

Hyun-Jae raised an eyebrow at Talon's words as she felt that what he was going to say next was going to be wild.

"What is it?"

"We can use a car or a bike to go there! Smart, isn't it?"

"..."

Silence took over the two of them and made Talon awkwardly cough when he realized that Hyun-Jae kept staring at him.

"Ehem, I was just jok-"

"No, that's actually a good idea." Hyun-Jae shook her head as she thought about it.

"Wait, it is?" Talon blinked.

"Yes, there are a good amount of vehicles inside this warehouse that probably belonged to workers. We can use one of them to move faster."

"... Uh, I guess that's true."

'Even though I said that as a joke. I guess she has her reckless side too.' Talon scratched the back of his head. "Ok, I guess it's settled then. We will use the bikes and take route 24 from here which leads to the subway. From there, we just get rid of the bikes, enter the subway and find a metro to move toward the university. If we don't, we just have to continue on foot through the tunnels."

"That sounds good to me."

The two looked at each other before they nodded in understanding. Their plan was now ready, all that was left was to execute it correctly. As for the actual campus infiltration, they can't really create a particular route toward the research center since they have no idea as to how the situation is inside the university.

Whatever they will see there, they will have to deal with it accordingly which is very risky. But, when their choices are so few and far between, risks come along naturally.

"Well, I will excuse myself then. You should also go to sleep. We will need every ounce of energy we can keep." Talon said as he turned around. 

"Yeah, I should." Yawning, Hyun-Jae was about to also leave when Talon called her name again.

"Hey, Ran Hyun-Jae."

"Hm?"

"... Thanks for not backing away from this. You got my respect." He said as he continued walking away without waiting to see her reaction.

Hyun-Jae stood rooted there, surprised by his words. Her usually calm and stoic face changed subtly. Again, his words affected her more than what should've been possible. So what if she got his respect? She had the respect of countless people.

Yet, for some reason, his respect sounded way more genuine and truthful than anyone else and that was why she felt it more vividly.

"Why am I reacting like this…" She murmured as she wiped her face with her hand. "What's wrong with me today?"

***

The rest of the night passed quietly. Talon slept through most of it to recover his energy and so did Hyun-Jae.

As for Soomin and Shin-Il, they decided that they should start practicing with their new weapons. Soomin started learning how to handle the knife with the help of Chin-Hwa while Shin-Il started his first steps of learning how to shoot an arrow with the bow.

Both found a hard time making any progress at first but they were excited and eager to learn so that didn't stop them. As for Ryan Seok and his companions, they simply spent the day in their own space, they didn't talk to anyone nor did they seem eager to get to know anyone which confused the others a lot.

At this point, they were sure that something was off with those people but they still couldn't put their hands on it.

When Talon woke up, he changed his old, bloodied clothes with fresh new ones that he found in the warehouse before he cooked a simple breakfast for everyone.

"Oh my god! This is amazing, Talon!" Shin-Il exclaimed as he took a bite of the sandwich with shock.

"Mmm, this stuff is pretty good," Soomin added as she wolfed down her food with eagerness.

The two seemed to enjoy his food a lot which put a smile on Talon's face. As for Hyun-Jae, she was certainly loving it too as she even smiled slightly when she tasted it. The only one who didn't show a reaction was Chin-Hwa who didn't even intend to eat his food at first only to be forced by Hyun-Jae to eat.

"Where did you learn to cook, Talon?" Hyun-Jae asked as she continued eating.

Talon wiped his mouth with a handkerchief before he replied as he looked up with a dreamy look.

"Cookbooks and experimentation… A lot of experimentation."

"Why do you love cooking so much?" Shin-Il asked.

"Seeing people's smiles while eating my food is one of the reasons why I love cooking. Mainly my parents since they always come back home late and so eating a warm meal always puts a smile on their faces. That made me so excited to cook every day so that I can see their smiles as they eat it."

Everyone went silent when they heard him. 

"Talon…" Shin-Il murmured with a complicated gaze. He felt really emotional for some reason and he could barely contain it. The fondness in Talon's words and the way he looked felt different.

The others were also touched by his words. 

"Ah, what's up with the emotional mood all of a sudden? I tell you, I hate these moods! Too awkward for my taste." Talon giggled.

"Hehehe, who told you to say something emotional out of nowhere?" Shin-Il asked.

"It's called being nostalgic my dear Shin-Il."

"That's the same as being emotional, though." Soomin adjusted her glasses as she retorted.

"... Tsk! Ok, I was feeling emotional for a second! Spare me!"

"Hehehe! Talon is shy!"

The laughs of the group echoed in the warehouse as they talked about random topics. The mood was lighter than before which helped ease their stress a little.

Chin-Hwa watched Talon silently from the corner. He didn't notice how his hand was gripping the spoon way harder than before.

However, he was fighting back his anger and irritation as much as he could. After all, his group seemed to like Talon, especially Hyun-Jae.

'Especially the president…' Just remembering what he saw and how she treated him yesterday, he felt his heart squeezing with pain. It was a really bad argument between them.

In fact, he was sure that she was still annoyed with him and that kept bugging his head the whole night with no way of getting rid of it.

'I need to apologize.' He thought to himself. However, that's where the problems appear, he doesn't know how to apologize.

He had never fought with Hyun-Jae before so it was a first for him.

"I will apologize before they leave." He decided in the end. He didn't want her to stay angry with him, it was simply too painful for him to handle.

His eyes slowly wandered from the ceiling to Hyun-Jae as his gaze softened a lot. Then, he looked down at the plate.

'It is delicious…' He admitted secretly.

***

The rest of the day passed quietly. Talon continued his training with the spear with his newfound knowledge after leveling up and his progress was very good. He was able to almost perfect the horizontal slash as it is and started integrating other moves too.

Shin-Il and Soomin continued their training with the help of Chin-Hwa and Hyun-Jae which boosted their learning speed a lot.

By the end of the day, everyone ate dinner and finally went to sleep, knowing fully well that Talon and Hyun-Jae would have to leave tomorrow. 

Everyone was nervous, except for the two that were going to leave which was very ironic in a sense.

In the end, the morning came and Hyun-Jae and Talon finally were ready to embark on their mission. They decided to use one bike instead of two so that they don't lose each other in the streets.

"Fuuuh… So cold…" Talon stretched his limbs as he looked at the weather. It was still like winter so Talon wore a thicker coat he found.

"Are you ready?" Acrypha asked.

"You're asking me now?" 

"Just a small test to see if you would hesitate." Acrypha teased him playfully.

Talon rolled his eyes as he replied. "Thanks for the moral support, granny."

"You!!"

"Ok, this bag has food, some medicine we found and a few clothes in case we need them. Anything else?" Hyun-Jae asked as she strapped the bag to the bike.

"No, nothing else."

"Oh man, please be careful guys! You better come back safe and sound!" Shin-Il exclaimed worriedly.

"Don't worry, we will be fine. Take care of the warehouse for us and don't do anything dangerous." Hyun-Jae replied.

"How long do you think it would take for you to come back?" Soomin asked.

"At most a day or two, and in the least a few hours if everything works out perfectly." Talon was the one to reply this time.

"Which it doesn't most of the time," Soomin added at the end.

"Sure thing, haha!"

As everyone talked and said their farewells for now, Chin-Hwa was standing to the side, oddly silent. The time had come and he was still hesitant about apologizing to his childhood friend.

"Mm, president." In the end, he called for her.

"Hm?"

"... I'd like to talk with you for a moment."