Where the Tracks End

After the CSAT ended.

Including Jaeyoung, the group known as “Ppongfam” somehow became even busier than before.

Show your exam slip and get half-price haircuts, half-price movies.

It really didn’t get better than that.

And everywhere they went, Saheon was with them.

When Saheon appeared, his fans naturally gathered.

At times like that, the kids could barely take a single step forward.

Because Saheon was intimidating, people sometimes tried approaching Haewoon instead, once word spread that he was Saheon’s younger brother.

Only Mintae, a born attention-seeker, stayed consistently thrilled.

Because of all this, the group gradually started gathering only at Haewoon’s place.

That day, Ppongfam was planning their first trip with just the four of them.

They started by throwing out a few candidate destinations, trying to pick somewhere with things to do.

“Instead of that, why don’t we go somewhere I know?”

“Where?”

Jaeyoung turned the laptop so Dongjun could search.

“It’s a beach, but there’s also a small mountain behind the village where you can sled!

Free sledding with no waiting—doesn’t that sound insane?”

Ignoring the fact that Jaeyoung had clearly slid the laptop toward him on purpose, Dongjun kept talking.

Jaeyoung, already convinced the answer was decided no matter what he said, pushed himself up from the floor.

Since Dongjun already had a destination in mind, Jaeyoung had basically done nothing while his friends worked themselves into a frenzy over travel plans—like a puppy that needed to poop but couldn’t focus on anything else.

“A beach?

In winter?”

Mintae hugged himself tightly, as if imagining the icy sea breeze.

“You guys have no sense of romance.

You don’t know how amazing the beach is in midwinter.”

“You say that like you’ve been.”

Jaeyoung blinked and calmly poked Dongjun in the chest.

Hit with a factual blow, Dongjun’s face twisted instantly.

“That’s why we’re going—to find out!”

“Even if we go to the beach, why does it have to be all the way out there?

There are famous beaches closer.”

Haewoon shot him a sharp look, demanding the truth.

“Who told you about that place when none of us know it but you?”

Dongjun just moved his lips without answering, and Haewoon drove the point home.

Only then did Mintae finally catch on.

“Is it a girl?

Is she pretty?”

At the hopeful question, Jaeyoung smacked Mintae’s thigh hard.

But the one who deserved the hit wasn’t Mintae.

“I haven’t seen pictures, so I don’t know…”

Dongjun scratched his head awkwardly.

Jaeyoung stared at him in horror.

“You’re saying we’re going somewhere unfamiliar based on a stranger’s word—right now?”

In a world this scary, regardless of age or gender.

Jaeyoung frowned and pressed Dongjun with his eyes.

“No, it’s not like she’s a total stranger.

She was raised by her grandmother, so she’s upright and kind.

She’s oddly mature for her age—kind of funny, actually.”

Dongjun already seemed completely smitten with the friend who’d suggested the destination.

What started as justification turned into praise.

“Let’s go, guys.

Please?”

When the praise session finally ended, Dongjun clung to them.

“Whether we go to the mountains or the beach, it’s cold either way!

If we’re going to freeze, it’s better to go somewhere with someone we know!”

When the others stayed lukewarm, Dongjun switched tactics and started whining.

Jaeyoung let out a deep sigh and spoke.

“You said you don’t even know what she looks like.”

“I did.”

“Her name?”

“……”

Jaeyoung turned his gaze back to the laptop.

At this point, Dongjun had to understand why this was a bad idea.

“She’s not someone I don’t know at all!

We’ve known each other for over a year on SNS!”

He was so persistent it almost felt like he was possessed.

Either the place was that appealing, or Dongjun really wanted to go that badly.

Jaeyoung looked at him with concern.

“There are four of us.

It’s not like anything bad could happen, right?”

Haewoon finally spoke, as if the worry was excessive.

It seemed less like he’d been persuaded and more like he was sick of Dongjun’s whining.

“What’s the address?”

Jaeyoung asked, hands resting on the keyboard.

Dongjun brightened and rummaged through his pocket, pulling out a slip of paper.

Relieved, he seemed to think they’d finally agreed.

“Isn’t this way too rural?

Do cars even come out here?”

After checking the address on the map, Jaeyoung voiced his concern.

It was surprising there was even a resort—and a website—in a place like that.

“Doesn’t look like there’s a mart either…”

“We’ll just buy everything here.”

Dongjun replied instantly, like it wasn’t a problem at all.

“We’re not secretly being sold somewhere, right?”

Mintae crossed his arms over his chest, suddenly uneasy at Dongjun’s confidence.

“Who would buy you?”

Haewoon clicked his tongue, looking at Mintae like he was pathetic.

While that happened, Jaeyoung booked the resort and checked off items they wouldn’t need to prepare.

The destination for a trip celebrating the last day of being nineteen and the first day of being twenty was decided.

As the trip drew closer, the others stayed busy getting haircuts, buying new clothes, and scrubbing themselves spotless.

Jaeyoung, who had no interest in dressing up and a brother who worked as a team leader at a fashion company, lacked for nothing.

“So this time, you really can’t come along.

Okay?”

That was why Jaeyoung sat Saheon down and repeated himself again and again.

The place Ppongfam was going wasn’t anywhere near Gaon City—it was Yeoul City, stuck at the very edge of the map.

If Saheon showed up even there, people might start questioning his real intentions.

Seeing the determination in Jaeyoung’s eyes, Saheon—who had been waiting with hopeful anticipation—let out a small sigh.

“That almost makes me want to cancel my existing schedule.”

With long, slender fingers, Saheon brushed beneath Jaeyoung’s chin.

The slow movement from behind his ear down to his Adam’s apple sent a chill through Jaeyoung.

At Jaeyoung’s pale face, Saheon let out a hollow laugh.

“If even the slightest thing feels off, press the emergency beacon.”

Saheon fiddled with the necklace he’d personally put on Jaeyoung.

Jaeyoung reflexively nodded—then froze.

“You said you were going overseas for work.”

It wasn’t only Korea that needed the power of an S-class physical Esper.

Requests came in from all over the world for Saheon to accompany A-rank or higher dungeon raids.

In return, he earned an enormous special allowance.

“Ahn Jaehyo is A-rank.”

Saheon spoke confidently, as if to say there was nothing to worry about.

He meant he could teleport over using Jaehyo’s ability.

Jaeyoung hesitated.

He’d heard that even for an A-rank, crossing the sea consumed massive amounts of energy.

“Press it.

Promise.”

Saheon stared straight into Jaeyoung’s eyes, determined to hear the answer he wanted.

“I will.”

Jaeyoung nodded reluctantly.

Saheon’s lips curved into a smooth arc.

Truthfully, this was Jaeyoung’s first time traveling far with friends without their parents, and he was scared.

But thinking that Saheon would come find him if something dangerous happened made his heart feel lighter.

“Then let’s do a ton of guiding before you leave.”

Jaeyoung smiled brightly and held out his arm.

Saheon gladly pulled him in and buried his lips at the nape of his neck.

When he inhaled deeply, a rich, milky scent filled his lungs.

‘He really smells like this.’

Closing his eyes, Saheon slowly savored Jaeyoung’s natural scent.

From Gaon City to Yeoul City, the most convenient way to travel was by train.

The friends got off midway to eat at a restaurant, then boarded another train.

With the time and the monotony of sitting still, Jaeyoung began to doze off.

After some time—

As if doused in ice water, his body jolted and his eyes flew open.

Jaeyoung lifted his upper body from the seatback and looked around like he was searching for something.

“I was about to wake you—perfect timing.”

Dongjun greeted him enthusiastically.

“Huh?”

Still half-asleep, Jaeyoung replied blankly.

“That’s the village.”

Ignoring his sluggish response, Dongjun pointed out the window.

Dense green plants packed tightly beside the tracks.

Between them was a pitch-black opening, like the mouth of a deep well.

The train sped past it.

“Hey, hey!

Wake up!”

Once the opening was no longer visible, Dongjun started shaking the others awake.

“Mom, five more minutes!”

“I wasn’t sleeping.”

Haewoon protested, eyes wide with freshly formed double eyelids—clearly just woken up.

“If we don’t get off now, we’ll go all the way to the terminal.

Grab your stuff!”

At Dongjun’s urging, they gathered their bags and followed him off the train.

Then they walked in the opposite direction of the tracks to reach the entrance they’d seen earlier.

“There’s not a single person here.”

Mintae scanned the area with frightened eyes and stuck close to Jaeyoung.

Jaeyoung wrapped an arm around his shoulder and patted him reassuringly.

“Welcome!”

A sudden unfamiliar voice cut in.

“Shit—don’t scare me like that.”

Despite his looks, Haewoon had a small heart.

He jumped in place and hid behind Jaeyoung’s shoulder.

With one grown friend clinging to each side, Jaeyoung looked at the speaker.

The village entrance looked even darker up close than it had from the train.

Trees with drooping branches stood densely packed, casting deep shadows.

A girl who looked about their age stood alone in that darkness.

Her sun-tanned skin gave her a healthy impression.

“You’re Dongjun, right?”

She spoke while looking straight at him among the four.

“Huh?

How did you know?”

“I can smell myself on you.”

The girl nodded and replied with a bright smile.

At the words “my smell,” the others froze in shock.

“Smell?”

A thousand thoughts flooded their minds—

Had their friend done something terrible to this seemingly nice girl?

Should they all drop to their knees and apologize right now?

“N-no.”

Dongjun waved his hands frantically.

“You brought the letters we exchanged, right?”

The girl pushed him into a corner with her words—then cleared up the misunderstanding herself.

“Y-yeah… of course.

I really did.”

Dongjun looked at his friends desperately, begging them to believe him.

Jaeyoung nodded, letting out a sigh of relief.

‘Letters?’

At the same time, something about her words felt off.

Jaeyoung belonged to a generation more familiar with messages than emails, and emails than handwritten letters.

“I brought the letters we exchanged, just in case you didn’t trust me.”

“Letters?

I thought you said you knew each other through SNS?”

Jaeyoung pressed Dongjun sharply.

The girl looked between them with a puzzled expression.

Dongjun, meeting her gaze, forced an awkward smile.

“I—I’ll explain later…”

Turning his back where the girl couldn’t see, Dongjun clasped his hands together and rubbed them desperately, begging for mercy.

Jaeyoung couldn’t understand why Dongjun—of all people—had done something this foolish.