Chapter 86: Somethings Are Not To Keep Longer
Guardian Network Headquarters.
7:42 A.M.
For the first time in weeks...
Dillan arrived before everyone else.
The building was unusually quiet.
Only the sound of distant keyboards and humming lights filled the empty halls.
He stopped outside the cafeteria.
Someone was already inside.
Sasha.
She stood by the window holding two cups of coffee.
Almost as if she had known exactly when he would arrive.
She turned.
A gentle smile immediately appeared.
"...Morning."
"...Morning."
She handed him one of the cups.
"...How did you know I’d want coffee?"
She tilted her head.
"...Lucky guess."
Dillan laughed.
"...You’re getting really good at those."
She smiled.
"...I’ve had a lot of practice."
They stood together in comfortable silence.
Watching the sunrise paint the city gold.
"...Can I ask something?"
Dillan finally spoke.
"You can ask anything."
"...Why didn’t you hate me?"
Sasha looked at him.
"...After all those years."
"...After I forgot."
The question lingered between them.
She looked back toward the rising sun.
"...Because..."
"...You were eight."
"...Children forget."
"...I didn’t want my last memory of you..."
She smiled softly.
"...To become anger."
Dillan lowered his head.
"...I don’t deserve that."
"...You don’t get to decide."
She answered gently.
"...I already forgave you."
Several floors above...
Sera watched from the balcony.
Again.
She didn’t mean to.
She had simply looked outside.
And there they were.
Talking.
Laughing.
Growing closer.
She quietly looked away.
"...Enough."
She whispered.
Yet...
Her feet refused to move.
Later that morning...
Commander Yuna gathered the Compass.
"The subway investigation is officially closed."
Dr. Yeon nodded.
"Every abnormal reading disappeared."
Dana stretched.
"So we actually solved one."
"...Apparently."
Yuna didn’t sound convinced.
Mira noticed immediately.
"...Something’s bothering you."
Commander Yuna folded her arms.
"...We never discovered what Platform Zero actually was."
Silence.
"...Nor who created it."
Lyra quietly added,
"...Or who was watching."
The room became silent once again.
Mira placed a new photograph onto the table.
"The hooded figure."
"I enhanced the image."
Everyone leaned forward.
The hood remained impossible to identify.
But something new had appeared.
Around the figure’s feet...
Ancient symbols.
Circular.
Interlocking.
Commander Yuna frowned.
"...Dr. Yeon?"
She slowly shook her head.
"...I’ve never seen writing like this."
Lyra’s expression changed instantly.
"...That’s not writing."
Everyone looked toward her.
"...It’s a seal."
Silence.
"...A broken one."
Meanwhile...
Dillan spent the afternoon helping reorganize storage rooms.
Mostly paperwork.
Mostly boring.
Exactly how he liked it.
Until...
He opened one forgotten cabinet.
Inside sat an old cardboard box.
Dust covered every side.
A faded label read:
FOUND PROPERTY
"...Wonder what’s in here."
He opened it.
Umbrellas.
Wallets.
Old employee badges.
Then...
A tiny stuffed rabbit.
Its white fur had faded with age.
One button eye was missing.
The moment Dillan touched it...
Another memory surfaced.
Rain.
A crying little girl.
"My bunny..."
Young Dillan ran across a muddy road.
Picked up the soaked stuffed rabbit.
Held it above his head triumphantly.
"I got him!"
The little girl burst into tears.
Then hugged him tightly.
"...Thank you..."
The memory faded.
"...Sasha..."
He whispered.
Without thinking...
He placed the rabbit into his backpack.
Across headquarters...
Dana noticed him smiling again.
"...Another memory?"
"...Yeah."
"What this time?"
He pulled out the stuffed rabbit.
Dana blinked.
"...Seriously?"
"...Don’t laugh."
"I’m trying not to."
He explained the memory.
Dana listened quietly.
When he finished...
She smiled.
"...She really mattered to you."
"...Yeah."
He looked at the rabbit.
"...I just wish I’d remembered sooner."
That evening...
Sasha received a message.
It came from an unknown number.
Only three words.
WE FOUND YOU.
Her smile disappeared.
Slowly.
Completely.
She read the message again.
Then calmly deleted it.
Blocked the number.
Placed the phone back into her pocket.
No one around her noticed.
Except...
Lyra.
She had been walking through the hallway.
She saw Sasha’s expression change.
Only for a second.
Before the familiar gentle smile returned.
"...Everything alright?"
Lyra asked.
"...Of course."
Sasha answered immediately.
"...Just spam."
Lyra looked into her eyes.
"...You’re lying."
A brief silence followed.
Then Sasha laughed softly.
"...I am."
It was the first time...
Anyone had caught her in one.
"...Will you tell me?"
Lyra asked.
Sasha slowly shook her head.
"...No."
"...Because..."
She looked toward the corridor where Dillan had disappeared.
"...This is something I have to protect him from."
Lyra’s silver eyes narrowed.
"...Protect him from what?"
Sasha’s smile remained.
Gentle.
Warm.
But this time...
There was fear behind it.
Real fear.
"...My family."
Lyra froze.
"...Your family?"
Sasha nodded once.
Very slowly.
"...They never wanted me to come back."
She turned and quietly walked away.
Leaving Lyra standing alone in the hallway.
For the first time...
The puzzle gained another piece.
Sasha wasn’t the only one searching for Dillan.
Someone else had found him.
And unlike Sasha...
They hadn’t come to remember the past.
They had come...
For whatever Dillan was becoming.
Far across the city...
Inside a luxurious mansion...
An older man closed a folder labeled:
DILLAN RUREN
Without looking up, he spoke calmly.
"...Keep watching."
Across from him, a man in a black suit bowed.
"...Yes, Chairman Gamilo."
The older man looked out the window toward Seoul.
His expression carried neither warmth nor hatred.
Only calculation.
"...If the boy awakens..."
He closed the folder.
"...Bring him to me."
The folder closed with a quiet snap.
DILLAN RUREN
Chairman Gamilo rested one hand upon it.
His office overlooked nearly all of Seoul.
Floor-to-ceiling windows.
Marble floors.
Absolute silence.
The room was elegant.
Cold.
Built for a man who believed emotions complicated business.
"...How many days?"
The man in the black suit answered immediately.
"Twenty-three since Miss Sasha returned to Korea."
"...And?"
"She has ignored every request to return."
Silence.
The Chairman slowly turned toward the city.
"...Just like her mother."
The suited man lowered his head.
Neither agreed.
Nor disagreed.
"...Continue."
"The Guardian Network accepted her as an outside consultant."
"She has made contact with Dillan Ruren."
"They’ve spent increasing amounts of time together."
The Chairman nodded once.
"...Naturally."
The man hesitated.
"...There is one more thing."
"What?"
"...His memories are returning."
For the first time...
The Chairman’s expression changed.
Not surprise.
Interest.
"...How much?"
"We’re uncertain."
"...Enough that he has remembered Miss Sasha’s name."
The Chairman remained silent.
His fingers gently tapped against the desk.
"...Too early."
Guardian Network Headquarters.
The afternoon passed peacefully.
Too peacefully.
Commander Yuna disliked peaceful days.
Peace usually meant something was gathering strength elsewhere.
She reviewed Gate reports.
Nothing.
Mana fluctuations.
Nothing.
Monster migrations.
Nothing.
"...Strange."
Dr. Yeon looked over.
"What is?"
"I don’t like quiet."
Meanwhile...
Dillan sat in the greenhouse helping Sera repot flowers.
"...You really enjoy this."
Sera smiled.
"They don’t argue."
"...Fair."
"They don’t lie."
"...Also fair."
She laughed quietly.
"...And they grow if you care for them."
Dillan carefully moved another lily into fresh soil.
"...People are harder."
"They are."
Silence settled between them.
Then Sera spoke again.
"...Do you love her?"
Dillan froze.
"...Who?"
"Sasha."
The question landed heavily.
He looked down at the flowerpot in his hands.
"...I don’t know."
"You spend a lot of time together."
"...Because I’m remembering."
"...Not because you love her?"
He remained quiet.
Long enough that Sera already had her answer.
"...I honestly don’t know."
He finally admitted.
"I feel guilty."
"I feel comfortable around her."
"And..."
He sighed.
"...Sometimes I feel like my heart remembers before my head does."
Sera nodded gently.
"...Thank you."
"...For what?"
"For answering honestly."
She smiled.
"...That’s enough."
But as Dillan left the greenhouse...
Her smile slowly faded.
"...Your heart..."
She whispered to herself.
"...Is dangerous."
Across headquarters...
Dana and Mira reviewed another set of security reports.
"...Still watching Sasha?"
Dana asked.
"...Less."
Mira admitted.
"...Why?"
"Because she hasn’t done anything wrong."
Dana looked surprised.
"...That’s unlike you."
"I’m changing my focus."
"...To?"
Mira quietly enlarged another surveillance photograph.
The hooded figure.
Golden eyes.
"...Whoever this is."
That evening...
Sasha returned home.
The apartment felt unusually cold.
She stopped before opening the front door.
Someone had been inside.
Nothing was missing.
Nothing had moved.
Yet...
She knew.
Slowly...
She stepped into the apartment.
Everything looked normal.
Until she reached the dining table.
A single white envelope rested there.
No stamp.
No address.
Only one word.
SASHA
She opened it carefully.
Inside...
One sheet of paper.
Typed.
Come home.
This is your final warning.
You are forgetting your duty.
Her hands trembled slightly.
Not from fear.
From anger.
She folded the paper once.
Twice.
Then quietly placed it into the fireplace.
The flame slowly consumed every word.
"...No."
She whispered.
"...I already chose."
Across the city...
Chairman Gamilo received another report.
"She burned the letter."
"I expected as much."
"...Should we intervene?"
The Chairman looked toward the photograph of an eight-year-old Sasha sitting beside an equally young Dillan.
He stared at it for several long moments.
"...Not yet."
"...She believes she’s protecting him."
"...That makes her predictable."
He closed the report.
"...Continue watching."
Later that night...
Dillan couldn’t sleep.
Not because of nightmares.
Because of memories.
He walked onto his apartment balcony.
The city stretched endlessly before him.
"...Feels different."
He quietly admitted.
The breeze carried the faint scent of lilies.
Then...
His phone vibrated.
A message.
Unknown number.
He frowned.
Opened it.
Only one sentence appeared.
Do you still remember the tree?
His heartbeat stopped.
He immediately looked toward the contact information.
No number.
No sender.
Nothing.
Just the message.
Another notification arrived.
Before he could react.
Meet me there tomorrow.
The messages disappeared.
Deleted automatically.
Dillan stared at the blank screen.
"...The tree..."
The old oak tree from the park.
The place from his dreams.
The place from his memories.
The place where promises had been made.
His chest tightened.
"...Sasha?"
Far away...
Sasha sat on her apartment balcony.
Her phone rested on the table beside her.
She hadn’t sent any messages.
She quietly looked toward the same night sky.
"...Tomorrow..."
She whispered.
"...I was going to ask you myself."
At that exact moment...
Both Dillan and Sasha unknowingly looked toward the same distant park.
Neither realized...
Someone else...
Had already arrived there.
Standing beneath the old oak tree...
A hooded figure slowly looked up at the moon.
The golden eyes beneath the hood glowed once.
Then darkness swallowed them again.