Both Hirano and Tsukiko looked confusedly at Jae-sung and asked,
"Soul of The Lost?".
Jae-sung, who initially had his back facing the siblings turned to answer them. As soon as he did though, all he could see was two people, who looked very similar to one another having the exact same face. When I say exact same face, I mean it. They had both tilted their heads towards the side and their confusion was so apparent that you could practically see question marks at the back of their heads. Met with a situation like this, Jae-sung momentarily could not speak.
"They look exactly the same...", he thought. Realizing how rude he was being, staring at them for so long, he cleared his throat and spoke.
"Yes, The Souls of the Lost are those without sorcery who have suffered an excruciatingly painful predicament in their life and are not able to free themselves of the shackles that bind them to the trauma suffered from it and eventually lose themselves to the darkness and fear in their hearts until one day, their bodies can no longer bear the weight and explode, letting the now mutated soul run free".
Tsukiko looked shocked, shocked that such a thing could actually happen to someone. She had always thought that normal folk, who didn't have to experience the hardships that came with being a necromancer, were very lucky, but she realized that she had never once thought of the hardships they may face as normal folk themselves. Subconsciously, she turned to her brother, who had lived as a normal person for all his life.
Hirano, who had furrowed his brows after listening to Jae-sung's frightening revelation about the man who was sent to kill his sister and seemed to be in deep thought. Sensing his sister's gaze, he turned his head to face her and smiled. Seeing his smile, Tsukiko couldn't help but feel her heart ache and she felt guilty for not properly considering what her brother might be going through, especially since he had done everything, going to work immediately after high school, adamantly saying he would take care of her after their parents went missing, everything for her sake.
Thinking about all this, Tsukiko felt tears stinging at her eyes and soon, drops of water rolled down her eyes.
"I'm sorry", she said in a small voice. Hirano noticed this and immediately went to comfort her by hugging her. He smiled as he said, "Why are you apologizing, there's nothing to be sorry for".
Tsukiko knew this and yet, she couldn't stop crying. Jae-sung had watched all this unfold and he also felt a little sad despite not understanding why she was crying. Perhaps it's like when one sees their friend sad, they also feel sad.
Thankfully, Tsukiko soon ceased her crying after her brother had continuously calmed her down. Perhaps it was due to all the exciting things that had happened previously, Tsukiko found it hard to open her eyes and a wave of exhaustion fell over her and soon she closed her eyes and fell asleep. Hirano saw this and carried her to her bed and gently placed her on it and covered her with her blanket. He watched her sleep for some time before turning around to face Jae-sung.
"Sorry for all this, my sister has always been a bit emotional", said Hirano with a smile. Jae-sung simply nodded and before he could say anything, Hirano spoke again.
"By the way, who are you?", he asked. It was only then that Jae-sung realized that neither of them knew who the other person was. Jae-sung immediately gave a respectful bow and said, "My name is Kim Jae-sung, I'm a...friend of Tsukiko". He had hesitated to call Tsukiko his friend, but he also felt that addressing Tsukiko as a classmate didn't feel right so he still ended up calling her his friend.
Hirano returned the bow and spoke with a smile.
"Ahh, I see. It's nice to meet you. My name is Hirano Kurosawa and I'm not sure if you've already figured it out but I'm Tsukiko's elder brother.
"So, they're siblings", thought Jae-sung. He had always felt like they looked similar to one another, even in their actions. Like how both of them gave the same gestures and had similar expressions. If Tsukiko was the same age as Hirano, he would have thought them to be twins.
Suddenly, Jae-sung heard a light chuckle and turned around. Hirano, now sitting on a chair next to his sister's bed had just chuckled.
"So, it seems you already figured it out?", he said. Jae-sung felt a little embarrassed and subconsciously straightened up. Hirano, though, only seemed to say that for the sake of poking fun and immediately continued to gaze at his sister's sleeping face.
"My sister...", he started, "She's always had a kind heart though it may have contributed to her being emotional as well.
Unfortunately, there are people who take advantage of her for that very reason, even when she was little, though she was well-liked by her pairs, there were always kids bigger than her that'd make fun of her for crying, they would even push her around trying to make her cry even more. When I intervened though, they would stop, although, even after everything that those bullies put her through, she would always forgive them, that was just how she was, even now.
People pretend to favour her just because she's talented or maybe because of her beauty or family background, but once she wasn't around, they would turn around and whisper to one another, saying all sorts of things about her. It's for this reason that I worry about her, also...", he stopped, hesitating to continue more on the topic. Jae-sung took this as him not wanting to reveal too much information about Tsukiko to a person he had only just met and didn't try to ask what he was about to say, though what he never expected, as the stranger that he is, the words that came out of Hirano's mouth.
"Anyway", he continued, "What I mean by all this rambling is to ask you for a favour, Jae-sung".
Jae-sung widened his eyes in shock before nodding at Hirano, as if to say, "I'm all ears". Seeing this Hirano spoke once more.
"I'm not able to protect Tsukiko as much as I'd wish for her to be protected so, please", he said while giving a deep bow, "Help watch over my sister, the person I hold close to my heart". Jae-sung was surprised, if not completely flabbergasted at the request that Hirano had just made and for the first time since the beginning of the conversation, Jae-sung took the initiative to speak.
"I'm sorry but-".
Hirano, "No". Hirano raised his head up slowly and put his palm in front of Jae-sung's face. He had just interrupted him possibly already knowing what he was about to say.
"You risked your life to protect my sister and even me, a stranger, so that goes to show you are kind of heart. It's for this reason that I entrusted you with this task so please, do this stranger a favour".
In deep thought, Jae-sung walked back to his house. He had accepted to grant Hirano his request, but he now had second thoughts. He felt that he shouldn't have done that, like who wasn't the right person to protect Tsukiko because truly, all he had done so far was put her in danger. That man would have never tried to attack her if he didn't involve her in this whole mess, he should have known, right from the moment Tsukiko read that text message with him for that was the turning point.
Even in the hospital, at that moment, he wanted to admit to Hirano, admit that he had involved the sister he loved so much, in such a dangerous situation, be he simply couldn't. Hirano's eyes had blazed with determination and a certain admiration when he asked Jae-sung to protect his sister and it became impossible for him to tell him the truth.
Stopping next to a wall, he grit his teeth and hit the wall hard with the side of his fist. He stayed there for a while before putting his back on the wall and slowly sliding down until he reached the ground now sitting on it. He folded his legs with his feet flat on the ground. Jae-sung stayed in this position for quite a while, even though it was dangerous to do so at night, but it was precisely because of the cover of darkness the night provided that Jae-sung had done such a thing with so much comfort.
As the son of a very powerful necromancer, who was known all across Asia, he was naturally always being closely watched by those who expect him to do great things and Jae-sung couldn't stand it. He couldn't understand why they would place such hopes in him, because his father was powerful didn't mean that he too would go on to be someone like him.
They had never even once thought to ask him if that's truly what he wanted to do and continued to assume such. In reality, Jae-sung had always dreamed of doing things that normal people did and wanted to live like them, opening up shops, having a family, sending their children to normal schools to learn, doing things that only a few necromancers usually did successfully including his father, who despite how busy he was, always made time for him and listened to him talk about his dreams and ambitions, he had even agreed to let Jae-sung do this at some point but unfortunately, none of his other relatives agreed and sadly, Jae-sung's father could not do anything about this.
His dad was a gentle man, who didn't like to raise fights or have conflicts with others, especially his family, so he could only keep trying to convince the rest of his family to allow Jae-sung to follow his dreams, but he has still not managed to do so till now.
Now, sitting on the side of the street, in complete darkness, Jae-sung stayed motionless for quite some time, thinking about the favour he had granted Hirano. All of a sudden, he raised his head and though it could not be seen, Jae-sung's face had a look of sheer determination, his eyes blazing brilliantly with newfound courage. He slowly stood and brought both his fists up to his chest, clenching and looking down at them as they began to emit a soft glow. Before, he had questioned his worth, his ability, and whether or not he was truly able to honour his promise towards Hirano but now, all of that self-doubt had vanished, and confidence began to sprout deep within. He had made up his mind.
"I must do this, even if it kills me".