By the time Yun returned home, the world had already calmed down.
At least on the surface.
The incident at school was already spreading. Students whispering, teachers talking in low voices, questions with no clear answers.
An accident.
That's what they called it.
Yun didn't say anything.
He simply walked into his house, closed the door behind him, and went straight to his room.
The moment the door shut is calm expression cracked.
"…What was that?"
He placed his bag down slowly, then leaned against his desk, his hand instinctively moving to his chest.
A pulse.
Faint.
But there.
"…It's still there."
His breathing became uneven.
Not panic.
Not yet.
But something close.
He sat down and immediately opened his notebook.
Everything had to make sense.
It always did.
He wrote:
Unknown object (absorbed into body)
Internal pulse
Temporary heightened perception
Reaction analysis beyond normal capability
He stopped writing.
His pen hovered.
"…No known explanation."
That was the problem.
Yun turned to his laptop.
Search after search.
"Energy anomalies in human body."
"Biological reaction to unknown materials."
"Objects merging with human tissue."
Nothing.
Every result was useless.
Too vague.
Too unrealistic.
Too normal.
"This doesn't make sense…"
For the first time yun felt frustrated.
He leaned back, running a hand through his hair.
"…Think."
But the more he thought the less it made sense.
The pulse came again.
Stronger this time.
Yun stood up immediately.
"…I need air."
Without overthinking, he grabbed his jacket and left the house.
He didn't know where he was going.
But his feet already did.
The forest.
It had always been his place.
Quiet.
Isolated.
Predictable in its own way.
No noise.
No people.
Just nature.
Yun stepped between the trees, the fading sunlight filtering through the leaves. The deeper he walked, the quieter everything became.
His breathing slowed.
His thoughts steadied.
"…Better."
He moved further in, following a path he knew well.
Running.
That's why he came here.
He liked the rhythm.
The repetition.
Control.
He began to run.
Step.
Step.
Step.
The pulse in his chest matched it.
Step.
Step.
Pulse.
His pace slowed.
"…Again."
He stopped.
The forest was silent.
Too silent.
Then a voice.
"You finally noticed it."
Yun froze.
Slowly he turned.
There, standing between the trees was an old man.
Yun's eyes narrowed slightly.
"…Who are you?"
The man didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he studied Yun.
Closely.
As if confirming something.
"…So it chose you."
Yun's expression hardened.
"…What are you talking about?"
The man took a step forward.
"You feel it, don't you?"
A pause.
"The pulse."
Yun didn't reply.
But his silence said everything.
The man exhaled slowly.
"…I was hoping it wouldn't happen this soon."
Yun's eyes sharpened.
"You know what this is."
It wasn't a question.
The man gave a faint smile.
"…More than you think."
A moment of silence passed.
Then yun spoke again.
"…Explain."
The man looked at him for a long second.
Then nodded slightly.
"What's inside your chest… isn't something you can understand through science alone."
Yun frowned.
"I don't believe in things without explanation."
"Good," the man replied calmly.
"You'll need that mindset."
Another step forward.
"That energy inside you… we call it Nak."
Yun's gaze sharpened.
"…Energy?"
The man nodded.
"It's not something modern science recognizes."
"That doesn't mean it's not real."
Yun's hand tightened slightly.
"…And the object?"
"It wasn't just an object."
The man's voice lowered.
"It was a fragment."
Yun's heartbeat picked up.
"…Of what?"
The man didn't answer directly.
"Something that should have remained hidden."
Silence.
Yun's mind raced.
"…Why me?"
The man looked at him for the first time, with something deeper.
"…Because it chose you."
Yun didn't like that answer.
"…That's not logical."
"It doesn't need to be."
A pause.
Then the man spoke again.
"You felt it during the fire, didn't you?"
Yun's eyes widened slightly.
"…How do you know that?"
The man ignored the question.
"You saw the reaction before it happened."
"…Yes."
"That's only the beginning."
A cold feeling settled in Yun's chest.
"…What do you mean?"
The man stepped closer.
"That energy will change how you see the world."
"How you think."
"How you react."
Yun stayed silent.
Then "…And what happens next?"
The man's expression darkened slightly.
"…That depends on you."
A pause.
Then his voice lowered.
"You need to train."
Yun frowned.
"…Train?"
"If you don't control it…"
A brief silence.
"It will control you."
The words settled heavily.
Yun clenched his hand slightly.
"…And you expect me to just believe you?"
The man smiled faintly.
"No."
Another step back.
"I expect you to feel it."
The pulse came again.
Stronger.
This time yun didn't deny it.
"…What are you to me?" Yun asked suddenly.
The man stopped.
For a moment he didn't answer.
Then "…Someone who should have returned sooner."
Yun's eyes narrowed.
"…That's not an answer."
The man turned slightly.
"…You'll understand later."
Then he looked back one last time.
"And Yun" a pause.
"Don't tell your father."
Yun froze.
"…Why?"
"Because not everything should be brought into the light."
Silence.
Then the man added quietly:
"And train."
"Because what's coming…"
A long pause.
"…is not something we expected."
The wind moved through the trees.
And when Yun looked again the man was gone.
Yun stood there.
Alone.
His hand slowly moved to his chest.
The pulse still there.
Stronger.
"…Nak…"
For the first time he didn't reject it.
But he didn't understand it either.
And deep inside something waited.