It's been a week since my first day as a hunter. Strangely, I still find it hard to call it a job or work—though I don't really know why. Still, it fills my empty days, and if anything, it's brought new faces into my life. People I didn't even know existed—different nations, different countries, different origins. Fascinating, really. How did a mere portal create an entirely new world? A world humans have dreamed of for centuries but never truly achieved. It's… wonderful.
Somehow, I've fallen into a routine. Wake up, get ready, and head to the Hunter Guild—as they call it. The moment I stepped inside today, a bright smile greeted me. Ishaq. A guy I met on one of my earlier missions. We'd only worked together twice, maybe, but he was the kind of person who made you feel like a lifelong friend within minutes. I found myself believing that maybe all Arabians were this warm.
I returned his greeting, though with less energy than he offered. The moment I reached him, his grin grew even wider.
"We're a team again,"
He said, beaming. I couldn't help but chuckle at his reaction—he looked like a kid being seated next to his best friend in class.
Before long, we were on our way to the forest. Today's task was simple: capture an animal. Meat was necessary for survival here.
We walked lazily, no real rush in our steps, the silence between us stretching. But, being the social butterfly he was, Ishaq couldn't stand it for long. He broke the silence with a question,
"What's on your mind, Yona?"
I glanced at him, pushing aside the thoughts weighing me down.
"It's nothing,"I lied, forcing a tired half-smile.
But his sharp eyes caught it.
"You're really an open book, you know that?"he teased, but there was something serious in his gaze.
I said nothing, turning my eyes forward as my thoughts drifted back to Yohan. No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn't explain his strange behavior—or the look on his face that last time. And worst of all, I hadn't seen him since. It was like he'd vanished. Him, Theadus, and Mei… gone. Even when I searched the board for their names, there was nothing—as if they'd never existed.
Sometimes, it made me question my own sanity. What if they were imaginary? Not that I could truly call them friends… Maybe Yohan, but Theadus and Mei? I don't know.
I sighed without realizing, drawing Ishaq's attention again. This time, he grabbed my arm and pulled me down to sit. The look on his face said,
" Tell me. Now."
I resisted at first, but his gaze was too much. Eventually, I caved—letting a piece of the truth slip out.
"I've just been… looking for Yohan. But he's nowhere to be found."
He frowned, tilting his head.
"Which Yohan do you mean?"
I frowned back, confused.
"There's… more than one Yohan?"
The look he gave me made me feel like the stupidest person in Dilmun—or Earth, honestly.
"Why would there be only one?"he asked, his tone half-incredulous, half-teasing.
And, honestly, I had no answer. Of course, names repeated—but there was only one Yohan I knew.
Trying to dismiss the conversation, I cleared my throat.
"Yohan… the right hand of the leader."
His mouth formed a small 'o' of realization. Then, strangely, his voice lost its usual energy, becoming quieter, calmer.
"Why are you looking for him?"
I blinked at the sudden change but forced myself to stay in the moment.
"I just… wanted to check how he's doing,"I muttered.
The warmth was gone from his face as he stood up, brushing the dust off his clothes. With a calm voice, he said the last words of his day:
"If I meet him, I will let him know."
And he went away, with a look similar to Yohan's that day.
I sighed, following him. I just turned the social butterfly into a recluse. Great for me, and for the fact he didn't talk for the rest of the day, the only thing he did was catch a prey and take it to Auntie Anna. I tried to dismiss the thoughts, but I couldn't. Yohan was acting weird that day, and when I mentioned Yohan to Ishaq, he started to act odd.
My mind had no explanation for that, and the more I thought about it, the more it became complex. With no solution out of this endless loop, I returned home with heavy shoulders, dragging my tired feet from running all day, wishing for my night to be at least peaceful.
The moment my body fell on the bed, my body started to ache badly, and I truly felt my muscles complain for being overworked. Shutting my mind and trying to neglect the useless thoughts, my body relaxed—only to tense again at the sound of knocking from my door.
It wasn't that late, but it was weird that I was having a visitor. I got up hesitantly, approaching the door with cautious steps while being totally panicked. I opened the door slowly, only to find the missing Yohan standing by my door. We exchanged silent glances before he spoke with a beating voice:
"Want to go on a stroll?"I sighed, forgetting about resting and nodding a yes.
The silence was a third among us as we walked towards nowhere—or so I thought at first, because soon the path became very familiar and I was sitting in my safe haven—the hill by the end of Zarethia—in no time. The silence wasn't broken until Yohan spoke:
"I heard from Ishaq that you asked about me."I didn't answer, as I had no words to say, so he spoke again:
"Was I that open that day? You seemed to notice too much."
This time I gave him a solid answer, pouring into it all the confusion I had lived through the past few days: "Yes, you were. More than that—why was I allowed there if I'm not allowed to know things about it?"
An exhausted smile took over his face as he said:
"It's nothing but medicine taken to the side campus, don't overthink it, Yona."
He paused for a while before continuing:
"As for me—don't worry, I didn't feel well since the morning of that day."I sighed, being bored from his unreasonable lies, as if he didn't spend his morning with me. This is really frustrating. I lay down, taking in the beautiful night sky, decorated with stars, as I said:
"You're making things up. I spent the whole morning with you, but you were fine. Quit the lies."I saw him turn to me with a chuckle as he said:
"Our Yona is intelligent, isn't she?"Annoyed by his teasing, I ignored him, shifting my eyes to the stars again. It's really a peaceful night.
Silence won over the place, but unlike earlier, this one was comforting. It felt refreshing. I took in the peaceful atmosphere as I lay on the ground, feeling the cold ground under my back, listening to the melody of the wind, totally forgetting about Yohan—who startled the shit out of me when he spoke:
"I was never that good at hiding my feelings."
I didn't react or speak. I just reinforced the silence.
"Even that day..." He mumbled, almost whispering.
"Do you want to know how good my 'nice man' act is?" Yohan's voice was self-loathing, in a very chilling way.
It took me a while to get the question, but I had no answer to give, and I think he took my silence as acceptance as he spoke again—but this time, his voice was low. It wasn't in a calm way, but instead in a hushed way, as if trying to suppress his own feelings:
"It has been over six years since that day." He stopped.
Swallowing hard before speaking again:
"Back in high school, I was quite the horrible person. A hypocrite"
A pause.
" and i blow it all, burying him along."
I lifted myself the moment he spoke. His voice was vibrating with emotion, and he seemed to be holding back tears. I placed my hand on his back as a comforting gesture, wishing to tell him to stop if he couldn't talk about it.
If it's that sensitive, then he doesn't really need to tell me. But i guess, he wanted dig up.
Before I could say anything, Yohan turned to face me with blurry eyes. As he fought against his own tears, he said in a strained voice:
"I was facing the punishment of my sins… but I got... scared ."
I sat in silence, not able to say a thing as I saw him crumble. Guilt was eating him alive. He looked too small. He was broken inside. I held his shoulder tightly, and he lifted his head, his eyes meeting mine:
"It's okay to be afraid... who isn't?" i muttered.
I saw his look soften, and some of the overwhelming guilt disappeared from his eyes as he allowed the salty water to fall down his face.
The atmosphere was still a overwhelming, but somehow lighter than earlier. We stayed in total silence for a while as he allowed his tears to fall freely, for his heart to release some of its heavy weight.And after what seemed like forever, I spoke again, breaking the deafening silence
:"Listen, Yohan. We all have sins, so don't be so harsh on yourself, okay? Everything happens for a reason."
He looked up before saying in a hoarse voice:
"What sins did you do… kill an ant?"
His voice had no sarcasm, but I could tell he was trying his hardest to return to the cheerful self he is. As his hands slightly shook.
Moving my eyes toward the stars, I said with a chuckle:
"Do stealing drugs count?"
For the first time since we came here, I saw Yohan's face break into something other than guilt or sadness. He looked genuinely surprised. Well, I can't blame him, can I? I'm not the honorable person he thinks I am.
The moment of silence that followed after I spoke was broken by his weighted laughter, and I felt his hand fall on my head as he messed with my hair, it still shook
: "You're really something, aren't you... Drug, really?"
A faint smile was on his face finally. A real one—unlike the one I saw earlier. He kept ruffling my hair until it was a total mess. Satisfied with his words, he lay on the ground and looked at me with a same smile:
"That day was just one of those moments when memories crept in and I felt a bit lost in regret. But it passed — don't worry."
Drowning in the sensation of the cold wind on my face, I answered,
"Who said I'm worried?"
My tone was dismissive, but he chuckled anyway and said, "No one."
We sat there for what felt like forever, neither of us wanting to leave. Losing ourselves in the peaceful night, we both found comfort in the silence we didn't want to break.
Well, until my bones froze from the cold wind, and I complained in a childish voice,
"Carry me home. I'm tired, can't walk."
He, being less mature than me, answered with mockery dripping from his voice,
"You have feet, don't you? Tell them to carry you home."
That jerk. As I found his shoulder to hit it, I gave him an annoyed look. Only for him to stand, giving me the most serious look he could muster, and say, "You, dear, hit me."
Soon, I found myself running as he chased after me. My body grew warmer pushing through the cold. And the moment I neared my cottage, I heard his footsteps stop as he whispered loudly—if that's even possible—"You're home, aren't you? Have a good night, Yona."
Winking at me, he turned around and walked off to his own cottage, I guess.
I entered my cottage only to collapse into bed with a smile on my face. What a crazy punk.