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“I'm not sure I understand Mr. André… Do you even speak Korean?”
Michael Connor looks at him dubiously. The Deputy Director of the Federal Bureau of Hunters most certainly did not expect to see him, the Guild Master. He surely imagined that he would be joined by Hwang Dong-Soo. After all, they asked for an S-rank Hunter from the Scavenger Guild who speaks Korean. Hwang Dong-Soo would have been the perfect person for this, but lo and behold, Thomas André also fulfills all the required criteria and honestly, he hasn't really had better things to do lately.
Thomas was born with a Korean name on his arm, so his mom made sure he learned to speak the language as he grew up. She raised him well, saved up money so he could have foreign language lessons, even to the point of sometimes reducing meals a bit. Well, it didn't really help him except to recruit Hwang Dong-Soo in the end, but it's not really his fault, there are a lot of people who have the same name as his soulmate, and none of them never made the move or let it be believed that they had Thomas's name in return.
In short, it was a dead end.
(Oh – he's not the only one, of course! Almost all names on this earth are worn by more than one person, which makes it very difficult. But there are websites nowadays to allow soulmates to find each other more easily. His soulmate has very clearly never heard of it, or is not interested because there is not even one Sung Jin-Woo on these sites that is looking for a Thomas André).
So yes, he speaks Korean and he has to make a little profit from the lessons his mother paid for. He's not an unworthy son after all (if she was still around, she'd throw a few slippers in his face just to contradict him).
“Yeah, I had time to waste.” He ends up answering because there's a bead of sweat on Michael Connor's brow and Thomas is a merciful man. "So where is our man?"
A team from the Bureau takes him to an underground room. Laura follows him, still serious and dignified, easily ignoring some people commenting that she has nothing to do with this. They can try to touch her if they want, Thomas will rip their arm off before their hands get to her. His manager follows him wherever he goes, even in the basement of the Federal Bureau of Hunters’ office.
Connor gives them a quick update on the situation. The man appeared in a dungeon and managed to beat a whole team of A-rank hunters. Clearly, he's strong. Dangerous. It could be a monster that claims to have a human appearance and a human voice. No human being has ever left a dungeon without entering it. It's a first.
“He claims his name is Sung Il-Hwan.” Hey – another Sung! “A hunter from South Korea who disappeared in a dungeon ten years ago.” Connors puts a file in his hands that matches Sung Il-Hwan's file, with all the information they could find on him in a few hours. Thomas barely looks at his picture before focusing on the man (or what claims to be one) behind the glass.
Fairly tall, well muscled, doesn't seem to care about his appearance. His hair is as long as Thomas's but he's clearly never heard of the awesome tools that are brushes and combs. He has mana-enhanced cuffs on his wrists and ankles, and, he is a bit withdrawn, it's as if he's trying not to make himself threatening.
“Orange is not really his color.” Laura comments with a raised eyebrow and honestly – it's true.
"What did you tell him?” Thomas asks, just before going, accepting the little earpiece he is given. It is important to know what was said to the man so as not to give him new information, but also to be able to discern possible inconsistencies.
“He knows he is in the United States, and that he is being questioned because this is an unprecedented situation. He didn't put up any resistance and didn't ask any more questions.” Connor replies.
And Thomas enters the interrogation room without further fanfare. The man's gaze immediately falls on him and Thomas thinks he did well to come himself. Whoever this man (this thing?) is, he is stronger than Hwang Dong-Soo. Way stronger than many S-ranks Thomas has come across before. Oh, his day is about to get a whole lot more interesting.
He sits in the chair opposite the man and looks at him for long seconds without breaking the silence. It's not particularly an intimidation technique but Thomas is imposing, and he is powerful. Most people, even those who don't know him, shudder the second he looks at them. This stranger doesn’t - he meets his gaze unflinchingly, not looking to turn away, nor does he respond aggressively as most monsters do. Interesting, interesting.
“To explain to you a little bit what is going to happen”, Thomas explains in Korean, “I am here to determine if you are a normal human being or a beast.”
The man nods slowly, and looks at him a little bit. There is something special in his eyes, a bit like interest. His black-gray pupils light up with mana similar to the one Thomas has – golden, like the sun. It's a little weird - he kind of feels like he's feeling his own energy through the man.
"I did not expect to encounter one of the fragments of the brilliant light as soon as I arrived. It's a pleasure.” The man greets, tilting his head a little.
And oh, the man is a weirdo. The man begins to smile a little, in a rather gentle way, without showing his teeth – barely a puckering of the lips. He seems genuinely happy to see Thomas (and that's kind of weird, because he can swear they've never met).
“Uh… Yeah? Hello?” He answers and the man's smile widens a little. “So… Could you introduce yourself?”
The man speaks and everything matches the file Thomas was given. He gives the age he was when he disappeared, and indeed, aside from his long hair, he doesn't look like he's aged much. He gives the name of his wife – Park Kyung-Hye (he describes her with the love of a man who has just fallen in love, even if they have been married for twenty years). He gives the name of his daughter – Sung Jin-Ah (who was only seven years old when he disappeared but is apparently a little angel on earth). Of course, he also gives the name of his son – Sung Jin-Woo.
And Thomas doesn't have much shame, but he's also not used to missing opportunities, so he stops the potential monster in his speech and lifts the sleeve of his t-shirt to reveal the mark of his soulmate. The man's eyes are immediately on the name - which is the same as his son's - and back to his own - much less affectionate all of a sudden.
"Is your name Thomas André?"
Ah – if Sung Il-Hwan disappeared ten years ago, there is no way he knows who Thomas André is, no way he could have recognized him. But if it is his name that is written on his son's body, then it is possible. And what a surprise it is, to meet the father of your soulmate before you even know what your soulmate looks like.
“Hey Father-In-Law!” Thomas begins to smile, "nice to meet you!"
There's a grimace on Sung Il-Hwan's face as he details Thomas again - his height (and heaven knows he's imposing), his muscles, his power, the aura and magical energy he possesses. He must realize that he is dangerous.
“My son is 14 years old. Don't even try to approach him.”
And honestly, respect. Thomas is very scary on his best days. Daring to speak to him like this, daring to provoke him like this requires courage that is not given to everyone. For the man to allow himself to order him, the most powerful hunter in the world… well, the man clearly has some guts (and a lot of love for the person he is defending).
“He was fourteen 10 years ago…” Reveals Thomas and honestly, he could have put a little more delicacy to the revelation that he lost ten years of his life. "So today he's over 24, and I'm pretty sure he's therefore of legal age in every country in the world.”
In his defense, Hwang Sung-Il (and Thomas is becoming more and more convinced that he is who he claims to be) doesn't have that much of a reaction to the realization that he's been absent in the life of his children for a whole decade. He's having a little trouble breathing and there's a bit of broken heart in his eyes, but he recovers quickly.
"You are my son's soulmate.” He finally says, between disbelief and disappointment. “Well shit then…”
And Thomas just got closer to his soulmate! He even knows his age now! 24, and if that's a bit younger than Thomas is used to, that's way more than legal and they couldn't be paired if they were not right for each other . Ah – you have to believe that his mother would have been happy to have put him through Korean lessons for years, it finally paid off.
“Hey Connor! This guy is my soulmate's father, so let him go.” Thomas orders in English and already knows that he will be obeyed. Even if the members of the Association are not under his orders, they are too afraid of him to refuse him anything. "I'll take care of watching him!”
Laura immediately walks into the interrogation room with the keys to Sung Il-Hwan's handcuffs and lets him break free from his shackles. The man stands up and indeed, he is quite tall and imposing. He lets himself be guided to the exit of the building and Connor escorts them there, giving a few sidelong glances to Thomas, very clearly not satisfied with the way he handled the situation.
“So father-in-law, or should I just call you dad?” Thomas ends up asking as they board the Scavenger Guild private jet to go to Korea (and is he flaunting his wealth to impress his future in-laws? Yes.)
"Don't call me that Mr. André.” Sung Il-Hwan replies, his voice rather icy, taking a seat across from him. Very clearly, Thomas is going to have a little trouble getting into the good graces of his future father-in-law (which is honestly weird, he’s on perfect behavior! He released him from his detention and is now taking him to join his family in Korea on his own plane without asking anything in return! How proud his mother would be.)
“Your son is my soulmate, so you are bound to be my in-laws at some point. Might as well start getting used to it.” Thomas explains, both palms towards the Korean, as if in a sign of peace. The potential truce between them is not accepted, and Sung Il-Hwan spends the rest of the flight glaring at him and growling when Thomas tries to talk to him (maybe he will have to reconsider his judgment in relation to the categorization of this man, he behaves a bit like an animal).
“My wife and I are not soulmates and we were very happy. If Jin-Woo doesn't want you, I'll make sure you don't touch a single hair of his.” Sung Il-Hwan told him, when they landed in Korea, at Seoul International Airport.
There is no one to welcome them. They didn't take the time to announce their visit (they could have, but it requires too much paperwork and Laura is too busy looking for information on Sung Il-Hwan's family to do that too). It doesn't change much, the Korean Hunters Association must have been notified the moment they set foot on the ground. By the time they arrive, Thomas and his little team will already be far away.
Thomas asks for a car and a driver to take them to the address that Laura managed to find and which, according to Sung Il-Hwan's file, has not changed in the last ten years. The complex is old and a bit dilapidated but the Korean who accompanies them seems very happy to see it again. He guides them through a maze of corridors to the door of an apartment – the one in which his soulmate lives, and isn't it wonderful. Thomas has a little trouble realizing that he is about to meet his soulmate.
It is a young girl, a teenage girl, who opens the door, already dressed to go to bed. She raises an eyebrow when she sees their team and whispers a little "hello", which is not really sincere.
“Hello,” Thomas begins in Korean, “we are looking for Sung Jin-Woo.”
Beside him, Laura nods before bowing a little and Sung Il-Hwan has wide, wide eyes that fill a little with tears. Ah, they are at the right address but very clearly, if the man had understood that ten years had passed, he had not yet fully realized it.
"He's not here for the moment. What do you want?” The girl answers him, without seeming to recognize him (which, he swears, is not at all offensive).
“Jin-Ah?” asks Sung Il-Hwan, when he seems to have finally regained his ability to speak. The gaze of the girl – Sung Jin-Ah – immediately lands on him. She details him from head to toe but the man is still dressed in his orange prisoner outfit, and he hasn't taken the time to change his haircut. She clearly doesn't recognize him.
"And you are?” She finally asks, a small grimace on her face. Thomas remembers how frowned upon it is to call someone you don't know by their first name alone. Sung Il-Hwan doesn't seem particularly unsettled – maybe he doesn't realize.
"It's... It's me..." He starts and Thomas doesn't really want to hit him but maybe a little anyway because he could do much better than that as a reunion with his daughter. “Sung Il-Hwan.” Even Laura next to him almost sighs at the answer.
"I beg your pardon?” Sung Jin-Ah asks, both eyebrows raised.
"I am your father.” Sung Il-Hwan explains, forcing a smile and Thomas refrains from gritting his teeth – he didn't come here to watch bad scenes from an even worse TV series.
The girl's face twists into a grimace and she takes a few steps back into her apartment, before slamming the door in their faces. (And you have to believe it runs in the family to dare to behave so rudely in front of him, oh how Thomas can't wait to meet his soulmate.) About ten seconds later, the door opens again on the young girl, teeth all out in a growl.
“My father died ten years ago. I'd appreciate it if you didn't make that kind of joke.”
She exclaims, her phone in her hand (is she calling someone, or has she sent a message?). She growls when the man tries to approach her (and you have to believe that that too runs in the family). In the end, Sung Il-Hwan backs away, and for a few seconds he can't seem to find what he wants to say. He opens his mouth a little, hesitates.
“You were born two weeks before term.” Sung Il-Hwan begins to explain. “Your mother came back from her appointment with the gynecologist, who had asked her to go get a small suitcase for the hospital, because you were ready to arrive. My mother was very disappointed because she couldn't be there when you were born." And his voice is soft, like he's trying not to scare an animal. “The first word you said was your brother's name.” He finishes.
And maybe it's this last sentence that makes the young girl realize that the man in front of her is indeed her father, because her eyes widen. Thomas can't read all the emotions that pass on his face - surprise, disbelief, relief and then everything turns into something negative, between fear and hatred. She shakes her fist and unclenches it, before pointing a finger at Sung Il-Hwan.
"If you're here to separate me from Jin-Woo, I'm warning you, I won’t let you! He’s the one who raised me! “The young girl gets angry, “You will not separate us!”
And maybe there's a reason she's worried. According to the file that Thomas read on the plane, she is only seventeen and therefore not yet of age. If his father were to ask for her custody, he is likely to get it, having priority over her brother. Oh sure, with Thomas' influence on the case, everything's turned around, and he'll make sure that whatever happens in these family matters is in line with his soulmate's wishes.
"Well, I'm not going to repeat that to your mother, she'd be a little disappointed." Sung Il-Hwan tries to joke, but it's visible in his body language, in the way he pulls back a bit and withdraws into himself that he's trying not to intimidate the girl, and that he's slightly hurt by her words. Facing him, Sung Jin-Ah's face is icy cold.
"She is dead.’ She replies, her voice so cold it burns.
And… Shit, that wasn't in the file. Thomas glances at Laura but his manager is already rechecking the information. It doesn't match what they could find. From what they know, Park Kyung-Hye is being treated in the hospital but she is still alive. Sung Il-Hwan takes several steps back again, his face frozen in an expression of terror, a breath he can't take, and his eyes rapidly filling with tears.
"She fell into eternal slumber," says a new voice, and Thomas turns around in the second, because he hadn't sensed anyone coming. "It's a bit hasty to say she's dead, Jin-Ah.”
He is a young man, who looks quite similar to the photo on Sung Il-Hwan's file, both in terms of the shape of his face and with his black hair and his eyes oscillating between gray and black. He's quite tall, and walks with a lot of confidence, a stuffed shopping bag in his hands. Thomas already knows who it is even before Sung Il-Hwan gives him the confirmation, in a whisper.
“Jin-Woo?” asks the man.
Thomas turns his eyes to Laura, who nods, giving a thumbs up. He found his soulmate (or did his soulmate find him because he came to Korea, but it was Jin-Woo who managed to surprise him by coming up behind him? Oh, whatever.)
"Hi Dad.” Jin-Woo replies, who very clearly heard part of the conversation, unless it was him that Sung Jin-Ah messaged. "So yeah, don't grieve mom just yet - she's only been in the hospital for four years.”
“Yeah, at least she waited until Jin-Woo was of age before abandoning us, unlike you!” Jin-Ah adds, without losing her anger.
Sung Jin-Woo sighs a little, very clearly unhappy with how his night is going. Thomas can imagine, honestly. It must be quite surprising to see his father (who was dead for ten years) reappear at the door of his apartment. Especially when said father is accompanied by two Americans who make international newspapers every day.
“Maybe we could have a coffee?” Sung Il-Hwan offers, and the man bites his lower lip, very clearly surprised by the blast of hate he gets in the face from his daughter.
"He's not entering our home!" Jin-Ah exclaims. “Jin-Woo, do you hear me? If he takes a step in this house, I'm out.”
“Hey, I think that’s my home too.” Sung Il-Hwan tries but he very clearly has trouble understanding that the girl doesn't want to see him at all (which is understandable, she must have been seven years old the last time she saw him – the man is just a stranger to her.)
"No.” Jin-Woo replies, and very clearly, if Thomas still had any doubts, he's on his little sister's side. “I am the one who pays the rent, and the contract is in my name.” He ends up stepping forward a little, passing right next to Thomas (and damn it, he's much shorter than him – it's adorable), to give the shopping bag to Jin-Ah who takes it, looks at it, and walks back into the apartment, slamming the door behind her.
Jin-Woo sighs, looks at his father for a bit with almost dead eyes before pulling out some money from his pocket. He approaches Sung Il-Hwan who almost seems to want to hug him (which would be very unwelcome, if Thomas manages to read the mood in the air). Jin-Woo hands him the money, keeping a respectable distance.
“There is a hotel not far away. Go get a room there, we'll talk later.”
Then, since this is very clearly a dismissal from the man, Jin-Woo turns to Thomas and Laura, detailing them head to toe for the first time.
“Jin-Woo, can we just…” Sung Il-Hwan tries behind him, staring at the money his son gave him as if it was burning him. If Thomas cannot take one quality away from him, it is his perseverance.
“Igris.” Jin-Woo calls and Thomas doesn't know that word. “My father needs to be escorted to his hotel.”
And Jin-Woo's shadow leaves the ground, to form a figure even taller than Thomas; that of a dark soldier, with a helmet covered in what appear to be long red feathers. A summon – realizes Thomas with a smile. He knew his soulmate was a hunter, but the file had written that he was an E-rank hunter and, logically speaking, no hunter of that rank is able to summon a soldier like Jin-Woo just did.
(And Thomas's smile grows, when he realizes that the soldier is powerful; more powerful than many hunters in his guild. He hardly dares to wonder what that means for his soulmate.)
“No… No… It’s impossible.” Sung Il-Hwan whispers. "Not you… "
The man does not explain more than that, but his face is broken. Without even a shred of the perseverance and drive he previously had, he lets the shadow (Igris) lead him out of the residential compound.
There are a few seconds of silence, during which Thomas exchanges a look with Laura who is very clearly on the same wavelength: they had only come to meet Thomas's soulmate, but they were entitled to a little family drama and the discovery of an S-rank hunter (and what a shame it would be to leave him in a country as small as Korea while Thomas - his soulmate - rules the United States like a king).
"Why are you here?” Jin-Woo asks in English and right before Thomas answers, he adds: “Nah, don’t answer that, I have your name tattooed on my arm, I can imagine why you are here.”
“I speak Korean…” Thomas tries to explain in the language of his soulmate, rather than trying to answer. He learned Korean, it won’t be for nothing, and he has to impress the young man a little. If seeing someone who's been dead for ten years come back to life to appear in front of him elicits so little reaction, Thomas can imagine he's going to have to up his game a little.
“And I speak English.” Jin-Woo replies, again in English (and maybe he too has a point to prove).
Thomas gives him a big smile, showing all his teeth, before lifting the sleeve of his t-shirt to show Jin-Woo the mark of their bond. The young man looks at his name engraved on Thomas's forearm, looks back into his eyes, before resting them on the mark again. He sighs a little and pulls up his own sleeve, to reveal the name 'Thomas André', written in capital letters on his forearm.
“If you knew who I am, why did you never try to come see me?” Thomas asks after a good minute, because he needs something to talk about and because Laura is starting to roll her eyes at him, as if to tell him he needs to say something rather than to undress Jin-Woo with his eyes.
“Do you have any idea how many Thomas Andrés there are in the world?” Sung Jin-Woo asks back, and the answer is no, Thomas has no idea. "The last time I looked there were about 220,000 - and that's only increased over the last ten years.”
Which is… logical. After all, Thomas failed to find Jin-Woo for the same reasons. But of course, seeing someone with his soulmate's name to his apartment door isn't a coincidence, so he must have figured out pretty easily what was really going on.
“Well, I figured bringing your dad back, after a decade of absence, would be a good first step as a soulmate!” Thomas explains, with a big smile on his face again.
“Yeah, I'm so happy.” Jin-Woo replies, still with a hopelessly neutral tone, without giving him the slightest smile.
Beside him, Laura takes a deep breath before coughing a little. Which is good, otherwise the silence could almost become awkward.
"Sorry.” Jin-Woo finally said while scratching the back of his neck. "That wasn’t nice of me. I really appreciate the gesture. Jin-Ah does too, though she doesn't realize it yet. It's just that…” He hesitates for a few seconds, as if trying to find the right words. “…If we were to get back one of our parents, he’s not the one we wanted to see.”
And it may be quite violent, but it's been ten years since their father disappeared, and honestly, if Thomas could choose between seeing his father and his mother again, he too would have a very clear preference.
"Yeah don't worry, I'm on your side!” Thomas explains, with a big wave of his hand. “And if you need him to disappear again, just ask. I’ll take care of it.”
"I don't need this”. Jin-Woo replies.
This time there is a small, amused smile on his face. He feels like it's a joke, Thomas realizes, he thinks he was joking and wouldn't actually be willing to kill Sung Il-Hwan if Jin-Woo asked. He must have not been a powerful hunter for a long time, if he doesn't know the tendencies of other S-rank hunters yet (because, given his soulmate's summon, Jin-Woo can't be anything else than an S-rank).
"What do you need then?" Thomas is content to answer.
He needs to know how he will be able to make sure he can keep his soulmate by his side. Now that he's found Jin-Woo, he's not planning on letting him go. Oh, he can't keep him against his will (he could, he just won't); so he needs to find what can please his soulmate, what can attract his sympathy and loyalty.
"Do you need money?” Sung Jin-Woo's face turns icy, "Your mother is in the hospital, I have enough to pay for the rest of her life, you just have to ask!" It's true. Thomas has enough money on his own to provide a life of luxury and lust for Jin-Woo for centuries even if he decides to quit working.
"I'm doing very well on my own.” The Korean finally replies, and he lost the smile that Thomas had managed to put on his face.
“A nicer house?” Thomas offers, to try to recover the points he has just lost. "Not to be offensive, but your apartment isn't exactly great. I can offer you villas in the city center if that's what you want – and I can do it quickly. Say a word and you have a castle by tomorrow night!”
"No, I'm not interested.” Jin-Woo's voice grows colder and Thomas feels a little desperate at his soulmate's incredulous gaze.
"This is not your style of gift? Ok… What do you prefer in this case? I can take you to the best restaurants anywhere in the world – one phone call and I'll have a table ready!” He explains, and it's not bragging because it's true. “Or are you more classic? Flowers and chocolate? A good bottle of champagne? I have an entire Moët & Chandon cellar – I can have it delivered to you if that’s more to your liking…”
And Thomas takes a nudge in the stomach of Laura, which interrupts him on the spot in his tirade. She presses his back to force him to bow. She's lucky he likes her – he ripped off arms for less.
“My apologies, Mr. Sung. Mr. André's intentions are good, but the execution is not that great I admit.”
She glares at him, bowing beside him, as if to ask him without speaking what he is doing (and for how many hours has Thomas been talking about his soulmate to Laura, how much he was going to adore him and shower him with gifts? His manager must be pissed to have endured all that to end up witnessing such a pathetic scene). Facing them, Jin-Woo sighs but motions for them to straighten up.
"What do you want exactly?” His soulmate asks.
"You are my soulmate.” Explains Thomas, because really, there is nothing else to say. “Gifts are…Cool? People love gifts, right?”
Jin-Woo makes a small face and Laura sighs next to him, rubbing her temple a bit. Very clearly, Thomas is going to have to revisit his definition of a gift if he wants to score any points with Jin-Woo.
"Something more useful then? Do you fight with weapons?” And for the first time since they met, there's interest in Sung Jin-Woo's eyes and Thomas knows he's on the right track. “What kind of weapons?” He ends up asking when he has no answer.
“Daggers,” Sung Jin-Woo admits with a tired sigh.
And oh, how perfect is that?
“Well, I think I have the perfect gift then.”
He laughs in advance. Who would have thought that destroying a dragon would allow him to woo his soulmate?
(“I won’t say no to a bigger apartment!” Jin-Ah shouts from behind the door. And how could Thomas deny his future sister-in-law anything?)