By Zephyria “Hyung is here!”
J folded his wide-open arms, closed the door behind him, and strode towards the bed. Stagnant air swirled around him. J, who had brought the outside wind with him, slightly bent his back and asked.
“What were you doing?”
“……”
No answer came back. Only the faintly curved, cloudy eyes and the slightly raised corner of his lips beneath the bandages were the only reactions, and even those soon disappeared. Beneath the expressionless face, the fingers on the blanket twitched. J could now understand most of the meanings hidden in the small gestures.
“You were waiting for me.”
He dragged a simple chair closer to the bed and sat down. J poked his masked face in. The boy leaned his upper body back slightly. A friendly voice mixed with laughter asked.
“You missed Hyung, didn’t you?”
The boy blinked silently and slowly turned his head. Judging by his tightly closed lips, he seemed to be upset again. The boy he had observed so far was assertive and often changed his mood as easily as flipping his hand. Of course, this time he had an idea why.
J crossed his arms and sighed.
“…I’m really sorry. I wanted to come sooner. I had a lot of work.”
Since the boy regained consciousness, J had been steadily visiting the hospital. After receiving the card key, he would quietly visit and leave like a phantom thief. In the midst of his irregular schedule, he somehow made time to get Poison, see the boy, and have conversations that received no response. Several months passed like that.
The boy’s head was turned towards J, but his eyes themselves were directed to the side of J, towards the empty air.
“……”
“There are a lot of Rifts these days…”
Ah. J, who had stopped speaking for a moment, covered the mouth of his mask with his fist and looked around without revealing himself. The black CCTV camera in the corner of the ceiling was watching them. He had confirmed that it was a model that didn’t record audio, but he shouldn’t carelessly say anything unclear.
‘Because it’s not certain yet….’
Recently, the number of Rifts suddenly occurring had been increasing. Only a very small number of Hunters in the field could notice it, and only very slightly. But he couldn’t move with just a suspicion. Because the weight of his words was heavier than others.
‘I need to talk to Jung-bin too.’
The boy tilted his head as if asking why he wasn’t talking. J, who clenched his fist tightly, said.
“I missed you too.”
Perhaps because he said it in a hurry, the buried sincerity suddenly popped out. The one who had to hide his face, voice, and inner thoughts rarely revealed his honest feelings. The boy’s fingers gripped the blanket tightly.
Now, instead of the machine’s beeping, the boy’s breathing and heartbeat were heard more loudly. The lines connected to his emaciated body had also been reduced a lot. It was a dramatic improvement compared to when he was just lying down like a corpse.
‘Now he can sit up.’
Although he still needed the help of people and the bed to sit up, the boy’s condition was improving day by day. Enough for J to think about the much more distant future, instead of thinking about tomorrow’s work.
“……”
After fiddling with the blanket for a long time, the boy slowly reached out his hand. J took that hand without hesitation. His firm hands completely covered the small hand. J, who gently rubbed the back of his hand, asked.
“How’s your body? Are you in pain? I heard they changed the medicine mix a bit.”
The boy nodded very slightly.
“That’s a relief.”
“……”
“Seeing you sitting like this… you might be able to walk later.”
Someday he might be able to write something with his own hands to express himself, he might be able to get out of bed and walk, and the day might come when he could leave this hospital room himself.
‘Who knows, he might be able to speak.’
The thought suddenly popped up. J had never thought about the distant future since becoming a Hunter. He was too busy living day by day.
He leaves the thinking to others, repeats that it’s okay, and just swings his weapon. Believing that peace will come someday, and not doubting that a house of peace will be built on the foundation he has laid.
But this boy made J dream of a different future. Not a great future where peace comes, but a more personal future. J looked at the hand fidgeting in his hand and opened his mouth.
“Have you ever been to the sea?”
Cloudy eyes rolled and looked at J. His lips were pouting as if to say, ‘What are you talking about all of a sudden?’ Or maybe it meant he was looking down on him. J smiled.
“I’m not looking down on you. I was thinking, if you get better, should we go to the sea?”
“……”
“I went to Gangneung to catch a Kraken or a giant squid… anyway. The suckers were really big. That’s not the important thing…”
“……”
Hmm, J cleared his throat and patted his hand.
“The sea there was pretty. Let’s go together when you get better.”
“……”
“Blink if you like it.”
He would have to blink because of human physiology anyway. It was a sly suggestion. But the boy blinked without hesitation. J was fully reflected in the cloudy eyes that opened and closed. The corners of his lips curled up.
“It’s a promise. Even if you don’t want to go later, I’ll carry you there.”
J raised his pinky finger. And he carefully grabbed the hand wrapped in bandages and intertwined his finger with it. The boy sighed softly. J chuckled.
“Oh, now you’re even sighing.”
The corners of the boy’s lips rose beneath the bandages.
What is the source of the Rift, where is the Dungeon connected to, where do the Monsters come from. What is the System that chooses humans and lends them power.
The world that had been turned upside down since the Day of the Rift was a series of unknowns. Days so messed up that he couldn’t judge what was right and wrong. But that messed up world was J’s daily life.
The only one who waits for him in the midst of constant change. The place he has to return to. J closed his eyes and lowered his head.
It’s strange. It felt like you were showing me the way. That I wasn’t wrong.
What happens when a lonely person meets another lonely person? J now knew the answer. When lonely people meet, they become each other’s only one. The boy had already become such a great existence that no matter what special words he used, it wouldn’t be enough.
How much time had passed, the boy slowly closed his eyes while listening to J’s rambling stories. His irregular breathing became even, and the strength left the hand he was holding. He watches the chest that rises and falls weakly.
Soon, J got up. He lowered his waist without letting go of the hand he was holding. With his remaining hand, he carefully cupped the boy’s cheek. He stroked the bandages and whispered quietly.
“You know what?”
“……”
“You are my only success.”
J took his hand off his cheek. A quiet air circulated. Small breaths and heartbeats. It would be nice to continue like this. Yes, like a family.
There were days when he thought so.
J, who had stayed by the boy’s side for a long time after he fell asleep, felt a small presence and stepped out of the hospital room. Ga-young, holding a file in her arms and her other hand in her gown pocket, was waiting for him. She bowed her head and whispered in a small voice.
“Hello, J! I have something to tell you.”
“What is it?”
“It’s about the Antidote and the child’s condition, oh… um, should I explain it briefly?”
Ga-young looked at J’s wrist with an awkward face. The watch screen was flashing. It seemed like the Awakened Management Bureau was calling. The caller was…
Jung-bin.
“Just a moment.”
“Yes.”
J turned his body halfway and operated the watch. The message that appeared on the small screen was brief.
Jung-bin: I would like to meet you. Please contact me if you are available in the evening.
What business did he have calling him? He was a little puzzled, but it might be a good thing. He needed someone with a heavy mouth to discuss the changes in the Rift. J lowered his eyes and pondered, then answered.
“I think I have some time. Please tell me briefly.”
“Ah, yes! Then I’ll report. Recovery is progressing smoothly. He needs to be injected with the Antidote periodically, but the detoxification process is almost complete. After the detoxification process is complete, I’m thinking of conducting research to restore the damaged body.”
“Will he be able to walk later?”
“Um, I think that’s possible. …Honestly, I don’t know about the eyes and vocal cords. Um, I’ll do my best.”
J made a sound of contemplation. Ga-young, who had been bowing her head deeply, glanced at J and asked.
“But are you going to keep calling him ‘that child’…?”
“…Yes?”
J opened his eyes wide. Ga-young, who had the file tucked under her arm, said awkwardly.
“We still don’t know that child’s name, do we? He can’t write or speak… And we can’t find his family either.”
“……”
He recalls the ruins covered in Poison. And the two melted corpses that were surrounding the boy. It was impossible to identify people in a space where everything was submerged in Poison. There was no time or manpower to invest in that. It was a heavy reality. Ga-young muttered.
“Um, anyway, J brought him here… so I was wondering if J could give him a name himself.”
“A name.”
“Yes. Names are important to people. I think that child would like it too.”
“…No.”
J glanced into the hospital room and muttered.
“It’s okay. He must have his own name, that child too.”
“……”
“Someday he’ll tell us his name himself.”
“…What if he can’t?”
“Yes?”
J looked at Ga-young at the sudden question. Ga-young, who received his gaze, straightened her back and answered.
“Ah, that’s… it’s not that I mean anything else, but his vocal cords might not recover. Um, he might have forgotten how to write.”
J shrugged casually. As if asking why she was asking such a thing.
“Then I’ll give him one then, I’ll do it myself.”