By Zephyria “Huk, I’m sorry. Just a moment…. Wh-what is it?”
Student Ga-eul roughly wiped her eyes with her sleeve, then examined her coat. She still shuddered as if holding back tears, but she seemed much calmer.
Eui-jae tapped the surface of the coat with his fingertips. Their eyes met. He mouthed silently.
‘Fragment, Lee Sa-young.’
“…Ah, heok!”
Ga-eul’s eyes widened. She hurriedly stood up and asked.
“Could you maybe spread it out a little more?”
“Just a sec.”
Eui-jae stood up, spread the coat wide on the floor as if unfolding a blanket, and then squatted down in front of it. Upon closer inspection, the coat was in worse condition than it had initially appeared. There were scratches and tears all over, and the left arm was more worn than the other side.
But what he could be sure of was….
Eui-jae glanced back. Lee Sa-young was narrowing his eyes and looking down at the coat.
‘It looks like the coat Lee Sa-young was wearing in the Fragment….’
In the Fragment, Lee Sa-young was wearing a black leather coat that came down to his knees. The design was similar, and even the size seemed similar. Even though Cha Eui-jae was taller than the average South Korean male, it looked a little loose on him.
Ga-eul, who had been sitting close to the wall so as not to disturb the arrangement, leaned forward with a puzzled expression.
“Um, I think J is right… but.”
Ga-eul looked at Eui-jae with an uneasy expression, then glanced at Lee Sa-young standing behind him. She only moved her lips.
‘He’s right here.’
Cha Eui-jae nodded slightly.
Yes, the Lee Sa-young he knew had been brought here by the System and was by his side. But.
Eui-jae bit down on the inside of his cheek. The black coat that Yoon Ga-eul was covered with was the one Lee Sa-young had worn in the Fragment. Perhaps the original owner of the ‘Basilisk Fang’ she had picked up in the West Sea Rift was that Lee Sa-young.
The Destroyed world is quiet and familiar. Like the West Sea Rift.
If ‘that’ Lee Sa-young is here. If the West Sea Rift and this world are connected.
Eui-jae asked quietly.
“Do you remember who gave this to you?”
“Huh? I’ve never received anything like this….”
Ga-eul replied with a bewildered expression. Lee Sa-young chimed in from the side.
“You were covered with it, you.”
“Huh? Me?”
“You looked like a bagworm.”
“Sa-young.”
“What….”
Sa-young shrugged. Ga-eul fiddled with the coat. She tilted her head and muttered.
“Maybe I was, was I alone?”
“Yes. You were lying down, covered in the coat, all alone.”
“…I, I didn’t receive it… but I think I know who left it behind. Well, I’m not sure.”
Who. Eui-jae frowned slightly. Surely when Ga-eul asked for help….
“Student Ga-eul, didn’t you say there was nothing here when you appeared in my dream?”
“Ah, I’m not lying! There really wasn’t anything. Really. But….”
“Then explain it properly.”
A cold voice cut in. Lee Sa-young was staring at Yoon Ga-eul with his arms crossed.
“You know more than we do.”
She, who had been hesitating, lowered her head.
“Th-that’s right…. I’m sorry.”
“Hey, Student Ga-eul must have been surprised too. Being alone in a place like this…. You have to give her time to calm down.”
“Ah, that’s right….”
Sa-young raised the corner of his mouth.
“You guys kept talking about things only you knew…, so I got a little annoyed. Sorry?”
Eui-jae lightly punched Sa-young’s thigh with his fist. Sa-young leaned over and whispered in his ear.
“You have so many secrets, Hyung.”
“…….”
“Well… I trust you’ll tell me now.”
One long finger lightly brushed the back of his neck like pressing a key, rubbed the auricle hidden in his hair, and then moved away. The ticklish, lukewarm sensation gave him goosebumps. Eui-jae grabbed his ear and gritted his teeth.
‘This bastard really knows his Poison doesn’t work anymore, so now he just touches me.’
A low chuckle tickled his ear. Sa-young nodded towards Ga-eul.
“Explain. In as much detail as possible. What is ‘that’ you two were whispering about?”
“…….”
“The person who dragged me here didn’t give me a detailed explanation….”
The fallen finger came back and tickled his neck again. Eui-jae flinched.
“I don’t know anything.”
Ga-eul’s anxious gaze turned to Eui-jae. ‘You dragged him here?’ It seemed to mean something like that. Eui-jae lowered his head. He didn’t mean to drag him here, but it turned out that way. And….
‘ShiX.’
Eui-jae rubbed his lips with the back of his hand for no reason and took over the conversation.
“Yeah, it would be good if you could tell us in detail so we can understand the situation. From when you first came here. Step by step… step by step.”
As if praising him for doing well, a finger lightly scratched the back of his neck. He stuttered because he felt strangely unfamiliar and eerie, but fortunately, Ga-eul seemed to have remembered something and was looking down.
“When I came to my senses, I was here. I walked for a long time, but there was nothing. It was really… quiet…. Everything was collapsed and broken, and it felt like I was the only one alive, and even Monsters weren’t visible, and the Fragment I had seen so far came to mind, so I felt uneasy, and I missed my mom and friends… anyway, that’s how it was.”
Ga-eul sniffled and continued quickly.
“I didn’t know why I came here or how to get back…. But I can’t live here forever. What I thought of then was contacting Jung-bin Ajusshi and J. Because I saw the Fragment through my dreams, I thought I could find my way if I just looked carefully….”
“So that’s why you came to my dream.”
“Yes. I didn’t really think it would come true. I couldn’t even find the way to Jung-bin Ajusshi’s dream….”
“…….”
“After I went to J’s dream… I just walked for a long time. I thought something would come out if I walked. Ah, of, of course, I know that I have to stay still at the point where I was stranded….”
She, who was fiddling with her fingers, mumbled.
“If I don’t do that, um, I think I’ll go crazy….”
I know.
Cha Eui-jae knows the fear of silence that comes after all living things have died. Perhaps no one knows it better than he does.
When only the sound of his heartbeat and breathing fill his ears. When there is no answer no matter how much he shouts. When he can’t feel the presence of any living thing even with his sensitive senses…. The approaching powerlessness. Loneliness.
Solitude.
“I know.”
“…….”
“You did well.”
That’s why he was able to comfort her with sincerity. The finger that had been touching the back of his neck dug through his hair and moved as if stroking it.
Eui-jae didn’t push that hand away. He just welcomed the warmth. Ga-eul pursed her lips again as if holding back tears, but this time she didn’t cry out loud like before. Instead, she wiped her eyes roughly and continued.
“A-as I kept walking like that, my legs started to hurt. So I looked for a place to sit.”
Sabal, sabal, sabal…. The footsteps that parted the ashes gradually slowed down. As much as that, the exhaled breath became panting and rapid. Strangely, she wasn’t hungry, but her legs hurt as if they were about to break. Ga-eul kicked the floor for no reason. Ashes fluttered.
“If I had known this would happen, I would have worn sweatpants, isshi….”
She even says things out loud that she would normally keep to herself. Because that way, she’s a little less lonely.
It would be nice if she could find something. I wish I could find even a Monster corpse. But she soon shook her head. What a terrible thought! Eventually, she stopped in her tracks. Her legs hurt so much that she couldn’t take another step. Ga-eul started saying anything.
“…I miss Mom.”
I shouldn’t have been annoyed when she told me not to wake her up in the morning. Ga-eul sniffled. At this point, she missed not only her mom but also the 『College Scholastic Ability Test Special Lecture』. She never thought she would miss that terrible book.
“I wonder if the kids are okay….”
They must have been very surprised. I wonder if they found out I’m an Awakened? Well, it can’t be helped. Actually, it’s cool to say that an ordinary high school girl was an Awakened. I want to go to karaoke with the kids. I also want to eat tteokbokki. And….
Her silly thoughts were cut off. Ga-eul clenched her school uniform skirt tightly. Her hands were soaked with cold sweat. She couldn’t hear the sound of grass swaying, the sound of leaves rustling in the wind, or the murmur of people.
Doomsday is quiet.
Cold sweat ran down her temples, and her face turned blue. Her body trembled uncontrollably.
“It’s so scary, shiX….”
No answer comes back. That’s why it’s even scarier and more frightening.
It was then.
Thump, thump…. Someone’s footsteps pierced her sensitive ears. Ga-eul raised her head sharply and looked around. But the presence soon disappeared. Silence fell again. Am I finally crazy? Hearing things. Ga-eul was scratching her ears for no reason.
Thump, thump, thump….
The footsteps were getting closer and closer. Really? Ga-eul turned her body sharply towards the sound of the footsteps.
“…….”
“…Heok.”
Ga-eul swallowed her breath. Something black and large stood tall in the middle of the white wasteland. Normally, she would have run away immediately, but thanks to wandering in the silence, she wasn’t afraid of anything.
When she looked closely, it seemed like a person. A person who was wearing a black cloak and whose body shape could not be properly distinguished. The black hem of his clothes fluttered. Ga-eul asked cautiously.
“…A-are you a person?”
“…….”
A pale, sharp chin was visible under the deeply pressed hood. Dry, chapped lips moved.
“Follow me.”
It was a hoarse, cracked voice, as if he hadn’t spoken for a long time.