By Zephyria Countdown
“Hey~ Is anyone in that hole? What is it? Did a container fall in?”
Hong Ye-seong’s voice was heard. He couldn’t climb the hill because of his injured leg. Thanks to that, the sight of the two of them tangled in the narrow hole was spared. At least minimal human rights were guaranteed. Eui-jae raised his voice and answered him.
“It’s me.”
“Huh? Did you dig the hole? What are you doing there? Did you want to enjoy some alone time?”
“No… Lee Sa-young is here too.”
“Really? Should I get you out?”
“No, we can get out.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah. Can you go and prepare a spot for Lee Sa-young?”
“Okay!”
Hong Ye-seong’s presence faded away. Eui-jae felt a small relief and an even smaller… regret? Regret my ass! He shook his head. Then, he nudged the shoulder of Lee Sa-young, who was glaring at the hole above his head as if he wanted to kill it.
“Don’t think strange things and let’s get out. Before he comes back again.”
“……”
Sa-young slowly lowered his head. His clenched teeth made him look like a child who had a precious toy snatched away. Eui-jae chuckled, trying to hold back his laughter by covering his mouth with his hand. Purple eyes narrowed.
“Is it funny?”
“…No. Pfft!”
“Ah…, I see. It must be hilarious. Laugh all you want.”
Sa-young sneered and placed his hand on Eui-jae’s stomach. His eyes flashed dangerously.
“I’ll pay you back all at once later.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
Eui-jae brushed it off nonchalantly, and his eyes narrowed further. He sighed and swept back his hair. A low voice muttered.
“Ha… What am I even trying to do with someone like this….”
Sa-young rustled and took off his coat. He spread the coat wide and covered Eui-jae. The view was darkly obscured. Eui-jae’s eyes widened for a moment. The sensation of the coat blocking his vision, the feeling. It was strangely familiar. What was this déjà vu?
“……”
Eui-jae tightly gripped the coat. His heart beat rapidly. A languid voice instructed from beyond the coat.
“Make sure to cover everything so that nothing is exposed outside the coat.”
“What for?”
“To melt it.”
“…Can’t we just climb up?”
“……”
Even though he couldn’t see because of the coat, he could tell that he was being stared at with a pathetic gaze. Sa-young’s dumbfounded voice asked.
“It’s quite high, are you saying you’re just going to crawl up this?”
“Why can’t I? Isn’t it a height I can climb enough?”
“……”
Seemingly feeling it wasn’t worth arguing further, Sa-young retorted irritably.
“Ah, I guess so. Why don’t you create a mountaineering club with Bae Won-woo or Jung-bin.”
“Should I hold you and climb up?”
“Just be quiet.”
Before he could say anything, strong arms supported his waist and hips, lifting him up. Eui-jae stiffened. It was so awkward to be in the position of being held, rather than holding someone. His body stiffened like a log. A low laugh was heard from above his head.
“What, like it’s the first time you’ve been held.”
“Shut up. I’m just going to climb up―”
“I don’t want to.”
Sa-young held Eui-jae in one arm and placed his hand on the wall of bundled junk. From where his black hand touched, it began to melt away, turning black. Sizzle…. Black liquid oozed thickly. Soon, the black stain spread across the entire wall. The blackened wall melted away in an instant when Sa-young flicked his fingers.
“There, done.”
The high hill disappeared, leaving behind a round puddle of Poison. The only intact spot was the ground Sa-young was standing on. He stepped onto the stagnant Poison puddle without a care. Splat, black liquid splashed.
“You can take off the coat now. But don’t come down.”
He took off the coat he was wearing. A pungent sweet smell vibrated. Eui-jae fiddled with the leather coat, then raised his head. Even though he knew it couldn’t be.
“Sa-young, by any chance….”
“Yeah?”
“Have you ever covered me with your coat?”
“Coat? Where?”
Sa-young tilted his head. Eui-jae fiddled with the coat, dredging up vague memories. Something black that had covered his red vision. A languid whisper and a hand wearing a leather glove, beyond the Gas mask lens, purple eyes. Back then, the one who covered him with the coat and had a friendly conversation was definitely….
“…It was you.”
Sa-young, who had been dredging up memories along with him, let out a small exclamation. He tilted his head.
“The Memorial Dungeon sea? I put it on you when Hyung jumped in recklessly.”
“No, not then.”
Eui-jae hesitated before saying the name.
“At the West Sea… Rift.”
“Hmm….”
Sa-young rolled his eyes with a puzzled expression, then shrugged. He reached the white floor after crossing the Poison, then let Eui-jae down. Then, he said in a playful tone.
“I wasn’t at the West Sea Rift back then. Were you seeing things because you missed me too much?”
Yeah, that couldn’t be. Lee Sa-young would have been in the lab back then. But what was that memory then? Eui-jae rubbed his face. All sorts of memories were mixed up in confusion. Then, the black liquid on the bottom of Lee Sa-young’s Walker caught his eye. He turned his head and looked at the black puddle.
The boy who melted the entire lab and stood alone on the Poison puddle.
Was that what it looked like back then?
Eui-jae looked at Sa-young standing on the white floor. Sa-young was brushing back his hair, looking into the distance with an indifferent expression. Soon, he turned his eyes as if he felt the gaze.
“Why?”
“It’s nothing.”
“What are you thinking again…. Your face looks suspicious.”
Sa-young tilted his head slightly and matched his gaze persistently. Eui-jae pushed his face away with his hand and answered.
“No, I wasn’t thinking anything special. When you escaped from the lab.”
“……”
“I was just wondering if it was a similar scene back then.”
Sa-young looked around with a blank expression. He tapped his lips with his black fingers and muttered.
“It was on a larger scale than this back then. Because the lab was big. And I didn’t know how to control my power right after my Awakening.”
“……”
“Well, it’s all in the past. So don’t look so wary.”
Sa-young started walking ahead. But Cha Eui-jae remembered. Lee Sa-young, who had flinched when he saw Ga-young. A body that reacted vividly, as if it wasn’t a past story. Eui-jae stopped in his place and called him again.
“Lee Sa-young.”
“What is it now. Hong Ye-seong is going to be waiting so long his neck will fall off.”
“Did you go into a glass tube too?”
Sa-young’s shoulders twitched when he heard the word glass tube. But that was only for a moment. He turned around with a calm face, with the corners of his lips raised.
“…I don’t know what you’re talking about. What is that?”
“I saw it all. Ga-young, in that person’s lab.”
“……”
“You went in there too, didn’t you?”
“What’s going to change if I say I went in? It’s all in the past.”
Sa-young answered in a cold voice. He swept back his hair irritably. Eui-jae answered briefly.
“It changes things.”
“What exactly?”
“Whether I kill that woman with my own hands, or not.”
Silence flowed. His expression was blank as he said he would kill someone. A murderous aura that seemed to crush people flowed out. Sa-young saw a deep fatigue on that face. The one in front of him now was not the foolish and upright Cha Eui-jae. It was a sharply honed weapon, J from a past Lee Sa-young didn’t know.
He said in a monotone voice.
“So tell me straight. Did you suffer such experiments too? Inhumane human experiments?”
“Hyung.”
“Don’t change the subject and answer.”
“Hyung!”
“…You’re not saying no. So you did suffer. I thought so.”
Eui-jae muttered lowly. The image of the struggling test subject came to mind, and his fist clenched. Did Lee Sa-young, who had no unscathed parts, suffer such experiments too? With a body whose vocal cords were damaged and couldn’t even scream. Sa-young snatched Eui-jae’s arm.
“It’s not necessary. She’s not a human worth dirtying Hyung’s hands.”
“……”
“If I have to deal with it, I’ll deal with it. I’ll take revenge with my own hands, myself. So….”
Sa-young carefully stroked Eui-jae’s cheek and stroked the darkly shadowed under his eyes.
“Relax your expression.”
“……”
Eui-jae took a small deep breath at the soothing touch. The vision that had been burning red with anger calmed down a little. Yeah, let’s calm down. He roughly wiped his face with his palm. It was strange. Was it originally this difficult to control his emotions? Eui-jae paused as he lowered his hand.
Part of his palm had turned white. It wasn’t ash. This is….
“Hyung?”
Sa-young called him. Eui-jae looked into his eyes without avoiding them. His face in his pupils was the same. Eui-jae clenched his fist nonchalantly and answered.
“…Yeah, I think I was too sensitive. Sorry.”
“It’s okay. It’s not something Hyung needs to apologize for.”
“Hong Ye-seong’s tent is over there. He picked up all sorts of things and made it.”
Eui-jae held out his intact hand to Sa-young. Sa-young readily took his hand. A lukewarm warmth spread through their clasped hands. But the back of Eui-jae’s neck was cold. Cold sweat flowed down his neck.
“……”
Anxiety suddenly raised its head. Eui-jae bit his lip.
There was no time.