By Zephyria 355
The next moment, Lee Sa-young was standing on a snow-white desert where large snowflakes were falling. The people skillfully disassembling the Monsters, and even J, who had been staggering while dragging a corpse, had disappeared.
Sa-young surveyed his surroundings. There were no footprints, and he couldn’t sense any presence. Cha Eui-jae must have arrived first, but seeing as there were no traces…
‘…Did he fall somewhere else?’
Sa-young clicked his tongue. He touched his throbbing temple. The gruesome sight kept flickering before his eyes. The memory he had just seen was definitely Cha Eui-jae’s. It must have been a memory from inside the West Sea Rift.
“……”
But, why did he see Cha Eui-jae’s memory instead of his own? Fortunately, he had a clue. Sa-young took off his black glove. Golden chains rippled over the long scar on his palm.
A token of a contract that could never be broken. Blood that seeped through each other’s palms, and laurel vines that bound their hearts. The sensation of his whole body turning cold when he saw Cha Eui-jae vomiting blood during the contract was still vivid.
At that time, Lee Sa-young didn’t know that Cha Eui-jae was J. He just thought he was the perfect person to exploit. Of course, far from exploiting him, he was just swayed around as he pleased.
Sa-young took out a Gas mask from his Inventory after a long time. He put on the Gas mask and wore black leather gloves, just like when he first met him.
“…What am I even doing.”
Sa-young chuckled. He didn’t take off the Gas mask and slowly started walking through the desert. He thought he was doing all sorts of things because of Cha Eui-jae, but he still didn’t take it off. He walked slowly, organizing his thoughts.
Cha Eui-jae’s blood flows in Lee Sa-young’s body, and Lee Sa-young’s blood flows in Cha Eui-jae’s body. Their hearts were connected by vines that grew from a single root. It might have been natural for their memories to become intertwined. Vines that grew along a single wall were bound to meet someday.
He wasn’t impatient. They would be able to meet. As long as he and himself were connected. However, his body didn’t move according to the judgment made by reason.
In the end, Lee Sa-young ran, kicking off the soft desert.
The hem of his black coat fluttered, leaving a black trail. How long had he been running? The scenery only changed to endless desert. Countless memories flashed past him. Sa-young captured all the fragments of memories in his eyes and engraved them in his memory.
‘…It’s okay, Aunt.’
One Cha Eui-jae smiled as he was stroked by an unknown woman,
‘No! I said that’s not it, throw away the artist ego, hey, hey you! Don’t take your hand off?’
One Cha Eui-jae argued with Hong Ye-seong, pointing fingers,
‘…….’
One Cha Eui-jae sat alone on the stairs and smoked,
‘…I’m sorry.’
One Cha Eui-jae bowed to the bereaved families,
‘Get out of the way.’
One Cha Eui-jae pierced through a Monster,
‘Good night.’
One Cha Eui-jae hugged Lee Sa-young and fell asleep,
‘It’s okay. Just sleep for a bit.’
One Cha Eui-jae was standing in front of a black coffin, wearing mourning clothes.
Sa-young stopped in front of that fragment of memory. A lonely-looking back, black hair. Sa-young sensed it. This was the Cha Eui-jae of the first world. Then, inside that coffin…
‘I must be there.’
Sa-young started moving his stopped feet again. Again, countless Cha Eui-jaes flashed past. However, he couldn’t see their faces in most of the memories because of the mask. He didn’t like that. He wanted to see his face behind the mask. Sa-young looked into Eui-jae’s memories and asked.
What kind of expression were you making then?
How did you feel?
What were you thinking?
He was curious about everything about Cha Eui-jae. He wanted to know everything about him, and he wanted to be with him in every moment. In times of joy and in times of sorrow.
How long had he been running? How many memories of Cha Eui-jae had he passed?
Finally, a different landscape unfolded before Lee Sa-young. Red light flickered in front of the desert where only black and white, Cha Eui-jae, existed. Sa-young stopped again.
Ruins with puddles of blood everywhere, and corpses piled up everywhere. In the middle of it, there was a person crouching. A body crouching with knees together, dazed black eyes, hair faded to gray.
It was Cha Eui-jae.
At that moment, a blurry scene came to mind. The warden of the Destroyed world, a memory of another ‘Lee Sa-young.’
He, who had been wandering the Destroyed world, found Cha Eui-jae, who was left alone in a gap connected to the West Sea Rift. ‘Lee Sa-young’ covered Cha Eui-jae with a coat and whispered.
‘If you go back… live quietly.’
It was a selfish curse and a shackle. To live quietly without being noticed. To live hiding himself. To live selfishly.
To survive.
Sa-young stepped into the puddle of blood without hesitation. Splatter. Blood droplets splashed. He headed towards him, crossing the blood. The closer he got, the louder the whisper became. A submerged and cracked voice mechanically muttered.
“It hurts.”
“It’s hard.”
“I’m tired.”
“I want to go home.”
The muttering didn’t stop. He was compulsively making a sound. He coughed occasionally, but the muttering didn’t stop. Sa-young stopped in front of the crouching Eui-jae. Suddenly, the question that Cha Eui-jae had hesitated to ask a while ago came to mind.
‘Sa-young, by any chance….’
‘Have you ever covered me with a coat?’
‘No, not that time.’
At that time, he wondered what he was talking about. Lee Sa-young believed in logic rather than intuition, and reason rather than instinct. However, his intuition was telling him.
Now, right here.
‘In the West Sea… Rift.’
Now was the moment he was talking about.
Sa-young took off his coat without hesitation. At the same time, Eui-jae’s mouth uttered a word.
“I want to go back….”
Flutter—
Eui-jae’s crouching body was hidden under the black coat. The body under the coat twitched and trembled, and the muttering gradually subsided. Sa-young stroked his head over the coat. It was a touch full of affection. A subtle tremor was felt under his hand. Sa-young repeated the words that another version of himself had said.
“If you go back… live quietly.”
A chuckle escaped. Nonsense. Cha Eui-jae was a human being who was inherently unable to live quietly. The most noticeable person anywhere, anytime. An existence that captivated everyone’s attention and made everyone believe. Sa-young knew him. He knew his will, his strong core. His personality of acting before thinking, his attitude of trying things recklessly, and even the way he looked around after making a mess, everything.
Sa-young bent down and slightly lifted the coat covering Eui-jae. Eui-jae was burying his face between his knees. His crouching body trembled. He felt sorry and affectionate. Sa-young suppressed the urge to hug him right away. Instead, he whispered softly.
“…That’s what I said, though.”
Laughter was mixed in his low voice.
“There’s no way you can live like that. Isn’t that right?”
The moment he reached out his hand towards Eui-jae, a pure white System Window blocked his hand.
[Warning! This is an action that overwrites previously recorded memories. The consequences are unknown.]
[Do you still want to proceed?]
Sa-young answered without hesitation.
“Proceed.”
[Confirmed. Overwriting memories….]
“Good, that’s it…. Look up.”
Eui-jae finally raised his head after Sa-young coaxed him several times. A pale face was revealed under his disheveled gray hair. Dried bloodstains remained on his cheeks and chin, and his black eyes were empty. The moment he saw his lifeless face, his heart dropped. He was more weakened and miserable than he had thought.
Sa-young bit his lip, but deliberately opened his mouth more playfully.
“That’s a bit cold, just covering me with a coat.”
Sa-young carefully wiped the dried bloodstains away with his thumb, stroking his cheek. Eui-jae didn’t react much to the touch. Sa-young thought as he rubbed his cheek. This was probably the worst memory among Cha Eui-jae’s memories.
Sometime in the past, Lee Sa-young thought. While watching Cha Eui-jae holding his hand and taking a nap in the hospital room.
‘When you’re having a hard time and in pain, I want to be by your side.’
He didn’t want to fulfill that wish like this. He smiled bitterly, but soon changed his expression and put on a soft smile.
“Did you wait long?”
Eui-jae moved his lips. No answer was heard. He had been muttering to himself, so his throat must have been gone. But it was okay. Sa-young cupped Eui-jae’s cheeks with his hands.
Someday, he wanted to go directly into the West Sea Rift, face to face, and say what he wanted to say. A word he was taking out for the first time in 8 years, a word he had kept for a very long time.
Sa-young whispered affectionately.
“I came to pick you up.”