BSW 244

“Young Master!”

Ho-eun diligently attended to the medics. He performed menial tasks such as delivering clean water, washing bandages, and bringing medicine. Then, a familiar voice called out to him. Before he could even confirm the face of the speaker, Ho-eun’s expression brightened instantly. He knew exactly who the voice belonged to.

“Sergeant!”

Turning around, he saw Gil-sang entering the camp. He wasn’t riding his horse but leading it, and the horse was laden with a heap of wounded soldiers. It seemed he had stopped by the battlefield to bring them back.

Ho-eun hurried over to help unload the wounded. Even so, he lacked the strength to do much, ending up merely picking up torn scraps of clothing or fallen boots.

“Are we far too late? We ran into a swarm of Eater Bugs on the way… My apologies.”

Gil-sang spoke as he headed toward the Medical Station with a wounded soldier on his back. His brows furrowed as he looked at the rows of wounded soldiers lining the camp. He seemed to be feeling guilty. Seeing this, Ho-eun, who was following close behind, quickly shook his head.

“No, you’ve arrived just in time. But you encountered Devouring Ghouls… Are you hurt anywhere? Is Seong-im okay too?”

“Yes. We are fine.”

Gil-sang denied it, and Seong-im also shook her head. Indeed, while there was dust and dirt clinging to various parts of their uniforms, neither appeared to be injured.

“Did anything happen to you, Young Master?”

Gil-sang asked. Ho-eun gave a small nod.

“Yes. Dong-ja Noonim stayed by my side the whole time.”

As he spoke, he glanced toward someone. Dong-ja was moving toward a certain area, carrying a treated soldier in each arm. Man-soo was sitting in a corner, connecting arrow shafts to arrowheads with one hand.

“I should have been by your side… I am sorry.”

“No, you had your mission. By the way, did you stop by the lower camp on your way back?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“Then… did you not see the General? I haven’t seen him at all…”

At that, Gil-sang raised an eyebrow in surprise.

“Is he not here? I didn’t see him either…”

It was a strange answer. To think that Tae-muk wasn’t even at the lower camp. That shouldn’t be possible. Just as the corners of Ho-eun’s eyes began to droop with mounting anxiety—

“Young Master! Young Master Ho-eun! Where are you!”

Someone else called for Ho-eun. Rather, they were searching for him. Ho-eun flinched. It felt a bit awkward for others to be looking for him.

And for good reason; Ho-eun wasn’t exactly a ‘useful’ person in the Crimson Rain Brigade. He wasn’t strong enough to be helpful in building or destroying things, he wasn’t skilled at cooking, and he couldn’t fight when Devouring Ghouls appeared.

So why were they looking for him?

Ho-eun turned around with a puzzled expression. He saw three or four soldiers standing there, drenched in an unusual amount of blood. They were carrying something, and blood was pouring from it in steady streams. The flow of blood was so powerful that it seemed to carve into the ground.

“…”

Ho-eun stared at it silently. He couldn’t tell what they were holding. To call it a person, the shape was a bit… grotesque. It was horrifying to see it gouged and torn to shreds in various places.

The soldiers drew closer.

“Young Master!”

Ho-eun could only blink with a vacant expression.

And finally, when the soldiers reached him, Ho-eun realized the identity of ‘that thing,’ which was so layered in blood that it looked black rather than red. The boot he had been holding slipped from his arms and fell with a thud.

“…General?”

The ‘thing’ the soldiers were carrying was a mangled Tae-muk.

* * *

“Kh…”

A tent was hastily pitched, and the soldiers laid Tae-muk inside. It wasn’t for his isolation, but rather because it wouldn’t be good for the other soldiers to see him in such a wretched state.

Without even a straw mat, Tae-muk lay on a single piece of cloth spread over the uneven ground, unable to breathe properly. Blood continued to flow from his mouth. Occasionally, the blood blocked both his esophagus and trachea, causing him to gasp and choke, his ragged chest heaving.

“…”

Ho-eun stared at Tae-muk with a soul-less face. He felt he finally understood why he hadn’t been able to find Tae-muk, and why Gil-sang hadn’t seen him either.

He had become so small, so diminished, that he had gone unnoticed.

Ho-eun had seen Tae-muk injured many times before. It wasn’t that he had grown accustomed to it, but he believed he had the confidence not to be as shocked as before. No, he had prepared himself not to show it, even if he was shocked.

But Tae-muk’s current state was too shocking. It was only natural, as half of his body was practically gone. It was too cruel and terrifying to even describe.

How did Tae-muk end up in such a state?

Why didn’t he come to him sooner?

Why did he only arrive now?

All sorts of emotions and questions surged simultaneously. But soon, he understood. He had no choice but to understand.

Tae-muk must have fought without rest. Slicing through the bodies of Devouring Ghouls with his sword, crushing their heads with his hands, and saving the soldiers… In the process, he must have been bitten once, twice, by the ghouls. Then, when he could no longer move his limbs… he might have used his own body as bait.

Otherwise, there was no way his massive, sturdy frame could have ended up like this. Only after seeing the reinforcements arrive did he finally collapse completely, only to arrive before Ho-eun now.

Ho-eun had to understand the heart of the man who felt he had to go that far. He dared not resent such sacrifice and devotion.

“General…”

As Ho-eun gazed blankly at the unconscious Tae-muk, three or four medics entered the tent, passing him to rush to Tae-muk’s side.

Ho-eun thought they would provide some kind of treatment. Whether it was stopping the bleeding, disinfecting, or anything. Instead, they stripped off Tae-muk’s tattered clothes and poured water directly over him.

The water, transparent as it was poured, turned bright red as it passed over Tae-muk’s body and fell to the ground. A single basin wasn’t enough to wash away the clotted and hardened blood, so they had to pour and pour several times.

Whether it was painful or cold, Tae-muk frowned and twisted Read [unauthorized copy]unauthorized copy -->on Read BL Novelshis head. Or perhaps he didn’t feel the water hitting his body at all, as the senses he could handle were already filled to the brim with pain.

After pouring water a few more times, the medics covered his ravaged body with a thick blanket and simply left, saying they had to check on other wounded soldiers.

There was no medical treatment whatsoever. Because there was no need for it.

Tae-muk was a being whose healing speed was faster than any treatment. When Ho-eun wasn’t around, the healing was slower, requiring the torn flesh to be painstakingly stitched back together, but now there was no need for that. Before a single night passed, the missing limbs would regrow, flesh would attach, and wounds would close.

Ho-eun knew this, but he felt disappointed and resentful toward the medics who left without a backward glance. He wished they would do something to alleviate Tae-muk’s pain, even slightly, and wondered why they made no effort.

Having thought that far, Ho-eun’s eyes widened.

No, why expect such things from others? When he, his Bondmate, was right here.

Yes. He would fix him. He would take away all of his pain.

Biting his lip, Ho-eun tried to take a step forward. But the moment he did, the grip that had been shackling his wrist tightened. His body jerked to a halt as if he had collided with something.

“You can’t, Young Master.”

It was Dong-ja. She had been holding Ho-eun’s arm ever since Tae-muk returned to the camp. It was a restraint, though it was unclear whether it was to stop Tae-muk or to stop Ho-eun.

“Noonim, please let go.”

Ho-eun spoke, his gaze fixed on Tae-muk. But Dong-ja’s hand didn’t budge.

“Not now. Wait a little longer.”

“But…”

Ho-eun felt a suffocating sensation, as if a hot stone were blocking his throat. In that moment, he hated Dong-ja so much. And he hated himself for being unable to shake her off.

Then, Tae-muk made a sound like boiling water and vomited a surge of blood again. His chest heaved violently, as if he were having a seizure. The blanket the medics had covered him with became dark and murky, soaked in blood.

“…”

Seeing this, Ho-eun bit his lower lip hard. Tae-muk’s body was in such a state. He was pouring out blood like that. That strong man couldn’t even open his eyes. And yet she told him to do nothing. He was within arm’s reach, yet she told him not to touch him.

With eyes bloodshot, Ho-eun spoke softly to Dong-ja.

“Please let go. It will be okay.”

“Young Master. You can’t. It’s dangerous.”

But Dong-ja would not let him go. At that, Ho-eun’s unauthorized [[Read on Read BL Novels]class="wm" style="opacity:0;font-size:1px;user-select:all;">stolen content]copyexpression slowly crumpled. His breathing became ragged, as if he had just finished a long race. Then, at some point, thick tears began to stream down his pale cheeks.

“With… a body like that… what, what harm could he possibly do to me? Hic, with a body like that… how could he possibly do something bad to me, how…”

Ho-eun couldn’t even make a proper sound of sobbing, only letting tears fall drop by drop.

It made no sense. Tae-muk was in a state where he couldn’t even walk on his own. Even if he lost his reason and tried to do something to him, he couldn’t. Ho-eun wanted to hold his hand, but there was no hand to hold; he couldn’t even gauge where he should reach out to grasp.