By Zephyria The unmanned Small aircraft was good for utilizing the interior space since it didn’t have a driver’s seat.
When Mu-hae unfolded the seat he faced, there was just enough space for three people to lie down narrowly inside.
“Lie down over there.”
A corner of a blanket flew toward Joo-oh, who had washed his face and hands. Joo-oh nodded and quickly laid down in the corner.
It was different from when he was at the house, barely listening to the invitation to go in and sleep, cautiously testing the waters.
He still had a pleasant look on his face… but he didn’t cause any trouble or bother anyone, and he laid down as he was told.
“The sun rises late here. We’ll have to stay for a while, so bear with it even if it’s stuffy.”
“Okay.”
“Tell me if you need to use the bathroom.”
“I’m fine with that.”
His answer was so confident that it seemed like he lived without ever needing to go. As Mu-hae was thinking about such subtle impressions, he suddenly realized that he had hardly ever seen him go to the bathroom.
‘…….’
Of course, Joo-oh didn’t completely avoid the bathroom.
First of all, he washed every evening without fail, and he also made various expressions while looking in the mirror on the front, earning Mu-hae a look that said he was doing all sorts of nonsense.
Just the day before, that had happened. Suddenly, he heard a gurgling sound, and when he looked, Joo-oh was filling his mouth with water and playing by bubbling it.
But that was it. He strangely didn’t sweat at all compared to the amount he ate, and there wasn’t even a hint of him emptying it out.
Even now, after running and walking all day, there wasn’t a single unpleasant smell. Rather, his unique, strangely sweet body odor was filling the narrow space.
Mu-hae glanced sideways at Joo-oh with suspicious eyes, then sighed at his own delusion.
It was ridiculous. The place they were in now was neither safe nor comfortable for having such silly thoughts.
He had learned that frivolous thoughts were forbidden when working, watching the mercenaries who had been injured or disappeared before.
Even if Joo-oh fell asleep first, Jin Mu-hae had to re-check the remaining equipment, watch the radar, and stay up half the night.
“Isn’t Jin Mu-hae sleeping?”
“You sleep.”
“……Okay.”
Joo-oh, who had paused for a moment, glanced at Mu-hae noticeably and then settled down in his place.
He wrapped a large blanket around his body, looking just like a giant cocoon.
Mu-hae thought it was a little funny how he wriggled his legs as if he was settling in.
It wasn’t a particularly interesting sight, but the corners of his lips rose without reason, and he quickly caught himself.
“Jin Mu-hae. Good night.”
“…….”
So, he didn’t even respond to Joo-oh’s greeting and just checked the schedule.
Originally, when performing requests alone, Mu-hae was extremely bored during the waiting time.
Even when he heard the sounds of Aberrants nearby, he sometimes couldn’t shake off a bit of boredom.
But the evening when Joo-oh was tossing and turning next to him before falling asleep, time strangely passed by quickly.
Jin Mu-hae glanced at him the entire time he was checking the equipment. Even when he leaned against the car wall, taking naps while monitoring the surrounding situation, he watched Joo-oh, who had completely unwrapped the blanket and was gaping open.
At this point, he had no choice but to admit it. Having someone nearby was stimulating just by their presence.
All he was doing was glancing at a human who was sleeping soundly, but anyway, Mu-hae thought it was good that it made it easier to endure the long night.
Then, when he comfortably lay down and fell asleep for the last four hours or so and suddenly opened his eyes.
‘……?’
Mu-hae was enveloped in a warm heat.
He had definitely fallen asleep in the corner without even covering himself with a blanket. A cozy and sweet smell brushed the tip of his nose, and quiet breathing was heard from under his chin.
When he glanced down, someone was clinging to him in his arms.
Without needing to think about it, it was Joo-oh. Joo-oh had rolled over at some point and was sleeping while hugging Mu-hae.
Burying his face in someone else’s chest, his limp body rising and falling rhythmically with his breathing.
‘……Ha.’
He wondered why he had been testing the waters so much before falling asleep. He had vaguely expected this to happen.
Mu-hae blinked his dry eyes and tried to push away the arm wrapped around his body.
The sleeping human didn’t budge. It felt like pushing against a dead tree.
Did people usually use this much strength while sleeping? Raising his eyebrows, Joo-oh’s shoulders and back were surprisingly relaxed.
It was hard to believe, but Joo-oh was completely relaxed and sound asleep.
‘It’s absurd.’
It was unbelievable…
He couldn’t understand. Mu-hae didn’t particularly feel like shaking him off roughly.
Was it because he was sleeping soundly? When he was asleep, he wasn’t annoying or noisy, and all he could see was the back of his round head.
Mu-hae placed his hand on top of that head and tilted it back slightly. The face, unable to come to his senses from sleep, was revealed as it was.
Eyelids twitching as if on the border between dream and reality. Slightly reddened cheeks and a drooping head.
When he was at home, he had even suspected that this guy wasn’t sleeping. It felt strange to think that he had been sleeping like this, holed up in his room, even usually.
It was as if Joo-oh, who was always strange, felt a little more like an ordinary human.
Not the protagonist of a novel-like story about an Experiment or amnesia, but just someone who had unfortunately lost his way.
Just like Mu-hae when he was young. Yes, about that much.
“……Ugh.”
Had he been holding his head for too long? Joo-oh’s face, which had been quiet, faintly distorted.
A faint groan echoed from between his slightly parted lips. It was almost a whimper.
Mu-hae hesitated to remove his hand, then realized he was dreaming.
For a moment, he became curious. What kind of dreams would someone who had lost all their memories have?
Would he be seeing that past that he always answered he didn’t know about?
“Hoo…….”
Judging by the fact that his face was gradually turning pale without being able to wake up from his dream, it didn’t seem like a good memory, whatever it was.
In the end, Mu-hae gave up on the short peace and shook Joo-oh’s head roughly.
Hoo-uk, Joo-oh took a deep breath and opened his eyes wide. The pupils in his red eyes were dilated black.
“Hey.”
However, as soon as he heard Mu-hae’s voice, the strength in his wide eyes gradually faded.
“If you’re awake, move.”
“Hoo, heung…….”
“Don’t make weird noises.”
For a moment, he wondered if his condition was a little strange, but Joo-oh reacted normally when he heard the deliberately sharp voice.
It didn’t seem like he was in pain or had gone crazy again. However, his half-closed eyes looked a little tired, so Mu-hae was reminded that he did get tired after all.
He seemed to have had a bad dream after all. After waking up, Joo-oh had a dazed expression throughout.
Mu-hae removed the lingering arm from his waist, leaned his upper body diagonally, and said to Joo-oh.
“It’s almost time to leave. If you’re not feeling well, stay here. I’ll go alone.”
“I’ll go…….”
Only then did the body that had been sitting blankly stir and move.
Only after Joo-oh crawled to grab the bag that was tucked away in the corner could Mu-hae take his eyes off him.
When leaving the Small aircraft where they had stayed all night, Joo-oh was refreshed again, as if the momentary sluggishness had been a lie.
He didn’t have a single complaint even while swallowing a few pills instead of a meal.
He seemed to have swallowed hard, but he didn’t seem to be mentally unstable like before.
However, he had a subtly loose screw somewhere, like the day he was watching TV. Mu-hae sent him behind and walked ahead, thinking quietly.
‘It’s unsettling.’
He had never believed in superstitions while living as a mercenary for a not-so-short period. How long had it been since he met Joo-oh that he was worried about his reaction?
He had been trying to ignore it, but Joo-oh’s words and actions all had their own reasons. Looking back, they all fit the situation.
So, if Joo-oh had some kind of ability to foresee the future.
Even if it wasn’t in the supernatural realm, if he was reading something with a ghostly sense.
If he acted strangely, wouldn’t that mean something was wrong?
He was ashamed of himself for dwelling on such absurd assumptions…
“What kind of dream did you have?”
Joo-oh, who had been looking around, stopped abruptly at the voice that asked without even turning his head.
“Dream?”
A voice that sounded like he was hearing it for the first time flew from behind Mu-hae.
“Didn’t you have a dream or something?”
“Nope.”
“You did.”
“……I wonder?”
Joo-oh, who had been frowning and pondering for a moment, shook his head firmly.
“I don’t know.”
Mu-hae took his eyes off the radar and looked back at Joo-oh.
He wasn’t trying to gloss over it or be vague, he really looked like he didn’t know.
‘He can’t remember?’
That thought crossed his mind, but he didn’t bother to say it out loud.
He thought Joo-oh would be annoying, so he checked the distance to the target point again.
After getting on the bike, Mu-hae was silent for a while. To be honest, he had a bad feeling since yesterday.
There were more Beasts outside the known area than he had thought. The deer was just the beginning.
He hadn’t heard that the Goryeo City miners in this neighborhood had been killed in groups again recently.
The feeling that he might have a hard time kept flashing through his mind.
“Do you hear anything?”
“Not yet.”
“How about smells?”
“That too, not yet.”
Vitality seeped into the voice that answered while holding his waist tightly.
He seemed happy that Mu-hae, who had been ignoring him, had asked him that.
Jin Mu-hae drove, picking his way through the cracked and sometimes broken roads, trying to erase the uneasy thoughts.
Then, at the fork in the road, the moment he turned the handle to the right.
“Now me.”
BEEP- BEEP- BEEP-!
At the same time as Joo-oh’s close whisper, something was detected on the radar.
‘……!’
It was an Aberrant.
Originally, Aberrants didn’t have a separate ‘habitat,’ but this wasn’t an area where they were frequently seen either.
As Mu-hae hurriedly slowed down, Joo-oh’s answer from a little while ago suddenly flashed through his ears.
‘Not yet.’
Come to think of it, this guy had said ‘not yet’ instead of ‘no.’
The guy who always answered yes, no, properly, as if he knew something was coming out…
BEEP- BEEP- BEEP-!
On the road where even the sound of the wind had stopped as if everything around them felt threatened.
The detection sound from the radar rang coldly in Mu-hae’s chest.