By Zephyria If a pack of wild dogs was blinded by hunger, dealing with them moderately wouldn’t make them back down.
It was a troublesome situation. He had no intention of fighting spiritedly with an Aberrant nearby, but it seemed he didn’t have a choice.
Jin Mu-hae repeatedly checked his current location and surroundings, then turned to Joo-oh.
Since leaving Buckta, the group had shown abilities that could only be described as miraculous, one after another.
His red eyes showed no tension or fear. As always, he was, to put it nicely, calm, and to put it twistedly, somewhat blank, as if he wasn’t thinking at all.
“Hey.”
At the blunt call, Joo-oh’s eyes dutifully looked at Mu-hae.
“That thing in front of the bike. Yeah. The Taser.”
At some point, they had begun to communicate with glances. It was ridiculous. To be so in sync with a guy like this.
Mu-hae swallowed a sigh-like chuckle and continued.
“I’m going to shoot one next to you with a live round. And then I’ll make the next one that rushes at you step on that.”
“Okay.”
“Then, when it’s frozen, push it away with all your might. Kick it, body slam it. You’re strong, right?”
“Um. Okay!”
At the clear instructions, a bright smile appeared on Joo-oh’s face.
He looked excited, like someone who had been left out of a game and was finally included.
An unfathomable light gradually settled in his eyes. His red lips curved into a smooth arc.
‘Right. There’s no other way.’
Mu-hae still wasn’t sure if it was right to expect this kind of help from Joo-oh.
But if he had learned anything since coming to Buckta, it was that he was more resilient and useful than Mu-hae had worried.
“And then get on the bike.”
“What about Jin Mu-hae?”
“I’ll take care of the rest and get on.”
“Got it!”
As soon as the plan was conveyed, Mu-hae switched the ammunition in his weapon.
Ta-ang-!
With a loud noise that echoed around them, the firearm spat fire.
The largest wild dog fell without even making a whimper, and as Mu-hae had predicted, the one next to it rushed towards Joo-oh.
Zzzzzz-.
Kyaeng-!
The dog stepped on the Taser installed on the ground. Its body stiffened from the burst of electricity.
Immediately, a bbaak! A truly gruesome impact sound, as if fabric had been struck with an iron club, was heard.
Joo-oh kicked the wild dog away. Really far away. The fur clump, which had left the road and crashed into the dirt, was bent in a shapeless mess.
The subsequent steps went smoothly. Joo-oh hopped on the bike, and Mu-hae’s firearm spat fire a few more times.
Mu-hae, who withstood the recoil of the firearm with his bulk, struck the last wild dog with the butt of his rifle and kicked it away with the Taser.
Kya-gaeng!
Hearing the canine’s unique scream, he hopped onto the bike.
The engine was already on. Feeling the sensation of arms tightly hugging his waist, Mu-hae gripped the handlebars with all his might.
Huuuung-!
The bike sped away like an arrow. He didn’t even look at the radar, which had been beeping and warning since earlier.
It was probably detecting the wriggling wild dogs. Since they had made such a loud noise, some Aberrants with exceptionally good senses might have come running.
Who cared. Mu-hae had safely escaped the battlefield. He had also safely taken care of Joo-oh, carrying him dangling on his back.
“Haha, heehee.”
A delighted laugh seeped into his right ear.
It was a pleasant, beautiful voice. For an adult man’s voice, it was clear and bright enough to tickle the back of his neck.
“But Jin Mu-hae.”
“What.”
“Why are we going a different way?”
“There’s no point in going back the way we came.”
The Small aircraft they had arrived in had already taken off into the sky after noon.
By now, it would be flying to the pre-designated coordinates and waiting.
He could remotely reset the coordinates, but he was worried that his precious vehicle might be damaged if he let it fly to just any location.
Judging from the signal he glanced at, which seemed normal, the location where the Small aircraft was parked seemed to be fine, fortunately…
‘Then I have to go there, even if it takes more time.’
No matter how many variables had arisen, it was a coordinate recommended and used by the Company. As they received support from Goryeo City, they always boasted overwhelming information and search capabilities.
“Will it take long?”
Joo-oh whispered in his ear again. Mu-hae checked the location they would arrive at after going around and asked in a rare, generous voice.
“At least four hours. Why?”
Umm, Joo-oh hesitated for a moment and muttered somewhat weakly.
“When Jin Mu-hae got on here earlier.”
“Yeah.”
“I dropped the bag and couldn’t catch it.”
“What?”
Forgetting that he was driving, he turned his head sharply, and Joo-oh, pouting his lips, drew a square shape with one hand.
“Umm, not mine. And not the one with the weapons.”
“The auxiliary bag?”
“Yeah. The one with the pills.”
It was a stroke of luck. Jin Mu-hae focused on the road again and increased his speed.
The bag only contained emergency medical supplies and meal replacement pills.
He could have just stuffed them into Joo-oh’s bag, but he had separated them because of a strange feeling that he couldn’t trust him with food.
Because of that choice, the energy he would have given his tired body was gone, but it was okay.
It was a cheap price to pay for getting through that moment easily.
“Heeuum. Heeeuum.”
But it didn’t seem to be the same for Joo-oh. His laughter, which had been giggling since he put the meal replacement pills in his mouth, noticeably decreased.
“Jin Mu-hae has to eat too.”
Anyone would think he had left behind important equipment, he was so dejected. It was a concern typical of Joo-oh, who was sensitive and serious about food.
Well, it was true that he would have to starve until at least tomorrow, but he just had to conserve his strength as much as possible and endure.
He had experienced worse than this, so fasting was nothing…
By the time the bike finally slowed down and stopped, it was already dark.
The area was already prone to early sunsets, and there were even more rain clouds. As the damp, cool wind pierced his collar, Jin Mu-hae felt a strange, empty chill.
“What are you doing? Follow me properly.”
As he warned Joo-oh, who kept dawdling, and pulled the bike along, a delicious smell wafted to Mu-hae’s nose from somewhere.
Instantly, saliva pooled at the root of his tongue. Jin Mu-hae unconsciously smacked his lips and turned his head.
“This.”
At the same time, something was held out next to his face.
It was a long bun with a split in the middle. The ingredients inside and the thickly drizzled sauce caught his eye.
The delicious smell that made his stomach rumble was coming from there.
A hot dog. A junk food made with sausage of unknown origin and sauce of questionable age.
The food that he had bought Joo-oh a lot of before leaving the temporary station had somehow appeared before Mu-hae’s eyes.
Moreover, it was still warm, emitting its scent in all directions.
“…Where did you get it?”
“Jin Mu-hae gave it to me.”
“You brought that?”
“I kept wanting to eat it, so I hid one. Um. I’ll give it to Jin Mu-hae.”
He couldn’t even guess when he had taken it.
He didn’t know how he had managed to hide such a smelly food so well.
When he had opened Joo-oh’s bag, there had only been the odds and ends that Mu-hae had put in.
There was only ammunition in his hoodie, wasn’t there?
“When did you… Haa, never mind.”
But it wasn’t the first or second time that Joo-oh had shown incomprehensible behavior.
Mu-hae was a little tired today to argue about each and every thing.
The annoyance that had been building up to his throat, about what if the surrounding creatures smelled it, or what if the food went bad because he had taken it instead of eating it right away, melted away and disappeared.
Mu-hae took the hot dog he offered.
Was it his imagination? The sausage, which should have been cold, seemed to have a subtle warmth.
With a bite that he cut and chewed well, the sweet and sour, stimulating sauce stimulated his tongue.
The cheap spices, which had been added in abundance to hide the smell of the poor-quality meat, tasted strangely delicious.
“Next time.”
“…”
“Eat everything I buy you right away.”
“Okay.”
Turning his head away from the proud smile, Mu-hae silently took another bite of the hot dog.
The piece of bread, which he would never normally eat, melted thickly and slid down his throat.
It’s a good thing that my head is gradually clearing.
I can follow Jin Mu-hae around like this and carry out missions together.
Joo-oh hummed the CF song of Gamna Cereal in his mind and shook his legs.
The colorful candy shapes he had seen the day before wandered around in his head.
“Heuum.”
When he raised his hand and took a deep breath, he faintly smelled Jin Mu-hae.
It was only natural, since he had been hugging him for hours. If he knew, he would be disgusted and ask if he was a dog, but Joo-oh actually had better olfactory cells than him.
But he would never say that such a thing was possible. As he became more conscious, he gradually began to distinguish between what he could and couldn’t say to him.
Joo-oh proudly boasted that he was becoming closer to a real human.
“Jin Mu-hae.”
“Throw the wipes in the bag over there.”
Jin Mu-hae, who had washed his hands and face with a wet wipe, answered without turning his head.
Joo-oh looked down at his hands, which he hadn’t even rubbed yet, and nodded as if he understood. He wouldn’t be looking this way anyway, so he wouldn’t know that he hadn’t washed his hands.
“Sleep quietly in the corner.”
“Okay.”
That’s a lie. Joo-oh was going to stick close to Jin Mu-hae and sleep.
When his warmth touched the end of his body, it felt like his blurry and vague head would calm down comfortably.
For the first time since becoming human, Joo-oh had felt a little bad for the past few days. It wasn’t that he wasn’t excited, but it felt unsettling, as if something was wrong.
Come to think of it, had Jin Mu-hae asked him what kind of dream he had in the morning?
‘…I don’t have dreams.’
Sleeping is just sleeping. It’s like the moment when consciousness is cut off.
Usually, when he came to his senses after that, he would be tearing something apart or wandering around the desolate land, but now, the bright sight and the smell of morning greeted Joo-oh.
Joo-oh, who had been spending the nights with his eyes open, had started to sleep little by little since then. His body was used to it. He was a living being, whether he was an Aberrant or whatever, so it was only natural.
As the waiting time he had to endure on his own decreased, Joo-oh’s life became a little easier.