By Zephyria 
116
I wasn’t exactly trying to do anything bad, but I felt like I was going to get scolded. I’d probably be reprimanded for butting in where I didn’t belong. How many refugees were we going to meet in the future, and was I going to take care of each and every one of them? What was I going to do being so soft? They’d say I was acting like a noble, like the well-bred young master I was.
But then, suddenly, Tae-muk stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray next to him. Then he jumped to his feet.
“Let’s go, then.”
Ho-eun’s eyelashes fluttered rapidly at those words. He was taken aback.
“Oh, you’re, you’re coming with me?”
“Yeah.”
“Officer Oh could go with me… You’re busy, aren’t you?”
Ho-eun said, looking for Gil-sang with his eyes. But Tae-muk replied nonchalantly.
“I’m not busy. He’ll do fine on his own.”
He gestured with his chin towards the end of the hallway. Ho-eun turned his gaze there. One of the paper doors was open, and Byeonguk’s back was visible beyond it. He was talking to someone who seemed to be the innkeeper and filling out paperwork.
“……”
Embarrassment crept onto Ho-eun’s face. Why was Byeonguk doing that? Tae-muk was the leader here. Or, was it because Tae-muk was the leader that he wasn’t doing it? Ho-eun frowned slightly, then unfurled his brow, tilting his head. Tae-muk tilted his head along with him, matching his movement.
“Why? Don’t you want to go with me?”
“That’s not true!”
Ho-eun denied it hastily. But a big denial meant affirmation. One of Tae-muk’s eyebrows quirked up. He leaned his face closer to Ho-eun, as if trying to see inside him.
“Sounds like a lie.”
“It’s true. It’s, it’s good to go with the General.”
It was a lie. Gil-sang was much more comfortable than Tae-muk. Of course, Gil-sang wasn’t as comfortable as Deok-woo. But, well, Gil-sang was someone he had to be polite to, while Tae-muk was someone he had to be wary of. It meant he was uncomfortable. But he couldn’t say that in front of Tae-muk.
“Y-yeah, it’s really… great….”
Ho-eun said in a trembling voice. He lowered his eyelids and bit down on his lower lip. But at that moment.
“……”
Tae-muk’s thick Adam’s apple moved up and down significantly. He was staring at Ho-eun’s face, which was white but tinged with a slight pink, like a well-ripened, soft, and moist peach.
It’s really great.
Great.
Great.
The words echoed down the long hallway, but he couldn’t tell if it was real or just a hallucination.
Ughhh…, he also heard the moan Ho-eun had made a few days ago, but that was definitely a hallucination.
Tae-muk continued to stare at Ho-eun for a long time, then brushed past him. His steps seemed somehow hurried and impatient, as if he were running away.
Startled by the sudden movement, Ho-eun froze for a moment, then quickly followed him.
Myeonghwa Town was still awake despite the late hour. There were many people, and the lights burned even brighter as it got darker.
Ho-eun, strolling through the lights, gradually began to feel excited. When he had first left the inn, he had been depressed because he had unexpectedly ended up leaving with Tae-muk, and because the time to part with the children seemed to be drawing closer, but as if he had forgotten all about it, a smile crept onto his face.
Light captivates people, like alcohol or opium.
Entranced by the light, Ho-eun had started walking ahead of Tae-muk at some point. He managed to do so with legs that were two spans shorter than Tae-muk’s. The colorful lights flickered across his face every moment.
How long had he walked like that?
“Do you even know where you’re going?”
Tae-muk asked, watching Ho-eun’s swaying Hair Tie. Startled, Ho-eun turned around to look at Tae-muk. Then he belatedly realized that he had walked ahead of him. He walked back to Tae-muk’s side as if running, and gave an answer to Tae-muk’s question.
“Yes. I saw a fabric store on the way here.”
“Where is it?”
“If you pass [Gaeul Bookstore] and [Joyang Store] over there, and turn left at [Hwayeongdang], you’ll find [Jinang Fabric Store].”
At those words, Tae-muk’s steps stopped for a moment. Ho-eun didn’t notice and continued to move forward.
“The lights were bright earlier, so it seemed to be open, but I don’t know if it’s still open now. I hope it’s open….”
“……”
Tae-muk narrowed his eyes and stared intently at the back of Ho-eun’s small head. Ho-eun took another five or six steps, and then, realizing that Tae-muk had fallen behind again, he returned to his side. He waited to walk in step with Tae-muk.
For some reason, Tae-muk didn’t seem to want to move. So, instead of saying things like let’s go or why aren’t you going, Ho-eun tugged firmly on Tae-muk’s military uniform sleeve. It was an action that showed he had only grown up in the bosom of his family.
Tae-muk stared down at Ho-eun’s face. But Ho-eun didn’t seem to know what he had just said, or how those words sounded to ordinary people.
“……”
Tae-muk opened his mouth as if to say something, then closed it again. Then he obediently allowed himself to be led by Ho-eun. Ho-eun let go of his sleeve after Tae-muk had taken a few steps and said.
“The children, I mean, the Ramjae Town refugees. They won’t be ostracized or ignored by the people here, will they?”
“……”
“Actually, I read a newspaper article about the townspeople driving out strangers. They’ll probably feel a sense of rejection since they’re unfamiliar. They’ll be scared because they don’t know what kind of people they are. But… I hope that doesn’t happen to the Ramjae Town people….”
“How many people here do you think aren’t strangers?”
“Yes?”
Ho-eun looked up at Tae-muk at the unexpected words. Then Tae-muk gestured to the people crowded around them. Ho-eun looked at the people along with him.
The people passing by on both sides, approaching from the front, and overtaking from behind were very diverse. Their appearances and ages were different. But that alone didn’t mean they were strangers. Just because they were citizens of the Korean Empire, or even people from the same town, didn’t mean they would look exactly alike like twins.
Ho-eun looked at them for a long time, then belatedly realized something.
Many of them were injured. Roughly three or four out of ten people he counted were like that.
The wounds were all gruesome, and sometimes they were missing an ear, a hand, or one leg, which clearly indicated the work of a Devouring Ghoul. That meant they had crossed the high, thick walls and gone outside, and since they wouldn’t have tried to leave this wonderful and comfortable town on their own, it was right to assume they had come into this town from the outside.
“There are… a lot of strangers. A lot.”
Ho-eun said as if muttering to himself. So many people were strangers. He was relieved that the children wouldn’t be ostracized, but at the same time, he felt gloomy. They must have had their homes taken away from them, just like the Ramjae Town people.
It was when Ho-eun was sighing silently. The [Hwayeongdang] sign passed over his head, and soon the destination appeared.
“Oh, there’s the fabric store.”
Excited, Ho-eun turned without looking to the left or right. But at that moment, a young man rushed towards Ho-eun as if he had been waiting for him.
Ho-eun naturally didn’t see it, and Tae-muk naturally saw it.
Tae-muk didn’t pull Ho-eun towards him. Instead, he quickly overtook Ho-eun with his long legs. His broad back stood like a wall, shielding Ho-eun.
The approaching young man didn’t have time to avoid it, and collided with Tae-muk as he was, specifically with his unusually broad and solid back, with a thud!
It was a rough collision, but Tae-muk didn’t budge. On the other hand, the young man flew backwards and landed on his butt.
“Ugh….”
The young man, who had fallen so hard that his legs were kicked up into the air, stared blankly at the dark sky for a moment. Then he raised only his upper body and glared at Tae-muk with a fierce look.
“What the fuck! Can’t you watch where you’re going!”
“……”
At those words, Tae-muk obediently opened his eyes wide and looked at the young man. The young man flinched at the gaze.
That was because Tae-muk’s pupils were too black. The surroundings were so bright, but only his pupils were strangely black. And how big was his build? Looking up at him while sitting down, it seemed as if his body was constantly growing. Growing and growing into a mountain, and eventually swallowing up the sky….
“……”
The young man swallowed hard and got up clumsily. Then he bowed to Tae-muk and apologized.
“I’m sorry. I, I’ll watch where I’m going.”
With those words, the young man disappeared as if running away. It was a truly bland collision, without any violence or swearing. It was such a bland and short collision.
“Is something wrong?”
Ho-eun didn’t even notice that something had happened. He stood on tiptoe, but that didn’t mean he could see over Tae-muk’s shoulder, which was as high as a mountain. But Tae-muk turned around and said with his characteristic expressionless face.
“Nothing.”
Then he stretched out his arm and opened the door of the fabric store for him.
“Go in.”
“……”
Ho-eun looked up at Tae-muk. Then he tilted his head and looked past his arm. He saw a young man running away in a hurry.