By Zephyria 
“Yeah. You be careful too, Chilbok.”
Ho-eun gave a short nod, poking a needle through the fabric and pulling it out in one smooth motion. His touch was quite skilled. While he couldn’t be called a master of sewing, he certainly wasn’t bad at it.
Ho-eun had lived at home his entire life, and as a result, he had tried everything there was to do to pass the time. Sewing was included in that. Deok-woo used to grumble, asking what a man would ever use sewing for, but it was truly a blessing that he could be of help like this.
Spreading the fabric to check his stitches, Ho-eun pulled another section over and pierced it with the needle again. The cloth the two of them were patching was large enough to be used as a quilt. Even so, they were adding more fabric to patch it, as it was deemed too small. There was another piece of fabric like that beside them.
Just then, a soldier—at an age somewhere between a girl and a woman—approached in a rush, bowed politely to Ho-eun, and spoke.
“Young Master, we’re running out of time, so I believe I must take this now.”
“Ah, yes!”
Cutting the thread with his teeth, Ho-eun quickly sprang to his feet. Chilbok also tidied up his work and gathered the fabric. However, the cloth was incredibly heavy. It was just fabric, but because it was so large and thick, the weight was substantial.
Yet, the soldier hoisted it onto her shoulder and simply dashed away. Even with a small bundle on her head, one wouldn’t be able to run that lightly or quickly. Of course, Ho-eun couldn’t run like that even empty-handed.
Ho-eun stared blankly at her retreating figure until the soldier disappeared from sight.
“…….”
In the Crimson Rain Brigade, Tae-muk was the strongest, the fastest, and had the best recovery, but because they were overshadowed by him, it was a fact that not a single person among them was unremarkable. Everyone was strong, fast, and possessed immense mental fortitude. Every single one of them was like a hero.
Ho-eun pressed his lips tight. He clenched his fists. He knew he could never become like them, but he still had to try; he knew he might never even reach their heels, but he vowed that he would at least not be the pebble that tripped them. Just as he was making that resolve—
“Young Master…….”
Chilbok called out to Ho-eun in a somewhat hollow voice. Ho-eun looked at him. However, Chilbok was staring at something over Ho-eun’s shoulder. Ho-eun slowly turned his head.
Above the empty sky beyond the Yalu River, black kites were rising once again.
The main force of the Devouring Ghouls had arrived.
“General!”
Pushing through the soldiers running in every direction, Ho-eun called out to Tae-muk, his voice sounding almost like a scream. At that, Tae-muk, who was just about to head down the hillside, whipped around to look at Ho-eun.
“Ho-eun?”
Ho-eun threw himself into Tae-muk’s arms. His long braided hair flew up in an arc before falling back down. Tae-muk, who caught him reflexively, frowned. It was because Ho-eun shouldn’t be here in such an urgent situation.
“Get back to your place, quickly—”
But Ho-eun let out a shout.
“Just a greeting!”
“…….”
“Just a greeting. Just a greeting…….”
He clung tightly to Tae-muk’s waist. Then, with his eyes squeezed shut, he rubbed his cheek against Tae-muk’s chest. He told himself he shouldn’t be anxious, that he shouldn’t waver, yet he didn’t want to let go of Tae-muk. Only by seeing him like this could his heart be at ease.
Slowly lowering his hands, Ho-eun gripped Tae-muk’s hand—his large, thick, and firm hand. Then, looking up at him with a pale face, he spoke.
“Please come back safely.”
“…….”
“And please don’t get hurt.”
“……Alright.”
After that, the two of them stared at each other in silence for a moment.
“…….”
“…….”
All sorts of emotions swirled within their eyes. Then, at some point, Ho-eun’s eyes welled up with tears. However, he did not let them fall. The sternocleidomastoid muscle in his neck tightened and relaxed repeatedly as he fought back the urge to cry. The corners of his lips trembled slightly.
Tae-muk let out a small chuckle and spoke teasingly.
“Why are you crying?”
“I-I’m not crying. Why would I be crying?”
Ho-eun denied it in a choked voice. Then, swallowing hard three times in a row, he swallowed his tears along with it. Afterward, he asked with a gentle, beaming smile.
“Shall I give you a kiss?”
“……Here?”
Tae-muk raised an eyebrow in surprise. And for good reason; they were surrounded by soldiers. Although everyone seemed completely uninterested in Tae-muk and Ho-eun as they hurried toward their duties, there were still many eyes. For Ho-eun, who valued propriety, this was not a very private place.
“Yes. Here.”
Yet, Ho-eun nodded, still wearing a smiling face. In the past, he would have been embarrassed to do such a thing in public, but now, nothing else mattered. He wanted to give Tae-muk even a little more strength. He wanted to do everything he possibly could for him. If it meant Tae-muk could fight the battle a little more easily, or get hurt a little less, he would do it a hundred times over.
“…….”
Tae-muk looked down at Ho-eun blankly. He felt proud of how much Ho-eun had changed, but at the same time, he felt pity. Because he knew why Ho-eun was acting this way. That was why he couldn’t immediately say yes.
When Tae-muk didn’t answer, Ho-eun reached out and cupped both of his cheeks. Then, standing on his tiptoes with all his might—
Press.
He overlapped his lips onto Tae-muk’s. Then, he remained still just like that.
“…….”
Tae-muk’s brow furrowed slightly at the energy he felt from Ho-eun through their lips. He looked at Ho-eun’s tightly closed eyes, and the single tear that finally escaped and rolled down, then wrapped his arms around Ho-eun’s waist. After turning his body to stand with his back to the soldiers, he cupped the back of Ho-eun’s head and kissed him more deeply.
Unlike the chaotic surroundings, only the two of them remained frozen, like a photograph.
The sunset began to bleed into the sky. As before, Ho-eun, hiding inside the tent and watching the reddish glow of the sunset, let out a long sigh.
“Haaa…….”
His heart pounded violently. His mouth was bone-dry, and his eyes were so parched that he had to blink incessantly. There was no such thing as a battle without tension, but this time was on a different level. It was because he had seen with his own two eyes just how many of them there were.
He worried whether the Crimson Rain Brigade, consisting of only a thousand men, could possibly stand against that many monsters, and whether they were being too reckless.
As he sighed once more—
“Young Master, don’t worry. I’ll protect you.”
Dong-ja, who was beside him, spoke. Unlike before, when she was simmering with rage, she now wore a very determined expression. At that, Ho-eun’s eyes curved into a smile.
“Yes. I will also do my best not to be a burden.”
As he spoke, he subtly felt his side. He touched the hard, cold pistol. He hoped he wouldn’t have to use it, but he had packed plenty of ammunition just in case something unexpected happened.
How much longer did they stay like that? By the time the sunset had deepened past red into a purple hue, the edge of the horizon began to turn black. At a glance, it looked as if night had arrived in that direction first.
Ho-eun brought the telescope to his eye. Beyond the thick clouds of dust, he saw the Devouring Ghouls. Surging like a pitch-black wave, they were exactly as he had seen them before. They were countless, and above them, masses as large as mountains were moving along.
“…….”
Ho-eun moved the telescope busily, examining the hundreds of masses one by one. However, because the Devouring Ghouls forming the spheres had their Helmet Bones packed tightly together, nothing was visible to the naked eye. It seemed he would only know if the spheres were dismantled or if the monsters were torn apart.
Yet, it felt as though the number of spheres had decreased slightly over the past few days—was it an illusion? Since he hadn’t been able to count them due to a lack of time back then, he couldn’t be sure.
The monsters approached slowly. Then, when they covered half of the plain, the ground vibrated minutely. The leaves before his eyes shuddered, and grains of soil rolled away. Somehow, the air felt fishy. The characteristic scent of the monsters had drifted this far.
“Isn’t the ground going to collapse because of those things?”
Dong-ja said, pressing her palm firmly against the shaking ground. At those words, Ho-eun had the absurd thought that he would actually prefer it if that happened. Then all the monsters would just fall down. Then they wouldn’t have to fight, and no one would get hurt or die.
Even while he was imagining such things, the Devouring Ghouls continued to approach with a rumbling gu-gu-gung, gu-gu-gung sound. As they drew closer, Ho-eun examined the sphere-like masses through the telescope again, hoping he might see something.
“I wonder what’s inside those?”
Dong-ja asked, squinting as she looked at the same thing. Ho-eun answered without taking his eye off the telescope.
“I’m not sure……. I hope there’s a Tentacle Plant Monster we don’t know about.”
“A tentacle we don’t know?”
“Yes. For example…… something smarter than the Fan Type, um, should I call it a King of the Devouring Ghouls? I hope such a thing exists.”
“Why? If it’s smart, it’ll be harder to kill.”
“But if we just take care of that one, the others will all stop. After that, they’ll be nothing more than beasts, so wouldn’t that actually be the easier path?”
“Ah, I guess so. Those kinds of things are easy to deal with.”
“…….”
Ho-eun bit his lip. The worst-case scenario was that there was nothing inside the spheres. It would be a disaster if there was no King of the Devouring Ghouls and the tentacle monsters communicated individually. That would mean the Crimson Rain Brigade would have to kill every single Tentacle Plant Monster. Even at a glance, there seemed to be thousands of them with tentacles; if so, it would be a truly, truly difficult battle.
While he was talking with Dong-ja, the Devouring Ghouls arrived right in front of the river. Now, the entire plain was stained black. The sight of the ground being blacker than the sky was extremely surreal. It felt as if the world had been turned upside down.