“…”
Ignoring all the noise, Seo Baek-han calmly assessed his condition.
Nothing was severed, and there were no additional injuries. It sounds odd to say, but only one spot was cleanly stabbed. More than anything, the fact that he could even make this assessment meant the situation wasn’t critical. Even if there was quite a bit of blood…
“Oh, what do I do… Hyung…”
However, Joo Tae-hyun, who had witnessed him being stabbed right in front of his eyes, could barely breathe and only mouthed the word, Hyung. He was supporting Seo Baek-han, but his trembling was so completely transmitted that it looked as if Seo Baek-han was convulsing.
“It’s okay, I won’t die from this.”
Seo Baek-han hastily tore a piece of his dopo and tied it around the stabbed area. It was a stroke of luck that the knife wasn’t too big. Also, the guy who had just stabbed him, and the guy who had put on a show pretending to be a terrorist, neither of them were capable of anything more.
Seo Baek-han, who had been scoffing at their capabilities, stopped staunching the bleeding and fell into thought as a sudden doubt crossed his mind.
Wait a minute. Does this make sense?
If they were thugs he’d run into at Moran Park while walking, maybe, but this was inside Pyongyang University. At an event where high-ranking officials from the northern region, including members of the Imperial Family, were expected to gather en masse, could such a sloppy attack really have happened?
It’s impossible unless someone on the inside turned a blind eye to these bastards.
Seo Baek-han, who was calmly assessing the situation even after being stabbed in the abdomen, finally realized that his condition wasn’t very good. He was only now considering a question that he would normally have thought of first.
“Ugh! Knife, knife! A crazy bastard was wielding a knife!”
“Someone’s been stabbed! Quick, ambulance, an ambulance…!”
Seo Baek-han, finally jolted out of his thoughts by the ear-splitting screams of the people, realized that the time he had spent lost in thought hadn’t been that long.
As if the playback speed had been artificially increased, the scene before his eyes changed frantically.
Guards rushed in to subdue the terrorists, and people screamed and scattered in panic. The quiet event hall quickly turned into a scene of chaos. He wanted to tell the guy who was yelling at the top of his lungs that an ambulance was coming to shut up, but he couldn’t even raise his voice anymore.
“…Tae-hyun.”
He was able to stay sane thanks to the Pheromone pouring out of Joo Tae-hyun, who was supporting him. The scent of forest and grass gently soothed Seo Baek-han’s nerves, which had become hypersensitive as if they had been heated by fire.
“You’ll be okay, Hyung. Don’t say anything for now, because the blood, the blood keeps coming…”
As if a shutter was slowly blinking in the darkness, Joo Tae-hyun’s face changed rapidly each time he opened and closed his eyes.
His face was deathly pale with fear, then his eyes, clouded with tears, looked off into the distance, then he gritted his teeth as if he had made some kind of resolution… Finally, with a chillingly cold expression, Joo Tae-hyun raised his hand briefly.
“…Excuse me, but it would be best to close all the doors in case other terrorists are hiding.”
“Yes…?”
The people in charge, who had been rushing over to help with Seo Baek-han’s emergency treatment, were taken aback by the unexpected request and just stared blankly at each other. His spouse had collapsed right in front of him… Did this kid really just say to lock the doors first?
“No, the entire school must be locked down. How can security be so lax at an important event where high-ranking officials are gathering, not to mention members of the Imperial Family? This was breached from the inside from the start.”
“W-Well, that’s…”
“Can’t you understand? Even though it was a shoddy job done by nobodies, this accident happened because there were people on the inside turning a blind eye!”
Seo Baek-han smiled even as a burning sensation slithered around his torso. That’s right, Joo Tae-hyun. That’s how you do it.
“Ah, w-well, that may be true, but…”
“If anyone brings up the issue of responsibility later, mention Assemblyman Seo Hong-gyu’s name, and lock down the entire school for now. Before things get really out of hand. What about the CCTV?”
“Ah, we’re securing it.”
“Please review at least a week’s worth, no, a month’s worth. Ask the reporters to refrain from reporting until the situation is under control, and ask the visitors to refrain from posting provocative photos on social media.”
Had they only now noticed the efforts of the young boy, who was trying to calm the situation while supporting Seo Baek-han with a haggard face? The people who had been hiding behind and watching also slowly came forward and tried to clean up the scene.
“Wait a minute, let’s get in line properly! You’ll get seriously hurt!”
“This way, yes, yes, just move two steps at a time!”
“The ambulance has arrived! We’ll transport the patient directly to Pyongyang University Hospital.”
It was fortunate that there was a large hospital right next door, so it would be easy to handle and receive treatment. It was his first experience with an attack and terrorism, so he couldn’t deny that he had been a bit flustered, but overall, he had been lucky.
If Joo Tae-hyun, who was struggling so hard, knew that he was making such an assessment, he would be appalled and say, “How can you say that now?”
“…Hyung, I.”
Joo Tae-hyun, who had perked up at the welcome news that the ambulance had arrived, swallowed hard as if trying to calm himself down again. The sight of his Adam’s apple bobbing and his clenched masseter muscles twitching felt very stimulating even in this situation, and he felt strange about himself.
Perhaps interpreting the faint smile that escaped him as something else, a hint of melancholy and pity for himself filled Joo Tae-hyun’s eyes.
“I’ll stay here and help sort things out, and then go to the hospital. People who can help will be here soon, so just until then.”
“…Okay.”
“After all, I’m just a civilian who can’t do anything right now, but still, this is Pyongyang… And I’m Seo Baek-han’s legal spouse.”
The somewhat lengthy muttering didn’t feel like words meant to reassure Seo Baek-han, but rather a vow to Joo Tae-hyun himself.
“Okay, thank you.”
A faint smile appeared on Seo Baek-han’s face as he watched him.
It was a cruel thing to say, but it was better to stay put until the end, even if he was criticized for meddling when he wasn’t a police officer or a soldier. Seo Baek-han would have done the same, of course.
Even if it was just a show for show’s sake, there were definitely people who would be comforted and reassured by such crude hypocrisy, so why shouldn’t he do it?
He had grown up enjoying all sorts of benefits because he had good ancestors, so it was only right that he should be willing to do this much.
However, he also knew that just because something was the right thing to do didn’t mean it was easy to do, so Seo Baek-han felt that his young spouse was reliable for the first time.
Leaving aside all those one-dimensional feelings like Pheromone and lust, he now realized that Joo Tae-hyun was his partner.
“…Somehow.”
Seo Baek-han bit his lip for a moment, trying not to laugh out loud because his stomach was cramping. He was sorry that he kept having these thoughts when he saw Joo Tae-hyun’s pale face, but he couldn’t help but feel proud of him. He must really be out of his mind.
“I think I made a really good choice in getting married.”
“Hyung, you’re saying that now…!”
Joo Tae-hyun, who looked like he was about to shout, “How can you say that now!” barely managed to hold on to his reason at the last moment.
From his reddened eyes, a familiar and unfamiliar scent poured out.
Ah, he hadn’t understood why Joo Tae-hyun’s Pheromone, which wasn’t particularly seductive, had felt so pleasant lately. He thought he knew now.
Because it was a scent that was only allowed to him.
Because no one but him could smell this simple wildflower scent that didn’t suit Joo Tae-hyun.
“…I’ll be there soon.”
Joo Tae-hyun carefully supported Seo Baek-han as he spotted paramedics rushing towards them through the crowd.
“You’ll be okay, you’ll be okay. You’re talking so well, so…”
Joo Tae-hyun repeated calmly, as if trying to reassure Seo Baek-han. He was okay, it wasn’t a big deal. Even Seo Baek-han, who had never really worried about his condition, found himself relaxing because of the monotonous and stable tone.
However, he couldn’t completely hide the slight trembling of his body beneath the folds of his dopo, which Seo Baek-han had personally dressed him in. Perhaps Joo Tae-hyun himself wasn’t even aware of his condition.
“Just stay in place until someone one rank higher than the person in charge here arrives, just until then.”
Now it was his turn. Instead of pointing out and teasing Joo Tae-hyun’s condition, Seo Baek-han chose to comfort him.
“…Yes.”
“There’s no point in holding out any longer than that, you won’t hear anything good, and it won’t really help with the on-site recovery. Above all, you’re someone who needs to be treated too. Understand?”
Joo Tae-hyun’s shoulders heaved slightly up and down. He still couldn’t read his expression, but now Seo Baek-han could vaguely read what kind of sentence his expressionless face held.
Right now, Joo Tae-hyun wanted to cry, but he was holding it back.
“Joo Tae-hyun-.”
“Patient, you seem to still be conscious, can you tell me your name?”
He wanted to hear what he was going to say, but the paramedics who rushed in with the stretchers were so urgent that he couldn’t insist on his petty stubbornness any longer.
Seo Baek-han made a silly joke, saying, “You don’t know my name?” and then obediently recited his personal information after receiving a stern look from the paramedic. Still, while the others were just bewildered, Joo Tae-hyun glared at him as if he was going to kill him as soon as he made the joke.
“Okay, there doesn’t seem to be a problem with breathing… but the bleeding…”
When he glanced over at Joo Tae-hyun while lying down, he had already taken his eyes off him. He seemed to be fine now that he had left the situation command to the people in charge and was talking to the reporters.
“Then oxygen saturation… as soon as we arrive…”
Did the saying that a position makes a person apply even in moments like this?
As he began to be treated as a patient in earnest, he kept falling asleep against his will. Seo Baek-han struggled to hold on with his fading mind, relying on the faint scent of Joo Tae-hyun’s Pheromone that wrapped around his body, and slowly closed his eyes.