By Zephyria Wondering what that could possibly mean, the moment Yohan’s eyes widened, Yoon Seung-ryong opened the window on the top floor of the building and shouted.
“Cleaning is all done! You can come up now!”
Leaving behind an incomprehensible answer, Lee Hyun-muk smoothly opened the building door and went inside. Yohan, snapping back to his senses belatedly, hurried inside, purifying the dense toxic miasma. To be disappointed because it’s a fan-like feeling, what on earth could that mean? …Does that mean a feeling that isn’t like a fan’s is good?
While confused, he diligently purified the building. The building they chose as their shelter, judging by the room layout and furniture, seemed to have once been used as a small guesthouse. The three of them gathered the bodies dissolved by the poison and threw them out onto the street, making the foul-smelling things as clean as possible.
After finishing the cleaning, they were so hungry their stomachs growled. Hearing the sound, Yoon Seung-ryong quickly prepared a meal.
Today’s meal was a mysterious stew. It was understandable, as it was made by roughly chopping up smoked snake meat caught in the jungle, some unidentifiable edible mushrooms, and dried vegetables, then boiling them together. The vegetables and mushrooms were cooked to perfection, floating invitingly in the milky broth. Yoon Seung-ryong reverently served the portions, and Yohan carefully accepted and tasted it.
“Oh… it tastes like samgyetang broth. Does it suit your taste, Lee Hyun-muk?”
“It’s delicious.”
Lee Hyun-muk gave a short answer, then suddenly gave a sidelong smile, causing Yohan to gulp down the broth without cooling it. He nearly burned his throat because of it. As he struggled alone, Lee Hyun-muk wordlessly handed him water. While pretending to be nonchalant and drinking it, he quietly wept inside….
“So, who made it?”
With Yoon Seung-ryong, who knew nothing, puffing out his chest, the three finished their meal in a warm and harmonious atmosphere. After leisurely enjoying the most pleasant time in the Abyss, Yoon Seung-ryong suddenly stood up.
“Then, before we rest, shall we do some scavenging around?”
“Sounds good!”
The two people serious about stocking up on food agreed. They first spotted a famous chain store and rushed towards it. However, as expected, most of the groceries they found this time were canned goods. Still, they were fortunate to secure a large supply of drinking water and food that could be preserved long-term. While rummaging around, Lee Hyun-muk handed something to Yohan and said,
“We won’t have to worry about food for a while.”
“I know. There’s quite a lot left inside too. The canned goods we found in the jungle weren’t even half full… Huh?”
Yohan, who was happily purifying cans and tins, accepted what he thought was food, only to find a soft doll. It had devilish horns, was grubby and faded, and when he bewilderingly purified the doll keychain, it turned out to be a surprisingly cute sheep doll.
“Sheep…?”
Yohan recalled the Madman Lee Hyun-muk calling him Yangyang and telling him to bleat, so he quickly turned his head. Looking at him with a doubtful gaze, Lee Hyun-muk, either feigning ignorance or genuinely so, said with a nonchalant face,
“It’s soft and squishy, just like Yang Yohan, isn’t it? Malangi.”
“What? Me? What’s Malangi?”
“No, the sheep doll.”
“I thought you just called this Yang Yohan a moment ago?”
“Perhaps you confused it because the consonants for Yang Yohan and the sheep doll are the same?”
As Yohan looked up with wide, confused eyes, Lee Hyun-muk smirked playfully and said,
“Just kidding, Yohan. Actually, I’m starting to remember the times I wasn’t quite myself lately. Like when I called you Yangyang…. Thinking about it, it’s a cute nickname. Yangyang.”
No, that wasn’t so much a nickname as it was a name given because he only remembered his surname. Nevertheless, Yohan liked the word “nickname” and couldn’t bring himself to correct the truth. No, before correcting, he was extremely flustered. He had been unsure since they were cleaning the shelter earlier, but it seemed Lee Hyun-muk was constantly hitting on him…!
“Do you prefer it when I call you Yangyang, Yohan?”
Lee Hyun-muk closed the distance between them excessively.
“Yangyang? Or Yohan? I’m good with anything you want…”
Faced with Yohan’s face, which was right in front of him, calling him by a sweet ‘nickname’ and smiling brightly, Yohan finally couldn’t hold back and let out a scream of “Aaaargh!” Yoon, a sensitive Awakened individual who was diligently scavenging for food and useful tools nearby, also screamed from beyond the shelves.
“Team leader, why are you talking like that! Did something happen to your head?!”
Huh? Is that so! …That’s what it was! Something happened to my head! Yohan, having a great realization, quickly unleashed purification. Lee Hyun-muk, bathed in the dazzling light, squinted his eyes as if it were too bright. After blinking a few times, the smile that had been brightly adorning his face slowly faded.
“…Ah.”
He let out a low sigh and covered his face with one hand. He seemed embarrassed as he reflected on his actions just now. When his usual, somewhat dazed and calm demeanor returned, Yohan felt relieved. Thank goodness. It wasn’t that Lee Hyun-muk was back to his senses….
…Huh? Is it really a relief? With a strangely disappointed feeling, Yohan cautiously asked,
“Are you okay?”
“Mm, I’m sorry. …Was it a bit overwhelming?”
Lee Hyun-muk, having regained his senses, widened the distance that had been too close. Now he felt like the Lee Hyun-muk Yohan knew. It made sense that he had been giving him sidelong glances since dinner and saying embarrassing things like it was okay to have ulterior motives.
“It’s okay! Still, it’s much better than when you couldn’t communicate at all!”
“…Damn, that’s true.”
He gave a slight, bitter smile, and perhaps feeling embarrassed himself, Lee Hyun-muk said he would look around the area and left. Yohan, trying to calm his pounding heart, suddenly started rummaging through the shelves. Even so, he subtly slipped the old sheep keychain into his bag.
Having made quite a haul, they then began searching other buildings. While exploring the surroundings, something caught Yohan’s eye.
“Icy road?”
Thick gray ice covered the severely damaged concrete road, with cars and bicycles abandoned everywhere. Yoon Seung-ryong quickly moved close to Yohan and said,
“Whoa, Ho-young is alive and well.”
“Gasp. Is that Joo Ho-young’s ability?!”
Seeing the traces of Joo Ho-young’s ability, Yohan became a little excited. He then tightly gripped the stone-age spear-like weapon Lee Hyun-muk had made for him. Just then, Lee Hyun-muk also returned from scouting. Seeing Yoon Seung-ryong close to Yohan, he instead kept his distance and slowly surveyed the surroundings. Yohan also tensed up, but whether it was misfortune or good luck, Joo Ho-young did not show himself throughout their walk on the icy road.
Yoon Seung-ryong, looking down at the icy road with a serious expression, suddenly began to break the ice with his spear. Yohan, thinking it was some method to defend against Joo Ho-young, asked tensely,
“Should I help too?”
“Uh-huh, yeah. Let’s break about this much.”
Yohan diligently began breaking the ice with Yoon Seung-ryong. The stone-age weapon was more useful for breaking than a spear. As the High-level Awakener and a similar intermediate awakened person joined forces, a large pile of ice quickly formed. While diligently breaking the ice, Yohan asked,
“But why are we breaking this?”
“Shall we make Bingsu with this?”
“…What?”
Yohan’s hands, which were breaking the ice, stopped in sheer disbelief. Yoon Seung-ryong swallowed hard and said with a serious face,
“There was canned fruit and canned red beans among the things we found earlier. Let’s make Bingsu with that. We can also mix the fruit and sugar water to make a slushie or ice cream. I found an ice shaver earlier and kept it.”
“No…”
This person, he has no regard for Joo Ho-young who could attack at any moment…! However, the idea of slushies and ice cream was quite tempting, so Yohan sighed once and then resumed helping Yoon Seung-ryong diligently scrape together ice. It was then.
Fzzt! …Kaaak!
“Ah, it stings!”
Yoon Seung-ryong jumped up, singed by the tip of the electricity Lee Hyun-muk suddenly unleashed. Almost simultaneously, a pained monstrous roar of kaak echoed. Yohan, startled, tightly gripped his stone-age spear and immediately unleashed light.
“What was that?!”
“That bastard Ho-young is really fast. I was slow to notice too.”
Yoon Seung-ryong rubbed his scorched forearm and glared, but Lee Hyun-muk didn’t even bat an eyebrow. As Yohan looked around with wide eyes, Lee Hyun-muk, who had been keeping his distance to deliberately keep Yohan out of the attack range, retracted his spear and approached.
“He’s already gone. He won’t be around here. It’s best we return to our shelter now.”
“Wow, even for Ho-young, is this all you can do to block him?”
Yoon Seung-ryong grumbled, his pride hurt by the electricity, but Lee Hyun-muk readily admitted it.
“As you can see.”
Uninterested in provoking him further, Yoon Seung-ryong sighed.
“…Hmph, this is troublesome. Shall we head back to the shelter for now?”
“That would be best.”
Lee Hyun-muk agreed to Yoon Seung-ryong’s suggestion. Wary of a sudden ambush, the three hurried back to their shelter. Lee Hyun-muk could only block them from approaching, Yoon Seung-ryong could barely sense their presence, and Yohan couldn’t even see them; they were that fast. Against an opponent so fast they could nullify attacks and defenses, staying within physical barriers was a wise decision.
Yohan, checking the outside just in case, closed the door and let out a sigh of relief. However, that relief was short-lived.