By Zephyria I straightened up from my crouched position and lowered my hands that had been covering my ears. My vision was dark, but I wasn’t flustered. I slowly looked around and began to see the light I had been hoping for on the right.
I immediately started running. Knowing that young Se-han was there, there was no reason to hesitate.
As I ran, the faint light became clearer and clearer, and at some point, my body was inside a bright house.
I quickly moved past the narrow entrance and walked to the living room and kitchen, which seemed to be about five square meters.
“……”
I hesitated for a moment before taking a step. It was because my clothes had changed.
I caught a glimpse of myself in the living room mirror and was startled. I was wearing a white shirt and a jet-black suit, and I had short hair like an athlete.
There was no time to hesitate for long. Se-han is somewhere here, so I have to find him quickly.
I quickly looked around and saw two doors across from the living room.
Without thinking any further, I ran to the door that looked like a room. Se-han must be there…
“Hey, Lee Tae-kyung!”
A rough voice echoed through the house, and my head snapped around. The moment I saw the man walking out of the kitchen, I froze in place as if rooted to the spot.
It was that man. The beastly bastard who mercilessly crushed twelve-year-old Sung Se-han’s hand.
I was face to face with the face I wanted to kill, but my body was trembling as if I had a chill. I couldn’t tell if it was because of hatred or fear.
“Why are you here? Are you abandoning your post and wandering around as you please?”
My body kept backing away against my will because of the man’s fierce energy.
“No. I’m sorry. That’s not it…”
I didn’t want to apologize at all, but the words flowed out on their own. As if I had been trained, I bent over ninety degrees and recited the lines that came to mind automatically.
“Hyung Min-gu told me… to give the child medicine.”
Even as I spoke, a question arose in my mind. Give medicine? To Se-han? Why?
“What? Are those bastards crazy? Why give him medicine?”
“I saw this morning that he had a very high fever. He said it seemed like something terrible would happen if we didn’t give him medicine…”
Se-han has a high fever…? Something terrible will happen, what does that mean…?
“If he dies like that, we can get away with it without lifting a finger. Why give him medicine?”
I slowly raised my face, which had been lowered. My head was so hot that it was amazing I was able to maintain my sanity. But I clearly understood what that bastard had said.
“You’re trying to kill that child.”
“If I could kill him, I would have already.”
The man glanced at the door as he spoke mockingly.
“The doctor told us to keep him alive, so the butler can’t touch him either. It would be easy and good for everyone if he just died like that. But he has a long life, he always seems like he’s about to die but he never does. He’s already five years old.”
The tips of my fingers were trembling so much that I had to clench my fists tightly.
“You go out and guard your post. Don’t get on the butler’s bad side.”
The man, who was returning to the kitchen, turned around and looked at me.
“Aren’t you leaving?”
“No. I’ll go now.”
It made me feel disgustingly dirty to bow to that bastard. I slowly raised my head and watched the bastard go into the kitchen.
And without any hesitation, I ran and opened the door in one swift motion. Clang. At the same time as the door opened, a rough hand grabbed the back of my neck.
“What! Lee Tae-kyung, where are you going!”
After entering the room, I quickly closed the door and latched it. I soon heard the sound of the door being grabbed and shaken violently.
“Hey! Lee Tae-kyung! Open the door now!”
Bang! Bang! I couldn’t hear the sound of the door being hit anymore. All my attention was focused on one place in the room.
The room was about the same size as the living room, and the only furniture was a TV.
And there, on a thin blanket without a bed, Se-han was lying down.
The small Se-han, who was hard to believe was five years old, was there, breathing faintly as if he were about to die.
“Se-han!”
I quickly approached, knelt beside the blanket, and looked at Se-han.
Sung Se-han, who was breathing heavily with a flushed face, had his eyes tightly closed. I became so scared that the little child would never open his eyes again.
“Se-han, does it hurt a lot…?”
I touched Se-han’s forehead with a trembling hand. His fragile face, which felt like it would crumble if I touched it wrong, was burning with fever.
“Ha…! Shit! He’s so sick, we should take him to the hospital!”
Tears welled up with my shout. I hurriedly pulled back the blanket and was about to pick up Se-han when I looked at the door.
Se-han can’t get out of this room. I can’t take him to the hospital anyway.
“What do I do… what do I do? Se-han… what do I do…!”
I felt like I was going crazy with helplessness, unable to do anything but cry. Then I remembered. I frantically started rummaging through my suit pockets. And I found a medicine bottle in my jacket pocket.
There was pink liquid in a glass bottle with a white cap.
“Se-han! Medicine, there’s medicine!”
I hurriedly took off the cap and put my hand behind Se-han’s neck. As I carefully lifted him up, I felt his small body, which was in my hands, was wet with cold sweat.
“Se-han, just open your eyes for a moment. You have to take medicine…”
Se-han, who weighed almost nothing, broke my heart. I was angry because I couldn’t see his small face well because of the tears.
“Se-han, let’s take medicine. If you take medicine, it won’t hurt.”
I brought the medicine bottle to his small, pretty lips, but Se-han didn’t open his mouth. I was so anxious that my hands were trembling, but I tried my best to stay calm.
“Se-han, I came here to give you medicine. Please listen to me.”
Bang! Bang! The sound of the door being broken down was faint.
My heart broke at the fact that there wasn’t much time left to spend with Se-han.
“Se-han, let’s be patient for a little while, even if it’s hard. It won’t hurt anymore.”
I forced Se-han’s lips open and pushed the mouth of the glass bottle in. After a stream of pink liquid flowed down the side of his lips, gulp. Thankfully, his pretty lips moved and he started drinking the medicine.
“Good job. That’s right… yes, you have to drink it all.”
Slowly, when I finally emptied the glass bottle, I realized. Se-han, who had opened his eyes, was looking at me.
The moment I met his transparent eyes, which were much lighter than they are now, I was able to smile. And I made a decision.
“Se-han, I’m not going anywhere. I’ll be here with you.”
I’ll protect you. Before I could say everything I wanted to say, bang, the door was broken.
“Let’s be together, Se-han.”
I hugged his small, hot body tightly with the determination to never let go. But my determination was ridiculously powerless.
“Agh!”
The moment my arm was grabbed and twisted back, I easily let go of the small body in my hands.
Could it be that the pain in my heart can’t be compared to the pain in my body? All that came out while I was being dragged out with my arm twisted back was screams.
“Se-han!”
Before being dragged out, I grabbed the broken door with my remaining hand. My palm was torn by the sharp parts, but I didn’t care.
“Se-han!”
The fallen young Se-han raised his head. I could tell just by the fact that his pretty eyes were looking at me. The medicine is working. He was definitely gaining strength.
“Se-han! It won’t hurt anymore! It’ll be okay! That’s what Grandmother gave you… Ugh!”
I forgot about Se-han again because of the pain of my chest bones breaking. Once again, when my chest was kicked, it felt like the broken bones were piercing through my organs.
I couldn’t even scream, I just gasped. The pain, which was worse than death, gnawed at my mind.
Once again, as my body was kicked and trampled on, the pain that was harder than death continued to overwhelm me.
I just wanted everything to end quickly. The only thing my unconsciousness wanted was that. Finally, when my head was kicked and hit the corner, I was barely able to forget all my senses.
Only then was I able to think of Se-han.
Se-han, it’s okay now. It won’t hurt.
“Lee Tae-kyung, are you okay?”
Startled by the hand shaking my shoulder, I raised my head. I must have been blank because I didn’t know where I was or what was going on for a moment. A surprised Kang Robin shook my shoulder hard.
“Lee Tae-kyung! Snap out of it. What’s wrong with you?”
“I’m okay. I’ve come to my senses.”
Kang Robin, who was looking at my face, sighed deeply.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know you’d be so shocked.”
“I wasn’t shocked. I was a little surprised, but…”
I looked out the window and saw that the car had already arrived in a quiet residential area.
“Where is this?”
“This is the house where Se-han lived with his maternal Grandmother.”
Even after seeing Kang Robin get out of the car, I couldn’t move easily. Even the act of unfastening my seatbelt felt sluggish.
[Inferiority Score has decreased by -1.]
I raised my head, but I couldn’t see the Status Window’s red letters.
[We will now inform you of Lee Tae-kyung’s Inferiority Score.]