By Zephyria 
“My, this one’s fiery, just the kind of guy I like.”
Following their leader, the group burst into boisterous laughter. Ha-jin grabbed Eden’s shoulder as if to dissuade him. Even if it was none of their business, it was obvious what would happen if they handed the woman over to them.
The woman’s sobs behind them grew louder and louder. Without hesitation, Eden reached out and pulled her close. Startled, Ha-jin grabbed his hand again.
“Are you crazy, Jeong Tae-geon?!”
Eden raised his cold gaze and met his eyes.
“Don’t you trust me?”
“Huh?”
He lightly pushed Ha-jin away and pulled the woman again.
“Let go! Let go of me!”
The woman punched Eden’s arm with her fist, desperately struggling not to be dragged away. Ignoring her, Eden held onto the woman and called out to the leader.
“Come and get her.”
“Let go! You son of a bitch…!”
The man with the dirty scar on his face sauntered toward them. Just as he got closer and reached out to the woman with a greasy smile,
Eden suddenly threw the woman backward.
“Huh?!”
While Ha-jin was staggering as he caught the woman off guard, thwack! A dull thud rang in his ears. As he barely regained his balance, he saw the leader’s face on the ground, eyes rolled back.
“…Aaaagh!”
A scream filled with terror echoed faintly like background music as Eden’s axe fell to the ground. Ha-jin could only stare blankly at the sight of the man’s neck being half-severed by his blow.
Splatter…!
Blood gushed out like a fountain, soaking everything around. A stifled breath escaped from his half-open mouth.
Soon, a gruesome silence descended on the road.
“…….”
Horrified gazes clashed in the air, with the severed corpse lying on the ground between them. As the blood and raindrops mixed on the concrete floor, the acrid smell of death enveloped the surroundings.
At the end of the silence that seemed like it would never end, someone retched, “Ugh…!”
Belatedly regaining his senses, Ha-jin took a step back. He could feel the woman’s hand, desperately clutching his arm, trembling. A groan escaped her lips as if she was forcibly suppressing her fear.
“Hngh….”
Eden was nonchalantly wiping the blood off the axe blade. Using the drizzling rain to wash away the blood, his movements were languid like a predator after a hunt, and at the same time, exuded a dangerous aura.
It was the first time he had witnessed someone being cut down, not a Zombie. Ha-jin knew well that he had personally executed the Ranch murderers, but he belatedly realized that he had been able to easily condone it because it had all happened out of his sight.
“You crazy… bastard… you just….”
Someone pointed a trembling finger at Eden. When Eden raised his gaze, he flinched, withdrew his hand, and stepped back.
Some of the men were panting as if they were about to pounce on him, but most of them were frozen stiff, barely able to breathe. The despicable appearance of them banding together and lewdly harassing the woman was nowhere to be found.
Everyone except Eden was hiding in the gruesome silence, their faces wide-eyed as if they were about to piss their pants.
“I told you to take her.”
Eden pointed directly at the woman, but no one volunteered. Someone who had been slowly backing away seized an opportunity and quickly ran away. The men, who had been looking around, began to leave one by one, following him.
Some of them hurled fierce curses as they fled, but that was all. In a matter of seconds, the gang had completely disappeared from sight.
Eden stared in the direction the group had disappeared for a long time before turning his head toward Ha-jin. The woman was still clinging to him like a cicada clinging to an old tree.
“I told you to get off.”
At the low whisper, the gaunt body quickly fell away. Just then, Pie, who had been standing blankly under the eaves of the stationery store, wagged his tail and barked, “Woof!” As if her legs had given out at the sudden sound, the woman ended up sitting down with a thud.
Ignoring the woman who had fallen in an unsightly manner, Eden took a step closer to Ha-jin.
“I’m sorry for startling you. I didn’t think there was any other way.”
There were as many as ten of them. He explained that fighting so many men with his bare hands would be a waste of time and energy. Moreover, since their destination was right in front of them, his position was that it was much more reasonable to take the life of a bad guy than to get hurt trying to be reckless.
Ha-jin couldn’t bring himself to look at the severed corpse, so he turned his head away. The smell of blood brushing against his nose made him involuntarily retch. The blood of a freshly killed human seemed to have a slightly thicker and hotter smell than that of a Zombie.
After staggering for a while, he was able to gradually regain his senses after being led away by Eden’s hand.
Ha-jin had experienced too much to argue about the justification of murder. Even though he was afraid of his lover’s cruel and unrestrained nature, he had no desire to condemn his choice.
Besides, if it weren’t for him, Eden would be resting comfortably in a safe place right now. Considering that all of this had happened because of him, there was no reason why he couldn’t understand.
‘Still, being scared is being scared….’
His head understood well enough, but he needed some time to soothe his faint-hearted heart. Ha-jin had to try to calm his startled heart until Eden’s ruthless back as he cut off the man’s neck faded from his mind.
After finally catching his breath, he belatedly stopped in his tracks. Apart from fear, he couldn’t help but worry about Eden’s mental and physical state, as he always took the lead in handling difficult tasks.
“…Are you okay, Jeong Tae-geon?”
Ha-jin wiped the blood from his right eye, trying to ask calmly. Eden smiled faintly, accepting the neat touch with an unexpected calmness.
“I thought you were going to scold me.”
“I would have been more disappointed if you had sold the woman to those guys.”
The moment he said those words, Ha-jin realized his mistake and turned around. In the midst of walking mindlessly, he had completely forgotten about the most important woman. Sure enough, he could see her far away, left behind with the corpse in an awkward state.
When their eyes met, the woman who had been sitting down staggered to her feet. She wiped away the tears flowing down her hand and ran toward Ha-jin. Perhaps she was out of breath from crying, but after panting for a moment, the woman stopped in her tracks, looking around cautiously, about ten steps away.
Ha-jin stared at her, who looked to be about his age, before moving again at Eden’s urging. Every time he glanced back, worried, he would inevitably meet her eyes. The woman, wearing a clean white collared shirt and denim shorts, was frantically trying to fix her tear-streaked face.
“Let’s stop worrying about her and go our way.”
Despite Eden’s cold words, he couldn’t stop his gaze from constantly drifting backward. The woman, holding an umbrella, was gradually closing the distance with a terrified expression. However, whenever Pie wagged his tail and tried to approach her, she would stop with a horrified look on her face.
Had they walked for about ten minutes? Unable to bear it any longer, Eden turned around with a frustrated look on his face.
“What is it?”
He had gone to the trouble of getting blood on his hands to save the woman, yet his attitude was so stiff that it made any gratitude disappear.
It was only natural that she would want to rely on the people who had saved her from being caught by rapists and potentially facing a terrible situation. Ha-jin pulled on his sleeve once more, as if to tell him to please control his temper.
The woman, intimidated, lowered her head but still muttered softly.
“It’s, it’s just that I was too surprised earlier to thank you….”
“It’s okay, just go your way.”
He waved his hand dismissively, as if he didn’t want to get involved any further. A stinging gaze clung to Eden’s profile, who showed his fierce thorns to anyone, regardless of gender or age, who wasn’t his person.
Wouldn’t it be natural for her to want to rely on the people who had saved her from being caught by rapists and potentially facing a terrible situation? Ha-jin pulled on his arm once more, as if to tell him to please control his temper.
The woman, intimidated, lowered her head but still muttered softly.
“I’m not following you, it’s just that, that my direction happens to be this way too….”
After that, there was only silence. Ha-jin refrained from talking to the woman, afraid of unnecessarily provoking Eden, and the woman, who was terrified in front of the murderer ─even though he was her savior─ clamped her mouth shut like a clam.
At that moment, Pie wagged his tail again, as if happy to see her, and walked toward the woman. The frightened woman closed her eyes tightly and stiffened her shoulders.
“Pie, come here.”
At Ha-jin’s gesture, Pie reluctantly went to stand by his side. Ha-jin often glanced sideways at the woman, who was overly afraid of Pie.
A stethoscope, the scent of flowers, clean clothes, a healthy complexion…. The more he pieced together the clues that made up her, the more his curiosity deepened. Even if he didn’t know for sure, he could be certain that the place she was staying was quite safe and clean.
Had about an hour passed? When a blue sign came into view, the tension he had forgotten made his body stiff again.
↑ Neverland 4km
↖ Ajung hospital 2km
← Dragon Cloud Botanical Garden 500m
Sweat instantly began to fill his palms. Ha-jin’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he looked at the sign. If he walked quickly, it was within an hour’s distance to reach the amusement park.
Around that point, Ha-jin turned around. He had thought it was too quiet, but the woman had already disappeared.
Where had she gone?
He slowly looked around, but all he could see were black puddles reflecting the raindrops and weeds swaying in the wind and rain.