By Zephyria 
There was no time to reach a lodging. Jeil Heon dove into a nearby shopping complex.
During the day, it had been a shoe store where one couldn’t even look because they used human ankles as mannequins, but as night fell, it became empty as if by magic. It wasn’t just the merchandise in the store. All the Aberrations that had been bustling in the market vanished as if switched off. Like the calm before a storm.
Taking Yoo Jiha to the deepest, innermost corner, Jeil Heon fired the pistol strapped to his left wrist. The single loaded bullet pierced through the palm of his right hand. His body was one that recovered quickly regardless of the wound, yet strangely, the hole in his right hand showed no sign of regenerating, dripping red blood.
Jeil Heon struck the wall hard with his right hand, from which blood flowed as if a faucet had been left open. Then, moving his arm in a wide motion, he rapidly wrote the Sanskrit mantra Om Ah Hum (ॐ आ हूँ).
“Jiha, stay curled up with your back pressed tight against this wall until it becomes day. Cover your ears, close your eyes, and keep your head down. You must never directly hear or witness the noise from outside. In the Five-Day Market, Aberrations become especially strong at night, so just contacting them will contaminate and collapse your soul.”
“Ah, what about you, Mister…!”
“I’ll be fine. You know, right? I got along just fine with the Blind Eater, even doing bondage play.”
Even in a desperate situation where every second counted, Jeil Heon cracked a smile and made a frivolous joke. Solely to put him at ease.
Jiha only nodded, feeling as though he would burst into tears if he opened his mouth. A light kiss, like a gentle breeze, landed on the crown of his trembling head.
「Fragrant blood smell is herre ee!」
「Ahhh I want to eat I want to eat eat eat and eat until my stomach bursts and I dieee ahhh.」
The rule of the Jeonmae Five-Day Market.
A human exposed to the outside during the hours without a sun cannot hide their humanity.
The Aberrations that sensed prey—all the Aberrations that constituted the Jeonmae Five-Day Market—began to swarm, letting out excited Strange Sounds. Even seeing only their vague outlines made his head throb and his five senses twist. Yoo Jiha blocked his ears with both hands and buried his face between his raised knees with his eyes closed.
Desperately clinging to the final image burned into his retina: the back of Jeil Heon, who had drawn a telescopic baton with his bleeding right hand.
The sound of flesh being crushed echoes. A clear, ringing laughter rings out. Violent screams follow. The thick scent of bodily fluids, enough to twist one’s nose, flows in a chaotic mess. It is the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons of the Aberrations. An onslaught of Aberrations surging like a tidal wave toward the single human blocking their path.
The Otherworld is the domain of Aberrations, not humans. An Aberrant Realm is twisted by their desires. Even though Yoo Jiha was curled up against the wall, he felt the floor surging like waves and the sky splitting and falling. His consciousness scattered. In the depths of a consciousness that flickered out like darkness and clung together thickly like tar, a child wearing an adult’s nightgown whimpered.
〈Mister. How long do I have to stay here? I hate it because it’s just white and strange.〉
〈Did our Baby want to go outside?〉
〈Jiha isn’t a baby. I’m all grown up. I’m already four years old.〉
At the man’s playful voice, filled with mischief, the child pouted. Then, letting out a precocious sigh, he buried his face in the man’s chest. The man patted the child’s small back with his large hand.
〈I miss Mommy…〉
〈If you wait just a little longer, you’ll be able to meet her. Until then, what should we play with Mister?〉
〈What does Mister want to do with Jiha?〉
The man spoke.
〈Jiha.〉
〈Jiha.〉
〈Jiha.〉
Jeil Heon’s voice could be heard over his curled shoulders. A precarious breath, as if it might extinguish at any moment, gasped faintly. Jiha it’s all over now lift your head look at how much I got hurt because of you it’s all your fault if it weren’t for you it wouldn’t have come to this I feel like I’m dying my arm is broken my leg is twisted my guts spilled out my heart burst my brain fluid flowed it’s so hard look at me look here look at me who got hurt because of you look quickly. Yoo Jiha grit his teeth and covered his head with both arms. No. Mister would never blame me. The deceptive whispers of the Aberrations poured down. He’s not biting.
The child fussed in the man’s arms.
〈What about Daddy and Grandmother?〉
The face of the man who had been soothing the child froze coldly. Yoo Jiha finally saw the man. Meeting his gaze, Jeil Heon whispered with difficulty. Yoo Jiha sank like a feather beyond the heavy curtain of darkness.
Time is buried.
Memories fade.
“Jiha.”
And then, his consciousness revived in an instant, like a light being switched on, at the tender call. It was not the mockery of an Aberration. Yoo Jiha reflexively lifted his head. Amidst the pouring sunlight, the man was standing there. Covered in blood from head to toe, yet with an unchanging smile. What was drawn on his pale, bloodless face was the same warm light as always.
“You must have been scared, but you held on well. Good job. I’m proud of you, our Jiha.”
“…….”
“You’re not hurt anywhere, right?”
Only after quickly scanning his entire body and confirming there were no injuries did a look of relief finally settle in the man’s eyes. The man, who had been about to comfort him, belatedly realized his hands were soiled with blood and fluids and quickly withdrew them. Even if he tried to wipe them, his clothes were equally drenched.
Yoo Jiha threw himself forward to hug the man, who was trying to create distance by stepping back. Jeil Heon, momentarily startled, carefully stroked his back.
“You were very scared. It’s daytime now, so it’s okay.”
“……Mister protected me. I wasn’t scared at all, really.”
He had tried not to cry, but in the end, a sob dampened the end of his sentence. If it weren’t for the luggage, he could have easily run around and held out until sunrise, yet this man had stood alone to block the Aberrations just to protect him. How could he not love a man who smiled just because he was safe, even while drenched in blood?
Yoo Jiha shed his naive thought from just a few hours ago—that simply being by Jeil Heon’s side would be enough—along with his tears. Just as a human who has bitten into the forbidden apple can never return to paradise, Yoo Jiha, having discovered his own tool called Jeil Heon, would no longer be satisfied with merely having his side.
* * *
The candy-like sun was embedded in the sky as if it had been crunched and chewed. The corpses and fragments of Aberrations that had piled up and up and up throughout the night vanished like melting wax as soon as it became day, and the marketplace was as tidy as when he first saw it yesterday.
“What about the hole in your hand?”
“The effect of the bullet wore off, so it’s already healed.”
Even after fiddling with Jeil Heon’s palm, which had returned to normal, and confirming it had healed, Yoo Jiha felt a bitter taste in his mouth.
“Mister, why don’t you ask the Director for a Major Abnormal Weapon? You’re always fighting while spilling blood… Do you always have to bleed when you fight?”
“It’s because my blood is a bit special. And this time was an exception; usually, I don’t have to fight when Enforcement Division agents are attached as escorts.”
“……It hurt.”
“I’ve been dealing with anomalies for about 20 years, so what.”
He felt even more upset by Jeil Heon’s reaction, answering nonchalantly with a look of familiarity. No matter how quickly the wounds healed, what was the point? The torn marks all over his clothes already revealed the fact that he had been injured, and it wasn’t as if he couldn’t feel pain.
Jeil Heon softly curved his lips and stroked the cheek of Yoo Jiha, who had become pouty from distress.
“The market will open soon, so let’s get out of here first. It’ll be annoying if the shopkeeper entity appears.”
Then, as Yoo Jiha took the lead, he tightly gripped the hand that was lightly patting his back as if urging him along. Jeil Heon, who blinked for a moment with his hand held, soon followed with a low laugh.
Before long, the permanent market opened as the shopkeeper entities appeared simultaneously. However, unlike yesterday’s Five-Day Market, the number of Aberrations was significantly lower. Most of the shops weren’t open, and pedestrian entities were hardly in sight.
“Is it usually this empty when it’s not a market day?”
“Most of them probably perished last night.”
“Ah.”
Come to think of it, the attitude of the Aberrations was also strange. It was a markedly different reaction from yesterday, when they had passed by with a moderate level of indifference.