By Zephyria …Eui-jae blinked his hazy eyes and wiggled his fingers. He was scolded yesterday for getting out of bed. The unknown lines connected to his body were keeping him alive. He mustn’t remove them carelessly. The people in white grumbled and tied him to the lines again.
Was it true?
He blinked his vacant eyes. People put a thin cloth over his eyes, saying they shouldn’t be stimulated. It was all the same, whether they did or not, since he couldn’t see anyway.
“……”
The world without J was boring, and time passed excruciatingly slowly. He spent most of his days lying in bed. The days when even breathing was difficult were over, and he could even walk a little now, but people seemed to think it was best to be safe.
The only consolation was that he fell asleep periodically. They probably put something like a sedative into him through the lines connected to his body.
It was a relief, in a way. At least he could pass the time, even if it was forced.
Anyway, it was boring, but bearable. Because he had the motivation to wait. J had promised, hadn’t he? That he would return. He was a person who came sporadically anyway, so he could understand a little delay. Since he couldn’t move his body, his thoughts branched out in many directions. Most of them were about J.
On good days, he would slightly remove his mask and let him touch his face. J’s face was soft. Incomparable to the stiff sheets and rough bandages. Sometimes, he would get greedy and reach his fingers deep into the mask. When he touched the corners of his eyes hidden deep inside, his eyelashes tickled his fingers. He liked the way his cheeks trembled slightly as if he were smiling. He also liked the voice that scolded him, saying, I can’t show you my eyes, no. Even though he couldn’t see anyway.
Or he would stroke his hair. He touched his mangled skin without hesitation. He even wrapped the bandages around parts like his arms himself. Wasn’t it disgusting? He must have a strong stomach….
J’s hands always smelled like soap. Sometimes they were a little damp. If he was a Hunter, wasn’t he someone who killed Monsters? He was always curious about why he smelled so good. He probably washed up before coming to the ward.
The last time he was held in his arms, he smelled a faint but bitter scent. Did he smoke? The more he thought about him, the more questions piled up. There were so many things he wanted to ask. Sa-young covered himself with the blanket and practiced making sounds. Most of the time, it was just a wheezing sound because his throat was so hoarse.
What’s your name, where do you live, how old are you, what do you like, what do you hate, what do you do, do you smoke? Do you wash your hands before coming to the ward?
When can you come again?
One day, when questions were piling up without anyone to ask. He didn’t know when it was. Because he couldn’t tell the season or the date. Anyway, the number of visits from the people who used to visit the ward every day decreased. All they did was come twice a day to insert an IV drip so he could receive nutrition instead of meals. The number of lines connected to his body also decreased, and there were more and more days when people didn’t notice even if Sa-young slipped out of bed and wandered around the ward.
When the IV fluid was almost gone, Sa-young pulled out the IV line himself. He wiped away the blood with a bandage.
He stood on the floor with his skinny legs. He was a little dizzy, but it was bearable. He rubbed the cold floor for no reason. Then, he heard faint voices from outside. Sa-young cautiously approached the door. He put his ear to the door.
“…supply isn’t coming in. Even if we try to do more….”
“The detoxification is almost done anyway. The needles don’t even melt anymore….”
They seemed to be talking about him. Sa-young listened quietly.
“It was only possible because J was here in the first place. It was possible because he supported us with all the money and materials.”
“……”
“Since J isn’t here… the support has stopped completely. And we still have an overflow of patients. We don’t have the money or the time to allocate to that kid, Doctor.”
“That doesn’t mean we can give up on the kid. He’ll come back. We just have to wait until then….”
“…haven’t you heard the rumors?”
The already small voice became even smaller. Sa-young frowned and pressed himself closer to the door.
“The Rift entrance completely disappeared as soon as J and the Hunters went in. It didn’t just close, it was annihilated.”
“……”
“…I have a friend at the Bureau of Rift Management, Doctor. They’re already preparing for it over there.”
“…but he’s recovering smoothly. We can’t just give up like this. I’ll use my own money, even if it’s just….”
“Your own money has its limits. How expensive do you think the medicine made from Monster byproducts is?”
“Then how about this?”
Someone interjected. It was a cheerful woman’s voice. Sa-young remembered the voice too. It was the person who came into the ward and connected the lines, humming a strange tune every time she connected the IV drip.
The woman who suddenly intervened said.
“I’m transferring to a different team this time. Hehe, I was going to tell you later. Anyway, it’s a place with a lot of money…. I think we can take care of one more kid.”
“What? Ga-young, but….”
“I know! But just keeping him here isn’t going to create any other solutions. I’ve grown attached to him too. I want to see him recover and walk around healthy.”
“……”
“……”
“Isn’t that the same for everyone?”
Silence fell. The cheerful voice said.
“I’ll talk to the director. Don’t worry too much. There are a lot of people there who are better than me. I’ll tell you about the updates from time to time.”
“…are you sure it’s okay?”
“Of course. Don’t worry.”
“Shouldn’t we tell the kid? He seemed to like J a lot….”
“I’ll tell him that too.”
The voices faded. It seemed like a strange woman was about to come in. Sa-young staggered back to the bed and lay down. He covered himself with the thin blanket. He heard the sound of the door opening. The sound of footsteps, click-clack, came closer and stopped right next to the bed. A cheerful voice said.
“Hi, you’re awake, aren’t you?”
“……”
“I think you heard everything we said outside. How is it?”
“……”
“You should wear slippers from now on. Your feet are a little dirty~”
Tsk, Sa-young hid his feet under the sheets. Ga-young, who chuckled briefly, bent down.
“You know, you miss you J, right?”
“……”
“But, um. J can’t come back….”
“……”
He knew, he knew that much. Sa-young gripped the sheets tightly. J, who used to visit every week at the longest, hadn’t visited for a very long time. But Sa-young had to wait. Because he had promised.
“If you go with me, you might be able to see J.”
Liar.
“Is that all? You can even go save J yourself.”
…….
The hand gripping the sheet loosened a little. Ga-young whispered.
“How about it, do you want to go with me?”
“……”
“Hmm~ I can’t hear your answer because you can’t talk. What did J do…? Can you nod if you want to go?”
Black hair scattered on the pillow. Ga-young smiled.
“Then you have to listen to me. Okay?”
A cold hand caressed his mangled and distorted cheek. It smelled like medicine. It felt bad. But he endured it. If he could wait for J. If he could see him again.
If he could go save J.
A small greed bloomed. Ga-young wasn’t one to miss out on greed. Sa-young took off the cloth covering his eyes. Through his hazy vision, he saw red lips. Lips curved as if smiling.
“That’s right, good boy.”
“Doesn’t it look familiar?”
“……”
Ga-young roughly stroked its head with a gloved hand. And after slightly frowning, she shook off the black liquid on her glove. She mustn’t show her emotions. She mustn’t show her emotions….
“What is that?”
A voice, gritting its teeth, flowed out. Ga-young smiled brightly.
“What do you mean? Doesn’t it look a little familiar?”
The skin visible under the black cloth was distorted and mangled. Just like the skin under the boy’s bandages. And the black liquid flowing down from all over its body. The black liquid was melting the asphalt. It was probably Poison. Eui-jae was silent. He probably didn’t want to admit it.
“……”
“It’s a cute friend. It listens well~ And it fights well too.”
“Is it affiliated with the Samra Guild?”
“Ah, the Samra Guild?”
Ga-young lifted the employee ID card hanging around her neck to check, then shrugged.
“The Guild Master thought highly of my ability.”
“Does Song Jo-heon know about this?”
“Hmm, I wonder.”
Ga-young, who was pretending to think while looking at the sky, smiled brightly.
“He probably doesn’t. Probably.”
“……”
“Actually… we didn’t even know that Doomsday would come so suddenly~ We were a little taken aback too.”
“You started this without knowing?”
“The original purpose was to take advantage of the Hunters being away… to try to improve our impriting a little~”
Screams were heard from all over the place. Eui-jae’s hand twitched. He knew. He had to quickly deal with her and go save the others. But he couldn’t move his feet. The huge human crouching in front of her kept catching his eye. Eui-jae bit his lip.
“You started this for that kind of reason? Can’t you see? How many people are dying right now?”
“Is that not allowed? Are we supposed to sit back and wait for those great Hunters to save us? To step back and endure a fear that we don’t know when will end?”
Ga-young’s eyes flashed.