By Zephyria An ominous, bitter smell wafted from the hand that touched his cheek. It was as if the scent of death had been physically manifested. Strange. Didn’t Lee Sa-young’s hand usually smell sweet? Such thoughts were fleeting as his body trembled violently. Bizarrely, it was hard to breathe. A sense of pressure crushed his entire body.
Eui-jae’s gaze darted around anxiously. As his breathing grew increasingly labored, Sa-young immediately removed his hand and stepped back.
“…Hyung.”
Hearing the voice did nothing to calm him; rather, his body twitched and startled. Once startled, his body wouldn’t easily calm down.
‘Damn it, what’s wrong with me?’
Eui-jae squeezed his eyes shut and gritted his teeth. He buried his head halfway into the stiff pillow. His breathing only grew more rapid, showing no signs of calming down. Eui-jae gasped and tilted his head back. Cold sweat trickled down his neck. He felt uneasy. Scared. Strangely, tears welled up. Of what?
Lee Sa-young?
His fingertips painfully dug into his palms. His limbs trembled and contracted. It was definitely his body, but it didn’t feel like his. Everything felt foreign. Even the gaze that touched his skin. Tears that had pooled in his eyes flowed down his cheeks and temples.
He was scared.
Like how one’s body instinctively froze when encountering a natural enemy. He was weak. For the first time in his life. Eui-jae opened his mouth with difficulty, his lips trembling.
“Sa…”
However.
“Please… don’t.”
A trembling voice cut him off. Eui-jae forced his eyes open. Beyond his blurred vision, he saw Sa-young, already far away. Sa-young was clutching the Gas mask with both hands. He could vaguely see his hands trembling.
“Don’t…”
He pressed something like a button. Soon, several hurried footsteps were heard. The door slid open with a whoosh. Nam Woo-jin’s voice rang out.
“J, are you awake…”
“His condition is strange!”
“First, inject him with a sedative…”
With the bustling sounds as the last thing he heard, his vision darkened once more. Damn it, he was wasting precious time like this again….
Is Lee Sa-young okay?
His thoughts stopped there.
[162 hours until the death of Individual J]
Eui-jae glared at the numbers that greeted him as soon as he opened his heavy eyes. Great, so he’d wasted another two hours. Eui-jae wiggled his hands. His wrists were still tied. Looser than before, though. He sighed briefly and looked around. This time, a guy wearing a Gas mask was sitting near the corner of the hospital room, far from the bed. He was sitting in a folding chair, reading a book. What kind of book… he couldn’t see.
“Lee Sa-young.”
He must have heard him, but there was no response. Ahem, Eui-jae cleared his dry throat and raised his voice.
“Lee Sa-young.”
“…I can hear you even if you don’t shout so loud.”
“Then why didn’t you answer?”
“……”
Sa-young closed his mouth again. Eui-jae stared intently at Lee Sa-young. The pressure and fear he had felt just before passing out had vanished as if washed away. Maybe it was because of the distance.
Anyway, so that’s how he was going to play it. Eui-jae deliberately tugged at his bound wrists, making a rattling sound.
“My hands are uncomfortable.”
“Bear with it. I tied them as loosely as possible.”
Flip, the sound of a page turning.
“It wasn’t easy tying them to meet civilian standards, but…”
“Civilian?”
“From what I hear…”
Sa-young’s voice sounded gloomy.
“You get weakened to the level of a civilian every time this happens.”
“……”
“You wouldn’t be able to adapt to your weakened body and would run wild. It’s better to stay tied up quietly.”
“Hey, no… Shouldn’t I be adapting to the weakened body instead?”
“Ah…”
Flip, another page turned. Sa-young muttered with a hint of laughter in his voice. It was mockery.
“You want to roll around on a blood-soaked floor again? You’ve developed a strange hobby…”
“You can catch me, can’t you?”
“……”
His breathing stopped for a moment. Thud, Sa-young closed the book and sighed briefly. He swept back his disheveled hair.
“Why… Are you going to tremble and faint again this time?”
“……”
“Why not foam at the mouth and pass out completely?”
“…Sorry.”
Eui-jae apologized. Sa-young didn’t respond. Instead, he got up from his chair. The Gas mask, expressionless, stared at Eui-jae before turning away.
“It would be better to have someone who can nurse you by your side than me.”
“What?”
“Stay still. Someone will be here soon.”
“Hey, wait a minute! I have something to say!”
Sa-young didn’t listen and abruptly opened the door and left. Bang! The sliding door slammed shut so hard that it bounced back and opened halfway again. Eui-jae stared blankly at the open door. No, he was going to die in 162 hours, and he wouldn’t even listen?
‘…Was it that shocking?’
Eui-jae clenched and unclenched his bound hands. When he had faced the enraged Lee Sa-young up close, his body had been overwhelmed by extreme fear. Was that what they called the pressure of an S-class Hunter? He had only heard about it, but it was the first time he had experienced it physically.
“……”
It must have been shocking. For him, of all people, to be afraid of Lee Sa-young. If he had been Lee Sa-young and had seen himself trembling in fear…
‘Wow…’
He would probably have looked back on his mistakes from A to Z. Eui-jae sighed. Just then, he heard footsteps. Eui-jae turned his head towards the door.
Appearing through the doorway was a brown-haired woman in a white coat with the Seowon Guild mark on her arm. She looked very familiar. Without realizing it, Eui-jae blurted out in a welcoming voice.
“Student Ga-eul?”
It was Yoon Ga-eul from this world, whom he had seen in the Fragment.
“Yes? Ah.”
Ga-eul, who had widened her eyes, covered her mouth and giggled.
“Ah, I’m sorry! It’s been a while since you called me that. It brings back old memories.”
Ah. Yoon Ga-eul of this world was no longer a student. Eui-jae blinked. Ga-eul, with her hair down and glasses off, still looked young but had the air of an adult. And she looked brighter than she had in the exhausted state he had seen in the Fragment.
She bustled around, tidying up the hospital room. Come to think of it, Ga-eul didn’t seem surprised at all to see Eui-jae’s bare face. Had he not been hiding his face so diligently here?
Ga-eul, who had tidied up the surroundings and approached the bed, wore a pitiful expression.
“I heard you fell out of bed… Are your wrists okay? Your eyes are swollen too…”
“…Not okay.”
If it was Student Ga-eul, she might untie him! Eui-jae answered right away. And with his trained acting skills, he put on a seemingly lonely expression.
“Could you untie me? It’s a little uncomfortable…”
Ga-eul also became gloomy. She placed a towel soaked in warm water over his eyes.
“I’m sorry. Hunter Lee Sa-young told me very firmly to not untie you.”
“That bastard… No, what did he say?”
“Umm… He said not to untie you unless I wanted to see the Seowon Guild melt down and everyone die together…”
He threatened her? Eui-jae glared from under the towel. And it didn’t end there. Ga-eul sighed deeply.
“What else did he say, ah… He said that you’ve lost your memory and can’t control your ability well, so don’t provoke you. Is it really true that you’ve lost your memory? Or is it because you’ve lost your memory? You seem more ferocious than before.”
“……”
“So Team Leader Jung put aside his other work and followed Hunter Lee Sa-young. He said he had to keep an eye on him in case he caused an accident…”
That crazy bastard. He was taking advantage of his amnesia like that? He was even interfering with the work of busy people! His head throbbed.
“Ahem, still…”
Ga-eul, who had come close to the bed, reached out her hand. And after deliberately turning her gaze away, she nonchalantly untied the rope that had been binding his wrist in one swift motion. She said that and then untied him? Why? Eui-jae lifted the wet towel with his freed hand. Ga-eul, who came into view, smiled and raised her index finger to her lips.
“Hehe, it would be nice for both of us if you could be comfortable, at least while I’m here. I’ll have to tie you up again when I leave, though… I hope you can understand that much.”
“Student Ga-eul…”
Was it because his body had weakened that his heart had also weakened? His heart ached, and tears welled up in his eyes. Student Ga-eul was so kind to him, but that Lee Sa-young wouldn’t even come near him. He understood, though. Eui-jae sniffled and rubbed his wrist, which had a clear red mark. It had only been tied for a short while, but it had left a mark. How weak was this body?
Ga-eul checked the IV drip and asked.
“How’s your body? The Doctor and Team Leader Jung are all worried about you.”
“Um… I’m okay.”
“You always say you’re okay, so I can’t tell if it’s true or not… You have to tell me right away if anything hurts. I heard you collapsed right after telling the Doctor you were okay earlier.”
“No, I was really okay until then.”
If he had to be precise, Lee Sa-young had knocked him out. With a hug. His waist and stomach still throbbed. Eui-jae subtly lifted the bottom of his loose patient gown. It was still bruised blue. If it were normal, bruises like this would have disappeared without a trace. No, he wouldn’t have even gotten bruised in the first place.
Ga-eul gasped in surprise and covered her mouth.
“Oh my god… Why are your stomach and waist like that? W-Were you hit?”
“Huh? No.”
He was hit, though. With something similar to love? Ga-eul, who was examining the bruises with a serious face, muttered.
“Could it be that Hunter Lee Sa-young did this?”
That was right. Unable to find any other excuse, he remained silent, and Ga-eul’s expression turned fierce. She clenched her fist tightly.
“Oh my god… Knowing J’s condition well, how could he do this…”
“No, he didn’t do it on purpose…”
“I can’t stand idly by!”
“No, I’m telling you, it wasn’t on purpose! It was an accident.”
“Even so, how could he…”
“He’s just not good at controlling his strength.”
“I know about your relationship, but even so, how could he do such a thing to a sick person?”
Ga-eul shouted. Eui-jae blinked blankly.
“Huh?”