By Zephyria 277
Crack, sawdust flew from the broken tree. Sa-young hurriedly propped up the tilting tree trunk with his hands. Eui-jae nimbly pulled himself out of the gap. Sa-young, who had suddenly become a new pillar, asked in an absurd voice.
“What are you doing… Are you really crazy? Are you insane?”
Eui-jae rubbed the back of his head. No pain, no bumps, no dents, all good. Great. He replied confidently.
“Well… I couldn’t kick you, so I broke the pillar. I had no choice.”
“What’s wrong with your brain structure? I want to take a look… Maybe your brain is broken.”
“It’s perfectly fine.”
He didn’t want to show Honeybee or Hong Ye-seong the sight of him kissing. Besides, he couldn’t hide the movement of his eyes if he took off the mask. Lee Sa-young was too quick-witted, he might get caught as soon as he took it off.
What kind of expression is Lee Sa-young making right now? Probably an absurd face. His brow is slightly furrowed, and his eyes are narrowed. He might be thinking about what to do with this. Suddenly, he wanted to touch Sa-young’s face. Then he would know what kind of expression he was making.
At that moment, he heard quick footsteps from behind.
“What’s all the noise, are you two fighting?”
“Cluck!”
A small flame that looked like Cluck ran up and started pecking at Sa-young. Through the pecking sounds, Honeybee approached Eui-jae.
“What’s going on? Why is the pillar like that? Did Lee Sa-young break it?”
“…Something like that.”
Anyway, Lee Sa-young was the one who caused it. Eui-jae nodded, and he heard a hollow laugh.
“Ha.”
Honeybee clicked her tongue.
“Anyway, that personality… J, are you okay? Have you recovered?”
“Yes, I’m fine now.”
“That’s a relief… But be careful. It was strange to see you sick with a cold earlier. If possible, leave the fighting to me and Lee Sa-young.”
A strong hand patted his shoulder. Eui-jae, who had just broken a pillar the size of an adult man’s waist with the back of his head, smiled.
“I will.”
“Don’t you want to look at me too… Don’t just worry about each other so affectionately.”
A blunt voice interjected. Honeybee snorted, as if to be heard, and said.
“Are you jealous? Hold on tight. Romantic Opener is inside. If you let go, you’ll get crushed.”
“I probably won’t get hurt even if I get crushed.”
“That’s true.”
“Where’s Hong Ye-seong?”
“Hmm… I think he’s coming this way. Where has he been?”
Squeak, squeak, the sound of shoes dragging on the dirt floor. The clattering sound of plastic and metal containers colliding together. As the presence grew closer, the bitter smell of herbal medicine wafted. After the footsteps stopped, a cheerful voice was heard.
“Wait, wait. Who are these thugs? I just opened the door for you, and you’re destroying the house!”
“Where have you been?”
“Oh~ Hornet! Me? I’ve been soaking my feet in the valley. A constant change of pace is essential, you know.”
“Hey, I told you not to call me Hornet. Sigh… Look at the fancy hiking clothes and camping gear. Have you been living in a tent in the valley for days? You ignored me when I called.”
“How did you know? I had an awesome camping trip! Let’s go together sometime!”
It was an attitude that was so cheerful that it was hard to believe it was the middle of Doomsday. Whew, Honeybee, who was standing next to Eui-jae, took a deep breath and gripped Eui-jae’s shoulder tightly. She gritted her teeth and muttered.
“I’m sorry, but I think my head is getting too hot when I talk to him. Can you do it, J?”
“Huh? Suddenly?”
“You’re more level-headed than I am!”
No, I don’t think so. But Honeybee turned away and retreated. Eui-jae stared at the flame that seemed to be Hong Ye-seong. A warm brown flame flickered. What should I say first? Hey, you know me, right? No, that’s too confrontational. Why are you stuck in this mountain? That’s also confrontational. Do you even know about Doomsday? That’s also confrontational. Eui-jae swallowed hard.
‘I… I can only be confrontational.’
It was hard to be honest with Hong Ye-seong. No, maybe it would be more accurate to say that he hadn’t finished sorting out his feelings. Eui-jae hadn’t even said thank you, let alone sorry. To his self-proclaimed ‘friend’.
Fortunately, Hong Ye-seong spoke first.
“You looked like you were in a lot of pain earlier. You seem fine now! That’s a relief.”
“Thanks to you… Wait, have you been watching since earlier?”
“This whole mountain is my sweet home. I can see almost everything. I didn’t know you could break a pillar with the back of your head.”
Hong Ye-seong hummed and passed him. Wait, he knows exactly how I broke it? A chill ran down his spine. If he had been swept away by the atmosphere and rubbed his lips… Eui-jae curled his lips inward. He almost showed him the sight of him kissing.
‘I’m glad I broke the pillar.’
Thud, the sound of touching wood. It seemed that Hong Ye-seong had touched the pillar. He said cheerfully.
“Lee Sa-young, hello. Hold on for a second!”
“I’ve been holding on since earlier.”
“Okay. I’ll fix it soon.”
Smear, smear, the sound of something like dough being applied. It smells like wet soil. Hong Ye-seong said he did pottery. Is that the dough? Since he couldn’t see, he had to rely on his senses and imagination for everything. Eui-jae crossed his arms.
‘It’s uncomfortable…’
On the other hand, the thought that Sa-young must have gone through this kind of period made his heart stir noisily. Sa-young must have been more uncomfortable. He wasn’t even an Awakened.
“Okay, that’s it. It’ll harden if you leave it like this. You can let go!”
“You’re leaving it like this? …Is it okay?”
“It’s okay! It’s my special dough.”
The sound of fabric brushing against each other, and a sweet smell approached Eui-jae. A chillingly low voice echoed in his ear.
“Later… Let’s talk, just the two of you.”
“……”
Eui-jae slyly turned his head in the opposite direction. Even though he was blind, he could tell that he was glaring at him. He felt a pressure as if his temples would be pierced. A large hand stroked the back of his head and then fell away. He must have been curious about whether Eui-jae’s head was safe.
Thump, the sound of the vinyl material of the hiking clothes rustling and colliding. It seemed that Hong Ye-seong had sat down on the wooden floor.
“So, ouch… What brings you here? I said I don’t meet people. I only opened the door for you because it’s you.”
“I came because I wanted to ask you something.”
From afar, he heard Cluck crowing loudly. The wind blew in the stagnant Shield. The fragrant scent of pine trees wafted.
“You’ve already done something, haven’t you?”
Eui-jae blinked his invisible eyes. Hong Ye-seong sighed as if to be heard and asked.
“You’re curious about how to escape from this place, right?”
“……”
“Don’t try to do anything. If you just spend time, you’ll be able to get out naturally.”
Eui-jae stared at the red numbers that were the only thing he could see in the darkness. The numbers were steadily decreasing. Until his death. Not too fast, not too slow.
Eui-jae asked slowly.
“Are you… the ‘Hong Ye-seong’ I know?”
“No, I’m Hong Ye-seong.”
“……”
“But I knew you guys would come here. You had to come.”
Hong Ye-seong got up from his seat. He dragged his shoes and walked around on the dirt floor. The sound of sand and soft soil scattering.
“This place… This Shield is a Memorial Dungeon reconstructed based on memories. Not just one person’s memories, but all the memories of the people who resisted until the end before Doomsday.”
The people he met here were all vividly alive. Jung-bin’s smile, Nam Woo-jin’s scolding, every single person who passed by. So much so that it was hard to believe they were just existences in memories.
According to Hong Ye-seong, they were once really alive.
“If you ask why I didn’t erase the traces of the Destroyed world and left them behind…”
After a moment of silence, he added.
“Someone said that you can learn from failure.”
“……”
The low voice quickly changed to a cheerful one. Hong Ye-seong clapped his hands and said.
“Of course, I’m a genius potter, so I don’t know much about it. I’m the type to boldly break what failed!”
Ah, I guess so. Eui-jae relaxed his tense body. Sa-young, who was standing close to him, interjected.
“So… You’re telling us to waste time stupidly? To do nothing and watch the people in this world fail.”
“Yes.”
“I can do that, but this person… I don’t think he can do that at all. He’s already done something.”
Sa-young poked Eui-jae’s back with his finger. Eui-jae retaliated by kicking Sa-young’s foot. Hong Ye-seong replied cheerfully.
“Then he has to die!”
Eui-jae widened his eyes. What?