As two unfamiliar survivors approached, Cha Jeoh stepped forward, and Cha Woodan put even more strength into the arms holding me. I heard the two survivors let out haha, awkward laughs at the twins’ appearance not hiding their blatant wariness and displeasure.
“Um… we didn’t come to do bad things. So there’s no need for you all to be tense.”
Polite speech, polite greeting, polite content. All those elements made them look like scammers rather than raising trustworthiness.
In a world that had become a spectacle, the words to help each other and live while giving to others had long since become hollow old sayings. They could act harmless while flattering out of necessity, but there was no way a case like approaching an unfamiliar survivor like this and saying ‘we didn’t come to do bad things so don’t be tense’ would exist.
Moreover, my appearance held in Cha Woodan’s arms couldn’t look normal to their unknowing eyes. My eyes covered with a blindfold, and in a world where it’s hard to survive alone, being carried around by others.
‘Did they approach us thinking we looked weak going around like this?’
The twins seemed to be thinking something not much different. While Cha Jeoh clenched and unclenched his fist in the air so he could create a sword at any time, Cha Woodan opened his mouth with an emotionless face without even smiling.
“What is your business?”
“Ah, it’s nothing much… do all three of you happen to have somewhere you belong?”
This time the man standing next to the survivor who had given the first greeting threw out the question, not that survivor.
Do we have somewhere we belong? That might be an obvious trap to find out the group we belonged to and our location. At the excessively blatant demand, when Cha Jeoh subtly scrunched his face, the man hurriedly waved both hands.
“We really didn’t bring this up with bad intentions. If all three of you don’t have anywhere you belong, we brought it up to invite you to where we belong.”
Cha Woodan’s eyes narrowed.
“Like a scout?”
“Well, yes. You could call it a scout.”
Scout us why? Seeing what about us? As I narrowed my brow feeling such doubts, the survivor who had given the first greeting added an explanation.
“Actually, we saw the three of you coming to the mart an hour or two ago. Your skills dealing with monsters were extraordinary.”
“…You saw? From then on continuously?”
Hostility that Cha Jeoh didn’t try to contain spread from him as he asked back. However, the two survivors only let out calm smiles without a trace of movement.
“We apologize if you were displeased. Even knowing that recklessly following was rude, you showed such outstanding skills that we didn’t want to miss you.”
“There aren’t many people skilled enough to deal with monsters just by swinging a sword two or three times. So we had no choice but to chase you three somehow.”
‘They’ve been chasing us continuously since they saw Cha Jeoh killing monsters.’
It was more than an hour or two ago that Cha Jeoh had dealt with and killed the rushing monsters one by one. And from when we were halfway to the mart, thanks to Cha Jeoh also holding hands with me and walking, we could reach the mart without friction with monsters.
‘Then that means they saw everything about my ability too.’
It was a situation where they could sufficiently infer what ability I had awakened just by watching. They wouldn’t have noticed the detailed fact that I don’t receive monsters’ attention when I close my eyes and shut my mouth, but they would have at least guessed that holding my hand allows escape from monsters’ threats.
However, the two people only mentioned Cha Jeoh’s ability and skills, not opening their mouths at all about the ability I had awakened. Since we weren’t acquainted, they wouldn’t know the fact that I was trying to hide my ability.
‘Seeing that they know the fact that Cha Jeoh can easily kill monsters by briefly swinging a sword, it doesn’t seem like them watching us is a lie either.’
But if there had been a presence chasing us, there was no way the twins wouldn’t have noticed. If not that, the only thing remaining was the case where those two people were experts comparable to the twins, or even more skilled.
‘…If it’s the latter.’
Acting or attacking rashly would be poison. Cha Jeoh also knew that, so he wouldn’t directly draw his sword and threaten them.
“We’re grateful for the offer, but we already have a group we belong to.”
Cha Woodan conveyed formal thanks and refusal with a dry voice. Then the man offered the proposal again as if it were regrettable.
“Don’t you have any thoughts of moving to our side? If you want, we can also provide help.”
I felt Cha Woodan’s gaze glancing down at me. However, since I was already showing rejection enough to be noticeable even in the parts not covered by the blindfold, Cha Woodan’s answer was also only one.
“No. We’re fine. Then we’ll be going.”
“Wait, just a moment.”
As Cha Woodan turned his back without lingering attachment and Cha Jeoh tried to follow behind, they urgently called us to stop while fumbling in their pockets. Soon I faintly felt the presence of the man who had taken something out offering it to Cha Jeoh who was closest.
“Then we’d like you to at least consider forming an alliance relationship with the group you belong to. This is a note with our dwelling’s address written on it.”
A note with their dwelling’s address written on it?
“Wouldn’t there be many overwhelming parts in surviving gathered only among students?”
“……”
“If you positively review our proposal, or even just when you need help, please come visit us anytime and we’ll welcome you.”
The sound of paper rustling rang out softly. It seemed Cha Jeoh had received the note.
Soon the two survivors withdrew cleanly without lingering more. The twins, who had been chasing with obsessive eyes until their backs that had bowed in greeting and turned around became small dots and disappeared beyond the building, finally released their bodies’ tension.
“…Let’s move locations first.”
I also nodded in agreement.
***
The place we chose to spend the night was a two-room located on the second floor of a small villa. We had planned to break in if necessary, but fortunately there was a house with an unlocked door, and since the interior was also pleasant without corpses or bloodstains, we made it our space for tonight.
Only after the twins closed the door and checked all the windows and even the walls just in case did I remove my blindfold. Then I fiddled with the palm-sized note Cha Jeoh had placed in my hand a moment ago.
On the white note were scribbled letters and numbers written with a black ballpoint pen. It was the address of the place used as a dwelling by the group those two survivors we’d encountered earlier belonged to.
‘…I don’t know if this address is real though.’
I folded the note neatly and put it in my pocket. Then while looking around the house, I discovered a full-length mirror placed in one corner of the living room and approached it. As I was about to wipe the dusty mirror’s surface with my sleeve, Cha Woodan suddenly approached.
“Looking at the mirror?”
I didn’t particularly want to look at the mirror. How he understood my reaction of silently remaining quiet, Cha Woodan pulled his own sleeve and rubbed and wiped the mirror.
“Just going to look at your face? Or should I wipe it all?”
“Your clothes.”
“Hm?”
“They’re getting dirty.”
I pointed at Cha Woodan’s sleeve already white with dust. Even after checking his own sleeve, he only blinked calmly, not erasing the smile hanging at the corners of his lips.
“It’s better for my clothes to get dirty than your clothes, Hayoung.”
“What…”
“So, how is it, Hayoung-ah? Should I wipe more?”
Cha Woodan turned the direction of the full-length mirror he’d already half-wiped a bit. Thanks to that, I, who was completely reflected in the mirror, shook my head with a resigned look in my eyes.
‘Whether it’s the twins or the Lee Gojun brothers, really…’
I kept my mouth shut, thinking that if I voiced out that they weren’t much different, the same thing as the previous ‘Lee Gojun is handsome’ incident might repeat. Instead, I looked at my appearance reflected on the mirror’s surface that Cha Woodan had gone to the trouble of wiping.
A thin cotton material black top and ash-gray sweatpants. Since we were moving outside school, I had changed into going-out clothes thinking there was no need to wear a school uniform. The twins were also wearing comfortable attire in the same style as me instead of school uniforms or gym clothes.
‘Wearing school uniforms even outside school would only be advertising that we’re students.’
Like how the sports club students had come with tails attached before, students who aren’t adults would inevitably be looked down on relatively. Unless we enjoyed a daily life of constantly getting into arguments or being threatened, there was no need to insist on school uniform attire.
‘Whether it’s second year high school or college students, there’s not a huge difference, and the twins are tall and have good builds.’
So there won’t be people who definitively judge us as minors. Then we’d be able to move relatively smoothly….
I, who had been continuing my thoughts to there, sharply turned my head. Then I opened my mouth while looking at the twins who were trying hard to light a portable gas burner they’d found somewhere in the house.
“There’s no way those people would know we’re students.”
Cha Woodan was the first to react. I continued speaking while making eye contact with him as he raised his head.
“There’s even less of a way they could know that the place we belong to is a group gathered only of students.”
