# Chapter 130
Since the weather hadn’t turned cold yet, fortunately, the mountain was still lush. Lee Hwan only stopped walking when he found an area where trees grew particularly densely.
He gathered a floor full of grass and took off his outer garment to lay over it. Then he laid Taesung, who had now completely lost his strength, on top of it. His limp body was so heavy that the pile of grass sank deeply.
Only then did Lee Hwan catch his breath and slump down beside him. His pounding heart gradually found stability.
“Haah…”
The anxiety he’d been suppressing burst out in a sigh, making him dizzy. Lee Hwan closed his eyes for a moment and held his forehead with his head bowed. He was so startled that cold sweat was seeping out.
He’d wondered why Taesung was late. From the beginning, he hadn’t wanted to send him as bait because of this possibility. He had sensed that something bad would happen.
After all, hunters who had lost track of them and were agitated were roaming in groups outside. Steadily reinforcing their strength and making plans for days.
Whether Lee Hwan went out alone or they stuck together, a good result probably wouldn’t have emerged, but he had vaguely sensed that sending him out alone would definitely cause problems.
After catching his breath, Lee Hwan raised his head again and looked at Taesung. And this time, without hesitation, he rolled up his clothes.
Lowering the brightness of the phone screen, he carefully examined Taesung’s body and as expected, small wounds were scattered here and there. Lee Hwan poured water to wash each wound he found and cut patches with a knife to attach to them.
During this process, while Taesung had only furrowed his brow when his side was touched, now his arms twitched whenever Lee Hwan’s hands made contact.
‘Does it hurt?’
Since he barely managed to shake his head, Lee Hwan thought so, but he had no intention of stopping. He probably wanted to say that such wounds would heal on their own if left alone. Lee Hwan knew that fact too, but he felt he could only be at ease after checking everything and taking care of it.
Lee Hwan gently held the constantly twitching arm with his hand and applied pressure as if to calm him down. No matter how many hundreds or thousands of times he shook his head, Lee Hwan would treat all his wounds.
Eventually, he seemed to run out of energy even to refuse, taking one long breath before stopping his movements. Lee Hwan used the opportunity to thoroughly examine his legs as well, treating even his slightly torn ankle before taking a breather.
After sitting still for a while, the sound of insects gradually approached from the distance. Though Taesung’s condition wasn’t great, Lee Hwan felt his tense nerves, which had been about to snap, loosen a bit now that Taesung had returned with all limbs intact and no serious injuries.
“I didn’t expect them to chase and catch you so quickly in that short time.”
When Lee Hwan muttered as if talking to himself, he heard a groan. Though he had been quiet since the treatment, it seemed he wasn’t completely unconscious yet. Was he somewhat listening to what Lee Hwan was saying?
“I thought they wouldn’t be able to find you so quickly since you were only going to appear briefly and then hide right away.”
Unless they had been hiding and waiting right there, how could they have rushed in to catch him in such a short time?
Lee Hwan worried that more personnel than he thought might be surrounding all plausible locations.
It was frightening enough that Naru had recruited so many Awakened individuals, but with that number, they would surely be noticeable even if hidden. The fact that they were willing to risk being detected while prowling around this area was almost terrifying.
“…because I… stayed longer.”
At that moment, a small muttering voice was heard. Since it didn’t seem like words spoken with the expectation of a response, Lee Hwan turned to look at him with a slightly surprised face.
What did he mean by staying longer? Could it be that he had stayed there longer than the agreed time?
“Didn’t we agree that you would only buy time for exactly 15 minutes before escaping?”
As he asked again and looked at him, Taesung’s eyes were half-glazed. Wondering if he would answer again, Lee Hwan heard a laborious sigh escape from his lips.
“…I found… they had dispersed… their forces…”
“Dispersed, what do you mean?”
“…”
Taesung paused for a moment. Rather than choosing his words because he didn’t know what to say, it seemed that his consciousness was fluctuating bit by bit.
“…only two of them showed up.”
His speech was slowing down as if staying awake was taxing. Should I just tell him to sleep? Just as Lee Hwan was about to grab his arm again, Taesung repeatedly groaned and opened his mouth.
“As you said… it seems they’re no longer… focusing on chasing me.”
‘Damn it.’
As Lee Hwan had predicted when explaining the situation to Taesung, it seemed that Naru had noticed the contact with Praxis. They must have realized that they needed to catch Lee Hwan more than Taesung.
Kang Dongha would have portrayed Taesung as the mastermind behind everything, but if you traced all the incidents one by one, it ultimately led to Lee Hwan.
Well, thanks to that, they had gained time to escape safely with the drug, so perhaps he should be grateful for the coincidence.
At that moment, Taesung slowly took a long breath, blinked his eyes, and moved his lips.
“I was worried. About you. Had to… draw more attention…”
“…What?”
At the unexpected words, Lee Hwan tightly closed his mouth, then opened it again. If he wasn’t an Awakened person, he would have doubted his ears. Did he just say that he got hurt because he was worried about Lee Hwan and needed to draw more attention?
“What did you just say…”
As he started to ask again, he realized. Taesung wasn’t in his right mind now. He seemed to be under the influence of drugs, slowly letting out words he would never have spoken normally, without any filtering.
Realizing this, Lee Hwan suddenly felt as if he was being pulled into some temptation.
“…Taesung, no, Kang Taesung-ssi?”
He called Taesung’s name after hesitation.
He knew he shouldn’t do this to someone who was hurt. That he should let him rest. But…
Lee Hwan had been so curious about this past Taesung for a long time. His actions were always in an unpredictable category, and his emotions fluctuated so wildly that they seemed ready to shoot off in any direction and disappear at any moment.
Stronger questions and temptations than ever filled his head. A peculiar expectation arose that now might be okay to ask just one thing.
In the end, Lee Hwan forgot the situation and surrendered to that sensation.
“Haah… Kang Taesung-ssi, you said it was because of Jade, but honestly, I know you were a bit more considerate to me than that. When we first met, you attacked me right away.”
“…”
“I thought I was just getting screwed over, but it turns out you gave way on that attribute mineral gate incident too. And that CCTV… honestly, couldn’t you have just ignored me and let me die?”
Even in the darkness, Lee Hwan could clearly see Taesung faintly frowning. Lee Hwan licked his drying lips once, took a few breaths to compose himself, and then asked.
“Why did you do all that?”
It was quite a plain question for all the explanations he had added. As if he found it difficult to ask directly if Taesung didn’t dislike him.
‘Of course, normally he would have definitely given a crappy answer…’
It was predictable. Taesung would have coldly reprimanded him, asking if he thought it was for his sake, telling him to know his place. He would have somehow made him feel embarrassed, asking if that’s what he was curious about in this situation. And then Lee Hwan would have been disappointed by those words again, accumulating scratches in his heart.
But this time, his answer didn’t have a chilly tone. He didn’t fiercely push Lee Hwan away.
A faint strength entered his voice, which had been flickering out like a candle. What returned through the darkness was an answer that was both soft like undercooked pasta and yet firm at its core.
“Because you kept bothering me.”
Lee Hwan couldn’t say anything and blankly looked back at him. For a brief moment, their eyes met as Taesung blinked once.
Black eyes enveloped in darkness came closer as if entranced.
“…because you kept bothering me.”
With those repeated words, Taesung closed his eyes. Then his breathing gradually became faint, and he completely lost consciousness.
Lee Hwan urgently grabbed his wrist to check his pulse, then felt relieved when he realized he had just fallen asleep.
And soon, he felt Taesung’s last answer deeply penetrating and stirring within him.
“What…”
It felt like he had swallowed a whole live fish. Or as if bright red magma that hadn’t even solidified yet had been pushed into his chest.
With each breath, it felt like someone was squeezing and releasing his lungs. Unable to bear the churning sensation, Lee Hwan lowered his head and pressed his eyes tightly with his hand.
Even before the regression, Lee Hwan had always been bothered by him. He wanted to look good to him. Whether humanly or with other emotions, he liked him.
He only realized after the regression that someone could be both incredibly comfortable and infinitely bothersome. Friendship mixed with admiration and love were just a hairsbreadth apart but quite different emotions.
When those similar yet different emotions mixed and approached him, Lee Hwan’s insides kept churning. It was overwhelming.
It felt like riding a wave, or like falling from a building and then suddenly surging up again. He began to sway aimlessly with just one look from him, just one word or gesture.
Just like now.
‘…’
Of course, he didn’t think that the “bothering” Taesung spoke of was exactly the same as his. Perhaps he had misunderstood words spoken under the influence of drugs.
But if it was simply because he found Lee Hwan annoying and wanted to push him away, he had been hovering around him for quite a long time. At least, it didn’t seem to have a negative meaning.
“…Kang Taesung.”
Just with those words, Lee Hwan felt some of his fatigue dissipate. Strength to endure tomorrow surged. That was the life of a regressor who had lived day by day. Doping his feelings for him like a drug.
“You bastard. When it’s dawn, let’s check your condition and head home depending on the situation.”
Even knowing that he was asleep, Lee Hwan spoke in a small voice. It felt as if he would listen to his words even in his dreams.
“We’ll have to hide quietly, the two of us.”
The feeling that had just been exhausted and bleak miraculously brightened up. The smell of earth and the sound of trees rustling in the wind gradually erased from his senses, and in the end, only Kang Taesung remained.
“While bothering each other.”
This was bad. Now even Taesung without his memories was really bothering Lee Hwan.
