“I’m… a bit sleepy……”
“That’s why I’m saying let’s guide. After guiding ends, you usually get drowsy and fall asleep.”
“Ah…… such deep meaning……”
Impressed by Kim Haewon’s intention, I nodded. Then I extended my hand. However, Kim Haewon didn’t take my hand and just looked at it.
“Why? We, we have to do it.”
“Come up here.”
I gulped. Kim Haewon told me to come up onto his thigh. No, the plane will shake too…… Does it make sense for me to get on top of him and hold him tight? Do I have too many lewd demons inside me? I stalled a bit while continuing to speak.
“The aircraft keeps shaking and stuff…… Wouldn’t it be a bit strange?”
“What does the aircraft shaking have to do with guiding?”
“It might not have a big, big relation but it would be uncomfortable, right?”
“Then lie down.”
“What?”
“We just need to broaden the contact range, don’t we?”
He seemed to want to embrace while lying down. Watching Kim Haewon lie down first, I sighed. Anyway, nothing was flowing according to the novel. I lay on my side and wrapped my arms around Kim Haewon’s waist. Kim Haewon also turned slightly to the side to make it easier for me to embrace him. Fortunately, he wasn’t lying completely on his side so we weren’t facing each other. I said while deeply buried in Kim Haewon’s embrace.
“I’ll start guiding.”
“Yes.”
Kim Haewon’s voice was no different from usual. I resolved to myself several times not to have unnecessary thoughts. Then I focused entirely on guiding. Yesterday’s guiding seemed to have been really effective. Kim Haewon’s interior, which always had barriers even when entering, was fairly easy to enter today.
A place where very old wetlands and drought-stricken land existed together. When I made more contact with his body and dug deeper, I could feel the dry land gradually finding vitality. It felt like directly witnessing my power reaching all his diseased places.
“Haa.”
Of course, that process wasn’t easy. The old wounds were deep, and I felt limits to my energy. It was no different from land where no one had ever taken root. Barren land. My guiding was an act of adding streams of water in such a place, hoping life would revive.
The more I concentrated on Kim Haewon’s guiding, the more my throat dried. It was because of greed to go a bit deeper, to do a bit better. Without realizing it, I wrapped my legs around Kim Haewon’s. Kim Haewon left me like that. I squeezed out guiding energy as if wringing out my last bit of energy, then relaxed. I also released my legs and slowly removed the hands that had been gripping his waist. Kim Haewon laid me down in a proper position and covered me with a blanket.
As Kim Haewon said, drowsiness poured over me once guiding ended. Enough that I could fall asleep right away. My eyes closed on their own, and I felt the sleep demon pulling me in.
“Sleep.”
Kim Haewon’s gentle voice was heard. I nodded drowsily and hugged the blanket. I can’t let him kiss… I have to prevent the kiss…… Such thoughts came, but I also felt like whatever, let’s just sleep.
Something touched my forehead. I couldn’t tell if it was lips or a finger. What touched briefly and fell away wasn’t important. Only that it was gentle, and that it led me into deeper sleep.
* * *
In my dream, I was at the abandoned hospital again. But I could see Pamundong. Because a part of Pamundong was being recorded on a large, fat, old television.
A man was trembling behind a pillar. I could tell without anyone telling me that he was Wang Feng. He was clutching something tightly in his arms and sweating like rain.
The trembling could be felt even through the grainy low-quality screen. He flailed toward the gate that extended to his feet while continuing to speak.
{Get lost! Get lost! I will survive! I will definitely survive! I am Wang Feng, chairman of Pamundong. I will see the leader! Get away!}
At the bottom of the screen with the television, a girl was sitting with her knees together. The girl alternately looked at the gate she had created and the man, then looked at the moonlight as if bored. Then she curled up small and went to sleep. When the girl fell asleep, MK’s Alexa Lu appeared.
{Leader, VENT’s movements are unusual. Please allow MK to go to Pamundong. Wang Feng is too weak to take responsibility for Pamundong!}
{Shh. Speak quietly.}
The leader’s appearance wasn’t visible. But he seemed to be concerned about the child sleeping on the floor. Alexa Lu also glanced at the girl once and bowed her head.
{I apologize.}
{Pamundong’s chairman hasn’t changed yet. That is Pamundong’s affair. VENT and MK cannot intervene. You focus on what you were preparing.}
{Quite a few have noticed the operation. It seems like it won’t move as expected.}
{What do you mean won’t?}
{……}
{Are you talking about failure?}
The leader’s voice had become even heavier. He seemed angry. Alexa Lu bowed her head even lower while speaking.
{I will make sure it succeeds.}
{You all evaluate yourselves too highly. Don’t forget that the current Pamundong is the result of arrogance that thought you could have this and that, everything.}
{I will keep it in mind.}
{Make sure there are no disruptions to what I ordered.}
{Yes, leader.}
Alexa Lu answered firmly. The leader wielded absolute power. His words were law. But like all illegal forces, they constantly broke the law. Pamundong did, and VENT did too. There was no guarantee that Kuhne and MK wouldn’t do the same.
{What’s this about Will discovering an intruder?}
{There was nothing there.}
{Will clearly said he made eye contact with someone.}
The leader’s laughter was heard. It was bizarrely low laughter with strong resonance, a sneer. I tensed up enough to hold my breath. The leader laughed for a while, then continued speaking.
{You’ve all become naive. Seeing how much you trust each other.}
{Le, leader. That’s not it……}
Alexa Lu realized she had made a mistake and raised her head. And soon she was grabbed by the throat and floated in the air. Her face instantly turned pale blue.
{I’m the only one you should trust. What your gun should aim at isn’t me, but my enemy. If you just do that, I promised to give you what you want.}
{Keu, keuk!}
{But you all seem to have forgotten. Even you, who was sharp, and Will too.}
{Sa, save me… ueuk.}
Alexa Lu’s eyes rolled back. Her face turned purple, and instantly her limbs went limp. She was smashed into the wall just like that. Like a taxidermied specimen, her limbs were twisted.
The girl woke from the commotion and rubbed her eyes. Then she looked precisely at me. The girl smiled brightly. I covered my mouth just in case. Goosebumps rose on my arms.
The girl laughed out loud. I stepped back because the face of the giggling child became scary. But it was a wall after just a few steps. I looked to the side. Only Alexa Lu’s whites of her eyes were staring at me. Nausea rose.
I knelt down and collapsed. Someone’s death was still too cruel for me. No. Even if I faced it several more times, these would be scenes I’d never get used to. Something was rising up from deep within my body, trying to pour out. The moment I tried to vomit it out, the girl’s hand covered my mouth.
“Shh!”
With that one word from the girl, I woke from the dream like a candle being extinguished. In an instant, with acrid, small smoke. Like a flame going out, my waking from the dream was also instantaneous.
I was so shocked that even after opening my eyes, I stayed still for a long time. I was in a position leaning against Kim Haewon. The seat was tilted about 60 degrees, and Kim Haewon was looking at a tablet PC with one hand while giving me one arm.
“Are you awake?”
Kim Haewon’s voice made me realize I was on a plane, not at the abandoned hospital. I slowly nodded and bewilderedly brushed my hair back. Kim Haewon took out a water bottle from in front of the seat and handed it to me.
“Did you have a nightmare?”
“Yes.”
“……”
“Alexa Lu died.”
I spoke as if possessed. Then Kim Haewon looked at me and asked again.
“What do you mean?”
“Alexa Lu died in my dream. The leader killed her. He strangled her to death and threw her against the wall. The leader was angry. Because the organizations weren’t listening to him.”
I rambled out what I had seen in the dream. Kim Haewon listened to my words seriously. I took a sip of water and continued as calmly as possible.
“I think VENT will come to Pamundong. MK tried to come too, but the leader refused. Instead he told them to do their work well. Could it be related to Akutagawa?”
“Calm down. You can speak slowly.”
“What? Yes. Yes.”
Even though I had spoken as slowly as possible, all my fluster seemed to reach Kim Haewon’s ears. As I held the water bottle and breathed heavily, Kim Haewon held my hand.
“I’ll look into the rest.”
“……”
“You don’t need to recall it anymore.”
I felt completely drained. When my body swayed, Kim Haewon embraced me as if receiving me. It’s okay. It’s okay. While repeating those words. The trembling of my body subsided very gradually.
I felt the death spread before my eyes slowly disappear. In that moment, it felt like Kim Haewon had become my guide. His body temperature, his voice guided me. It was guiding no one else could replace. Only he in this moment led me to a world of relief.
I slowly repeated closing and opening my eyelids. My breathing gradually returned to its own pace.
