He simply couldn’t move. With every step he took, his injured ankle throbbed, and if he barely staggered along like this, he would obviously just be a burden to his hyung.
But Lee Gojun had no intention of leaving him behind alone.
“This, how do I…”
“Hyung.”
“Don’t panic, don’t panic… wrap it gently, that’s what Hayoung said…”
Even when told to go first, Lee Gojun paid no heed. He just desperately fumbled with Lee Geonwoo’s ankle, pouring out his ability. Even when he tried to push away and scold his hyung, there was no result. When his anxious heart was wearing thin and he somehow tried to force his body up, it happened.
“Hayoung, Hayoung-ah?”
He immediately turned his head at Lee Gojun’s voice. Standing at the door they had just escaped through was a familiar person standing with both eyes closed as before.
Kim Hayoung. To borrow hyung’s words, the messiah of the Church of Hayoung.
“Hayoung-ah, how… Geonwoo, our Geonwoo…”
A faint trust was mixed in Lee Gojun’s voice, as if that person would have some solution. Though it was absurd and he tried even harder to persuade his hyung with a rougher tone, Lee Geonwoo didn’t take his eyes off Kim Hayoung.
‘What can that person do in that state.’
Until coming from the annex to the main building, he had been moving while held in Cha Woodan’s arms with his eyelids firmly lowered. From what he’d heard, it didn’t seem like he’d awakened a combat-type ability either, so their chances of survival couldn’t possibly increase just because Kim Hayoung appeared in this situation.
Convinced of this, Lee Geonwoo firmly grabbed Lee Gojun’s collar. But what happened next was a series of completely unexpected events.
A female student who had no room for rational thought and was swinging wildly slashing Kim Hayoung’s wrist with a knife, Kim Hayoung unknowingly opening his eyes and showing a slightly flustered expression on his emotionless face, and lastly.
‘…Hyung.’
Kim Hayoung blocking and standing in place of the charging monster to save Lee Gojun.
Hyung had said. Kim Hayoung had already saved hyung’s life once before. The benefactor who saved and kept alive his beloved hyung was Kim Hayoung.
Suddenly the story his grandmother had muttered came to mind.
‘Those who won’t die don’t die. Salvation is attached to your hyung.’
The first part of those words had been right. Even in the harsh environment trapped on the upper floor swarming with monsters, Lee Gojun had fortunately survived and met Lee Geonwoo.
‘God has come.’
Then, perhaps the other words too…
Lee Gojun, thrown by Kim Hayoung’s rough touch, staggered and bumped his forehead against the wall. Lee Geonwoo lifted his heavy upper body and struggled to pull the body that had lost strength and gone limp into his arms.
When he hurriedly checked, Lee Gojun was breathing evenly. He could see a red mark on his forehead, but there was no blood flowing, and he simply seemed to have fainted as the stress and fatigue rushed in from the sudden strong impact.
Carefully embracing his hyung like that, Lee Geonwoo shifted his gaze. His two eyes trembled finely as they captured the back of Kim Hayoung standing firm without a hint of hesitation.
‘As if there’s such a thing as a god anywhere in the world.’
However, contrary to such pessimistic thoughts inside, Lee Geonwoo could only move his mouth dumbly. He could see the door-sized monster that had stopped right in front of Kim Hayoung’s nose gently lowering its body and carefully licking up his face. That seemed closer to affection arising from pure feelings rather than brainwashing or coercion using an awakened ability.
“……”
No matter how much he’d denied and turned away, Lee Geonwoo was also a boy who had grown up in a peculiar household under his grandmother. The foundation that had seeped deep into his bones without him knowing couldn’t easily be changed or overturned.
So that day, Lee Geonwoo corrected the one-sided thoughts he had long held.
***
The incident had come to an end. From what he’d heard, thanks to Cha Jeoh joining in after returning to school belatedly, they were able to deal with the monsters quickly.
Because the incident had unfortunately occurred in the auditorium, there were many casualties. There were plenty of newly injured people, those who had originally been injured and came to the auditorium waiting for treatment only to get caught up in the incident and suffer severe injuries, and those who eventually died.
That wasn’t an exception for the healers either. Because other survivors had protected them preferentially, they had relatively fewer injuries and no deaths, but those light wounds and the threat they’d experienced seemed to have thoroughly upset them.
They refused to treat the increased number of injured under the pretext of their own recovery and stability. Outcries poured in from everywhere, but what could be done when they themselves refused to use their abilities? When some people couldn’t bear it and tried to threaten them, they went mad saying they’d rather all die together, so there was no solution.
So my calf had also only received simple disinfection and hemostasis, and remained untreated.
Sitting in the chair by the window, I lowered my gaze. Below my pants rolled up to my knees, I could see the central area of the white bandage wrapped around my calf dyed a dark red.
With pain spreading just from moving a few steps, I hadn’t been able to leave this special room for a full day. The art room on the third floor of the main building we’d returned to—thanks to Cha Jeoh moving even a bed from the infirmary there by some means, there was no discomfort, but there was nothing to be done about the stuffiness from limited movement.
Of course, I did have Lee Gojun, a competent healer who would rush over setting aside anything else and prioritize my well-being. But he, who had apparently hit his head wrong and lost consciousness because I pushed him hard yesterday, still hadn’t opened his eyes.
Maybe he was taking this chance to sleep deeply before waking up. I’d noticed from early morning when he came to spout nonsense about needing to hold morning prayer. He must have had chronic sleep deprivation.
As I slowly rolled my eyes, this time I looked down at the bandage wrapped around my right wrist.
‘…Both the calf and the wrist.’
All were wounds obtained not from monsters or enemies, but from the mistakes of survivors.
The voice of the female student who had screamed at me not to come seemed to echo in my ears again. Not content with pushing me away like that even though I was the same human and survivor, to even swing a weapon—just how scared would you have to be for that to be possible?
The situation with the calf wound wasn’t much different. From what I’d heard, one of the survivors had awakened an ability related to bows and arrows, and he had modified arrows from the gymnasium so they could be used in combat and aimed them at monsters.
‘Even if you use abilities, mistakes can happen.’
But how much emotional turmoil or anxiety would have to accompany that?
Besides those, there was one more problem left to consider.
‘…It licked me.’
I could understand up to the monster charging toward survivors being blocked by me and stopping. But I thought that monster would pass by me as if I didn’t exist and leap at living survivors again. I never expected it would stop its movement obediently, and not satisfied with that, even lick me with its slimy tongue.
I needed to check.
“…Yeong…”
Since it was my own ability and no one else’s, I should know it clearly without any gaps.
“…Ha, yeong…!”
No, was there even a need to check?
‘If I go there…’
“Kim Hayoung!”
Following the shout from right behind my back, a hand that suddenly appeared covered my eyes. My vision that had been reflecting something, however hazily, was locked in darkness without a chance to refuse.
Soon flustered, urgent hands reached me. The person who approached from behind firmly wrapped around my waist and pulled me as if locking me into their embrace.
Only then did my body that had been leaning forward get pulled back sharply. Still unable to grasp the situation and only moving my mouth, a familiar voice echoed by my ear again.
“What are you doing? With the window open.”
‘…What?’
I opened the window?
“Why are you trying to fall down below?”
When did I?
“Close your… eyes, Hayoung-ah. I’ll close the window.”
Even in the confusing situation, I first followed his—Cha Woodan’s—words and put strength into my closed eyelids. Only after confirming that did he remove his palm from me and carefully sat me back on the original chair.
Soon I felt Cha Woodan pass by me and close the window where the cool breeze had been blowing in. After firmly locking the latch as well, he returned to me.
“Done. You can open your eyes.”
“……”
I slowly opened my eyes and looked up at Cha Woodan standing in front of me. After blankly moving my mouth and turning my head, I stared at the window that Cha Woodan had closed, where I seemed to have been dangerously hanging until just now.
‘…Again.’
I moved on my own.
‘It seems like I was trying to go somewhere.’
As expected, nothing came to mind clearly. Perhaps because only that sense of déjà vu remained vaguely and I had tried to move relying on instinctive sensation rather than reason, precise information like that didn’t come to mind.
‘Why on earth…’
What’s more, opening the window with my own hands. And with my eyes open too.
“Monsters?”
“None ran all the way here. It was quick, and Cha Jeoh thoroughly cleaned up all the school’s monsters yesterday too.”
As I quietly nodded, I suddenly furrowed my brow slightly. Since I had just mindlessly put strength in and stepped forward, a throbbing pain was ringing from the wound on my calf.
“…Hayoung-ah.”
“Yeah.”
“……”
Since no words followed, I stopped examining the bandage wrapped around my calf and raised my head. Cha Woodan, who had been looking down at me with an unreadable expression, approached without warning. Then he lightly lifted me up.
Aside from entrusting my body to Cha Woodan’s embrace out of familiarity since there had been quite a lot of such contact and actions until now, I opened my mouth in puzzlement.
“What?”
Cha Woodan, who had been moving his mouth for a moment, soon smiled gently.
“Just. I’m moving you to the bed.”
I watched Cha Woodan calmly moving his steps with a lukewarm gaze.
