“Shh.”
A request mixed with low breathing tickled my ear. When I reflexively flinched my shoulders at that, the arm wrapped around my waist became even firmer.
I responded by pressing my already firmly closed lips even tighter shut instead of answering. Of course, it probably wouldn’t be visible from the perspective of the person standing behind me.
‘For now… it seems he has no intention of harming me.’
Not only from his actions but also from his voice, I didn’t feel any particular hostility.
‘Was there another survivor remaining on the 3rd floor?’
There hadn’t been any commotion at all until just now, so he couldn’t have come up from the lower floor, and it also seemed impossible that he came down from the 4th floor. Those belonging to Kang Jekyung’s group had neither the guts nor the ability to voluntarily come down to the 3rd floor.
To consider ‘whether he was kicked out by Kang Jekyung and came down here,’ there was no disorder in his breathing and movements. That meant he was currently not frightened.
‘Is it that guy who was in the art room yesterday?’
But didn’t I see yesterday? Whether the wound remaining on his thigh was quite deep, he couldn’t move properly even a single step. A wound like that couldn’t heal cleanly overnight. Moreover, even if he somehow endured the pain and could move, coming out into the hallway crawling with monsters while carrying a wound was no different from suicide.
While racking my brain clinging to minimal information in a situation where my vision was blocked, my body floated up without warning. Startled, I hurriedly grabbed what seemed to be his shoulder, and a careful voice reached my ear.
“Excuse me.”
I knew the common saying that forgiveness is easier than permission. But I’d never heard or seen a case of seeking permission rather than forgiveness after already committing the act.
I wondered if I should struggle even now and escape, then gave up.
Just from him lifting me up, it was clear I couldn’t compare to him in pure strength.
‘If what I awakened had been a combat-type ability, I don’t know, but.’
It wasn’t even that. So even if I wanted to resist, I couldn’t. Then it would be much more helpful for my safety to obediently consent without going against the other party’s mood.
So while staying still in his arms and squirming to find a comfortable position, I felt a gaze staring down at me. While my cheeks seemed to tingle for no reason and I rubbed them with the back of my hand, he who held me in his arms began to move his steps slowly.
***
I keenly raised four senses excluding sight to examine all directions. His movements of stopping after not walking far while holding me, the sound of opening and closing a door that followed, and another voice that suddenly popped out of nowhere.
“What? You found him already?”
“I didn’t even need to search classrooms one by one. He happened to be out in the hallway wandering around.”
…Are they different voices? If two voices that were clearly a conversation seemed to match perfectly even in tone and manner, was I too indifferent a person?
Immersed in dubious impressions, I came to my senses a beat late. Whether their voices were the same or not wasn’t what was important right now.
‘It doesn’t seem like they’re going to attack me right away……’
If that had been the purpose, they would have knocked me out or threatened me already, they wouldn’t have gone to the trouble of carrying me in their arms and respectfully bringing me to their base.
Then I should try to have a conversation first.
‘Then first I need to confirm whether this place is recognized as a territory.’
For that procedure, I tapped the shoulder of the person holding me, meaning to put me down. But rather than responding to my touch, he readjusted his hold on me even more firmly.
‘What?’
While I was flustered and opening and closing my mouth, he who seemed to be examining me once opened his mouth.
“But he keeps his eyes closed. I thought it was because he was scared in the hallway, but seeing him do this even after coming in here, there seems to be another reason.”
“He’s been keeping his eyes closed the whole time?”
“Yeah. Hayoung-ah, can you hear our voices?”
My lips that had been moving silently froze right there. I furrowed my brow slightly and rolled my eyes beneath my eyelids.
‘As expected, they seem to know me.’
Putting the flustering questions aside, I nodded my head earnestly. Then a contemplative groan descended from above.
“Are his eyes and vocal cords damaged? You know, there are cases where the body develops abnormalities after awakening.”
“That’s probably not it. Until we met yesterday at least… Ah.”
Met yesterday? If yesterday, the one who injured his thigh? Then is this the art room?
‘Yesterday that guy was alone though?’
While I fumbled around unable to properly fit together the puzzle piece I’d barely found, the presence of someone who let out a small exclamation moved away briskly. A bustling noise seemed to circle the space once before soon returning to me.
“The door is closed, and all the windows are closed too. There’s no open place anywhere, ah, do they need to be locked too?”
I stopped chewing over the voice that seemed subtly familiar, and only then slowly lifted my eyelids.
“…No.”
Replying in an awkward tone, I stiffened my body with a start. It wasn’t that I was newly frightened or nervous. Just, a little surprised.
I blinked blankly while looking at the two faces that filled my vision. My black pupils checking the right face once, the left face once, and the right face again trembled finely.
Through my weakly parted teeth, an unrealistic word popped out.
“…Doppelgänger?”
But if they’re really doppelgängers, how can both of them be together? I knew that when you meet your doppelgänger, one of the two dies, but was that not true?
The two people who’d been staring at me suddenly burst into laughter, starting with the right face who was holding me.
“What? Doppelgänger?”
“Doppelgänger my ass. It’s not like that.”
Then what? Anyone can see you look exactly the same.
The left face who read the question mark filling my face raised his finger and pointed to himself.
“We’re twins. This side is the older brother. And……”
This time that finger pointed to the right face.
“That side is the younger brother.”
Twins? Really?
‘Even if they’re twins, can they really look this identical?’
The explanation of twins was much more acceptable than doppelgängers, but even knowing that with my head, it wasn’t easy to accept emotionally. To use simply being twin brothers as grounds, everything about the two people’s faces—literally everything—matched exactly. Enough that the illogical grounds of doppelgängers could gain more credibility.
Black hair pleasantly disheveled over their round foreheads, eye corners that would originally seem to give a cool impression but were at least currently curved playfully, a prominent nose and crimson lips. After alternately scanning even the position of the mole above their right eyebrows, I opened and closed my mouth meaninglessly several times.
That hand from before appeared again in front of me, frozen and unable to react at all. When I turned my gaze following the hand that swayed to catch my attention, he pointed to himself again this time too.
“I’m Cha Woodan.”
And before that finger headed toward the right face in order, I turned my head to the opposite side first. He who’d been staring intently at me immediately met my eyes and curled up his lips.
“I’m Cha Jeoh.”
If they were really doppelgängers, their names would have been the same too. So as expected, it seemed the two people were indeed twin brothers.
Only after the brief confusion and bewilderment passed did the two people’s faces begin to be seen clearly. Of course, I’d been scrutinizing them thoroughly to compare the two’s similarities until now, but that was just an earnest spot-the-difference game, not a feeling of them being imprinted in my eyes.
But now, how should I say it.
‘…They’re handsome.’
They say the more beauties the better, but I didn’t know it would be good even if the same beautiful face became two. And not just good, but graciously blessed enough to overflow by double, twenty times over.
‘I might really get enchanted if I’m not careful.’
“You?”
A question flew to me who’d been immersed in beauty appreciation for a while.
“What’s your name?”
Only then did I blink my stinging eyes busily. I don’t know how long I’d been keeping them open, but shallow pain lingered in my eyeballs that had become stiff without moisture.
“My name?”
“Yeah.”
“You already know it.”
But why ask? Omitting the rest of my words and concentrating only on reducing the pain in my eyes, I heard a mischievous laugh.
“Just. I want to hear it directly from your mouth.”
These guys, their beauty stat doubles every time they smile.
“…Hayoung. Kim Hayoung.”
Replying reluctantly, I moved my hand that had been rubbing my eyes and tapped Cha Jeoh’s shoulder—tap tap—with more force than before. Shrugging his shoulders, he carefully set me down on the floor.
Standing with both legs stretched, I habitually lifted my toes and tapped the ground before straightening my posture.
“Why did you bring me all the way here?”
I wasn’t dull enough not to notice that what they had toward me was closer to favorable feelings than hostility. Recognizing that, my reason that had been fiercely grasping the situation and being on guard loosened, so only the main point with the beginning and end cut off suddenly popped out.
To say it again, I unconsciously relaxed because I didn’t feel a threatening atmosphere. It’s absolutely not that my wariness softened because I was enchanted by those two faces.
While rationalizing my attitude with an excuse that wouldn’t reach anyone, I saw Cha Jeoh opening his mouth to resolve my question.
“That’s……”
“To repay a favor. Since you saved me.”
Cha Woodan, who interrupted and cut in on his younger brother’s words, drew a bright smile. Then he lifted his left thigh to draw my gaze. Adding even a ta-da sound effect, he spotlighted his thigh with his hand with all five fingers spread.
“I think… I only stopped the bleeding for you.”
“Yeah. Right. Hayoung saved my life.”
“I think all I did was give first aid with a gym jacket since there were no bandages or anything.”
“That’s right. Right. If it weren’t for Hayoung, I would’ve gone to the afterlife ages ago.”
Letting the rambling that followed as soon as I finished speaking go in one ear and out the other, I narrowed my eyes.
