# Chapter 82
“Gasp!”
The grip on his arm was so strong it hurt as if it might tear off. Being grabbed by an assailant in the mountains—this was the kind of situation you’d typically see in R-rated thriller movies. Startled, Iyeon whipped his head around. The umbrella shook, splashing a few droplets.
What appeared before his eyes was a man in familiar attire, soaked from head to toe.
“…Je Sano?”
Sano didn’t answer. Raindrops streamed down his hair and across his face, continuously dripping from below his chin. His drooping hair covered half his face, and his clothes—obviously much heavier than usual from absorbing water—clung to his body in darker shades.
Iyeon blankly looked Sano up and down. Pale lips, shoulders and arms directly exposed to the stinging rain. Mud and leaf fragments randomly stuck to his shoes and trouser hems.
All that time, it seemed he hadn’t even considered taking shelter from the rain.
Sano was gripping Iyeon’s arm. Like someone who would be in big trouble if he lost him. As if he thought Iyeon might run away.
“Why… why are you doing this?”
Sano’s attitude seemed so desperately unlike his usual self that Iyeon, at a loss, blurted out whatever came to mind. He felt like he had to say something. It was hard to guess what expression Sano was making since his eyes were hidden by his hair. But he remained silent, as if he had frozen solid. The unanswered question dissipated futilely.
Whoosh… Only after the sound of rain that had momentarily faded returned to his ears did Iyeon suddenly come to his senses.
“No, hey. You should make something to shelter from the rain…”
Hurriedly, he held the umbrella over Sano’s head. The not-so-large umbrella shade was filled to capacity with just Sano alone. Iyeon’s freshly changed clothes would be soaked again in an instant.
Sano’s grip tightened. Such strong force that it felt like it could break his arm. As Iyeon slightly furrowed his brows in pain, a low voice fell.
“Don’t go.”
“…Huh?”
Through the tangled, randomly flowing bangs, green eyes were briefly visible.
“You promised.”
Rather than having a conversation with Iyeon, Sano seemed to be merely muttering to himself. His dreamlike voice continued.
“With me… if you go out… rain… promised…”
Sano’s words were barely audible through the rain. Go out, what? The moment Iyeon instinctively perked his ears and took a step closer, the large body tilted forward.
“Hey, Je Sano!”
Reflexively catching him, Iyeon flinched at the heat he felt against his neck and cheek.
His body was burning hot.
This is why experience matters. Iyeon quickly discarded the cumbersome umbrella first. It would have been nice if he could easily carry Sano as Sano had done with him, but for Iyeon, just barely supporting the limp large frame was the best he could manage.
Iyeon tried to walk a few steps but soon had to stop. In this weather, carrying this weight was nearly impossible. The most troublesome thing was, of course, his injured ankle.
Supporting the weight of two people on one ankle was self-torture. The continuous tingling sensation made him grit his teeth involuntarily. It felt like his ankle was crumbling.
But he couldn’t leave Sano exposed to the rain any longer. His disheveled appearance, like he’d been through a washing machine, spoke volumes. Given how feverish he was—making even Iyeon beside him sweat—it was at least a cold.
Iyeon looked around. They were in the middle of a forest with no rocks or shelter, and Iyeon’s cave was too far from here.
‘This is driving me crazy, really…’
Je Sano would be 100% certain if he saw this. Iyeon hesitated briefly, but no secret was precious enough to abandon someone with a high fever in the rain. White particles gathered again through the thick raindrops.
It didn’t take long for a new shelter in the shape of a hemisphere cut vertically to form around the two of them.
The first thing Iyeon created was a large campfire. Electric heating pads or heaters would be useless without electricity even if he made them. Sometimes primitive methods are the most helpful. A campfire, of all things. Reminded of old memories, Iyeon smiled faintly.
He created a large bed right behind Sano and gently pushed him, causing the large body to collapse onto it powerlessly. The mattress undulated significantly with a thud.
The problem was that Sano wouldn’t let go of Iyeon’s arm.
“Ugh.”
Accidentally falling onto the mattress with him, Iyeon struggled and twisted his arm. Judging by his tone and behavior, Sano was clearly not in his right mind, yet despite his wavering consciousness, he clung to Iyeon’s arm like a lifeline.
Massaging his tingling muscles, Iyeon tried to free himself from Sano’s hand, but whatever strength this guy had was no match for Iyeon’s. Only after exhausting himself with futile resistance did Iyeon accept reality. All ten fingers were numb.
The first thing Iyeon did after accepting the situation was to slightly lift his ankle. A dull sensation of muscles relaxing spread up to his calf. The half-cast he had tightly wrapped was now heavy with water. Even holding it up for just five seconds made his leg ache, so Iyeon gently lowered it. The troublesome half-cast quickly transformed into white sand and floated away.
Lying down with one arm trapped made for an awkward position. Iyeon glanced to the side. A deeply frowning face had its eyes closed and was breathing heavily.
“…”
After hesitating, Iyeon gently pressed and smoothed out the furrowed brow that was creased enough to leave deep lines. The skin under his fingertips felt like it might burn him.
With such high fever, the headache must be considerable too. Distracted by his trapped arm, Iyeon had momentarily forgotten that Sano was a patient. He should at least provide some basic treatment. Iyeon raised himself slightly to examine Sano.
While his face and hair had dried somewhat, his clothes were still damp. Just a light press would cause water to drip, as they were thoroughly soaked with moisture. They were major contributors to worsening his cold.
‘I need to dry his body somehow…’
Iyeon eyed Sano’s troublesome body. Coat, T-shirt, pants, socks, shoes. It was fortunate that his attire was simple. The best solution would be to undress him, wipe his body, dry his clothes, and wrap Sano in a blanket to create a comfortable environment, but there were several problems.
As long as Sano wouldn’t release Iyeon’s arm, the top couldn’t be removed without cutting it.
Getting Sano to let go was already out of the question. He had already tried his best and failed. Cutting wasn’t difficult either. Making scissors would take less than a second.
From here, it was a matter of moral principle.
‘Undressing him by cutting his clothes seems a bit…’
But removing only his pants seemed odd too. With his upper body fully clothed including a coat, while his lower body was naked—wouldn’t that be too… perverted? Another concern was that Sano might kill Iyeon as soon as he regained consciousness and realized his state.
Yet he couldn’t leave him as is. It would be terrible for his fever-induced sweat to dampen his drying clothes again and then cool down covering his entire body. If forced to choose between life and dignity, wouldn’t life obviously take precedence? He needed to separate the wet fabric from Je Sano.
In romance movies, people worry about how to confess to someone they like—though of course he didn’t like Sano in that way!—but what was this? Standing at a crossroads between completely stripping someone naked by cutting their clothes or compromising with just removing the lower garments. The most absurd part was that this was actually a serious dilemma he was facing in the dead of night.
Isn’t it inappropriate to undress someone you have human affection for? And because of this grip, he couldn’t even move away. No, it’s not like he was doing this for personal desire…
But no matter how much he pondered, there was no proper solution. Iyeon decided to handle the easiest parts first—the shoes and socks—and think about the rest later.
Raising himself and stretching his arm fully, he barely reached Sano’s feet. Struggling with just one hand to remove someone else’s shoes felt so ridiculous that it seemed like a game from a variety show, but this was reality.
Meanwhile, whenever Sano somehow sensed that the arm he was holding was moving away, he would pull, dragging Iyeon like a paper doll until his head bumped against Sano’s torso. A human head must weigh quite a bit, but Sano didn’t budge from such impact. Is this guy actually awake? Iyeon suspiciously glared at Sano, but could only observe his chest rising and falling more rapidly than usual.
Only after repeating this process several times were Sano’s feet finally freed.
