“…Just in case. Because I might fall behind and be alone.”
Like last time, if they encountered a large number of semi-humans, the five might scatter in all directions. He needed to know more details about the characteristics of semi-humans in preparation for being separated alone.
“Ah, do you not trust me?”
Yeon Dogyeong spoke slowly and smiled as he looked down at Joo Seonghan. Does it, work out that way? Momentarily flustered, Joo Seonghan quickly shook his head.
“No, it’s not like that, I’m really thinking about a situation that might happen…”
“I’m joking.”
At the light words mixed with laughter, Joo Seonghan inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. He wanted to make a good impression on Yeon Dogyeong as much as possible. He hoped that while he was in this place, Yeon Dogyeong wouldn’t dislike Joo Seonghan. He didn’t know why he felt that way. Whether it was because he admired him who was leisurely alone in this unfamiliar and dangerous place beyond the Guimun, or because he had saved Joo Seonghan’s life, or if not that, simply because he seemed like a good person humanly. He couldn’t know the exact reason, but anyway, Joo Seonghan wanted to remain as a good memory to him who was beautiful and strong enough to be mistaken for an angel.
“Neither good nor bad. Similar to humans. They’re just not interested in sounds.”
At Yeon Dogyeong’s sudden words, Joo Seonghan, who had a blank face, belatedly made an ah sound. He wondered what he was talking about, but Yeon Dogyeong was answering Joo Seonghan’s question. Semi-humans had hearing similar to humans. When Joo Seonghan nodded a beat late, he continued speaking.
“Even when gunshots ring out, they just think ‘oh, there’s a sound’ and let it go. Those guys don’t have reason right now—their heads work slowly. Like drug addicts.”
Drug addicts? Suddenly, he remembered the group of semi-humans sprawled by the riverside that they saw when the three of them were traveling. As he recalled the faces of the semi-humans at that time, making the memory vivid, the smell he had become accustomed to in a few days suddenly drew close. The owner of the T-shirt Joo Seonghan was wearing grabbed his shoulder to stop his steps. Joo Seonghan was puzzled, and Yeon Dogyeong silently looked only at the backs of his team members and Park Gyujin.
“Yeon Team Leader-nim?”
“What you need to be careful of is their eyes.”
Yeon Dogyeong, who had let go of Joo Seonghan’s shoulder, spoke in a low voice.
“Eyes…?”
“Yes, eyes. If humans catch their eye, semi-humans unconditionally attack. So if you meet them face to face, hide.”
Yeon Dogyeong, who had closed his light brown eyes, deepened his smile. As he blankly watched the well-shaped lips curve, tap, the tip of his nose got wet. Joo Seonghan raised his head and looked at the sky. Tap, patter…
“Ah, ssibal! Yeon Team Leader-nim! It’s raining!”
Han Jaejun shouted loudly. The ground got soaked in an instant. It was a start like a shower, but he couldn’t be certain. This place wasn’t the world Joo Seonghan knew.
“We’re in trouble.”
Yeon Dogyeong spoke with a smile and grabbed Joo Seonghan’s forearm and approached the advance group. Even while saying they were in trouble, Yeon Dogyeong didn’t lose his smile. Joo Seonghan removed his gaze that had been watching his profile and put strength in his feet. Perhaps because of his smile, he wasn’t very anxious.
* * *
Thick raindrops poured down relentlessly through the spaces between the leaves. The five standing under a tree with rather large leaves confirmed the direction to proceed while being alert of their surroundings.
“Wow, crazy. It’s pouring viciously. Is there anywhere to avoid the rain?”
Han Jaejun, who had spread both hands to block the rainwater falling on the map, asked Park Gyujin. Park Gyujin, who had been looking at the map, bit his lip and shook his head.
“There’s nothing nearby. But there’s a house about an hour or two away from here.”
“That’s fucking far. Should we go there, Team Leader-nim?”
“Is it a detour?”
Yeon Dogyeong asked Park Gyujin. Park Gyujin answered yes.
“It’s not a big detour, but you can think of it as about three or four hours… delayed from expected.”
“Guide us.”
Being delayed by three or four hours didn’t matter. Yeon Dogyeong, who had drawn a timetable in his head, held the gun he had been carrying and took a step. Park Gyujin, who had hurriedly put away the map, took the lead.
No one opened their mouth. The rainfall was gradually intensifying, and they couldn’t even see 10 meters ahead properly, so they couldn’t relax their tension. Everyone advanced gripping their weapons, looking like drowned rats. After walking like that for about an hour, the shape of the trees around them changed. The tall trees that had been giving off a greenish color without fruit were no longer visible, and instead, short trees densely bearing small red berries appeared. Park Gyujin stopped walking when such trees filled the surroundings.
“Um, I’ll just take a few berries.”
Park Gyujin spoke with purple lips. Even though he was trembling from the cold, he quickly approached a tree and picked a handful of berries. They hadn’t encountered a single semi-human on the way, and picking berries for a moment wasn’t something that wasted much time, so no one said anything.
“Done, I’m done!”
Park Gyujin said while putting the berries in a reinforced glass bottle. The tree branch that had been bent while picking berries shook and found its place.
“Can you eat those? They tasted fucking awful.”
Han Jaejun gestured with his chin toward the transparent bottle in Park Gyujin’s hand and asked. The berries in the bottle were the same red berries that Han Jaejun had tasted and violently slammed down last time.
“Um, eating them is fine, but they’re incredibly bitter. Ah, this, well… a few months ago, the research institute found these attached to semi-human bodies.”
Han Jaejun, who raised and lowered his eyebrows as if to say ‘is that so,’ took a step. Park Gyujin, whose chest was heaving, raised his head toward the rain. He looked for stars in the sky but couldn’t see any. I’m going according to the map so it’ll be fine, thought Park Gyujin inwardly as he looked around at the surroundings full of red berries and diligently moved his feet.
“Did the research institute tell you to bring the berries?”
Kang Hyeonjoo rubbed his face with his forearm and asked Park Gyujin. Park Gyujin, who had rubbed and wiped his wet eyelashes, nodded. Park Gyujin’s face was cold as ice. It wasn’t just his face. A chilly energy continuously ran through Park Gyujin’s body from his head to the tips of his toes. And his stomach kept aching. As if he had eaten something he shouldn’t have eaten. Or as if he had premonitioned an approaching misfortune in advance. …What did I miss? Park Gyujin, who had drawn his eyebrows together, blinked his eyes.
“What do the researchers speculate that red berry to be?”
“Well… it’s not exact, but for now, it’s probably not the semi-humans’ food…”
Park Gyujin’s face, who had faintly finished speaking, turned deathly pale. Kang Hyeonjoo looked down at Park Gyujin with a stiffened face.
“That, so…”
“Ah.”
Han Jaejun sighed and held up his gun, aiming between the trees. Bang! The first to shoot wasn’t Han Jaejun but Yeon Dogyeong at the very back.
“Take out the grenades.”
“…Yeon Team Leader-nim.”
“Break through the front, if you see anything other than berry trees, advance in that direction. Jaejun, you take care of Park Gyujin-ssi.”
The ground soaked with moisture pulsated. Other sounds mixed into the forest that had only had the sound of rain hitting leaves and dirt. Joo Seonghan re-gripped his gun with coldly frozen hands. The anxiety that had felt like floating clouds instantly crushed Joo Seonghan. His heart beat below his throat.
“If you fall behind, don’t be scared and hide.”
Joo Seonghan stopped wiping away the rainwater obstructing his vision and looked back at Yeon Dogyeong. Yeon Dogyeong, who smiled broadly, passed by Joo Seonghan with his gun slung and a grenade in hand. Joo Seonghan looked at Yeon Dogyeong’s broad back as he moved away.
“Ah, ssibal. Team Leader-nim! There’s an impossibly large number!”
As soon as Han Jaejun spoke loudly, the weak tree branches trembled. Thud thud thud. In the distance, semi-humans came running from all over, breaking through the water pooled on the ground. Yeon Dogyeong, who had pulled the safety pin, threw the grenade forward. The grenade, which flew far in a way that was somewhat unrealistic to be called human strength, exploded with a loud sound.
Kiiiaak! A semi-human’s scream sliced through the wet air for a long time. Using that as a signal, the Semi-Human Department members threw grenades to both sides to buy time and ran toward the front. Bang! Ratataang! Joo Seonghan fired his gun wildly at a semi-human that leapt high. Semi-humans popped out from here and there.
“Uaak! Ak! Uut!”
“Ah, fuck.”
Han Jaejun, who had been in the lead, cursed and grabbed the arm of Park Gyujin, who had fallen with a splash, and pulled him up. Bang! Bang! Han Jaejun, who had blown off the head of a semi-human that had come right nearby, grabbed Park Gyujin’s nape.
“Hey, snap out of it. If you can’t follow properly, I’ll torture you to find out how to open the Guimun.”
Hup, Park Gyujin, who had drawn in a breath, nodded his head frantically while trembling. Kang Hyeonjoo and Han Jaejun made a path with Park Gyujin in the middle. Their footsteps were hasty.
Bang! Rataang! The gunfire didn’t cease. The number of semi-humans was the same. Even though enough time had passed for the Semi-Human Department members to change magazines several times, semi-humans continued to appear. Since they appeared without warning from all directions, it was a situation where the five couldn’t huddle tightly together, and they couldn’t know where each other was. The imagination of being left alone in a field of monsters arbitrarily filled Joo Seonghan’s head. Joo Seonghan, who bit his lip hard to regain his senses, confirmed with his eyes Yeon Dogyeong visible in the distance and shot at a semi-human that appeared from behind a tree.
Kiak! The semi-human who was shot in the shoulder raised its bright red eyes and screamed loudly. Ssk, ssk, it puffed out hot breath and got angry at Joo Seonghan. Clack, clack, the semi-human limping toward him also had a gunshot wound on its thigh. Joo Seonghan unconsciously stepped back and aimed the gun he gripped tightly at him. This was the first time he had pointed a muzzle at a semi-human from this close. Until now, Joo Seonghan had only fired bullets wildly at semi-humans running from afar. So was that why his hand trembled?
