“Turn around.”
At Yeon Dogyeong’s words, Joo Seonghan straightened his head and turned around. Certainly, it didn’t seem like a situation to be immersed in sentiment. Gunshots continued to be heard. Yeon Dogyeong took out the flare gun and shells from Joo Seonghan’s backpack. Looking around, he dragged Joo Seonghan toward where there was a large rock. He sat Joo Seonghan under the rock and shot the flare. The surroundings became bright. Yeon Dogyeong, who quickly sat next to Joo Seonghan, prepared to shoot. Tatatatabang! Two semi-humans that had been running from the front collapsed.
“Wait here a moment.”
Yeon Dogyeong, who leisurely shot the semi-humans to death, came out from under the rock and turned around. A loud gunshot rang out. And when the sound stopped, a welcome voice was heard.
“Team Leader Yeon!”
Joo Seonghan stood up from his sitting position. Han Jaejun and Kang Hyeonjoo ran toward them with excited smiles. Behind them, Park Gyujin was struggling to follow.
“Joo Seonghan-ssi! Were you okay?”
Han Jaejun, who didn’t slow down his running speed, hugged Joo Seonghan tightly. His body was pushed back with a whoosh. Joo Seonghan, with wide eyes, answered ah, yes, and patted his back. While they had their intense reunion, Kang Hyeonjoo, who stopped nearby, hugged Yeon Dogyeong once and let go.
“Team Leader Yeon, you didn’t have any incidents, right? Not the kind of incidents we’re thinking of.”
“What kind of incidents?”
Yeon Dogyeong smiled and ruffled Kang Hyeonjoo’s hair. Kang Hyeonjoo, who swatted away his hand, examined Yeon Dogyeong’s face with a suspicious expression, then turned his gaze to Joo Seonghan who was still being held by Han Jaejun.
“Ugh, phew, whew…. I’m glad to see you again, so glad!”
Park Gyujin, who had just arrived, grabbed Joo Seonghan’s arm and caught his breath with his waist deeply bent. Joo Seonghan said, glad to see you too. Injured somewhere, Park Gyujin had a bandage wrapped around his hand with some blood stains. As he looked down at it, bang! A sudden stinging noise burst out. He shrank his neck in surprise. Han Jaejun, who shot over Joo Seonghan’s shoulder, changed the magazine.
“There’s really fucking a lot. Let’s greet while we go. There are many semi-humans around.”
“Yes, that’s right. We haven’t been able to rest properly for hours.”
Kang Hyeonjoo, who chimed in with Han Jaejun’s words, looked around. Park Gyujin quickly took out the map and looked at the sky. Then he pointed to a place with sparse bare trees.
“If we walk that way for two or three hours, a river will appear. There are houses gathered there.”
“Let’s go.”
Yeon Dogyeong took the lead.
“But how did we meet so perfectly? Didn’t you say the cave route was faster originally?”
Han Jaejun followed closely behind Yeon Dogyeong and asked Park Gyujin.
“Ah, yes. Distance-wise, going through the cave is fastest…. Was the path rough?”
As if interested in the unknown cave, Park Gyujin looked at Joo Seonghan with shining eyes. Joo Seonghan closed his mouth pretending not to hear and deferred the answer to Yeon Dogyeong. Without meeting eyes even once, Yeon Dogyeong, who caught the meaning, opened his mouth.
“It wasn’t very rough. Originally, we should have arrived 12 hours ago, but Joo Seonghan-ssi sleeps a lot.”
“…I’m sorry.”
It was because of sex. And also because of the fellatio the day before and the kiss some other day. The journey lengthened because they ejaculated semen side by side. It was a secret he didn’t want to tell anyone for the rest of his life.
“I also enjoyed sleeping well.”
Yeon Dogyeong smiled and looked back at Joo Seonghan. He wanted to express his resentment to him who did it together but pushed it onto Joo Seonghan, but on the other hand, feeling like he had started it, Joo Seonghan couldn’t make a peep and lowered his head. On the day they first kissed and touched each other’s penises, it was Joo Seonghan who had blatantly stolen glances at his sleeping face and teased his lips.
“Joo Seonghan-ssi.”
Kang Hyeonjoo, who had been walking alongside Joo Seonghan, quietly called him. Joo Seonghan answered yes and raised his head. Yeon Dogyeong, who had turned his head at some point, was showing the back of his head.
“Nothing happened inside, right?”
There was. But I can’t say it for the rest of my life.
“Yes, well….”
Kang Hyeonjoo nodded with a suspicious face. I thought he’d make a move at least once. The words that flowed out softly had an unknown meaning. Joo Seonghan stroked under his chin with the back of his hand and quietly raised his eyes. Every time Yeon Dogyeong took a step, his pale hair swayed. It would be pretty to see under sunlight. The thought didn’t become words.
* * *
The semi-humans that had been appearing once every 15 minutes gradually disappeared from the time they entered the forest of tall blue trees. The river wasn’t visible yet, but along with the earthy smell, the fishy smell of water subtly came, seeming like they were approaching their destination. Joo Seonghan adjusted his gun while waiting for Han Jaejun, who was at the front, to say he could see the river. Because he had dropped his rifle before entering the cave and only had a knife as a weapon, Kang Hyeonjoo said he was more comfortable with a pistol and gave Joo Seonghan his rifle. He thought about refusing, but feeling it would definitely be better than having only a knife, he obediently accepted it.
“I think the river will come into Han Jaejun-ssi’s view soon.”
Park Gyujin, who had been walking beside Han Jaejun, turned around and spoke clearly in a loud voice. Yeon Dogyeong smiled and nodded at him, and Kang Hyeonjoo, who had been walking beside Joo Seonghan, pulled the arm of Yeon Dogyeong who was a few steps ahead.
“While the three of us were traveling, we witnessed an interesting sight.”
He spoke while lowering his voice as if telling a secret. Seeing that he also made eye contact with Joo Seonghan, it seemed like it just needed to not enter the ears of the leading group. Precisely, only Park Gyujin’s ears.
“He was digging the ground. Park Gyujin-ssi.”
“Why is that?”
At Yeon Dogyeong’s question, Kang Hyeonjoo sighed and put his arm around Joo Seonghan’s shoulders. Joo Seonghan walked with his body stiffened, unable to remove Kang Hyeonjoo’s heavy arm or walk comfortably.
“Joo Seonghan-ssi, listen well from a third party’s perspective too.”
Kang Hyeonjoo, who started the preamble, cleared his throat and continued.
“He didn’t show any sign in front of me and sunbae-nim, but every time he stood night watch, he wandered around alone. You could think he’s curious about many things, sleepy, or investigating the surroundings because the waking time is precious. However, his bag became fuller day by day. So I asked once. What did you put so much in your bag? Park Gyujin-ssi answered it was nothing.”
“……”
“…I see.”
Since Yeon Dogyeong showed no reaction, Joo Seonghan let him know he was listening well. However, as if it wasn’t the answer he wanted, Kang Hyeonjoo pressed his mouth shut as if frustrated, then divulged his personal thoughts.
“If it were nothing, what reason would there be not to talk about it? Honestly, no matter how he answered, it’d be a field we don’t know about, so he could’ve just made something up. But he frantically waved his hands with a flustered face saying it was nothing. Doesn’t that seem suspicious?”
“Hmm… I’m not sure. What did he put in his bag? Plants?”
Yeon Dogyeong turned his eyes away with a smile and asked Kang Hyeonjoo. Kang Hyeonjoo frowned.
“How did you know? When I secretly checked, he had a bunch of grass-like things in there. Remember last time when Park Gyujin stopped mid-sentence? He said the research institute told him to bring fruits and plants. I think those were the plants.”
Having inadvertently revealed that he had peeked at Park Gyujin’s bag due to Yeon Dogyeong’s question, Kang Hyeonjoo alone hardened his face seriously. To him, Yeon Dogyeong spoke in a monotone voice.
“I heard he majored in plants. Must’ve been something he’d never seen before. Or maybe, as you say, he’s doing what the research institute told him to do.”
“I’m talking about the order of events. Did he investigate the fruits and plants since we came over here anyway, or did they send us here to investigate those things?”
“Ah, that scheme you mentioned last time?”
Yeon Dogyeong spoke halfheartedly and stretched out his arms, extending his body. At the somewhat dismissive feeling, Kang Hyeonjoo shook the arm wrapped around Joo Seonghan’s neck to seek help.
“How does it sound to you, Joo Seonghan-ssi?”
“…I’m not sure.”
Of course, Joo Seonghan was of no help to Kang Hyeonjoo whatsoever. Having learned about the world of semi-humans not long ago, Joo Seonghan had neither the leisure to suspect anyone nor the mind to think deeply about it. Even if he thought hard about it, it would be useless since he’d lose his memories once he escaped from here. He didn’t want to complicate his already poor head. Unaware of Joo Seonghan’s thoughts, Kang Hyeonjoo continued his lonely battle alone.
“Fine. Fine, okay. I’ll do the thinking, so Team Leader Yeon, just answer me this one thing.”
“Okay.”
At the readily agreeable tone that said he’d gladly answer, Kang Hyeonjoo struggled to calm his rising anger.
“Who told you how to open the Guimun? Was it the research institute people?”
Just as a few days ago, Kang Hyeonjoo didn’t think for a moment that Yeon Dogyeong had opened the Guimun himself. And at his question, Joo Seonghan belatedly understood the situation.
When they first came here, Kang Hyeonjoo and Han Jaejun had explained that the Guimun was something unknown. It opened without warning and a black pit appeared—that was all they knew, yet Yeon Dogyeong had opened the Guimun himself and crossed over to this side. Kang Hyeonjoo seemed to believe that the research institute people knew how to open the Guimun and had told Yeon Dogyeong. If that were true, the research institute people could deliberately open the Guimun and send someone to this place. In this case, those someones were Kang Hyeonjoo, Han Jaejun, and Joo Seonghan, who had gotten swept up unexpectedly.
