# Chapter 62
In the hospital room bathed in warm sunlight, there existed only a single bed. Kay, lying there, appeared so lifeless that one might mistake him for dead. Only the faint beating of his heart and the soft sound of his breathing proved that he was still alive.
Kay’s dark brown hair shimmered lightly as it caught the light. Over him, a shadow began to form subtly. The shadow, in the shape of a human silhouette, gradually grew larger.
Step— Step—
The footsteps grew louder to match. The hesitant steps soon reached Kay’s side. Boss, the owner of those footsteps, stared at the motionless Kay for a long time.
His taciturn lips parted slightly before closing again. Various emotions flickered through his red eyes so quickly that they were difficult to discern.
In what seemed like suspended time, Boss finally moved his hand. Like touching glass that might shatter at any moment, his hand gently brushed Kay’s bangs aside. As the hair covering his eyes disappeared, his peacefully closed eyelids were clearly revealed.
It had been a month since he’d seen Kay with his eyes open. Yet there was still no sign of him waking up. Boss’s face, which had been tracing Kay’s eyes with his finger, slowly contorted. Though his face was dry, he looked as though he might be crying.
“When will you open your eyes……”
Today too, Boss spoke words that wouldn’t reach him. His hands unconsciously tensed. Even imagining Kay looking back at him was becoming impossible now. The memory of Kay responding to his call felt like a mirage.
At first, he’d endured thinking it would only be a day. But a week passed from that day, and somehow a month had gone by.
After a month, it was impossible to maintain composure. Boss, who had been gazing at Kay, finally turned his eyes away. He feared this lifeless sleeping figure might be the last he’d see. He feared the day Kay died would be their last.
Sitting on a chair, he carefully took Kay’s hand. The lifeless arm was slowly lifted. The back of his hand, infused with warm body temperature, touched Boss’s face.
Using Kay’s hand to cover his face slightly, he murmured in a voice about to die out.
“This way, I can’t even ask for forgiveness.”
He had planned to tell Kay everything and ask for forgiveness when he woke up. But in the reality where Kay remained unconscious, that couldn’t happen.
That wasn’t all. In this situation, Boss could do nothing. Despite having so many things he wanted to do for Kay, there was nothing he could actually do.
He could only watch Kay, who wouldn’t open his eyes.
“Please, just wake up.”
His voice, filled with desperate hope, seeped into the air and slowly crumbled.
Hadn’t they promised each other? That he would come to hear the answer to his confession. How long a detour was he taking to get here?
No, was he even on his way back?
Though he was just peacefully sleeping, somehow death seemed to be enveloping Kay. The certainty that he would wake up was gradually disappearing.
Boss was overwhelmed by a terrible sense of helplessness at the sight of Kay. Despite being the boss of “Alice,” at the end of the day, he was just an individual – someone who could do nothing for him.
All this time, he had put every effort into saving Kay. But all of it had been in vain. Nothing worked on Kay.
In the midst of this, Boss could only experience frustration and despair. As he slowly closed his eyes, the tinnitus inevitably came to him.
The sound of him killing Kay.
Even though Kay had survived, this ringing in his ears still hadn’t disappeared.
* * *
A girl with long lavender hair and a man with blonde hair were carefully observing a certain place. In their line of sight was Boss, seated beside Kay.
Alex, who had been watching him, gestured to Melia with his eyes. It was a look suggesting they should leave for today. After glancing at Boss once more, she nodded and turned around.
As Melia began to retrace their steps, Alex also carefully walked beside her.
“When will he wake up……”
Once they were far enough that Boss couldn’t hear, Melia spoke. Her pink eyes, filled with longing, stared into empty space as if visualizing someone.
“Do you miss him?”
Melia fixed her gaze on Alex. She nodded at the warmly curved blue eyes.
Although she could see Kay’s sleeping form anytime, what she wanted to see was him awake. Since being revived with Revive, Kay had never woken up. Unless he woke up, he was currently no different from being dead.
Alex, who had read all the thoughts behind Melia’s expressionless face, bent down to meet her eyes.
“I miss him too. But Melia, don’t forget Kay’s death.”
“……Why?”
His words were kind but unlike him. Alex was a caring person. She thought he would say it was okay and that they should wait together. However, his words just now completely went against Melia’s expectations.
As her head slowly tilted, Alex carefully stroked Melia’s hair.
“Kay was able to come back to life because of Boss’s ability, but that’s not the case anymore.”
Melia’s body, the owner of the lavender hair entangled between his fingers, suddenly froze.
“I could die tomorrow too.”
She understood the meaning behind his words. At his calm yet sorrowful words, ripples stirred in her previously dazed eyes.
“I… don’t want that.”
“Still, you need to get used to it. In a way, it’s surprising that everyone has been alive until now.”
Seeing Melia tightly gripping the hem of her skirt, he forced a smile. All the executives of “Alice” were S-class. Because of this, their deaths were difficult to imagine.
But Kay, an S-class ability user with regeneration powers and an executive, had died. So Melia needed to know this too. That any of them could die at any time.
“If Alex dies, do you want me to forget you?”
“If my death becomes an obstacle to you.”
Alex noticed her trembling voice, but he only conveyed the facts. Melia’s head, which had been trying to maintain composure, dropped. She knew she should say something, but didn’t know what. Tears welled up in her eyes, revealing confused emotions.
“……I don’t know. I just wish no one would die.”
Melia, who had been taking slow breaths repeatedly, finally formed words. She had never thought about someone disappearing. Since she learned of Kay’s revival around the time she was coming to terms with his death, she hadn’t deeply considered this situation.
She had only wished for Kay to wake up. But Alex now said that any one of them could die, just like this. It meant the destruction of her world, which she had thought would last forever.
“Me too. What could be better than no one dying?”
Alex also agreed with Melia, who was gritting her teeth to suppress her emotions.
“But as people who kill others, death is inevitably closer to us.”
However, they couldn’t rely on an uncertain hope forever. They needed to always remember this fact so they could maintain composure no matter who died. Because if the executives fell apart, the organization members under them would collapse too.
Of course, he couldn’t guarantee that he’d actually maintain composure when it happened in reality. Alex had learned from Kay’s death that no matter how much one prepares, one cannot ignore the finite nature of life.
Death brought a shock beyond imagination to that extent.
“Until now, I thought it didn’t matter as long as ‘Alice’ remained intact.”
Melia, who had been pondering Alex’s words, spoke without hiding her trembling. Her face, which looked like it might break into tears at any moment, was gently lifted.
In Alex’s view was the image of a girl standing precariously as if about to break, yet remaining strong.
“Even if Kay died, even if Alex died, what was important to me was ‘Alice.'”
It was a statement that could have been quite offensive from his perspective, but Alex simply waited for Melia’s tearful words to continue. After briefly composing her swelling breath, she spoke once more.
“But that wasn’t it……”
She had realized it through Kay’s death.
“What was precious to me was ‘Alice’ where everyone existed.”
That her world wasn’t “Alice” but them. Along with facing this truth, uncontainable tears began to burst from Melia’s eyes.
At her tears, Alex raised his hand. However, his action was blocked by Melia, who was wiping her own tears away.
Her eyes, which had roughly wiped away tears with her sleeve, were shining more clearly than ever before. Melia’s pink pupils, filled with strong determination, seemed to burn brightly.
“So, I’ll save them. If everyone becomes endangered, I’ll be the one to save them.”
Facing her directly as she conveyed her resolution, Alex realized one thing he had been missing.
Melia was no longer a child. The infant who couldn’t speak had long since disappeared. What existed here was a girl who had grown stronger than anyone.
At this sight, he recalled a memory from the past. It was when Melia first manifested her ability.
While the timing of manifestation varies for everyone, it often occurs when one holds a strong desire. And Melia’s manifestation happened when “Alice” faced its first crisis.
Alex could see where her determination to save everyone had begun.
The Melia now greatly resembled the girl who had jumped into battle immediately after manifesting her power, determined to protect the organization.
