# Chapter 133
Now that I think about it, something seemed familiar. First of all, Taesung had collapsed twice before. So perhaps soon he himself would also lose consciousness and go limp like a sack.
Taesung shook his head, seemingly having read Lee Hwan’s expression that had suddenly sunk.
“No. What I was hit with wasn’t this kind of bullet. The reaction was more immediate.”
“Then…”
“Seeing how the bleeding won’t stop easily, it seems to contain a substance that prevents blood clotting.”
Why would they use something like that when they could just make someone pass out? I really thought they were making all sorts of strange things.
Lee Hwan sighed with annoyance before continuing.
“Also… to be honest, the pain is less than I expected. My arm still moves properly, though it feels numb.”
“It seems to have some anesthetic effect as well.”
“Making me bleed continuously without pain… I can’t understand the intention. If they had shot me with poison, they would’ve been carrying my corpse back by now.”
Lee Hwan bluntly stated while staring silently at the patch with the reddish tint. The body pressed against his noticeably flinched. Well, talking about corpses in this situation might have been a bit much.
“If one of us completely collapses, the remaining person would leave them behind and flee, so I guess they’re trying to injure us to drain our strength and make us a burden. If you’d been hit two or three more times, that would have happened.”
“…Sounds like they’re determined to catch both of us, even if it kills us.”
Certainly, if it had been Kang Dongha who collapsed instead of Taesung, Lee Hwan would have abandoned him long ago. Especially in a situation like this where they were being pursued.
Thinking about what he had to accomplish ahead, he could say with 99.99 percent certainty that he would have hidden Kang Dongha well in the bushes and fled without even an apology.
‘Kang Taesung can’t even be compared to that bastard, but…’
How could they know how much he valued Taesung?
“It’ll be tough, but I think we need to move a little further.”
Taesung spoke, unusually careful. Only then did Lee Hwan realize he was still leaning against him and awkwardly pulled away. Fortunately, perhaps because his mind was a bit foggy, his face showed no signs of blushing like before.
“Let’s go. We can rest after we completely shake off those guys.”
Despite how much they’d been running, they had only moved for about an hour. It would be better for him too if they ran a bit more, completely disappeared, and then rested.
‘Taking turns getting injured, what a mess.’
Lee Hwan grumbled with his still-dizzy head as he started moving again.
* * *
Before the regression, Taesung often tried to stop Lee Hwan from going home.
‘It’s already 11 o’clock. Just sleep here. You’re off tomorrow anyway.’
‘The trains haven’t stopped running yet.’
Lee Hwan would quite decisively cut off the suggestion that slipped in as if not wanting to burden him. Even though he couldn’t help but notice the bitter smile that spread across Taesung’s face, he pretended not to see it.
He eagerly jumped at invitations to hang out. But once the sun set, Lee Hwan would head home, even if it meant taking a taxi.
It wasn’t because he loved that single room apartment so much. There was a certain pride in it being the first place he found on his own after becoming an adult, but at best it was just a studio apartment with good sunlight, nothing more, nothing less.
What would Taesung’s expression have been if he knew that those determined returns home were for such a ridiculous reason? The thought brought a smile to his lips, as if he could taste something sweet just imagining it.
He simply didn’t want to show Taesung his disheveled self. He didn’t want to face him in a defenseless state.
And he didn’t want to suddenly realize the emotions he had firmly suppressed beneath his consciousness.
He had only recognized that last reason quite recently. Despite being together so much.
It was because he had kept his eyes closed and turned away, refusing to see.
‘This place is a bit too big for living alone.’
When Taesung made such a pitiable face, Lee Hwan, who couldn’t bear not giving in, still managed to politely refuse every time, whether it was an invitation to stay overnight or to live together.
Afterward, for a day or two, he would listen to Taesung’s opinions quite well, to the point where Lee Hwan sometimes wondered if Taesung was slyly making those suggestions deliberately for that purpose.
‘I’ll buy some snacks tomorrow. That baguette snack, they have an onion flavor now. You like those, right?’
‘Well… yes.’
‘Should I buy some cake too? Do you like strawberry?’
‘…I do. I do like it.’
Looking back, he had never heard Taesung say he disliked anything when asked what to buy. So somehow Taesung had become someone who liked all onion-flavored snacks, liked strawberries, liked coffee, liked meat, and even liked strange seashell decorations bought from vacation spots.
In truth, Lee Hwan knew that Taesung wasn’t particularly fond of some of those things. He probably just went along with it to avoid making Lee Hwan feel awkward.
Or maybe he was using them as an excuse to spend time together.
Secretly, Lee Hwan hoped that was the case. He was more than willing to do the same. Of all the things Taesung had offered him so far, there wasn’t a single one he disliked, but even if there had been, he wouldn’t have minded.
He just enjoyed being with him. That was all.
Taesung’s voice dissolved like cotton candy in a feeling of regret.
When he opened his eyes, he was lying on a soft bed. Only then did Lee Hwan recall what had happened before falling asleep.
That incredible hiking course. If they had kept going straight, they could have climbed about halfway up the Himalayas.
Taesung and he had run through the rugged mountains for about four more hours. They did take short breaks in between, but he could confidently say it wasn’t a comfortable hike.
Thanks to that, they had moved quite far from their initial position by the end. It would have been safer to move a bit more, but…
The reason they couldn’t continue longer was entirely because of Lee Hwan.
Perhaps being hit by that strange gun was the issue. After running for about three hours, his body gradually began to shiver, and his vision started spinning.
After running for another hour, the wound throbbed with pain and he felt nauseous, and from that point, he couldn’t hide his symptoms anymore.
Taesung had seen him stumble and fall.
‘Are you alright?’
‘Yes, this much is just… haah…’
As a chill crept up the back of his neck making his body tremble slightly, Taesung touched his forehead. He seemed to have roughly figured out his condition without even asking about the symptoms and made Lee Hwan drink all the remaining water.
Then, suddenly, he carried Lee Hwan on his back.
Any other time, Lee Hwan would have struggled to get down. But in the midst of feeling chills, there was no way he could ignore a back as warm as a heated floor.
Besides, when was the last time he had been carried like this? The nostalgic memory of the past pressed heavily on his chest, making it impossible to refuse.
That’s how the two of them descended the mountain after several hours. They entered an old motel near the river, got a room, and as soon as they unpacked, Lee Hwan fell asleep as if passing out.
How much time had passed? When he opened his eyes, Lee Hwan was lying quietly in a room with windows, bathed in the glow of sunset.
It was so quiet that even breathing seemed audible in the surrounding stillness.
“…Kang Taesung?”
Somehow feeling abandoned, he called out his name first. But there was no one else in the empty room besides him.
Lee Hwan groaned as he started to get up but paused. He was wearing unfamiliar clothes without realizing it.
His arm, which should have been stained with blood, was cleanly wiped and the treatment had been neatly completed. It seemed Taesung had taken care of him while he was asleep.
‘My physical condition is better than I thought.’
Lee Hwan clenched and unclenched his hand, quickly checking his body condition. Strength had returned to his arm and it was moving properly again. The unknown drug effect must have worn off as his condition had improved quite a bit.
He rolled his feet a few times. In this state, he could run again anytime. The anxiety weighing on his chest lightened somewhat with that small relief.
After continuing to look around the room, Lee Hwan walked to the bathroom and knocked on the closed door.
“…”
There wasn’t the slightest sign of anyone. When he slowly opened the door, as expected, the dark bathroom was empty. Even the water marks on the shower booth wall were quite dry.
It meant Taesung had left long ago without him. Despite having fled far to avoid being tracked, was it really okay for such an eye-catching guy to just wander around like this?
Worried, Lee Hwan looked around for a while before discovering a note placed right next to the bed where he had woken up.
[Don’t leave the room and wait quietly.]
It was definitely a note written by Taesung. Despite being completely changed by the 4-year difference, his distinctive handwriting with the slightly elongated end of ‘ㅅ’ remained intact.
‘Look who’s talking.’
While grumbling, Lee Hwan picked it up, folded it neatly, and put it in his pocket. Well, they did need to regroup at least once.
Medicine, food, water. If they were going to flee an even greater distance, they needed to be equipped with some essential items.
Especially if the other side kept bringing out such unheard-of and vicious weapons.
‘Haah… being just two is quite tough.’
The thought suddenly occurred to him. The enemy’s organization was too massive for just the two of them to handle. Even just the pursuers might have increased to more than a dozen during the time they were holed up in the safe house.
So when trying to lure them away, he couldn’t step away because he was worried about the one left behind, and when attempting to attack together, it was becoming increasingly difficult to deal with five or more opponents.
‘Of course, this isn’t a situation where we can team up with anyone else, but…’
It would have been nice if there was just one more person who knew this situation better and could handle it more skillfully. There were too many shortcomings with just the two of them.
‘Come to think of it, I think I had similar thoughts before…’
Looking back, although they weren’t being chased by people, there were times when they frequently fled. When monster waves broke out uncontrollably, and Awakened people forced onto battlefields died in droves, eventually even their living places were destroyed.
Lee Hwan had to watch as he and Taesung wandered alone together, gradually wearing each other down. Taking turns giving each other rest, he thought it would be nice if both of them could get a good night’s sleep just once.
Apart from enjoying the time spent with Taesung, the two of them were too few to face such harsh storms. But they only had each other. Lee Hwan had lost his family and colleagues, and Taesung had lost Jade.
The unpleasant memory made his mood sink gloomily.
‘Jade…’
Then suddenly he remembered him. While Lee Hwan’s family could never return now, Jade should still be alive and well.
Come to think of it, what had happened to Jade?
