KEG 71

“You tried to load me and my companion into a car and flee the village.”

At the edge of the snowy plain stretching out over the ruins, a figure was walking toward us.

A barbarian, his lips smeared with blood. He held the half-eaten head of a wild boar monster.

“I guess we looked pretty useful to you.”

Crunch!

Kang Byungwook grabbed me by the collar, but I couldn’t take my eyes off the view outside the window.

Because Lee Yuksam was waving cheerfully at me. I waved back.

“What the hell do you know?!!”

“I don’t know a damn thing.”

I’m just a guy who gets by day by day. My own safety comes before society.

Other than that, I know nothing.

“Even a clueless bastard like me can see you’re a fucking nutcase, so what makes you think you can change the world….”

“Fuck, fuck, fuck…!”

Crack!

Kang Byungwook hit me again. I heard the sound of my skull cracking, and everything went black.

Did something burst? I think I took a bad hit to my jaw.

Or maybe not – I can still move, so I guess I’m okay.

I don’t know. My sense of pain is screwed.

I’m not even sure if my head is still attached; every time I breathe, I spit up blood.

At this point, I’ve taken my share of 4 billion won’s worth of punishment.

I’ve done enough. Time to go home.

“…Go now. I’m tired.”

Lee Yuksam approached and opened the car door.

I made the sign of the cross over my chest.

***

Every time I opened my eyes, four days were gone.

It felt like a section of my memory film had stolen contentbeen snipped off. They said I’d gotten up of my own, gone to the bathroom, and eaten, but I had no memory of it.

And so, my unintended stay in Taebaek had stretched past two weeks.

“Hyung! You finally look like a human being! Your eyes are back to normal today too!”

Right after getting beaten up by the Esper, my face was a mess. It had swollen so much I wondered if I was even human, but now the swelling had mostly gone down, leaving just a few bruises.

“Your eyes are back to normal,” was he talking about the me I had no memory of?

“Ho-hyung, you really looked like a lunatic! What did the doctor say?”

“Temporary cognitive impairment due to post-traumatic brain injury.”

When Lee Yuksam heard the diagnosis, he looked as if he’d just returned from a trip to outer space.

“I got beaten up so badly I went a little crazy for a bit.”

When I rephrased it for him, he finally understood and nodded.

“Come to think of it, your head was completely caved in back then! It healed right away, though~”

My ability can repair my body, but it seems it can’t control the aftereffects when delicate areas like the brain are injured.

“That was really amazing!”

I don’t know what I look like when I use my ability.

But Lee Yuksam saw it. I think he might be the first person to have witnessed that moment up close.

“Ho-hyung really must be the protagonist~”

If I were the protagonist of any story, I’d have to sue the guy who wrote the script.

How could anyone treat a person like this?

Go to hell.

“That was cool~”

“Don’t go around running your mouth.”

“Of course not! You saw I didn’t betray you~!”

Lee Yuksam really didn’t betray me. He would keep his mouth shut without me even having to tell him to.

Even though that didn’t mean I trusted him completely.

“I also saw you devouring a monster.”

“Ah, I was hungry~”

A human who eats monsters? Along with Baek Yejun, I’m starting to doubt whether they’re even human.

“We’re still best friends, right?”

I hesitated. If I had my way, I’d tell him to get lost since he wasn’t needed anymore.

But if I provoked him and he attacked…

“Think whatever you want.”

Just thinking about it made me feel exhausted.

Even though I was resting, it didn’t feel like I was getting better. Even though I was out of the battle zone, it felt like I was still fighting.

“Hehe, Ho-hyung is my first best friend. You have to live a long life, right?”

Lee Yuksam beamed and offered his well-wishes. Even without him saying that, I replied that I’d live longer than him, and he was over the moon.

I was genuinely curious about the structure of his brain.

“So, shall we have a pillow fight now?”

No, I’m not curious. There is no brain in that head of his.

An Esper asking a critically injured patient for a pillow fight? I’m lying here because someone beat the shit out of me.

“You told me to live a long life.”

“Um… wouldn’t it be fine if I control my strength?”

I handed the pillow I’d been using to Lee Yuksam. Then I said to the guy staring at me,

“Go ahead and swing that.”

Whoosh! Boom!

The pillow exploded in midair. Lee Yuksam, who had swung the pillow without hesitation at my command, looked even more dumbfounded.

Flutter~

Feathers swirled through the air.

Snow was falling on Taebaek.

It was falling outside, and inside.

“Fuck, bow your head. ”

Lee Yuksam banged his head against the floor again today.

‎

‎

Lee Yuksam passed out, and night fell.

Unable to sleep, I tossed and turned for a while before checking my phone. Even unauthorized copy though my mind was all over the place, there were calls listed in my call log.

Calls from the hospice ward and Baek Yejun. I had talked to Baek Yejun almost every day around midnight.

“What did we even talk about?”

It was 10 p.m. now, so I’d call the ward tomorrow; let’s deal with Baek Yejun first.

I dialed his number.

“Hello.”

-Huh?

After a short ringtone, I spoke first, and Baek Yejun exclaimed in surprise.

What kind of reaction was that?

“What?”

-Wow, you’re finally back to your senses?

“What?”

Baek Yejun chuckled for a while. Then he even said that it had been fun, and asked if I couldn’t just lose my mind again?

“I don’t want to get my head bashed in by an Esper again.”

-Do you remember what you said?

“I don’t.”

-That’s no fun.

I asked Baek Yejun why he called me every day. He chuckled for a moment again before answering me.

-If you check the call log, you’ll see you called me more often.

That’s awful.

What on earth was I doing when I lost my mind? Why did I do something like that?

“What did I say?”

-You asked for 4 billion won every single day. You said that’s how much you had been beaten for.

So it was a debt collection call. If that’s the case, I get it.

Good job, past me.

-And you repeated everything I said like a parrot.

Suddenly, the back of my head tightened. I couldn’t even begin to guess what he had made me say.

What did he do to a man who’d lost his mind from a blow to the head?

-Are you curious about what you said?

“I’m not curious.”

I figured he would probably just say some nonsense, so I cut him off. Listening to it wouldn’t do my mental health any good.

-So, are you back to your senses now?

“Probably.”

I heard a rustling sound coming from the other end of the line. He was probably getting up from lying down.

It was a familiar sound, so I knew exactly what it was. It was the sound of my bed’s comforter.

Where the hell is this bastard lying down right now?

-It was fun when you were out of it, but I was disappointed you couldn’t answer [visit our site]my questions properly back then.

I bet it was.

After all, he was talking to a parrot that only knew how to say “4 billion.”

-When are you coming back?

Baek Yejun asked, and I glanced at the calendar.

The medical staff advised me to rest for at least another week. They also recommended that I be admitted to a hospital if I was going to Seoul.

“Tomorrow.”

But I wanted to go home. I wanted to catch up on the cleaning and laundry, and sprawl out on my bed counting the patterns on the ceiling.

-Should I come pick you up?

“You don’t have a car.”

-Just give me the coordinates.

As if he’d actually send a car.

It was a hassle to drive, so this worked out well. I told Baek Yejun the coordinates displayed on my wristwatch.

“Ta-da~”

And in the next instant, the space split open, and Baek Yejun’s head popped out from between the rift.

Come to think of it, he did say that he could use portal abilities too.

“Wow, your face is all colorful~”

The first thing he said after seeing me was a comment about my face.

It felt like the anger I had toward Lee Yuksam flaring up unauthorized copy again. No, actually, he was the original cause of my anger.

The world only sends me people who make me furious.

“Who did that? Should I teach them a lesson?”

“He’s already dead. You told me to kill him.”

Baek Yejun smiled, and said, “Good job.”

Being around him made me feel like my humanity was being chipped away in all sorts of ways.

“Did you transfer the money?”

“You mean the installment payments? Should I pay weekly or monthly?”

“Give it to me every Sunday.”

He asked why, and I simply replied that I felt better receiving it on my day off. Money arriving while I’m relaxing and lounging around feels better than money that comes in when I’m busy and overwhelmed.

“I’ll have them send it Sunday morning.”

Baek Yejun typed out a quick message and sat down on the bed where I was lying.

“Didn’t you miss me?”

“No.”

“Why not? It’s been almost a month.”

I told him I hadn’t really thought about him, but he asked me for a reason instead.

How am I supposed to know?

Whether it’s a month or two, my mind just refuses to think about you.

“I missed you, Hyung.”

The bed creaked as it sank.

My body slid back naturally, and my back hit the bed frame. My escape route was blocked.

“You know what you told me when I said I missed you.”

“I don’t remember.”

“Huh? Did that sound like a question?”

“I was asking you to say it,” his voice echoed in my ear. His breath, now closer, brushed against my neck.

“You’re crazy.”

“Say it with me. I missed you.”

“I’d rather my mouth split open than say it.”

“You’d change your mind if it actually did split open.”

In that instant, Baek Yejun’s finger slipped into my mouth.