KEG 47

“Yejun….”

I pulled him toward me by the back of his head and kissed his forehead.

“…Hyungje¹. May the Lord’s grace be with you.”

My inspiration came from the nuns at the orphanage.

They were the people who had received the most kisses in their entire lifes.

My actions caused a stir among the passengers on the car.

“Wow, you two really get along well.”

“Hyungje? Are you both Catholic?”

“How devout of you.”

I’m not religious. Baek Yejun isn’t either.

For me, it was second nature; for him, it was just a persona.

We’re praying to God, but there are no believers here.

“Peace be with you all.”

Every time I spoke, Baek Yejun’s body shook, and made choking noises like he was having a seizure.

He told me to do it, but now that I actually did it, he found it hilarious. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, I want to beat the shit out of Baek Yejun.

“Anyway, please take good care of us on the way to Sangmo Hospital in Seoul…”

Beep-beep-beep!

Just as we started to relax a little inside the doctor car, a loud radio beep rang out. The doctor grabbed the military radio from his waist and asked what was going on.

“Unidentified flying object spotted 200 meters ahead, 12 o’clock! All vehicles, stop immediately!”

Startled by the sudden order, the doctor asked.

“How long do you expect this to last?”

“Can’t say for sure! We’re preparing to fire anti-aircraft weapons, ​unauthorized copy​so do not get out under any circumstances!”

The transmission cut off, and the doctor and nurse hurriedly checked the patient’s dressings and IV fluids. The heart rate displayed on the monitor was still stable, but there was no guarantee it would remain that way.

Thud.

“W-what is that?!”

Just then, a sound came from above the vehicle’s ceiling.

It felt like a heavy water balloon had dropped onto the metal roof.

Thud, thud, thud.

“Hold the patient down first!”

“Secure the shelves so they don’t fall over!”

A disturbing vibration shook the vehicle.

The medical staff and Espers threw their bodies over the patient to shield her. I stood up and braced the shelf holding the medicines and tools with my body.

“Squeak, squeak-!”

Through the front windshield of the bus, a monster’s form came into view.

It was a reptilian monster with bat wings and a mole head. It had six pairs of legs that looked like insect legs.

“A chimera…?”

A paramedic muttered upon seeing it. It was definitely not a normal living creature.

An unsettling appearance that defied classification as a single species.

Thud! Thud-thud!!

And that alien creature was ramming its body into the doctor car like a madman.

Thud! Rattle!

“Ugh, it doesn’t look like there’s just one of them?!”

“The car is shaking too much!”

Outside, the sounds of gunfire, shouts, and monsters’ howls mingled together. Unable to grasp the situation, the people desperately shielding the patient, the equipment, and the machinery turned even paler than the patient lying there.

“Yejun-hyungje.”

I called out to the bastard just sitting there blankly. As soon as he looked up at my call, I blurted out the rest.

“It seems those creatures need some rest. Please, with your noble courage, restore the peace to this place.”

It meant, “Don’t just fucking sit there, go kill them all.”

His shoulders trembled slightly as he broke into a wide grin. Then he stood up, gestured into the air, and drew a silver sword.

“–Before that radiant gaze.”

Baek Yejun pressed his forehead against the flat part of the blade and began to murmur something.

“There is no sin that can be hidden.”

The sword blade vibrated as the prayer left his lips. Through the front windshield, I saw the sky splitting open.

“Leave only pure truth behind.”

The sky cleared where it had split, and the yellow unauthorized copyrain that had been pouring down all along stopped.

“Amen.”

A flash of light poured down from the blue sky, striking only the monsters with pinpoint accuracy. It was as sharp as a bolt of lightning, as if dozens of holy swords had descended from the sky.

I asked as I watched the rain of holy swords scatter sparks of light.

“Can you attack even when you can’t see them?”

We were inside a car with our view blocked. Yet he was attacking even the monster in the blind spot on the car’s ceiling.

“I can see them.”

With one final thud, a beam of light crashed down and the outside fell silent.

“Ah, ah, can you hear me? Please report the situation!”

The doctor, who had been desperately holding onto the patient, radioed out. But there was no response. The people inside were so tense they couldn’t even breathe.

“Sergeant? Sergeant Kim Jincheol?”

Still no answer.

The air inside grew heavy and oppressive.

The pungent smell of chemicals, which must have leaked when the vehicle shook, stung our noses.

“We’ll go check it out.”

The team members stood up.

“I’m coming with you.”

I stood up too. But my shoulders were pressed down by two hands, forcing me back into my seat.

It was Baek Yejun.

“What do you plan to do out there?”

He tapped my left shoulder gently.

“Sometimes I don’t know if you want to die or live.”

“Mind your own business…”

His sudden provocation nearly made me forget my act. I gritted my teeth, opened the back door, and said,

“Don’t worry about it.”

The team members and Baek Yejun stepped outside and looked around. Then they shouted.

“The military vehicles escorting us from the front and back have disappeared!”

“The fog is so thick we can’t even see ahead!”

When I looked outside, I saw the rain had stopped. But now, a thick yellow fog had settled over everything. The monster’s corpses were on the ground, but the people were gone.

The medical staff anxiously checked on the patient while the driver leaned his head against the steering wheel, fighting off nausea.

“Yejun-hyungje.”

“Yeah~”

“Can you see the road, Hyungje?”

The eyes of the bastard who claimed he could see things ordinary people ​visit our site​couldn’t were the only reliable source of information in this situation.

“I can see it.”

It wasn’t a bluff.

He really could see it.

“Could you get in the passenger seat and show us the way?”

“I can. But…”

Had something gone wrong? Were there still monsters out there?

I waited anxiously for him to speak.

“Give me a peck.”

I grabbed the back of my neck.

I closed my eyes for a moment and pictured a quiet forest, a brook, and chirping sparrows. If I didn’t do something like that, I felt like I’d get a stroke and my brain would explode.

“…People are dying.”

I opened my eyes and said this while looking at Baek Yejun.

“You’re right. Since the kiss is taking so long, the situation isn’t getting resolved.”

He somehow turned this around and blamed me.

It was hard to tell where the joke ended and the seriousness begun, but one thing was certain: Baek Yejun enjoyed seeing me struggle.

“Hah…”

I desperately wanted a cigarette.

I rummaged through my pocket, pulled out a cigarette, and put it in my mouth. Then I realized there were medical staff tending to a patient behind me.

“Come with me.”

We moved behind the median barrier on the highway, not too far away.

Click, click–

I lit it and took a drag. Then, as I exhaled the smoke onto the ground, I said,

“You want me to kiss you?”

There was a hint of irritation in my voice. Even after thinking it over, it was a ridiculous request.

“Yes, please do.”

“Here?”

“Yes.”

We were a good distance from the car, and with the thick fog, our figures wouldn’t be easily visible.

“If we kiss here, it won’t look like we’re just pretending to be a couple.”

It would be nothing more than a useless act, not part of the plan.

I tapped the ash off my cigarette and put it back in my mouth.

“Do you like me?”

Baek Yejun, who had been staring at the red ember of the burning cigarette, opened his mouth.

“Wow, you sound like such a bad boy right now.”

“Yeah, I’m a son of a bitch.”

Words I’d always heard when dating and breaking up.

No matter how kindly you look at it, I’m not a decent person. I’m just the type who is easy to get curious about. I’m not suited for giving and receiving love.

“Hyung.”

Baek Yejun approached me as I leaned against the concrete divider.

“Take it easy.”

His shadow overlapped with mine. He moved so close I could almost feel his breath.

“You can control someone with just one kiss. Isn’t that convenient?”

The concrete structure behind my back felt cold. I exhaled cigarette smoke slowly as I replied.

“First you said ‘peck,’ and now you’re talking about a full-on kiss.”

His tone had grown more demanding.

I was curious about what he would ask for next.

His attitude was so presumptuous.

“You need me.”

That wasn’t a suggestion.

It was an order.

He acted as if I had a choice, but ultimately, I was trapped in a situation where I had no choice but to do as Baek Yejun wished.

“I need you.”

The car had to move, and I wanted to go home. I took a drag of my cigarette.

“Then…”

I pressed my lips against his before Baek Yejun could even finish his sentence.

I parted my lips and blew a wisp of cigarette smoke into his mouth. The bitter, smoke-tinged breath mingled briefly in our mouths.

A brief, shallow contact.

“Kissing a chain smoker is a bad deal.”

I put the cigarette back in my mouth and turned my back on him.

Whether it was an order or whatever, as long as it worked to my advantage, I didn’t care. I had no interest in some meaningless power struggle.

“Yejun-hyungje, get in the passenger seat.”

I paid the price, and Baek Yejun kept his promise.

With Baek Yejun in the passenger seat, the car cut through the fog and sped off.

The people inside the car felt both relieved and anxious. The whereabouts of the missing soldiers were still unknown.

“Doesn’t it feel like more than half a day has passed?”

“It’s only been an hour…”

The car had been driving for quite a while, but time passed strangely slowly. The fuel was running low, and the patient’s condition continued to deteriorate.

“Am I the only one who feels like my perception of time doesn’t match reality?”

It was a strange phenomenon.

Time and perception were out of sync.