KEG 97
It felt like my upper and lower body were about to be torn apart.
“I’m going to be split in two.”
“Even if you’re split in two, I won’t give him a single piece.”
“Whoa! Isn’t this like King Solomon?”1
It was a total mess.
Baek Yejun talked like a dog, and Lee Yuksam only said what he knew. I didn’t know if becoming S-class caused your brain to split in half or something, but one thing was certain: right now, they both looked stupid.
“Excuse me, did that child lose their mother too?”
As we exchanged this meaningless banter, an elderly man sitting outside the line to rest spoke up. He was already holding the hands of two children.
“Look at that baby, exhausted from crying… If you can’t take care of that child, give them to me. Oh my… Poor thing.”
The child on Lee Yuksam’s back had gone limp before anyone noticed. Their sweat-soaked hair and labored breathing made it obvious they were simply dehydrated.
Lee Yuksam stepped out of line for a moment to hand the child over to the old man. He’d have to get back in line from the end, but he didn’t seem particularly bothered by it.
“Hyung, something smells weird.”
As Lee Yuksam disappeared, Baek Yejun rubbed his nose against the back of my neck.
Maybe I’d picked up the scent of the flowers in the hospital earlier. It had been as sweet as its role suggested.
“If it’s bothering you, let go.”
“Umm…”
He shook his head and wouldn’t let go.
I suppressed the wave of irritation, and asked Baek Yejun.
“Did you come to deal with the gate?”
“It’ll take at least three days to deploy Hunters. I’m just here to pick you up.”
“How did you know where I was?”
The line I was standing in shifted slightly. I tried to take a step, but Baek Yejun picked me up and walked for me instead.
The people who had just been staring were now even whispering. He sure knew how to rub people the wrong way in all sorts of ways.
“Your card transactions stopped near the hospital, so I figured you hadn’t left yet.”
So he tracked me down using the card he gave me? Suddenly, the saying “You get what you deserve for going after freebies” came to mind.
I got it big time. I really got it.
“Hyung, are you a patient again today?”
The pest subtly rubbed my abdomen, which had been cauterized by him. His hand crawled upward, ready to grope my chest.
Does he want to do this even out here?
“Because of you, I think I’m going to develop anger management issues. ”
“I like it when you get mad.”
His hand slipped inside my T-shirt. His dry, cold hand brushed against my skin, which had become sticky and hot from rolling around all day. I felt every nerve in my body tighten and stand on end.
“Take your hand off.”
“If I do, will you give me a kiss?”
“No, I’ll beat the shit out of you.”
“You’re so persistent. You know it won’t work.”
“You just don’t know when to give up,” as Baek Yejun said that, his hand finally reached my solar plexus. Just letting him do this was already a huge concession on my part.
How much more do I have to give up before he’ll back off?
I grabbed his fumbling hand and said,
“At least do it at home. You’re being a nuisance to other people.”
That was a statement that showed I’d given up a hell of a lot. I’d practically laid down my dignity.
Touch me, but don’t do it here.
It wasn’t a difficult request. If he couldn’t understand that, he wasn’t human anymore.
“Will you let me do it when we get home?”
“Yeah.”
Baek Yejun kissed the back of my neck.
“Okay.”
Baek Yejun’s hand slid back down toward my abdomen. Relieved, I leaned my back against him. It was comfortable to be half-reclined, supported by his body.
“Ho-hyung~ I’m here!”
Just then, Lee Yuksam came running from a distance.
“Aren’t you going to line up?”
“Ah, I just got off the phone with the Section Chief. He said he’s coming this way, so don’t go into the inspection station.”
Lee Yuksam said this while showing me his phone. The call log showed a three-minute call with someone listed as “Section Chief.”
“Is he from the government?”
“Hmm… I guess so?”
Lee Yuksam shrugged.
Come to think of it, Lee Yuksam was a target of government surveillance. That meant not only the battle at the hospital but also his current presence near the gate had all been under observation.
He was someone I shouldn’t have bothered to intervene and get into the inspection station for.
“I went through all that trouble for nothing. I should’ve just left you alone.”
“Huh?”
Lee Yuksam blinked in confusion. Then he grinned and said proudly,
“Anyway~! Today was really fun! Right?”
“Was it fun?”
“I saved Ho-hyung’s neck~”
Is he talking about the neck I risked with the security team leader?
I saved mine, but I couldn’t save Agent Won’s.
How exactly was this bastard put together that he could wrap all of that up as “fun”?
Baek Yejun seemed curious about our conversation and asked Lee Yuksam.
“What happened at the hospital?”
Lee Yuksam cheerfully recounted everything that had happened today.
From the lesson with the little teacher to the walkie-talkie incident, Agent Won, the expectant mother, and more. He chattered on about every little detail, making it so noisy it gave me a headache.
“—So, I’m Ho-hyung’s best friend! And if we’re gonna stay friends for a long time, I can’t let him die~”
“Is that so? So you’re friends?”
Baek Yejun moved away from behind me. Then he came over to my side, slipped his arm through mine, and leaned against my shoulder.
“Please get along well with my hyung from now on. Don’t let him die.”
His tone was so sweet it gave me the creeps. He sounded like someone giving advice on how to take care of a spouse.
“Of course~ Anyway, the problem with Ho-hyung is that he doesn’t take care of himself.”
“Hmm, you’re right. That is a problem.”
Both of them looked at me at the same time. I was dumbfounded for a moment at their sudden gaze before regaining my senses.
“Would you stop staring?”
Lee Yuksam and Baek Yejun laughed simultaneously. When I gave them a confused look, they laughed even harder.
Is it fun to make fun of someone?
“Aaaargh!”
Just then, a scream erupted from Station 3.
There were three stations in total, and we were standing at Station 2.
The scream came from right next to us.
“What is it?”
“It sounded like it came from inside the tent…”
“Ugh, seriously… My legs hurt…”
The people in line began to murmur. Espers and healers were dispatched to Station 3, where the scream had come from.
Just as I thought the commotion had ended,
Wheee-!
The emergency siren blared.
Station 3 was completely silent. But a sweet scent began to waft out.
This was definitely…
Swoosh-!
“Gah! Ugh!”
A vine shooting out from Station 3 wrapped itself around the neck of a citizen waiting in line.
Just as the vine was about to lift the citizen into the air, it suddenly–
Thud! Thud! Crash!
Slammed them back and forth between the ground and the sky several times.
In the process, limbs were torn off. Pieces of stone, dust, and something slimy splattered all around.
“S-someone, help me!”
“Aaaargh-!”
“Get out of the way! Move!”
People began screaming and fleeing.
Because the crowd was so dense, they were blocked by one another, making it difficult to move. Some fell down, and others stepped on those who had fallen. I asked Baek Yejun, who had his arm around me.
“Is it okay for you to just stand there?”
Baek Yejun answered my question without a moment’s hesitation.
“Seoul is divided into distinct influence zones by district. If we just go around rescuing people like we do in the provinces, it’ll escalate into an all-out guild war.”
What does “influence zone” mean? Does that mean there are people they can save in certain districts, but not in others?
“So, it’s a turf war?”
“That’s right~ You’re smart~”
Baek Yejun pinched my cheek. With so many Awakeners crammed into tiny Seoul, all sorts of ridiculous rules had appeared.
“Then, at least cover your face properly. Don’t get caught.”
I slapped Baek Yejun’s hand away and pulled his hood down. With people dying over a turf war, it wouldn’t do any good if word got out that a high-ranking Hunter like him was here. If I wanted to get home quickly, he had to keep a low profile.
I moved along with the crowd heading away from Station 3.
“So, Ho-hyung’s friend, what guild are you with? You look pretty tough.”
Lee Yuksam, who had been evacuating with us, asked Baek Yejun as we moved. Baek Yejun dodged a flying vine with ease and answered the question.
“I’m with the Hunter Association. If everyone goes off to start their own guilds, the Association that keeps things in check will collapse~”
It was a more sensible answer than I expected. Depending on how you heard it, he even sounded like someone who worked for the public good more than anyone else.
But the fact that he didn’t bat an eye in the midst of this chaos where people were dying made him seem like the opposite.
The more time I spent with him, the less I understood him.
Crack!
“Guh…”
A vine whipped in and wrapped around my neck.
“Hyung.”
Through my blurring vision, I saw a pale hand. But I couldn’t grab it.
In an instant, I was dragged backward. I tasted blood in my mouth, and as I struggled to breathe, the world started spinning.
Ggggrrr!
As I was being dragged, I grabbed onto whatever I could. My vision was blurry, so I didn’t even know what I’d grabbed.
Judging by the feeling of my fingernails digging in and breaking, it must be a street tree. Whatever it was, I couldn’t let go.
If I let go, I’ll be dragged away.
Gkkk… tick, crack.
“Guh…!”
My fingernails tore off. The adrenaline kept the pain away.
The problem was that the strength was draining from my fingertips. There was blood, and everything was becoming slippery.
I was going to lose my grip…
Tap.
I lost it.
It felt like I was plummeting straight down. Just as the vines were about to pull me into Station 3.
I saw a fluttering piece of lace.
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