Improvisation

The man who had been at the very front and had roughly tossed Hyeon Jaeyul (who would soon become my long-time friend) aside let out a snort.

“What’s with that.”

“…Don’t make unnecessary trouble. We can just tell her to leave.”

“She knows about this place. How do you just let her go?”

They muttered quietly among themselves, talking about me.

They were keeping their voices low enough that they probably thought I couldn’t hear.

Unfortunately for them, my hearing was really, truly, absurdly good.

Which meant I heard everything.

I stopped observing the men any further and decided to put my plan into action immediately.

The moment I made up my mind, I stood up with my body trembling and fixed my gaze on Hyeon Jaeyul, who had been thrown behind the man, then opened my mouth.

“…Hyeon, Jaeyul…? That person who collapsed there, isn’t that Jaeyul?”

At my words, I could see the men’s gazes soften, even if only a little.

Feeling relieved under their attention, I thought to myself.

Right, when it comes to improvisation, isn’t it the greatest weapon of the powerless?

‘Jaeyul, from now until you wake up, you’re my closest friend.’

If you object, I’ll just knock you out again.

I asked in an extremely weak, fragile tone.

Their faces clearly showed that it had never crossed their minds that I might have heard their conversation outside the bunker.

The softening of their gazes was obvious.

Of course it was.

Even I thought it was ridiculous to hear outside sounds from in here.

Back then, before I realized my hearing was exceptional, I’d seriously worried that I was losing my mind and hearing things.

Most of what I heard from outside were screams that sounded like pure agony, so it made sense.

Now I knew better.

“What, you know him?”

“Seems like it.”

“Then that’s good. If you don’t mind, could we lay him down? He’s badly hurt.”

School ties, regional ties, blood ties.

Humans were strangely quick to lower their guard and soften up if someone, even a stranger, was connected by some kind of relationship.

These strange men were no exception.

The moment I acknowledged knowing Hyeon Jaeyul, they abandoned their earlier attitude of chasing me out of the bunker.

Relieved, I quickly guided them inside.

“Th-this way, please! I don’t have much, but I have some medicine. If it’ll help Jaeyul, you can have all of it…!”

I deliberately tossed aside the blunt knife I had been pointing at them and moved in a rush.

Seeing my desperate behavior, the men’s aggressive edge completely faded.

They showed no hostility and slowly followed where I led them.

Watching their guard drop, I smiled deeply inside.

From now on, the Jaeyul here was my long-lost, dear friend.

Judging by his head injury, it’d be fine if he couldn’t remember some old memories when he woke up.

If he denied it, I’d brainwash him until the memories appeared, so believing me would be beneficial for both of us.

“This way?”

“…Yes.”

But then….

I swallowed dryly when I saw the blond man carrying Hyeon Jaeyul approach.

Earlier, I’d heard them saying his eyes had rolled back, calling him an idiot who got hurt by showing off.

So I’d assumed he’d be some easy-looking guy….

‘He’s way bigger than I thought… What is that body. Is he a door or something.’

Even slumped over, he had the largest build of anyone here.

With his eyes closed, his face looked extremely sharp and cold.

Confronted with a face that didn’t match my expectations, I hesitated for just a moment.

Only a moment.

As if he’d noticed that tiny pause, the man standing beside the blond one, maintaining a subtly smiling expression, curved his eyes and spoke to me.

He was a man with a foxlike, narrow smile.

He looked perceptive.

“You look surprised seeing Hyeon Jaeyul. What’s wrong?”

“Ah, the blood…. There’s so much blood….”

“I see.”

When I answered haltingly, he murmured with a smile that looked almost painted on.

“In a world like this, isn’t it exhausting to be startled by blood every time?

You could’ve just said you were surprised to see a familiar face after so long.”

…Did this bastard notice that I didn’t actually know Hyeon Jaeyul?

I discreetly examined his expression.

Other than the smile, it was hard to read what he was thinking.

I was never good at reading people to begin with.

And of all people, the ones who showed up had to include the type I struggled with the most.

Also, what was with the casual speech?

All of them were talking informally, which made it obvious none of them had particularly mild personalities.

But judging by how rough their speech was even among themselves, people like this tended to have one defining trait….

“I was surprised because it was a familiar face. I never expected to see him in a place like this.”

I deliberately mirrored their casual tone.

If they didn’t react to me suddenly dropping formality, my chances of survival went up.

No reaction meant no obsession with authority.

And from my experience, people like that tended to have slightly less sexual desire or inclination to exploit others.

“That’s true.”

The man with ash-gray, almost silver hair nodded without showing any concern about my tone.

I felt relieved inside.

The blond man who had laid Hyeon Jaeyul onto the bedding I’d guided them to let out a small sigh and spoke to me.

“It must be nice to meet someone you know. I haven’t seen a single familiar face yet.”

“…You’ll meet them.”

“Yeah. Thanks.”

Only after registering his gentle voice did I really look at his face.

I’d been so focused on staying on guard that all I’d noticed about Hyeon Jaeyul was his height and build.

Looking more carefully now, the blond man had a very kind-looking face.

He was the type who could easily earn goodwill from others.

The silver-haired man who followed behind him, throwing out sarcastic remarks, had a strangely bewitching appearance.

Looks didn’t determine personality, but his neatly kept gray-silver hair and bright blue eyes that seemed to shine on their own gave the impression that he could see straight through people.

His face had no harsh angles, and the slight upward curve of his lips suggested a habitual smile, softening what could otherwise have been a sharp impression.

In short, both of them were rare beauties.

Come to think of it, Hyeon Jaeyul too, and even the two men behind them busily inspecting the bunker without sparing a glance for the collapsed man.

‘First time I’ve seen this many hot guys with great bodies traveling together.’

With looks like theirs, even if I was a woman, they probably had no interest in me and stuck to each other instead.

That thought eased me a little.

I relaxed my shoulders and opened the emergency kit I’d been saving.

“Ugh….”

As I examined Hyeon Jaeyul’s wound, I let out a pained sound.

The gash was so deep it looked like he’d taken a blade to the head, running from near the crown down to above his eyebrow.

I frowned and explained calmly.

“He needs stitches first. I’ll get a needle. Don’t worry about conserving medicine. Treat him with whatever’s here.”

The blond man, who had been looking around, turned to me in surprise and spoke.

“…Won’t that be a waste?”

Clear, amethyst-like purple eyes looked straight at me.

“It’s being used where it’s needed.”

I shook my head with a smile.

‘Of course it’s a waste. Why even ask?’

If I were the type to get hurt often, I would’ve hidden all the medicine away and done rough stitching at most.

It was a waste, but I had no use for it.

Medicine had expiration dates, and I knew the ones I had were approaching theirs.

Better to let someone who needed them use them than throw them away.

“I’ll go get the needle.”

I nodded, finishing my polite pretense, and ran deeper into the bunker.

I definitely had a medical needle somewhere.

“I think I stored it here….”

Anything I didn’t need, I kept up high.

Medical needles were the same.

They were useless as weapons, so they were nothing but dead weight.

I vaguely remembered sticking it somewhere above, and I stood on my toes, reaching toward the storage shelf.

That was when someone came right up behind me and spoke.

“This one?”

“Ah….”

The foxlike man was suddenly there, standing behind me and peering into the high shelf.

Being much taller than me, he seemed to spot the needle immediately.

But instead of taking it down, he just blinked at it blankly and muttered.

I turned to look at him.

“If you can see it, could you take it down for me?”

“Hmm. No.”

…?

Smiling faintly as he refused, the man suddenly reached out toward me.

“Get it yourself.”

An arm wrapped around my waist and lifted me up effortlessly.

I could feel how solid his grip was, hard like machinery.

It didn’t feel like an ordinary hand.

The man, smiling playfully, tilted his head toward the shelf when I stared at him blankly.

“Or do you want to keep hanging like this?”

I tore my gaze away from him and reached for the small needle in front of me.

It was tiny, something you had to grasp with precise finger movements.

The moment I grabbed it, he let out a casual “heave” and set me back on the floor, as if he’d used no strength at all.

I bowed my head slightly to him.

“Thanks for lifting me.”

“Aren’t you going to ask why I didn’t just grab it myself?”

He asked in a teasing tone, smiling openly.

I glanced briefly at his arms before answering.

“Both arms are prosthetics. Your fingers can’t move delicately, right? Small things like needles are hard to grab.”

“What? How did you know right away? You’re insanely perceptive.”

He opened his eyes wide, genuinely surprised.

“Yeah. Stuff this small is hard to handle.”

He tapped the upper part of the needle I was holding with his index finger.

It looked like human skin, but when it touched the needle, the sound of metal striking metal rang out.