Not Ready to Walk Away

Because of the rift that had opened, the outside, which had usually been quiet enough, was now filled with the sound of monsters’ footsteps.

In that state, if I went out looking like this, I wouldn’t last ten seconds before dying.

That was the situation.

“Want to leave right now?”

He asked with a gentle smile.

“You’re telling me to die right now?”

“No, just to leave. If you’re planning to leave after we’re gone anyway, doesn’t it make sense to send you off first?”

Jeong Iheon spoke as if he’d noticed I was trying to hide something.

He slowly looked me over before opening his mouth.

“If you go out like that, you won’t make it far before dying. It’s crawling with monsters out there.”

“So, the bunker—”

“So.”

Jeong Iheon cut me off by echoing my words, then continued, his smile gone.

“Let’s move together until you recover. Only we’ll know about your ability.

Since it’s a mental-type ability, no one will know you’re an ability user unless we say so.

That means you can leave whenever you want.

And while you’re with us, you can properly figure out what your ability actually is.”

I looked to Jaeyul and Won-gyeong to see if this was true, and both of them nodded with stiff expressions.

They were clearly willing to concede this much just to persuade me.

To be honest…

It wasn’t a bad offer.

I knew nothing about ability users.

If someone with strength like theirs showed up in front of me with bad intentions, I wouldn’t be able to respond at all, system or not.

Even a little knowledge about abilities could change that.

“…Only until I recover?”

“Yeah. After that, it’s up to you. You can leave, or you can stay.”

Jeong Iheon shrugged.

It really sounded like he meant it.

I didn’t know if he was sincere, given how unreadable he was, but Won-gyeong and Jaeyul had agreed as well.

“Fine.”

In the end, I chose to go with them.

[Main Scenario ‘1 – Encounter’]

[Scenario completed. Progress slightly increased.]

[New Main Scenario unlocked.]

[Main Scenario ‘2 – Traveling Together’]

“Did she promise she’d keep her word?”

“She prayed that she would.”

“Then she didn’t actually promise.”

“She didn’t promise, but she’s thinking about it.
About us.”

“How long will she think?”

“Until she wakes up.”

“Right.
You can only think once you wake up.”

“Will she think of us when morning comes?”

“We’ll know when morning comes.”

(Until morning comes, they remain silent.)

What is meant to happen always happens.

It isn’t something prepared in a single moment.

It’s something that builds up, layer by layer, over a long time, until it finally bursts.

In this case, it was my strange companionship with these men.

There was no way to explain it other than that the system had been grinding its teeth at my refusal to move, preparing this scenario all along.

“Isn’t riding on my back the most comfortable?”

Because of my injured leg, I’d been carried in turns on their backs, and when it was Jeong Iheon’s turn, he snatched me from Ju Noeul and said that.

I pressed my cheek against his shoulder in annoyance and didn’t answer.

Annoyingly enough, he really was the most comfortable.

With Won-gyeong, I could hear his heart pounding so loudly that mine started racing too.

Jaeyul asked about my condition with every single step he took.

As for Ju Noeul, he was the worst.

Being carried by him felt worse than riding a mountain bike at full speed.

Compared to that, this infuriating Jeong Iheon wasn’t noisy, didn’t constantly check on me, and didn’t have terrible balance.

The sensation of his prosthetic arm supporting my thigh was oddly solid and comfortable.

That didn’t change the fact that he was still the most irritating person, so whenever the path shook, I grabbed and tugged on his silver hair several times.

Each time, he laughed like it didn’t hurt at all, clearly enjoying getting under my skin.

“What’s that?”

“The big ones are rocks. The small ones are pebbles.”

“Rock, pebble, pebble.”

“That’s right.”

While casually tugging on his hair again, my eyes met the child walking ahead.

Just as I’d expected, the boy, with his hair cut short, still couldn’t properly recognize words beyond “save me” and “help me.”

He seemed to understand language, but couldn’t express himself well, probably because he hadn’t had anyone to talk to for a long time.

From what little he could explain, he’d been born in that hotel and trapped there ever since.

Now, switching between Won-gyeong and Jaeyul, he was relearning words one by one.

His speech was still clumsy, but he was already starting to understand and form sentences.

For just three days, that progress was unusually fast.

Whenever our eyes met, the boy would grab Jaeyul’s clothes and duck his head.

He did it again now, hunching down while sneaking glances at me like a wary little animal.

‘I’m the one who saved you, you know.’

“Know why he’s shy around you?”

Jeong Iheon whispered, as if reading my thoughts.

Without waiting for an answer, he continued.

“He’s embarrassed.”

“About what?”

“Because you saved him.”

“How is that embarrassing?”

“It obviously is.”

He answered immediately.

“You saw him at his absolute lowest. Now that he’s out of it, facing the person who knows that is embarrassing.”

“I don’t care.”

“Of course you don’t. You’re the one who saved him.”

His tone was faintly cynical.

Though his expression quickly returned to normal, I could hear his heart beating faster than usual right beneath me.

If people knew I could read emotions through breathing and heartbeats, how would they react.

Would they hate anyone getting close to them?

Resting my chin on his shoulder, I tilted my head and thought quietly.

Listening to the change in his heartbeat, I asked impulsively.

“Sounds like experience.”

“Nope.”

“Then how do you know so well?”

“I guess.
Guessing how other people think is pretty fun.”

‘Mm.
I don’t buy it.’

His heart was still beating faster than normal.

Probably no one else could hear that difference.

Which meant noticing it was strange in itself.

I dropped the thought and lightly bumped his shoulder with my chin instead.

A small act of spite toward his constant probing.

His evasive attitude hadn’t changed since the bunker.

How long I’d been alone. Why I’d ended up alone. Whether I’d struggled. How I’d gotten food.

It was practically an interrogation, but only later, lying in bed, did I realize how smoothly he’d drawn information out of me.

I hadn’t said much, but he’d probably learned plenty anyway.

‘What are you, exactly.’

There was no way he was really twenty-three.

I pouted and snapped,

“Be honest.
You’re not twenty-three, are you?”

“Mm. No. Yes.”

“Ugh.”

He dragged out his words playfully.

Disgusted by the fake cuteness, I turned my head away.

I planned to sleep with my cheek against his solid shoulder.

Among everyone, Jeong Iheon’s heartbeat was the quietest.

It was faster now, but still steady.

Won-gyeong’s nearly burst whenever he touched me.

Jaeyul’s thumped heavily with each beat.

Ju Noeul’s flailed like a live fish.

The only time I could sleep without being bothered by sound was now, on Jeong Iheon’s back.

“Going to sleep?”

“Yeah.”

When I buried my face deeper, he asked softly.

As I mumbled a reply, I heard him laugh low in his throat.

His heartbeat slowly returned to its usual rhythm.

Listening to it slow, my eyelids grew heavy.

He spoke quietly.

“Wouldn’t it be more comfortable if you turned your head toward my neck? Your neck’s going to hurt like that.”

“If I do that, my lips might touch your neck. That’s gross.”

“I wouldn’t mind.”

“That’s why it’s gross. You don’t even really mean it.”

That was Jeong Iheon’s worst trait.

Acting shameless and toying with people, even when he didn’t truly feel that way.

With that face and that personality, there had to be plenty of people who’d been hurt by mistaking his kindness for sincerity.