HVG Ch 17

Episode 17

“Wait, hey…!”

Swiish—

A sharp swinging sound tore through the air, and Haewon clenched his teeth as he twisted his body with all his strength. Something huge grazed past his field of vision at that moment. By the time he noticed the shadowy figure, someone had already grabbed him.

“Hey, Geumtteok! I finally found you, but what the fuck is this bastard doing here?!”

Thud—!

A heavy blow rang by his ear. Out of the corner of his eye, Haewon caught a glimpse of Jo Seolhyeok striking the Demon with a hammer before the man staggered back and disappeared from sight. As Jo Seolhyeok wavered but managed to steady himself on the ground after the hit, Haewon flinched. A hand had reached out from behind to cover his mouth.

“Huhk, huk…”

“Hold on a second. Breathe out slowly… Yeah, that’s it. You’re doing fine.”

“Hu…”

“It’s alright… It’s me. What the hell scared you enough to start hyperventilating?”

A large hand pressed firmly over his nose and mouth, pulling him in. Haewon’s chin tipped upward as he gasped for air. Behind his neck, he felt the solid weight of a body against him. The scent was familiar, like fresh grass, or perhaps the cool fragrance of acacia.

Haewon gradually calmed down, like someone soothed with a sedative.

“What’s that bastard Il-hong doing? Why are you alone if you said you came out together?”

The voice came from above his head, but there was no need to guess who it was. The moment he heard that low, composed voice, he knew immediately. It was Beom Ryeohan.

His thoughts were scrambled, and Haewon stumbled over himself for a moment. What had his senior asked? Ah, Kim Il-hong.

“Uh…”

But was it really okay to say it? Haewon couldn’t help hesitating. Judging from that sharp tone, if he spoke carelessly about Kim Il-hong, both of them might end up in pieces.

But why the hell am I relieved just from hearing Sunbae’s voice in the middle of this mess? Am I trash or what? For that reason alone, his body suddenly felt drained.

“Fine, if you don’t want to answer, don’t. I’ll just drag Il-hong out and ask him myself.”

“…Sunbae, he’s your younger brother.”

The faint, killing look in Beom Ryeohan’s eyes left Haewon no choice but to explain. Anyone who saw him right now would have done the same.

“Kim Il-hong. That guy. It was dangerous, so I told him to get away. He probably went to the guild. Yeah, he went to the guild.”

“So you sent him off, and you’ve just been dawdling here by yourself?”

Well… When you put it like that, yeah.

As Haewon rolled his eyes, searching for words, a low laugh came from above his head.

 “Thinking too hard, huh?” The hand covering his mouth still showed no sign of pulling away.

Each time he spoke, his lips brushed against that firm palm, making him purse them tight in awareness.

“That bastard’s completely insane. Right, Haewon? And how do you deal with a fucking lunatic? You need an even bigger lunatic to handle him, right?”

 “…Yes, th-that’s right.”

Is he trying to say he’s the crazier one? Still, taking on a Demon alone was like asking for death. Haewon quickly blurted out,  “T-then, I’ll fight too.”

Even if his Sunbae was part of a group infamous as mad dogs, a Demon was no easy opponent. Haewon had seen Beom Ryeohan’s skills with his own eyes, but not knowing the full extent of a Demon’s power, he couldn’t just let Beom Ryeohan rush in recklessly.

He bent forward, grabbing his rifle. Beom Ryeohan’s eyes lingered on the pale nape exposed before him. The bones jutted out more sharply than before, thinned by weight loss. A surge of anger welled inside him.

Seo Kangyeol keeps pulling this crap…

“Sunbae, move your hand. Why do you keep covering my mouth…”

Haewon’s lips brushed again against the calloused palm, making him tuck them inward. Then his gaze met Beom Ryeohan’s. He looked up at the man’s pitch-black eyes, who was a head taller, and the familiar closeness of that distance robbed him of his words.

Those jet-black eyes swept over him, up and down, unhurriedly, as if to take in every part of him. It was an expression he had seen many times before.

“Stand up straight. You’re not out of breath, are you?”

“…I am standing straight.”

The tone, as if coaxing a child, made Haewon feel oddly embarrassed. But soon his chest tightened, and he sucked in a sharp breath. Come to think of it, wasn’t it said that because of “Seo Haewon,” the number of victims in the Demon incident had increased?

The images he had witnessed were still vivid before his eyes. Of course, none of it had been caused by him. And yet… he couldn’t understand why he felt guilty.

Unspoken words circled inside his mouth, for that very reason.

‘They say I killed them, those people. I don’t know why, but they said the future me killed them.’

Even though Haewon couldn’t be sure that “Seo Haewon” was really himself, he was, ironically, half-accepting that this man was his future.

It felt like glimpsing an unbearable truth he didn’t want to believe, leaving him dazed. His chest churned with unease at the thought that someone might discover this shameful side of him. He was afraid that he might really shove people into the abyss and struggle to survive alone.

“I’m not that weak, Sunbae.”

“But still.”

Beom Ryeohan frowned, peering down at him with an expression that seemed to ask what he meant by that.

Haewon wasn’t just saying it. He really was strong. Strangely, though he had awakened with the same stats as others, he was at least twice as powerful as they were. Still, everyone had their weaknesses, and Haewon believed his was his mental strength.

“So you don’t have to treat me like a kid….”

When he had first fallen onto Seonak Island, what Haewon had feared most wasn’t hunger or shelter. More than that… it was something physiological that came trailing behind—panic disorder, or another kind of mental illness.

His dependence on medication had been too strong. Without it, he felt anxious. In truth, if he didn’t take it, half his day was spent struggling to breathe, trembling in fear, hands and feet shaking.

He was always on edge, afraid someone might see him like that. Afraid they would point fingers and call him weak.

“You saying that just reminded me of something.”

Beom Ryeohan suddenly said something strange. When Haewon looked at him in confusion, he curved his lips into a grin. A dimple appeared on his cheek.

“Hyung almost died yesterday, too.”

“…Huh? W-why?”

“I caught a cold.”

Haewon wasn’t sure if he was supposed to believe it, but he was left bewildered. Why bring up a cold out of nowhere?

No—Beom Ryeohan and a cold? The two didn’t fit together at all. Of course, people could get sick, but this was the same man who wore short sleeves in the dead of winter. It was impossible to take seriously.

From the moment of awakening, their physical abilities exceeded normal human standards. On top of that, Ryeohan’s body was healthy to begin with, so how could he catch a cold?

Still, just in case, Haewon raised his head to check Beom Ryeohan’s face. But the moment he saw it, his hope vanished. Nope, wrong again.

“…I know you’re lying. You’re not sick. I’m already messed up enough, and now you’re mocking me?”

There he goes, making snap judgments again. The hand that had been covering his mouth curled into a fist, then pinched his nose and shook it.

“Ack!” Haewon cried out, clutching his nose as tears welled from the sting.

“Even someone like me gets sick. And you think you can just run your mouth about being strong in front of me? Are you asking to be scolded?”

“You grabbed and shook my nose like that, how could that not hurt….”

“So what if it hurts.”

Haewon knew what he meant by this. This was a man who rarely spoke about himself, yet here he was saying this much. It meant he cared. Feeling awkward, Haewon lowered his head.

When he had first landed on Seonak Island. When he had heard news that relief supplies were coming. Haewon had obsessed over them more than anyone else.

Whenever he came across medicine, he would sweep it all into his pockets, and even in the middle of the night, he would often search the Tree of Good and Evil. Then one day, as his anxiety flared up, he collapsed in the middle of the road. After taking his medication, he rushed back to the guild and ended up running into a group.

That was Beom Ryeohan.

Their first meeting after falling onto Seonak Island. And of all times, during that very first meeting, Haewon had exposed so much of himself to Beom Ryeohan. His face pale, his curled-up body clutching his medicine in trembling hands.

So Haewon had tried to interpret Beom Ryeohan’s attention as simple compassion toward the weak. No matter what had happened between them two years ago, no matter what words had been exchanged that day.

“Set up a face-to-face with Seo Kangyeol.”

“That’s a bit…”

“What do you mean by ‘a bit’? You still haven’t come to your senses?”

Uh… Just as Haewon instinctively began to clasp his hands behind his back in a subservient stance, the ground shook again. As his body stumbled, Beom Ryeohan steadied him and drew his sword. 

“The moment I let go, you run. If you turn back, I’ll throw you over my shoulder and haul you straight to my guild. If you’re curious whether I’m serious, just turn around.”

“Wait, that guy, he re-awakened as a Demon. Going alone against him is—”

“But Haewon, did you secretly have a kid without telling me?”

The completely random question froze his lips in place. He blinked several times. I… had a kid?

“What are you… joking about?”

“So then, who was that little brat sitting quietly in the room, going ‘yes, no’? When I asked, ‘Where’s Seo Haewon?’ he snapped back at me, saying, ‘Where’s Seo Haewon?’ real sharp. That kid’s got some backbone. I wonder who he takes after.”

“Wait, hold on. You went to my room? Why?”

“Yeah, why did I go? Maybe I went to hear the answer to what you said you’d think about. Guess I must’ve had my reasons.”

“This guy’s a total… lunatic.”

The words he meant to keep in his head slipped out. Alarmed, Haewon quickly jerked his head away before his nose could be pinched again, but unexpectedly, laughter came instead.

“That kid was waiting for his mom, Haewon. Looked just like you. Why’s that, I wonder?”

Still chuckling about the boy’s age, Beom Ryeohan picked up the mask from the ground, brushed it clean, and fit it snugly over Haewon’s mouth. He pressed the hat down firmly, too, blocking his view.

“Go before it’s too late.”

“Sunbae.”

Haewon grabbed his arm in urgency. But it was searing hot, and he immediately let go. As he recoiled, a large hand reached out and gently brushed through the hair peeking out from under his cap. The smooth touch, warm against his scalp, sent a shiver down his back. He wondered how he hadn’t noticed before.  

“Why are you holding me back? Got regrets?”

“…That’s not it. Is that all you think about, Sunbae?”

“And what is ‘that’ supposed to be?”

“……”

The fingers combing through his hair slipped away soon after.

“If you’ve got nothing else, go.”

Haewon couldn’t explain why leaving him behind made him feel guilty. Maybe it was because he’d seen “Seo Haewon” commit atrocities, but his feet refused to move.

“I said, go.”

“Are you… really going to be alright?”

The hand that had left his head came back again. This time, the firm fingertips slid up the pale nape of Haewon’s neck. As they brushed through his hair and lifted upward, Ryeohan looked down at him quietly, a faint smile on his lips. Gentle. Far too gentle.  

“It looks like Hyung ruined all your habits.”

“…I don’t really care what you mean by that, so I won’t ask. Really, I don’t care.”

“Your face says you’re dying of curiosity, though.”

What good would it do to ask? Haewon shoved away the hand that was combing through his hair. In its place, Beom Ryeohan’s black eyes landed on his flushed nape, red from heat. He tugged Haewon’s collar roughly, covering it.

“Go.”

He pressed down hard on Haewon’s hat, then walked away without hesitation. Watching his broad back, Haewon quickly weighed what would benefit him more. But as he realized he was calculating such things, something welled up from deep inside him. He couldn’t tell if it was anger or relief.