MONSTER 2

Fear, strangely, often grew stronger in the places where one hid. When one could do nothing, just sit alone and listen to the sounds from outside. The sounds of monsters and the sounds of people would mix with those from the past and become a mess. One could no longer distinguish between their fifteen-year-old self and their twenty-year-old self.

“Hooo….”

His breathing quickened, and he bit his lip hard. He must not scream. His twenty-year-old self could at least manage that much. Even if someone was dying, even if everyone died, he had to stay hidden here.

…Was that really so much better than being eaten by a monster?

He squeezed his eyes shut and then opened them. He had to get a grip. It would be better to think about what he had to do after the monster was gone.

First, let’s drink some water. Since I am very tired, it would be okay to lie down for a while. It would also be fine to spend the night here and set out again early in the morning.

If I hurry, I might be able to meet the colleagues I parted with in Ansan. Even if I cannot meet them, it is okay. I know the direction, so I just have to find my way home alone.

Will I be able to go?

Will they welcome me?

What if they do not let me in at all? Then… then where do I go?

Thud, thud, thud—.

As he stared blankly into the air, the noise continued to ring in his ears. It seemed to be getting farther away, but it kept overlapping with things from the past, making it difficult to grasp properly. He tried covering his ears slightly and then uncovering them, but it was not much use.

It was then. A sound came from close by.

That much was clear, so he shot his head up. A look of alertness appeared on his face, which was wet with fear. Yuseong, who had been in a crouched position, straightened up and scanned the narrow space. The stones were piled so loosely that sunlight could seep through, so a monster could probably demolish it easily.

As he scanned his surroundings with a guarded posture, he quickly backed away from an object that finally came inside. It was a reflexive reaction, and the image formed on his cornea flowed to his brain half a beat later.

“……”

What came through the gap was a human hand. Blue veins stood out on the back of the hand, and the fingers were long. It was not very aggressive either. It just slowly fumbled in the air and felt along the wall, as if searching for something.

Yuseong, who had been blinking blankly, only came to his senses when light suddenly poured in from above his head. A rather large piece of stone that had served as a ceiling was removed, and a clean-cut face appeared.

“Found you.”

The white face muttered quietly. Setting aside the fact that he had lifted a concrete slab in one go, it was bewildering how calmly he acted, like someone who had been playing hide-and-seek.

“It’s gone. You can come out.”

He spoke in a rather friendly tone.

Of course, there was no way he would feel any sense of closeness. Now that he had seen a somewhat strange guy lifting stones with ease, he only thought that he should be careful.

Han Yuseong slightly poked his head out and quickly scanned the area. There was only dust blowing, and not even a shadow of a monster was in sight. There were no screams from anywhere, and no noticeable corpses.

The monster had been thumping and roaring that much…. His gaze turned to the stranger. When their eyes met, a strange light flickered in the man’s dark blue eyes.

“Are you not hurt?”

“……”

At the question, he slowly nodded his head. He looked surprised, and also a little shy. Standing still like someone facing an awkward situation, he opened his mouth again.

“Come here.”

The tone was strangely like he was treating a dog. Yuseong, frowning slightly, grasped the large palm firmly. He put his weight into it, hoping the man would stumble, but the firm hand pulled his body out easily.

A strong crazy guy is the scariest. With that thought, he was dusting off his butt and knees when he saw the hand that had just pulled him up fidgeting. It bent its knuckles as if to snatch something, then toyed with its fingertips, then straightened them again, repeating the motion.

Is it anxiety? he thought indifferently, his gaze falling on the back of the man’s hand. For having been hit by a heavy stone, it was smooth without any trace of a mark.

I thought I hit the back of his hand properly, but I must have just grazed it. Han Yuseong looked up and opened his mouth.

“Thanks.”

He had already given up on formal speech. The guy looked to be his age, and he had been using informal speech all along, hadn’t he?

He moved his lips as if to speak, but then just nodded. Then he suddenly asked.

“You don’t recognize me?”

Did we know each other? While his strange behavior made a little more sense, not a single face came to mind. It was the same even when he tried to recall his memory and examined him closely. He only had the impression that his smooth skin and high nose bridge were quite pointlessly handsome. Moreover, the bluish color of his eyes was very unusual. He had looks that were not easy to forget.

“I think you’ve mistaken me for someone else.”

He was sure it was a mistake, but the man opened his mouth.

“Han Yuseong.”

What the low voice pronounced smoothly was his name.

Seeing that he even knew his name, it seemed they really did know each other, but he could not remember anything at all. As he hesitated, a hint was added.

“Back then, I was much smaller than you.”

“Ah! I remember.”

He did not remember at all. Did we know each other in elementary school? It is not like we will see each other again anyway, so let’s just play along and go.

“You’ve gotten so tall. I really couldn’t recogni….”

“Lies.”

Yuseong flinched at the quiet voice. The man was staring at him fixedly again. With his skin so pale it was almost white and the slightly upturned corners of his eyes, he did not have a friendly appearance to begin with, but when his expression vanished, he felt even colder.

“Why are you lying?”

“No, well…”

Being called out on it so directly left him with nothing to say.

We met a long time ago, so I might not remember, is it something to act so coldly about? Yuseong ran his hand roughly through his hair and said.

“Anyway, take care.”

“……”

It seemed they had some connection, so he was trying to end things on a good note and leave, but the other person was not being cooperative at all. With his icy gaze, it felt as if the surrounding temperature was dropping.

During the uncomfortable silence, he suddenly took off his backpack. Then he opened the zipper and put his hand inside, so Yuseong took a stealthy step back. He could pull out a knife, or, after distracting him, he could stab him with the iron pipe held loosely in one hand. The end of the iron pipe was blackish, which was very unsettling.

This guy is definitely weird somehow. It would be better to leave quickly without dealing with him any further….

“Eat.”

Startled by the hand that was suddenly extended, Yuseong’s eyes went wide. A can of tuna was placed on the large palm.

As he just stared, the man shook his hand lightly as if to tell him to take it. It became quite clear that he was being treated like a dog. What does he take me for, trying to lure me with food….

Grumble—.

“Yeah. Thanks for the food.”

⋆˚𝜗𝜚˚⋆

How about I spend a few days with this guy?

It was not because he gave him a can of tuna. Even though he had starved for three days, he was not so foolish as to be swayed by food.

“Eat this too.”

A chocolate bar was placed on the floor where the large hand had passed.

Han Yuseong’s eyes widened. Chocolate bars were excellent for replenishing energy and easy to store. But that was not the entirety of his delight.

He used to like them so much that he would buy and eat two of them a day. I should have saved some back then instead of eating them all. Ah, but then I would have had to carry them around all the time. As he was having such idle thoughts with his eyes fixed on the chocolate bar, a low voice was heard.

“You don’t like it?”

“I don’t hate it!”

The man had not even made a move to take it away, but he cried out in alarm before awkwardly adding a word.

“It’s… something I used to really like.”

At that, the man quietly repeated, Something you used to really like.

It was a bit cringe-worthy. For a conversation between men, wasn’t it too affectionate? Yuseong scratched his cheek and asked casually.

“By the way, when did we meet?”

“……”

The good atmosphere disappeared out of nowhere.

Making a person feel awkward. Yuseong’s mood also soured, wondering what kind of special relationship they had for him to show such a frosty attitude. But instead of snapping at him, he gathered the chocolate bar. Since he had given him food, he would tolerate a little bit of prickliness, but he had no intention of being deliberately friendly.

Still, it seemed okay to travel together for a few days. He had a good physique, seemed generous, and appeared to have excellent survival skills. This container they were hiding in was also a place he had found. When he was looking for a place to hide and eat the can of tuna he held preciously in his hand, the man had led the way.

The container, which seemed to have been a break room at a construction site, was full of belongings, as if someone had been living there until recently. It was just big enough for two people to lie down, and although it was slightly tilted because the ground behind it had risen, it was excellent in that it was closed off on all sides. It was a space sufficient to savor a meal for the first time in three days.

“How long have you been staying here?”

“One day.”

He had seen other people during the day. Yuseong, who had been looking at the window boarded up with a wooden plank for a moment, put the chocolate bar deep into his bag.

Next to where his hand had been, he saw a plastic bottle with about a third of its water remaining. His gaze went to the person sitting blankly in front of him. He fiddled with the zipper before finally closing it up and saying.

“Let’s stand watch. I’ll go first, so you rest.”

“……”

He just stared at him wordlessly. His gaze, which had been following the hand moving the bag to the side, scanned his arm and shoulder, and then stared fixedly at his face again. And then he uttered something out of the blue.

“I didn’t know you’d be this small.”

“…Are you talking about me?”

Han Yuseong’s eyes opened fiercely.