Chapter 146
That moment, it came to mind. It wasn’t a mosquito, but there had been someone who had bitten and sucked on his neck several times. Fortunately, the bite marks were carved in a place barely covered by his t-shirt, so seeing only the reddish marks, they seemed to have mistaken them for mosquito bites.
‘They won’t notice, right?’
Since he himself hadn’t realized it until now, the chances of the kids figuring out they were kiss marks would be low, wouldn’t they? But just in case they might know, cold sweat trickled down his back.
‘It would look strange to suddenly put a band-aid on a mosquito bite…’
He wanted to cover it up with anything, but that would only draw more attention, so leaving it as is seemed like the best option.
Having concluded there was nothing he could do right now, Muyoung pretended to look in the mirror to catch his breath, then returned to them while feigning composure.
“Seokjae hyung, don’t you have any bites?”
“Yeah, I don’t have any.”
“Wow- Muyoung hyung’s blood must have been really tasty.”
“Ahem…”
“Ah, did you check?”
Junwoo, who had been talking with Seokjae, noticed Muyoung approaching with creaking steps and asked. Muyoung smiled awkwardly and scratched his neck, which wasn’t even itchy.
“Mm-hmm, I had no idea I was bitten this much. Now that I know, it’s starting to itch for no reason.”
He thought he had spoken quite naturally, but for some reason, Kyungho, who was beside him, stared intently. Under that gaze, Muyoung stiffened.
‘What, did he notice something?’
A tension that only Muyoung could feel hung in the air, and after rolling his eyes for a moment, Muyoung decided it was better to take the hit first and opened his mouth while fidgeting with his fingers.
“Why, why are you looking at me like that?”
“But the mosquito must have been huge. The mark is really big and there’s even bruising. Was it a mountain mosquito?”
“Huh?”
It wasn’t the worst-case scenario he had been thinking about – questioning whether it was really a mosquito bite – so he was relieved. However, he was flustered about whether it was okay to turn someone who was perfectly fine right next to him into a mosquito.
‘What should I do?’
Since he couldn’t exactly deny it either, Muyoung pondered for a moment before finally closing his eyes tightly and nodding.
“I guess so. I was surprised too. Haha… A-anyway, shall we get going now?”
“Yes.”
“We just need to put on our bags. Just a moment!”
Afraid they might notice something strange and ask more questions, he hurriedly changed the subject. Fortunately, the two who hadn’t noticed anything odd nodded and quickly shouldered the bags they had put down on the ground.
While watching those kids, just as Muyoung was patting his chest in relief, Seokjae, who had been listening to the conversation with interested eyes, quietly approached Muyoung’s side.
‘He won’t even look at me once.’
No matter how much he looked, since he wouldn’t give him a glance, he had no choice but to go himself.
Since the kids might see and he had made marks in a visible place, it was his fault. Whether he became a mosquito or some other bug, Seokjae didn’t care at all.
‘I expected he wouldn’t be angry, but I didn’t think he’d feel sorry.’
Even though it was a situation where he couldn’t say anything even if he got angry for being so careless, Muyoung seemed sorry for turning him into a giant mosquito, not even giving him a single glance and turning his head the other way.
Seokjae found such a Muyoung funny and cute, making him want to tease him. Of course, there was also the additional reason of wanting to ease his guilt.
Before Muyoung could notice and run away, he quickly approached and brought his mouth to his ear.
“Bzzzz.”
“…!”
The sound that flying insects make as they buzz around. As soon as Muyoung heard that sound, he opened his rabbit-like eyes and looked up at Seokjae.
“N-no, hyung, that’s-“
And realizing that Seokjae had imitated a mosquito sound, he panicked and moved his mouth. At that sight, Seokjae silently laughed with eyes like he was looking at a newborn puppy and ruffled his hair this way and that.
“Let’s see when we get outside.”
It was something he said to Muyoung, who was staring up at him blankly with disheveled hair, because he wanted to kiss him here and there right away. Though it sounded completely different to Muyoung.
‘Is he, is he angry?’
He wanted to do something to appease his anger, but he couldn’t use that method they had used on the railroad tracks in front of the kids. Muyoung began the last remaining journey in an uncomfortable state of mind, groaning only inwardly.
* * *
Crunch, crunch-crunch… Clang!
A dull metallic sound echoed between the gentle sounds of gravel.
“Hey, get it together.”
“Sorry. It’s so hot…”
As Junwoo grabbed the staggering Kyungho and warned him, he smiled sheepishly and apologized.
Normally, Muyoung’s concerned “Are you okay?” would have come from the front.
“Huff…”
But he too was dizzy from the heat and wasn’t in the right mind for that.
In the sweltering afternoon with the sun fully up, the sun hanging directly overhead heated the steel rails. It was so hot that heat waves were rising. Though sea breezes blew occasionally, they were insufficient to overcome the strong sunlight.
Even Seokjae, who was usually indifferent to heat, was walking with a frown – it was that hot. Since it was an intense sensation returning after not feeling temperature at all, Muyoung’s condition was bound to be bad.
Sway-
Thud.
“Gasp.”
Eventually, sweat got in his eyes, and while blinking his eyelids, he felt dizzy. His foot caught on a railroad tie and he almost fell forward.
And as if anticipating this, an arm immediately reached out from beside him to catch him.
“Th-thank you.”
“Want me to carry you?”
“N-no. I’m fine.”
No matter what, he wasn’t shameless enough to act spoiled in this heat, so Muyoung shook his head vigorously.
“Ugh…”
“Just let me carry you?”
When he let out a small groan from momentarily feeling dizzy due to the aftereffects of the quick head shaking, a sulky voice flowed from Seokjae’s mouth. After rolling his eyes around for a moment in contemplation, Muyoung timidly grabbed his collar.
“…Then I’ll just hold onto your clothes as we go.”
“Why not hold hands instead?”
As soon as Seokjae finished speaking and reached out to hold his hand, Muyoung, startled, grabbed his shirt with enough force to tear it.
“Th-that’s a bit…”
At the same time, he fixed his gaze forward and rolled only his eyes to earnestly glance backward. It meant they shouldn’t be lovey-dovey in front of the kids.
“I don’t mind.”
Seokjae knew there would be no problem since he had already let the kids know there was a subtle current between the two of them. But to explain that, he would have to confess when he had pulled such tricks, so he clicked his tongue softly inwardly and spoke while feigning ignorance.
“I’m concerned about it. Instead, I’ll hold onto your clothes tightly as we go.”
Unaware of Seokjae’s true feelings, Muyoung whispered and gently shook the collar he was holding like acting cute, making Seokjae’s lips twitch as he silently looked ahead.
And behind them.
“…You two have a good relationship.”
“Hmm, somehow they seem closer than before… Ack! Be quiet. It’s rude to think about such things.”
Kyungho, who noticed the strangely different atmosphere between the two, whispered to Junwoo. Junwoo, who unconsciously agreed with that opinion before coming to his senses, hit his back and scolded him.
Smack!
“Ugh.”
Since they were sweaty, a louder impact sound than expected echoed. Only then did Seokjae and Muyoung, who had been trapped in their own world, turn around.
“What’s wrong?”
“No, well… It’s nothing.”
“Really? You’re not fighting, are you?”
“Yes, really. He just encouraged me to cheer up because I was having such a hard time. But… I’m curious about something – Muyoung hyung, didn’t you used to not be affected by heat?”
When Junwoo waved both hands in panic, Kyungho glanced at him and helped smooth things over. Then he tried to divert Seokjae and Muyoung’s attention elsewhere by changing to an appropriate topic. The problem was that this appropriate topic was a troublesome one for Muyoung.
“Huh? Ah… M-maybe my constitution changed?”
“Is that possible?”
“Allergies can suddenly develop too, so it’s possible. Or maybe it’s because your stamina dropped. It’s hot as hell, let’s just get through this appropriately.”
When Junwoo questioned Muyoung’s flimsy excuse, Seokjae rubbed the back of his neck and mumbled evasively.
Fortunately, neither side intended to drag this conversation on for long, so Kyungho and Junwoo simply expressed regret that his lucky constitution had disappeared, accepted it, and easily moved on.
After that, both the hyung side and the younger brother side kept their mouths tightly shut and just walked forward diligently, afraid they might misspeak.
Before long, the railroad tracks passed by the seaside and led to a forest path. Thanks to the lush trees around them, the perceived temperature was lower than before.
As everyone was moving forward with much improved complexions, Seokjae suddenly stopped.
“…”
“Hyung?”
“That thing.”
Seokjae quietly gestured ahead with his chin. Everyone’s gaze turned forward.
Beyond the curved railroad tracks, a structure piled high could be seen. A massive defensive barrier made of sharp barbed wire, iron bars, containers, and other materials.
“It’s a barricade.”
It was a military barricade.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
