Chapter 24
Ah, this is. It’s similar to that time.
At the sensation of a beak poking his forehead, Eunseong briefly lost his sense of time.
But the texture in his hands was soft, the air was warm, and most of all, the fluffy mattress was very different from the waste disposal site. Eunseong quickly came to his senses about where this place was.
The creature visible even without opening his eyes noticed that Eunseong had awakened and acted spoiled. It rubbed its fluffy yellow forehead against his cheek and flapped its wings.
“Where did you go?”
When he brought his finger close, it even bit down tightly as if reproaching him. It was a pain that made his eyes snap open.
“No matter how I think about it, it’s you, isn’t it?”
What was the identity of the ‘fire’ that wasn’t his own power? It was the conclusion Eunseong had reached the night before while thinking. Perhaps this yellow bird wasn’t a hallucination he was seeing because he was crazy, but something like a ‘monster.’ So, one that wasn’t an enemy yet. One that had somehow come to stay by his side…
“What am I?”
For a moment he thought the creature had answered, but it was Mujin. Eunseong startled awake and turned his head toward where the voice came from.
“If you’re awake, wash your face and eat.”
Mujin, who had spoken curtly and turned his back, clicked his tongue and approached again. He put his hands under both of Eunseong’s armpits and lifted him from the bed like pulling a radish. Then, supporting the nape of his neck, he walked with long strides. Eunseong had no choice but to be dragged along like a mannequin.
“Uh, uh…”
Whoosh, whoosh, something seemed to move busily in front of his face—it was a towel. Mujin wrapped the soft towel around his neck and pressed down firmly on the back of Eunseong’s head. As soon as he forced him to bow down, wet hands vigorously scrubbed his face.
“Wait, wait a sec—ond— Ah! Pff—!”
Everything happened too quickly. Even as he flailed his arms in distress, Mujin didn’t budge. After wiping Eunseong’s face and hands, Mujin skillfully made him brush his teeth and then seated him at the dining table.
“Let’s eat.”
Eunseong pressed down on his dampened eyelids and turned his head toward Mujin’s direction with deeply furrowed brows, glaring. After washing a person like bathing a puppy, the atmosphere was quiet. It was somewhat satisfying that his sleeves and chest had gotten wet from his struggling, but he was still indignant.
He suddenly grabbed Eunseong’s hand and pressed something into it. When he was slow to realize it was a spoon, he clicked his tongue quietly again.
“Should I feed you?”
“No, I can use chopsticks…”
“Really? Your eyes aren’t as uncomfortable as I thought?”
Why did it sound disappointed?
“Hanyeong said I was better than guys with perfectly fine eyes.”
“You’re keeping them closed just because they hurt?”
“Yes, I’m sensitive to light.”
“I see, we’ll gradually find a solution for that.”
After the effects of the face washing subsided, he began to salivate at the delicious smell. It seemed like an extremely luxurious meal had been prepared in the room. When Eunseong became absorbed in the smell, Mujin proudly served portions of everything right in front of him. The savory, sweet, and salty aromas were enough to make him lose his mind.
“Go ahead and eat. I prepared only things you like.”
“Things I like?”
“That’s right.”
Seeing how cautious Eunseong’s every action was, Mujin felt impatient. He picked up some quail egg jorim, Eunseong’s favorite side dish, and brought it to his lips.
“…It’s delicious.”
“Go ahead and eat. It’s all yours.”
Eunseong’s throat tightened at the warm, delicious food.
“After eating, I want to go see Hanyeong.”
Without answering, Mujin deboned grilled fish and placed it on Eunseong’s spoon. Then, as if telling him to put it in his mouth quickly, he tapped the tip of the spoon with his chopsticks.
“I’m prepared for his condition to be bad. I know I won’t be of help, but I still want to hold Hanyeong’s hand.”
“Eat first.”
Those words sounded exactly like he would take him there once he finished eating. Eunseong emptied both rice and soup as Mujin instructed. He ate all the side dishes Mujin gave him without being picky.
He thought he was used to life in the Bottom where roasted sweet potatoes and wild boar meat were the greatest luxury, but he wasn’t. The meal Mujin prepared was exactly his taste that even he had forgotten, so when he came to his senses, he had stuffed himself until his stomach was about to burst.
“Now, we’re going, right?”
Eunseong said, panting slightly after even drinking post-meal tea.
“No.”
The answer that came back was utterly cold.
“…Why?”
“There are many questions about the incident where you went missing. Until we clarify everything, I can’t expose you to other people.”
“Hanyeong is just someone I can visit briefly and come back.”
“Everyone in the world except me could be your enemy. Every single person you might encounter by chance in the corridor after leaving here.”
“Isn’t this Hunter Baek Mujin’s house? Huiseon Guild?”
At Eunseong’s innocent expression, Mujin let out a hollow laugh. There was a lot implied in that short question. While he was secretly pleased that Eunseong trusted him despite having no memory, he had no answer to the question of whether he needed to be careful in your house.
Perhaps everyone in the world, including himself, was Eunseong’s enemy. If he just went outside and got hold of a phone, Eunseong’s heart would easily be torn to shreds.
Perhaps losing all his memories was necessary for Eunseong to survive.
Because the most threatening thing to Eunseong was Baek Mujin. After all, the incident that led to his death was also because of his own Hwanghwa.
He had assumed that Eunseong lost his memory because he was injured in an accident, not considering the possibility that he might not want to remember him. He might have known unconsciously while deliberately denying it.
But so what.
Mujin tilted his chin back and loosened his stiff neck.
“You can’t leave here, Eunseong.”
At the firm voice full of conviction, Eunseong was momentarily at a loss for words.
“I can’t leave? By what right does Hunter Baek Mujin—?”
Eunseong’s voice naturally became sharp. He forced his aching eyes open and looked directly at Mujin.
Even when living in the tent village at the Bottom, he could choose where to live. Although the choices were very narrow and almost nonexistent, if there had been an option to turn his back on a critically ill friend among them, he would never have chosen it.
“Well. As a friend?”
“Even friends don’t have that right. And what I want to do now isn’t anything else—I just want to visit a sick friend. If you’re worried because we’re friends as Hunter Baek Mujin says, then you’re applying different standards.”
“…”
“Hanyeong is my precious friend.”
Mujin also stared intently at Eunseong. As the atmosphere became chilly, an intimidating aura pressed down on Eunseong. His eyes, which were already painful, became emotionally agitated, causing tears to flow out pathetically again, so Eunseong hurriedly raised his hands to cover both eyes.
“This is because it hurts, so I’m crying.”
“I see.”
Thinking the obedient answer was affirmative, Eunseong raised his head again. Seeing his reddened eyes stained with tears, Mujin chuckled. Witnessing warmth spread across his previously cold face for a moment, the anger that had surged up was about to scatter aimlessly.
“This part is still the same.”
Eunseong had always cried first when frustrated, even during minor arguments since childhood, and he was still the same as an adult. When he attended school, fights broke out several times a day among the rough group of boys.
In such situations, the guy who would stubbornly act cold would become a clingy, whining child in front of him or Jaeseong. Even if treated slightly coldly, his eyes would quickly turn red, which came to mind unconsciously. Because it was cute, he had often teased him on purpose.
Memories that had been consciously blocked for the past three years flooded in instantly. Without realizing it, Mujin’s face relaxed and he had to turn his head as laughter emerged.
He found the remote control and dimmed all the lights in the room, lowering blinds over all the windows. Since he couldn’t immediately change the colors of the floor, walls, and ceiling, this was the best he could do for now.
“Is this a bit better?”
“If you have bandages or an eye patch, I’d appreciate it if you could lend them to me.”
“Yoo Eunseong.”
Mujin came close and stood again.
“I missed you.”
“…”
Really, a lot. Because of Mujin’s whisper, Eunseong bit his lips tightly. He suddenly remembered what he had resolved the night before.
He had intended to say he was sorry for not recognizing him. And he needed to add words of gratitude for helping him.
Then Mujin’s wristwatch rang. After checking the message, Mujin spoke with a slightly brightened face.
“Even if it’s uncomfortable, bear with it a little. I have a place prepared in another residential district. I’m preparing it so you can go in and live there, and it seems like it’ll be ready faster than expected.”
“Are you telling me to live there?”
“We’ll go together. If we go there, you’ll have a wider radius to move around than here, so it’ll be better than now.”
Eunseong felt slightly deflated. He thought the conversation was getting through, but it seemed like he was the only one talking. The conclusion was that he wouldn’t let him go anywhere.
Mujin cleaned up the finished meal completely. As he moved all the dishes and leftover food to a trolley and pulled it outside, he asked once more.
“Don’t you need anything besides an eye patch?”
“Hanyeong.”
At Eunseong’s answer, Mujin just looked at him quietly. Then he soon left the room.
Eunseong, who had been looking at the closed iron bars from the bed in the empty room, pouted his lips.
“He’s always like that. Acting like he’ll do everything, but never bending his own thoughts.”
Eunseong, who had been talking to himself, stiffened his face in surprise. The lips that had just uttered those words to himself felt unfamiliar, so he raised his hand to feel them.
The scene that briefly flashed through his mind made his chest feel completely cold.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
