#117
“Yoon Pa-ran. Wake up.”
“Mmm…”
Yoon Pa-ran frowned at the gentle hand shaking him. The familiar scent was mixed with the irritating smell of disinfectant that brushed his nose.
That sharp odor jolted Yoon Pa-ran awake, and he sat up.
“Why are you so startled?”
Dan Joo-hyuk’s face was right in front of him.
“……”
Yoon Pa-ran, who had been staring blankly at that face without realizing it, suddenly became aware and looked around.
At first glance, he thought he had somehow ended up at Dan Joo-hyuk’s house. However, seeing the furniture and white bed everywhere, it was clear he was still in the hospital.
Why is this hospital room so spacious?
“We should go home. The examination is over.”
“Uh…”
It was a strange place with only one patient bed. Yoon Pa-ran responded dazedly and put his feet on the floor.
The pain that had been throbbing in both ankles from running intensely through the mountains had disappeared. The muscles in his shoulder and one arm that must have been torn were also fine now.
He felt a bit dazed, as if some potion had been applied while he was sleeping. Surely they wouldn’t have used an expensive potion for mere bruises, so it seemed hospital IVs had improved a lot these days.
Anyway, it was fortunate that the injuries were minor.
“Put this on.”
Dan Joo-hyuk approached and naturally draped a thick blanket over Yoon Pa-ran’s shoulders.
As he grabbed the blanket reflexively, he realized he was still wearing Dan Joo-hyuk’s outer coat.
“I’ll give this coat back to you.”
“It’s fine. Let’s go.”
Dan Joo-hyuk decisively took the lead without waiting for Yoon Pa-ran’s response.
For some reason, his mood seemed a bit sharp. Yoon Pa-ran, looking at Dan Joo-hyuk’s back with confusion, hurriedly followed him.
To have slept so deeply without even noticing the doctor’s visit. He couldn’t understand why he had let his guard down so much.
“……”
For some reason, there was no one coming or going in the hospital. Only after going outside did Yoon Pa-ran see the darkened scenery and check the time. It seemed that people were scarce because it was already past midnight.
As he followed Dan Joo-hyuk towards the parking lot, Yoon Pa-ran lowered his voice and asked,
“Did you run into Kim Tae-jun there?”
Dan Joo-hyuk finally glanced at him.
He had been wearing quite a serious expression since earlier. It looked as if something had happened, which made Yoon Pa-ran worried as well.
Did something go wrong?
“There was no trace of him in that ruined cafe. I only encountered Park Jung-hoon inside the mountain.”
“Ruined…?”
However, Dan Joo-hyuk gave a somewhat strange explanation.
“Get in.”
Arriving at the car, he opened the passenger door and spoke in a low voice.
However, Yoon Pa-ran was preoccupied with mulling over what Dan Joo-hyuk had just said.
Ruined?
“Aren’t you getting in?”
“Oh, yeah.”
Dan Joo-hyuk’s voice grew sharper as he asked again.
Startled by that sensitive reaction, Yoon Pa-ran hastily got into the passenger seat. Because of this, he missed the timing to say he would go home by himself.
He must have something to talk about, to react so seriously, right?
“……”
Just then, Yoon Pa-ran noticed a fallen leaf on the floor of the passenger seat. It seemed to have come from that winter mountain where he had been wandering earlier.
Slowly picking up the leaf and placing it on his palm, Yoon Pa-ran spoke as if he couldn’t believe it.
“… Was that cafe really in ruins?”
“Yes. You saw it too, didn’t you?”
Dan Joo-hyuk answered as if it were obvious as he got into the driver’s seat.
Again, Yoon Pa-ran felt a strange disconnect. Dan Joo-hyuk’s words were completely different from his own memory.
“No, when I saw it, it was a perfectly fine cafe. Are you sure you didn’t go to the wrong place?”
“That was the right place. …… A perfectly fine cafe?”
“Yeah. It was a multi-story cafe with no people. The employees said they had gone to the bathroom or something… Anyway, when I went up to the upper floor, Kim… Tae-jun…”
As he continued speaking absently, strangely, the events from earlier felt like a dream.
As he began to doubt his memories, which seemed covered in a hazy fog, suddenly his head started to ache as if it was splitting.
“Ugh!”
“… Yoon Pa-ran?”
Yoon Pa-ran clutched his forehead and curled up. The leaf he had been holding crumbled with a crisp sound.
He could feel Dan Joo-hyuk approaching him abruptly, but he couldn’t move an inch. The more he gasped for breath, the more his mind felt like it was turning to mush.
An unpleasant sensation, as if someone was stirring his brain.
Just before he was consumed by that sensation, something warm enveloped his cheek.
“……”
It was Dan Joo-hyuk’s hand that cupped his cheek. Yoon Pa-ran, barely coming to his senses from that warmth, reflexively grasped that hand.
And instinctively, he deployed his skill.
“Urgh……”
“What’s wrong?”
A pure white light filled the space between the two of them. As he watched, mesmerized, the shadows of Dan Joo-hyuk’s face moving here and there following the light, his mind cleared with a sharp sensation.
Once again, as if his whole body had been washed in the icy water of a winter mountain stream, all the unpleasant energy disappeared. Almost simultaneously, he clearly remembered the moldy smell of the ruins.
And his own distorted reaction of perceiving that place as a new building.
“Ah……”
“Tell me what happened.”
Strangely, at Dan Joo-hyuk’s stiff voice, the strength in Yoon Pa-ran’s waist suddenly drained. As the sensation of things wrapping his brain melted away, Yoon Pa-ran’s body slumped into the passenger seat.
Dan Joo-hyuk’s large hand still followed Yoon Pa-ran’s movements.
“… It seems they’re playing tricks with people’s minds.”
“With minds?”
“Yeah. From the beginning, I only perceived that place as a new building. I… even though I was looking down at my phone, I didn’t see your call.”
Yoon Pa-ran weakly let go of Dan Joo-hyuk’s hand he had been holding. A long sigh involuntarily escaped his lips.
Despite having slept deeply at the hospital, he felt exhausted, his strength not returning easily. Whatever the tricks of those guys were, they seemed to severely drain one’s energy.
For some reason, Dan Joo-hyuk didn’t remove his hand. He just muttered in a low voice, as if grinding his teeth.
“… We’ll have to be careful.”
“Yeah.”
His mind was too tired. Yoon Pa-ran unconsciously closed his eyes.
In that state, he began to explain a bit more about what had happened earlier. It seemed good to inform Dan Joo-hyuk of the information, as these people were apparently targeting him.
Dan Joo-hyuk seemed to think so too, as he silently listened to Yoon Pa-ran’s disjointed words. His large hand, which had somehow slid down to Yoon Pa-ran’s nape, kept gently massaging it.
Though aware that the touch was ticklish, honestly, it felt quite refreshing, so Yoon Pa-ran just quietly left it be.
When Yoon Pa-ran’s explanation was over, Dan Joo-hyuk made an unexpected proposal.
“Let’s go to my house today.”
“Why?”
“It’s dangerous, isn’t it? Park Jung-hoon might be targeting you again.”
At the mention of danger, Yoon Pa-ran answered even more firmly.
“That’s exactly why I need to go to the orphanage.”
Kim Tae-jun was already entangled with the orphanage’s land. There was no guarantee that the orphanage would be safe even if he stayed away from there.
After a moment of silence, Dan Joo-hyuk spoke in a hard tone.
“You mean you don’t care if you’re attacked again?”
“That’s right.”
At Yoon Pa-ran’s answer, given without the slightest hesitation, Dan Joo-hyuk closed his mouth. Strangely, his insides were boiling.
Even though he had applied top-grade potion to eliminate even minor bruises, Yoon Pa-ran’s complexion was still pale.
It seemed he had barely defended against Kim Tae-jun’s trick with his skill just now, shouldn’t he be more careful with his body?
Although the medical examination showed everything was normal, Kim Tae-jun’s trick still remained. This meant it was an unknown attack that even Dan Joo-hyuk hadn’t noticed.
However, Yoon Pa-ran didn’t seem to see that danger. He looked ready to rush in regardless of the consequences if the orphanage was in immediate danger.
Dan Joo-hyuk strongly disliked this fact.
“What an admirable spirit of self-sacrifice.”
“Don’t mock me.”
When he deliberately sneered, Yoon Pa-ran swatted his hand away. It was a firm gesture, unlike how he had let him fidget with it all this time.
From that attitude, Dan Joo-hyuk once again read Yoon Pa-ran’s unyielding stubbornness.
“……”
Of course, he knew that Yoon Pa-ran had the power to defend against Kim Tae-jun’s tricks. As he had just witnessed.
Although he clearly understood this rationally, a sudden impulse surged. Should he just subdue him and drag him away?
Hide him away in bed and protect him?
“I’m going to the orphanage.”
“……”
As these sinister impulses were playing tug-of-war in his mind, his eyes met Yoon Pa-ran’s gaze.
Such a pure gaze, unlike a hunter. It was surprising that he could look at him like that even in this situation.
That’s why Dan Joo-hyuk finally, quietly, gripped the steering wheel.
“……”
“……”
The air in the car felt palpably heavy with the weight of Dan Joo-hyuk’s mood. However, Yoon Pa-ran paid no attention to it and just looked out the window.
While Yoon Pa-ran was unconscious, Dan Joo-hyuk had continued tracking Park Jung-hoon. It seemed he had crawled to where Kim Tae-jun was, and Dan Joo-hyuk would be able to confirm it soon.
He had also placed watchful eyes near Kim Tae-jun. Now that he had started properly guarding against the man he had only considered annoying until now, it would be difficult for him to escape Dan Joo-hyuk’s sight.
In this situation, it probably wouldn’t be too dangerous for Yoon Pa-ran to return to the orphanage and stay there.
This was indeed what he understood rationally. However, Dan Joo-hyuk was very displeased with this situation.
“……”
Perhaps that’s why. The existence of the orphanage started to bother him incessantly.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
