Chapter 52
But this time, Kim Doyun’s expression turned grim. Why the sudden change in atmosphere? I was confused, but thinking about it, this wasn’t unexpected. After all, this was their first meeting since the incident between the two of them. I cautiously shifted my gaze between them. I was worried another fight might break out.
Contrary to my concerns, they didn’t argue any further. Jang Jae-gyeong tapped his knife a couple of times and looked at me, and Kim Doyun did the same. It seemed they had both decided to treat me like I was invisible again. This put me in an awkward position, having to deal with both their stares.
“Um, should we… head home first?”
No matter how hard I tried to figure out how to handle this, I couldn’t come up with anything better, so I led them toward the house. I had things to discuss, and with the weather turning cloudy, lingering around outside didn’t seem like a good idea. According to the older woman, once you chase away a monster, it won’t come near for a few days, so we should be safe for a while. I was still a bit anxious, but there wasn’t much else we could do.
I found myself stuck between the two of them, frantically trying to maintain conversations on both sides. It would have been nice if all three of us could just talk together. But since that was out of the question, I had to carry the conversation alone. When I spoke to Jang Jae-gyeong, he would answer; when I spoke to Kim Doyun, he would respond… They never answered the same question together. This wasn’t even a battle of wits anymore, it was just…
We managed to reach the house safely, pushing through the suspicious stares of the villagers. I thought Jang Jae-gyeong might leave again, but today he didn’t storm out. Instead, he skillfully took out firewood and started a fire as if he were in his own home. Kim Doyun seemed like he was about to do it himself, judging by how his posture suddenly froze, but he quickly acted as if nothing had happened and stuck close to me, chatting about various things.
The conversation wasn’t anything special. Kim Doyun asked if I was hungry and said he could bring me some fruit if I wanted. To be honest, I was starving. But I didn’t want to part with him again, so I had to shake my head. Besides, he had just chased after a monster; making him go out again would be unconscionable.
After Jang Jae-gyeong lit the fire, the previously chilly air in the house became warm. As the heat touched my cold body, goosebumps rose on my skin. I rubbed my arms, trying to let the warmth from the bonfire spread throughout my body.
After a while, my body warmed up, and my mind began to feel drowsy. My eyes started to close without me realizing it. Kim Doyun spoke to me when he noticed.
“You should get some sleep.”
“No, I’m fine.”
I shook my head at his suggestion. Though I did want to sleep, I couldn’t. I had things I wanted to discuss. After hesitating for a long time, not knowing how to bring it up, I tapped the floor.
“I have something to say.”
Jang Jae-gyeong and Kim Doyun’s gazes turned to me. They just stared at me silently, as if telling me to speak. I looked down at the floor for a moment. Like the cracked and dirty floor, my thoughts were tangled in all directions. The rancid, foul voice also came to mind.
“There are… children in the village.”
“Children?”
Since Jang Jae-gyeong already knew about this, my explanation was directed at Kim Doyun. He seemed a bit surprised at the mention of children. His eyes widened slightly, and for the first time, he properly looked at Jang Jae-gyeong. Regardless of whether Kim Doyun was looking at him or not, Jang Jae-gyeong pulled out his knife and twirled it around. His indifferent face looked somewhat bored.
“In one of the houses in the center of the village. One of them seemed about my age. The other two are girls, but that…”
Not knowing how to explain, I trailed off for a moment. It felt disgusting and wrong to repeat exactly what that man had said about the children. That perverted pig… I felt nauseated again. After much deliberation, I brought up the topic of “that person” to Kim Doyun.
“That person you mentioned is quite different from what I expected.”
“Yes.”
“But from what I heard today, it seems like that person intends to do terrible things to the children. I…”
The more I tried to speak, the more my words got stuck. Thinking about it, it was rather embarrassing. I couldn’t save the children on my own, so I had to ask these two for help. It felt presumptuous, but the image of the little girl kept coming back to me.
I swallowed hard and closed my eyes. Judging by the atmosphere, both of them would likely agree to my request. Especially Kim Doyun—he would definitely help. I suddenly felt guilty. He had already gone through so much, and here I was adding another burden. Moreover, from what I’d seen of “that person’s” behavior, he wouldn’t let go easily.
There was a lot to consider. What if my actions put the children in danger? What then? Worries grew rapidly, darkening my vision.
“Hmm, so you want to help them, right?”
Jang Jae-gyeong suddenly spoke while I was anxiously rubbing my hands. I looked at him with wide eyes. Still twirling his knife with an indifferent expression, he clicked his tongue and shook his head.
“How do you plan to help?”
“…I was going to think about that now. If it seems too difficult for them to live here, maybe we could take the children and escape…”
I opened my mouth hesitantly. Honestly, the best solution I could think of was to leave this village together. Even though they seemed to have parents, if those parents were also oppressed within the village… But Jang Jae-gyeong shook his head.
“Well. Would those children want to come with us? Even if we help, we should hear what they have to say first. We can’t force them to do something they don’t want.”
“That’s true…”
“And there’s another problem. Even if we take them and run, I’m not sure they’d be safe.”
Jang Jae-gyeong sighed deeply and stabbed his knife into the floor.
“I told you, didn’t I? Not to let your guard down.”
I think we had such a conversation before going up to the second floor house. Jang Jae-gyeong slowly explained why he had said that.
“I can handle one of them to some extent. No, honestly, even one can be a challenge sometimes. I’d like to say one is no problem, but those things vary greatly. Plus, the more people we have, the more of them will come after us.”
Jang Jae-gyeong pulled out the knife he had stabbed and used its tip to draw on the floor. After roughly sketching houses and people, he marked an X over the house.
“If we had a house, it might be different, but we’d have to move through the forest, right? We don’t know where they might appear from, so protecting several people would be quite difficult. Even if we carry fire while moving, if we encounter a clever one…”
“…It would be dangerous.”
“From their perspective, the village with houses, guns, and fires lit in various places would be safer. Plus, there’s medicine here.”
I crossed my arms and pondered. Jang Jae-gyeong was right. If we took them with us, I’d want to guarantee their safety somehow, but the situation wouldn’t allow it. Taking them would be problematic, leaving them would also be problematic. As I was grabbing my head in worry, Kim Doyun spoke up.
“For now… let’s not rush to a decision and observe the state of the village before deciding. There might be other options besides escaping.”
“Do you think… there could be?”
“You never know about human affairs. And there must be at least some people in the village who want to protect the children.”
I nodded at Kim Doyun’s words. As he said, it wouldn’t do any good to recklessly try to save the children without understanding the situation. It could create bad outcomes for both the children and us. I had been too hasty. I took a deep breath and mentioned to the two of them about the people I suspected were the children’s parents.
Then suddenly, I recalled what the child had said—that one should pretend not to know when weaknesses are discovered. Perhaps they were hiding their relationships, unable to openly stand up even though they knew the situation? After I explained the circumstances, Kim Doyun offered to go with me. I had no reason to refuse. It was also more comfortable for me to be with Kim Doyun.
I glanced at Kim Doyun’s face. Since his face was appealing to anyone, it would probably be good for persuasion too. I thought about the person suspected to be the parent. The woman was likely the mother, so we definitely needed to talk with her. We could get information about the children’s father from her, and Son Byung-chul… My thoughts became complicated. There were many suspicions but no evidence, so I couldn’t jump to conclusions. I hesitated for a moment but then shook my head to clear it. It seemed best to meet the woman first and have a conversation.
Jang Jae-gyeong sighed and said he would meet “that person” tomorrow to discuss. He told us not to expect much since he was a greedy pig, but I still felt relieved. We hadn’t come up with any good methods or gained much, but thanks to the two of them, my tension eased and my eyes started to close again.
Seeing that I couldn’t fight off sleep, they led me to the bed, saying I should rest. It could barely be called a bed—just a place filled with branches and leaves—but it was still better than the bare floor. Even during this, they continued to treat each other like they were invisible, which made me smile a little.
“What about you two?”
“I’m not sleepy yet. I can sleep on the floor.”
“I’m fine.”
“Come on, you’ll catch a cold that way. There aren’t even any blankets. Let’s sleep together.”
When I patted the bed, both of their faces scrunched up a bit. They seemed to dislike the idea of sleeping next to each other. With no choice, I lay down in the middle and patted both sides. If we had more blankets, I would have made another bed, but that wasn’t possible, which was unfortunate.
“Don’t lie on the floor.”
A yawn sneaked out in the middle of my sentence. Kim Doyun smiled slightly and pulled the blanket up to my chin. Although it was a bit damp, it was incomparably more comfortable than being up in a tree. As sleep gradually crept in, I spoke to the two who were still eyeing each other warily.
“Don’t fight. If I wake up and find out you’ve been fighting… I really won’t let it slide.”
Someone laughed in response. Hearing the laughter, I warned them that I wasn’t joking. I even waved my fists around, but somehow, the more I moved, the sleepier I became.
“We won’t fight. Rest well.”
Kim Doyun’s voice seeped into my ears like a lullaby. I felt at ease, believing that if it was Kim Doyun, he would keep his word. The darkness hiding beneath my eyelids crept up from the edges. Though I tried to say a few more words, I couldn’t resist and fell asleep.
* * *
[Doyun?]
When I woke up, no one was around. Outside was pitch black, and inside the room, only a small bonfire remained, its flames gently swaying. I was startled and tried to get up hurriedly, but my body wouldn’t move. What’s going on? No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t move a finger. The only thing I could barely move was my eyes. And on top of that, my head had been ringing painfully for a while.
What on earth is happening? As I was anxiously rolling my eyes around, a shadow suddenly rose from below.
No. That’s not a shadow.
My mouth, which I couldn’t move, clattered its teeth on its own. A round, hairless head. Large eyes and a wide, split mouth. Beneath it, large gleaming teeth. Drool dripped from teeth larger than my fingers. How did the monster get in here? I wanted to run away, but my body remained frozen on the bed.
Meanwhile, the monster lowered its body and slowly extended its arm over me. Its claw-like fingers touched mine. The monster paused. Although it was still below me, its arm was long enough to reach my hand without issue. The monster tapped my fingers as if checking that it had made contact, then suddenly raised its fingernails and began to scratch.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
