Chapter 54
After leaving the village, Jang Jae-gyeong led us, saying he had some things hidden nearby. Crunch, crunch. Leaves and branches were crushed beneath our feet. The forest at night was dark and nothing was visible, requiring intense concentration just to take each step. When I looked down at the monster from the branch with Kim Doyun, it hadn’t been this bad. Here, the leaves were so abundant that shadows completely engulfed everything. Fragments of moonlight seemed to filter through in places, but the light was extremely faint. When the wind blew, the dim light would disappear with the swaying leaves, but thanks to it, I could at least move my feet.
“Are you okay?”
“Uh, um… Yes.”
I mumbled in response to Kim Doyun’s question. The image of the old woman I’d last seen was circling in my mind, and I was following behind the two men without really paying attention. I had imagined leaving the village, but I never expected it would be like this. It was sudden and absurd.
A murderer, they said.
I looked down at my hands, barely visible in the dark forest. I could still feel the sensation of the hunting rifle that had been taken from me. Even though I hadn’t done anything wrong and hadn’t killed anyone, strangely, my hands wouldn’t stop trembling. I kept massaging my shaking hands as I diligently continued walking.
“Did you forget something?”
“Excuse me?”
“Then why are you so out of it?”
Jang Jae-gyeong spoke to me as I was completely lost in thought.
“I… in the village, a murder… that… that pervert was killed…”
I needed to explain, but the words kept getting stuck. My throat felt strangely tight, and I pulled at my clothes. Yet the discomfort didn’t disappear, and instead began to build up around my chest like a lump.
“Don’t worry about it too much.”
Jang Jae-gyeong roughly shook his hair.
“Are you concerned because they called us murderers? That pig, from the way he talked, seemed destined to get stabbed in the back someday. We didn’t kill him, we’re just being framed, so don’t think about it too deeply.”
I agreed with what Jang Jae-gyeong was saying. But my heart didn’t calm down as easily as my thoughts. Wasn’t he the guy who was trying to do terrible things to the children? He deserved to die. The villagers all knew something was wrong anyway. The situation in the village swirled rapidly through my mind. Son Byung-chul who gave me the hunting rifle, the three people living as if imprisoned, the pervert who tried to do something to the women, the woman who seemed to be the children’s mother, and the child’s words about pretending not to know their mom and dad…
“Stay close, it’s dangerous.”
“…Yes.”
I struggled to grasp the hand Kim Doyun extended. His hand was warm, large, and firm. It gave me a sense of support and trust. When I looked up at Kim Doyun, he smiled with his eyes. I wanted to smile back, but I couldn’t.
I felt like I wouldn’t be as happy to meet people as before. I’d be suspicious and cautious, wondering if they were trying to use me. Nevertheless, I didn’t think this situation was all bad. The child who had been imprisoned in the house might be safer now, right? With that thought, I stepped deeper into the dark forest.
* * *
Jang Jae-gyeong said the forest at night was dangerous and suggested we climb a tall tree. I remembered being carried like luggage by Kim Doyun and frowned deeply. That made Kim Doyun laugh. He must have been watching my face. I was surprised that he could see it in the dark. Or maybe my hands were trembling again?
I waved my arms and walked tentatively when I stepped on a tree root and lost my balance.
“Careful.”
But thanks to Kim Doyun quickly catching me, I didn’t end up rolling on the ground. I couldn’t see his face clearly in the darkness, so I patted his chest a couple of times to thank him. The feeling under my palm was firm, which made me quickly pull my hand away.
While Kim Doyun seemed unbothered, I alone felt embarrassed and awkward whenever we touched. We resumed walking after I had nearly fallen. Jang Jae-gyeong, who was walking ahead, slowed his pace a bit. It seemed he was being considerate of me.
I looked at Jang Jae-gyeong, who appeared like a ghost in the darkness, and lightly placed my hand on his back.
“What?”
“…Nothing.”
I did it because I was curious, feeling awkward every time I touched Kim Doyun, but Jang Jae-gyeong’s back was also extremely firm. When I touched him, the muscles moving as he turned… Ugh, what’s wrong with me? I felt my ears burning with embarrassment from touching Jang Jae-gyeong, though not as much as with Kim Doyun. It’s because there are no people around, that’s all. I rubbed my flushed face with the back of my hand while muttering to myself.
“Ah!”
I shouldn’t have been distracted, but I almost fell again because I was fooling around. I nearly tumbled after my foot caught on a large branch, but once again, Kim Doyun quickly caught me. Unable to even see the path ahead properly, my embarrassment doubled.
“…Thank you.”
“It’s nothing.”
Kim Doyun told me to be careful not to get hurt, then held my waist tightly before letting go. Because of this, I ended up with my stomach pressed against his, and something thick briefly brushed against my thigh. At first, I thought, what’s that? But then I realized what it was—something no man would fail to recognize—and my mouth fell open.
What the… What is that? Before I knew it, I quickly pulled up my gaze that was about to drift downward. Meanwhile, Kim Doyun, who had rubbed against me, acted as if he didn’t notice anything and just asked me if something was wrong as I stood there frozen. I hastily shook my head and turned my body away. Wow, no, hey. Without realizing it, I tried to measure the size with both hands. No way, how is this…? Is he human?
“What is it?”
While I was measuring the air with my hands, Jang Jae-gyeong came back, probably wondering why we weren’t keeping up. As he asked if I was hurt, I unconsciously looked him up and down. Jang Jae-gyeong had a similar build to Kim Doyun. Kim Doyun seemed slightly taller, but visually, there wasn’t much difference in their physiques.
So would their sizes be similar too…? The moment I thought that, my gaze almost dropped down to Jang Jae-gyeong’s lower body. I snapped back to reality and hit my head. No, I must be crazy. This is sexual harassment. Why am I trying to look at someone else’s private parts!
“What’s wrong? Are you in pain?”
“Uh, um. No, no.”
“Then why are you acting like this? Jumping like a cockroach that’s been poisoned.”
“…Why use that comparison?”
My scattered mind returned to normal at Jang Jae-gyeong’s words. Of all the comparisons, a poisoned cockroach… But since my eyes had indeed done something improper, I couldn’t argue against being called a cockroach. It was dark, so I couldn’t see well, and I quickly turned my eyes away, but my gaze had definitely gone there.
Anyway… Kim Doyun’s thing was so shocking that my mind kept spinning for a while. How does he walk around with something like that attached to him…?
“Seongho.”
“Yeh? Ahem, yes?”
My voice cracked when Kim Doyun suddenly spoke to me. When I turned my head, he was standing very close to me. Kim Doyun’s eyes widened slightly at my squeaky voice, then he smiled gently.
“Shall I support you?”
“Support me?”
What support? I’m not injured… I shook my arms and legs to indicate I wasn’t hurt. Kim Doyun watched my actions and laughed again.
“You can’t see well ahead, right? I have good night vision, so if I support you, you probably won’t fall.”
“Ah, no. I’m fine! Support is a bit…”
I vigorously rubbed my head, embarrassed. He must have thought I was hesitant because I couldn’t see. That’s not it… But I couldn’t explain the reason either, and after waving my hands saying I was fine, Kim Doyun’s steady gaze made my conscience prick, so I reluctantly extended one hand. Kim Doyun took my hand and smiled with his eyes. Him smiling next to me like this repeatedly was making things worse for me…
Jang Jae-gyeong stared at us from the front and grumbled. It didn’t seem like he was annoyed that we were dawdling, but rather that he just didn’t like Kim Doyun. With a face full of irritation, he glared at us, then strode over and grabbed my remaining hand.
“…?”
“I know the way to where I’ve hidden the stuff, right? You should hold my hand instead of that guy’s.”
Well, that’s true. Bewildered, I walked along holding Jang Jae-gyeong’s hand as he led me. Kim Doyun didn’t say anything, but I could tell the atmosphere was bad. The grip on my hand tightened, making my captured hand hurt slightly.
When I gently kneaded the tightly held hand in response, his grip loosened. Having both hands held made my body uncomfortable, but it actually helped walking through the dark night. Kim Doyun and Jang Jae-gyeong stepped forward without hesitation as if walking in broad daylight, and whenever I was about to trip on a tree root, they would lift me up from the front and back. Being lifted up and down like a child wasn’t very dignified, but… At least it was faster than walking alone.
“Strange.”
He said the hiding place was quite far away, and we had been walking for a while. Night had fallen deeply, and since monsters might appear, we had agreed to climb a high tree if we found one to catch some sleep before moving on. But the trees here had only dense leaves, with none tall enough to be safe from the monsters. So I was mentally preparing to face the monsters…
“I wonder if something happened…”
Apparently hearing my mumbling, Kim Doyun came closer. The shoulder touching mine was warm. I shook my head and looked at Jang Jae-gyeong’s back ahead of us. Everything was dark, and Jang Jae-gyeong’s back was the most visible thing, so my gaze was fixed there. I was also a bit too embarrassed to look at Kim Doyun’s face after what had happened earlier… Honestly, the feeling of that touch kept coming to mind, and I couldn’t help it.
“Ahem, it’s just… I thought we’d immediately encounter them when entering the forest, but we haven’t seen any, which is strange.”
“Monsters?”
“Yes. We met them every time, both in the village and up in the tree with you, Doyun. Isn’t it strange that we haven’t seen a single one?”
Thinking about it, maybe we were just unlucky to encounter them frequently, and the probability of meeting monsters could actually be very low… As I thought that far, I also became curious about how many monsters there were. They even ate each other when searching for food, so there might be fewer than I thought. While thinking about the monsters in various ways, I noticed that there was no sound from beside me, so I stole a glance at Kim Doyun.
Kim Doyun’s lips were slightly twisted as he stared straight ahead. The object of his gaze was, of course, Jang Jae-gyeong. What could it be? What happened between these two? I’d asked, but they said they couldn’t tell me, which only made me more frustrated.
“We’re here.”
After wandering through the forest for a long time, turning here and there without finding a tree to climb, Jang Jae-gyeong finally said something encouraging. In the place Jang Jae-gyeong pointed to, there stood a strangely backward-leaning tree. Jang Jae-gyeong released my hand and went to the slanted part of the tree, beginning to dig something out. I moved toward Jang Jae-gyeong to help with the digging. However, Kim Doyun didn’t let go of my hand, so I couldn’t approach.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
