CH 80

After watching Han Yi-gyeol’s condition for a moment, Cheon Sa-yeon squinted his eyes and placed his hand over Han Yi-gyeol’s heart. He felt stiff energy. Had he been hit by a debuff ability?

“You’re a really demanding collaborator.”

Cheon Sa-yeon, who put down the sword he was holding, gently pushed Han Yi-gyeol’s shoulder. Cheon Sa-yeon, who climbed on top of Han Yi-gyeol, who was lying in an upright position, touched his cheek.

A gentle face could be seen under the dishevelled brown hair. Cheon Sa-yeon smiled as he wiped his face, which was stained with blood from his torn forehead, with his thumb.

He was bruised and broken here and there, but as long as Han Yi-gyeol slept in the clothes he bought him, it felt pretty good to look down.

He never imagined that a moment would come when he would feel this kind of emotion while looking at Han Yi-gyeol, not anyone else.

“When are you going to reveal your real name? Ung? Han Yi-gyeol.”

He tapped his white cheek as if he was playing around. Then the brow frowned slightly. Every time he reacted to what he touched, Cheon Sa-yeon bent his eyebrows with a satisfied expression.

Holding his face, he lowered his left hand and grabbed Han Yi-gyeol’s hand. As before, he began to slowly push his energy into his hands by interlocking his fingers.

“…ugh.”

As slimy energy began to enter his palm, Han Yi-gyeol’s body trembled. His straight forehead was wrinkled and the corners of his eyes glew brightly. Cheon Sa-yeon watched all of it closely.

“Uh, ah… ugh.”

The closed eyelids trembled and opened slightly. The soft caramel-coloured eyes he finally met turned towards Cheon Sa-yeon.

“Ha, Tae-heon-ssi…?”

“……”

As if his tongue was hardened due to the debuff effect, the name that came out with a slightly slurred pronunciation was not his. With his smiling face, Cheon Sa-yeon held Han Yi-gyeol’s hand more tightly and pushed his energy into him at once.

“Ah? Gasp, uh, ugh…! Ah…!”

Han Yi-gyeol’s back suddenly bent as he looked up at Cheon Sa-yeon with a blurred gaze. Although it was obvious that he was in pain, Cheon Sa-yeon did not stop as if he was grumpy and continued to inject his energy.

St, op… stop…! I, I’m tired…”

“Hold on.”

Han Yi-gyeol struggled as hard as he could to escape from under him. Pressing down on the body, Cheon Sa-yeon said in a voice of scolding.

“I’m helping you. You should take it quietly. Ung? It’s precious that others can’t get it even if they want to.”

“Ugh, ah, no… No more…! Huu!”

“Haha, look at this.”

The warm energy of Cheon Sa-yeon that entered through the palm of his hand completely enveloped Han Yi-gyeol. The energy that had been hardened by the debuff slowly loosened and began to move. Contrary to the owner who was overwhelming, the flowing energy expressed satisfaction. Cheon Sa-yeon smirked on the corner of his lips.

“You’re going to eat it like this, but you say you can’t do it with your mouth… It seems that lying has become a habit.”

“Uuugh…! Ah, ugh…”

Despite the absurd accusations, Han Yi-gyeol could not refute as usual and was only slurred in pain. As he stared at Han Yi-gyeol, who could not come to his senses, Cheon Sa-yeon confirmed that his energy had returned perfectly to normal.

“Gasp, gasp…”

When he stopped energizing, Han Yi-gyeol grabbed his face, trembling and exhaling harshly. The fact that the corners of his eyes were slightly wet, if he had pushed him harder, he would have cried and couldn’t stand it. He felt a little sad.

“Cheon Sa-yeon…”

Now he was called by his proper name. Cheon Sa-yeon answered, feeling that his twisted feeling somehow loosened.

“Ung.”

“You, fucking… bastard…”

Thanks to this, Han Yi-gyeol, who escaped from the debuff effect, spit out abusive language with clearer eyes and accurate pronunciation.

“Haa, I… I told you not to do it again…”

His energy returned to normal, but his physical condition was still bad. Cheon Sa-yeon glanced at his trembling bracelet to fill the exhaustion and opened his mouth.

“I don’t think I ever said yes.”

“Shut up, you wretched bastard…”

Han Yi-gyeol, who was staring at Cheon Sa-yeon with irritation, closed his eyes with a tired expression. His face was warm as he touched his hand. It was a fever that started from the wounds on his body. It was said that the energy was somehow managed by the bracelet, but the wound seemed to need treatment.

Cheon Sa-yeon lifted his body, holding the droopy Han Yi-gyeol in his arms. Supporting his hips and let his upper body lean on his shoulder. Han Yi-gyeol grumbled like a dog while holding his head as if he had a headache from the soaring heat.

Cheon Sa-yeon looked around to find a way out while holding him and found a man standing on the other side. It was Ha Tae-heon, looking at them with the SS-class coat in hand.

Since when had he been watching? He wondered, but it didn’t matter. Cheon Sa-yeon deliberately patted Han Yi-gyeol on the back and laughed as if to show off. Ha Tae-heon’s brow furrowed with strength and his dark eyes gleamed coldly.

Cheon Sa-yeon recognized the texture of his emotions. Regret.

Ha Tae-heon turned his back, holding the coat so tightly that tendons sprouted. Cheon Sa-yeon, who discovered that there was a staircase leading down to the underground in front of him on the way, walked behind him without smiling.

* * *

The sound of several people talking could be heard through the hazy mind. I felt a throbbing headache and slowly opened my eyes.

“Uh…”

“Sleep more.”

A soft voice came from right next to me. I barely could turn my head to confirm the owner of the voice.

“Why am I…”

Hugged by you. The back words came out almost like a whisper. Cheon Sa-yeon, who heard about it, answered with a face that looked somewhat happy.

“I did my best to remove the debuff effect, but you fainted. I have no choice but to hug you.”

“Where am I…”

“Underground. We also found the gate exit. Now we are taking out the attendees from the egg. There are only a few left now.”

Is that so? That’s a relief. I breathed a sigh of relief.

“Cough, cough! What is it?”

“…is this inside the gate?”

“You can pull it out without having to dig it deep enough to tear it apart. Yes, that much.”

“I found two more eggs here!”

“You still don’t know who did it?”

Inside the underground, there was a lot of noise from the conversations of the attendees. Everyone looked busy, but it was uncomfortable because it seemed like I was the only one being held comfortably.

“Let me down…”

“No.”

I’m going down, but what are you saying you can’t? I struggled to go down and gave strength to my body, but Cheon Sa-yeon’s arms around my hips and thighs didn’t even budge. Cheon Sa-yeon said in a single voice as if I was e a child who didn’t listen.

“Stay still.”

“No, it’s okay, so let go.”

“You have a big wound on your back. Your forehead was also torn. If you don’t want to faint again, listen.”

Somehow, I thought that my back was too hot. In the midst of dealing with a monster, I remembered the lightning bolt that had hit was right behind my back. Was I hurt then?

Unable to overcome Cheon Sa-yeon’s stubbornness, I had to be held by him by semi-forced until all the participants were finally rescued and escaped through the gate exit.

Thanks to Ha Tae-heon and Lee Joo-ha, who went out of the gate in advance and contacted the emergency centre and management headquarters, several support teams arrived quickly by helicopter.

The location of the gate was Gulupdo Island, one of the islands belonging to Incheon City. Although tourists came and went, it was said that no one had found the gate that was created a month ago because it was an island with very few people.

I looked at the gate floating at the bottom of the cliff, in a corner.

‘If it’s in that location, you won’t notice it.’

I, who was seriously injured among the attendees, met the healer as soon as I left the gate. The healer, who checked my condition, told me to go to the hospital first because there was a high risk of internal injuries and gave first aid with an A-grade hemostatic bandage. With my bare body wrapped in bandages and a white shirt draped over my shoulders, I stared blankly at the attendees who were busy cleaning up.

Among them, Ha Tae-heon and Hong Si-ah seemed to be the busiest ones. The two, who remained until the end and dealt with the monster, were called to various people to explain the situation, from officials at the management headquarters to the media who ran to hear the news.

I almost would have been dragged away, but everyone who. came, couldn’t stand the chilling smile of Cheon Sa-yeon standing next to me and ran away. I said to Cheon Sa-yeon, looking at the media officials who were moving away in a hurry.

“I don’t care about the interview.”

“You’re doing that?”

I was embarrassed by the firm answer to not even dreaming. While I was fiddling with the ringer on my wrist for no reason, an official from the management headquarters approached me in a hurry.

“Master Cheon Sa-yeon, I’m sorry, but could you please come over for a moment?”

At those words, Cheon Sa-yeon put on an openly annoyed expression on his face. Feeling sorry for the person in charge who was neatly ignored, I pushed Cheon Sa-yeon’s arm.

“Go. Let me rest by myself.”

“…I’ll be right back.”

You don’t have to come back. Following the guidance of the official, who was sweating profusely, the next guest came as if they had been waiting.

“Ahem. That… Talented Han Yi-gyeol?”

Those who approached with coughing moved away.

After that, Kim Na-yul was also seen. What’s going on with these two?

“How is your body?”

It was quite awkward in this situation of Lee Joo-ha speaking to me first, so I couldn’t keep my eyes on one place. I tilted my head slightly and answered.

“I’m fine. Is everything okay with you two?”

“Yes. We’re just…”

Lee Joo-ha, who answered with hesitation, took a deep breath and opened her mouth with a determined expression.

“I heard from Tae-heon. He said that when he was in danger, you came out and dealt with the monster.”

Ah, I was wondering what you were trying to say. I smiled and shook my head.

“No… Rather, thanks to Ha Tae-heon-ssi, I was able to live.”

Kim Na-yul, who was standing next to me at my words, took a step closer, curled the corners of her eyes and smiled.

“Nevertheless. You blocked the S+-grade monster by yourself. And you got hurt.”

“Ah, this is…”

I reflexively covered the large gauze that was attached to my forehead. It wasn’t hurt at all to put them together like this. Cheon Sa-yeon kept nagging at the healer who treated me.

“Thank you for saving me. Master also asked me to greet you. She wanted to come in person, but things are a little…”

“I understand.”

“I hope we have a chance to clear the gate together later.”

Kim Na-yul, who gave thanks one last time, shook hands with me and went to Hong Si-ah’s side. During the conversation, Lee Joo-ha, who was standing without interrupting, looked with straight eyes.

“I feel the same way as Deputy Master Kim Na-yul. It must have taken a lot of courage to deal with an S+-grade monster alone, thank you so much.”

I smiled shyly, rubbing the nape of my neck for nothing with serious eyes. It seemed that my image had changed a bit for Lee Joo-ha this time. Did I go from being a shameless kidnapper to a person with good cooperation skills?