CH 265

Waiting for the burning fire to subside to some extent, we crossed the burnt bodies and headed to Doctor.

Doctor, who had his shoulder, stomach, and side pierced by the bone tentacles attached to Kang Seung-geon’s back, seemed to stop breathing right after he pressed the explosion button.

The sight of Doctor who died without being able to remove the bones stuck in his body with his eyes wide open was tragic. He was killed by the fusion he experimented with and died. It might be a fitting ending for him.

“It came out of his arms.”

Woo Seo-hyuk, who transformed back and put on his clothes, pulled something out of Doctor’s pocket. It was a marble item I had seen before.

“It’s broken.”

“It looks like it was damaged by Kang Seung-geon’s attack.”

So, unlike last time, he couldn’t run away. Even if he ran away with this body, he wouldn’t be able to live.

“Han Yi-gyeol-ssi, look over there!”

Edward, who was standing next to me, pulled my sleeve and pointed somewhere. As I turned my gaze in the direction Edward was pointing, the pitch-black darkness gradually disappeared, revealing a large iron gate.

“Don’t tell me those people…”

There were likely dozens of people lying there, fainting. It seemed that these people were also cut off when all of the mental control of the cult was cut off earlier.

Finding the oldest among them, I immediately checked his face.

“This is Producer Li Wei.”

“Really? This person?”

“Yes. So it’s possible that everyone else is also a producer. Min Ah-rin-ssi, please check their conditions.”

Min Ah-rin approached the cage at my request and carefully examined Li Wei and others.

“At first glance, he’s breathing properly and there are no injuries. We have to look closer to know the details.”

“That’s a relief. But the iron cage… ugh!”

I felt a sharp pain in my heart as I tried to use my energy to open the cage with the wind. My legs lost strength and my vision was blurry in an instant.

“Han Yi-gyeol!”

Kim Woo-jin quickly grabbed my staggering body.

A dizzying and strange sensation passed through my body dozens of times. As I was hugged by Kim Woo-jin and trembling, I realized that the cold energy that had filled my heart was disappearing.

“Ugh, ah…”

The scars on the hand that held Kim Woo-jin’s collar strongly became lighter and smaller. I returned with clean Han Yi-gyeol’s hands without any scars, and at the same time, Kwon Se-hyun’s energy disappeared.

“Yi-gyeol-ssi, are you okay?”

“…you’re back with Han Yi-gyeol’s body.”

“Uh…”

In that moment, a cold sweat broke out and the body itself became hot. Even though I returned to be Han Yi-gyeol again, the lost strength didn’t come back, so I couldn’t stand alone.

Cheon Sa-yeon, who was staring at me with a strange expression, gave the order.

“Kim Woo-jin, keep supporting Han Yi-gyeol. Eddy, can you find a way out of here?”

“The space itself is already collapsing, so it will be connected to the outside soon.”

“Good. We can get the trapped producers out of here. Team Leader Park Geon-ho, move.”

“You give orders to the wounded. That’s too much, really.”

While grumbling, Park Geon-ho opened the iron cage easily with one hand.

Kim Woo-jin, who wrapped my arms around his neck, lifted me up and hugged me.

“Han Yi-gyeol, just relax. I will keep holding you.”

I don’t like this posture. Besides, this kid Kim Woo-jin… seemed kinda excited. I was groaning from the rising fever and glanced at Kim Woo-jin.

“Umm, I think you’ve been through a lot and getting a little feverish.”

“Is he getting sick again?”

“I don’t think it’s that bad, but… we should take Yi-gyeol-ssi to the hospital first.”

As I listened to Kim Woo-jin and Min Ah-rin having a frantic conversation, I couldn’t hold it any longer and rested my head on Kim Woo-jin’s shoulder.

I was definitely in a tired condition, but it was strangely comfortable even being hugged and the tension was relieved a bit.

“Agh, look over there! Space is disappearing!”

“It’s a familiar scene. Is it inside the American Red Market?”

The surrounding area, which had been dark, was filled with white light and the American Red Market across the street began to appear.

It was the empty place where we found the last traces of Producer Li Wei.

“Oh my God, Eddy!”

As we exited the space, Chloe and Jake, who were waiting in the open space, ran and hugged Edward. After that, the Athena Guild employees and the medical team, who were waiting, followed.

“All those who were missing are back!”

“There’s an injured person.”

“Medical team, please come over here and check their condition.”

I slowly closed my eyes as I watched Chloe was in tears while holding Edward. The commotion that filled the surroundings was very pleasant.

I had a feeling that I was coming back late. After a terrible nightmare, we woke up from a dream.

Amidst the blurred consciousness, Kwon Se-hyun’s smiling face passed by. Somehow I was a little saddened.

* * *

Kwon Se-hyun, who was reading a book while lying on the sofa in the office, came into view. The warm midday sun shone through the window and the chirping of birds faintly was heard.

Feeling at ease, I approached Kwon Se-hyun and sat down on the sofa across from him. Seeing that the cover of the book he was reading at was all black, I asked quietly.

“Is it fun?”

“Of course, I read it because it’s fun.”

“You’ve read so many times, but it’s still fun?”

Kwon Se-hyun, who looked away from the book at the continuing question, smiled.

“You know everything, why are you asking?”

“How many books?”

“Two volumes.”

Kwon Se-hyun closed the book and got up. Sitting in a position similar to mine, he opened his mouth first this time.

“Come to think of it, there was something I wanted to say.”

“What.”

“About Cheon Sa-yeon.”

I frowned at the unexpected name. Kwon Se-hyun, noticing that my heart became a little uncomfortable, put the book on the table with his eyebrows slightly curved as if to say ‘see’.

“He was very different from the personality I had imagined.”

“Aa… indeed. I guess so.”

I nodded my head as I remembered the appearance of Cheon Sa-yeon in Abyss one after another.

Well, it wasn’t a big deal. After coughing for nothing, I leaned back on the sofa and answered.

“He has been through a lot of trouble. It’s not showed in the book.”

“You seem to care about him quite a bit.”

“It’s a partnership. For now.”

Kwon Se-hyun, who was listening to me with a strange smile, gently swept the cover of the book with his scar-filled hand.

“Ha Tae-heon… he was just what I expected.”

“Right?”

“Is it because he is the main character? He has a good voice. His face is nice too.”

“I was also surprised when I first heard it. I wondered what kind of person could have such a good voice.”

“I think so. Well, it doesn’t have to be the same.”

“It’s not strange. Anyone would think it would be good to hear Ha Tae-heon-ssi’s voice.”

“That’s… true, too. Kim Woo-jin was surprisingly pretty cute. Min Ah-rin was much nicer than what I read in the novel.”

“Kim Woo-jin is a bit shy, but the kid does a lot of things and has a good personality. Min Ah-rin-ssi is surprisingly determined. I get scolded often and she is quite scary.”

“If you’ve done something bad, you should be scolded. Aren’t you running around too much and making a lot of trouble?”

“It’s true that I caused trouble, but… I don’t want to hear that from you…”

Kwon Se-hyun lightly laughed as I murmured.

“Just give up. We used to hear nagging from Yeon Seon-woo and Go Dong-ju before.”

“At that time, I thought the two were being sensitive. But it seems like our problem is the same.”

“I knew it when I met you too. We’d made a lot of trouble for the two of them.”

When I put their names on my lips, my tongue twitched.

“Yeah, really… I didn’t know that it’s not good… to carry everything alone.”

“……”

“If I had made a different choice then… our future will be different.”

I firmly believed that if I endured, everyone would be happy.

It was just funny now to see myself in the past when I was proud that I would be able to do something by myself, even after all the people around me were trying to help. As a result, many relationships that couldn’t be defended had stabbed my heart.

“It’s okay.”

Kwon Se-hyun said in a calm voice.

“Because I already know.”

“……”

“You have to keep living.”

At the last moment, I remembered Yeon Seon-woo’s hard smile when he looked at me. The hand that held my arm was strong.

“I will live. I have to keep my promise.”

“There are a lot of people around us.”

“I don’t deserve them.”

“You still like them, don’t you?”

I raised my bowed head and met Kwon Se-hyun, who was sitting in front of me.

“If you like them, you should cherish them.”

“…they’re precious. More than anything.”

“I hope you can protect them this time.”

The sunlight shining through the window gradually grew stronger.

Like a miracle, I instinctively recognized that the given time was coming to an end. A white light fell on Kwon Se-hyun’s side face.

“Everything will be fine.”

“Kwon Se-hyun.”

“Goodbye, Han Yi-gyeol.”

My eyes were filled with light. The image of Kwon Se-hyun disappearing like it was broken in the white light was painfully briliant.

Consciousness quickly became clear. When I opened my eyes through the white light, I saw a room that looked like a hospital room. Tears streamed down my face as I took a deep breath and struggled to get up.

“Ah…”

As I staggered out of bed, I found my cell phone on the bedside table. Did the person who took me to the hospital take care of it for me? When I lifted the phone with trembling hands, the screen turned on, showing the date and time.

“……”

Seeing it, a dejected smile came out of my mouth. The clearly engraved numbers seemed to make fun of me.

September 2nd. It had been two weeks since we entered the space and… it was Kwon Se-hyun’s birthday.

I couldn’t stand it any longer and collapsed while holding my cell phone. Tears fell on the screen that was written on September 2nd.