CH 46

23. Injury (2)

“Ah.”

Yoon Seung-Jae suddenly stretched his arm toward Ye-Hyeon when he stammered because he didn’t know how to ask.

Then, Ye-Hyeon’s body, which was so heavy that he couldn’t move, suddenly became light.

“Oh?” Ye-Hyeon opened his eyes wide in surprise.

Yoon Seung-Jae’s hand had several layers of thick blankets.

“Ssi…” Ye-Hyeon, aware of the situation at once, swallowed the curse to pop out.

‘How many blankets have you covered?’ Ye-Hyeon thought.

It was not a regular blanket but a hunter-only blanket made of Lake Cow’s leather that was tough enough to allow someone to sleep on a thorny road.

Ye-Hyeon hurriedly checked his body.

Ye-Hyeon was shaking, but his arms and legs moved well.

As the tension eased, the body, which had no energy, lost its strength.

“Ha.”

“Why? Are you sick?” Yoon Seung-Jae asked.

Just now, Ye-Hyeon couldn’t see well because of the shadow on his face, but now Ye-Hyeon sees that his eyes are swollen because he cried a lot when he fainted.

“Where is Yoon Seung-Jae, and why is there a carp?”

“Hyung, is this the time to joke now?” Yoon Seung-Jae shouted.

Ye-Hyeon, who tried to make fun of Yoon Seung-Jae again with a smile, lost his words.

Tears flowed down around Yoon Seung-Jae’s eyes, staring at Ye-Hyeon with wide-open eyes.

“Hey, hey…” Ye-Hyeon jumped up and sat down in embarrassment.

Ye-Hyeon stuttered without knowing what to do and then stretched out his arm to cover Yoon Seung-Jae’s cheek.

Yoon Seung-Jae, who knew that Ye-Hyeon’s fingers were shaking intermittently, cried even more.

“Hyung, make sure…”

Yoon Seung-Jae grabbed the back of Ye-Hyeon’s hand and sniffed, rubbing his cheek in the palm of Ye-Hyeon.

He seemed to try to hold back the sound, but sometimes there was a funny sound if it didn’t work.

It was hard because Yoon Seung-Jae was crying, not just anyone else.

“Don’t cry. Why are you crying?” Ye-Hyeon, who is not good at comforting others, bit his tongue and uttered a harsh sentence awkwardly.

To be honest, Ye-Hyeon didn’t understand why Yoon Seung-Jae was crying.

‘Is he crying because he can’t beat the monster?’ Ye-Hyeon thought.

Seung-Jae missed the monster twice today, so his pride could have cracked.

It must have been even more upsetting because it was right after hearing a warning from Baek Hae-Won.

“I, because I missed it…”

“Of course, that’s right.” Ye-Hyeon tried to smirk because Yoon Seung-Jae, like a child, was cute, but the words that followed froze.

” …Hyung, because of me, I said I would protect you, but I was next to you, but….”

Yoon Seung-Jae desperately held Ye-Hyeon’s hand as if his life depended on it but simultaneously cried sadly.

Like a person who confesses, he hurriedly poured out his young feelings with his knees trembling in front of Ye-Hyeon.

Ye-Hyeon stared blankly at Yoon Seung-Jae for a long time.

At first, it was simply absurd, but soon Ye-Hyeon felt proud, and then he was grateful and a little angry.

Ye-Hyeon’s stomach throbbed every time his heartbeat.

Ye-Hyeon pressed the solar plexus with his left hand, which was drooping.

Yoon Seung-Jae’s sincere worries seemed to be conveyed on his hands with painful regrets.

Yoon Seung-Jae, who crouched his shoulders and shook his head, was affectionate and lovely as a pure child who cried for Ye-Hyeon.

This was the second time Ye-Hyeon had been affected because of other people’s emotions.

Ye-Hyeon rolled his eyes without knowing what to do.

There was no reason to cry, but Ye-Hyeon felt strange like he was going to cry.

Ye-Hyeon opened his lips and repeatedly closed them tightly several times.

“Huh…” Yoon Seung-Jae’s breath became rough with continuous crying.

‘Why are you crying so hard because of me?’ Ye-Hyeon thought.

‘Yoon Seung-Jae, you fool, I wanted to let you know that you don’t have to do that. I want you to know I’m not great enough to cherish.’ Ye-Hyeon

Yoon Seung-Jae’s straight affection, which Ye-Hyeon intentionally tried to turn a blind eye to, was heavy.

Ye-Hyeon clenched his teeth.

Ye-Hyeon wasn’t originally a friendly person.

Like his sister and Yoon Seung-Jae, he was a person who did not know how to have great affection for others or how to share it.

It was a daily routine for Ye-Hyeon to regret belatedly every time.

Maybe that’s why Ye-Hyeon wanted to give it back to Yoon Seung-Jae, who revealed it without any pretense.

‘I can’t let him keep crying like this…!’ Ye-Hyeon thought.

Ye-Hyeon took a big breath and rubbed Yoon Seung-Jae’s cheek with his thumb. His palms were burning with hot tears.

“No,” was an unbelievably sweet voice that Ye-Hyeon couldn’t believe came from him.

Ye-Hyeon’s ears were slightly red.

Yoon Seung-Jae stopped moving like a person who committed a great crime.

“No, Yoon Seung-Jae.”

Yoon Seung-Jae shook as if he was scared to fall and grabbed Ye-Hyeon’s wrist.

Instead of releasing his hand, Ye-Hyeon gently wrapped Yoon Seung-Jae’s chin and lifted it.

A face ruined by tears overflowing under the blurry starlight was revealed.

Ye-Hyeon felt sorry for the eyes that were crying all the time.

“It’s not your fault.”

This time, Ye-Hyeon declared firmly with a smileless face.

Whether he would be a future S-class ranker or a genius with S-class Ability, Yoon Seung-Jae was a child with less than half a year of experience as a hunter.

It was only natural to make mistakes and fail.

“It was a simple accident.”

“But… I said I’d protect you.”

It seemed that Ye-Hyeon could hear what Yoon Seung-Jae couldn’t say.

Ye-Hyeon lowered his head and made eye contact with Yoon Seung-Jae, who was only looking at the floor.

“What are you talking about? You protected me.”

Even at the moment when Ye-Hyeon struggled in pain, Ye-Hyeon saw it.

Yoon Seung-Jae was limping because he was hurt but was looking at Ye-Hyeon desperately.

“I didn’t do anything, *sobs* Like so far.”

Ye-Hyeon smiled brightly with sincerity.

“Hyung, Hyung…”

Yoon Seung-Jae cried like a child and hugged Ye-Hyeon’s neck.

Status Window came up one after another, but Ye-Hyeon turned them all off without checking.

It was an indescribable sensation to see someone cry in his arms while the person shed tears.

Ye-Hyeon wanted to stroke Seung-Jae’s back, but his arm didn’t go up.

Ye-Hyeon looked at the night sky.

Ye-Hyeon suddenly felt very nostalgic.

Even after the tears died down, Yoon Seung-Jae hugged Ye-Hyeon and sniffed.

“Stop crying. You won’t be able to open your eyes tomorrow.”

“..I’m not crying.”

Yoon Seung-Jae denied it by rubbing his cheek against Ye-Hyeon’s shoulder, but there was no credibility because his nasal voice was raspy.

“You are not even a five-year-old kid,”

Ye-Hyeon smirked and tapped Yoon Seung-Jae’s back.

Yoon Seung-Jae crouched down and squeezed into Ye-Hyeon’s arms.

Somehow, it became a shape that seemed to be hugged, not a hug.

Ye-Hyeon looked around over Seung-Jae’s shoulder.

Ye-Hyeon wondered what was happening because it was quiet, even if he made a fuss and couldn’t see other people.

“But where did everyone go?”

“To get some water.”

Yoon Seung-Jae mumbled and hugged Ye-Hyeon’s waist even harder.

Finding food inside the dungeon was nearly impossible, but drinking water was easy to obtain.

Usually, they camped by a lake or stream, but he couldn’t hear the sound of water.

Seung-Jae couldn’t move far away from Ye-Hyeon, so the others decided to left Ye-Hyeon with Seung-Jae.

Ye-Hyeon, who roughly understood the situation, slowly turned his neck.

“Oh, I’m uncomfortable.” his neck started to get sore after sitting in a mediocre position for a long time.

His shoulders were wet with tears.

Apart from feeling sorry and grateful, Ye-Hyeon wants to push Yoon Seung-Jae away.

In addition, the vitality has not yet recovered, and more treatment is needed.

Ye-Hyeon slightly twisted his waist while checking the half-filled vitality gauge.

However, Yoon Seung-Jae seemed to have no little intention of letting go.

“Hey, Yoon Seung-Jae.”

It was when Ye-Hyeon carefully called Yoon Seung-Jae.

There was a small sound of activity outside.

Fortunately, it wasn’t a monster’s sign.

“… Ye-Hyeon.” Baek Hae-Won, who returned alone, breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Ye-Hyeon standing up.

The face reflected in the bonfire was a little stiff.

Yoon Seung-Jae slipped away from Ye-Hyeon and sat with his back turned on the two.

Then, with his head down, he wriggled and secretly wiped his wet face.

When Baek Hae-Won came, he must have become shy now, but he couldn’t hide his crying.

Baek Hae-Won looked at the back of Yoon Seung-Jae’s head with a troubled face and tried to pretend not to know.

“How’s the wound? I ran out of potions so I couldn’t treat them completely.”

“That’s enough.”

Ye-Hyeon looked down at his side.

He could see an unsightly wound that hadn’t healed through the torn hem of his clothes.