CH 10

Treatment

Sun Yihan:

I felt the coldness of the floor beneath my bare feet, hurrying to Song Ha-geyon, who seemed to quietly swallow a groan. With my back turned to the moon, my shadow stretched, a long thin line, until it touched the wall. Song Ha-gyeon’s neatly tied hair turned dark in the shadow.

‘His left shoulder.’

Considering his behavior, that seemed to be where his injury was located. Even though I stood right next to him, looking down at the man, Song Ha-geon still didn’t look up at me. It didn’t seem like he had the mental capacity to think about much.

I slowly reached out to him. Didn’t the system say I was a healer? I wasn’t too sure about that, but, if the system was correct, I should be able to cure him.

No, I definitely could cure him. My thoughts neared conviction.

When I had almost touched Song Ha-geyon’s shoulder, I felt a rough grip on my wrist. Huh. I thought he was ignorant of his surroundings.

Song Ha-geyon’s right hand, wrapped around my wrist, was freezing; a slight tremor was transmitted through our touch. Song Ha-gyeon opened his mouth and, in a low tone, muttered, “…Don’t…Don’t touch.”

…No matter how much he loathed my touch, it couldn’t be helped. Judging by how quiet the system was, the prompts may be activated by further contact.

I gently twisted my wrist out of his grip; for someone whose strength seemed to be failing him, his hand muscles were so taut.

I bent over and touched his back; this much was fine, right? The moment I touched the cold and smooth material of his dress shirt…

–Rring

A familiar sound rang out; the status window immediately materialized.

「 Warrior ‘Song Ha-Geyon’

Heal / Import」

Mmm, well, if I had to choose between those two choices, then, of course, I’d choose to ‘heal,’ right? I don’t know why the system even offered me this choice.

‘Treat/Heal.’ I thought inwardly. At the same time…

Flutter–

A faint blue light enveloped Song Ha-gyeon’s shoulder. The circling firefly-like lights soon returned to my chest. Frightened, I retreated half a step. Then, a new quest window popped up.

「 Treatment Success!」

‘First Treatment!’ Success!

As a reward, you’ve obtained ‘Be able to heal someone other than a Warrior (1 time).’

Furthermore, a long, rod-shaped gauge appeared midair; inside, a dark red liquid similar to blood slowly filled up from the left.  The color felt somewhat ominous; nothing good could probably come from that. I couldn’t help but furrow my brows.

Just then, I felt the grip of a cold hand–almost like a bind. Looking down, I saw Song Ha-gyeon blankly staring up at me, still in a kneeling position. Though I felt a small tremor through his hand, his touch, unlike before, was firm.

The moonlight pouring from behind my back illuminated Song Ha-gyeon’s face; his monocle sparkled in the light. His pupils shook minutely.

Whoops–I suppose this was quite a flustering situation for the other person. He doesn’t even know who I am.

“Ha-gyeon Hyung.” I said. Come to think of it, he never gave me his name either. Perhaps I was the only one who knew (or imagined) the intimate nature of our relationship. Embarrassed, I laughed, “I’m Sun Yihan,” I tried to suppress my awkwardness and continued.

Song Hagyeon stared at me, momentarily speechless. I could see my reflection in his now calmed, pale-purple eyes.

The hand that gripped my wrist seemed to tense a little more. Song Hagyeon slowly opened his mouth, “…I know.”

His words sounded stiff, but perhaps that was due to his efforts to tamp down his trembling.

Fortunately, he knew my name. I’m glad I wasn’t the only one who was aware of how entangled we were.

Tick Tock–

The second hand in the clock in the room softly ticked away.

◇~◇~◇~◇~◇

Song Ha-gyeon:

What terrible pain.

After completing an investigation with Raen and arriving at Reddeo, I immediately locked myself in the first-floor lab. We always lacked time; before long, night had already fallen deeply.

Although I knew that wounds from a demonic beast weren’t so easily healed, the progression this time was different. The pain that penetrated deeply–as if it were rooting into my body–felt strange.

It was becoming more difficult to respond to events as the movements of the monsters were becoming more irregular. Perhaps they might even be evolving. If that were true, things would be difficult in the future.

As I organized the investigation records, I felt my shoulders throb again. After unbuttoning and standing in front of a mirror, I could see that the wound was turning black.

‘What is this?’ This had never happened before. The injury seemed as if it were tainted by the monster.

I perched my monocle properly on my nose bridge and held up my pen and notebook with trembling hands. Meanwhile, the black region was spreading at a slow pace–slow enough that someone wouldn’t notice unless they were specifically looking.

…How far would it spread? What would happen to me when my body became completely stained?

No–it wasn’t the time to be agitated now. I must prioritize recording this new information; I hurriedly wrote down sentences in my notebook.

However, the pen soon slipped from my hand, clattering unpleasantly to the ground. My hands lost strength; the pain was getting worse. Cold sweat lightly pooled on my skin.

The painkillers were in the room upstairs; I think I placed them somewhere in the drawers. I was so distracted I couldn’t think to use summoning magic. Besides, I didn’t have large stores of mana either. I’d be in trouble if I were to lose concentration in this situation.

With heavy, plodding steps, I arrived at my door.

When I turned the knob and entered, someone was sitting on the window frame; blueish moonlight was pouring down from behind him.

‘Ah. The new arrival. Sun Yihan, was it?’

I guess he accepted the offer to share a room with me. I nodded to the young man, walked over, and opened the drawer–I was in urgent need of those painkillers.

There were too many items in the drawer–overwhelmingly many. It almost seemed impossible to find the small glass bottle containing the medicine in that pile.

“…Ngh.” Deep pain shot unexpectedly through my body. I didn’t know what to do.

No–It was clear what had to be done. I had to see the wound’s transformation and progression, and I had to write it all down. I raised my trembling hand to disrobe myself, but the pain stopped my movements.

A pale, thin hand slowly approached my still self; a loose hem fluttered with that slight movement. The white cloth glowed in the moonlight. In no time at all, Sun Yihan stood right next to me.

“…Don’t…Don’t touch.” I didn’t know what would happen if he rashly touched the wound. If this dye-like black proliferation was contagious, the damage could potentially be impossible to reverse.

A bandage suddenly appeared in my view; perhaps it was something I had taken out of the drawer earlier.

My eyes clouded over; I had to bandage myself before I lost consciousness. No one should touch this wound. I reached out with a trembling hand before desperately gripping it.

At that moment, I felt a gentle touch on my back. Even though my clothes were a barrier, the contact felt hot enough to burn. Simultaneously, I could see a faint light bursting into existence to the left of my field of view. The blue light enveloped my left shoulder; the pain gradually dissipated.

I immediately raised my head; now that I could see properly again, Sun Yihan was in clear view.

The round moon shone behind the young man; his clothes, draped over his upright body, shook lightly. For some reason, it felt like the man would wither away in this white moonlight.

Sun Yihan took half a step backwards before stumbling a little. He frowned as if he felt something uncomfortable. I inadvertently reached out to his precarious body; the hard yet thin wrist in my hand felt too hot.

“Ha-gyeon Hyung.”

A smooth and tranquil voice. Though it did not seem like the young man placed much force behind his words, I felt stability in them… though I was unaccustomed to the sound of my name leaving his lips.

Sun Yihan paused momentarily before half-heartedly smiling. Though the smile somehow seemed brighter than the moon illuminating the young man’s back, the gentle lift at the corners of his mouth felt a little bittersweet.

“I’m Sun Yihan,” He said hesitatingly.

“…I know.”

Though, to be frank, I knew much less than desired in this situation.

The bandage fell helplessly from my loose hands and rolled slowly to Sun Yihan’s feet. In this quiet room, we could only hear the clock ticking.

◇~◇~◇~◇~◇~◇

Sun Yihan:

The moon was still bright; it seemed the night had yet to pass.

“Sun Yihan.” Song Ha-gyeon called out my name–he must have been sitting by my side for quite a long while; he jumped up and reached out to my forehead, placing his palm against clammy skin. He stared at me with a contemplative look before grabbing my wrist and leading me to the bed.

He poured water from the kettle placed on the bedside table. Ah–I drank out of that earlier in the day.

The glass in my hand was warm; the tea–within the kettle–must have maintained its heat. The perfect drinking temperature.

“…You have a fever; you should sleep more.”

At Song Ha-gyeon’s words, I shook my head from side to side. I had enough of sleeping; besides, it hadn’t been long since I’ve opened my eyes.

“…Did you at least eat?” He asked.

I shook my head again at his low and quiet question. Song Ha-gyeon, who had been observing me, walked away towards the drawer. When he returned, something was in his hand. A small, light purple…square…? Paper?

Song Hagyeon, once he reached my side, bowed down before making eye contact. His pupils were no longer trembling. Somehow, it felt like a grassy scent was wafting about. A calm, large hand slowly approached my face.

Song Hagyeon slowly swept up my bangs and plastered the paper he brought onto my forehead. It felt cool, and the scent of grass became a little more pungent.

He raised the pillow and made me lean against it before saying, “…Your head….It doesn’t hurt?”

“Yes.”

“…Your fever is quite serious. Aren’t you cold?”

“I’m alright. What about you, Ha-gyeon Hyung?”

“…Yeah.” Song Hagyeon answered my question like it wasn’t anything worth spending any attention on–likely to, I suspected, evade my interrogation. He stared at me, as if he were measuring my physical condition, before covering my lap with a blanket.

‘I thought he’d have more questions.’

Wasn’t that more important than checking in on my physical condition? Something like ‘How did you heal me?’

Just as I thought that, Song Hagyeon placed one hand behind my head; then, with the other, he pressed the paper on my forehead. “I’ll be back. Rest… You can sleep more…”

With that said, he walked out of the room. His footsteps were so quiet, hardly a sound accompanied them. The dark purple hair that had been illuminated by the moonlight vanished into the dark void.

‘He’s going to return? Where?’ I wondered belatedly, but the person who could answer my questions had already left.

TL: Fun Fact, this is one of my PR’s favorite Warrior. Also!!! Skills!!!