Well, I'm fucked.
He looked around, but there was nothing except an empty, pitch-black space with him dumped alone in the middle of it.
He had no idea what had happened, but one thing was crystal clear: he was fucked. Heeyoung, who had shot upright, was still dazed. He wobbled, then just slumped back down and lay there again.
Whatever... Han Shinyul will come and rescue me on his own...
Normally he'd have leapt up in a panic and torn through every corner of the place looking for a way out, but the past memories that had just been forcibly ripped open, and the depression and listlessness that came with them, still had a grip on his mind. His body sagged. Maybe it was because there was someone who'd come find him no matter how precarious things got. His head registered the danger, but his body wouldn't move sharply.
“Ugh, fuck... I don't even care...”
Having memories he'd deliberately turned away from dragged up by force was so unpleasant. The truth was, he'd nearly forgotten most of them anyway. No, life here was just too spectacular for that. His life over on the other side hadn't exactly been ordinary either, but living here was intense enough to bury every last memory of before.
This was a place where common sense got flipped on its head to begin with. That was exhausting and absurd, but at the same time, the days he'd spent solving whatever landed in front of him and adapting had, in a way, helped sort out the tangle in his heart.
When he went back, would a lot of time have passed?
Heeyoung lay still and thought about it. What if he went back and was still exactly as he'd been, stabbed by a knife...? Once he sank into gloom, he kept spinning out endless pessimistic scenarios and went down with them.
Back then, fuck... He should have been suspicious the moment that bastard showed up at the villa. He hadn't been out in the field for a long time, and on top of that, he'd let his guard down far too much for the single reason that he'd raised the kid with his own hands.
He'd suffered betrayal by people close to him more than a few times, but this betrayal cut a little deeper into the bone. It wasn't even that he'd held some desperate fatherly love for the bastard, and he'd been wary of that strange temperament of his the whole time. Really, what even is the affection that comes from raising someone. Though now even that seemed to have vanished.
When he went back, should he just declare a full retirement? Going abroad wouldn't be a bad idea. The only English he knew was “hi” and “hello,” but people live the same everywhere, so whatever. He was so tired. From the day he walked into the organization with nothing but his own body and met his boss, right up to now, he'd been grinding without a break.
If he wasn't even staying in the country but went abroad to live like a dead man, they probably wouldn't try to stop him. But before that, he'd have to deal with Han Doyoon, that bastard, first... If he sank a knife into that son of a bitch the exact same way, could he then go off and live quietly? Impossible, probably. His head told him the right move was to play dumb, bury it, and bolt abroad, but his bitter, furious heart had already picked up its tools and was messily carving up Han Doyoon's body.
“Ah... my head hurts...”
“Mine too...”
“!!!”
At the low voice coming from right beside his head, Heeyoung's eyes rolled back and he jolted up like a fish. The instant Serin saw Heeyoung's eyes flip and him keel over backward, she came scrambling over, grabbed him by the collar, and shook him.
“No! You can't pass out!”
“F-fuck, hey! Wait! Ugh... I think I'm gonna throw up...!”
“Then just throw up! Puke! Puke!”
Is she out of her mind? Heeyoung ground his teeth as he stared at Serin's face beyond his flapping body and wildly spinning vision. Puke! Puke right now! Only after he finally managed to grab the two arms shaking him with such bizarre demands did Serin let go, wiping the sweat from her forehead with a satisfied look.
What is this? What the hell is she?
Heeyoung looked up at Serin in the pitiful pose of a little mermaid. Every emotion under the sun, none of which could be put into words, showed on his face. Insane... this crazy girl...
“Oppa, you'd better know you're alive thanks to me!”
Alive, my ass... You almost killed me...
When he stared at her with a dumbfounded face, Serin smiled brightly and sat down next to Heeyoung. Fuck, what is she... I'm starting to get a little scared...
“Are you... broken in the head or something?”
“Huh? Why?”
“'Cause you seem broken.”
“Me?”
No, never mind...
Seeing Serin stare back at him with round eyes, Heeyoung figured there was no getting through to her at all, so he shut his mouth. His eyelashes trembled faintly from sheer bewilderment.
“Where are the others?”
“Why are you asking me that? Are you sane?”
“No, I mean, you were here first...”
“What are you talking about.”
His head aching, Heeyoung pressed hard at the space between his brows as he answered. Honestly, he'd never wanted to see Han Shinyul this badly. At least that guy was crazy in a decent way.
“When I opened my eyes, you were here, though?”
“When I opened mine, there was nobody. And what's this 'oppa' business, it's embarrassing. Call me mister.”
“...Insisting you're a mister with that face is even more embarrassing.”
Fuck. She wouldn't let a single word slide. Do they teach kids how to argue in school these days? When Heeyoung scowled, Serin read his mood and went on.
“Mis... no, can't I just call you oppa?”
“...Do whatever you want.”
“Right after you passed out, some weird hole appeared, and then you and Shinyul oppa disappeared together. And then I suddenly had this strange dream...”
“What dream? More importantly, Han Shinyul disappeared with me? But he's not here. Isn't this fucked? Explain it to me properly.”
“...I don't wanna say.”
Fuck.
Heeyoung, who already had no immunity to conversations with young women, felt a deep despair looking at Serin as she sulked and turned away. What do you want from me? What am I supposed to do?
When Heeyoung dragged both hands down his dry face over and over, Serin, as if it had all been a joke, broke into a goofy grin. Ah, insane... girls are so damn hard...
“No, I mean, you suddenly freaked out like you'd seen a ghost and fainted. Remember?”
“...”
“So just now I shook you like crazy so you wouldn't pass out!”
How would I remember if I fainted? And it wasn't that I got scared by a ghost in the first place, it was just, just that there was something behind me... This body's so pathetically weak... This body just faints at the drop of a hat... And you grabbed my collar and shook me, which almost made me faint even more, you lunatic.
Worried Serin's feelings would sour again, Heeyoung only grumbled his excuses inside his own head.
“And then some black pit opened up and tried to drag you off, and Shinyul oppa tried to stop it and disappeared along with you. Honestly, I was too frazzled to see it well, since it all happened in a flash.”
“...I see.”
So this is what I get for going and fainting like an idiot... A sigh burst out of him from the frustration of it all. Even so, hearing that Han Shinyul had refused to let go of him right to the end and had thrown himself into danger alongside him left his mouth dry, while some unknown warm feeling welled up in one corner of his heart. It was because Shinyul was that kind of guy that he trusted him, but hearing it come out of someone else's mouth made him oddly self-conscious. Having someone lay down their life to protect you was a strange sensation. Heeyoung cleared his throat and changed the subject.
“But seeing as he's not here, does that mean something else happened?”
“Who knows? The last thing I saw was Shinyul oppa holding you in his arms, though.”
“...Hm.”
At Serin's words, Heeyoung lowered his eyes and quietly closed his mouth. Serin watched the side of his face, her eyes sparkling. So pretty. Like a doll. His striking features, pale skin, and light hair color all went together so well. His slightly downturned eyes and large irises looked forlorn when he was still, but the moment he got angry and crinkled his face, they'd sharpen like an irritated cat's. With someone whose looks alone won people over sitting right beside her, Serin forgot the fear she'd felt and quickly got excited.
Maybe it was the aftereffect of seeing hallucinations in the dungeon, but Serin couldn't get a handle on her own thoughts and emotions. She'd always had a lively, outgoing personality, but she wasn't the type to stay this cheerful even when isolated and alone inside a dungeon. And yet Serin, not even noticing her own state, quietly admired Heeyoung's face before asking,
“What is it? Did you figure something out?”
“...? No? I've got absolutely no clue. What is she even going on about?”
“...? Then what were you agonizing over?”
“Agonizing over what? I just went 'hm,' that's all.”
“...? Isn't going 'hm' the same as agonizing?”
“Ha, is that written into law or something? Going 'hm' means I'm agonizing?”
“What? Oppa, do you realize how childish you are?”
“Childish? Talking to an adult like that...”
The two faced each other, jabbing fingers and bickering, until Heeyoung was the first to lose it. Argh, fuck! Unable to master his own temper, he shot to his feet. Seriously, what kind of childish nonsense was this, with a kid this young... When he buried his face in both hands and sank back down, Serin, watching him, cackled and clutched her stomach laughing.
“Ahahahaha! Ah, this is too funny, seriously!”
“...You got some kind of mental illness? I'll refer you to a hospital, so go.”
Heeyoung stared at Serin, who was rolling around laughing, with a look of utter disbelief. Really, everyone in this world was a nutcase and a lunatic, every last one of them. Argh, seriously...
“Bwahahaha! Haah... Ah, that was too funny.”
“Please, you go see a psychiatrist too...”
“Thank you.”
For what, for referring you to a psychiatrist?
