Delusive Fate

#021

“Ugh…”

I collapsed, clutching my shoulder as a dull pain washed over it. Only when I was certain I was injured did I start crawling along the floor hesitantly.

I’m sure I saw a hiding place, but where was it… Ah, it hurts so much…. As I was groaning and dawdling, I felt a hand grabbing my waist. It was Kim Jin-oh.

“You bastard, are you really crazy? Are you determined to say goodbye to this fucking world? If you wanted to die, why didn’t you say so earlier? Instead of crawling in here to commit public suicide, I could have killed you cleanly beforehand and buried you nicely in the back hills, huh? Why are you making things difficult for yourself and acting like a piece of shit?”

Kim Jin-oh spewed out curses, spraying spit everywhere.

It was a bit funny how he was shouting with veins popping in his neck as if we were close or something. Anyone who saw this would think he and I were close friends who had built a great bond of camaraderie.

Although we had good combat synergy, I didn’t really think we were particularly close… Kim Jin-oh did occasionally send me personal messages, but I rarely replied. Honestly, I thought he was overreacting a bit.

But I didn’t bother to say that out loud. After all, I had just caused trouble, and it was Kim Jin-oh who had carried me to safety while I was stumbling around clutching my shoulder.

Anyway, since I was genuinely grateful, I smiled awkwardly.

“Hey, you’re spraying too much spit…”

“Spit? Fuck, you’re talking nonsense! I’m barely holding back from spitting phlegm on your shitty face, you know?”

“My face isn’t that bad. Don’t spit such things.”

“Wow, I really want to beat you up. Fine, I’m glad your face isn’t shitty, you crazy bastard. Go ahead and flaunt that pretty face of yours everywhere, you son of a bitch.”

“Ah, ah, it hurts. Don’t shake my arm like that, ow ow ow.”

When Kim Jin-oh grabbed my forearm and shook it violently, I groaned in pain. But instead of stopping, this bastard gripped my recently injured left shoulder hard.

“Argh! It hurts, it really hurts, please, please, please, please!”

Tears streamed down my face from the pain. As I gasped and writhed in agony, Kim Jin-oh seemed to feel a bit better and guided me further into the corner, holding my waist.

“Didn’t you know it would hurt like hell if you got injured? Seeing you whine like this, it doesn’t seem like you were putting on a show to die. Why were you standing there in a daze? Are you really not going to come to your senses?”

Kim Jin-oh cursed under his breath as he pulled up his combat uniform top and roughly wiped my face with it. But the raid combat uniform, made of Gore-Tex material with added cut-resistance, was too slick to properly wipe away my tears.

Screech, screech!

With the sound of the Destruction dying in the background, Kim Jin-oh and I caught our breath for a moment. The other team members were nowhere to be seen. They seemed to be hiding well on their own. Sparks flew everywhere like fireworks as they hit the rocks.

Crackle, crackle. Amidst the noise that sounded like burning firewood, Kim Jin-oh casually opened his mouth. Thankfully, this time he spoke in a normal tone, not like a thug.

“What’s wrong with you?”

“Huh?”

“I heard you’ve been acting like this all the time lately.”

“What do you mean?”

“I heard everything from Lee Su-hyeon and Ham Yun-a. They say you’ve been acting like someone determined to get hurt.”

“Me?”

“The girls make such a fuss about how pretty you are, so I thought they were exaggerating about you getting a little scratched up this time too. But looking at you now, it seems it was true. What’s wrong with you?”

I didn’t know Kim Jin-oh was close with Su-hyeon noona or Yun-a. Of course, I had never asked, so it was only natural.

Anyway, because of that, I didn’t think they would bother to take time to talk about me. In fact, I didn’t think I was particularly close with either Su-hyeon noona or Yun-a. I liked them better than Kim Jin-oh, but…

Well, it doesn’t seem like they were talking behind my back, saying things like “That ignorant bastard Lee Han-sol is such a troublesome piece of trash.” It seems they were just worried and talked about this and that, which made me feel a bit awkward.

I’m a C-rank hunter, not a precious S-rank like Ki Baek-woo, so my team members often changed when doing raids. S-ranks and A-ranks probably always have the same team members since there are so few of them, but it’s different for B-rank and below. So I thought no one would notice. After all, we only meet occasionally.

Even if I deliberately got hurt, I thought they would just brush it off as me being stupid and making a mistake.

But to think everyone had noticed. I suddenly felt a wave of shame.

‘Did I make it that obvious? I thought my acting skills had improved lately… This is really embarrassing…’

Unable to think of a plausible excuse, I just kept my mouth shut. I hoped Kim Jin-oh wouldn’t probe further and would just let it go. I absolutely didn’t want to tell the truth with my own mouth.

I knew, without needing to be told, that what I was doing was the most idiotic and moronic thing in the world.

But other people never go along with my wishes. Even Ki Baek-woo doesn’t go along with my wishes, so it couldn’t be helped. So Kim Jin-oh asked me again, as if urging me on.

“I’m asking why you’re doing this, Lee Han-sol. I heard you messed up your toe when you were raiding with Lee Su-hyeon. How long has it been since that crack healed, and now you’re messing up your shoulder? Why are you making things difficult for yourself? Do you want to ruin your body?”

“Is Su-hyeon noona your friend?”

“Don’t change the subject.”

“I’m not changing the subject. Don’t be rude and call her Lee Su-hyeon, Lee Su-hyeon. Call her noona properly. Su-hyeon noona is much stronger than you.”

You bastard who would die instantly if zapped by Su-hyeon noona’s million volts, how dare you rudely call her Lee Su-hyeon, Lee Su-hyeon…

Kim Jin-oh glared at me. I pretended to look behind the rock to check on the state of the Destruction. No matter how many times Kim Jin-oh had saved my life, no matter how much he cursed and threatened me until my ears bled, I could never, ever tell him.

I couldn’t possibly say that I get injured because Ki Baek-woo pays attention to me when I’m hurt, and that’s why I keep repeating this stupid act, risking my life…

***

At first, it wasn’t intentional. Originally, injuries were common during raids. Just as soldiers in war live with various wounds, hunters fighting the Destruction inevitably got hurt too. I got injured, and Ki Baek-woo got injured. Before Ki Baek-woo changed, the only promise we couldn’t keep was “not getting hurt”.

But that day, I got injured a bit more severely. Usually, I tried to avoid major injuries by cowardly staying out of harm’s way, but that day was different.

The Destruction charged at an ice wall created by a hunter raiding with us. The ice wall shattered into pieces, scattering everywhere. It happened so suddenly that there was no time to dodge.

‘Huh?’

Sensing something falling from above, I looked up. At the same time, I felt a burning sensation.

A sharp ice shard tore through my right scalp, grazed my ear, and lodged into my shoulder. Something wet flowed from above, seeping into my combat uniform. I couldn’t tell if it was melted ice water or blood flowing from me. Anyway, I had to face the monster, the Destruction, writhing grotesquely before my eyes. I retreated while simultaneously shooting flames.

When we destroyed the gate core and finished the raid, everyone who fought together was in tatters. We were all bleeding from somewhere, and that’s when I knew.

The sticky substance that had been flowing along the side of my face until now wasn’t sweat, but blood.

‘Hey, Han-sol, look at you. Your face is covered in blood. Are you okay?’

‘Haha, this is nothing… Is everyone else okay?’

‘Well, no one’s lost an arm or a leg, so I guess we’re all fine, right? Hahaha!’

We moved to the B-district center in a bustling crowd. The center had recovery rooms for awakened ones. The team members chuckled at each other’s mess, and took turns receiving treatment. A healing-type awakened one was mobilized, but since they weren’t even D-rank, it didn’t mean much. Healing-types were rare, and even those above D-rank were drafted to the central center.

‘I’ll use my ability. It should be enough to stop the bleeding for wounds of this level.’

As I watched the healer speaking matter-of-factly and bringing their hand close to my face, I suddenly thought of the S-rank healer. The S-rank healer who appeared miraculously, like the god of healing descending.

Jung Yi-dam, that was the name. It was a name I couldn’t forget, having heard it so much through the media at one point.

That person would heal wounds like this in an instant, right?

Come to think of it, I realized that lately, I couldn’t find a single scratch on Ki Baek-woo when he returned from raids. Jung Yi-dam. That person must be healing him. That’s good.

Is it good?

Of course it’s good. Because Baek-woo can heal his wounds quickly without having to be in pain. It’s really fortunate that Jung Yi-dam appeared.

Is it fortunate?

But… I think Baek-woo started acting strange after that healer came to A-district.

Lee Han-sol, you crazy bastard. What are you thinking right now.

Unnecessary thoughts kept repeating. Involuntarily, suddenly, an illusion of Ki Baek-woo with his left ear and shoulder injured just like me appeared in my mind. The face of Ki Baek-woo, whom I had desperately tried to protect from getting hurt or suffering since we were young, now covered in blood, immediately made my heart ache. Not wanting to fantasize about things that hadn’t even happened, I shook my head violently. I even tightly closed my eyes and opened them again.

Stop it. Knock it off, you idiot Lee Han-sol. But the illusory Ki Baek-woo became even clearer.

At that moment, Jung Yi-dam, dressed in white, appeared in my imagination.

Although the raid combat uniform was a black outfit that tightly wrapped the entire body, Jung Yi-dam, who suddenly appeared rummaging through someone else’s mind, was wearing pure white clothes for some reason. And he was radiating a brilliant halo behind his back like something sacred. The face of Jung Yi-dam, which I had thought was quite cute even from the expressionless ID photo I saw on the news, sparkled like an angel descending with that light.

The angelic Jung Yi-dam approached Ki Baek-woo, who was exhausted from fatigue. Ki Baek-woo looked at Jung Yi-dam. The dry gaze of someone who seems utterly fed up with everything, the way he looks at me these days.

Unlike me, Jung Yi-dam, undeterred by that indifferent gaze, quietly reached out his hand. The hand with neatly trimmed nails touched Ki Baek-woo’s clear face. It gently caressed the wound. A dazzling light leaked out, and Ki Baek-woo’s cruelly torn wound healed. Ki Baek-woo’s cold gaze softened with emotion. A gaze of worship, as if looking at a god.

The sweet gaze of someone deeply in love, like how he used to look at me.

Ki Baek-woo smiles, burying his beautiful small face in Jung Yi-dam’s hand.

I’ve decided to love you from now on. Because you’re much more useful than Lee Han-sol. Jung Yi-dam, you’re worthy of receiving my love. I promise to love you forever…

Ki Baek-woo’s cheeks turn rosy, and he says strange things.

‘It’s all done.’

‘…’

‘Hunter Lee Han-sol!’

‘Oh, y-yes?’