Chapter 41
Standing stock-still in the middle of the corridor, his eyes never stopped following Han Chasu.
The man who stared blankly into empty air before collapsing onto the bed, writhing in silent agony as he clutched his face.
The man who wrapped trembling hands around his own throat, then at some point let them fall as if a string had been cut.
“…….”
A cold something flashed across Jeong Iheun’s face as he clenched his fist tightly.
The man he had dragged back from death had grown incomparably weaker than before. And he did not mean simply in the physical sense.
Han Chasu had undoubtedly reached his mental limit as well. ‘I should have realized it when he fainted after seeing Baekdam.’ Thinking back, far too many things had happened to him in too short a time.
It had begun with saving people in the Frost Giant Dungeon, followed by Geum Myeonggyeol’s attack and an irregular gate. Then the conflict at Hanahyeop, and even the terror attack aimed at Baekdam.
Events that would have exhausted and broken any ordinary person had come crashing down on him one after another.
“No, even most Hunters would have found it hard.”
Jeong Iheun murmured softly and bit down on his lip. How many people had there been who trusted only in their mental strength, threw themselves into raid after raid without rest, and ultimately met a bad end? That was how dangerous the fatigue and shock that accumulated unconsciously could be.
And yet he had missed it. ‘I was too complacent.’ It was because he had been too deeply impressed by the firm resolve and strength Han Chasu had shown. Without realizing it, he had assumed Han Chasu would be all right.
But Jeong Iheun now knew the fragile interior hidden beneath that hard outer shell.
Han Chasu was the type of person who would rather break than bend. Someone who suppressed all stress and emotions inside until, in a single moment, he simply collapsed.
To have realized that only now. A deep sense of guilt pressed down on Jeong Iheun’s chest.
“I should have watched him more closely.”
The eyes gazing into the opaque glass were utterly serious. He should have observed Han Chasu more carefully. He should have stayed close and responded according to his condition. Because he could not lose him now. Because he knew how very difficult it was to find someone like Han Chasu.
“Ha….”
Belated regret made his head burn. For one brief moment, a black stain passed over his eyes.
Whoosh!
The next instant, a rough heat burst outward from him like an explosion.
As light refracted in the seething air, his vision warped. Jeong Iheun abruptly came back to his senses.
It was because the man beyond the window, who had not moved at all, suddenly sat up. ‘Is he going to call me?’
Strength entered the hand he had placed on the window. His eyes, filled with anticipation, gleamed with heat.
But the next moment, he kicked the door open and rushed inside in shock.
“Mr. Han Chasu!”
“Ah… cough, kuhuk!”
“What are you doing right now!”
Jeong Iheun moved like lightning and snatched the shard of glass from his hand. Blood was dripping endlessly from the wounded hand.
And Han Chasu, who had been struck by this sudden bolt from the blue, stared up at him blankly.
He had been in the middle of picking up the remains of the glass cup he had deliberately dropped on the floor. ‘What the hell is this bastard?’ He said he was leaving, but he’d been here the whole time? No, more importantly, how did he know I broke the cup…. ‘Wait.’ The hairs at the back of his head stood on end. Han Chasu quickly turned his gaze toward the doorway. He saw the long glass window taking up one wall of the hospital room. Han Chasu clicked his tongue soundlessly. He had thought it was just part of the interior, but apparently it was one-way glass. ‘I was too desperate.’ It was his mistake for focusing all his nerves on testing the deathlike state. Still, to Jeong Iheun, it must have looked as if he had dropped the cup by accident. That was a relief, at least. ‘Good thing I didn’t take out a knife.’ Taking advantage of the medical staff’s absence, he had meant to find out how much blood loss would trigger the deathlike state. Naturally, cutting his arm with a dagger was impossible. Doing something like that in a place without even a shower room would be the same as openly asking them to take him to a psychiatric hospital.
So, while he was wondering what might serve as a plausible excuse, the glass cup had entered his eyes. An object easy to break and easy to clean up. Han Chasu had intended to tell the medical staff, if they asked why he was hurt, that his hand had no strength and he had dropped it by mistake. He would add that calling the medical staff just to clean up something like that seemed like too much trouble.
But this Geum Myeonggyeol-like bastard had been watching from outside. Han Chasu was speechless.
Meanwhile, Jeong Iheun had taken out recovery potions and was pouring them over the wound.
Along with the cold sensation, he could see the wound slowly healing. ‘Looks like my body really has reached its limit.’ Han Chasu watched indifferently as the fifth bottle of potion was emptied.
If it was a potion Jeong Iheun carried around, it would be at least A-rank. And yet the recovery speed was this slow. Judging only by the way his wound was healing, he would have believed it if someone said the potion was F-rank.
That was how disastrous his condition was. ‘Well, it was serious enough that I had to be forced into a deathlike state, so I suppose that makes sense.’ It was embarrassing that he had thought it would be less severe than the hidden boss in the Frost Giant Dungeon. As he awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck, a low voice vibrated through the air.
“From now on, don’t do something like this yourself. Call someone—no. Call me. Do you understand?”
“…….”
“And don’t worry about things like the bead. I can give you as many as you need.”
It was a gentle voice, but his gaze was not particularly warm. Han Chasu stopped fiddling with his one and only bead and sighed.
Then, instead, he waved his hand in the air.
“Does that hurt too?”
No, bring me something to write with.
Han Chasu pulled free the hand that had been held and mimed writing with it. Jeong Iheun made a stupid “Ah” sound, then hurriedly brought paper and a pen.
“…
I think the words ‘I don’t need it’ are going to become a trauma for me now.”
Jeong Iheun muttered in a low voice. Han Chasu tilted his head, then continued scribbling with the pen.
“Isn’t that obvious…!”
“Your room?”
Jeong Iheun’s face showed he was not pleased. Understandably so. Since he could creepily watch like a stalker, he would hate losing that.
But Han Chasu had an excellent excuse prepared. A perfect pretext that Jeong Iheun himself had just handed him.
A shadow fell over Jeong Iheun’s face as he looked in the direction the pen was pointing. Hiding the laughter that threatened to burst out, Han Chasu flicked the pen toward the one-way glass.
After scrawling the short word, Han Chasu struggled to his feet and approached the glass. It was the moment he moved his unsteady body and tried to lean against the window.
“Mr. Han Chasu!”
In an instant, his body was pulled backward. Trapped in the man’s arms, Han Chasu silently looked up at him.
Jeong Iheun looked extremely startled. Han Chasu stared at him for a moment, then moved his hand again.
If it were not, you could not have come running so quickly. When he looked at him with that meaning filling his gaze, Jeong Iheun let out a deep sigh.
“I thought as much. There’s no way you’d ask to change rooms without a reason.”
Jeong Iheun’s mind grew complicated.
Even before this, Han Chasu had shown an obsessive discomfort with being “seen” by others. In the irregular gate, and at the item exchange association as well. He had been desperate to hide his existence.
Jeong Iheun was not unaware of that. ‘I suppose there’s no helping it.’ Other people’s gazes were a major source of stress for Han Chasu. It seemed there was no choice but to change his hospital room.
Holding the hand that was fidgeting on his forearm, he carefully began.
“The Management Bureau didn’t deliberately assign you a room like this.”
Jeong Iheun first wanted to clear up any misunderstanding. If Han Chasu mistakenly thought the Awakened Management Bureau was monitoring him, things would become complicated. ‘If that happens, far from resting here, the situation will only worsen.’
Above all else, Han Chasu’s mental stability came first. Enough stability for him to accept his will.
Hoping his sincerity would be conveyed, Jeong Iheun continued.
“At the time, everything was too chaotic. We had no choice because we had to install the treatment equipment in the place closest to the main gate. I’ll ask the center director to change your room soon, so I hope you won’t think too seriously about it.”
Han Chasu slowly nodded. Jeong Iheun’s expression brightened. He cautiously mustered a little courage.
“And there’s one thing I’d like to ask of you.”
“?”
“Would you consider receiving psychological counseling?”
Han Chasu needed help. Time to remove the stress and pain piled up in his unconscious mind.
But Han Chasu’s expression was subtle. His gray eyes quietly stared at him. As if he were looking into what Jeong Iheun was thinking.
Jeong Iheun did not back down.
Had he not already seen with his own eyes what happened when he left him alone?
However, Han Chasu was not an easy opponent either.
“Yes.”
“…….”
Indifferent gray eyes stared at him. At that face, which looked as if it might leave at any moment, Jeong Iheun’s lips parted slightly.
And soon, he realized it. ‘I was too hasty.’ No matter how mentally cornered he was, Han Chasu was still Han Chasu.
He was someone who would crumble alone, but never wanted to show weakness in front of others. And that meant that, to Han Chasu, he was still an outsider.
Someone outside the boundary to whom he could not show what lay beneath the mask. A connection that could leave at any time, and be severed at any time.
“…….”
He truly was not an easy opponent.
No, if he thought about it the other way, it was fitting for someone who had refused enormous wealth and fame. Jeong Iheun decided to take one step back.
“Pretend you didn’t hear what I said.”
Looking into those indifferent eyes, he smiled quietly.
Yes, now that he thought about it, wasn’t something only worthwhile when it was this difficult to obtain?
If Han Chasu had known what was going on inside his mind, he would have suffered a psychological shock and fainted on the spot.
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