Episode 6. The moment Han Chasu opened his eyes, the familiar sense of space around him made him let out a sigh of relief.
‘A hospital, huh.’
Fortunately, his upper body hadn’t been separated from the rest of him.
Han Chasu slowly looked himself over, recalling the frost giant wraith’s final blow.
“……”
This is a bit much, isn’t it?
At this rate, he felt less like a patient and more like a mummy.
It didn’t even hurt that badly, so why had they gone so overboard with the treatment?
Worrying about the hospital bill, Han Chasu frowned.
As he checked his status window, he heard the sound of someone running toward him at full speed.
Bang!
“Hyung!”
The door flew open, and Baekseon rushed in.
Han Chasu, who had never expected the owner of those footsteps to be coming to him, stared at him in surprise.
“…
Mr. Baekseon?”
When he called out in surprise, Baekseon looked as if he were about to burst into tears.
As though he had stayed up all night somewhere, his eyes were terribly bloodshot, and his pale hair was a mess.
Seeing him glare at him in that state, as if full of resentment, was honestly rather frightening.
Han Chasu asked cautiously.
“Mr. Baekseon, what’s wrong? Did something bad happen?”
Surely nothing had happened to Jeong Seoheun after he passed out.
At that chilling thought, it felt as though his heart had frozen solid.
“Of course, of course something bad happened. How can you say that so calmly? I, I thought you, after you shoved me away like that… Huaaang, I thought you were dead, I really thought you were going to die…!”
What’s with him? Why is he suddenly crying?
Baekseon began sobbing pitifully. Han Chasu was flustered. His already youthful face made him look even younger when he cried.
“Hic, hrrk, ngh…!”
At this rate, he was going to hyperventilate. Han Chasu hurriedly kicked off the blanket and got out of bed.
And then he felt, throughout his entire body, the agony of a porcelain doll shattering into pieces.
“Argh!”
The moment his feet touched the floor, sharp pain shot all the way to the top of his head.
By the time he realized he was in danger, his nose was already on the verge of smashing into the floor.
“Huaaak, hyung!”
“……”
“Th-thank you.”
Someone caught his body as it fell toward the floor. He barely managed to catch his breath and raise his head, only for his mind to freeze with a sharp crack.
A pair of vermilion eyes, as if holding fire within them, were close enough to touch.
‘Jeong Iheun?’
Why was Jeong Iheun here?
At the same time as that question flashed through his mind, a plausible answer came to him.
‘He must have come to thank me for saving his younger sibling.’
It was burdensome, but it wasn’t a bad thing.
He would probably say a few words of thanks, tell him to take care of himself until he was discharged, and then leave.
“I didn’t expect you to come in person, Guild Leader.”
“One of my guild members was injured. Of course I had to come see you.”
Jeong Iheun helped him to his feet in a gentle voice.
“Haha.”
Han Chasu laughed awkwardly as he accepted his support.
“Ah, by the way, what’s the date today?”
“If you’re asking how long it has been since you lost consciousness, today is the fifth day.”
“Ah…”
I was out longer than I thought. Han Chasu calmly nodded.
During that time, Jeong Iheun’s vermilion eyes greedily swept over every part of Han Chasu without missing a thing.
His gaze, which had been moving upward from below, met Han Chasu’s eyes.
“My younger sibling wasn’t feeling well, so they couldn’t come with me. They asked me to convey their gratitude in their stead.”
Jeong Iheun said it with a pleasant smile.
“Gratitude? I didn’t do anything that remarkable.”
Han Chasu accepted his thanks with an embarrassed expression.
“But you said they weren’t feeling well. How badly… Ugh.”
Then he suddenly narrowed his eyes. It was because he felt his knees trembling weakly.
Why is this body so frail when it’s an A-rank assassination-type?
As he helplessly gritted his teeth and endured, a hot hand supported him from behind.
“I’ll help you back to the bed.”
“Ah…”
Thank you, Han Chasu murmured softly, and returned to the bed.
In the meantime, Baekseon seemed to have finished crying and approached while rubbing his red, swollen eyes.
“A-are you okay, hyung?”
“I’m fine. But hyung? Since when did you suddenly…”
Since when were we close enough for you to call me hyung?
Baekseon’s eyes grew moist again as he understood the meaning behind the trailing end of his words.
Han Chasu quickly grabbed his hand.
“Call me whatever you want.”
“Hyung!”
Did he hit his head inside the dungeon or something? As Han Chasu carefully examined Baekseon’s disheveled pale hair, he felt a stinging sensation on his cheek.
“……”
“……”
Now what’s with him?
Jeong Iheun was standing behind Baekseon, quietly looking at him. It seemed Baekseon had cut in, causing him to miss his chance to speak.
“Um, Guild Leader. Did you perhaps have something to say to me…”
“Are you all right?”
“Ah, yes.”
Though his limbs were wrapped in casts and bandages, he wasn’t dead.
“I can manage.”
Han Chasu answered. But for some reason, Jeong Iheun’s brow creased, as though something displeased him.
“May I ask you one thing?”
“Please ask anything.”
“What on earth were you thinking when you did that?”
Uh…
He hadn’t expected that sort of question.
He had thought he would be interrogated about something like how a B-rank production-type like him had managed to take down a boss monster.
‘As expected, he really is just stupidly good-natured.’
Han Chasu hid the faint pity in his eyes and cleared his throat.
“Saving people is an instinctive thing. It wasn’t as if I was thinking anything in particular.”
“Is that so?”
An unreadable light lingered in Jeong Iheun’s eyes.
“Then…”
After a brief silence between his words, Jeong Iheun was just about to speak again.
Baekseon, who had been watching the two of them with a strange look, snapped sharply.
“Are you stupid, hyung?”
“Huh?”
“What kind of idiot instinctively throws away his own life like that?”
Baekseon bared his eyes like a threatening small dog and barked at him.
Han Chasu blinked, wondering what had gotten into him.
“Why are you suddenly acting like this?”
I’m the one who got hurt, so why are you making a fuss? When Han Chasu looked at him that way, tears gathered at the corners of Baekseon’s round eyes.
“You nearly died because you got hit by that crazy… filthy rag bastard in my place!”
Me?
“Do you know how scared I was? I thought you were really going to die. I thought you were going to die because of me, so I even contacted that son of a bitch myself. Hic, I didn’t want to contact that bastard even if it killed me…”
Baekseon’s sobs filled the room.
Jeong Iheun seemed about to say something, but instead let out a sigh and shook his head.
And Han Chasu broke into a cold sweat, unable to understand what on earth was going on.
‘What? When did I ever save you?’
And who is this son of a bitch you contacted?
What in the world had happened while he was asleep?
His chest felt so tight it was about to burst.
***
Fortunately, after Baekseon’s crying subsided, Jeong Iheun explained the general situation to Han Chasu in place of the exhausted Baekseon.
“He said Mr. Baekseon had moved into a blind spot to reinforce the barrier, and you saved him.”
Ah.
So that was you?
Now that he thought about it, he did remember someone being in the way, so he had roughly sent them flying backward before shielding Jeong Seoheun.
“Snf.”
Baekseon sniffled and looked at him with shining eyes.
“I don’t know what kind of nerve you had, doing that as a production-type… But still, thank you.”
Baekseon, who had at some point started speaking informally to him, seemed to genuinely believe that Han Chasu had risked his life to save him.
“If not for you, hyung, I would have died there. No, not just me. Our entire raid team would have.”
“……”
His intense gaze was so hot it felt as though it might burn Han Chasu’s cheeks.
Han Chasu naturally dodged the arms that were trying to embrace him. Then he asked Jeong Iheun something he had been curious about since the moment he woke up.
“Guild Leader. I’m sorry, but I still haven’t seen the doctor. I’d like to know when I can be discharged.”
“……”
“……”
“Is something wrong?”
A cold silence settled over the room.
Jeong Iheun’s well-shaped lips pressed tightly shut, and Baekseon turned his head away, unable to meet his eyes.
“…
If neither of you intends to tell me, then I’ll have to call the doctor.”
Han Chasu, narrowing his eyes slightly, tried to press the nurse call button.
Baekseon urgently stopped him. Then he spoke in a cowed voice.
“…
They don’t know.”
“What?”
“They said you might not be able to recover like before.”
Tears were brimming in his beige eyes.
“They said the injured areas were too bad. It seems the wraith’s claws broke your spine and spread poison through your blood vessels and nerves. They barely managed to save your life, but…”
Baekseon’s eyes swept over Han Chasu’s legs, which were still trembling faintly. A weak trace of guilt and pity appeared on his face.
Han Chasu thought quietly for a moment, then continued the words Baekseon couldn’t bring himself to say.
“So the conclusion is, I can’t live like I used to.”
Han Chasu’s face was strangely calm.
“Judging by your reaction, it seems daily life is almost impossible too.”
“Hyung, why are you saying it like that?”
Baekseon shouted, his face twisting. His voice was heated.
“You don’t have to go that far.”
As if startled by his loud voice, Han Chasu stared at him. The moment their eyes met, Baekseon’s eyes instantly grew wet.
“Ah, I’m sorry, hyung. Because of me…”
Baekseon buried his face in his hands and began crying again, while Jeong Iheun let out a troubled sigh.
A dim silence filled the hospital room.
Han Chasu silently turned his head and clenched his fist tightly.
It wasn’t because the fact that he had gone to resign and ended up broken was futile and miserable.
“Ha…”
As he turned his head, he saw the status window he had opened before Baekseon arrived.
[ Regeneration (B): As long as you don’t die, it’s fine. Time is on the side of those who endure.
Complete recovery possible for poisoning, injury, loss, and physical damage. ]
Why would Han Chasu, whose dream was to resign safely, have deliberately taken a risk that might kill him?
He had something he trusted in.
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