Even though there was no trace of aggression in his voice, Yohan’s frail nerves shriveled up like paper. Shoulders hunched, he bit his lip and slowly stripped off his top. Last ti, even when Yohan had sobbed and begged, Hyunmook hadn’t gone easy on him while treating his leg. Now, terrifying thoughts of Hyunmook cutting into his back to remove contamination symptoms played vividly in his mind, and tears already began to well up.
Sniffling, Yohan reluctantly removed his pants as well, left now in nothing but his underwear. The temperature in the Abyss was chilly, and he was visibly trembling as Hyunmook approached. The man ca so close Yohan could feel his breath, and he gulped nervously.
The first thing Hyunmook checked was the top of Yohan’s head. He flicked on the flashlight and used his fingertips to thoroughly part the boy’s hair, carefully combing through his scalp. Since falling into the Abyss, Yohan hadn’t had a chance to wash his hair, and the greasy sensation made him self-conscious. Thankfully, there didn’t seem to be anything abnormal there.
Next, Hyunmook inspected his ears. His fingers were hot, rough, and firm as they touched the outer rim of Yohan’s ear, sending a shiver of goosebumps down his spine. Even though he was scared out of his mind, Yohan couldn’t quite na the strange sensation that crawled up his back...
And still, Hyunmook wasn’t done. He kept examining Yohan’s body until the boy’s face was glowing red. Then, as if it weren’t enough, he suddenly yanked down Yohan’s underwear.
“W-Why?! Why are you—?!”
Yohan shrieked as he suddenly found himself stark naked in front of soone else, scrambling to pull his underwear back up. He whipped around with his lips trembling, only to find that Hyunmook had already finished examining everything he wanted. But his face looked strangely grave—his brow furrowed deeply in a way Yohan had never seen before. He muttered under his breath.
“Why are there no symptoms?”
“I-Isn’t that a good thing?!”
Stamring, Yohan hurried to pick up his pants, nearly tripping over himself in the process. Before he could fall flat on his face, Hyunmook caught him by the shoulders and set him upright. He then picked up Yohan’s shirt and handed it over, still looking puzzled.
“At this point, there should be so sign. And yet, you’re completely fine.”
The way Hyunmook slowly enunciated “you’re completely fine” felt more threatening than reassuring. It sounded almost like he wanted Yohan to show symptoms. Trembling, Yohan protested tearfully.
“Isn’t being fine a good thing...?”
“Maybe the symptoms are internal. Though usually they manifest outwardly too.”
Yohan knew that. The governnt-distributed National Rift Disaster Response Manual detailed such cases clearly. Symptoms of contamination could include unnatural swelling in the abdon or veins, paralysis, personality shifts, mory loss, and more. But Yohan hadn’t shown a single one of those.
“I-I think I’m fine on the inside too! So there’s no need to check!”
Quickly pulling his shirt back on, Yohan wrapped his arms around himself and darted toward a corner. Hyunmook watched him quietly, then lifted the scalpel and disinfectant in his hands and said,
“Yohan, co on. I’m not so far gone that I’d cut into a living person just to check for symptoms. A regular person dies if you slice open their belly or skull...”
“Can you please not say things [N O V E L I G H T] like that so casually when I’m already terrified? And put that down... please...”
Only after the scalpel and disinfectant were safely stowed back in the backpack could Yohan finally breathe a little easier. He sat as far away from Hyunmook as he could, putting as much distance between them as the space allowed. He looked exactly like a frightened puppy, eyes wide and body trembling. Hyunmook, seeing this, deliberately relaxed his posture and slouched in a disarming way. As intended, Yohan relaxed just a little and opened his mouth.
“But... you don’t seem to have any symptoms. I an, your hair’s a little gray, but that’s it...”
From what Yohan could tell, the graying wasn’t due to contamination but likely from sheer stress. And with a face that handso, even silver hair suited him. Hearing Yohan’s words, Hyunmook gave a soft snort.
“On the outside, sure.”
Which of course ant the inside was a different story. Yohan looked him over again carefully, but there really wasn’t anything strange about Hyunmook. Even the muscular arms exposed under his black short-sleeved shirt looked perfectly normal.
Is it really possible for soone to look that normal on the outside while being severely contaminated? Is it because he’s a high-tier Awakener?
Yohan was curious but kept the question to himself. Instead, he stood up. Stretching his arms and testing his legs with a few light stomps, he gave a satisfied nod. He could start moving around again.
“Where are you going?”
“I want to check out the area. We’ve got food, but we’re short on everything else.”
Though he’d looted a clothing store to use a puffy jacket as a mattress, it was far from comfortable. He figured there had to be a house nearby where soone had left a mattress behind. Yohan slung his backpack over his shoulders, and Hyunmook silently followed.
* * *
Today’s scavenging went surprisingly well. Yohan found a mattress and a stash of ergency rations that evacuees hadn’t managed to take. Since Hyunmook was in his right mind, Yohan even felt brave enough to ask for help carrying the heavy mattress. Hyunmook lifted it like it was made of cardboard.
While searching for more food at a convenience store, Hyunmook suddenly looked up at the sky and muttered,
“The weather’s... weird today.”
Yohan imdiately thought of the bizarre ramblings Hyunmook had made about the weather when he was mad, and a chill ran down his spine.
“Do places like this even have things like typhoons or monsoon seasons?”
“That’s not what I ant. I an the feeling in the air is bad. This shitty place... sohow it has moods. It’s like it’s alive.”
Hyunmook spoke of the Abyss as if it were a living creature. Yohan decided, for his own sanity, to treat that comnt like a joke. Because if it wasn’t...
“Should we just head back, then?”
But the reply that ca back was bizarre.
“...Ha. A person.”
Yohan turned around and sighed. Just monts ago, Hyunmook had been completely fine, but in the blink of an eye, he’d turned into the madman again. The grin was wide, his eyes were glowing red, and Yohan quickly averted his gaze as he mumbled,
“I’m not a person, I’m Yohan. Yang Yohan.”
Of course, correcting the title got no response. With a heavy heart, Yohan shuffled back toward the shelter.
“I’m tired...”
Yohan murmured vaguely. Then he glanced at Hyunmook.
Compared to his state from the last two days, the current Hyunmook actually wasn’t that bad. Which only showed how terrifying his worse episodes had been.
“Right, right, right, the moon rises, the moon is up. It’s an eye. The moon... is an eye. It’s watching ! No, no, it’s looking this way... at you. Yes, you.”
Hyunmook mumbled rapidly, rocking back and forth, his eyes wild and red with madness. Yohan curled up tight on the mattress, doing everything he could to avoid drawing attention. Why was he suddenly like this? Or had he always been like this, and just happened to be calm recently?
As horrifying as this was, it was still better than the day before. Yesterday, Yohan had heard a strange crunching sound while dozing off, only to find Hyunmook gnawing on the lid of a tin can Yohan had tossed aside. Blackish-red blood dripped from his mouth. Yohan had cried while prying it out of his hands and throwing it far away.
Thankfully, Hyunmook’s high-tier Awakening granted rapid regeneration. Even if a chunk of flesh was torn off or a limb severed, it could reattach quickly. But even after that, he’d spent the night bashing his head against the wall and muttering horrific nonsense, keeping Yohan from getting any sleep. The noises from outside hadn’t helped either.
“Personnnn...”
“Aaagh!”
Startled by the mory, Yohan scread and jolted upright. Sohow, Hyunmook was right beside him again. Terrified, Yohan scooted away as far as he could—but Hyunmook imdiately pulled him back, stuffing him tightly against his side.
“Hic—hic—...hic!”
Yohan began to hiccup uncontrollably, trembling with his head bowed. Even so, he clung to the hope that Hyunmook might snap out of it again and muttered desperately,
“I—I’m not a person... I’m Yang Yohan...”
“Yang...”
It was the first ti the madman had said his surna, and Yohan instinctively looked up. Was he coming back to himself? But that hope shattered quickly.
“Yang-ah.”
“...What?”
“Yang-ahhh.”
The once-dignified, composed Hyunmook was now grinning stupidly and calling him “Yang-ah, Yang-ah.” Yohan had feared this, but the next words were worse.
“You’re a sheep. Why aren’t you crying?”
“I—I’m not a sheep, I’m Yang Yohan...”
“You’re a sheep, so why aren’t you crying? Not crying? Not crying? Not crying? Not crying?”
He repeated it like a broken record, completely expressionless. It was more terrifying than any horror ga. Eventually, Yohan broke down and cried.
“Baa... Baaa... Baaaaa...”
His trembling voice really did sound eerily close to a sheep’s bleat. Apparently satisfied, Hyunmook stretched his grin wider and pulled Yohan into a tight embrace.
“My little lamb-lamb.”
Yohan couldn’t tell if being demoted from “person” to “sheep” was an upgrade or a downgrade... But either way, the man’s lips brushing against the back of his neck made him very nervous for multiple reasons. Trembling, Yohan let out another reluctant bleat.
“Baaa—ACK! Wh-What are you doing?!”
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