Episode 10
“I was so scared thinking you’d died, noona.”
“Why would I die?”
“But those guys….”
Those guys?
As I listened to him mumbling while crying, I suddenly paused at the words that came out of his mouth.
“…What do you mean ‘those guys’?”
“Ah, it’s… it’s nothing.”
Then he tried to evade the question and started muttering incoherent things. As I looked up at him suspiciously, he suddenly buried his face in my shoulder and turned the topic around.
“I thought you’d abandoned me.”
“What? …What are you talking about?”
“When I woke up, I was alone, so I thought I had been abandoned by you and got scared.”
Then he sniffed again and whined like a child. I wanted to ask more about ‘those guys’, but I decided to let it go since he didn’t want to talk about them, seeing he was so blatantly avoiding it.
“Who do you think treated you? I did it all. Why would I abandon you after taking care of you like that, you fool?”
I put in the effort, so I should get something out of it now; why would I waste my hard work?
“But… I thought you might have thrown me away because I was just a burden….”
“If you were just a burden, I would have left you at the infirmary back then.”
“…Noona.”
“What?”
“Don’t abandon me. Okay? Please… don’t throw me away.”
“Yeah, I won’t abandon you.”
“It’s a promise. Since you promised, you… can’t abandon me.”
“I know. I said I know, okay? I won’t go anywhere without you, so stop crying.”
And step back a bit.
I briefly soothed him, who kept repeating ‘Don’t throw me away’, but as it kept going on, I became tired and annoyed with it.
‘…Why is he acting like this?’
For a moment, I was glad that it was him who opened the classroom door and came in. I felt relieved and less tense because he was someone I could rely on, even if only a bit. However, now… when I saw him clinging on to me and crying like this, I suddenly felt exhausted.
‘I can’t believe I have to survive in this harsh world with a guy like this…’
The Lee Do-yoon I was familiar with was someone who had died and been reborn dozens of times and moved alone. The current Lee Do-yoon was too awkward and annoying. I thought it would be convenient and good for me to control him from behind in the future, but… to think he’s breaking down like this.
Thinking about these things gave me a headache, so I tried to calm down by pressing my temples, but I couldn’t put any strength into my hands since a while ago. Oh, come to think of it, my physical condition wasn’t normal right now, was it?
“Ah, shit. Hold on, Lee Do-yoon, get out of my way a bit.”
I had forgotten about the injuries I sustained from the fierce fight with the gatekeeper at the crossroad of life and death. How much of a state of urgency was I in that I forgot the pain for a while and moved like that? The relief I felt at being alive after defeating that thing was so great that I couldn’t even think of the pain. However, unlike my mind, my body had reached its limits and kept sending signals that I only noticed now.
“Sister? Why are you like this…? Huh? Now that I think about it, your condition…”
“Ugh… No, just… step back.”
“Are you okay? No, there’s no way you’re okay… What should I do?”
Already in excruciating pain, the sight of someone moving around restlessly beside me made my head spin. Ha, I felt like I was going to throw up. They say you vomit when it’s too painful. I genuinely felt nauseous.
“Don’t we need to go to the hospital? I need to call 119..!”
“Will they come if you call? Hah… Just be quiet for a moment. The noise is making my head ring.”
“Ah, I’m sorry… But your injuries are severe…”
“Huh… With zombies roaming around the school like this, how much worse must it be outside? And hospitals in this situation? Do you think they’re functioning properly?”
And the hospital was a place we were bound to end up anyway, even if it was ridiculous. Stage 3 was at the hospital. It’s a crumbling place full of horror…
“…Then let’s go down to the first floor for now. There should be some medication left in the infirmary. Can you move?”
“Let’s move after resting a bit. Right now, I’m just…”
“You can’t. Just get on my back.”
“Be real, stupid. You’re not in good shape right now either. How can you carry someone in that state?”
“I’m really okay. See? Look, I’m fine.”
Fine? That’s ridiculous.
“But are you okay internally?”
“Huh?”
“You vomited blood. There’s a wound and bruises on your stomach. Your internal organs must be a complete mess, aren’t you in pain?”
“Ah, that… I took painkillers, so I’m fine. They were near the sofa…”
“No, you fool!”
I shouted in frustration for a moment. Why did he take that? And on an empty stomach!
“Who in their right mind takes something like that on an empty stomach! Do you know how strong that medicine is? Ha… It’s going to upset your stomach.”
“But… You weren’t there, and I couldn’t move my body, so…”
“Don’t cry again.”
Because I was the one who wanted to cry. After barely managing to keep him alive and making all that fuss to find food, he didn’t even think twice about eating just whatever on an empty stomach. On top of that, he was carelessly relying on the painkillers and wandering around.
Ha! The stress that was piling up inside me made me want to give it all up, and my body lost its strength. When I leaned on him again, he jumped in surprise once more.
“Like I said, I should carry you…”
“Please be quiet and stay still for me. Please.”
“Noona…”
Whoo… Let’s calm down. Yes. Honestly, I would have done the same if I was in his position. Let’s not be too harsh. I’d felt this for a while now, but I strangely felt like I was being a bit too outspoken.
He had a tendency to rely on me for whatever reasons anyway, so it would be difficult for him if I got too angry.
“Do-yoon, I’m really okay. I’ll be able to move again after a short rest. I appreciate you worrying about me, but you need to take care of your own condition right now.”
“But still…”
“The situation is what it is. You need to conserve your energy. If we’re both injured, at least one of us should be in better shape. You get what I mean, right?”
“…I understand, Noona. Then let’s rest for a bit before going down.”
In the end, he accepted what I said and calmed down.
“Thanks for coming to find me, by the way.”
“It’s nothing. It’s because you’re the only one I have, noona… You came to me first, so, I mean…”
I couldn’t hear clearly what he was saying at the end, but I didn’t bother to ask again. I just wanted to cheer him up because I felt he might have been intimidated or discouraged by me because I got too angry and scolded him. I had to alternate between the carrot and the stick, but I think I’d been using the whip too much and neglecting the carrot. The current situation was frustrating, and I just… I think I was getting angry because I was anxious. Next time I’d better restrain myself more. I leaned on him thinking about this and closed my eyes.
***
With his support, I descended to the first floor and was made to lie down on the sofa where he had been lying earlier. On our way to the counselling room, we picked up some more medication from the infirmary and treated the wound right away. I was going to do it myself, but he insisted that I absolutely couldn’t do that much work, so I eventually gave up and entrusted my body to him.
As I watched him treat the wounds, it became clear that my medical skills were a mess. I was amazed at how professionally and skillfully he applied the medicine and did the taping, as if he had learned it before. When I asked, he said it was his first time doing this and that it was thanks to the book he read in the infirmary, which made me feel a little betrayed.
‘He’s a game character, after all. He picks up anything instantly.’
Then, when he was treating my hand, he caught the marks made by the glass shards, and I had to endure a scolding. I retorted with a few words out of grievance, which only riled him more, so I had to keep my mouth shut until the treatment was over.
After the treatment was finished, I was lying on the sofa when I noticed the coat hanging on the window frame. What on earth was I thinking when I did that? It was winter, the weather was cold – that thick coat wouldn’t dry quickly.
‘I’m stupid.. Far from drying, it’ll freeze.’
I sighed inwardly and turned my gaze to him, who was organizing the remaining medication. With nothing to do, I just stared blankly at him. Perhaps I was staring too hard, because he turned his head and met my eyes. Then he smiled beautifully.
“What?”
“…It’s nothing.”
Feeling inexplicably embarrassed, I turned my head away. Then I saw the bag of food that had caused me so much trouble. I had managed to bring it back, but I had no appetite and didn’t want to eat. But I couldn’t just not eat… I’d eat later. That’s right, shouldn’t he eat something first? He took medicine on an empty stomach, but if he puts some food in there, wouldn’t it mix and help a bit? It sounded like nonsense, but…
“Take something out of the bag and eat it. You haven’t eaten anything since yesterday. We can always get more when it’s gone, so just replenish your strength for now.”
“You haven’t eaten anything since yesterday either, noona.”
“I have no appetite right now. I’ll eat later.”
“Still…”
“We can’t just stay here forever, and I’ll have to eat for tomorrow anyway.”
We’d probably have to run all day tomorrow… But would I be able to run on these legs? I could only hope that by tomorrow I’d have recovered enough to run.
“That’s right. We do need to prepare for tomorrow… But it’ll be over if we just get through tomorrow.”
“Yes, if we just somehow get through tomorrow… What?”
I casually agreed with his statement that we just needed to get through one more day naturally, but then I realized something was off.
‘How does he know that? No way… Has he cleared this stage before? But if he did, wouldn’t he regress to the next stage? It doesn’t seem like it.’
Even if you clear a stage, if you don’t move on to the next stage, the save point remains the same, and nothing changes. That meant he cleared the stage and then died…
“That… Sister, so…”
“Huh? What?”
In the meantime, he got startled and looked at my face in a fidgety manner. Oh, he said that absentmindedly too… But I also agreed too readily, as if it were obvious.
“…”
“…”
There was a suffocating silence, both of us said nothing and just looked at each other.
This quickly became awkward. Neither of us could ask the other. I knew that he would die if he told the truth. For his part, he should avoid a situation where he’d have no choice but to answer questions. So, it was better for the two of us to just sweep this under the rug and move on. That was definitely what he ought to do…
“Sister. You knew.”
“Huh?”
“That if we just get through one more day, this stage will be over.”
“…!”
No, what the…!
I was so flustered. How could he say it so openly? I couldn’t even control my expression and showed my emotions when caught off guard by the unexpected statement.
“How did you know?”
“…”
“I’ve been wondering for some time now. How on earth you know.”
Did he not know yet that he’d die if he revealed his regression? Was that why he was acting like this?
“At first, you were too out of it to ask. After that, I couldn’t ask because you seemed like a different person.”
“…What do you mean by that?”
“I was just going to let it go this time without asking again. I thought you’d tell me eventually… But after hearing your answer just now, I’m certain.”
What the hell was he talking about? Was he referring to when I was out of it the first time we met the group of survivors and I dragged him along without thinking? But what did he mean by “a different person”?
“Noona, you know the future, don’t you?”
Eventually, I looked at him with a completely stiff face. I couldn’t laugh it off as nonsense. I never thought he’d ask me that outright. No, I did think that I might be good caught someday, but I didn’t think it would be now. So soon? Was I really that bad at acting? No, it was I made a foolish mistake…
“Answer me, Noona.”
“…”
“…Not answering is the same as affirmation. Then why didn’t you ask me? How do I know that this stage will be over if we just get through one day?”
I was perplexed. I didn’t know how on earth to answer this… While I thought hard about what I could say to him safely, he observed my reaction without missing a beat and continued to push me into a corner.
“Not asking about this is also because you know about me, right? Because you know what will happen if I answer that question?”
Damn it, crazy bastard. Goosebumps rose all over my body at that moment. I knew it. He knew.
‘What the hell’s the matter with him?’
I was beginning to get scared of him. What kind of answer did he want to hear by asking this? At this point, it was almost like he knew everything.
“Noona.”
Unable to meet his gaze any longer, I lowered my head, and he approached me, affectionately cupping my cheeks, then soon pulled the tip of my chin to force me to look in the eyes.
“Please answer me without avoiding.”
“Ah, no… I mean… Wait a minute.”
I grabbed his wrist and tried to take his hand off first, but the more I did that, the more he gave strength to the hand that held my face.
“Noona, who on earth are you? How do you know the future?”
well, shit
