* * *
“Put him down.”
At that firm command, Cha Rui narrowed his eyes at Do Soohyuk with a hint of suspicion, then slowly bent one knee.
As he carefully laid Seo Inho on the wide-spread fabric, his brows furrowed when he saw what Do Soohyuk pulled from his item pouch.
Unless his eyes were deceiving him, it was a 1.5-liter plastic bottle of Simsu water.
Not only that—it didn’t even look clean, and yet the man was pouring it directly over the severed finger.
“What are you—?!”
The already contaminated hand was at serious risk of infection.
If the severed part got any worse, there’d be no turning back.
Cha Rui instinctively reached out to stop him—but froze at the sight that followed.
The cut surface twitched, and the finger began to regrow.
As if sculpted carefully from clay, a protein-like mass slowly reshaped itself into the original finger.
Even Woo Jaehyun, who was watching silently, looked visibly shaken by the scene.
“What the hell is that?”
There was no known potion with such absurd regenerative effects.
Unless it was the elusive elixir of legend.
But Do Soohyuk had no intention of answering.
Instead, he simply ignored them and scooped Seo Inho into his arms.
But he didn’t get far—Cha Rui stood in his way.
“Give him to me.”
“⋯⋯.”
Do Soohyuk’s arms tightened unconsciously around Seo Inho.
‘Why me?’
That warped thought crossed his mind, but… handing him over was the right call.
Seo Inho wouldn’t want him to be the first person he saw when he woke up.
Clenching his jaw once, Do Soohyuk passed Seo Inho over and stared into the distance, unable to hide the displeasure on his face.
Though the presence couldn’t be felt from here, his sharp instincts told him someone—or something—was watching.
“Think they’ll come after us?”
“Doubt it.”
Woo Jaehyun, arms crossed, looked in the same direction with a nonchalant expression.
Whoever it was had probably been watching them for a long time, not just because of the recent commotion.
Observing quietly to track movements, and root out more traitors.
It wasn’t a particularly dangerous group—so it wasn’t impossible.
And if they hadn’t moved in yet, it meant they weren’t stupid.
“The wounds should be healed. Why hasn’t he woken up?”
Woo Jaehyun absentmindedly rubbed the back of Seo Inho’s limp hand—where the now-defunct tracker had been implanted.
The gesture must’ve irritated Cha Rui; he scowled and abruptly turned his back.
“Go back already.”
Then he took off running through the forest without another word.
Woo Jaehyun let out a snort of disbelief as he watched him go.
‘I’m telling you. If you turn on the Sunow app here, it’ll really detect ghosts.’
‘Yeah, right. You actually believe that?’
The man’s consciousness slowly returned—like a broken headphone letting sound leak through.
Voices.
Distant and fuzzy, but human.
How many days had passed?
Even with what little remained of his sense of smell, the stench of rot was overpowering.
It had clearly been a long time.
His fading consciousness had returned before.
After enough time, it began recognizing the world again.
His body no longer registered pain—but mentally, this was hell.
His deadened vision saw nothing.
His mind was a murky fog, drifting from day to day.
Then—movement.
Human presence.
His heart reacted instinctively.
It didn’t make sense.
If he reeked of death this much, how was his heart still beating?
He strained to open his already-stiffened mouth, trying to respond to the life around him.
‘No…’
But just as he heard footsteps approaching, as if the gods were mocking him, his mind was consumed by blackness again.
Of all times… why now?
‘Rustle.’
Something cold brushed his skin, making his fingertips twitch.
He slowly opened his eyes.
A green leaf lightly grazed his cheek—as if it had been waiting for him.
“Still dreaming?”
He tried recalling the dream, but, as always, nothing came to mind.
Only that familiar gloom—like being pulled down into a sea of melancholy.
He wasn’t the type to dream often, yet ever since he fell into this world, these spells of inexplicable sadness gripped him now and then.
“⋯⋯.”
But what he couldn’t understand more than anything—was what he saw before him.
‘Why am I in a forest?’
‘And why… is Cha Rui carrying me?’
Despite the hat and mask obscuring most of his face, there was no mistaking those eyes.
Panic struck. He writhed wildly in his arms, almost like having a seizure.
“Are you insane?! Put me down, now!”
Cha Rui had been running fast through the woods but skidded to a halt as Seo Inho screamed.
The sound of crunching leaves signaled two more people approaching.
Seeing their faces, Inho nearly cursed out loud.
Especially Do Soohyuk—calmly walking up, removing his mask.
The last time they’d met… the memory alone made him hesitate.
‘Should I be running again?’
‘No. There are others around. He wouldn’t pull something like that again, would he?’
Trying to suppress his racing heart, Inho quickly looked to Cha Rui instead—the one person here who felt safe.
“Wh-What are you all doing here?”
“We came to get you. Your father asked us to.”
Cha Rui set him down, speaking like it was a casual outing.
His aloof tone didn’t quite match the careful way he handled Inho—but that wasn’t important right now.
The image of his father, covered in blood, flashed in his mind.
Inho grabbed Cha Rui’s arm instinctively.
His scrambled thoughts seemed to settle all at once.
“How is my dad?”
“He lost some blood… but he’ll be fine.”
Relieved, Inho let out a quiet sigh.
Even injured like that, his father had still rushed to send help.
That realization made his chest ache.
But even with that request, why had all these S-classs shown up together?
Normally, these people were impossible to meet without arranging something way in advance.
Their positions didn’t allow for casual disappearances.
Yet they’d all come here—for him.
That could only mean they’d taken a huge risk.
And naturally, guilt began to seep in.
“Where’s Chirpy?”
As he rummaged through his pocket, a small chirp came from his collar.
The little bird poked its head out and rubbed its tiny body affectionately against him, clearly glad he’d woken up.
Knowing how hard it had fought to protect him only deepened the pang in his heart.
It even looked a bit paler than usual.
“But where are we?”
“We just crossed the border.”
That answer came from Woo Jaehyun, who had been standing a bit farther away.
When our eyes met, he quickly looked away, brows furrowing slightly in a way that gave off a strangely wistful vibe.
I knew I shouldn’t be fooled by appearances, but seeing him again after so long made my heart soften just a little.
He had approached me first with familiarity, and just like now, had helped me out more than once.
Still, I wasn’t entirely comfortable.
As I unconsciously scratched the back of my hand, I tilted my head.
Something felt… off.
“Wait a second, why is this…?”
I was sure Lee Donghyuk had cut off my fingers.
And yet, here they were—completely intact.
There was only one person who could make that happen.
Instinctively, I looked at Do Soohyuk.
He was already staring at me, gaze unwavering.
His eyes pierced straight through me without a hint of hesitation, and all I could do was mouth silent words before firmly closing my lips.
It was obvious he had used the Oasis water again, but the words “thank you” simply refused to leave my mouth.
It wasn’t that I was still resentful.
It was that unreadable look in his eyes that made it hard to say anything.
“Let’s just head back for now. What time is it?”
Damn.
I hadn’t even repaid him for the last time…
And now I’d racked up another debt.
I turned away, pretending not to notice.
But as if waiting for that moment, Do Soohyuk’s voice called out from behind.
“They said it’s not possible due to the weather. It’ll have to wait until tomorrow afternoon.”
Weather?
The other three of us, myself included, looked up at the sky at the same time.
It was already well into the night, but the sky was clear, not a single cloud in sight, stars scattered across the heavens.
The weather’s fine.
The moon’s even that bright.
I found myself blankly staring up at the unusually large full moon—just like that time before.
Then, a sharp voice cut through the moment from beside me.
“Are you sure?”
Woo Jaehyun had somehow come closer, and now glared coldly at Do Soohyuk.
In response, Do Soohyuk tilted his head slightly and curled up one corner of his mouth into a faint smirk.
That expression, borderline sneering, was oddly captivating.
“What exactly do you mean?”
Grrrrrr—
The mood had turned icy in an instant, but it was shattered by the loud growl of a stomach.
I looked down in disbelief at my gut.
I hadn’t eaten in hours, sure, but did it really have to scream for food now?
Goddamn it… I sighed inwardly, rubbing my now-flat stomach.
Just then, Cha Rui opened his mouth.
“Let’s eat first.”
“⋯⋯.”
“⋯⋯.”
At his words, both Do Soohyuk and Woo Jaehyun turned to look at me.
They could’ve pretended not to notice, but instead they both blatantly stared straight at my stomach.
The awkwardness made me cough unnecessarily.
Still, I supposed it was better this way than escalating the tension.
As I flushed with embarrassment, Cha Rui pulled something familiar from his inner pocket.
To my surprise, it was my item pouch—something that basically held my whole life.
* * *
Seriously just go back to dad and feed chirpy too =_=