* * *

The ominous demonic voice that seemed to attack his brain was no longer there.

The splitting headache and dizziness had also vanished.

Realizing that Yeongdeok was conscious, Wonjin put him down on a nearby rock and began checking his condition.

His hands, which had been brushing his shoulders and cheeks, finally landed on his forehead.

“No fever… It seems you’re okay. Are you alright?”

“……”

“Yeongdeok?”

“…Water.”

“Understood.”

Wonjin quickly pulled out a bottle of water from his backpack.

After quenching his thirst, Yeongdeok looked around more clearly.

It felt as though the lush greenery surrounding them was filled with the pulse of nature.

There was no sign of the narrow house, the shaman, or PetitRolang.

“Are you really alright?”

Wonjin asked as he held onto Yeongdeok’s hand.

A slight tremor could be felt from his overlapping fingertips.

The view he had seen before losing consciousness had been so high that it seemed like he could grasp the entire world.

They must have descended quite a bit since the altitude had significantly lowered.

“Did you carry me all the way down here?”

“The signal was bad because it’s a mountain… so I was trying to find a place with better reception while descending.”

Relieved that Yeongdeok was awake, Wonjin let out a deep sigh.

His affectionate smile contrasted starkly with the cold expression Yeongdeok had seen in the previous timeline, making him want to dissect his brain even more.

“It’s probably best to go to a hospital once we get down.”

Wonjin turned his back and squatted in front of Yeongdeok, indicating that he should get on.

It was so obvious what he meant that Yeongdeok frowned and stood up on his own.

“There’s no need. I’m fine now.”

“Are you a doctor? How can you be so sure?”

“I realized what caused me to collapse.”

“Excuse me?”

Yeongdeok recalled the man he saw conversing with the shaman about the ritual.

It seemed like this had happened because of that damn PetitRolang.

So, it’s PetitRolang again. Yeongdeok’s lips curled into a sinister smile.

Seeing the wicked grin, Wonjin glanced at him nervously, suggesting they walk together if he didn’t want to be carried.

“No need.”

Believing he was fine, Yeongdeok confidently started descending the mountain.

But before long, he slipped on the wet, sloped ground and tumbled down on his backside.

“Ye-Yeongdeok!”

Wonjin’s face turned pale as he hurriedly chased after him, using the surrounding trees for support.

“I should’ve carried you in the first place.”

Yeongdeok somehow couldn’t lift his head.

An inexplicable annoyance made his bones feel heavy, and he pressed his furrowed brow in frustration.

Just then, Wonjin tugged his arm and placed it over his shoulder.

“You’re doing something pointless.”

“Well, Yeongdeok… You have a strange quality that makes it hard to just leave you alone.”

“Are you saying that I’m a hassle to deal with?”

“No, that’s not what I meant….”

With a voice as small as an ant, Wonjin denied it, and then a silence fell between them.

As they continued down the path, accompanied by the sounds of birds and rain, they came upon the wooden steps they had seen on their way up.

While descending the steps one by one, Yeongdeok spoke in a calm tone.

“I… used to trust you quite a lot.”

“What?”

Before he had lost consciousness, Wonjin had confessed his innermost thoughts to Yeongdeok, and they still echoed in his mind.

Because of that, Yeongdeok decided to open up to Wonjin, even if just a little.

“I thought it was simply because you handled your work neatly. But now, I realize that wasn’t the reason.”

“…….”

“You might have been looking out for me purely as a superior, but… I liked that. That’s why, when I realized how you felt, I felt deeply betrayed.”

Yeongdeok was finally starting to understand the emotions he had felt back then.

That was why his insides twisted so painfully whenever he saw Ha Wonjin.

That was why….

As Yeongdeok’s words trailed off, Wonjin looked up at the sky.

The relentless downpour was gradually stopping. Soon, the sky would clear.

Wonjin let out a sigh that seemed like it would disappear at any moment.

When someone as cold as Yeongdeok spoke like that… didn’t it make all the emotions he had been harboring for so long seem like a joke?

“Yeongdeok.”

“What?”

“From now on, I’ll never disappoint you.”

Yeongdeok didn’t really have any expectations left for him.

After all, Wonjin was no longer his subordinate, and no matter what nonsense he might say about Yeongdeok to Cha Heeseok, it wouldn’t affect him in the slightest.

“Instead of saying stuff like that, why don’t you focus on supporting me properly?”

“Oh, then…”

Wonjin suddenly stopped in his tracks and lifted Yeongdeok into his arms.

Before Yeongdeok could even react, his eyebrows shot up sharply.

“As an apology, I’ll carry you down!”

“You really are irritating.”

Seeing the fury spreading across Yeongdeok’s face, Wonjin quickly put him down and resumed supporting him properly, scratching his head in embarrassment.

“I’m sorry. I’ll support you… properly.”

As they descended the mountain, the once-cloudy sky began to clear.

The weather turning sunny for some reason made Yeongdeok feel oddly refreshed, as if a tightly wound part of his chest had finally loosened.

“We’ve arrived….”

When Yeongdeok lifted his head at Wonjin’s relieved voice, he saw the parking lot where the volunteers had gathered before they started their climb.

Finally letting go of Wonjin, he stretched his shoulders lightly.

“We didn’t fill up the trash bag completely.”

The regulation bag that had dangled from Yeongdeok’s wrist the entire time wasn’t even a quarter full.

“That’s not what’s important right now. I think it’d be best to head to the hospital.”

“There’s no need to go….”

“No, let’s go. You should get a check-up just to be safe.”

It was just a minor incident caused by the whims of the author, so why go to the hospital?

But since there was no way for Yeongdeok to explain this strange phenomenon without mentioning PetitRolang, he ended up being dragged to the hospital by Wonjin.

When he thought back, Ha Wonjin always pretended to be at his wits’ end, yet somehow things always concluded in his favor.

A cunning bastard, that one.

Sitting in the waiting room until his turn, Yeongdeok finally followed the nurse into the examination room.

Wonjin tagged along behind, and Yeongdeok couldn’t fathom why he was coming in as well.

“Why are you following me?”

“I’m… your guardian, at least for now.”

“I don’t need a guardian.”

Ever since becoming an adult, Yeongdeok never needed one. He wasn’t even unwell, yet he was in the hospital because Ha Wonjin had coaxed, persuaded, and pestered him into coming.

But as the nurse urged them to enter, Yeongdeok couldn’t voice any more complaints and followed her inside the examination room.

As Yeongdeok sat down, the elderly doctor asked:

“Hello. What brings you here today?”

“Nothing in partic—”

“He’s here because he has a headache!”

Yeongdeok tried to say he didn’t have any issues, but before he could finish, Wonjin interjected.

Yeongdeok gave his self-proclaimed guardian a long, stern look.

The doctor tapped on his keyboard and asked how his head hurt.

“He said he heard voices, and then he suddenly collapsed.”

Once again, it was Wonjin who answered.

The doctor mumbled the symptoms Wonjin mentioned and continued typing.

“Hallucinations… fainting.”

“But I’m perfectly fine now. I’m completely normal.”

“Have you ever experienced visual hallucinations as well?”

Yeongdeok hesitated. He wasn’t sure if seeing scenes of PetitRolang outside the novel counted as hallucinations.

“No.”

“Has something like this ever happened before?”

“No.”

“Then it could be due to stress. Let’s monitor your condition for a while.”

The doctor suggested a few stress-relief methods and, despite Yeongdeok’s insistence that he didn’t need it, prescribed some medication.

Only after visiting the pharmacy did they finally step outside.

“You made such a big fuss when I’m not even unwell.”

“It’s better to be cautious. If you’re struggling, maybe it’s best to take a break from work as well.”

Yeongdeok immediately checked the time.

Because of Ha Wonjin’s insistence on going to the hospital, more time had passed than he expected.

“I should hurry. I need to prepare to open up.”

Watching Yeongdeok, who was always so dedicated to his work, Wonjin thought that his workaholism hadn’t changed a bit.

Knowing there was no stopping Yeongdeok once he’d made up his mind, he held back from pushing further and carefully expressed his concern.

“Don’t overdo it. Or… maybe I could help out?”

“No, you must be tired. Go home and get some rest.”

‘He’s telling me to rest because I’m tired?’

Wonjin marveled at the impressive development of the once-sociopathic man.

Was that really Cha Yeongdeok speaking?

* * *