NOVEL NEXT 36.
36.
“I think this would be better than that. And Jian, you should treat your wounds too. Did you know you have a gash on the back of your arm?”
Leo, who had been quietly watching, handed over his blue bomber jacket. It was much cleaner than Jian’s shirt, with only a slight dusting of dirt.
Jian bowed his head and accepted the jacket. Now that the tension had eased, he could feel aching and stinging pains in various parts of his body.
When he turned his head to examine his arm, he saw a wound about three finger-widths long. Seeing that it was still bleeding slightly, it seemed deeper than he had thought.
“Do you have any potion?”
“…No. I’ll pay you back later.”
As Jian just stared blankly at his wound, Leo tilted his head. With an awkward smile, Jian borrowed a healing potion from Leo.
The pain that had been tormenting his entire body disappeared as if washed away. Just in case, he checked Sehun’s body again. Seeing only dried bloodstains brought relief, but at the same time, unresolved anger boiled up.
His cold gaze fell on the fierce-looking face, even though the man was unconscious.
“Whoa, that startled me.”
The man, whose ability had worn off as he lost consciousness, had reverted from a tiger to a human. Due to his clothes tearing during the transformation, the man was naked.
Discovering the man’s robust lower body, Jihwan turned him over with a shudder. The backside wasn’t pleasant to look at either, but it was better than the front.
“The Guild Master says he’ll be here soon.”
Jungsu, who had finished his call, also frowned upon seeing the naked man as he climbed onto the stage. He brought a piece of curtain debris strewn in a corner of the hall and covered the man with it.
“We let two escape, so that’s eight in total. Seems like only one is an A-rank ability user, the rest are all B-rank. But even among B-ranks, they’re quite skilled.”
Jihwan summarized the situation, looking around at the unconscious and bound individuals. Leo, finally relaxed, stretched both arms upward to loosen his stiff body.
“This was the toughest mission I’ve had recently.”
“You idiot, you need to break that habit of wandering around without any combat ability. If it weren’t for Jian, you’d be seriously injured at the very least.”
“I know. That’s why I repaid Jian with a healing potion.”
Leo shrugged at the affectionate scolding and pointed at the bottle in Jian’s hand.
“Oh, here you go.”
Jian returned the bottle, still more than half full, to Leo. While Leo used it to treat Jihwan and Jungsu’s wounds, Jian looked around for something.
Fortunately, he picked up a piece of cloth hanging on the edge of the stage and put it in his pants pocket. It might be just a simple decoration, but it kept bothering him.
With Hyunwoo’s information network, he should be able to find out something. Maybe he already knew something about this emblem.
Looking at Sehun, who still hadn’t opened his eyes, Jian carefully pressed his forehead against the child’s.
His heart was still beating fast. This was truly reality. Although he had entered the world of the novel he had read, the starting point of the original story was far in the future, and Sehun’s past had never appeared in the novel.
While reading, he had sometimes wondered why Sehun became a villain, but it was just a momentary curiosity. Rather, he had empathized with Hyunsu’s perspective and found Sehun’s actions horrifying.
Now that he was inside the novel, he understood. The characters he had only encountered as text were all living with their own stories and pain.
“…I’m sorry. For leaving you alone.”
If he had kept the child by his side as he wanted, he wouldn’t have experienced such a terrible thing. Even knowing that past time couldn’t be reversed, regret kept creeping in.
Listening to the quiet breathing, Jian made another vow. To protect this child. To raise him well so that things wouldn’t unfold like in the original story.
To give love generously until all the pain piled up in his heart disappeared.
The tears that fell seeped into his heart, reaffirming his resolution.
Thus, the incident of Sehun’s kidnapping completely changed Jian’s daily life, which had been flowing peacefully.
* * *
“Jian hyung, when will Sehun wake up?”
“…I’m not sure. Maybe his dream is too fun. He should wake up soon to attend classes with Hyunsu and play together.”
“…Even if he doesn’t play with me, I just wish he would open his eyes.”
Jian gave a sad smile at the child’s gloomy voice. He stroked the round head while looking at Sehun’s face, still motionless.
It was already the third day since the kidnapping incident.
Although he had received an opinion that there was nothing wrong with his body, Sehun still hadn’t regained consciousness.
The nearby A-rank sudden dungeon had been successfully cleared, and the commercial area around Jian’s shop had returned to normal as if nothing had happened.
The collapsed and damaged buildings and roads were quickly restored thanks to hunters with relevant abilities, and visitors increased to commemorate those who had been sacrificed in the vicinity.
The number of customers visiting Jian’s cafe also increased, but Jian had kept the cafe closed for days, staying by Sehun’s side.
The classes that Hyunsu and Sehun had been taking together were also temporarily suspended. Jian had suggested that Hyunsu should continue the classes alone, but Hyunsu was adamant.
He said he would just review what he had studied so far until Sehun woke up. Instead, he came to Jian’s house every morning holding Hyunwoo’s hand, just like when he came for lessons.
Thus, sitting by Sehun’s bed, chatting quietly and waiting for Sehun to wake up became the new daily routine for the two.
“He’ll wake up soon. Look, Hyunsu wrote him letters and made flowers for him.”
Around Sehun were letters Hyunsu had written and origami pieces he had folded, hoping for Sehun to wake up soon.
Just a moment ago, he had lain on the floor and folded two cranes and five roses. Watching the small hands move deftly, Jian forced a smile and pretended to be cheerful.
However, even a smile couldn’t hide his gaunt face. He felt like his blood was drying up day by day.
Every time he saw the IV line connected to the thin arm, a heavy emotion pounded near his solar plexus.
Worried about what would happen if Sehun never woke up, or if something went wrong while he wasn’t looking, he couldn’t leave Sehun’s side.
“…It’s because of me.”
Despite Jian’s consolation, Hyunsu couldn’t hide his sad expression. His large eyes quickly filled with tears. A flustered Jian patted Hyunsu’s shoulder, but Hyunsu buried his face in his hands and sobbed.
“I should have, sniff, protected Sehun… But I, like an idiot, just slept…”
“No, Hyunsu. It’s absolutely not your fault.”
He didn’t know the child had been thinking this way. What could a mere ten-year-old have done? The sleep fragrance was strong enough to put Miyoung, an adult, to sleep.
Jian pulled the self-blaming Hyunsu into his arms and rubbed his trembling back up and down. The part where the child’s face touched became hot and wet.
“The ones who took Sehun are the bad guys. Hyunsu, you did absolutely nothing wrong. You’re still praying hard for Sehun, aren’t you?”
His heart sank, wondering if his own guilt had somehow been transmitted to Hyunsu without him realizing it.
Hyunsu cried for a long time before falling asleep from exhaustion. His swollen eyes looked pitiful.
Jian laid the sleeping Hyunsu on the living room sofa and covered him with a blanket. Sitting down in front of him, Jian rubbed around his eyes, dry from not sleeping properly for days.
“Aaaaah…!”
At that moment, a scream burst out from the bedroom, and Jian’s eyes, which had been closed, snapped open.
Could it be…
He got up, stumbling, and hurried to the bedroom. Upon discovering Sehun writhing on the bed, all color drained from his face.
“Sehun!”
Due to the violent movement, the upper part of the IV line connected to his wrist had turned blood-red. He tightly embraced the thrashing child and tried to calm him down.
“Hyung, hyung…”
“Yes. Hyung is here. I’m here, Sehun.”
He soothed the child, repeating the same words. Jian’s shoulders also trembled finely along with the shaking body.
The child’s eyes, barely open, were still unfocused. Frowning as if he couldn’t see well, he raised his hand and desperately felt Jian’s face.
“Don’t go… Don’t leave me alone…”
The fragile voice, as if it might break at any moment, pleaded. His throat tight, Jian bit his lip, holding back the tears that threatened to spill over.
“I won’t go. Hyung will stay by Sehun’s side.”
He should have said these words back then. Even if the child blamed him for leaving him alone, he would have no excuse.
The good child just gripped Jian’s clothes until his fingertips turned white, breathing heavily.
“I’m scared…”
The fear in his voice reached Jian’s heart too. He felt suffocated by the despair the child must have felt. But all Jian could do was hold him tightly until he fell asleep again.