BWLHF 10

Chapter 10

When the large hand lifted the blood-soaked T-shirt, something the size of a finger wriggled beneath the smooth abdomen before disappearing from sight.

Got you.

The man’s lips curved with excitement.

“Even if it’s a body that can sustain life well, that’s still too foul-smelling to raise inside such a pretty body.”

“Let’s just give you a small reward today.”

The man placed a hand on Young-in’s shoulder.

“W-What are you doing?”

Sensing something ominous, Young-in struggled repeatedly.

No—actually, what he wanted was to tell this strange man, albeit belatedly, about the fact he had overlooked.

“Excuse me. I-I… Hic… I’m sick.”

They had already pressed their lips together several times and exchanged saliva, so the infection rate was one hundred percent. Young-in gripped the man’s shoulders tightly and pushed him away.

“I-I have a disease. If you touch me, h-hh… then you… you’ll be in serious danger. So… please, take your hands off me…”

“That would be difficult.”

The limbs that had been pale from blood loss slowly began regaining their vitality.

“That’s a relief.”

The man smiled, his lips curving into a long, gentle arc, and carefully took Young-in’s hand in his long fingers.

“I’m saving you, idiot.”

The man quietly smiled down at the anxious Young-in.

The concentration of the poison that had been unable to find anywhere to go inside the delicate body and had flowed out as fresh blood was gradually becoming weaker.

The life force that had miraculously returned to its proper place was struggling desperately to protect the body. Of course, this foolish human knew nothing about any of it.

“You look like you’re feeling more alive than before.”

“……”

Smiling as though he could see straight through Young-in’s thoughts, the man carefully wiped the wetness from his cheek.

Young-in simply closed his eyes.

It felt as though his feverish body were sinking into a winter lake, surrounded by an overwhelming sense of comfort. His irregular, gasping breaths gradually settled, and he swallowed dryly.

“If this continues, the same thing will happen again very soon.”

Having said that, the man lowered himself and gently pressed his lips against Young-in’s.

His teeth softly bit into the skin, still soaked with saliva, before he pushed something he had been carrying inside his stomach into Young-in’s mouth.

“Mm, mmm…!”

“So swallow it, if you want to live.”

The man gently enclosed Young-in’s struggling hand in his own.

Without realizing it, Young-in opened his throat and swallowed everything the man had given him.

B-Bitter… What did he make me eat…?

The thing that entered his mouth felt somewhat like rice cake, yet at the same time like warm raw meat.

One thing was certain, however.

After swallowing it, Young-in’s blurry vision gradually became clearer, and the chills that had overtaken his body slowly began to disappear.

“Not bad, right?”

“……”

Young-in’s throat moved slowly.

The splitting headache and the pain that had felt as though his flesh were being torn apart had both disappeared.

The anxiety and fear that had once made it difficult to breathe had also vanished long ago.

Young-in looked up at the smiling man, his guard gradually lowering.

His face was a ridiculous mess of blood and tears, yet the man’s gaze upon him was so gentle that it seemed almost as though honey were dripping from his eyes.

That’s impossible. How long has he even known me?

Suddenly, sleep came crashing down over his exhausted body like an avalanche.

I’m getting… sleepy…

Despite the pain he’d been suffering only moments ago, his eyelids kept closing.

Young-in desperately struggled to hold on to his consciousness, which was about to snap.

I can’t sleep. If I fall asleep like this, who knows what this man might do to me…

“It’s okay. I won’t do anything.”

The man whispered as though he could read Young-in’s thoughts, his eyes crinkling into a smile.

Then he gently stroked Young-in’s cheek, whose eyes were scrunched up as he struggled to stay awake.

Strangely, the man’s hand, which had felt so cold before, now felt surprisingly warm.

Perhaps it was because Young-in’s feverish cheek had finally cooled down.

“Thank you for taking care of my child all this time.”

My… child? You mean… the rabbit?

The man stroked Young-in’s damp hair affectionately, as though he were proud of him.

A cool peppermint scent came from the man.

He gently closed Young-in’s blinking eyes and kissed him tenderly.

“Starting tomorrow, you won’t be in pain at all.”

Sleep well.

“……”

Peace had finally arrived after such a long period of suffering.

Just before being swallowed into the waterfall-like depths of sleep, Young-in realized that it had been quite a long time since someone had told him to sleep well.

And surprisingly, the feeling wasn’t unpleasant at all.

The next morning, after opening his eyes, Young-in remained lying in bed for a long time, unable to bring himself to get up.

A strange man saved my life in a cabin in the middle of the forest…

It was so unbelievable that every time he retraced the events one by one, he couldn’t help but laugh incredulously.

And with good reason.

When he turned his head and looked around the cabin, everything was perfectly tidy, without a single trace that anyone had broken in.

The pool of blood was gone, and even the things he’d knocked over when he collapsed were all back in their original places.

Was it a dream?

He must have fallen into a terrible nightmare after falling asleep in the depths of despair, having had his beloved rabbit stolen by that scoundrel.

It made no sense otherwise.

If he’d really lost that much blood, he certainly would have died right there.

And the idea that his symptoms could improve simply because of a kiss was absurd.

But when Young-in casually turned over, the smile disappeared from his face as soon as he saw his reflection in the mirror.

“……W-What is this?”

His hair and T-shirt, matted with blood and tears throughout the night, were beyond messy—they were practically a disaster.

Young-in stiffened when he noticed a small note stuck to the corner of the mirror.

Something had been written on it in a sharp handwriting that wasn’t his own.

“The house is clean now, so all that’s left is for you to wash yourself, right? I hope you have sweet dreams and wake up well.”

“……”

Unfortunately, what had happened to him last night had not been a dream.

“I’m crazy. This is insane.”

With a pale face, Young-in hurriedly sat up in bed and threw on whatever clothes his hands could find.

He grabbed his backpack with trembling hands, hastily put on his shoes, and looked around.

That lunatic might come back. I need to get out of here quickly.

The thought that the mysterious man, who had been unnaturally obsessed with the rabbit, might now relentlessly pursue him made the back of Young-in’s neck turn cold.

It had been a nightmare of a night that he never wanted to experience again.

He had to get away from that man.

After getting ready, Young-in hurriedly grabbed the doorknob and turned it.

For a moment, however, he suddenly found himself worrying about what his life would be like after opening that door.

“……”

All he had to do was open it.

Just open this door right now.

He could leave a message for the cabin’s owner on his way down, explain everything that had happened to the police, bring them all back here, find that shameless man, and put an end to everything.

……But after that, where am I supposed to go?

With a hardened expression, Young-in turned around and stared silently at the empty cabin.

As his excitement gradually subsided and he calmly looked around, he remembered why he had come here in the first place.

In the end, Young-in loosened his grip on the doorknob and set down his backpack.

He carefully removed the clothes he’d hurriedly thrown on, opened the bathroom door, and turned on the water.

He had fixed the faucet, but there was no time to heat the water with gas.

So he simply soaked himself in the ice-cold water and washed himself over and over until his entire body turned bright red.

After washing himself, he began looking for the parts he hadn’t noticed before and tidying everything up.

He gathered the pants that had been carelessly shoved beneath the bed and washed them thoroughly.

He also carefully wrapped up the syringes and medicines that had been damaged beyond recognition and disposed of them in a plastic bag.

He didn’t hum his usual songs or smile.

At the same time, he didn’t sniffle or cry like a child.

After drying his hair, Young-in had a simple breakfast as usual, spreading peanut butter over rye bread.

He even drank two cups of his favorite coffee.

The sugar helped improve his mood a little.

He also put the empty rabbit cage, which no longer had an owner, outside the cabin and cleaned the surrounding area.

The cloudy sky looked as though it might soon bring rain, so he decided not to take a walk too far away.

There’s no one to go for a walk with anymore, anyway.

The thought came to Young-in without him realizing it.

Once again, his gaze fell upon the empty cage.