Shattered Shin, Twisted Savior
I'd at least saved his life. ……………
Moon Yujin wanted to scream. But no sound came from his throat. His lungs kept contracting and expanding endlessly, but only air rushed uselessly in and out. The pain was so overwhelming that his brain refused to function. His leg. His right leg. His shin. It wasn't just broken—it was pulverized. Moon Yujin's body convulsed on the floor. His teeth chattered uncontrollably. And Kang Haneul—
Her mind blank, she stood frozen, unable to do anything.
What the hell just happened? What had she done?
Kang Haneul's gaze fell on Moon Yujin sprawled on the floor. His mouth gaped open as he gasped raggedly. His face was deathly pale. He couldn't even scream properly. And... his leg. Everything below the knee was completely mangled. Like it had been run over by a tank tread.
...Did I do that?
Kang Haneul looked down at her right foot. It was soaked in blood and bits of flesh. No need to ask whose. Yeah. She couldn't deny it. She'd definitely kicked Moon Yujin's shin with this foot.
Her chest tightened. The rage vanished in an instant. In its place, terror flooded in.
"I-I didn't mean to go this far..."
No. Not for a second. But Kang Haneul had done it anyway. Without a thought for the consequences, her body had moved first. The moment she saw Moon Yujin turning his back and heading for the office door, something snapped in her head. He was leaving. He said he wouldn't talk to her anymore. She'd be left alone. Just that thought choked her. Her heart felt like it would explode. Blood surged backward through her veins.
So... she kicked. She smashed it. Moon Yujin's leg. To keep him from walking out of the office. To keep him from leaving her side.
"Yu-Yujin? I'm sorry. But you started it..."
Yeah. This wasn't 100 percent her fault. Kang Haneul desperately justified it to herself and to Moon Yujin. He'd betrayed her first. Met Baek Sehee behind her back. Lied. Hid her business card. And worst of all, he'd said, "Baek Sehee was right." He'd sided with that paranoid psycho bitch over his high school classmate, the one who'd be with him forever. So this was Moon Yujin's fault. He'd forced her hand.
"Ugh... krr..."
Moon Yujin groaned. The sound from his throat cracked with agony. Hearing it snapped Kang Haneul back to reality.
"Yu-Yujin?"
She checked on him. Sweat poured from his face like rain. His lips were turning blue. His eyes had lost focus. Shock. He was in shock from the pain and massive blood loss.
"Yujin! Stay with me!"
Kang Haneul shook his shoulders. But he didn't respond. If anything, his eyelids fluttered shut.
"No—!"
Hospital. She had to get him to a hospital. Right now. Kang Haneul moved to scoop him up. But a sudden thought froze her.
What happens if I take him to the hospital?
The medical staff would ask. How did he get such a severe injury? Why? What would she say? Tripped on the stairs? Car accident? No. A leg crushed like this wasn't normal. It'd have to be heavy machinery, building debris, or an incident involving an Awakener or Villain. Moon Yujin's injury was the kind you only got from something like that.
Then there'd be a medical report, police involvement, an investigation from the Association. And the world would find out. That Kang Haneul had kicked Moon Yujin... and shattered his leg.
Then I'd...
Be separated from him. The Association would force it. She wouldn't be arrested, of course. Kang Haneul was an EX-rank Awakener, humanity's bulwark. But they wouldn't let her see Moon Yujin. Neither the Association nor the government would budge on that.
"N-No..."
Kang Haneul's jaw trembled.
"That can't happen."
She couldn't live without Moon Yujin. Without him, the rage would come back. The whole world would piss her off, make her furious, make her want to smash everything. Only Moon Yujin could calm her down. Him and him alone.
But she couldn't just leave him like this. He was dying. His injuries were critical. Not light at all. Shock had already set in, and the convulsions had stopped. Time was running out for Moon Yujin. She had to decide.
"What do I do... what the hell do I do...?"
Kang Haneul racked her brain desperately. But no good ideas came.
Hospital: They'd find out. She'd lose Moon Yujin.
No hospital: Moon Yujin dies. She'd lose him forever.
Both options were unbearable.
Then—
Bam!
Something slammed into Kang Haneul's side. Not a hard hit—more like a shove. An invisible giant hand pushed her body aside.
"Urk—!"
Kang Haneul flew through the air and crashed into the wall before hitting the floor. Of course, an attack like that barely fazed her. She sprang up instantly and whipped her head toward the intruder.
Standing at the door to Kang Haneul's private office was none other than Baek Sehee. Her long pink hair swayed as something rippled around her, warping the air. Psychokinesis.
"...You bitch."
Kang Haneul growled, rage dripping from her voice. But Baek Sehee didn't even glance at her. Her eyes were fixed solely on Moon Yujin on the floor.
"Yujin-ssi...!"
Baek Sehee's hand moved through the air. An invisible force enveloped Moon Yujin's body. His slender frame slowly floated up, then settled gently into her arms.
"It's okay now."
Baek Sehee lifted him in a princess carry.
"Put him down—!!"
Kang Haneul roared. She kicked off the floor and lunged. Her leg muscles exploded, tearing the air. But Baek Sehee didn't budge an inch. She raised one hand, and an invisible barrier blocked Kang Haneul's path.
Bam!!
Kang Haneul's fist smashed into the unseen wall. The shockwave rippled outward, cracking the telekinetic barrier.
"Give me Yujin!!"
"Keep coming at me. If you don't care if Yujin-ssi dies."
Baek Sehee's voice was ice-cold and calm.
"What...?"
"In this state, Yujin-ssi will die of shock in five minutes. So go ahead. Attack. If you don't mind him dying."
Kang Haneul froze. He'd die. Moon Yujin. In five minutes.
"..."
Strength drained from her fist. Rage overflowed through her body. For Kang Haneul, whose power came from fury, this was the strongest she'd ever been. But she couldn't do a thing.
Baek Sehee was right. Even if she won a fight now, it wouldn't matter. Moon Yujin would die in the meantime.
"...Fucking... bullshit..."
"Pardon?"
"You fucking bitch..."
The curses slipped out. But that was all Kang Haneul could do. Baek Sehee smirked faintly and backed away, still holding Moon Yujin.
"Next time we meet... I'll kill you. For real."
"Try it. If you can."
Baek Sehee vanished into the hallway. Kang Haneul stood rooted, watching them go.
And then—
"Aaaahhh!!"
Her scream filled the office.
……………
The ICU was silent. Only the steady beeps of machines broke the quiet.
Beep, beep, beep.
ECG monitor.
Hiss—whoosh. Hiss—whoosh.
Ventilator.
Baek Sehee peered through the glass into the room. Moon Yujin lay in the bed. It had been three days already. Since he'd opened his eyes.
A tracheal tube snaked into his mouth, connected deep in his throat to the ventilator. The machine breathed for him. IV lines pierced his arms: fluids, antibiotics, painkillers, vasopressors. And his right leg... was gone below the knee.
Baek Sehee donned sterile gown and mask and entered the ICU. Moon Yujin's face was ashen. His lips cracked and dry, blue veins visible under his eyelids. Fragile. Easily broken. Someone to protect. Someone who needed safeguarding.
Baek Sehee slowly reached out and took his hand.
'Crushed below the knee.'
The doctors' explanation replayed in her mind. Tibia and fibula. The two bones supporting the shin—utterly shattered. Fragments tangled in muscle and skin. Not just that. Major arteries passing through were severed. Calf muscles pulverized. Gastrocnemius, soleus. Muscle cells burst, releasing toxins into his bloodstream. They circulated, attacking his kidneys and triggering acute heart failure.
If Baek Sehee had been even a little later, Moon Yujin would have died from blood loss and cardiac arrest.
But she hadn't been late. The moment she held him and saw the wound, she'd used psychokinesis to precisely clamp the vessels and stop the bleeding. Then psychokinetic flight. Crashing out the Association HQ window with him in her arms. Two minutes. That's how long it took to reach Seoul Central University Hospital's ER.
The ER team rushed him into surgery. A 12-hour marathon operation.
The outcome? Moon Yujin survived. But they couldn't save his right leg. Irreparable. The doctors opted for amputation. Just below the knee, proximal tibia. They excised necrotic tissue, shaped the remaining bone, crafted a skin flap, and sutured it. That's how Moon Yujin lived.
The lead surgeons called it a miracle. But Baek Sehee knew better. This wasn't a miracle. She'd saved him. Only she could have, and she did. Baek Sehee was Moon Yujin's savior. Now, and forever into the future.
"...It's okay now, Yujin-ssi."
The corner of Baek Sehee's mouth twitched upward. The smile on her face looked strangely distorted.