Baths, Wine, and Venus (4)
Lee Ye-eun. A student at Gucheon Athletic University and once a promising skeet shooter on the shooting team, she still recalled that sharp, venomous voice with vivid clarity. 'Do you really think Oppa even cares about you?'
It had happened in the sauna. She hadn't been able to answer when Kang Ahyeon dragged her there and said those words. There had been many other things too, but the one that sank deepest into her heart was that. And it was true. Kang Hyun, her childhood friend, actively sought out danger and faced it head-on. But that was fine. Kang Hyun had the ability to do so. He was strong, an excellent shot, and a skilled fighter. His mind worked exceptionally well, at least when it came to combat. To survive, she believed staying close to Kang Hyun was best. Perhaps if she found herself in danger, he might help her. At least that was what she believed, and that was why she stayed. It wasn't as if she had no hidden motives. But the girl who believed all that could not believe the scene she had just witnessed.
'Really...?'
No, there had been signs. Before her confession, in those painful yet joyful days when she and Kang Hyun were simply friends. Whenever she approached him, Kang Ahyeon would watch her with that familiar, expressionless face. She could not have missed the sticky emotion contained in that gaze. She knew it well. Of course she knew it well. Her intuition had always been sharp. Naturally, she could not understand it. 'No matter what, they're family. Blood siblings.' She knew it was wrong. If anything was wrong, the cult itself was profoundly twisted, but the sins of a group and the sins of an individual ran on entirely different tracks. That was why she believed she held the advantage.
When she confessed to Kang Hyun, she told herself the rejection came from his trauma. She believed that. 'He said the cult leader called for him as a child and he nearly died, so that makes sense. If I just stay closer to him...' But it wasn't that simple. She liked Kang Hyun. It wasn't only his face, though his face mattered a great deal. His character mattered even more. Kang Hyun was the kind of person who couldn't be honest with himself yet was kind to others. If anyone in the cult could be called truly honest, it was him. Sometimes bold, sometimes ridiculous. At first she had looked after him like a younger brother close in age, but somewhere along the way she had fallen for him. Harboring that affection, she had watched his reactions when they were together and wondered. Maybe Kang Hyun liked her too. She waited for the right moment to confess and spent all her time with him. When they were in different classes she sought him out every break, closing the distance so other girls wouldn't dare approach. They walked home together after school, and in Gucheon Village where there wasn't much to do, they found whatever entertainment they could and enjoyed it side by side. The feeling of walking together with the setting sun at their backs was truly...
But what she had seen today threw her into confusion. She could not connect the Kang Hyun of the past with the Kang Hyun of now. The boy from back then—the one who hadn't answered her confession with 'I feel the same way' but who she believed would gladly say it one day if she managed to take him away from this place—seemed to no longer exist. She could not erase the scene she had spied from her mind. Breathing hard, she looked at the liquid she had spilled onto her own hand. Her face burned. Even more humiliating was the moment her eyes had met Kang Ahyeon's through the briefly opened door. And yet she herself had not stopped. Now, what was she supposed to do?
She stared down at her hand, then quickly hid it behind her back as the door opened.
“I’m heading out. Don’t stay in too long. Come out with Ye-eun when she’s done.”
“Okaaay~”
Her smiling sister looked positively cheerful. The fact that she didn’t frown even when he deliberately mentioned Ye-eun made it obvious. Was eating that really so enjoyable? The texture didn’t look appetizing at first glance. Sticky, white, and the smell was hard to place. It didn’t seem like it would taste good… Maybe it was simply a matter of taste? He decided it didn’t matter. If his sister ever looked like she was about to get in a bad mood, he could just feed her some. The logic of 'You eat it too, sister feels better.' It was useful information. When his sister tried to silently stab someone in the head with that terrifying expression, maybe dragging her to the bathroom and giving her a ration would calm her down? Pondering the endless possibilities, he stepped outside and saw a familiar face.
“Ye-eun.”
“Ah, Hyun-ah…”
Ye-eun hurriedly hid her hands behind her back. He looked at her curiously. What was that about?
“Did you eat something?”
“Uh, uh?”
“You hid your hands.”
“Ah, uh, no, it’s nothing like that…”
Ye-eun’s face flushed with panic. He stared at her, puzzled.
“Then what? Why hide it? Are we the kind of people who hide things from each other? We fought back-to-back with our lives on the line.”
“Th-that’s true, but… it’s just…”
“So what were you eating?”
“I told you I wasn’t eating anything…!”
Ye-eun glared at him, then hesitantly held out her reddened hand. It was…
“Water?”
“Th-there was something on it. I touched it and…”
“Then why hide it?”
“I don’t knooow…”
She sounded just like Ahyeon. Even as he thought that, he studied her hand. The liquid was on her middle and index fingers. Judging with his lofty Intelligence 6(1), this was definitely not water. What the hell was it?
“Sniff sniff.”
A sour smell brushed the tip of his nose. Strangely familiar. What was it? Curiosity rising, he was about to stick out his tongue when—
“D-don’t smell it! Why are you like this?!”
“Uh, I mean…”
He was only trying to figure out what it was by smelling it. Was that really worth panicking over? He was startled, but Ye-eun gritted her teeth and roughly wiped it on the towel wrapped around her.
“It smells like vinegar. Was it that unpleasant?”
“Ah, no… It wasn’t unpleasant… It’s embarrassing…”
Ye-eun’s face stayed red as she shyly averted her eyes. He didn’t understand her attitude but pretended he did.
“Besides, what if it came from a zombie’s body? What if you get infected…”
“Ah, good point. You’re so fucking smart.”
“What are you even saying…”
Ye-eun didn’t look particularly upset. That was a relief. He nodded.
“Then since there’s something on your hand, go wash up. Looks like Ahyeon’s planning to wash too.”
She usually stayed in for at least an hour, so by the time Ye-eun finished, she probably still wouldn’t be out. Thinking that, he nodded, but Ye-eun clutched the towel at her chest tightly and looked up at him.
“…Really? What about you, Hyun?”
Him? The strangely pleading look in her eyes made him pause.
“Well, I’ll get dressed and wait out here. Maybe browse Taeu-ham’s smartphone.”
“Ah…”
Her voice carried clear disappointment. He blinked, not understanding. Was there something disappointing about that? Did she really want to look at Taeu-ham’s phone that badly? Well, if it was Taeu-ham’s, he could see why. There were probably all sorts of fun, heartwarming videos. Before he could suggest anything to the hesitating Ye-eun, she spoke first.
“Hey… What do you think of Ahyeon?”
A completely unexpected question.
“Huh?”
“Kang Ahyeon. Your sister… What do you think of her?”
What did he think of her?
“She’s an idiot.”
There weren’t many other answers.
“If I’m not around, she’d probably collapse and die somewhere, the moron.”
“…Really?”
Ye-eun’s face somehow brightened. He still didn’t understand.
“That’s why her older brother has to protect her properly.”
“…Ah.”
He had said it that way. If he were going to kill her or abandon her, the chance to do so had passed long ago. As long as Ahyeon didn’t try to kill him, he planned to stay with her. She could keep growing through the system like him and cover the areas he lacked. Even without that, she was the only family member who actually felt like family. He didn’t know why Ye-eun sighed at that, though.
“…Then what do you think of me?”
Ye-eun asked next.
“A friend.”
A thought rose unbidden. An old memory. Even if he wanted to let it go without holding a grudge, that incident had been a shock.
“If you don’t only think of me as a friend, that is.”
The slightly accusing words drew a clear reaction. Her face went pale, then she mumbled and hung her head. Ye-eun let out a slightly gloomy sigh.
“I’ve always wanted to apologize for what happened back then.”
“Really?”
“Yes. I just… thought you felt the same way, but you didn’t, and I was so disappointed that… I did it without thinking. After that I kept wanting to apologize, but there was never a chance.”
Ye-eun glanced at the door and added, “Later, when I become a national representative and succeed and have no more business with the cult, I planned to take you out of here. And confess to you again then.”
“Confess again?”
“Yes. Again. Because I like you.”
That was… embarrassingly direct. When he mumbled, his eyes met Ye-eun’s. Black irises. Her sharp eyes curved softly.
“So… if it’s okay with you, Hyun. I want to keep being friends. No, that’s not all.”
She shook her head. When Ye-eun’s gaze met his squarely, the honest words finally came.
“Can you… protect me too?”
The world had ended. And it had ended thoroughly. The government had collapsed, zombies roamed everywhere, and some had become monsters called variants. In a world where even he could not guarantee his own survival, Ye-eun asked him that.
“Well… don’t you take care of yourself pretty well?”
“Not really… I make a lot of mistakes and have plenty of shortcomings…”
Ye-eun spoke in a hesitant, mumbling way that reminded him of Ahyeon.
“If you protected me, I think… it would be good.”
Lee Ye-eun. His childhood friend and the shooting athlete who had proven her skill on the rooftop. There was no reason to leave someone like her behind. Even if he couldn’t protect her as diligently as he did Ahyeon.
“Sure. It’s what I’ve been doing anyway.”
“…It’s a promise.”
Only then did Ye-eun smile brightly and slip past him into the bath. He listened to the sound of their murmuring conversation and the splash as she jumped into the water.
“Taeu-ham, I really don’t understand women at all.”
He looked at the hundreds of Taeu-ham selfies still saved on the smartphone and called out to its owner. The face of the person you miss most never fades, no matter how much time passes.
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