Chapter 343
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 343
Chapter Title: LA Under Siege
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[California]
[Los Angeles]
A camera in the sky showed a sweeping view of LA.
From the bustling beaches packed with people, to the palm tree-lined streets, to the game underway at Dodger Stadium, the crowded amusement parks, and the famous tourist attractions.
The camera panned across the city, capturing the smiling faces of its people, before closing in on one location.
It was a massive, pure-white building.
[Galleria Mall]
The faces of the people entering the diamond-shaped white building were also full of smiles.
[North Amusement Park]
The camera first turned to the amusement park on the north side.
The North Amusement Park was partially covered by a roof. Larger rides stood outside under the open sky, while smaller ones were situated underneath the covering so they could operate even in the rain.
The camera captured people wandering around with smiles on their faces, and the screams of those on a Gyro Drop as it plunged rapidly toward the ground.
Families with children spent a leisurely time together, the kids giggling at the costumed characters roaming about.
“Ah! My balloon!”
A balloon slipped from a child’s grasp and floated into the air. The parents, squinting against the bright sun, comforted their crestfallen child and headed off to buy ice cream.
The colorful balloon rose higher and higher into the blue sky.
[East Cinema]
The camera, after showing families and couples who had come to watch a movie, moved on.
[West Food Court]
The area was filled with families trying to decide where to eat.
A child was seen pulling on their father’s hand, while a couple discussed a list of popular restaurants.
“I want french fries!”
“What do you want to drink?”
Behind the mother ordering a drink for her child, a television screen was visible.
The announcer on the TV began to speak.
<International terrorist organization… has secured the custody of…>
A peaceful day in LA.
It was news that no one paid any mind to.
Watching the peaceful, everyday scene, Song Yujung, who had a feeling she knew what was about to happen, swallowed hard. The more beautiful the peace, the more anxious she felt about the impending disaster.
[South Shopping Area]
The south gate of the Galleria Mall appeared on the screen.
Many people were coming and going. The camera followed the crowd inside the south gate.
Amidst the noisy shopping area, one group stood out.
There they are!
Song Yujung’s and Im Yena’s eyes lit up as they saw the people in familiar yet strange attire.
Kim Jongho, dressed in an orange hiking outfit like a neighborhood dad, laughed heartily.
“Hahaha. That’s what I’m saying. My son won first place in the national English speaking contest!”
“The grand prize. It was the grand prize, honey.”
“Right, right. The grand prize!”
The Korean, so clear and distinct, made it feel like watching a Korean movie. The audience was drawn in by the natural, life-like acting of Kim Jongho and the other actors.
Trailing far behind the colorful group was a boy, walking alone.
Lee Hyunwoo, a high school student wearing sunglasses he’d bought online, excited for his first trip abroad, let out a deep sigh and slowly distanced himself from the group.
“Hyunwoo! Son!”
Hyunwoo, who had been walking as if to say, ‘I don’t know these people,’ sighed again and walked back toward his parents.
“What? Do you need me to translate?”
“Nope. Your dad has this thing called ‘body language,’ so I’m fine!”
The audience chuckled at the father’s comical gestures.
“...Just call me.”
At Hyunwoo’s words, his father chuckled and grabbed his right hand, prying it open. A white envelope was placed on his open palm. Hyunwoo tilted his head, confused by the mysterious envelope.
“Your mom and I are going to look around with our friends, so you go have some fun by yourself. I heard there’s an amusement park here.”
“...When did you find that out?”
It seemed he knew that Hyunwoo had been disappointed about not being able to go to a famous amusement park because of their parents’ choice of a package tour.
“I asked the travel agent. You know what time the bus leaves, right?”
“...Yeah.”
“See you then, son.”
His father’s hand was hot as he patted Hyunwoo’s shoulder. Hyunwoo knew the roughness of that palm all too well. For some reason, his eyes began to burn.
“This trip was really fun. Thanks.”
“...I’ll send you on another one next time.”
His father’s sincere words made Hyunwoo’s throat tighten. He sniffled and replied.
“Yeah. Mom said she wants to go to England. I want to go to Russia. I’ve always wanted to do the transcontinental trip.”
At that, Hyunwoo burst out laughing. His father smiled along with him and said.
“Have fun.”
“You too, Dad.”
A smile lingered on Hyunwoo’s face as he watched the adults walk away.
* * *
[Galleria Mall Security Office]
In an office filled with CCTV monitors, people were busy scanning the screens. The security chief spotted something on one of the monitors.
“That kid. Haven’t they been standing there for a while?”
“A lost child, maybe? I’ll contact a staff member right away.”
One of the guards picked up a radio.
* * *
“Hi. My name is Cynthia. What’s your name?”
“...Ian Weaver.”
Cynthia Lindberg, a Galleria Mall information staff member, smiled as she observed Ian Weaver. He wasn't crying or looking anxious, so it seemed he hadn’t been lost for long.
“I work here. How about we go over there and wait for your parents with me?”
At Cynthia Lindberg's words, Ian Weaver’s eyes darted around.
-‘Wait here…’
A faint voice drifted from the speaker.
It was a line that could have been missed, but the subtitles displayed it clearly, and Song Yujung saw the sentence distinctly.
‘...What was that?’
On the screen, Cynthia Lindberg wore a troubled expression as Ian Weaver shook his head.
* * *
It wasn't unusual for a child to get lost in the Galleria Mall. The child's parents would soon come to the lost and found center. The security chief, who had been watching the CCTVs while drinking coffee, stood up with a puzzled look and approached the monitors.
“...How long has that bag been there?”
At the chief’s words, everyone stood up and looked at the monitor. The colorful, childish bag just looked like something a kid had lost.
“...I’m not sure.”
A wave of tension filled the security office.
It could just be an ordinary lost item, but…
“Go check it out.”
“Yes, sir.”
A few guards went out, and they also contacted the guards outside via radio. Watching the guards move quickly, the security chief’s gaze returned to the monitors.
Like finding a hidden picture, things he hadn't noticed before started to appear. ‘Lost items’ of different shapes and sizes were placed strategically in front of pillars and walls.
!
Just as the security chief realized this and was about to move,
BOOM!
An explosion roared.
It came from the south gate, where they had first spotted a lost item and sent someone to investigate.
* * *
Before heading to the amusement park, Hyunwoo wanted to pick out the presents for his parents that he had decided on back in Korea. He glanced back occasionally to check on them and burst out laughing at the sight of his dad earnestly attempting body language.
“Welcome.”
“Here…”
Just then,
BOOM!!
A massive sound erupted.
The deafening roar, so loud it made his ears ring, caused Hyunwoo, the employee, and everyone nearby to freeze in shock.
“...An earthquake?”
“No. This is…”
There was no shaking of the ground like in an earthquake. The products on the shelves remained perfectly in place.
But a subtle vibration could be felt.
Someone swallowed hard.
“...An explosion.”
A peaceful daily life. A happy moment.
A bomb terror attack that no one could have ever imagined had just occurred.
BOOM!!
The explosive sound thundering from the speakers made the audience flinch involuntarily.
The screen showed the entrance of the south gate collapsing. People screamed and shouted. Smoke billowed up, and the entrance began to crumble, likely due to a pillar being blown away by the force of the bomb.
Fire and police departments, having received the reports, dispatched vehicles all at once. Sirens wailed, filling the air with a sense of dread.
And then,
BOOM!
A large supermarket on the opposite side of the Galleria Mall was engulfed in an explosion.
Song Yujung and Im Yena gasped, covering their mouths at the sudden turn of events.
The audience collectively held their breath.
Debris flying from the supermarket crushed a car parked in the lot. A man with a frantic expression scrambled out of the car. A faint broadcast could be heard from the car’s broken radio.
[Demanding the immediate release of… we…]
[We are holding… as hostage…]
BOOM!
Dodger Stadium exploded.
BOOM!
An amusement park exploded.
From the radio of the man watching the scene unfold with a devastated expression, a harsh voice came through.
[I’ll say it again.]
The voice became clearer.
[We are holding ‘LA’ hostage.]
Crazy…!
Song Yujung stared at the screen, her face hardened.
Black smoke was rising from various locations in the LA she had just seen from the sky. It was impossible to guess how many bombs had been planted, and where.
* * *
Amidst the bomb terrors erupting across the city, the camera focused on the vehicles rushing through the streets from above. The tiny, toy-like fire trucks and police cars moved busily to save people.
Song Yujung swallowed dryly.
Seeing the vehicles scatter in all directions, rather than converging on one spot, filled her with an unsettling anxiety.
The camera returned to the Galleria Mall.
The people inside, oblivious to the situation outside, were quickly moving away from the south gate.
In the Galleria Mall parking lot, people were crying, staring at the building where their family, friends, and lovers were still trapped. A woman holding her daughter stared blankly at the mall.
Smoke rose. The building's remains were a chaotic tangle.
BOOM!
The sound of another explosion jolted Hyunwoo back to his senses, and he started heading toward his parents.
Song Yujung clasped her hands together.
She understood why Hyunwoo was running in the opposite direction of the evacuating crowd, but her heart ached for him.
[Everyone, please evacuate from the south gate…!]
“H-Honey. What about Hyunwoo? Our Hyunwoo?”
“He’ll be fine. The amusement park is on the north side. Let’s just get out of here first…!”
Just then.
Amidst the fleeing crowd, her parents saw their son, the lone figure moving against the current.
Their son, who had been coming toward them, crying like a lost child, broke into a bright smile when his eyes met theirs.
But the sight of their son’s relieved smile made their hearts plummet.
No…!
A silent scream echoed through the audience. It was understandable, yet so frustrating.
“Lee Hyunwoo!!”
His father’s face contorted fiercely as he shouted.
Hyunwoo flinched at his father’s roar. But he didn’t stop walking toward them.
Something massive fell from the ceiling, blocking the path between them. It looked like it would crush Hyunwoo at any moment. His mother, pale with terror, screamed.
“Hyunwoo! Don’t come this way! Go back!!”
“M-Mom…”
“Lee Hyunwoo! Get out of here! Go!” his father shouted, gripping his wife’s hand tightly as she tried to let go to send him away. His father’s sweaty hand was trembling.
“Lee Hyunwoo! Go! Don’t come this way!”
Screams were heard. The rate of collapse was alarming.
“Go—!”
CRASH!
With a terrifying noise, the sight of his teary-eyed father and his frozen mother was completely obscured by a fallen pillar. The pile of rubble that now completely blocked his path made Hyunwoo’s breath catch in his throat.
The audience held their breath as well.
Even as the scene of destruction unfolded on the screen, there was no sound. Not the sound of falling debris, not the screams of the people. It was as if time had stopped along with Hyunwoo.
Hyunwoo’s face turned deathly pale, as if all the blood had drained from his body.
“M-Mom… D-Dad!”
As if he had forgotten all other words, Hyunwoo began to dig at the pile of rubble, crying out for his parents.
He clawed at the stones, oblivious to his fingernails breaking on the rough debris. A crimson stain, like the despair in his heart, was left on the white wall.
No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No…!
The sight was heartbreaking, yet impossible to look away from. A sob was heard from somewhere in the theater. The red handprints left a mark on the audience's hearts. Thump, thump. Their hearts pounded rapidly, as if in sync with Hyunwoo's anxiety.
As the audience was completely absorbed in Hyunwoo’s plight,
“Hey! Snap out of it!!”
A voice cut through the haze.
Just then, a hand grabbed Hyunwoo’s blood-soaked shoulder.
The rough, hot hand made Hyunwoo gasp. A sliver of hope made his heart beat faster, so much faster.
“Da—”
“We have to get out of here!”
It wasn't his father.
At the sight of a strange Black man’s face, Hyunwoo’s heart stopped with a thud.
* * *
Jackson Miller, carrying the suddenly unconscious Hyunwoo on his back, walked along a path illuminated by flickering lights. The explosions seemed to have subsided.
“...I think I said the wrong thing.”
Jackson Miller muttered, feeling the heavy weight on his back.
In the urgency of the moment, he hadn't thought it through. There was no way an Asian kid who looked like a tourist would be in the Galleria Mall alone.
“He must have been here with friends or family.”
Jackson Miller looked at the two hands dangling limply in front of him. All ten fingernails were broken and shattered; not a single one was intact. The blood from the cuts on his fingers had dried stiff.
Beyond that wall,
there must have been people he had to save, even if it meant destroying his hands like this. His own words had likely been the trigger that caused the boy to lose consciousness.
“I’m sorry.”
As he walked, Jackson Miller’s eyes caught a dangling sign attached to the ceiling.
‘The nearest exit from here is…’
Letting out a breath, Jackson Miller started walking again. His destination was the east cinema, the closest exit.
As he moved, Jackson Miller spotted a group of people huddled together. Seeing their exhausted faces as they sat on the ground, he let out a breath and assessed the situation. The people merely glanced at his arrival before looking away.
“Why is everyone gathered here?”
Jackson Miller spoke to the person closest to him.
It was a woman wearing the top of a Galleria Mall employee uniform, but with sweatpants instead of a skirt. A young boy was next to her, which made her easier to approach.
Jackson Miller gently lowered Hyunwoo to the ground.
“A bomb went off in the south shopping area, and right after, another one went off at the east gate where the broadcasting room is.”
“And then, they said there was an explosion in the west food court, too. The only exit left is the north gate.”
Cynthia Lindberg’s explanation shocked the audience as well. They hadn’t been shown the situation outside for a while, so they didn't know the other gates had also been bombed. This made them feel more immersed in the survivors’ plight, and Song Yujung couldn’t take her eyes off the screen.
When Raymond Wish found a passage, a clamor arose as people shouted that they wanted to go first.
In the midst of it, Ian Weaver took Hyunwoo’s hand and held it tight.
The warm, gentle touch made Hyunwoo flinch. He lifted his heavy eyelids.
A young child with clear eyes was looking at him. When their eyes met, the child smiled brightly, and,
Smack!
Hyunwoo slapped the child’s hand away without thinking.
Ian Weaver, who might have been startled, simply sat quietly beside Hyunwoo as if he were used to it.
Raymond Wish calmed the people down and spoke.
“Let’s grab anything useful around here. Food would be good, and anything we can use for light. If you have room after that, grab some clothes too.”
At his words, people began to rummage through their surroundings.
The power was still on. A few lights flickered. Cynthia Lindberg, knowing Ian Weaver had a backpack, borrowed it for a moment.
“I’ll give it back when I find something else we can use as a bag. You can have the snacks, Ian.”
“Okay.”
Jackson Miller and Cynthia Lindberg packed items they thought would be necessary into Ian Weaver’s backpack.
Since there were many stores nearby, there were quite a few intact items. Water bottles from a vending machine were rolling on the floor.
After filling the small backpack to the brim, Jackson Miller and Cynthia Lindberg grabbed a few other things and followed the group of survivors.
* * *
Escaping easily was, of course, an impossible dream.
BOOM!!
Just as Raymond Wish, who was assessing the situation, was about to shout something, the floor gave way. Before the people standing on it could react, a black darkness swallowed them whole.
* * *
After falling into the basement, the atmosphere turned grim.
The beam from the flashlight in Raymond Wish’s hand flickered ominously. The audience, swept up in the on-screen atmosphere, held their breath without realizing it.
The ground shook, and Hyunwoo collapsed. His pained groan echoed from the speakers. The camera closed in on Raymond Wish. His twitching hand and arm filled the screen.
Unease.
Hyunwoo’s pained sounds grated on the audience’s nerves, and the visible instability of Raymond Wish made their hearts beat irregularly.
And then,
“Can’t you be quiet!”
“Shut up! You think you’re the only one who’s not okay?!”
Raymond Wish exploded, grabbing Hyunwoo by the collar.
Hyunwoo’s head lolled weakly. The audience gasped, covering their mouths at the sight of the lifeless look in Hyunwoo’s eyes on screen.
An ill wind of anxiety blew through the once-calm group of survivors.
* * *
“...We’ve been here before.”
At Jackson Miller’s words after looking around, Raymond Wish and Cynthia Lindberg let out deep sighs. In the dark basement, with blocked passages and broken signs, heading north had its limits.
“Maybe… it would be okay to just stay put here?”
“Until someone comes to rescue us.”
Jackson Miller agreed with Cynthia Lindberg’s suggestion.
“There are four floors above us.”
At Raymond Wish’s cracked voice, Cynthia Lindberg handed him a water bottle from Ian Weaver’s bag.
They had lost more than half of the supplies they had gathered in the sudden fall. They had to conserve everything.
“If the Galleria Mall has completely collapsed, we’ll have to wait for the people outside to break through four floors of collapsed walls to find us. On top of that, they’ll be looking for other survivors, so it won’t be fast.”
Raymond Wish couldn’t predict how much time it would take to rescue the survivors on the upper floors and then make their way down to the basement.
“Then what about the north side?”
“That’s the amusement park, so there’s only a single layer for a ceiling. Plus, it’s outdoors, so they can bring rescue equipment closer, which means the search for survivors will probably be fastest there.”
Raymond Wish’s words were certainly convincing.
Cynthia Lindberg took the water bottle from Raymond Wish, who had only wet his throat to prepare for what was ahead, and sighed lightly.
“Then the problem is how we get to the north side.”
“If only we had a compass…”
At Jackson Miller’s words, Ian Weaver, who was sitting next to Hyunwoo, looked down at his own wrist.
A faint memory, a quiet hospital room.
The face of the man who had fastened the watch on his arm flashed through his mind.
‘Ian has to protect Mom now.’
Ian Weaver’s gaze shifted to the huddled form of Hyunwoo.
“I have one.”
“Hm?”
“A compass.”
The three adults looked at Ian Weaver with surprised expressions.
Ian Weaver took off the watch from his wrist and handed it to Cynthia Lindberg. Discovering the small compass inside the watch, Cynthia Lindberg’s face lit up with a smile.
* * *
The peace was short-lived.
The anxiety they had been desperately suppressing finally erupted.
“Aaaargh!”
At Hyunwoo’s fit, Raymond Wish exploded.
Faced with Raymond Wish’s terrifying demeanor, Jackson Miller and Cynthia Lindberg blocked his path. Ian Weaver quickly moved to cover the convulsing Hyunwoo with his own body.
“Please… please just shut up! It’s ringing in my head, I feel like I’m going crazy!”
“We don’t have… time for this…!”
Raymond Wish tore at his own hair as if having a seizure. In his tormented state, there was no trace of the reliable man they had first met.
“My family is in the food court… I have to go save them…!”
Family.
“So… so please…”
“...Just be quiet…!”
Silence fell.
Only the sound of Raymond Wish’s and Hyunwoo’s sobs seemed to echo.
“...I’m… I’m sorry… I’m sorry… I’m really… sorry… I’m sorry… I’m sorry…”
“I’m sorry… I… I can’t control it… I’m really sorry… I’m so sorry…”
Hic… sob…
A sob, impossible to tell whose it was, flowed from the speakers.
The audience was frozen in their seats.
The sight of Raymond Wish huddled in front of Hyunwoo brought tears to the eyes of the audience members who had just been viewing him unfavorably for his outburst. Those who had been annoyed with Hyunwoo for being a hindrance to their escape also felt their hearts grow heavy at his repeated apologies.
Truly.
It was no one’s fault.
* * *
CRASH!
‘Thank god.’
Ian can live.
Hyunwoo placed a hand on the wall that blocked his path to support his trembling body.
Beyond the cold wall.
Just as his mom and dad had disappeared, he too would…
The black darkness slowly grabbed Hyunwoo’s feet, climbing up his ankles, up his legs. A thick terror swallowed Hyunwoo, when—
“What are you doing?!”
A loud voice boomed, and something suddenly entered his field of vision.
It was a hand.
“Get over here!”
In his blurry vision, Hyunwoo saw Raymond Wish’s eyes and, without thinking, reached out and grabbed the proffered hand.
Just then.
It was the hand that had so desperately wanted to reach his mom and dad.
Ugh…
Only after Hyunwoo had climbed over the stone wall, holding onto Raymond Wish’s hand, did Song Yujung let out the breath she had been holding. She felt Im Yena stir in the seat next to her. Her unblinking eyes felt stiff. But she couldn’t tear her gaze away from the screen for even a second. Her palms were already slick with sweat.
Ian Weaver hugged Hyunwoo tightly as he collapsed onto the floor.
Raymond Wish let out a heavy breath and rolled his stiff shoulders. Cynthia Lindberg checked Hyunwoo’s bleeding leg, and Jackson Miller surveyed their surroundings.
“Can you move?”
“...Yes.”
“If it’s too hard, say so right away.”
Ian Weaver refused to leave Hyunwoo’s side.
Jackson Miller gently coaxed Ian Weaver and lifted him onto his back. His heart had dropped when he’d let go of that small hand earlier.
“Let’s go.”
Raymond Wish took the lead again. The survivors walked along the narrow path. Ian Weaver was on Jackson Miller’s back, and when Jackson got tired, he held Cynthia Lindberg’s hand.
When the path looked a little dangerous, he was carried on Raymond Wish’s back. Raymond, who had roughly hoisted Ian onto his back, walked on in silence.
Jackson Miller supported Hyunwoo.
With only a single flashlight and a phone for light, the claustrophobic environment was a terrible situation for Hyunwoo, who was suffering from severe psychological shock.
‘He’s not enduring… it’s like he’s completely checked out.’
Perhaps because of the effort he’d made to hold on earlier, Hyunwoo now seemed to be in a daze, capable of nothing more than walking. Jackson Miller sighed and squeezed Hyunwoo’s cold hand.
“My family is outside.”
Family.
Hoping to reignite even a little of Hyunwoo’s will to live, Jackson Miller deliberately brought up his trigger. It could make the situation worse, but Jackson thought it was the best option right now.
As Jackson Miller began to speak, the other survivors, who had been walking in silence, pricked up their ears. Hyunwoo, too, registered the faintly audible voice.
“My daughter’s birthday is in a few days. I told them I left my phone behind and snuck in to buy her a present… and then I got trapped like this.”
A brief glimpse of Jackson Miller’s day flashed by.
In the Galleria Mall parking lot, a little girl giggled as she watched her father smack his forehead with an “oops” expression. His wife also stifled a laugh at her husband’s clumsy acting.
“They must be very worried.”
Cynthia Lindberg spoke up.
“I work here. My family is probably watching the news at home. My grandmother has a weak heart… I hope she wasn’t too shocked.”
A short clip showed Cynthia Lindberg leaving for work with a bright smile. She was shown in her uniform, kindly assisting customers.
At Cynthia Lindberg’s words, Raymond Wish and Jackson Miller looked surprised. There was no mention of Ian Weaver.
“Then… what’s your relationship with Ian?”
“Ian was all alone, so I was going to take him to the lost and found center. This place is so big, we get at least one lost child every day. I was about to make an announcement…”
“I’m not lost. Mom said if I waited, she’d come…”
Ian Weaver, who had been clinging tightly to Raymond Wish’s back, spoke up. His actions made Raymond’s posture a bit uncomfortable, and he grimaced, about to open his mouth.
“...But she might not come.”
If it hadn't been for Ian's words.
The adults fell silent for a moment. Hyunwoo, who had regained some of his senses at the word ‘family,’ also listened to Ian’s voice.
Ian Weaver, his face buried in Raymond Wish’s back, continued.
“She started to hate me because I couldn’t protect her from the mister. Dad… Dad… asked me to protect Mom…”
Raymond Wish gritted his teeth as he felt his back grow damp.
Right.
Why hadn’t he realized something was wrong?
A child who doesn’t cry in a situation like this is a good kid?
Cynthia Lindberg, Jackson Miller, and Hyunwoo all realized it.
This was a situation that even Raymond Wish, an adult, and Hyunwoo, who was bigger than Ian Weaver, couldn’t endure. How could this small child have possibly endured it?
“I’m not scared of the dark because I’m always in the closet when I get in trouble. Mom is scared of the dark, like my brother. She hurts like my brother because the mister always hits her.”
Ian Weaver poured out the thoughts he had never been able to tell anyone.
He had a brother who looked like his mom, and an adult who looked like the mister but would offer his back. The confined ‘now,’ where the ‘mister’ couldn’t come, gave Ian Weaver a sense of relief.
Hyunwoo stopped walking without realizing it. The adults did too.
In the quiet darkness, a voice filled with a warm tenderness was heard.
“Mister.”
“...What.”
“Don’t hit him.”
“...I won’t.”
For Raymond Wish, it was just baffling.
...He had grabbed his collar, but he had never once hit Hyunwoo.
“And don’t yell, either.”
Raymond Wish obediently kept his mouth shut.
“My ears hurt, so I can only hear a little, but he can hear everything, so it must be really scary. It was really scary for me when I was little, too.”
At the child’s words, Raymond Wish let out a small curse.
“Let’s rest for a bit.”
Unlike how he had roughly picked him up before, Raymond Wish slowly, very carefully, set Ian Weaver down on the ground.
Well, even if he was a somewhat kind mister, a grown man was still scary.
As soon as he was off the back, Ian Weaver ran to Hyunwoo, who resembled his mom.
The way he flinched and tried to keep him away, his pale face—he was the brother who looked like his mom. He had even saved him earlier, like his mom.
‘Does he like Ian now?’
Seeing Ian Weaver hesitate as he ran over, Hyunwoo slowly opened his trembling arms. Ian Weaver beamed and ran into Hyunwoo’s embrace.
For the one who had been in dark agony for no short amount of time,
at the touch of that small but brave warmth, tears streamed down Hyunwoo’s face.