Get on the Same Boat (2)
Get on the Same Boat (2)
“Wh-What! A motel?! Are you out of your mind? We’re not kids anymore, we’re full-grown adults, and you want us to—alone together—what kind of fucked-up bullshit is...?”
“Bullshit?”
Han Jae-jung let out a soft sigh and snarked back.
“We’re not exactly in any shape for bullshit... and more importantly, a sick woman and a sick guy meet up—what exactly are we supposed to do? Don’t get weird ideas.”
“Then why did you bring me to a motel...?”
Jo Ah-yoon stopped mid-sentence and clutched her head. The aftereffects of the fever still lingered in her body. Raising her voice led straight to a headache.
“Ughh....”
“See. That’s what happens when you start shrieking first thing in the morning.”
While rubbing her head, Jo Ah-yoon soon realized it wasn’t just her head that hurt—her throat did too. On top of that, her legs and arms ached with muscle pain. She quickly took stock of her body.
Her clothes were badly disheveled. The hoodie she’d worn yesterday had been stripped off entirely, leaving her in just her underwear on top.
“Y-You shithead!”
Jo Ah-yoon yanked the blanket up to her shoulders and screamed.
“Not gonna do any bullshit my ass... y-you creep! You bastard!”
“You’ve got to be kidding me....”
Han Jae-jung clutched his own head too.
“Stop yelling... you’re not the only one hurting....”
“...?! I-It hurt? What did I even do... was I, y’know, that rough...?”
“You really forgot everything, huh. Just how sick were you.”
His voice drained of energy, Han Jae-jung muttered and tossed over his phone.
On the screen, a video was already playing.
-Ah-yoon...? Hey, wait, where are you—whoa, what’s wrong with her.
Han Jae-jung, who had been fiddling with the camera, looked somewhere and bolted. The camera soon showed Jo Ah-yoon in the shower room. Mercifully, she was still dressed. And that was the problem.
Sshhhhaaaa.
In the footage, Jo Ah-yoon was showering with her clothes on.
-Ueeehhh....
-Ah, fucking hell, seriously... Hey! HEY! What the hell are you doing, you idiot!
After setting his phone on a shelf, Han Jae-jung rushed over to Jo Ah-yoon. Before long, the screen went black and only the audio remained.
The harsh sound of water continued, along with Han Jae-jung’s horrified shouting.
-Gotta shower... the sweat....
-What kind of nonsense is this, seriously...!
-Oppa, I need the bathroom....
-Oh for fuck’s sake, hey, take your clothes off. Hey!
Gradually piecing together the whole story, Jo Ah-yoon covered her face—completely differently than a moment ago.
“...You get it now?”
Letting out a long breath, Han Jae-jung stopped the video.
“I figured you might get the wrong idea, so I made sure to leave a recording. Real lucky I did.”
Even as his pounding headache ground on, she did her best to recall what she’d done last night. But absolutely nothing came back.
“Ah... I really did that...? No way....”
“You saw it with your own eyes and heard it with your own ears, and you’re still in denial. How foolish.”
Han Jae-jung clicked his tongue. Jo Ah-yoon had nothing to say. She pulled the blanket over her head. Before the blanket hid it, her face was bright red.
“Th-Th-Then! Why... did you bring me to a motel?”
“By the time I could get up properly, it was already evening. The clinics were all closed—best I could do was grab a few meds from a pharmacy... and going to the ER wasn’t an option either, since they’d already be packed today.”
The thunderstorm had been a deluge. Moving through that, there were very few people who’d come out unscathed. Even though the attack happened on the city’s outskirts, the casualties were substantial.
By now the emergency room would be overflowing. Some fever-driven illness was obviously not going to be considered urgent.
“Getting to your place from there was way too far, and I didn’t have your door code anyway. My place has awful security and hygiene. And it was even farther. So... I brought you to a nearby motel so you could at least get some proper rest....”
Laying out the chain of events that had led them to the motel, Han Jae-jung clicked his tongue awkwardly.
“And here we are. You feeling okay now?”
“I still hurt.”
“You’ll probably hurt for the rest of the day. I’m the same.”
Jo Ah-yoon lowered the blanket just enough to peek her eyes out. His clothes were filthy, and deep exhaustion was written all around his eyes.
“...I’m sorry.”
“What do you have to be sorry for. Being sick is miserable enough without having to apologize.”
Ah, let out a little exclamation, and Han Jae-jung flashed a mischievous grin.
“Now that I think about it, I guess we’ve seen each other naked now.”
“Aaaagh! I’m so fucking embarrassed, goddammiiiit!!!!”
“Hahahaha! Now we’re a real fucked-up pair.”
“Work on your spacing, you son of a bitch!”
Jo Ah-yoon yanked the blanket back over her head. Han Jae-jung’s laughter rang out, drowning the morning birdsong. His smile lingered just as long as the flush on Jo Ah-yoon’s face stayed deep red.
Once Han Jae-jung’s laughter stopped, Jo Ah-yoon made a request, her voice buzzing from inside the blanket.
“I want to get dressed.”
“Okay.”
“Get my hoodie.”
“Got it.”
He brought the clothes. From inside the blanket, where she’d snatched them away, the rustling of fabric sounded.
“Pfft.”
Finished dressing, Jo Ah-yoon finally emerged from the blanket. Whether it was from being under the covers or because she hadn’t shaken off all the embarrassment, her face was still flamingo-pink. She couldn’t quite meet Han Jae-jung’s eyes, and after turning her head away, she murmured woefully.
“...Sorry.”
Han Jae-jung let out a short laugh.
“I already told you, you don’t need to say that. It’s not like being sick is your fault....”
“Maybe it is my fault. After all, I chose to....”
Jo Ah-yoon stopped mid-sentence and closed her mouth. Then she looked at the metal sphere. At the cold weapon-system that had become, for all intents and purposes, her mascot.
[What’re you looking at?]
“Heh, yeah.”
Despite its cold exterior, it sure had an intensely fiery personality.
“Oppa.”
“What?”
“You’re not gonna yell at me?”
Han Jae-jung wasn’t oblivious to everything packed into that single question. Jo Ah-yoon had reclaimed a star’s power. And not in the form of a magical girl—in the form of a monster.
For Han Jae-jung, who’d wanted her to avoid fighting, this was not welcome news.
To Jo Ah-yoon, who was looking at him anxiously, Han Jae-jung raised his hand. Thinking he might flick her forehead, Jo Ah-yoon tensed up and squeezed her eyes shut. But defying that tension, a gentle touch settled on her head.
“Why would I yell at you.”
Han Jae-jung gently stroked her hair, as if soothing a child.
Head-patting had a notorious reputation as something women hated, but Jo Ah-yoon accepted the touch with unusual docility. Like a purring cat showing a bit of affection, she closed her eyes and pursed her lips primly.
“I told you, if that was your choice, I’d respect it. If my Jo Ah-yoon, whom I happen to jo-adore, wants to do this, why would I ever stop you.”
‘Jo Ah-yoon whom I jo-adore’—it was a bit of wordplay Han Jae-jung often enjoyed. He’d devised it to get closer to Jo Ah-yoon, who used to get so tense around him, but it had stuck and he kept using it even now, well into adulthood.
Jo Ah-yoon didn’t dislike it. If anyone else had used her name to tease her, her reaction would have been very different. But in Han Jae-jung’s words, the part that mattered wasn’t so much the play on her name as the ‘jo-adore’ part.
It had always been that way. He’d always spoken her name with affection. From back when she was a bullied little kid, all the way to now, when she was a full-grown adult.
And just as always, Jo Ah-yoon was happy to hear it.
Even now.
She pushed her head into Han Jae-jung’s stroking hand, nuzzling against it and clinging to him.
“Huh? What’s gotten into you.”
“If you’re not gonna yell at me, then praise me.”
If not a scolding, then a reward. A simple proposition.
“Hah... you’re not in much of a position to be calling me shameless, you know?”
Chuckling softly, Han Jae-jung ruffled her hair more roughly.
“Yeah, thank you. For saving me. For looking after me. If it weren’t for you, I’d really be dead. When did the Jo Ah-yoon who used to cry all the time get this dependable.”
The rougher touch was practically grabbing and shaking her head.
“Now you’re the one leading me. You’re amazing. You really grew up well.”
“Aaaagh, stop it!”
“Mm, you asked for this.”
“M-More gently! You know what I mean, right?”
“I like it rough.”
“Bullshit. Ow, that really hurts. Hey, hey!”
“’Hey’?”
“Oppa, be nicer to me!”
“That’s better.”
After a bout of rough handling and warm profanities, Han Jae-jung finally took his hand off her head. Jo Ah-yoon straightened her disheveled hair.
“Ugh, jeez....”
“It was already messed up anyway.”
Han Jae-jung replied shamelessly, sidestepping Jo Ah-yoon’s sharp glare. But only for a moment—soon he met her eyes.
“...What?”
Jo Ah-yoon frowned and asked why he was staring like that.
“No, it’s just... is this really the Jo Ah-yoon I know?”
“You picking a fight?”
“That’s not what I meant. Like I said earlier, it’s because I’m so proud of you.”
Clicking his tongue, Han Jae-jung repeated himself.
“So proud....”
Han Jae-jung then scrubbed his face with his hands a couple of times. A dry wash of irritation and discontent.
“Ah-yoon.”
His tone turned serious.
“From now on, you won’t be welcomed by people anymore either. We’re not human, not magical girls, not monsters—everyone’s going to suspect us and threaten us. So....”
A soft laugh escaped Jo Ah-yoon.
“You’re gonna say let’s not get hurt by it. I know. Oppa, I’ve been cussed out plenty.”
“No. Let’s not hurt each other.”
Han Jae-jung hooked his right index finger and left index finger together, making a ring-like shape.
“Between us, who know each other’s identities and pasts, let’s stand together as much as we can. Let’s take care of each other. Let’s not doubt each other, threaten each other—let’s always be on the same side. That’s what I wanted to say.”
“....”
“Because now, it’s like we’ve gotten onto the same boat with no way off.”
A community of fate. That would be the right way to put it.
Two people with belts that let them transform into monsters.
Two people who could belong to both human and monster society, and be excluded by both.
Spilled water can’t be put back. Especially if the cup’s owner poured it out herself.
Jo Ah-yoon’s transformation was something she’d decided for herself.
She wanted strength, and so she’d gained it.
That’s why Han Jae-jung didn’t reproach her and instead declared his solidarity.
It was the moment their bond became something real—beyond mere senior and junior, beyond family.
Han Jae-jung placed his hand over Jo Ah-yoon’s.
“Ah-yoon. Where do you think would be a good spot for our café?”
On the topic of opening the café—something he had been completely lukewarm about until yesterday—he now jumped in with an active attitude.
“I’ve got a few candidates... wanna check them out right after we check out?”
“How about you get better first, then we’ll talk.”
“Whhhy~ I’m totally fine now. Oh, but let’s cross that place from yesterday off the list.”
“That’s a good idea. Hearing birds or thunder there would probably give me trauma.”
“Right.”
Right up until they checked out, the two of them sat on the bed and talked for a long, long time.
**
“Fuck... fuck....”
In a shabby village neighborhood full of run-down houses, someone was sprinting through the streets from early morning. His breathing and footsteps looked frantic.
“H-Help me! Please, save me!”
He cried out for someone, anyone, to help, but no one came forward. Only the cold sounds of curtains closing and doors locking rang out.
“You pieces of shit... are you even human?! Why won’t anyone help me! We’re all people! People, and yet—!”
“Heh heh, now what kind of talk is that.”
Out of breath, his steps gradually slowed, and behind him, three figures walked up leisurely.
They had human shapes, but their heads were not human. They had a grotesque appearance, as if someone had taken the heads off statues and placed them upon their necks.
“That’s exactly why they won’t help. Who’s gonna stick their neck out for someone else’s death. The world’s way too dangerous these days. Stick your neck out wrong and you’re the only one who ends up dead.”
The one in the center stretched.
“Oof, I can’t get used to the time difference. How is it morning already.”
“Eldest Brother, what should we do?”
“’What should we do,’ what do you mean.”
He sneered lightly, then approached the man who’d been running. The man pulled a lump of metal from inside his coat. A shape anyone in the modern world would recognize. A gun.
“D-Don’t come any closer! Stay back!”
“Goodness, mister. What’re you doing. How’re you gonna kill a monster with something like that.”
“I said stay back!!!”
BANG—!
The merciless gunshot rang out, and one person collapsed.
It wasn’t the one who’d been shot.
The man holding the gun lay sprawled on the roadside, his head blown open. Casually brushing the blood off his shirt, the statue-headed man stood up.
“Eugh, disgusting. Let’s go, boys.”
“Yes, Brother.”
“Understood, Brother.”
Then they continued on their way.
They were the three monsters: Puppis, Vela, and Carina.
“Let’s go find our youngest.”
Monsters walking over a corpse.
It was an everyday sight in the slums, so no one raised any questions or objections.