FLIA 12

Yohan’s timid heart shrank, even though Lee Hyunmook hadn’t used a threatening tone at all. Hunching his shoulders, he bit his lip and slowly pulled off his shirt. The last time Lee Hyunmook treated the wound on his leg, he’d shown no mercy no matter how much Yohan cried or screamed. Now, imagining him taking the same approach to carve out some corrupted flesh on his back, Yohan was already in tears.

Sniffling, he removed his pants too, curling up in just his underwear. The Abyss was cold, and he shivered violently. When Lee Hyunmook approached, close enough for Yohan to feel his breath, he tensed up and gulped.

The first place Lee Hyunmook checked was Yohan’s scalp. Using a flashlight, he thoroughly inspected the crown of his head, running his fingers over the skin and parting the hair as he went. Ever since falling into the Abyss, Yohan hadn’t had the chance to wash his hair, so he was extremely self-conscious. Thankfully, there didn’t seem to be anything abnormal on his scalp.

Next, Lee Hyunmook carefully examined the inside of Yohan’s ears. When his hot, calloused fingers brushed against the shell of his ear, Yohan flinched hard, goosebumps breaking out all over. Even in his frightened state, an indescribably strange feeling crept up on him…

By the time Lee Hyunmook was done inspecting him, Yohan’s face was flushed bright red. And apparently that still wasn’t enough, because in one sudden movement, Lee Hyunmook yanked down his underwear, prompting a shriek.

“Wha—why?! Why?!”

Yohan scrambled to pull them back up, completely exposed. He bit his lip and whirled around, but it looked like Lee Hyunmook had already seen everything he wanted to see. Still, for some reason, his expression was more than just serious,,it was practically frowning. He muttered under his breath:

“Why are there no symptoms?”

“Isn’t that a good thing?!”

Panicking, Yohan hurried to pull on his pants but almost toppled forward in the process. Lee Hyunmook caught him by the shoulder and steadied him before picking up his shirt and handing it back, still looking perplexed.

“By this point, something, anything, should be wrong. But you’re… too normal.”

His words came so slowly and deliberately that they sounded almost ominous. Yohan shrank back, wondering if Lee Hyunmook actually wanted him to be corrupted. With tears brimming again, he protested weakly:

“Isn’t being normal a good thing…?”

“Maybe the symptoms are internal. Though usually, even then, there are visible signs.”

Yohan knew that too. The government’s Rift Disaster National Response Guide covered those cases in detail. Corruption symptoms could include sudden swelling of body parts like the abdomen or veins, paralysis, personality shifts, and memory loss. And yet, Yohan didn’t exhibit any of those signs.

“I’m fine on the inside too! So there’s no need to check further!”

He quickly threw his shirt back on and hugged himself as he backed into a corner. Watching him, Lee Hyunmook held up the scalpel and antiseptic and said:

“Yohan, I’m not so far gone that I’d cut open a living person just to check for symptoms. Normally, if you cut into someone’s stomach or head, they die….”

“Please don’t say something so scary so casually… and put that stuff away….”

Only after the scalpel and antiseptic were returned to the backpack could Yohan finally breathe a little easier. He sat as far away as possible, just as much as the emotional distance he felt. Curled up like a scared little puppy, he looked at Lee Hyunmook with wide eyes. Sensing this, Lee Hyunmook deliberately relaxed his posture, letting his body go loose. The tactic worked, Yohan, slightly less tense now, opened his mouth.

“But Mr. Lee Hyunmook, you don’t seem to have any symptoms either… Your hair’s gone a little white, but that’s it.”

To him, the graying hair looked more like stress than corruption. And on such a handsome face, even white hair suited him. Lee Hyunmook let out a soft snort.

“On the outside, maybe.”

In other words, inside, things were different. Yohan carefully looked him over again, but there wasn’t a single strange or eerie feature. Even the muscular arms exposed by his black short-sleeved shirt looked perfectly normal.

Is it even possible to look this normal while severely corrupted? Is it because he’s a high-level awakener?

Yohan was curious, but kept it to himself. Instead, he stood up, stretched, and tried walking in place. He nodded. He was probably good to start moving again.

“Where are you going?”

“Just checking around nearby. We’ve got food, but we’re still missing a lot.”

They had used a nearby clothing store to grab padding and make a makeshift bed, but it wasn’t exactly comfortable. Yohan figured they might be able to find a real mattress in one of the nearby homes. As he slung on his backpack, Lee Hyunmook silently followed.

Today’s scavenging was a success. Yohan managed to find a cache of emergency food and a mattress in someone’s home, apparently left behind in a hurry by evacuees. With Lee Hyunmook lucid, he was even able to ask for help carrying the mattress. Lee Hyunmook lifted it like it was cardboard and brought it over with ease.

Later, while searching for more food at a convenience store, Lee Hyunmook suddenly looked up at the sky and muttered:

“The weather’s strange today.”

Remembering how the corrupted Lee Hyunmook had spouted nonsense about the weather recently, Yohan felt uneasy and asked:

“Do they have things like typhoons or monsoons here too?”

“That’s not what I meant. I meant the energy in the air feels wrong. This shitty place… strangely enough, it seems to feel things.”

He was talking about the Abyss like it was alive. Yohan decided to treat that as a joke. If it wasn’t, that would be terrifying. It had to be a joke.

“Should we head back now?”

But instead of answering, Lee Hyunmook said something strange:

“…Haha. A human.”

Yohan sighed and turned around. Just a moment ago, he’d been completely fine. But in that short time, Lee Hyunmook had become corrupted again. A crooked grin on his face, red glowing eyes gleaming, Yohan turned away, trying not to make eye contact, and muttered sullenly:

“I’m not ‘a human.’ I’m Yohan. Yang Yohan.”

Of course, correcting him was pointless. There was no reply. Downcast, Yohan dragged his feet back to their shelter.

***

“I’m so sleepy…”

Yohan murmured vacantly, sneaking a glance at Lee Hyunmook. Compared to now, the previous corrupted version of Lee Hyunmook felt almost tame.

“Right, right, right. The moon rises, it rises. An eye. A moon. An eye. It’s watching me! No, no… it’s watching… you. You. Yes, you.”

He whispered terrifying things rapidly while rocking back and forth. His unusually red glowing eyes shimmered with madness. Yohan, fearing he might draw attention, curled up on the mattress and tried to stay as still as possible.

Why was he acting like this all of a sudden? Or had he always been this way and was just calmer lately?

Incredibly, this was still better than yesterday. Last night, he’d heard a faint crunching sound while dozing off and turned to find Lee Hyunmook chewing on the lid of a discarded canned food tin. Blackish-red blood had dripped from his mouth, and Yohan had nearly fainted. It took everything he had to coax and pry the can lid from him, then throw it far away, only to break into tears afterward.

Thankfully, being an awakener meant fast recovery. Even with bleeding gums, the injury clotted almost immediately. High-level awakeners were known to regenerate so quickly that even torn limbs could reattach in seconds.

Still, he kept muttering horrifying nonsense and banging his head against the wall all night, keeping Yohan from getting any sleep. The creepy noises from outside didn’t help either.

“A human~”

“AAAH!”

Startled by the memory of last night’s horror, Yohan shrieked and jumped. At some point, Lee Hyunmook had come right up beside him again. Completely terrified, Yohan scooted away as far as he could, only for Lee Hyunmook to pull him right back and press him tightly against his side.

“Hic… hhic, hic!”

Yohan started hiccuping uncontrollably and ducked his head. Still hoping he’d snap out of it, he spoke in a trembling voice:

“I-I’m not “a human”, I’m Yang Yohan… sniff.”

“Yang…”

For the first time, the corrupted one actually muttered his surname. Surprised, Yohan lifted his head.

Is he coming back to his senses?

But that hope was immediately crushed.

“Yang-ah.”

“…Y-Yes?”

“Yaaang-aaah.”

Lee Hyunmook, who always seemed so composed when he was in his right mind, was now grinning like a fool and calling out to Yohan in a singsong voice, “Yang-ah, Yang-ah.”

Yohan had hoped, prayed, it wasn’t what he thought, but then Lee Hyunmook asked,

“If you’re a sheep, why aren’t you bleating?”¹ surname (Yang, 양) with sheep (also 양).

“I-I’m not a sheep, I’m Yang Yohan…”

“Why isn’t the sheep crying? Not bleating? Not bleating? Not bleating? Not bleating?”

His voice turned blank and repetitive, like a broken record. It was like something out of a horror game. Finally, Yohan burst into tears.

“Baa… baaah. Baaah…”

His voice, shaken with fear, actually sounded heartbreakingly like a real lamb’s bleat. Apparently satisfied, Lee Hyunmook let out a long grin and pulled Yohan into his arms.

“My little sheep.”

Yohan couldn’t tell if that meant he’d been promoted or demoted from “human” to “sheep”… but either way, the feeling of Lee Hyunmook’s lips brushing so close to his nape had him on edge in more ways than one. Trembling, Yohan let out one more miserable bleat:

“Baaaah! Wh-what are you doing?!”

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  surname (Yang, 양) with sheep (also 양).