FLIA 13

Before he knew it, a warm tongue and lips were lapping at the nape of his neck. Struggling desperately, Yohan barely managed to break free, and Lee Hyunmook licked his lips. The look in his eyes wasn’t just hunger, it carried a deep, bottomless longing. Yohan shrank under the weight of that overwhelming emotion.

“Why are you doing this? I really don’t taste good…”

When Lee Hyunmook stood, staring intently at him, Yohan, already on edge, screamed. He bolted outside on instinct, and when he looked back through his tears, panic struck him. Lee Hyunmook was chasing him.

“No! Stay away!”

Even though he knew it was nearly impossible to escape from a high-level awakener, Yohan couldn’t stop running. Sure enough, like a fool, he didn’t get far before tripping over a piece of rebar-laced concrete rubble scattered across the road. His scraped palm stung, but before he could get back up, Lee Hyunmook was already upon him.

Like a wolf pouncing on a sheep, Lee Hyunmook tackled Yohan to the ground with swift and oppressive force. Pinned beneath him, Yohan screamed again. As Yohan kicked and struggled, Lee Hyunmook flipped him over and pinned him down, gripping his wrist with a strength that felt like it might crush bone.

“That hurts! It hurts!”

Overwhelmed by the threat, Yohan kicked and hit him in a frantic attempt to fight back. But as an ordinary human, his blows barely affected Lee Hyunmook. With wild, completely unhinged eyes, Lee Hyunmook stared fixedly at his hand. Bright red blood welled from the scraped wound.

“Aaah! No! Don’t! I said don’t!”

When Lee Hyunmook brought his hand close to his mouth, Yohan resisted with all his might. But in the end, warm lips and tongue touched his palm. A sharp sting shot up. The tip of his tongue dug into the wound, and his teeth clamped down hard along the edge.

Emotionally worn out by the madman’s erratic behavior over the past two days, Yohan finally broke. He sobbed as Lee Hyunmook bit into the wound and sucked the blood. Consumed by the fear of being eaten alive, he wailed like a child.

“It hurts… It really hurts…”

Having lost himself in licking up the blood, Lee Hyunmook now moved to the tears streaming down Yohan’s cheek. He sucked hard on his face, and Yohan, terrified that his flesh would be ripped off, screamed uncontrollably. Just as Lee Hyunmook continued frantically licking his face, he suddenly paused. The madness in his crimson eyes slowly faded, and reason returned to him.

As soon as he realized what was happening, Lee Hyunmook’s pupils dilated. He quickly spat out the cheek that had been stuffed in his mouth and backed away. Then he anxiously examined Yohan’s face and body, hunched and sobbing. Confirming that no skin had been torn away, he let out a deep breath and pulled the still-dazed Yohan into his arms. Yohan’s limp upper body collapsed into his chest.

“I’m sorry… I’m so sorry…”

That was when Yohan finally realized that Lee Hyunmook had come back to his senses. His eyes widened, and tears welled up instantly. As tears fell steadily from his eyes, Lee Hyunmook scooped him up like a child and moved them to a new spot. He could feel the eyes of the monsters, now even more aggressive than usual, on them.

Back in a safer place, Lee Hyunmook inspected Yohan once again, just to be sure. Apart from the red, swollen cheek and the bleeding hand, there were no serious injuries. Only after disinfecting and bandaging the wounds to prevent further exposure did Yohan speak again, sobbing.

“Hic, hngh, y-you… You can’t… go crazy, right…?”

Of course, both Lee Hyunmook and Yohan knew how ridiculous that question was. Even Yohan asked it out of terror after nearly being attacked and eaten. Holding the feverishly warm Yohan tightly in his arms, Lee Hyunmook spoke in a hollow voice.

“If only it were something I could control… that would’ve been nice.”

Then, as Yohan’s sniffles and the heavy silence settled between them, he opened his mouth again.

“But isn’t it strange? I think maybe your…”

He trailed off mid-sentence and fell into silence again. Yohan, completely drained, finally calmed down and began recalling what had happened.

Lee Hyunmook had been more deranged than ever before. He had licked his lips at Yohan, chased him when he tried to escape, and sucked his blood like it was delicious. Earlier, Yohan had been too scared to notice, but now that he thought about it, apart from losing a bit of blood, he wasn’t really hurt. It had hurt when he’d been bitten and sucked on, but no flesh was missing. He touched his throbbing cheek in a daze.

Blood. Now that he thought about it, even at the hospital, when Lee Hyunmook had returned to his senses, he had been bleeding…

“It’s gross, huh. Want me to wipe it?”

Misunderstanding the silence, Lee Hyunmook harshly rubbed his sleeve against Yohan’s cheek to wipe off the saliva. The rough motion made his cheek swell even more, and Yohan looked up at him blankly. Then, he finally voiced the realization that had just struck him.

“My blood… That’s what brings you back to your senses, isn’t it? Then…”

“No.”

Lee Hyunmook’s reply was sharper than a blade, firm and cold. In his dark eyes, looking down at Yohan, there was something like unshakable resolve.

“Absolutely not.”

“But I…”

“I may have lost control, but I don’t want to eat people. Got it? What happened earlier… You were in real danger.”

“But, still…”

“Don’t push me further into the abyss. Please. I don’t want to become an even more terrible monster.”

Yohan lowered his head helplessly. The idea that giving a little blood could bring Lee Hyunmook back to sanity had seemed like a decent trade-off. But Lee Hyunmook had a point. That madman who lunged at Yohan earlier… was truly terrifying. Yohan shook his head stubbornly.

“You’re not a monster, Mr. Hyunmook. You might be a little unhinged, but you’re not like that at all.”

“Yohan.”

Startled by the gentle tone calling his name, Yohan looked up. But what followed was anything but gentle.

“You must be confused because I look normal on the outside. But I’m not human.”

As he said this, Lee Hyunmook’s pupils dilated further, becoming distant and unfathomable. Yohan swallowed dryly, unable to imagine what lay behind those eyes. Lee Hyunmook gazed silently at the frightened Yohan for a long moment, then stood up.

“And let me apologize again. I misunderstood the situation. We need to leave here as soon as possible.”

“What? Leave here?”

Shocked by Lee Hyunmook’s declaration, Yohan jumped up too. His eyes darted around restlessly, at the cozy mattress that felt like a nest, the stockpiled emergency rations, the piles of clothes. The thought of abandoning all these precious things momentarily made him forget even his fear of Hyunmook.

“Why? Can’t we just stay here?”

Standing by the door, peering outside, Lee Hyunmook’s face was dark. He soon turned to look at Yohan.

“This place experiences a phenomenon once every few decades. I call it the ‘Flood.’”

“The Flood?”

Sensing that something serious was coming, Yohan tensed up. He was scared that things might get even worse. And that fear soon became reality.

“I don’t know what to call it exactly… maybe an invisible catastrophe? When the Flood hits an area, it becomes a nightmare, far worse than anything you’ve seen. People, objects, monsters… all get twisted and mangled into a mess.”

Yohan couldn’t believe what he was hearing. No, ever since falling into this place, it had all felt like a horrific nightmare. A nightmare that only grew worse.

“The closer the Flood gets, the worse the corruption and madness become… like what happened to me earlier.”

Lee Hyunmook gave a bitter smile as he returned inside. He picked up Yohan’s backpack from the corner and muttered while inspecting the contents.

“I thought this place would be fine since the Flood had passed recently.”

Watching him quickly pack only the essentials, Yohan asked,

“But how do you even know the Flood happens every few decades…?”

Lee Hyunmook had only been here for three years. So how could he know about a phenomenon that happened once in several decades? Something about his earlier words filled Yohan with dread, and he asked the question nervously. Lee Hyunmook, who had been stuffing a bag of candy into the pack, stopped and stared at him. His eyes were chillingly flat and empty. A moment later, he answered slowly.

“Obviously, I figured it out from various signs and clues.”

“O-oh, I see.”

Yohan, clearly tense, instinctively let out a sigh of relief. Then he caught himself. No matter what, he wasn’t about to argue to stay here after hearing all that. He just stomped his feet in frustration.

“Even if we can’t take everything, what if we grab one more bag? You could carry it, Mr. Hyunmook. I actually set aside an extra backpack just in case!”

Afraid of being refused, Yohan rushed over and brought out a large, sturdy hiking backpack from the pile. Lee Hyunmook hesitated for a moment, then nodded. He stuffed it with heavy canned goods and helped Yohan into his padded jacket. In the end, they were each burdened with a full backpack. They’d packed as much as they could, but Yohan still felt a pang of regret for the supplies they had to leave behind. That was when it happened.