118. The Aifelos Family (11)
-Thud, thud!
The sound alone was terrifying.
A heavy, dull impact echoed through the evening air in the empty park.
Passersby thought it was just a fight between kids and walked away.
There was no one to help.
It was almost a one-sided beating, but his spirit remained unbroken.
The boy, who had been beaten by his peers for a while, stood up like a spring.
“Heck, heck…!”
“Hey, hey, that kid again…!”
“This crazy kid. Is he not tired of this?”
He got beaten up like that, but he’s still standing?
The students who were watching had their jaws dropped.
The boy who was bullied had a body full of wounds.
The bruises on his skin were still fresh, and the scars all over his body were visible at a glance.
The clothes he was wearing were already dirty and torn from rolling around in the sand, and they were stained with blood in some places.
If someone were to guess who won or lost by looking at the situation, it would be obvious that the boy on the losing side was him, judging by the way he was covered in injuries.
“…”
However, even after being beaten up one-sidedly, he didn’t back down.
He didn’t have the look of someone who had given up.
He was gritting his teeth, ready to pounce and fight back at any moment.
Even if he had been crying and begging for mercy, they would have teased him, saying he lost, but the situation was too serious for anyone to laugh.
In the end.
They couldn’t overcome the boy’s stubbornness and retreated.
The boy, left alone, spat out a mix of blood and saliva, picked up his bag, and headed home.
However, the boy’s expression wasn’t bright.
“…”
It was a dark evening.
He arrived at the entrance of his house.
But his hand hesitated in front of the door, even though he had to open it and go in.
He had to take off his school uniform stained with blood, wash it, and clean himself up, applying ointment to his wounds so they wouldn’t get infected.
Moreover, he had to take a good rest to recover from his injuries. He couldn’t skip meals either.
Did he not know this?
Was that why he wasn’t opening the door?
No. That’s not it.
The boy knew better than anyone that he couldn’t stay like this.
But he wasn’t opening the door because there was a reason.
After a long silence.
The boy let out a hollow laugh and finally opened the door.
As soon as he did, a torrent of complaints poured out.
“What? You’re back? Hey, Kim Min-hyuk! What were you doing until now?”
The complaints were as loud as the voice.
It was his second older sister.
She came out of the living room, looking furious.
“What the hell, Kim Min-hyuk. What’s going on? Did you get into another fight?”
Did he get into another fight?
Those words meant that he had fought before, and that he had appeared in a similar state before.
And it was true.
However, the words Min-Hyeok needed to hear the most at this moment were not being spoken. The proof was that he was lingering in front of the door.
“What’s wrong with you, you bastard? Can’t you hear your noona telling you to stop fighting?”
How could he bear to open the door and go in after hearing such words?
It was understandable.
His younger sibling, who was giggling and staring at him from behind, was just adding fuel to the fire.
Even the eldest, who had been scolded and was now drinking a glass of water with a resentful expression, was no exception.
They were all treating him like an outcast.
One who had been beaten up and was now trying to fight back, but still hadn’t made a single mistake during the process.
The words “Are you okay?” were not being spoken.
Because they were not Min-Hyeok’s family.
“Hey, are you ignoring me? Hey!!”
Min-Hyeok, who had been listening to the nagging, ignored his sibling’s words and went into the bathroom.
As soon as he turned on the shower, cold water came out.
It was the third sibling’s doing, who had intentionally blocked the warm water.
But he still had to wash his school uniform.
He had to go to school tomorrow.
With his injured hand, he hand-washed his uniform, scrubbing it until the bloodstains were gone. He had forgotten the pain of his bruised body a long time ago.
His body, covered in wounds, felt a stinging pain every time it touched the water.
But Min-Hyeok just silently did his job.
And that day…
Because he had showered in cold water for a long time, he caught a severe cold.
It was worse than on his sibling’s birthday, and it was a long-lasting cold.
It was cold, and it hurt.
The chill that had seeped into his bones didn’t know when it would subside.
His rapidly dropping body temperature had reached a state where someone needed to take care of him.
If someone had just touched his cold body once, they wouldn’t have been able to ignore it.
But how could the timing be so bad?
Misfortunes were piling up from all directions.
Coincidentally, the next day was the weekend.
Outside, the cherry blossoms were blooming, signaling the arrival of spring, and the weather was perfect for a family outing.
“We’re going on a trip with mom, so you just focus on recovering from your injuries, you idiot!”
The second sibling shouted and left some medicine in front of Min-Hyeok’s room.
There were ointments, bandages, and anti-inflammatory drugs, everything he needed.
But they were all useless things.
No one entered Min-Hyeok’s room, where he lay in bed.
Min-Hyeok had to overcome the chill all by himself, in loneliness.
Without feeling any warmth.
***
As the scene unfolded before my eyes, I faintly realized I was dreaming.
And so.
“Damn it.”
A curse slipped out of my mouth involuntarily.
Why did that incident appear in my dream?
I had simply slept, yet it left me feeling uneasy.
Sure, I had felt a chill, but now that I think about it, it’s just a memory I could forget.
I can’t understand why the ties with that family keep appearing so tenaciously.
I tossed and turned, wishing I could wake up quickly.
I didn’t want to dream such nonsense anymore.
…But then.
Strangely, my body felt heavier than usual.
Yet, before the heaviness, I felt something else.
Warmth.
The very warmth I had longed for in the dream I just had.
It flowed over my upper body, spreading throughout me.
Soft, snug, and warm.
Enveloped by something warm.
“What’s this?”
Trying to identify it, I opened my eyes.
And to my surprise.
I saw Harunie, fast asleep, clinging to my body.
Maybe for about ten seconds.
I just stared at her, mouth agape.
Because I had to recall why she was here.
I racked my brain, trying to remember our conversation before falling asleep.
There had been two consecutive mistakes.
I wouldn’t have failed to notice them if I were in my normal condition.
I had to admit that.
So she offered me tea as a solution to the Dephian syndrome, to help me adapt to the magic, and warned me that it would lead to sleep.
She also mentioned that my body’s defense mechanism might prolong my sleep. That would prove whether my excuse was true.
Well… I understood that much.
“But why… Why did you sleep next to me?”
That question remained unanswered.
-Swish.
“Eek!”
As I continued to stare at Harunie, struggling to adapt, I carelessly moved my body significantly.
And then…
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“Eh…?”
“…”
Our eyes met.
With her.
We were incredibly close.
Our breaths touched.
Her warm breath tickled my skin.
In her purple, fluttering eyes, a massive earthquake erupted shortly after.
…and a scream that seemed to pierce my eardrums echoed.
“Ah, ahah!!”
She suddenly grabbed the blanket, and I froze like a stone.
Seeing her exposed shoulders…
Had she taken off her clothes?
“What, you…!”
“Nothing, I didn’t do anything! I swear!”
What was I supposed to say, having just woken up?
No, before that!
I didn’t even think about touching your body in the first place!
…No.
If I had just woken up, trembling…
Did I touch you?
No way! If I admit to that, what will happen?!
In the midst of the chaos, Harnie spread the blanket to cover her entire body. And.
“Uh, uhok!”
She covered my face with the blanket.
“Are you not going to calm down?!”
“No, I didn’t touch your body…! Stop!”
But Harnie had no intention of removing the blanket.
Instead, the blanket got even tighter, and the knots started to form.
I thought I might suffocate from the strange situation.
Harnie said in a trembling voice.
“If you calm down, I’ll let you go later. So please, just calm down for now and don’t say anything!”
“…Okay, got it.”
Since she seemed really angry, I decided to calm down.
I raised my hands, and she completely blocked my view with the blanket.
As the sound of her adjusting her clothes and fixing her hair reached my ears…
My view was freed shortly after.
Leaving my arm still, I cautiously asked her.
“…Is it okay now?”
In the silence, she nodded her head.
After that, the silent time came again.
I, too, and Haruni, too. It was a time when words couldn’t be spoken easily.
For some reason, the room temperature seemed to rise suddenly.
She was the first to break this awkward atmosphere.
“Morning… it is.”
“Yes?”
“All, you finally got tired, didn’t you? You don’t remember?”
…That’s right.
If it’s morning, then it means we slept straight after drinking that tea yesterday.
“This proves it? You were overexerting yourself. So, you need to take a good rest from now on.”
“…”
She said confidently, with her hand on her waist.
I want to say that this is because of Carcsein’s body, but…
I decided to acknowledge it cleanly.
“Do I get to sleep for three hours a day?”
“Yes. By the way, napping doesn’t count!”
I guess that’s reasonable.
This is clearly my loss.
If it were my body, it would be different, but Carcsein’s body requires more sleep, so I can’t get away with this.
“Well, let’s eat breakfast then. I’ll call for it right away!”
It seems like the memory from earlier disappeared, and she suggested eating breakfast together before leaving the room.
I don’t know why she’s in such a hurry, but…
***
As soon as I went outside, my face turned bright red.
Haruni, who couldn’t shake off the heat, covered her face with both hands.
“What do I do!”
I tried to act calm, but as soon as I thought about going back to that room, I couldn’t help but remember that time.
The two of us on the sofa, our bodies touching, transferring body heat…
“No, this is just… an incident to save that person. Yeah, that’s right.”
Haruni tried to calm down, telling herself to lower the heat.
She took a deep breath, trying to cool down the heat.
But even so, the temperature that had been transmitted once already had wrapped around her body in a different way.
-Thump, thump.