If one method did not work, he immediately tried another, and strained desperately to save Seol-hyeon.
“You fucking monster bastard! Let go! Let go of Seol-hyeon!”
Eun-chan changed methods, grabbing one finger and concentrating all his strength on it.
“Ugh! Please just let go…!”
He hung on, putting his weight into it, gripping one of the monster’s fingers so hard his whole body tipped backward. He gritted his molars and strained with all his might, hoping the monster’s hand would open even a little.
Ugh! It won’t budge at all. Its whole body is hard as rock.
Cruelly, the difference in strength was absolute. Eun-chan was nothing more than a feeble human. It was a monster for a reason. As huge as its hand was, the monster was solid and heavy. Eun-chan did not give up to the end, but as the monster’s arm did not budge at all, he gradually felt despair.
Please… If this goes on, Seol-hyeon is in danger… Please, let go of Seol-hyeon. I haven’t even honestly told that guy my feelings yet…!
Regret over the time he had kept his distance to hide his feelings from Seol-hyeon flooded in. The regret soon turned into tears, and tears welled up enough to block his vision.
Eun-chan quickly wiped those tears away with his school uniform sleeve. There was no leisure to shed tears.
He had to save Seol-hyeon somehow. Eun-chan shouted at Seol-hyeon, who was losing consciousness inside the monster’s hand.
“Cha Seol-hyeon, you’re supposed to be with me! We’re supposed to go home together later, and go to school together tomorrow, right? So don’t just stay like that, please snap out of it and look at me! You’re not going to just never see me again like this, are you?”
He shouted so that Seol-hyeon would not lose consciousness even a little, but those words also carried a meaning of asking himself.
Eun-chan could not send Seol-hyeon off like this. He wanted to spend tomorrow, just as they had until now, spending time together and living their daily lives. But the cruel situation before his eyes seemed to make that impossible.
Why did I do that, why did I stupidly keep my distance from Seol-hyeon and fail to be honest?
Belatedly, he felt regret for his past behavior. If only he had been a bit more honest…
If only he had had the courage to face his feelings squarely, what would it have been like?
Eun-chan regretted having kept his distance from Seol-hyeon and not having been kind to him.
“Seol-hyeon… I was wrong. So please, open your eyes.”
Finally tears welled up and spilled over. Eun-chan called out to Seol-hyeon, sobbing. Then, unlike when he had shouted in urgency, Seol-hyeon showed a faint movement.
“…Eu… Eun… chan…”
“Se, Seol-hyeon!”
Seol-hyeon reacted to Eun-chan’s voice. But his voice was hoarse and so faint that his condition was seriously bad.
Eun-chan, aware that Seol-hyeon’s condition was not good, nevertheless pretended not to know and urgently responded to his voice.
“Can you hear my voice? It’s me! I’m right here, Seol-hyeon!”
Calling his name, he did not let go of the consciousness he had regained. And once again he put strength into it and desperately pulled at the monster’s finger. But something was strange.
Huh…? Why is it like this? This shouldn’t be happening…?
Suddenly a piercing, intense sensation came from his hands. And at the same time, something hot and sticky flowed down, and a pain he had not felt until then flooded in all at once.
“Ugh! My, hands…! Ugh, keueuk!”
A terribly large amount of blood stained his hands. Eun-chan’s nails were lifting and dangling, about to come off. Eun-chan had only faintly felt the pain temporarily, with the single thought of saving Seol-hyeon; his palms were in a wrecked state, with rough wounds and bruises.
When did it get this bad?
While Eun-chan was momentarily stunned in surprise, the classmates and teacher watching him tried to come closer to help Eun-chan, who was fighting alone with such difficulty.
“Wh, what do we do! Eun-chan’s condition doesn’t look good either! Shouldn’t we save him right now?”
“B, but…!”
While they hesitated, the monster’s cry rang ominously from beyond the gate. Then, with nothing but the sound of sharp intakes of breath hanging in the air, in an instant the classmates’ morale sank.
In the end, the classmates and teacher who had tried to help Eun-chan could not rashly approach Eun-chan and Seol-hyeon.
“What do we do…! If this goes on, something really terrible will happen!”
“Does anyone’s phone work?!”
“No use. Ever since the monster appeared, it’s all completely dead!”
“Wh, what do we do, really… If this goes on, it’s really bad… Let’s at least go save Eun-chan, okay?”
The classmates buzzed in confusion and grew noisy. At that sound, Eun-chan, who had lost his senses, came to himself.
You idiot, is this hand the problem? Every second is urgent… Get your head straight. Just think about Seol-hyeon being in danger.
Just as Eun-chan was about to try again to save Seol-hyeon from the monster, suddenly a huge shock wave came from the monster’s hand.
“U, ugh! Wh, what is this, wh… Aaaaaaah!”
Eun-chan, who had been hanging on to the monster’s hand, was flung off and flew toward the students.
“Ugh! Keok! Keoheok, Se, Seol… Seol-hyeon…”
“Eu, Eun-chan! A, are you okay?!”
They hurriedly caught the Eun-chan who had flown at them and brought him to a safe place. The classmates’ worried voices lingered in Eun-chan’s ears. But due to the shock, Eun-chan’s eardrums were damaged. He could not hear well, and instead of sound, only vibrations buzzed in his ears.
My ears feel blocked. I can’t hear anything properly.
Whether it was because of the shock or because his ears were injured, his body, barely risen, swayed.
“U, ugh… Damn monster bastard. Do you think I’ll give up just like this…?”
He could not give up like this. Eun-chan somehow regained his balance and held himself up, gripping the wall.
And he tried to run to Seol-hyeon again. But a hand suddenly reached out and stopped him.
“Wh, what is this you’re doing?”
“Eu, Eun-chan… N, no…! Not anymore…! You’re in a serious state too, you can’t go anymore!”
The classmates’ hands reached out like a net, blocking Eun-chan, who was trying to throw himself at the monster.
“Wh, what are you… S, suddenly what, what are you doing? Let go of this! Let go right now!”
“No! Eun-chan! It’s really dangerous now…! If you go now… sniff, you, you’ll be in danger too!”
“Yeah, Eun-chan… please… You’re covered in blood all over right now. And your… your nails are all off and your hands are a mess!”
“Fuck! So what! I’m fine! So let go! Let go! If we leave him like this, Seol-hyeon, Seol-hyeon will be in danger…!”
Eun-chan tried somehow to shake the kids off and get out, but the classmates could not simply watch even Eun-chan be sacrificed. Moreover, they could not send Eun-chan, who had fought alone until now, back into the grip of that dreadful monster. With pained hearts, the classmates stood in Eun-chan’s way.
“Eun-chan, now you give up too… Seol-hyeon is…”
The classmates shed tears and pulled at Eun-chan’s wretched hands. Eun-chan felt the pain, which had been dulled, sharply stab at his nerves.
Ugh, my, hands…
His nails were off or lifting, the skin of his hands was raw as if burned, peeling and bleeding. On top of wounds everywhere, his bluish wrists and the backs of his hands were also a mass of bruises, a wretched sight. The classmates could no longer send Eun-chan to Seol-hyeon’s side.
“Eun-chan… You went this far trying to save Seol-hyeon…”
The classmates also knew that Eun-chan and Seol-hyeon’s relationship was special. They would joke that they were like a married couple, teasing about when the wedding would be and when they’d be invited for noodles. That was how close and hard to find a gap in the two were. Because of that, the classmates, sympathizing with Eun-chan’s feelings, wore even more pained expressions. But none of that registered with Eun-chan at all. In Eun-chan’s eyes there was only Seol-hyeon, and only the desperate heart to save him.
“Let go of me! I have to go to Cha Seol-hyeon! Let go! Guys, please… I have to go to Seol-hyeon… So please let me go…”
Eun-chan wept wretchedly, suffering miserably. The classmates, watching such an Eun-chan, shed tears again and again and burst into sobs.
“Please… I’m begging you, guys… Without me, Seol-hyeon will…”
He had no complaint even if they did not help him. He only wished they would not stop him from going to save Seol-hyeon.
“Seol-hyeon is really in danger. So please let me go. Please…! I have to go!”
Though he begged, the end came out as a wail. But despite that wretched begging, the classmates painfully held on to Eun-chan.
“W, we don’t want to do this either, Eun-chan! Please… If you go now, you’ll be in danger too! So stay here. Please, Seol-hyeon is already…”
They could not bring themselves to say it, but the classmates thought Seol-hyeon was as good as dead already.
At the classmates’ words, it felt as if everything went black before Eun-chan’s eyes. The dizziness that had momentarily stopped rose up, and it felt as if the world were shaking, as if an earthquake were happening.
“No. I saw it. I saw it… Seol-hyeon is still alive! Seol-hyeon even called my name! Seol-hyeon isn’t dead yet!”
Eun-chan’s wretched wail filled the classroom. The classmates, at Eun-chan’s wretched crying, sobbed and stood in Eun-chan’s way to the end.
“I’m sorry, Eun-chan. I’m really sorry…”
The kids holding Eun-chan were also suffering and sad. The classmates appealed to Eun-chan with tears and stopped Eun-chan, who was struggling desperately. But Eun-chan pushed the kids away with his wretched hands that were painful just to look at, blocked them, and shouted toward Seol-hyeon. Eun-chan was desperate.
If he could not physically reach Seol-hyeon…
If he could not even stretch out a hand to him…
Then at least let his voice reach him…
“Cha Seol-hyeon! Don’t lose consciousness! Don’t lose it! I’m right here, just like before, call my name for me. Huh? Call it, Cha Seol-hyeon!”
His hoarse, desperate voice echoed inside the classroom. Eun-chan shouted at Seol-hyeon even as he coughed up blood. After shouting several times like that, Seol-hyeon’s head moved slightly and showed a bit of a reaction.
“Eu… Eun… chan…”
Seol-hyeon barely raised his head. Seol-hyeon’s eyes and Eun-chan’s eyes met and looked at each other. Eun-chan felt a foreboding rise to the extreme at that moment.
Wh, what is it? Something… eerie and ominous feeling…?
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