IH Ch 24

Chapter 24

“Um…”

I’ll head back to the storage room. You take your time and shower here.

He meant to say that, but stopped and shut his mouth.

Maybe it was just a feeling, but Hwang Jae-i, standing motionless under the showerhead, bothered him. Even the way he looked at him earlier—his eyes had seemed half-vacant. Remembering that Hwang Jae-i had never been in his right mind whenever he came to see him, Dohwa fidgeted with his fingers.

“……”

There was no way the great Hwang Jae-i would drown just standing under a showerhead. Still, unable to shake the unease, Jae-i quietly stepped into the bathroom. Just wanting to check whether he was showering properly, Dohwa approached the shower booth—and immediately his expression hardened. The water splashing outside was cold. Hoping it wasn’t what he thought, he cautiously reached a hand inside—and sure enough.

“…You’ll catch a cold.”

Though he knew an S-rank wouldn’t catch a cold that easily, Dohwa stepped into the booth.

Jae-i stood still, but his large build made it difficult to reach inside. Dohwa struggled as he turned the knob to bring out warm water. But then, possibly due to turning the wrong valve, a sudden burst of strong water gushed down from above.

“…!”

Startled, he instinctively squeezed his eyes shut and pressed against Jae-i’s back as he redirected the water. Finally managing to get lukewarm water flowing, Dohwa stepped back, soaking wet and spitting out water that had gotten into his mouth. But suddenly, his wrist was grabbed, and he was yanked forward. Caught off guard, he found himself once again pressed flush against Jae-i’s solid back, eyes widening in surprise.

Maybe he’d come to his senses. Dohwa tried gently wiggling the hand held by Jae-i’s large one. The grip wasn’t particularly strong, but pulling away felt awkward. Unsure what to do, he hesitated before parting his lips.

“No matter how high your rank is, showering in cold water isn’t good. At least use lukewarm water…”

“……”

“You could catch a cold. That’s the only reason I adjusted it to warm.”

After adding that it was only to help him, Dohwa fell silent.

What if Jae-i didn’t let go of his wrist? With the water pouring down over his head, Dohwa spat out the water that kept entering his mouth as he spoke. Given that Jae-i was just holding on and not doing anything, it didn’t seem like he was fully conscious. In that case, would he have to stay like this—trapped—until Jae-i returned to himself?

“…If you’re done showering, should we get out?”

He glanced briefly—though Jae-i’s hair wasn’t perfectly clean, it looked mostly rinsed. If he dried him off and laid him on the bed, he’d probably fall asleep right away. That had been the case when he first showed up, too.

Once Jae-i was asleep, Dohwa could return to the storage room. But his own clothes were soaked as well. Did he even have a change of clothes? He glanced sideways at Jae-i’s skin, cheek pressed against it. Perhaps because of the water, it looked smooth and glossy. And warm.

Now that he thought about it, being able to sleep soundly the past few nights without freezing was all thanks to Jae-i. He was large and heavy, but maybe because of the heat he radiated, he was warm. That had probably been comforting.

“Let’s stop showering now.”

When he saw Jae-i’s shoulder subtly rise and fall, as if he’d heard, Dohwa repeated himself, “Let’s get out.” Then the rigid body, standing like a wall, finally stirred. Sensing Jae-i stepping back slowly, Dohwa matched his movement and looked up. As Jae-i turned his body and lowered his head, he saw his eyes—still unfocused.

Thinking now might be a time when he’d listen well, Dohwa said,

“I’m going to turn the water off. Let go of my hand.”

At those words, the fingers holding his wrist tightened even more.

But when he remained still, the strength in Jae-i’s grip slowly began to ease. Seizing the chance, Dohwa reached forward and turned off the water. As the pouring stream stopped, he ran a hand through his soaking hair, sweeping it back.

Just then, it felt like a shadow loomed above his head. Startled, he looked up and saw Jae-i leaning toward him.

“Wait—”

Dohwa reached out and grabbed Jae-i’s shoulders tightly.

“The water!”

“……”

“You have to dry off—your body and hair.”

At that, a faint crease appeared between Jae-i’s brows, as if to say, What’s the point of that?

“If you lie down like this, you’ll catch a cold. I’m soaked too…”

Both his hair and clothes were completely drenched. In this state, he couldn’t lie on the bed.

The guest room’s bed was the softest he’d ever felt. He couldn’t bring himself to lie on it in this condition. No way. Shaking his head vehemently, Dohwa looked at Jae-i, who stared at him, then reached up to Dohwa’s face.

Seeing the large hand approach, Dohwa flinched and shut his eyes. But the hand only brushed against his cheek and pulled away. Puzzled, he opened his eyes slightly and saw something caught between the fingers—a fine thread.

It wasn’t hair. It looked like an eyelash. It must’ve been stuck to his cheek. Glancing between the insignificant lash caught in those large fingers and Jae-i’s still-dazed face, Dohwa parted his lips.

“…Dry off first. And put some clothes on.”

Then, he gently took the hand in front of his face.

Jae-i didn’t shake it off and moved as Dohwa guided him. Since he didn’t want to go back to the room like this, he sat Jae-i down on the toilet with the lid down. Then, quickly reaching for the shelf above, Dohwa pulled out a towel and draped it over Jae-i’s lower half. Instantly, Jae-i bowed his head. Just in case he tried to remove it, Dohwa hurried to say,

“Leave it like that.”

“……”

“I’ll dry your hair first.”

The part of Jae-i’s body that bothered him the most was the one just below. Even if he didn’t want to look, it was hard not to notice it—its presence was so overpowering. Earlier, when he covered it with the towel, he’d accidentally seen it. And it was honestly…

How does he carry something that big around?

Because his skin was so pale, the thick, dark hair and the heavy form beneath it had left an impression. Dohwa blinked quickly, trying to erase the image. Feeling a little warm, he pulled out another towel and said to Jae-i, who was watching him,

“I’ll dry your hair.”

“……”

The now-docile Jae-i gently lowered his head. Taking the opportunity, Dohwa spread the towel over Jae-i’s head and began rubbing gently.

Truthfully, he had no idea what he was doing. Until now, he’d only ever dried his own body—never someone else’s. And even that, back where he used to live, was mostly done by quick disinfecting. It wasn’t until he came here that he realized how much trouble wet hair could be.

Hair down to the waist got heavy when soaked. He’d tried drying it once but gave up because it was too exhausting. Now, drying Jae-i’s short hair felt strange. Still, since it wasn’t as long as his own, it wouldn’t be as hard. Focusing his strength, he scrubbed vigorously to remove the moisture. It felt like a cat sharpening its claws on a scratcher. With every stroke, the towel pressed down firmly—but Jae-i stayed quiet.

How many minutes had passed?

Feeling uncomfortable with the silence, Dohwa asked casually,

“Did something happen?”

“……”

He didn’t expect an answer from Jae-i. It was just something to break the stillness. If he didn’t reply, Dohwa planned to let it go.

“…It opened.”

But he did answer.

Lifting his head, Jae-i looked Dohwa straight in the eyes and said,

“A gate opened. So I destroyed it.”

He spoke so casually, but no gate was ever easily dealt with. From the moment it occurred, it caused significant damage to its surroundings.

“…You went outside because a gate opened?”

“No, I went out after looking at the painting. I went to the hospital, and the kid was really small. This small.”

Jae-i held up his thumb and index finger slightly apart. No matter how young, no child could be that tiny. Unable to help it, Dohwa smiled—and Jae-i’s gaze caught on the corner of his lips.

Noticing, Dohwa quickly lowered his smile. At the same time, Jae-i continued,

“They looked really sick and exhausted. I felt bad. So I gave them a magic stone and left… and that’s when the gate opened.”

“……”

“I was right there when it happened. It opened at just the right moment. So…”

He forced his way into the not-yet-fully-opened gate and destroyed the unhatched core buried deep within.

Gates had begun appearing all over the world without warning—on land, in the sky, under the sea. No matter the location, their entrances yawned wide like black mouths, and even when they turned red, humanity hadn’t been able to respond in time. These days, everyone knew that when a gate remained active for too long, the core inside would heat up, triggering an explosion and unleashing hordes of monsters—but back then, no one knew. And even if they had known, humanity back then had no way of handling it.

The gates had appeared suddenly one day, and with them, monsters poured forth in massive numbers. To fight them, humanity skipped several stages of evolution and gave birth to a new species—the awakened.

Awakened ones used their abilities to fight monsters and began destroying gates one by one. From then on, people lived in a world entirely different from before, and a new era began. A hundred years had passed since then, and now, whether awakened or not, everyone knew all there was to know about gates. They also knew how difficult it was to enter and explore one before it fully opened.