SLAP!
After searching everywhere, I finally found her wandering blankly down the street. I caught her shoulders, and the instant she saw my face, she slapped me.
SLAP!
As she struck my other cheek too, I looked into her eyes. They were stained with betrayal and sorrow.
Dammit......! Dammit!
“You jerk! How could you toy with someone like this? Is it fun? Huh? Is it fun, you jerk?!”
It was the first time she'd spoken to me informally. I'd wanted to hear it, but I certainly didn't want a situation like this.
I said nothing. People around us were murmuring and watching, but I didn't care about any of that.
I opened my mouth.
“Just a moment...... Hear me out.”
“Shut up! Shut up! Shut your mouth! I don't want to hear anything! I don't want your sordid excuses! Don't violate me any more with that tongue of yours! Don't deceive me with your filthy words!”
“It'll only take a moment......”
SLAAAP!
She slapped my cheek again.
“You jerk! Go somewhere and die! Just die!”
Shouting that, she turned and ran. Startled, the onlookers stepped aside without thinking, leaving them able only to watch as she tried to cross straight over the road.
It's dangerous! Where are you going?!
For a moment I stood still. Then, seeing that she was running into the road, I dashed after her to catch her.
HOOOOONK!
There was construction in the area. Construction trucks were always passing through. She'd suddenly run into the road to cross it, but froze at the sudden, tremendous sound. I could clearly see the enormous dump truck bearing down on her.
“Aaaaaaah!”
Shouting at the top of my lungs, I grabbed her arm where she stood frozen and swung her around half a turn toward the direction I'd come from, the sidewalk. Centrifugal force made us switch places in an instant. When our eyes met for the briefest moment, I smiled at her bewildered eyes.
Then an enormous impact struck me.
SCREEEECH! THUMP!
Light flashed before my eyes. Just as I thought my body had floated into the air, another tremendous impact struck me.
Aagh! Whatever happens, those who fall have no wings!
Urgh!...... Uuurgh! Stop!...... Stop rolling!
I felt as though I'd rolled dozens of times. My consciousness flickered in and out.
Then tremendous pain ravaged me. My whole body hurt. It was hard to breathe, and I felt tearing, piercing pain throughout my body.
At some point, I was feeling the heat of the sun-baked asphalt against my face. Haha...... Luckily, my teeth aren't broken. I tried somehow to get up. I put my weight on my arms and tried to lift my body......
Uuurgh! It hurts!
Turning toward the source of the pain, I saw my left arm dangling in an ugly state.
Is it dislocated? Or broken?
I got to my feet, supporting myself with my relatively uninjured right arm. The people around me watched, saying things like, ‘Oh, he's up!’ and ‘Will he be all right?’
Damn it...... If you're going to stand there watching, wouldn't helping be the polite thing to do?
She seemed stunned. But she soon came to her senses and hurried over to me. Her expression was on the verge of tears.
Oh no! Am I a guy who can only make her cry?
I slowly moved my feet. Ah, this is hard. Every muscle in my body aches. I didn't know where I was hurt, but although my mind was hazy, it was somehow clear too, and my gaze wandered here and there as I walked.
I felt something trickling down from my head.
Ah...... Is my head split open? Do I look pretty badly wrecked?
She stood in front of me, apparently searching for something to say. I struggled to smile. Only then did I learn how truly difficult smiling could be. Then I spoke.
“Are...... you okay?”
At my words, she looked ready to cry.
Don't cry. I'm...... not exactly okay. Hehehe.......
Looking at a loss for what to do, she said to me.
“Are you all right? Are you? Aren't you badly hurt?”
At some point, she'd returned to speaking formally. Ah, I think...... I prefer...... hearing her speak...... politely......
When I'd thrown her aside, the onlookers had probably caught her.
Ahh...... Thank goodness. You're not hurt......
As relief washed over me, all the strength drained out of my body.
Ah, my strength's going. My legs have completely given out.
I collapsed toward her, and she caught me in her arms and slowly sank to the ground.
Don't get too close. You'll get blood on you. Cough!
She kept shaking me and cried out.
“Are you all right? Are you? Jun-yeol! Stay with me! Someone, someone get an ambulance! Somebody call an ambulance! Hurry! He's dying!”
“Hey...... Don't...... go killing...... me off.”
I forced the words out. I felt liquid falling onto my cheek.
Tears? Are you crying for me? For me, after I hurt you like that?
Her tearful expression was etched clearly into my eyes. I decided to try calling her name.
“Hye...... Hye, Hye-jin......”
“Don't talk! It's too hard for you! Don't die! Don't you die!”
I won't die. I told you I won't. Die and leave you? Don't be ridiculous! I'm going to propose to you, and we'll live a sweet, happy life together! But why is my consciousness......
“I'm sorry...... I'm sorry...... I'm...... sorry...... Cough!”
“Don't talk! Please! I'm all right! I'm sorry! So please!”
“I'm...... all...... right......”
But contrary to my words...... my consciousness was fading. I didn't know whether it was simply unconsciousness or the prelude to death, but I could sense that I had only a little time left to look at her.
“Jun-yeol! Jun-yeooool!”
Her swaying face and hair.
Ah, everything's spinning.
Her image was etched clearly into me. However many times I look at you, you're so beautiful. Snow was falling past her face. A tiny white snowflake was drifting down.
With a small laugh, I said.
“Hahaha! Snow, it's snowing.”
In my field of vision, no, perhaps it was in my mind, snow was falling. She flinched at my words, looked up at the sky, and said.
“Yes! It's snow! The first snow! You promised! We'd go to Jonggak again! You said we'd make our promise when the first snow fell!”
Those were definitely snowflakes. Countless little white things were falling from the sky. I raised my hand to try to catch them.
Even one...... If only I could catch just one...... But why? Why do I feel her face?
Gently stroking the face I felt against my hand, I said.
“W-would you...... smile for me? A smile suits you better......”
She nodded at my words and smiled. With tears brimming in her eyes, those eyes full of worry as she looked at me, she seemed ready to cry at any moment. But she smiled for me anyway.
I smiled back at her. The faint sound of an ambulance reached my ears. Her expression seemed to brighten a little. I wanted to fill my eyes with the sight of her smiling. With an effort, I parted my lips and spoke.
“I...... love you......”
“Yes......! Hic! I......! I love you too! So...... So!”
At that moment, a snowflake fell onto my hand.
Then I lost consciousness.
Jun-yeol's funeral was a modest affair. Various media outlets reported the story of a man who had ‘died saving his lover’, touching the hearts of many couples.
“Huhuhuhuh...... Sob, sob!”
Hye-jin was crying. On the street, he'd saved her, leaving only those words, I love you, before departing from her side.
Because of her own momentary foolishness...... she'd failed to trust him completely.
She sobbed bitterly. When Jun-yeol's classmate, the woman who had caused their quarrel, came and told her the truth, Hye-jin fainted from the shock.
“Hic! Ahh...... Aaaaaah!”
She buried her head in her knees and wailed. The little carved wooden box found in his pocket. And the ring engraved with her name, the little note asking her to marry him......
“Huhuh! Huhuhuh! Jun-yeol...... Jun-yeooool......!”
When he became a handful of ashes and was scattered over the East Sea he'd loved so much, she felt as though her mind were being bleached completely white.
The ones who comforted her were his parents, whom she'd met before he died.
“If I...... If I'd trusted him...... If I'd trusted him! Aaaaaah!”
She could only hug her knees and sob bitterly. Regret flooded in. She should have trusted him a little more, tried a little harder, had just a little more faith.
But......
But regret was already meaningless.
He was dead.
#Chapter 1. I Am Rainisis, the Red Dragon Rainisis
#(1) A Name Signifies My Existence
I came to my senses. Realizing my body was in liquid, I was quite puzzled. My surroundings were pitch-dark. Well, maybe that was natural, since I hadn't opened my eyes. But what's this? A new medical device? If I can feel something all over my body like this, that means I lost consciousness after being hit by the truck, was rushed to hospital, and survived? I tried to open my eyes, but they wouldn't open.
There's probably no point opening them anyway. In a space filled with liquid, it won't make much difference. But what's this? Why am I in this sticky, clinging liquid? Ugh...... It feels awful. And there's a strange pressure too? Ha, I don't know what's going on, but I'll stay put for now. Modern medicine can do anything. They'll let me out eventually.
It felt as though a few days had passed.
To give you the conclusion first, I think I was right. This must be the inside of modern medicine's latest treatment device. Because my body seemed to be getting better and better, and the sticky liquid was disappearing. The more liquid disappeared, the better my body seemed to become.
From what I could feel, I was in a capsule. Something rounded and hard surrounded me, and I was submerged deep in the liquid inside.
That capsule was the source of the pressure I'd felt at first. One curious thing was that I had no trouble breathing or taking in nutrients, even without any tubes or pipes.
Looked at that way, is modern medicine really that amazing?
Could this be that stuff? Some sort of solution that puts oxygen straight into your body. That...... What was it called? You see it in films and animation all the time.
Anyway, I ought to show doctors a little more respect from now on. Instead of cursing them whenever the news says they're always gobbling up money, I should thank the doctor in charge, whoever it is, for saving me.
It felt as though another few days had passed. Honestly, more than anything else, I wanted to know when I'd get out of here. Stay here this long, and it'll be hard to catch up with my lectures.
Oh, whatever! Should I just take this semester off? There's no helping it. With this many absences, earning my credits later will be hard, so I might as well take a semester off, recover, and start again next semester.
But I've never heard of them using a medical device like this for a traffic accident, even one involving a dump truck?
Ah, remember how I said at first there weren't any tubes or pipes? I take that back. Concentrating on the sensation, I could feel an enormous number of tubes connected to my back in 2 rows, and something thick and huge at the end of my spine, by the sacrum. People commonly call it the tailbone.
The ones on my back in particular were packed so tightly that I couldn't feel any gaps between the tubes. Anyway, seriously, when are they going to let me out?
Once again, it felt like a few days passed. In reality, it was probably 2 or 3 days, but subjectively it felt 3 or 4 times as long.
Ah! Damn it! I can't take this anymore!
The sticky liquid had all dried up too. Perhaps it had been my nourishment, because I was getting hungry. Damn it, I'll pay the repair bill later! Let's just get out first! They won't complain afterward, will they? Why won't they let me out when my injuries are all healed?! More than that, I felt an extremely strong urge to get out of here.
I had a strong feeling that staying here any longer would somehow be bad. As if it were instinct, the thought that I had to leave filled my head. Having seized my mind, it now began taking over my body. I stretched out my arms and pushed as hard as I could against the capsule's surface. With both hands and feet, I pushed hard, very hard.
CRACK!
Ohhh! It cracked! I heard a few fine cracks form in the surface, and felt light leaking through them.
Though I hadn't opened my eyes yet, the light coming through my eyelids was enough to tell me light was leaking in.
Ohhh! How long has it been since I saw light?! All right! Keep pushing! Push!
CRRRACK!...... CRACK!
I heard what sounded like fine cracks spreading out around me. Listening to them, I imagined they'd made marks like the little cracks from knocking a boiled egg against your head before eating it.
Doesn't this feel like a chick trying to hatch out of an egg?
Hmm, am I supposed to break my way out of this capsule? Judging by the lack of a lid......
But this medical device is pretty strange. How did they get someone inside? There's no lid or opening to put them through?
Thinking that, I kept pushing. Then I felt a tremendous burst of light pouring toward me.
Hooray! Light!
Overcome with emotion, I shouted loudly.
“SKREEEE!”
......What is that voice? Is that my voice?