Ara fell backwards with the agonizing sound of breaking bones. I hit her once more across the belly. Ara flew a short distance before falling to the ground. She was either dead or unconscious. But that didn’t matter right now. Suppressing my anger, I kneeled next to Chii and hugged her to me. I put my hand to her nose. I couldn’t feel anything. I put my ear to her chest. There was nothing. She was getting colder. The warmth particular to children was disappearing. The blood dripping from the back of her head was red.
I cried with Chii’s cold body in my arms.
It was my fault. It was my fault. I was such an idiot. I should never have asked her to do this. There was a difference in age, in nature, in experience, and in strength. Without even considering these things, I asked Chii to die—asked her to trust me and die. I was an idiot. An utter fool.
“Chii. Huugh, Chii.”
There was no way her cold body would come back to life just from me crying and hugging her. What did I do? How could I have let such a young kid die? After she was finally ready to find happiness. Chii, why?
Why did you have to die?!
I then saw the defeated woman. Ara. Her chest was moving slightly. She was alive.
Something began to worsen the rage within me, threatening to overwhelm my senses. But I didn’t care. It spoke as if with a sneer on its face.
‘How foolish. Haven’t you realized that if that thing weren’t here, then that child would not have died?’
Yeah. That’s right. If Ara weren’t here, then this wouldn’t have happened. Yeah. This is all Ara’s fault. That snake’s fault. It’s that snake phantom’s fault that Chii died.
It’s that phantom’s fault!!
Holding Chii to me with one arm, I lifted the other, the one holding the club, up into the air. Her head. Hit her head. If I hit her there, then she should die. This is vengeance. This is justice.
It’s okay to kill her. I need to kill her. Kill her to make sure nothing like this ever happens again. So that there are no more kids who end up like Chii.
I should kill her. After all, she’s not even human.
Yeah. There’s a difference between humans and phantoms. There was no need for even a shred of remorse.
So I should kill her. No, I’m going to kill her.
There was a flash of lightning. Taking that as a sign, I raised my arm in preparation to strike.
And then—.
“Unyak?! Why is everything so disorderly?!”
That voice pierced my consciousness, shocking me back to sanity. I turned my head towards the main gate, and standing there was Rangii, soaked to the bone and turning her head this way and that. At that moment. The terrible rage inside me turned into hatred, and from hatred into frustration. Then that frustration changed once again into sadness, and, unable to suppress the emotions within me, I dropped the club and called out her name.
“Rangii…”
My voice was soft and close to a sob, but Rangii heard me. Those amber eyes shined with a light that pierced through the dark summer night’s rain. Her eyes filled with relief, which immediately changed into worry. Rangii was suddenly standing in front of me. She made no effort to hide her confusion as she spoke to me while waving her arms about.
“Sunghoon! What happened? Why is your hand hurt? Why is Kkachi like that again? And who’s that? What in the world happened while I was gone?!”
“Chii…Chii, she…!”
I couldn’t answer Rangii; all I could do was repeat Chii’s name in between sobs. Rangii’s face filled with concern when she saw Chii with her eyes closed as if she were sleeping. Thinking that the rain would disguise the tears falling from my eyes, I looked up at Rangii and spoke.
“It’s my fault.”
Even speaking was difficult. But I still had to tell her these things. Even though it felt like my heart was tearing itself apart, I continued to force out these words.
“It’s my fault—I was so stupid—then Chii—huk—sh—she died. Because of me.”
This was my first time losing someone so close to me, and the tears wouldn’t stop. My lips were trembling, and I was on the verge of losing my sanity from my grief. I never even imagined that something like this could happen. I never thought that someone would die because of the choice I made.
“I-I’ll take a look at her.”
Rangii looked almost unbelievably reliable. Rangii got on her knees, held Chii, and put her hand to Chii’s chest. A moment’s pause. Rangii looked at me with a serious expression on her face and spoke.
“Give me your permission. Hurry!”
I couldn’t understand what she was saying. But I could instinctively tell that she was going to do something to save Chii. I nodded my head, unable to trust myself not to cry again if I opened my mouth. After I gave Rangii a slight nod, she…leaned forward and met Chii’s lips with her own.
I didn’t need to ask her what she was doing. I simply continued to stare in a daze at Rangii and Chii. The rain weighed Rangii’s hair down, hiding both their faces like a curtain. As if watching any longer would have been embarrassing.
For that entire time, Rangii kept her lips on Chii’s. But at some point, Rangii’s body began to glow. She was lighting up like a firefly. That light moved from Rangii to Chii.
And then I realized what Rangii was doing. Rangii was sharing with Chii some part of herself. Rangii said that her body was like an elixir, and I had already seen proof of this multiple times.
The light of hope within me once again lit up.
Rangii stopped kissing Chii. A string of saliva connected the two of them, but was broken by the rain. Rangii moved Chii to me, and I held Chii in my arms again.
…She was warm.
I put my hand to her nose. She was breathing. I checked her pulse. It was weak, but it was there.
“Hueheheh~.”
Before I could be surprised at Chii’s revival, Rangii eyes spun in their sockets, and she was no longer able to stand up. Surprised, I extended one arm and hugged Rangii to me before she fell. Rangii leaned against my chest and looked up at me.
“I-I’m all out of energy so I’m tired.”
Rangii began breathing deeply, but despite her heavy breaths, she smiled happily.
“Don’t worry. Kkachi is okay now. She’s okay, so…you don’t have to cry anymore.”
Rangii wiped away the tears from my cheek.
“My husband mustn’t cry so easily. Just look. Aren’t I by your side? So be happy, just like usual.”
After she said that, Rangii’s all-encompassing warmth freed the emotions I didn’t know I was holding in, and I cried deeply in front of Rangii.
But, strangely enough, I was smiling.