This World is too Cruel to Men – Chapter 126

Of course, I tried to refuse.

When you think about it, Dogun is suffering because he stepped forward on behalf of someone like me who is in trouble, right?

But instead of being grateful to him, I’m borrowing his jumper?

Out of guilt, that was definitely out of the question.

“Don’t do that, just hurry up.”

So I said it was fine… but Dogun’s attitude was more stubborn than I thought.

Thinking back, it was particularly so today.

…Could he have noticed I’ve been struggling a lot lately?

That thought suddenly crossed my mind.

If it were someone else, I wouldn’t think so, but with Dogun, it might be possible.

After all, Dogun looks at me differently than others do.

He has a keen eye.

So perhaps my act of pretending to be okay and nonchalant was seen right through by Dogun.

“Senior?”

Maybe it was because I had that thought.

Unlike before, I couldn’t easily bring myself to say the words to refuse.

And Dogun didn’t miss that gap.

“To be honest, I could lie down all day tomorrow and it wouldn’t matter, but you can’t do that, can you?”

“…”

“And did you know? Generally, women feel the cold more than men do.”

At first, that seemed plausible, but suddenly, I questioned why the logic turned out that way.

Forget about rebutting that statement; I was just taken aback and looked blankly at where the words had come from. Dogun awkwardly averted his gaze with a shy smile.

“No, I’m serious…”

That mumbling was just a bonus.

Seeing that made me feel it was cute, and it was undoubtedly because my perspective on Dogun had shifted.

Of course, that didn’t mean I had decided to bend my intention like before.

My change of heart occurred because I felt that if I delayed any longer, it would only burden Dogun.

“I understand what you want to say. Thanks for caring.”

“No, it’s no big deal. As a manager, this is what I should do.”

“Still, gratitude is gratitude.”

As we exchanged words like that, I slipped on the jacket Dogun handed me.

I literally just draped it over myself.

I figured if I completely put it on, it might get in the way later.

Anyway, wearing just my underwear and having something draped over me definitely felt better.

Just a little while ago, even a slight breeze made my skin prick, but now it wasn’t that bad.

“Huh…”

I could feel warmth starting to circulate around my body.

It was the warmth that Dogun had gifted me.

I curled up as much as I could, savoring that precious gift while I turned my head slightly to gaze at Dogun’s back.

I wondered if I should sit back down, watching him quietly like that… but it seemed he was feeling cold since he suddenly shivered and shifted his hands toward his t-shirt.

‘Uh…?’

The moment I reflexively opened my eyes wide, his wet back was revealed.

I was bewildered.

I hadn’t been staring at him with that intention, but the situation suddenly turned out this way, making it feel like I was eyeing him on purpose.

However, that was just the beginning.

I couldn’t tell if he knew I was watching or not, but Dogun pulled off his t-shirt and, with a deep, short sigh, began to wring it out with both hands.

With the sound of splashing water, his back muscles started to twitch at that very moment.

Watching that scene made me… feel strangely odd.

I shouldn’t have had any reason to feel that way, but I felt oddly tense.

I was swallowing my saliva continuously because I thought that if I didn’t do something, I wouldn’t be able to calm down.

Staring like I was entranced at Dogun’s back, it wasn’t until—

Splash—!

Finally successful in squeezing out all the water, Dogun threw his t-shirt into the air, and the sound made my mind snap back to reality.

As soon as I regained my senses, the first thing I did was to avert my gaze from Dogun.

And I didn’t stop there; I completely turned my head in the opposite direction, finally feeling a bit relieved.

“Huh, that’s a bit better.”

In the meantime, I wondered if he had put on the t-shirt he was holding.

Just a moment later, I heard a noise not too far away, where someone was sitting.

Hearing that sound made me realize.

Now it’s my turn to move for Dogun.

—

Because I was with my senior, there was no way to do anything about my pants, but at least my upper body felt a bit drier.

Contrary to what I had worried about, it was bearable.

Of course, that didn’t mean it was warm.

My legs were just as wet as when I came in, and with the strong wind, it was freezing cold.

So I kept contemplating.

‘…Should I just go for it?’

What if I start a fire?

It was clear that things would at least improve from what they were now.

Plus, my senior’s t-shirt spread out over there would dry faster.

And there was no shortage of materials to start a fire either.

Among the items I bought at the convenience store were lighters.

As for firewood… I could find some way to get it.

‘The real problem is the aftermath, though.’

It was a situation where all I had to do was make a decision, but that was the main thing I was pondering.

That was how I felt until just a moment ago—

‘Honestly, doesn’t this mean we’re already responsible for this situation?’

I don’t know if it’s due to exhaustion, but I kept getting other thoughts.

And it was quite plausible; I could easily argue that if we freeze to death after just going for it, who would blame me and my senior?

They’d probably blame the person who put us in this situation instead.

‘Right.’

Since it’s come to this, I’ll just consider it practice for a campfire.

That decision had barely taken shape when I was interrupted by the sound that had started to softly echo periodically.

And that sound was indeed coming from the direction where my senior was sitting.

What can I say?

My senior had been moving slightly since just now.

The reason was probably… because she was cold.

Given that the place was an abandoned house, wind was blowing in from all sides, and she was instinctively moving to find a spot sheltered from the breeze… but the problem was that the more she did that, the closer she got to me.

Honestly speaking, her movements were a little burdensome.

To be precise, I’d say they leaned more toward awkward than burdensome.

It was inevitable since my senior’s attire was a bit unusual, don’t you think?

You could say that I should just ignore it, but… that was practically impossible.

There were so few places inside this abandoned house that were safe from the wind, and one of those places was right across from me, where the t-shirt had been laid out.

Thanks to that, whenever I kept my eyes open, that kept fluttering on the edge of my vision, drawing other things along with it, making it impossible not to be aware of it.

Still, I’m a guy.

The reason I started seriously contemplating whether to start a fire just a moment ago was entirely because of that.

Every time my senior moved, I’d instinctively shift my body away too, but now there was no place left to escape.

‘…This won’t do!’

If I start a fire, it’ll be better.

Absolutely, it will be.

I was firmly convinced that would be the case, and I stood up from my huddled position.

The moment I did, however, my senior grabbed my wrist.

“You really are cold, aren’t you?”

“Y-Yeah…?”

“You’ve been shivering since earlier because of the cold. Right?”

How could I possibly admit that truthfully?

So I just stood there dumbfounded, but to skip ahead, I shouldn’t have done that.

If only I had held on to my senses, then I wouldn’t have been pulled back into my place by my senior’s hand.

Having seated me down again, my senior carefully began to feel around my body—

“Look, your body is like an ice block… With you acting like this…”

Her face turned suddenly filled with concern.

The fact that I had been the one who encouraged her first might have made her feel it was somehow her fault that I was cold.

With lips devoid of color, turning just white from the cold, my senior bit down hard as if determined to make a decision, a certain expression emerging on her face.

Then—

“I can’t let this go on.”

For some reason, whether it was from the cold or another reason, her face, tinged red, opened the collar of the jacket she was wearing and directed it toward me.

“…Dogun, you cover too.”