This World is too Cruel to Men – Chapter 219

The fact that disaster messages didn’t go out on their end either sparks the question of how they found out that a rift opened here.

And how did they realize I was here as well?

There were so many things I wanted to say and ask.

I had a ton to express, but… for now, I must hold back.

That’s because there’s something else I need to do right now.

What I need to do isn’t resolving my questions, but figuring out what to do about this arm of mine.

The blood that has been trickling down continuously is concerning, but the most urgent issue is definitely hiding my arm from the eyes of those unexpected people who could show up at any moment.

“D-Dogun, you’re b-blood…!”

I stopped Yoonseo, who was panicking at the sight of my arm, which was turning into a real live horror show, and quickly took off my T-shirt.

If I had been wearing the coat I left the house in, I would’ve used that as a replacement, but unfortunately, I had tossed it aside while running away a long time ago.

So by now, my coat was probably rolling around like a rag somewhere on the 7th or 8th floor.

‘Geez… I was kinda attached to that…’

I muttered this internally just as I was about to take off the undershirt I was wearing underneath the T-shirt.

“W-Why are you suddenly taking off your clothes…?!”

Until I took off the T-shirt, Yoonseo had been flinching in shock, but now her voice turned into one of disbelief.

Maybe that’s why she had her eyes tightly shut at some point.

‘Or maybe…?’

It felt like she was peeking through squinty eyes…

Anyway, since my life-saving benefactor had just asked a question, I really should answer her.

“Hmm? That’s obviously because…”

I need to stop the bleeding and hide my arm, don’t I?

As soon as I said that, Yoonseo’s face flushed slightly different from before, and she told me to wait a moment while cautiously getting up.

Of course, her eyes were still closed.

And then, after a brief absence, she returned with a huge, white tablecloth that I had no idea where she got it from.

“Don’t just do that with your normal clothes… u-uh, use this for now.”

“What’s this? Where did you get it?”

“There was plenty down at the restaurant?”

So you just took it, huh?

I’m grateful that she brought me this, but her nonchalant delivery made me start to doubt Yoonseo’s moral principles.

Without realizing it, I found myself staring blankly at Yoonseo.

Fortunately, it seemed she wasn’t entirely guilt-free either.

“W-Well! Before I took it, I left a note with my contact information just in case?”

Seeing her immediately respond like that when I stared blankly made me think she felt a bit shy about it.

Well, if Yoonseo really left a note like she said, the possibility of any future problems arising from this should be significantly low.

If the restaurant tried to make a fuss about this little incident, I could just ask Chae-rim for help later on.

“B-Besides, we need to cover this up, right…?”

That was definitely true.

So without further ado, I fashioned a makeshift bandage out of the tablecloth Yoonseo brought and wrapped it around my arm.

I managed to stop the bleeding as well.

While doing that, the blood that dripped out slightly stained part of the tablecloth bandage red, so even if I encountered people later, I probably wouldn’t raise any suspicions because of this.

And as one urgent issue got resolved…

My mind began to shift towards other concerns.

Like… the existence of CCTV cameras, for instance.

‘It must have recorded everything…’

Until now, I had been too busy trying to survive to think about that.

But now that Yoonseo was here to help, I was slowly starting to realize that detail.

Specifically, it was my image left on the CCTV footage placed all around the rooftop.

If only I could find a way to solve that, I wouldn’t have anything else to worry about.

Was there perhaps some kind of solution?

With people likely to show up soon, I desperately thought about how to resolve the situation in the little time I had left, but unfortunately, nothing concrete came to mind.

So what was there to do?

I had no choice but to ask someone capable of resolving this situation for help.

That’s why I slowly took out my mobile phone and called Chae-rim’s number stored in it.

“What are you doing, who are you calling?”

“Shh, just hold on.”

Honestly… I was pretty worried calling Chae-rim too.

For good reason, I thought I’d get an earful.

But… after only three rings, Chae-rim picked up, and other than a moment of intense reaction, she surprisingly listened to my explanation of the situation in a calm manner.

—Phew… Okay, I get it. I’ll hear the rest when I get there, so don’t go anywhere; just stay put.

That made me feel more uneasy.

— I’ll be there soon.

Isn’t the person who should be getting angry not getting angry?

—And… you know? That you did something wrong?

If that’s the case, it was usually one of two things.

Either she was angry enough to suppress it… or she had completely given up.

Of course, recalling Chae-rim’s last words before the call ended, it didn’t seem like she’d given up on me, but… that made my body shiver even more.

I was shaking for those reasons—

“…Are you cold?”

Yoonseo, who was next to me, seemed to have noticed something different.

“Well, you know… why are you just randomly taking off your clothes like that?”

It was said in a slightly reproachful tone, as if she were admonishing me to not do so again, but Yoonseo hesitated for a moment before cautiously reaching out.

“…Here.”

What is this?

Is she telling me to hold onto it?

Her face was even redder than before, so it seemed like that was the case, so I decided to take it.

But as soon as I did, Yoonseo tightly grasped my hand and shoved it into the pocket of my pants.

“Um… Don’t you usually just put it in your own pocket…?”

“I don’t have any pockets, what am I supposed to do?”

Maybe it was embarrassing for her too.

I could feel Yoonseo’s hand squirming together with mine inside the pocket.

“Ah, Oh Yoonseo, you were totally like a hero today… but you seem to have broken down at the end?”

“…Doing it doesn’t help, seriously.”

And while I was bantering with Yoonseo like that, the worries I had just moments ago felt foolish.

To be honest, back when I was taking Yoonseo home, I had been debating how to treat her after everything that happened.

Now, however, I couldn’t help but acknowledge the reality.

The one next to me wasn’t that seven-year-old kid who cried at the thought of moving away anymore, but my seventeen-year-old peer, Oh Yoonseo.

“Are you sure your arm is really okay?”

“Yeah.”

Now she was actually concerned about others… since when did she grow up so much?

Even after saying I was fine, Yoonseo couldn’t stop glancing at my arm.

While I was lost in thought over how much she had matured, I suddenly heard a familiar voice coming from above.

“What’s going on? Did you get hurt?”

Looking up reflexively, I saw Chae-rim staring down at me from mid-air.

She had said she’d come soon, but had she flown from home all the way here?

‘No…’

How on earth could she use her abilities like that?

I considered myself somewhat knowledgeable in that area, but I had no idea how Chae-rim did that.

“What? You can fly?”

“I can’t keep it up for long, just for a bit.”

“Ugh…”

While I was marveling at this, Chae-rim slowly descended in front of Yoonseo and me and then started to look straight at me.

“So anyway… what happened?”

“Like I mentioned in the call earlier…”

“No, what I mean is… why did you sneak out without telling either me or Seolhwa?”

Maybe she decided that was the only thing that mattered, because she had a look on her face that indicated she wasn’t going to relent until she heard my answer.

“Were you feeling cramped stuck in the house all the time?”

“…”

“And where’s Bora? Didn’t you come out together with her?”

Oh.

Now that she mentioned it, I completely forgot about her while I was busy trying to survive.

As soon as that fact hit me, I realized just how chaotic and desperate the situation was.

Chae-rim demanding explanations and Yoonseo, who was earlier holding my hand as if in caution, had now synchronized her expression with Chae-rim’s.

Yeah, this was the true definition of chaotic confusion.