Chapter 123: An Escape, a Promise, and a Bloody Nose

“By the way, are the kids okay? I saw the video on the news of them going into the ER, and since they all looked pretty badly injured, I was worried.”

At my words, Yeon Ha-yeon and Do I-hyun’s expressions noticeably darkened.

I furrowed my brows in concern, waiting for their response while silently watching their lips, wondering if it was serious—but then came an unexpected answer.

“I don’t even know if I can call this ‘okay’…”

“They all have at least one hole in their stomach or leg, but they’re living like the hospital is their own home. The three of them got really close, and they’re getting along like a charm.”

Just thinking about it made Yeon Ha-yeon look exhausted as she pressed her fingers against the corners of her eyes.

It seemed like she had been thoroughly tormented by the three during her hospital visit.

“Oh, so the three of them got that close.”

Apparently, they were sharing the same hospital room and quickly bonded, but I couldn’t imagine how their hospital stay was going to make them react like that.

It didn’t take long to find out.

Since the association had brought it up, we all decided to visit them together after the meeting.

So as soon as the meeting ended, I rushed straight to the hospital, but…

“Hey! Attack, attack!”

“Ah, wait! I think my wound reopened!”

“Stop whining, damn it. I know it’s not reopened.”

Why on earth were they having a pillow fight in the hospital room…?

Glancing to the side, Yeon Ha-yeon and Do I-hyun were watching them with vacant eyes as if they were used to this kind of situation, then quickly averted their gaze.

That’s when it happened.

Blood started to seep through Yeon Hyung-gwang’s patient gown, who had just raised both hands in surrender, saying his wound had reopened.

“What the—? His wound really reopened! Someone call a Doctor!”

As the pure white patient gown gradually turned red, Haemalkum, who had been swinging his pillow with all his might, stopped in shock and shouted at us.

We had come worried, thinking they must be in a lot of pain from their injuries.

‘Their expressions say otherwise.’

I even saw one of them wearing the look of “Why did I even come here?”

Do I-hyun let out a quiet sigh and went to call a Doctor.

The moment Yeon Ha-yeon’s expression turned ominous, we immediately distanced ourselves from her. It was instinctual.

A deadly aura soon radiated from Yeon Ha-yeon.

Her gaze locked onto Haemalkum and Kang Ye-dam with precise intent.

Startled, they quietly set down the pillows in their hands—but it was already too late.

Just how intense must that pillow fight have been for Yeon Hyung-gwang’s wound to reopen?

“What are you two doing right now?”

Yeon Ha-yeon’s chilling voice cooled the atmosphere in the hospital room like winter had come to this place alone.

Her fierce glare descended upon Haemalkum and Kang Ye-dam.

Thud—

“Sorry! Sorry!”

“We were just trying to play around; we didn’t think the wound would open!”

They looked ready to kneel immediately, but probably because of their leg injuries, they couldn’t bend their knees and instead bowed deeply at the waist, begging for forgiveness.

“Nuna, I’m fine. It was just playing with the guys.”

Yeon Hyung-gwang seemed deeply moved by how his sister was worried and scolding him like this.

But Yeon Ha-yeon’s glare remained fierce even when she looked at him.

“You’re the same. How can someone with injuries fight pillows that hard?”

“Sorry.”

In the end, it was an apology from all three.

“Who is it this time? What kind of patient?”

The sound of footsteps approached quickly, and a Doctor hurriedly opened the door and came in. Judging by the weary expression as he asked, this wasn’t the first time he had encountered such a situation.

Everyone had worn worried expressions before entering the room, but now—

‘It’s icy cold.’

A chill now lingered in the air of the hospital room.

***

‘Still, I’m glad it’s only this bad.’

In front of the vending machine in the hospital lobby.

Using the excuse of grabbing drinks, I slipped away from the hospital room and, with a heavy heart, began selecting beverages to bring to my friends one by one.

Clatter—

As I bent down to collect the drinks after the cans fell in succession, I noticed a heavily wounded hand sliding over.

“Let’s carry these together.”

Do I-hyun, who seemed to have also escaped from the hospital room, gathered some drinks.

Right after coming out of the S-rank Gate, I had been busy these past few days running around with Ban Eun-hyeol, so this was the first time we were having a one-on-one conversation.

I had texted him asking if he was okay, and he replied that he was, but that was all.

It seemed like he wanted to meet in person, but my parents had forbidden me from leaving the house for a week, so it was impossible.

Calling Do I-hyun over to my house was also awkward.

He straightened up after collecting the drinks and looked me over carefully, his black eyes scanning me as if to check whether I had any injuries.

“I’m fine. I didn’t even see any monsters.”

I shrugged to assure him I was okay, and only then did his stiff expression relax a bit.

“But you saw something else.”

I glanced around and took Do I-hyun to a spot where there was no one nearby.

Then, together with Ban Eun-hyeol, I honestly shared what I had experienced.

Since he was one of the two people who knew my true identity, it was important to tell him these crucial details quickly.

‘…You went to the original dimension?’

Do I-hyun frowned, confirming if he had heard right after listening to my story.

I nodded and summarized the conversation I had with Lee Dan-ah in that other dimension.

“Ah, so your souls were switched.”

He had thought I was the only one possessed, but when I told him the original body’s owner, Lee Dan-ah, was living in that dimension, he answered lifelessly.

Though Do I-hyun didn’t seem curious about anything involving Lee Dan-ah at all.

Feeling a little embarrassed for spilling everything so urgently, I continued.

“So Ban Eun-hyeol went to get you, huh?”

“Yeah. After defeating the boss monster, I guess he was given the option to teleport dimensions as a reward. When he saw that I crossed dimensions, he came to my place.”

“…I could have gone too.”

Muttering with a hint of regret, he looked down before lifting his eyes back to me.

“So, have you completely cut ties with that other dimension?”

“Yeah. I’m trying to live thinking of this body as mine now. Lee Dan-ah is doing fine over there.”

“You’ve decided to stay here permanently?”

“For now, yeah, but I’m not sure if the system fully understood our intention. It would be troublesome if I’m forced to dimension-hop again.”

“If that happens, I’ll go.”

He popped open a can of soda and handed it to me, speaking as confidently as Ban Eun-hyeol did when he promised to find me no matter what.

“So don’t worry about a thing.”

His confidence was just as reckless as mine.

“Alright! I’ll trust only you.”

We clinked our cans and finished them neatly while talking, then gathered the drinks to give to our friends.

Just as I was walking back to the hospital room, holding the cans now slick with condensation,

“Give those here.”

Ban Eun-hyeol, who had been leaning against the hospital room door unnoticed, spotted us and came over.

All the drinks I was carrying ended up in Ban Eun-hyeol’s arms.

Just as he was about to walk ahead, he paused, then started backing up.

Without hesitation, he slipped between Do I-hyun and me, standing right beside me.

“Huh.”

I heard Do I-hyun’s breath of disbelief beside me.

‘Here we go again.’

I wondered when I’d ever see those two get along properly.

Shaking my head, I quickened my pace to put some distance between us, though they caught up quickly.

***

Senior year of high school really is a tough time.

“I just want to close Gates and live quietly…”

After barely surviving an S-rank Gate, and then having to deal with midterms and mock exams!

“Ugh, let’s study. We have to get into the same university, right?”

As soon as I slumped over the desk, Yeon Ha-yeon’s soft scolding came from behind.

She couldn’t stand me giving up so easily.

“I don’t want to go to university…”

I stubbornly sat up, whining, causing my chair to wobble.

Yeon Ha-yeon kept nudging the chair with her foot from behind, making it feel like an earthquake was happening.

Just as I surrendered and was about to raise my head to look back at my workbook,

“Huh? You’re nosebleeding.”

At Yeon Ha-yeon’s words, I turned to see Eun Bada’s nose bleeding.

“How much have you studied?”

“I’ve been overdoing it because of midterms.”

“I’ve seen you get nosebleeds occasionally, but lately it’s been pretty frequent.”

Eun Bada had been having nosebleeds quite often recently.

We all knew he studied hard, but this frequency made me wonder if something was seriously wrong.

He hurriedly pinched his nose with a tissue but smiled as if it was nothing.

“It’s nothing serious. Everyone studies.”

He said casually and quickly went back to his workbook.

We exchanged worried looks behind his back.

‘Does anyone know why Eun Bada is like this?’

‘He’s always obsessed with grades, so it’s no surprise.’

‘Bada’s been having nosebleeds a lot lately. ㅠㅠ’

‘Looks serious recently—maybe he’s under pressure at home?’

‘Someone needs to tell him to stop passing notes during class.’

After passing notes with Ban Eun-hyeol, Han Ji-bin, Gang Jihan, and Yeon Ha-yeon without Eun Bada noticing, we came to one conclusion:

Eun Bada was under intense pressure over his grades.

I had just thought of him as a diligent model student, but the little tidbit Han Ji-bin casually slipped to me and Yeon Ha-yeon was quite shocking.