Chapter 10: Wasn’t expecting to meet you so soon
The extended vision blurred. Time deliberately slowed down. His eyes fixed on the path they had been walking—that’s when he realized no one was coming back to save him. The path was clear, without any human presence. Cheon Areum’s eyes darted back to the person on top of him. He was trying to bite him, but he felt nothing—like he was watching a scene, having no actual association with the victim.
"Hey?"
"Why can’t I feel your pulse? Are you dead with your eyes wide open? Pft."
Cheon Areum fixed his eyes on the same spot, unblinking. The world around him seemed to be darkening, shadows closing in at the edges of his vision. Someone was speaking close to his ear, but he registered none of it. The hand around his neck had moved away in the meantime, but his body remained still—frozen, detached.
When the teeth sinking into his ear stung, only then was he moved to respond, purely from the botheration of it. The hands resting on the sand gripped the dampness furiously. The person lifted his head—perhaps recognizing the movement or having had his fill of biting his ear—looking down at him arrogantly.
Cheon Areum’s body moved as if he had been possessed. No hesitation in his movements as he lifted his upper body, bashing his head into the face in front of him, throwing him back. He climbed on top of him.
"Ugh... you-..."
The hands full of wet lumps pushed into the eyes of the one who dared to intimidate him. He shoved everything his hands contained into the two small holes, forcing them to open by poking inside with his fingernails. Unhurriedly, languidly, scratching the mushy and tender eyeballs.
"Ahhh... Please stop! Ahh!"
The screams, disguised as music, traveled to his eardrums, jolting him awake. The brightness adjusted back, engulfing the darkness bordering him. Cheon Areum finally recognized the person writhing under him in excruciating pain.
Park Gunwoo.