Chapter 110: Short
Beep, beep, beep... The alarm blared loudly. J carefully embraced the boy, putting as little force as possible into his arms. The boy, nestled in his embrace, coughed intermittently.
The smell of blood lingered. J gently stroked the boy's protruding backbone. The boy's body, leaning powerlessly against him, felt unnaturally light, and his heartbeat, though faint, was rapid, as if proving he was still alive.
'He's alive.'
I saved him. This child.
J reaffirmed the startling truth. Only then did his tense body relax. He sighed. The boy's body, which had just begun to stop coughing, flinched. It seemed the boy knew he had done something wrong. However, J didn't feel like getting angry. Thanks to this boy, he had barely come to his senses.
'Why die? You have to live till the end...'
Only then could he continue living with this stubborn, self-assertive, and highly active child. J sighed once more, a much longer sigh this time. The boy's bloodstained hand cautiously released its grip on J's collar. J pressed his cheek to the boy's crown and muttered.
"Does it hurt?"
"..."
"It must hurt... Why did you suddenly do that?"
As always, no answer came back. But as time passed, J could find answers in the boy's small reactions.
Clearly labored breaths and a trembling body. A boy who had learned to endure instead of saying he was in pain. J patted the boy's back. The warmth against his body was comforting.