BKR Ch 10

Among the twelve S-class members, Dohan held a unique position with his unmatched speed.

These two black swords, wielded only by him, were crafted from a special metal that absorbed all light.

[Heukmudo (Black Dance Blades)]

True to their name, “Blades that Dance in the Darkness,” these swords never gleamed, neither under the dazzling sunlight nor the clear moonlight.

Dohan, armed with weapons of pure darkness, was the embodiment of the “Black Devil.”

Static- The earpiece crackled.

— Ah, Black Devil, this is Falcon. Do you read?

Dohan touched his ear.

“I read.”

— Haven’t you reached the target yet?

“Almost there.”

— The situation is critical. The enemy is swarming into the bunker. A large force.

“….!”

Dohan bit his lip.

— We’re changing the plan due to the urgent situation. The squad will secure and blockade the entrance. Major, eliminate the target as quickly as possible.

Dohan, hearing the sudden change of plans, quickly scanned his surroundings.

There might be a slight delay in the information relayed from Falcon headquarters, gathered via drones and satellites, but its accuracy couldn’t be ignored. Moreover, orders from headquarters were to be obeyed without question.

“Confirmed. I’ll execute immediately.”

Dohan ended the transmission and quickly relayed the orders to his squad.

“…Anyway, I have to split up here.”

“Yes, sir.”

The nine members of the Black Devil squad nodded, acknowledging the change of plan.

“Focus on defense. Leave the target elimination to me.”

Despite giving the order, Dohan felt uneasy about leaving such a small number to face the incoming large force. Seeing his worried expression, one of the squad members spoke up.

“Major.”

Dohan looked at him.

“Don’t worry.”

The older squad member continued with a serious expression.

“How much have we prepared for this assassination? We’ll do anything to assist you. Don’t worry about the rear, just focus on succeeding.”

Dohan blinked, expressionless. Other squad members also started speaking.

“Of course, we can hold them off.”

“Naturally. We’ve been preparing for this for a long time.”

“Don’t worry about us at all, Major. Just focus on your objective.”

They spoke with determination, their voices filled with conviction, their gazes fixed on a single person.

The youngest S-class in history.

Dohan, wearing the Black Devil armband on his upper arm.

Dohan was just nineteen years old. Despite his impressive physical growth, he was still very young to be called a major, let alone the leader of a squad.

However, the Berserker class wasn’t determined by age or length of service, but solely by skill. And headquarters had judged that the young Dohan was more than capable of leading a squad.

Therefore, they trusted and followed him.

“Major.”

The squad members called out to Dohan, approaching him.

“Major.”

“Major Heukma.”

They surrounded Dohan, placing their hands on his shoulders.

They had been preparing for this operation for two years. Finally, the big fish was within their grasp.

The long-awaited moment was about to arrive.

Everything rested on the shoulders of this one person.

“Major, you will definitely succeed.”

They placed their hands on his shoulders, trying to share the heavy burden he carried.

“…….”

Dohan stood silently, his gaze dry and indifferent.

Although their ranks now separated them like a blade, Dohan and the others had trained together since childhood, like family.

They were the ones who always called him the youngest, the maknae.

But Dohan’s heart was as cold as a dead furnace. He felt nothing.

The abuse he suffered as a child, the harsher punishments that followed whenever he cried or screamed. That horrific past had locked his emotions away in a deep, impenetrable prison.

The wounds inflicted by people were too deep, and his heart had hardened in proportion to the pain. As hard as steel.

“Why aren’t you moving to your positions?”

Dohan finally spoke, his voice icy, giving only orders. He didn’t offer a single warm word to his squad members before turning away abruptly.

“Extermination!”

The squad members shouted their slogan from behind. Dohan ignored their salute and moved forward with lightning speed, his eyes fixed ahead.

‘I can do this.’

This was a bunker, not an open field.

If nine Berserkers blocked the narrow entrance, even a large force wouldn’t be able to easily break through.

‘I just need to finish this quickly.’

Still, the longer it took, the more disadvantaged they would be. Therefore, completing the mission as quickly as possible was key.

Dohan left the entrance to his squad and infiltrated deeper into the bunker alone.

After a thorough search, he finally located President Osek’s hiding place.

Bang, bang, bang, bang-!

Sensing someone approaching, the soldiers guarding the entrance to the secret area opened fire with their machine guns.

But Dohan’s movements were like invisible smoke. With reflexes that could deflect even bullets, he moved forward swiftly yet gracefully.

The belated bullets only struck the wall behind him, marking the path he had taken.

In an instant, Dohan reached them. The two Heukmudo blades flashed, piercing their bodies like lightning. Crimson blood spurted from the cleanly severed wounds.

Crash—! Dohan kicked down the steel door and came face to face with President Osek.

“Gasp…!”

The terrified Osek fired his pistol.

Swish-!

A Heukmudo blade sliced through the air. The bullet, cleanly split in two, ricocheted to either side. Simultaneously, Dohan swung the blade again, severing Osek’s head from his body.

Slash-!

The severed head rolled on the floor, spraying dark red blood.

‘I did it.’

Dohan breathed a sigh of triumph.

He had finally completed the mission. He had killed the enemy leader.

Dohan, his elation short-lived, quickly placed the severed head in the leather pouch he had brought. He then searched Osek’s body.

“….!”

He found a large bundle of checks in his pocket.

This… no one would know if he took it.

Without hesitation, Dohan stuffed the checks into the belt around his waist.

It looked like he was taking spoils of war, but there was nowhere to spend money on Yeongam Island. Moreover, time was of the essence. Despite this, Dohan meticulously collected all the checks and valuables.

Dohan had his reasons. It was because Cheongyeon wanted to escape from Yeongam Island.

This money would surely be of great help to his plan.

Boom—!!

Suddenly, a loud explosion shook the ground beneath his feet.

‘A missile?’

He could clearly feel the lingering vibrations.

Dohan quickly grabbed the pouch containing the head and turned around. He had already achieved his objectives.

‘It’s a bunker, anyway.’

Despite the alarming explosion, he wasn’t particularly worried. No missile, not even a nuclear bomb, could destroy the bunker, which was designed to withstand anything.

Dohan soon reached the entrance of the underground bunker. The place where his squad members would be facing the armored soldiers.

He stopped.

Dohan froze, stunned by the unexpected sight.

‘What?’

The arched entrance to the bunker was completely collapsed.

Debris piled up like a mountain, and dust and debris still rained down, obscuring his vision.

Dohan stared blankly at the entrance, blocked by collapsed concrete, and then scanned his surroundings. He saw severed arms and legs of armored soldiers scattered everywhere.

And among them, human remains.

‘This…’

Dohan looked at the debris again. But the thick smoke made it impossible to see clearly.

Static…

Instead, sparks from the broken machine relentlessly assaulted his already sensitive ears.

Crackle, crackle.

Dohan kept turning his head, listening to the piercing sound of the sparks. A powerful missile had definitely been fired here. But no matter how much he looked, he couldn’t see any of his squad members.

‘Where did everyone evacuate to?’

Unable to break through the debris blocking his path, Dohan recalled another escape route stored in his memory. Just as he was about to turn, he caught a glimpse of a long greatsword hilt protruding from the rubble.

“……!”

Dohan’s gaze shot towards it like an arrow.

Could he have seen wrong? Dohan quickly pushed through the smoke, climbing over the concrete debris. As he got closer, familiar shapes began to emerge one by one.

The blade and hilt of a greatsword. A mechanical mask, a leg, and…

A hand clad in a black glove.

The moment Dohan saw them, he realized what was buried in the rubble, and what he was standing on.

“Ha… Ha…”

His breathing inside the mechanical mask quickened. Dohan rushed towards the black glove, extending his arm. He grabbed the hand that was sticking out from between the concrete.

But it didn’t move.

The hand that had been moving freely just a moment ago, the hand that had rested firmly on his shoulder…

“Ha, Ha…”

Dohan’s breathing became frantic.

He couldn’t breathe properly. His vision swam.

He didn’t know who had launched the missile, whether it was the enemy or an ally.

But he knew one thing for sure.

His squad members were buried here. He knew that with agonizing certainty.

“Ugh…!”

Gritting his teeth, Dohan lifted the heavy concrete slab off the buried squad member. He grabbed the exposed arm and pulled with all his might.

What emerged was a body with a crushed head.

The one who had spoken to him first… his subordinate, his comrade, the one he used to call the youngest, even though he was older.

Dohan didn’t stop there. He continued to clear the debris in other places.

One, two, three, four…

Familiar forms continued to appear. None of them were breathing. As Dohan confirmed the deaths of his comrades with his own eyes, his vision blurred and he felt dizzy.

It felt like all his memories were shattering and scattering. It felt like the frames holding all his moments were breaking apart in his chest.

The broken shards flew into his heart, piercing him sharply.

“……!”

Dohan clutched his aching chest.

‘Why…?’

His heart ached. It ached so much he felt like he was going crazy. It was hard to even breathe.

How could this be? This had never happened before… Who was mercilessly tearing his heart apart?

Heat began to rise in his eyes. Unable to withstand the burning sensation in his heart and eyes, Dohan lowered his head. Hot liquid welled up and dripped onto the ground.

“Ah…”

Dohan raised his tear-streaked face. He looked at the bodies again, then slowly took in the silent bunker, devoid of any sign of life.

‘They’re all…’

His lips trembled.

‘Dead.’

The moment he acknowledged this reality in his mind…

“AAAAAH──!!”

The emotions trapped within him erupted in a loud scream. Dohan collapsed to the ground. Hot tears streamed down his face.

“Aaah!”

The cry that had been resurrected before the horrific scene soon turned into a wail that seemed to tear at his insides.

“Hyung! Hyung!”

He hadn’t known that would be their last goodbye. He hadn’t even said a kind word.

He hadn’t known that a cold farewell would become an eternal goodbye.

Dohan sat on the ground, sobbing like a child, filled with regret. He clutched his chest with both hands, lost in the face of this irreversible reality.

He stamped his feet like a child, wailing. He pounded his aching heart, which felt numb with pain.

‘How…’

Dohan squeezed his reddened eyes shut.

‘Can it hurt this much!’

He had thought his heart was made of steel. He had always thought it was as solid as iron. But now he knew that wasn’t true. It was just a hardened callus formed over too many scars.

It was just flesh that would tear and bleed like any other when injured.

“Wow──!”

A thunderous applause and cheers erupted as Dohan, the sole survivor, returned to headquarters.

The trophy in his hand was a clear act of heroism, a moment in war history that all the officers praised endlessly.

The atmosphere was heated, exciting everyone. They all laughed and chatted with joy.

Dohan’s face, on the other hand, was as impassive as a mannequin’s. No emotion could be found on his face.

But because that was his usual demeanor, no one thought it strange. They simply enjoyed the present moment of joy.

Dohan passed them without any expression or words.

“Amazing, Major Black Reaper. You’ve accomplished something incredible.”

After handing over the trophy at the commander’s tent, Dohan sat at the table and looked at the deputy commander praising him. His tightly closed lips parted.

“Who… launched the missile there…?”

“Ah.”

The deputy commander glanced at the trophy on the table.

“It was the enemy, of course. With their leader about to be captured, what else could they have done? They were just desperate to take everyone down with them.”

“…….”

“And yet you succeeded despite that. As expected of an S-class. The moment this trophy is revealed, the enemy’s morale will plummet.”

With a satisfied smile, the deputy commander raised his hands, looking at the surrounding officers.

“Come on, everyone! Let’s celebrate our hero who has brought victory to our nation!”

Clap, clap, clap. Led by the deputy commander’s clapping, another round of thunderous applause erupted.

Dohan scanned the officers who were applauding and cheering him.

They were all regular soldiers who managed the Berserkers on Yeongam Island. Even though his rank was Major, their actual authority was higher.

Their system was also quite different. No, they were from a completely different world.

That fact was even more evident at this moment.

Dohan realized that none of them cared about the deaths of his nine squad members. They were just cheering and celebrating.

He felt like he was the only one in a different world. He was the only one whose flesh had been torn.

The deputy commander asked Dohan, “Is there anything you want? Anything you want to eat or drink? Tell me anything you need.”

Dohan sat motionless like a statue, then quietly spoke.

“A… cigarette, please.”

Despite the underage request, the deputy commander readily pulled out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and handed it over. In this situation, where they had obtained the enemy leader’s head, this small reward was nothing.

Dohan, who had never smoked in his life, took the cigarettes and walked towards the smoking area set up on one side of the base. As he approached, he heard someone talking from inside the wooden partition.

“But hey, Black Reaper’s squad members are all dead. Will he be okay?”

Another man’s voice followed.

“He got the trophy, though. That’s what matters.”

“No, I’m worried he’ll be traumatized. He’s still young.”

Judging by their casual conversation, the two officers seemed to be classmates from the officer academy.

“Don’t you know? He has no emotions. He doesn’t care about things like that.”

“I guess… He looked fine. He wouldn’t be like that if he were normal.”

Crack— The cigarette pack in his hand crumpled. Dohan threw the cigarettes on the ground and turned around. His insides burned, and his eyes stung.

No emotions?

Then what was this pain? Where did this suffering come from?

He was suffering from a grief that was unbearable as a human being, but Dohan didn’t express his feelings to anyone. Even though he knew how he appeared to others, he couldn’t bring himself to show it.

Perhaps, Dohan didn’t know how.

He endured the whispers behind his back.

That evening, Dohan quietly slipped out of his barracks in a jet-black suit and headed somewhere.

Dohan’s destination was the office of the operations chief, who managed the military’s missile strategy. Like a Berserker specialized in assassination missions, Dohan silently moved through the heavily guarded area like a wisp of smoke, reaching the building wall.

He looked up and saw a tall brick building. The office was on the third floor.

Whoosh, whoosh—!

Using his specialty, parkour, Dohan scaled the wall with his bare hands, reaching the third floor in an instant.

Parkour was the art of moving freely through buildings and terrain using only one’s body, and Dohan, with his agile physique, was an unparalleled master. It was practically impossible to catch him in an open space.

Looking through the window, he saw that the office was empty late at night.

Without hesitation, Dohan climbed through the window and walked straight to the desk.

There was only one reason he had infiltrated this far.

[Missile Trajectory]

Dohan quickly scanned the documents on the desk, looking for the missile’s trajectory and orbital path.

Precise calculations were essential to fire a missile with enough destructive power to collapse the bunker entrance. Gravity, velocity, acceleration, air pressure, temperature, wind direction – everything was mathematically calculated.

Dohan quickly calculated in his head, looking at the numbers and symbols of the missile trajectory on the documents.

And then he got the bunker’s coordinates.

“……!”

Dohan’s eyes became bloodshot.

He had a terrible suspicion.

Could the enemy really have launched a missile at their own president, especially with a large contingent of allied troops gathered there?

But…

As expected, this was clearly a missile launched from our side.

‘My squad members…’

Dohan’s hand holding the paper trembled.

‘They didn’t trust them.’

It was clear. The higher-ups were afraid that the squad might fail to defend the bunker entrance, and that his assassination mission might fail.

In the end, they destroyed the entrance itself. They chose to annihilate everyone, including the squad members fighting for them. Even though they knew they were there.

An operation solely for the enemy leader’s head and the S-class.

His squad members, sacrificed like offerings.

Who ordered such a cruel operation? Dohan hurriedly checked the authorization mark. This wasn’t a decision that could be made by mere officers or non-commissioned officers.

As expected, the mark belonged to the Joint Chiefs of Staff. And it was signed by none other than Kim Youngho, the Chief of Staff of the Army.

‘Damn it.’

Dohan grimaced.

Was this disillusionment? The fact that he had been fighting under such superiors and a commander-in-chief felt disgusting. It felt like worms were crawling inside him.

He felt disgusted and nauseated. Chills ran down his spine, and he felt like throwing up.

Dohan gritted his teeth. He silently swallowed the rising rage for a long time.

Dohan, having achieved a great feat, returned to Yeongam Island with severe internal injuries. At the submarine gate, he ran into Cheongyeon, who was also returning.

Cheongyeon immediately approached Dohan as he saw him disembarking from the submarine alone. He was like an older brother to Dohan.

“I heard what happened. I don’t know what to say. They were all really good people…”

At the warm voice, Dohan looked at Cheongyeon.

His kind eyes clearly reflected his understanding of the pain, as a fellow squad leader.

After a long silence, Dohan quietly spoke, maintaining eye contact.

“I…”

Cheongyeon listened quietly.

Dohan looked around with contempt in his eyes.

He had lost all his squad members. The commander-in-chief eventually announced that it was an enemy missile. And because he specialized in assassination, it was decided that he didn’t need squad members.

Thus, under the decision of the higher-ups, Dohan would operate alone from now on. As if his squad members were just bothersome twigs to be pruned.

Except for Cheongyeon here, no one mentioned the existence of those who died nameless.

That fact was devastating. His heart was torn to shreds.

With a bleeding heart, Dohan whispered honestly to Cheongyeon, “I want to leave this place.”

✦✦✦

Early in the morning, just past dawn. Dohan, waking from sleep, blinked his blurry eyes. His eyes were clouded with deep pain.

It had been a truly painful dream.

The moment his older comrades, whom he had known since childhood, his comrades in arms, lay beneath his feet… It was literally a nightmare.

Since that day, he had the same nightmare almost every day. After waking up, he would be crushed by an intense sense of guilt.

They had trusted and followed his orders, and yet he was the only one who returned alive.

In a way, this suffering was a fitting price for him to pay. After having this dream, he would feel physically and mentally exhausted all day long, weighed down by the burden of his guilt.

“……?”

Then, amidst his sadness, Dohan realized that his body was being held by someone in the bed.

He looked up to see Kim Jihan looking down at him. For some reason, Kim Jihan’s upper body was bare.

“……You’re alive?”

Kim Jihan spoke first. His voice was a little hoarse, perhaps because it was morning.

“…….”

Dohan looked slightly dazed, wondering what was going on. They weren’t just holding each other; they were both shirtless.

And their faces were too close for comfort.

“What are you doing?”

Dohan’s eyes sharpened as he quickly regained his composure. At his reflexive defensiveness, Kim Jihan’s mouth opened in amusement.

“Wow, you’re shooting lasers with your eyes now, so you’re definitely alive.”

“Let go of me…”

Despite his lack of energy, Dohan put his hand on Kim Jihan’s bare chest, trying to push him away. But Kim Jihan tightened his grip.

“Where do you think you’re going? You’re not even showing any gratitude to the person who saved you! You had hypothermia all night, you know?”

The smile disappeared from Kim Jihan’s face.

“What would you have done if I hadn’t warmed you up all night like this?”

Only then did Dohan understand why Kim Jihan was here shirtless, holding him.

‘Ah…’

And he was even more surprised by another realization.

For the first time, he had endured the doping aftereffects without Katra. The horrific pain of his bones grinding and his flesh burning.

The aftereffects, which he hadn’t experienced in a while, were truly intense last night. It was as if all the accumulated pain had been poured out at once, cruelly tormenting him.

Even though he had reduced the dosage so much…

Could the doping itself be damaging his nervous system? Dohan didn’t know.

“So… how long are you going to stay like this?”

In any case, Dohan asked, feeling uncomfortable. Kim Jihan replied firmly, “As long as I want.”

Dohan hesitated for a moment. Then he lowered his hand from Kim Jihan’s chest and relaxed his body.

After all, Kim Jihan was his benefactor. If it weren’t for him, Dohan wasn’t sure he would have survived last night’s aftereffects. Not only had he lost consciousness, but he had also developed hypothermia.

He might not have woken up this morning…

Seeing Dohan become docile, Kim Jihan curled his lips in satisfaction. It seemed he was grateful to his benefactor.

Kim Jihan placed his hand on the back of Dohan’s head and pulled him closer.

Dohan’s cheek touched Kim Jihan’s collarbone. It was warm and firm. His chest and abdomen were also made of solid muscle. It was clearly a body that had undergone a lot of training.

Held in his arms, Dohan closed his eyes. Kim Jihan’s scent became even stronger. The feeling of their warm skin touching, the vigorous beating of his heart, it all felt vivid.

Had he ever been held like this before…? Dohan recalled hazy memories as he lay in Kim Jihan’s arms.

Come to think of it, he had once been held by Cheongyeon all night during winter training to avoid freezing to death. Of course, they were both wearing thick winter clothes then.

But now, they were both bare-skinned…

The breath on his skin, the intoxicating scent. Everything was so unfamiliar and intense.

Overwhelmingly so.

At that moment, Kim Jihan gently stroked Dohan’s back. Dohan flinched at the unfamiliar feeling of his palm against his bare skin. A smile played on Kim Jihan’s lips.

“You definitely said this to me yesterday at the emergency room, right?”

Dohan looked up at him. Their eyes met.

Kim Jihan’s eyes curved into crescents.

“That you’d do anything.”

That’s right, he had said that. Dohan swallowed.

He had been truly desperate. If they took his blood for a detailed examination, the drugs in his system would definitely be revealed.

Moreover, it was a military hospital. They wouldn’t simply send someone home after finding unusual drugs in their system. And if they contacted the higher-ups…

[Judgment]

He would literally be put on the execution block. Not only him, but also Cheongyeon, who had helped him escape.

“Remember?”

“……Yeah.”

Dohan admitted readily and closed his eyes.

He had no intention of pretending he didn’t remember after pleading so desperately. That would be cowardly.

“What… do you want?”

Dohan opened his eyes and asked. Kim Jihan didn’t answer right away, but rolled his hazel eyes.

His gaze fell on Dohan. He slowly scanned Dohan’s clear skin, smooth forehead, faintly double-lidded eyes, and straight nose. Then his gaze stopped on his lips, which had regained their color.

Seeing where his gaze rested, Dohan bit his lip.

‘As expected…’

He had anticipated this to some extent.

What else could he possibly want from him?

He had never given him a warm look or a kind word. He hadn’t even thanked him for helping him. He had never expressed such things before.

Anyway, it was clear that Kim Jihan wanted to kiss him, just like in the infirmary before. His burning gaze was fixed on his lips.

Dohan closed his eyes and raised his head in resignation. He released his bitten lip.

‘Fine.’

He didn’t want to be indebted to him any longer. Hadn’t he been trying to cut ties with him just yesterday?

But he had been forced to accept his help. He wanted to be free of this burden as soon as possible.

‘Do it.’

To do so, he had to allow this much.

Dohan closed his eyes and lifted his chin. He was in the perfect position for a kiss. Kim Jihan just had to lower his head slightly to reach his lips. But his whole body was stiff with reluctance.

“…….”

Kim Jihan simply stared at Dohan with his eyes closed and head raised.

Why was he hesitating…? Dohan couldn’t understand with his eyes closed.

Then, Kim Jihan cupped Dohan’s cheek with his large hand. He’s finally doing it, Dohan froze, his body stiffening with tension.

But strangely, Kim Jihan’s breath was directed towards his ear, not his lips.

“Don’t stop me from coming to you from now on.”

Dohan’s eyes shot open at the low voice in his ear.

“Okay?”

Kim Jihan spoke languidly, placing a finger on Dohan’s lips. He lightly pressed his index finger against his luscious lower lip.

Then Kim Jihan asked with a puzzled expression, “By the way, what were you thinking just now? Were you expecting a kiss?”

Dohan blinked, speechless.

‘Wasn’t that it…?’

Seeing his obvious embarrassment, Kim Jihan chuckled with playful eyes.

“Why did you pout your lips? Why did you close your eyes? Did you think I’d fall for that?”

Suddenly, Dohan’s entire face flushed with unbearable embarrassment.

“I did feed you juice with my mouth yesterday… but that’s because you couldn’t drink it by yourself. Fortunately, you ate it well, like a baby bird.”

Kim Jihan grinned. Dohan’s ears were already red.

“Anyway, I know you really want to do it with me, but don’t rush. I’ll give you everything when the time is right. Okay?”

With a deep smile on his lips, Kim Jihan continued to knead Dohan’s lower lip.

He felt completely humiliated. Dohan couldn’t stand it any longer.

“Really…”

Bam—!

Finally, the S-class Berserker’s deadly fist landed squarely on Kim Jihan’s abdomen.

“……!”

Kim Jihan’s mouth dropped open.

“You’re really something.”

Dohan gritted his teeth.

“Wow, you hit hard!”

Kim Jihan clutched his abdomen with a surprised look.

“Gasp. I can’t breathe. I think my organs ruptured? Am I going to die?”

As the arms that had been holding him loosened, Dohan immediately sat up. He snorted, looking at Kim Jihan clutching his impressively defined abs and groaning.

“Judging by the fact that you can still talk, you seem to be fine.”

“Ugh, I’m not fine. My intestines ruptured… You repaid kindness with enmity. Such a cruel fate.”

Kim Jihan closed his eyes and hung his head. Then, with one eye slightly open, he observed Dohan’s dumbfounded expression and groaned even louder.

“Hello, please call an ambulance. I think it’s my turn today.”

Snort— Dohan smirked. He found it ridiculous and amusing that Kim Jihan was pretending to be dying after just one light punch.

Then he suddenly realized that he wasn’t in pain.

The heavy feeling that had been weighing him down had completely disappeared.

“……?”

Dohan’s smile faded as he realized this.

This had never happened before after having a nightmare. It was the first time. It was the first time he had laughed like this, the first time his heart had felt so light.

Never before.