HLFH | Chapter 7

Forgetting his dignity, Kim Young ran down the hallway to the treatment room. He opened the door without hesitation. Thud! The door swung open with a rough sound.

Thwack-!

The scene before him was shocking, almost appalling.

His student, Kim Juwon, was beating up Ki Jaeeon, the exorcist guest.

‘How is this a fight…?’

With one side covered in blood, it was clearly a one-sided beating.

“Kim Juwon-!!”

Kim Young quickly rushed to the two of them. Stop it! Let go! But Kim Juwon wouldn’t budge. Even as Kim Young grabbed his shoulder and told him to stop, Kim Juwon shook off the grip and continued to punch, “Say it again!”

His eyes were already turned. Even Ki Jaeeon, the victim, was taking the hits without resistance. Neither seemed willing to follow Kim Young’s orders.

There was no choice. Kim Young pulled out prayer beads from his pocket and chanted an incantation.

With a powerful invocation, golden chains appeared, wrapping around Kim Juwon and pulling him down to subdue him.

“Ugh! …Damn it, Master!”

“At least go to the extent where you can ask your conscience for forgiveness.”

Kim Young left the bound Kim Juwon on the floor without a glance. Instead, he approached Ki Jaeeon, who was coughing and sitting down.

“Carefully lean on me. Can you stand?”

His hands were gentle as he helped him into a chair.

“Cough, ha, cough…”

Disheveled hair, swollen eyes, a nose and mouth covered in blood.

His already gaunt face looked even more haggard and pitiful. Ki Jaeeon, after several ragged breaths, noticed Kim Young staring at him and lowered his gaze. His bloodshot eyes seemed to want to escape the situation.

But Ki Jaeeon had completely misjudged Kim Young.

Kim Young had no intention of brushing off this absurd situation.

Those who did wrong should be punished and seek forgiveness, no matter how cherished the student.

“Excuse me for a moment.”

“Ah- uh, heuk.”

He forcibly held the twitching face and checked the inside of his mouth. His thumb carefully examined the inside of his cheek.

‘All torn up.’

The condition was quite severe. Kim Young furrowed his brow, uncharacteristically. The mess made him sigh involuntarily. Honestly, if asked whether Ki Jaeeon had a frail build that would lose to Kim Juwon, the answer was no. Despite being thin, Ki Jaeeon was an adult male, and the two were equal in height and build. Meaning, if Ki Jaeeon had wanted, he could have fought back.

Why he didn’t, well…

Kim Young released Ki Jaeeon’s chin with a sigh.

‘People exposed to prolonged violence feel helpless rather than resist.’

At least to Kim Young, Ki Jaeeon seemed exactly like that.

Helpless.

As if he was somehow accustomed to anger or violence directed at him.

‘It’s just a suspicion for now…’

Every time he saw Ki Jaeeon’s actions, the theory of ‘Ki Family’s abuse of Ki Jaeeon’ seemed more plausible.

‘For now, separating the two should be the priority.’

Kim Young signaled to another student nearby to help support Ki Jaeeon. The student hesitated briefly but then approached Ki Jaeeon. “Are you okay?” The whisper carried a small sense of honor in meeting someone they admired. Ki Jaeeon nodded slightly and limped out of the treatment room with the student.

Now then…

How should he discipline this unruly kid?

Kim Young released the restraints and looked at Kim Juwon with a cold gaze.

Kim Juwon, whether regaining his senses while tied up or because his target of anger was gone, appeared quite calm. Instead of an excuse, he offered a reluctant apology, “I’m sorry.” But the one who should receive the apology was someone else. Kim Juwon knew that too.

Kim Young shook his head and asked, “Why did you do it?”

“….”

“Kim Juwon.”

“He said he wasn’t dead.”

Kim Juwon wiped his face with his large hand. On closer inspection, his knuckles were slightly scraped, indicating how hard he had hit Ki Jaeeon.

“He shamelessly said he wasn’t dead.”

Kim Juwon clenched his fists, recalling the earlier incident.

𓂃 ོ☼𓂃

After confirming that Ahn Seomyeong had gone in for emergency surgery, Kim Juwon turned and headed to the treatment room. His sole purpose was Ki Jaeeon.

‘Why did you let him get hurt?’

Kim Juwon thought of his junior, who might be dying, and confronted Ki Jaeeon.

The infinite spiritual power that had covered the sky.

What followed wasn’t worship but resentment.

‘You could have stopped it long ago!’

Veins stood out on Kim Juwon’s neck. He shouted, grabbing Ki Jaeeon by the collar. The large body swayed and followed weakly. His feigned frailty was infuriating. Honestly, it seemed like he did it on purpose.

‘With that kind of power, why did you let Seomyeong get hurt…!!’

Ki Jaeeon’s dry lips moved at that moment.

‘Not… not…’

Contrary to the sharp, unpleasant tone he expected, the words were stammered.

‘He’s not dead yet. He’s alive. Still…’

He said such things.

‘What?’

Kim Juwon’s eyes went wild around that time.

‘What did you just say?’

Blinded by rage, he didn’t see Ki Jaeeon’s pale, gasping figure and misunderstood the words ‘not dead’ as <What? So he’s dead? He’s alive, isn’t he>.

And from here, things Kim Juwon didn’t know.

Of course, Ki Jaeeon didn’t mean it that way. In fact, he had no intention at all.

How could he? From the moment he found Ahn Seomyeong bleeding and collapsed, he was already out of his mind.

Memories, death, memories, death.

Consumed by them, crushed by fear, he barely managed to see Ahn Seomyeong enter surgery and thought <He’s not dead yet. He can still be saved.> It was self-hypnosis to keep from going insane.

‘Not dead yet… ha, uh…’

He’s not dead yet. He can live. It’s different from that time when he was split in two and died.

Muttering to calm himself, Kim Juwon’s anger reached him.

‘This damn bastard must be crazy.’

Thwack- thwack! Thwack!

Even as punches rained down on his face, Ki Jaeeon didn’t resist.

He feared the memories buried within him more than Kim Juwon’s violence.

If he could forget that fear through violence, he would gladly accept it.

𓂃 ོ☼𓂃

“If I had been a little later, Seomyeong would have died. Is that what you have to say? ‘I’m sorry’ should come first.”

Kim Juwon gritted his teeth to suppress the emotions rising again.

“Haa- you fool.”

Having heard the whole situation, Kim Young sighed deeply. Understanding both sides made it a troublesome issue. Though he couldn’t tell Kim Juwon immediately, Kim Young had a vague idea why Ki Jaeeon had said such hateful things.

‘He must have been treated that way himself. That’s probably the only way he knew how to speak.’

So he didn’t want to blame Ki Jaeeon.

Consideration and concern are things that must be learned to be expressed.

‘But I can’t just talk about his circumstances.’

Above all…

‘The Ki Family won’t let this go quietly.’

They were already cruel enough to abuse Ki Jaeeon like that. Surely, the saying about repaying grudges twentyfold wasn’t just a joke.

Kim Young decided to find a way to save his unruly student first. There was no choice. Blood is thicker than water.

𓂃 ོ☼𓂃

[I’ll come to pick you up.]

“…Okay.”

After a brief call, Ki Jaeeon calculated the time until the driver arrived and fiddled with his split lip. His restless fingers, reflecting his unstable mind, picked at the scab. After a few attempts, he ignored it and tore it off with a snap! The sharp pain didn’t matter. This level of pain wasn’t even pain.

‘Did the surgery go well?’

His eyes, fixed on the floor, wavered anxiously. The hand that had been picking at his lip now rested neatly on his knee, and he began to irritate a hangnail instead.

He would have already checked on Ahn Seomyeong’s condition if he could, but… he knew better than anyone that he didn’t have the right to do so.

But it’ll be okay. Ahn Seomyeong dies in the distant future.

Knowing someone’s end could be helpful like this.

“Still… okay…”

Tick-tick- his unstable fingers dug into his skin, drawing blood. At that moment, his movements stopped, and Ki Jaeeon’s world changed once again.

-You could have stopped it long ago!

A voice filled with anger.

Kim Juwon’s voice began to overlap with many others.

-My husband is dead.

-Why didn’t you save him!

-If you give up, what about us?

-We have to endure. Everyone believes in you.

-Please save us.

-Exorcist, …can’t you hear?

Please save us. Please save us.

Please save us. Please save us.

Please save us. Please save us.

Please save us. Please save us.

Please save us. Please save us.

Please save us. Please save us.

Resisting the urge to cover his ears, he leaned his head against the wall. His disheveled hair tickled his forehead. Ki Jaeeon sank into deep despair. He had lost everything: the sense of duty and pride he once held dear, the desire for peace. Ki Jaeeon had nothing left.

Truly nothing.

He blinked his swollen eyes a few times, then slowly closed them. He held his breath in succession. His limp body, devoid of movement, looked almost like a corpse.

As he felt the limits, his lips curled into a smile.

With the sight of death came an unexpected peace.

‘Just a little more here.’

Then…

Bzzzz!

“Gasp-!”

The breath he had been holding was released by the vibration of his phone.

Ki Jaeeon coughed and pulled out his phone. It was the driver. The message that he had arrived forced him to get up from his spot.

And so, Ki Jaeeon returned to Incheon.

Leaving behind a brief apology for leaving without saying goodbye.