Masquerader Chapter 6

Seol-ah stammered as she stepped backward. But her fear-frozen body refused to move as she wished. As the man’s heavy footsteps drew closer, her heartbeat pounded violently against her ribs. The moment she blinked, he was already right in front of her.

 

No horror movie could be scarier than this. In the end, her strength gave out, and her legs buckled beneath her. She collapsed onto the ground.

 

“Stay away…!”

 

Sharp pebbles dug into her skin, sending jolts of pain through her, but she couldn’t tear her gaze away from him. His towering frame, thick neck, broad shoulders that looked solid even without touching—his entire body radiated an oppressive presence that evoked sheer terror. Her teeth chattered audibly.

 

Though his face bore no resemblance to Seo Gyo-jin, though he was an entirely different person, in the darkness, his silhouette overlapped with Seo Gyo-jin’s in her mind.

 

“Don’t come any closer!”

 

Seol-ah screamed, curling into herself. The moment she squeezed her eyes shut, the man swung his arm. The solid rifle butt slammed into the fence.

 

BANG!

 

The resounding crash shook the ground. The shockwave of disturbed air stabbed her eardrums. A piercing ringing sound drilled into her cochlea.

 

“……!”

 

This time, her ears were completely ruined for sure. A pain unlike anything she had ever experienced before was splitting her skull in half. Seol-ah clutched her ears with both hands, swallowing back a silent scream she couldn’t even voice.  

 

As she curled up like a pill bug, trembling violently, the man yanked the rifle stock lodged in the barbed wire free. He reached through the gaping hole in the fence and tore away the rest of the wire.  

 

Crunch.

 

Every time the sound, like an animal’s bones being stripped, echoed, Seol-ah’s shoulders convulsed. The man, who had practically shredded the barbed wire with his bare hands, completely separated the tangled mess from the fence and tossed it aside.  

 

“Ugh, hic…”  

 

At the faint sound of sobbing, the man finally lowered his gaze. Her hands, pressing tightly against her ears, had turned ghostly pale.  

 

His eyes moved over her trembling wrists, scratched elbows, and mud-caked forearms. Every part of her exposed bone seemed even more pronounced. Even a starving animal that had endured the winter would have looked better than this. The skin of her hunched shoulders was so pale it was nearly translucent.  

 

The man casually tossed aside the rifle he had transferred to his left hand and shrugged off his coat.  

 

“…Ah!”  

 

Seol-ah, who had her head buried between her knees, suddenly kicked out in a fit. Something dark had abruptly covered her head.  

 

Blinking in the pitch-black darkness, she belatedly reached up and pulled down the coat draped over her. A warmth radiated from it, carrying an unbelievably pleasant scent. It seeped into her lungs deeply and heavily as it invaded her nose.  

 

Her body, exhausted from the relentless cold and barely clothed, cried out desperately for more the moment it felt even the smallest bit of warmth. Clutching the coat that smelled of the man, she could do nothing but stare up at him blankly. He gave a slight nod, as if to ask why she wasn’t putting it on.  

 

Without hesitation, she slipped her arms into the coat. The moment the collar wrapped around her nape, his scent rose from the fabric. It was damp yet strangely sweet. The fine hairs along her ears bristled. She knew he wasn’t a good person, but the warmth of the coat was so overwhelming it nearly brought her to tears.  

 

“If you follow the sound of the water down, you’ll come to a fork in the road. Go left.”  

 

The man gestured with his chin toward the fence he had destroyed with his bare hands. But his voice reached Seol-ah’s ears in fragments.  

 

A ringing buzzed continuously, like a broken radio. She tilted her head and tapped her ears with her palm as if trying to shake out trapped water, but the muffled sensation wouldn’t go away.  

 

Water sound? A fork in the road? Go that way? By myself?

 

As she dumbly blinked and processed the situation, she felt the man’s gaze sweeping over her. A moment later, her own eyes followed his.  

 

“Ah…”  

 

Only then did Seol-ah realize that her pant legs were wet. But shame was a feeling only those in their right mind could afford. She was simply dumbfounded.  

 

Huh…? What happened?

 

At that moment, the man nonchalantly crossed his arms and pulled off his T-shirt. Lowering himself onto one knee before her, he brought them to the same eye level.  

 

“You’re quite a handful.”  

 

He met her eyes as he reached into the coat. Their gazes locked deeply. The sensation of his large hands brushing her waist made her nerves stand on end.  

 

“At the fork, go left.”  

 

After tying the T-shirt around her waist, he slipped his hands under her arms and pulled her up in one motion. Then, as if nothing had happened, he let go.  

 

The warmth of his touch vanished, and every cell in her body screamed in unison: Hold onto him.

 

“Get a grip, little miss.”  

 

He picked up a radio from the ground and tucked it into the pocket of her coat. For a moment, his eyes bore down on her, pressing in with their weight, but then he turned away without hesitation.  

 

As she watched his retreating back, anxiety surged through her like a wave. A chilling fear washed over her. Before he could disappear, she blurted out,  

 

“C-Can’t you come with me?”  

 

The man turned back to her.  

 

“It’s too dark to see well, and… I’m scared to go alone…”  

 

“Hmm.”  

 

He glanced toward the fence beyond. As Seol-ah had said, darkness was beginning to fall. Each time she exhaled, wisps of white breath curled through the thick fog.  

 

Just once. Please, just this once…

 

She gazed at him with desperate eyes. Had she ever wished for something so earnestly in her life?  

 

She was no longer young, naive, or foolish enough to believe in a prince on a white horse. This wasn’t some empty fairytale fantasy—it was raw survival instinct.  

 

It felt like time had stopped under the weight of her suffocating desperation. But the man’s deliberation wasn’t long.  

 

“Too bad. I’ve got things to take care of.”  

 

Her legs nearly gave out. It wasn’t even a death sentence, but she staggered slightly. The man swiftly closed the distance.  

 

Grabbing her by the nape, he pulled her up and lightly pushed her over the fence.  

 

“Go.”  

 

The radio in the coat pocket clattered. Stumbling as she was practically thrown over the fence, Seol-ah hesitated, dragging her feet as she looked back. The man, standing at an angle, was loading rounds into his gun.  

 

The ringing in her ears mingled with the sound of the flowing stream. As night fell, the mountain’s temperature dropped sharply.  

 

Pulling the coat tighter around herself, she realized the man had already vanished. It was as if the darkness had swallowed him whole.  

 

Alone again.  

 

A lump rose in her throat. She clenched her teeth to hold back the tears and ran toward the sound of the stream.  

 

The T-shirt tied around her waist tangled around her legs, and she bit down so hard her molars threatened to crack.  

 

If he wasn’t going to help, why even do this?

 

His scent drifted from the fluttering coat. Seol-ah wiped her expression blank, her face pale. She pushed off the ground with burning feet and ran forward.  

 

No matter what, she had to survive.