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“Lieutenant, what are you doing?”
Camar asked.
Doyeong removed the splint from his leg. He moved the leg slightly and felt no pain. Finally, the leg was fully recovered.
Camar asked when she saw it.
“Is it healed?”
“Umm.”
Doyeong answered as he put aside the tree branch he had used as his splint.
“I’m glad,” said Camar.
She was sincere. Even though she only hurt him by accident, every time she saw Doyeong limping around, she felt sorry for him.
But soon enough she remembered why she should start getting worried.
Doyeong stood up.
“Now I have to get ready.”
“For what?”
“Get ready to go home.”
Suddenly, Camar’s face hardened. Meanwhile, Doyeong got up and started packing his things.
“You can’t go.”
Said Camar instead, making Doyeong stop.
“No one ever left.”
Looking back, Camar looked determined.
“Johannes also had a wife and children. But he couldn’t get out of here. So, Lieutenant can’t leave.”
Camar was still hiding something from him. Knowing this, he kept trying to cover up the obvious fact that he was instinctively attracted to Camar.
“Do not be ridiculous. There is someone waiting for me outside.”
It was expected that Camar would resist. He still didn’t know what’s going on, but Camar was extremely wary of being found outside the island.
After hesitating for a while, Camar asked,
“Is it because of a woman?”
He wasn’t being honest about this one either, but he didn’t have the heart to give a proper answer at the moment.
“Yes.”
In any case, his mother is a woman, so it wasn’t a lie.
Camar shut her lips tight and shook her head stubbornly.
“There is no way out.”
“You are a vampire. You can swim or build a raft or whatever.”
“Why me?”
Camar asked back as if she really didn’t know.
“I am not leaving the island.”
“Why not? What’s here? There’s just fucking sand and yam in this island, isn’t it?”
In the end, Doyeong raised his voice, but he was aware that Camar had been through this many times before, it’s not anything new for her—dealing with everyone who drifted here always resisting the fact that they wouldn’t be able to return to their life—hence, he kept his composure.
“No one can go. There is no way out.”
“Fine.”
Doyeong said quietly. Camar didn’t expect him to react like this, so she was a bit perplexed.
In fact, Camar wasn’t good at hiding her expression, so Doyeong knew that she was uncomfortable. But he didn’t care.
“Have it your way. Because I have to go.”
Doyeong spoke coldly and turned around. Suddenly, Camar approached and tried to grab his arm.
“No.”
Doyeong grabbed Camar’s collar while sliding his hand away.
Camar was startled. However, Doyeong pulled Camar closer by the collar. If she had been prepared, she would have been able to hold on to her position, however, because it was unexpected, Camar was dragged in surprise.
Doyeong spoke his mind with a low but firm tone.
“This time, you’ll have to break both my legs and both my arms.”
Then, as if he didn’t like being in contact with her, he put his arms away from her.
“Dangerous.”
Camar said unconsciously while looking at Doyeong who had turned and walked away. Doyeong looked back with an annoyed face.
“What?”
Camar said as she bit her lip.
“If you leave this island, you will die. There is Mot.”
For a moment, Doyeong looked so gloomy that she wondered if he knew the word.
Doyeong later found out that ‘Mot’ was the ‘god of death’ belonging to an ancient Middle Eastern myth. But even if he knew then he wouldn’t care.
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
Doyeong turned around and went, while Camar stood stunned, like a puppy that had lost his master.
***
Without delay, Doyeong began to build a raft.
Eventually, the only way to escape without Camar’s help was to build a raft and fortunately, he knew how to build a raft.
Besides, the whole picture was already in his head, because he had been wandering around here for about a month, looking at trees that could be used for a raft.
Not having a knife was the most inconvenient, but recently, in the forest, he found a rusted piece of iron that could be used as a substitute for a medium-length knife.
However, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t use it to cut, but at least it could be used to crush something.
Camar could not be seen, But Doyeong didn’t care. If Camar helped, the raft could be done in one day, but it’s not like it was totally impossible to build one without her help.
Doyeong shook his hands. He was sweating profusely from working hard.
Gushrak.
There was a sound. Doyeong glanced around.
“Camar?”
No answer was heard. Doyeong silently picked up the knife lying on the sand. And approached the quiet bush.
He quickly pushed the bush away, but no one was visible. His surroundings were so quiet that he wondered if there were any animals. Then, somewhere in the forest, a bird flew away.
This was a strange island. Only this was clear.
***
Doyeong woke up in the morning and saw that Camar’s position was empty. It seems that Camar did not return even at night.
He had his own circumstances, but since he didn’t explain it, it was impossible to expect Camar to understand. He has a life outside and he couldn’t even tell his family and friends about his survival, so it wasn’t like he could just settle down here and say, “I can’t get out from here” while expecting his relatives to answer, “Oh, is that so?”
Clank.
As the mobile hanging from the ceiling shook, the glass shimmered in the light.
Camar’s expression that looked as if the world was collapsing when he said he was going back came to mind. Doyeong sighed.
‘I’d rather explain.’
But it might have been easier not to, given that he wouldn’t stop working to get home no matter what.
As Doyeong thought so, he went outside. And what he saw surprised him.
“What…”
Every part of the raft was broken so perfectly that he couldn’t even put them back together to rebuild it. And there was only one culprit…
‘This kid is really…!’
“Camar!”
Doyeong shouted. The sound echoed everywhere. But Camar did not appear.
Doyeong frowned at it, and started building the raft again.
***
Doyeong didn’t even go into the log cabin and was sleeping next to the raft. The campfire, which had all been burned to ashes, lit the last fire.
Camar crept over to the raft. It looks like this was not the first time Doyeong built a raft. In 2-3 days this raft will be able to sail in the sea.
As she was about to reach for the craft…
“Don’t touch it.”
Suddenly, Doyeong’s voice sounded, making Camar flinch. Doyeong turned around. It was as if he hadn’t slept at all.
“Do you have the right to touch it?”
There was a gleam in his eyes in the light of the campfire. But Camar clenched her teeth and still reached for the raft.
The heavy raft was thrown into the air, spilling sand. Camar tossed and shattered it without mercy.
Thud! Crack!
Then there was the noise of debris flying and rolling in all directions.
Doyeong spit out swear words and went into the log cabin. Camar hung around the door. Then she finally made up her mind and opened the door.
“Lieutenant…”
“Get out of here right now.”
He didn’t even bother raising his voice anymore, thinking that Camar had no right to do this to him.
But Camar still went inside.
Camar fell to her knees, sat down, and started to shed tears. Doyeong’s eyes twitched.
“You just cry…”
He was going to say something, but then remembered that Camar was beautiful even when she was crying. No, she looked even more beautiful when she cried.
“I’m sorry, Lieutenant. I’m sorry…”
Camar cried so sadly that even his stony heart moved.
“I’m sorry. Really…”
She then said,
“I want you to live.”
Mot didn’t spare anyone she loved. That she liked him was nothing more than issuing him a ticket to the underworld. So, the only way to save Doyeong was to let him live here, a place away from Mot’s eyes.
There was silence.
Suddenly, Doyeong sighed and lay down.
Camar looked at him in confusion. Doyeong, who was lying next to her, was staring at her. His gleaming eyes didn’t seem to be angry anymore. Rather, it felt like a deep and serious contemplation.
Doyeong said with a look that will remain in her memory for a long time.
“Come here.”
Camar feared that Doyeong would change his mind, and approached him right away. Then Doyeong nodded to the empty space next to him and said,
“Lie down.”
Camar quickly lay down next to him as if she had received an order from her boss.
She put her hand on him in hesitation, then Doyeong said,
“It’s heavy. Don’t press.”
“Sorry.”
Camar quickly removed her arm. Not knowing where to put her hands, she scrambled to and fro, and in the end, gently grabbed the end of Doyeong’s T-shirt.
Doyeong couldn’t figure out why he wanted to protect her, whether it was because of his occupational disease as a soldier, or because of this contradictorily lovely vampire.
“Lieutenant is warm,” Camar whispered softly.
“Once upon a time, I slept with a pig.”
Doyeong said and looked down at Camar, who was surprised.
“Are you treating me like a pig now?”
“It was cold that time, and the pig was in pain. I only did it that one time.”
Doyeong sighed and looked up at the ceiling.
‘Can this be called a story now?’
Then he turned around and hugged Camar.
“Lieutenant…?”
Camar stopped breathing at the sudden action. Doyeong’s scent drew closer. He had worked in the sun all day, and the scent was a mixture of the scorching sun, soft cloth, and faint sweat.
“Because it won’t hurt anymore when we hug.”
Camar closed her eyes as she heard the sound of Doyeong’s heart pumping blood from inside his chest.
“Mm-hmm. It’s warm.”
***
Doyeong opened his eyes as he felt the sunlight in his eyes, only to find Camar looking down on him. Doyeong shook his head in surprise.
“What?”
Camar said with unusually sparkling eyes.
“I was watching you, Lieutenant.”
“Yeah, why?”
“Can’t I?”
Camar tilted her head as if there was something wrong.
“Oh, do what you like.”
Doyeong was too bothered to ask.
“It’s hot.”
His clothes were soaked with sweat from the rising temperature while he was sleeping. So Doyeong grabbed the T-shirt from the back of his neck and took it off in front of her.
“I need to wash.”
After talking to himself, he got up and left the log cabin.