/
There were people whose brains go blank and their body goes rigid in the face of something frightful and horrific.
I didn’t know it before, but it seemed like I was one of those people. I couldn’t even scream or think of getting away from him; I could only foolishly stare into his disappeared face.
However, soon, the black void of a face approached closer; my frozen rigidity soon released. Unable to think about anything else, I pushed at his arms to gain distance.
“[……!]”
Seo Dawon’s body hurried to grab me. I couldn’t hear what he was saying–only noise.
However, Seo Dawon’s arms, which would not have been moved away easily under normal circumstances with my strength, had released my body without resisting.
“What! What on… What on earth is going on?!” I tried to go towards one of the other servants on standby nearby, but all of them had their heads turned away from me. Their bodies stood tall and rigid. That strange silence and bleak atmosphere was so ominous and weird. I couldn’t bring myself to approach them and faltered backwards.
Pop–!
At the same time, it sounded like the fuse had gone out; all the lights in the house turned off simultaneously.
Soon, the deep darkness swept over me like a wave; in the blink of an eye, my vision had been blocked. At the same time, the gruesome scent of blood thickened. Barely holding back my nausea, I clung to the wall and whispered, “[Kim Olim]…!”
Since Kim Olim was already summoned, I thought I could resolve things by calling her to my side.
However… Though I could see the Paladin’s back by the dim, natural light shining through the living room window, she did not turn towards me. After that, it seemed as if even her silhouette was swallowed by the darkness and I couldn’t be sure if she was still there or not.
I instinctively felt that something was wrong. I didn’t only call for her anymore and tried other servants’ names as well. “[Seo Dawon], [Kim Olim], [Jung Garam]…!”
“……”
“I-Is there no one there? Lackey!”
“……”
“Lackey! No one? Is there really no one there?!”
“…..”
“What on earth…!”
“……”
“[Woo Ragi]…! Is there no one?!”
However, Kim Olim, Seo Dawon, and even Jung Garam… No servant answered me.
To be exact, since all the lights had been extinguished, I could feel nor perceive no signs of their presence. It was as if everyone had vanished from this world as all light had disappeared.
It wasn’t just the servants–Koo Hui-seo’s presence had also vanished. It felt like I was the only one left in this world. All I could hear, in this pitch black void was the sound of my own anxious gasps.
Just before I lost my rationality to desperate fright, I suddenly felt a rough force pulling me by my collar from behind. Startled, I almost screamed, but the unexpectedly harsh force strangled my throat so I could only cough out groans.
“Hey. Get a hold of yourself.”
“Cough…” I almost fainted, but, when I heard a familiar voice, I nearly cried in relief.
Full of anticipation, I raised my head and identified the person that pulled at me. As expected, the owner of that fierce and rude voice was Woo Ragi. He pulled me back and scrutinized my face.
He frowned his brows and adjusted my collar several times–like a clean freak–but the force of his grasp did eventually soften. I looked at him with a face laden with indescribable relief mixed with fear; Woo Ragi frowned, as if he were burdened by my reaction.
This vague, uneasy silence ended when my eyes slightly overflowed and lukewarm tears dripped down my cheeks. Woo Ragi looked into my eyes with a chilly  expression and shook away his hands that had been grabbing onto my collar, as if he were throwing me away.
With his strength no longer holding me up, I fell straight onto my butt. “Nngh…”
“Agh, so frustrating… Why’d you call my name?”
“…W-What did you say?”
“You should have just kept calling for Seo Dawon…”
“W-What are you talking about… What did I do…”
Woo Ragi’s attitude seemed to imply that I was the cause of this strange turn of events; however, he didn’t explain further. Still, he didn’t take his watchful eyes off me and seemed to be waiting for me to stand up.
As soon as I noticed that he was waiting, I placed some strength in my thighs. However, I couldn’t stand up. “H-Huh? Why…”
“……”
I tried to stand up, but I felt incredibly dizzy; cold sweat continued to flow down my temples. Stumbling, I collapsed to my feet a few times before I accidentally brushed my hands against Woo Ragi’s feet. Well, that wasn’t necessarily so alarming or embarrassing, but…
…The issue was Woo Ragi’s subsequent behavior. He immediately pulled the front of his boots away, as if he had stepped in some dog poop. Then, he tapped me on the back of my hand. I could divine some strong feelings of distaste and ‘get away from me,’ from his body language. Honestly, did this bastard practice humiliation tactics all day or something?
“……”
“Stop being absurd and get up. Do you think I’m Seo Dawon? You think I’d bite, suck, hug, and carry you like him?”
In a fit of anger, I clenched my fist and pressed it against Woo Ragi’s shoes. The swordsman must not have expected that action; he squatted in front of me with a smile on his face. Of course, that grin was incredibly fierce. “You wanna die?”
“I…can’t…stand up, okay?”
”So?”
I felt humiliated, but my physical condition was getting worse as the minutes went by– beggars couldn’t be choosers. 1 In the end, I futilely jutted my chin out, hoping to look a little brazen. “I think… you’ll need to…give me a piggyback ride.”
Of course, I didn’t think Woo Ragi would docilely give me his back. However, even as I spat out these words, my vision kept growing dark; I was falling in and out of consciousness. Additionally, I began to feel colder and colder.
‘Beggars can’t be choosers…’
Honestly, how did I get into a situation where I must cling onto Woo Ragi.
And Woo Ragi… Wouldn’t he be here to rescue me? I was sure he was expecting me to beg him, but I calculated that he wouldn’t reject my plea in the end. That was why I expected his ridicule and yet shamelessly demanded things from him. For him to support me.
“Oh~ Is that how our Choi Lee-kyung-ssi gives orders to men?” …How could you ask me to carry a guy like you on my back…? You don’t think I notice how you stare blankly at my face whenever you get the opportunity?” However, Woo Ragi sank my hopes. Blood began to pool in my cheeks, and I flushed red–this was a sensation I had felt too many times before. Although, I didn’t know if Woo Ragi noticed my current plight…
I wanted to die for a brief moment, but I couldn’t change what had already occurred. Now that I was being pushed away by the swordsman, it wasn’t like I could crawl on four legs to his side. Because of that, I begged, “I won’t stare at you from now on…”
“You really stared at me?” Woo Ragi had a rare expression of bewilderment adorning his face. Soon, his smile adopted a grumpy tinge.
‘Was that a trap..?’ Being tricked doubled my embarrassment, but, surprisingly, Woo Ragi shut his mouth without ridiculing me further. Then, he held out one hand to me, as if he were allowing me to grasp it.
But, just before I held on, he–as if he needed to make a point–blurted out, “Don’t forget that you asked for us to touch first, okay?”
Alongside those mutters, he grumbled under his breath further. Those actions really resembled Seo Dawon–at some point, close friends begin to really act like one another. I smiled inwardly; in the end, I had to say something, “…I just asked you to support me, alright?”
“If you wriggle around unpleasantly, you’ll have to live the rest of your life as a one-armed man.”
Honestly, he just said whatever he wanted to say.
I nodded; I knew that none of my words would get to him anyway. With that, I grabbed his outstretched hand.
“Haah!” As soon as my fingers touched his, Woo Ragi dragged me to my feet with one hand.
At that point, my arm felt like it would be ripped out of its sockets, but I could endure that pain. However, my face hit his chest so hard that I could see stars in front of my eyes.
I grabbed my throbbing nose and looked up; I could see the swordsman’s chin. If he had dragged me into his embrace a little harder, my nose would have bled. He definitely did that on purpose. I glared in protest, but, before I could curse at him, my eyes began to tear up first.
Woo Ragi looked down at me and gently brushed a cowlick behind my ears. I shrank back at the unexpected action.
He whispered into my ears, “Homo-bastard, the fact that I’m doing this is an honor.”
His sneer was crammed full of arrogance.