Obsession... What's That? I Just Wish Someone Would Help Me Escape - Chapter 39
“Why is it so cold?”
“This island has different seasons for day and night.”
Enrique replied helpfully, walking off.
I hurried to keep up with him, but with his long legs, it was difficult.
My poor stamina didn’t help either.
They finally stopped at a cozy cabin made from logs.
How did they build this in just a few hours? Must be the work of someone with relevant abilities.
“Let’s stay here,” Johann said, knocking on the cabin door a couple of times.
Is he really just going to ask to join them?
Bang—!
My assumption was immediately proven wrong as he smashed the door with his fist within three seconds of knocking.
The prisoners inside, who were in the middle of a meat party, stared at us in shock.
“Prisoner Number one?”
“Everyone get out. I’m taking this place.”
“What? But we built this place ourselves…”
“Good work, I’ll use it well.”
What kind of humanity is that? Taking it away like this? Isn’t that just being a total asshole?
The five prisoners started begging and pleading.
“Yeah? Well, I can destroy it in 30 seconds by myself,” Johann said, his hand causing a pillar to crack ominously.
The prisoners, seeing the gravity of the situation, quietly gathered their belongings and left, looking utterly defeated.
Wow. That’s really too much, isn’t it?
My newfound sense of empathy kicked in, probably from being bullied myself.
A gust of north wind carrying snowflakes brushed past me. I turned to see it was snowing heavily.
“Snow too?” I exclaimed.
Why is the weather so extreme? Aren’t those guys going to freeze to death?
Then I realized they were the prisoners in the 40s who had been harassing me.
On second thought, I don’t feel so sorry for them anymore.
This place is a harsh domain where only the fittest survive.
The first to perish would be those infected with the ‘Good Kid Syndrome.’*
(T/N: to be infected with ‘Good Kid Syndrome’ 착한아이 병 seems to mean something like being a ‘goody two shoes’ in English, but it’s a sarcastic referral to someone who’s overly nice or obsessed with doing the right thing, to the point that they’re gullible. This makes them susceptible to failure or being taken advantage of in harsh environments)
The inside of the cabin was warm and cozy.
There was a campfire, along with appetizingly roasted bird meat and fish prepared.
I looked at the two of them with satisfaction.
You guys had it all planned out.
After a satisfying meal, we were ready to sleep.
Thunk!
The door that Johann had broken flew open, letting in a gust of icy wind.
Too bad it was right in the doorway.
“Damn it.”
Johann had an embarrassed look on his face.
It felt like we were in the Arctic, with an immense chill and a snowstorm blowing in.
Blessed with not feeling cold or hot, Enrique looked relaxed.
Wasn’t there a 200% chance he’d freeze to death in his sleep?
“Goodnight. I’ll make sure to bury you in a sunny spot tomorrow morning.”
Enrique also predicted my imminent freezing.
Johann, lying on a bed of woven leaves and grass, beckoned to me with a languid expression.
“Hurry up and prove your usefulness.”
***
The usefulness he spoke of was as a human hot pack.
Enrique found the door and reassembled it, but the cold air still seeped in through the gaps, making my shoulders shiver.
“But why did you draw the line in our cell, and said I’d die if I came over?”
“It’s freezing, so just come over here and lie down.”
Looking at Johann growling seductively while lying on his side, I thought I had no choice.
When I lay down next to Johann, he turned his back to me and spoke.
“Hug me from behind.”
“Pardon?”
“It’s better than me holding you, right?”
“Are you shy by any chance?”
His shoulders flinched as he turned over.
“Do I look like someone who’d be embarrassed by that? Do you want me to make you cry all night?”
Indeed, his words were indecent, but his heart was pure.
He wanted to explain how depraved he was as an adult.
“I had my first kiss when I was seven. I’ve been an adult since then.”
“With whom?”
The kiss must have been with kids his age or Enrique.
“It was the ghost that haunts the North Tower.”
???
“Oh… you don’t care about appearance, species, or whether they’re alive?”
If that’s the case, I had my first kiss at three with my relative’s puppy, so doesn’t that make me his seonbae?
“She was so pretty I wanted to marry her. Looking back, it feels like it might have just been a dream.”
With those strangely melancholic words, he fell silent and soon fell asleep.
I felt like I had stumbled upon an incredible Easter egg: the first love of the ruthless, villainous character was a ghost he kissed when he was seven.
I did was I was instructed, I lay behind him, hugged his waist, and pressed my forehead against the hollow between his shoulder blades.
The warmth that seeped in made my skin prickle.
I shivered once as if to shake off the cold and closed my eyes.
A thought suddenly occurred to me.
Does he get cold despite having fire abilities?
Earlier, he only said he was hot, but he didn’t sweat a single drop.
As I was about to board the train to dreamland, feeling drowsy, I heard Johann’s low voice.
“Hey, if we sleep like this, we’ll die.”
