Novel Full 57 The Compound
He’s a scary looking guy, but in reality…He thought.
One of the man’s arms wrapped around his shoulder, bringing him into a half-embrace, “How’s it going, best friend?!” Yeong-Un asked with a bright smile, tugging him close.
He’s the most affable man I’ve ever met–! He thought.
“…I’m alright,” he laughed wryly, still not used to the outward affection.
Yeong-Un ruffled his curly locks with a laugh, standing just a few hairs taller than him, “Did Korain give you another beating?”
Though he looked pretty intimidating for sure, Yeong-Un was the easiest friend he made in his short time with Gangcheori thus far. Past his scar-covered body, wild, blue hair, and punk-like outfit, Yeong-Un was a genuinely good guy that he felt he could rely on–though he still had his rough edges.
“Yeah…Seriously, I think he might just be a sadist,” he sighed out.
“Ha-ha! I don’t blame ya’ for thinking that! He used to be that way with me, too–it’s just his way of supporting ya’. Korain wants us to be the best we can be!” Yeong-Un assured him, slapping him on the back playfully a few times with a laugh.
“Yeah, yeah, I get that…” He smiled a bit.
Beginning to open the door, he looked at the spiky, blue-haired man who laughed, walking backwards to see him off.
“Hey, listen, fire-head! We’re having a little get together in a few hours, why don’t you stop by?!” Yeong-Un offered.
“–“
He paused for a moment, thinking it over before he nodded with a small laugh, “I’ll try, if I don’t sleep right through it.”
Yeong-Un smiled wide, celebrating with a boisterous laugh of his own as he went to his door, which neighbored Jeong-Hui’s, “I’ll hold ya’ to that! You’ve skipped out the last few weeks–people are worried, ya’ know!”.
“I know–thanks,” he assured the youthful man with a smile.
Entering into his room, he quietly shut the door behind him as his expression dwindled to a melancholic idleness.
It was a minimalistic room; he had hardly changed anything from when he was first given the space upon joining Gangcheori: a comfortable, gray-sheeted bed, white walls with no decor, a single, wooden stand, and an olive-green carpet stretched across the well-maintained, wood floor.
“–“
He fell backwards onto the bed, looking up towards the ceiling as he exuded his exhaustion through a drawn out exhale.
…Ah…It still hurts, no matter how hard I try to distract myself…He thought.
Laying there in the silence of the room, only accompanied by the distant noises of chatter in the small, guarded sector of the city, he was left alone with his thoughts.
Placing his hand over his eyes, his lip trembled slightly, but he fought against the tears, reluctant to let it out again.
It was just a couple weeks, right? I hardly knew them, right?…So why am I still hurting so long after? What’s wrong with me? He questioned.
Forcing himself to sit up, he slapped his cheeks to coax himself away from the memories of tragedy.
“C’mon, Jeong-Hui…Forward–just think about the way forward,” he talked himself up.
A sudden, unexpected knock against his door made him jump out of surprise as his cheeks reddened, hoping the person on the other side didn’t hear him speaking to himself.
“Y-yeah?” He called out.
It took a moment for the person on the other side to respond, but once they did, he recognized who it was immediately:
“…Sorry, I…hope I didn’t disturb you.”
A meek, almost suppressed voice like that could belong to none other than Eunji, prompting him to get up and open the door.
As he opened the door, which seemed to take the glasses-wearing girl, who was an entire head shorter than himself, by surprise as her cheeks were flushed and her expression shocked.
“Don’t worry, you’re not bothering me,” he assured her with a small laugh.
He was a little confused as to why she was visiting his room directly, but he could see she was holding something behind her back, fidgeting and averting her gaze.
“…So, what is it, Eunji?” He looked at her.
Even he couldn’t help but feel his cheeks heat up when being on the receiving end of her amethyst gaze; behind the lenses of her glasses, her sparkly eyes weren’t dulled in the slightest.
“I brought you dinner…”
He didn’t even notice until she finished her words that she presented her gift to him, holding a tupperware container, decorated with yellow and blue flowers, that contained what looked to be freshly-made food.
“Oh, thanks…this looks like a lot more than just dinner, though,” he laughed a bit, accepting the package.
Eunji averted her gaze again, fidgeting as she held her hands together, moving her fingers together in such a way to deal with her nervousness.
“Well, I…I accidentally made more than I expected, so…”
“Ah, I get it–you need help getting rid of the extras?” He asked with a laugh.
“No, no…I was already planning to make it for you–I mean…Yeah…”
Watching the hazel-haired girl go through her usual, indirect way of interacting, he couldn’t help but laugh, having to cover his mouth to avoid causing the girl further trouble.
“W-what’s so funny?” She looked at him with cherry-red cheeks.
“Nothing, nothing,” he stopped, holding a smile.
Silence fell between the two, which only served to cause the meek girl to hold a further fluster for that quiet moment.
“Are you going to the get-together that Yeong-Un’s having later?” He asked.
Eunji didn’t answer for a moment before slowly shaking her head, “No…I…don’t usually do well with things like that.”
“I see, I see…I’m not really too get with stuff like that, either,” he told her.
Moving away from the doorway, he went back to his bed, sitting down on it as Eunji almost seemed perplexed, not knowing if she was allowed to enter or not.
“You’re not a vampire, are you? You don’t need to wait for permission to enter, you know,” he laughed a bit.
He sat aside the gifted dinner on the bedside stand, looking at the hazel-haired, meek woman.
“R-right…Excuse me, then.”
Eunji is without a doubt one of the kindest people here. I honestly don’t know how somebody like her even exists in a world like this anymore…She was there for me when I was at my worst, he thought.
“…We’re not too far out from the opening of the “Tower” now, aren’t we?” He asked with a melancholic smile.
“Yeah…” Eunji nodded.
It was a concept that most were wary of in the crumbling world: the “Tower”–shrouded in enigma, and planted as the singular goal for all of mankind to reach–individually.
“What do you think it is? The “Tower”, I mean,” he asked, looking towards her.
He thought of her as an incredibly intelligent person; someone gifted with an acute awareness of many things, yet she undervalued that herself.
Eunji shyly adjusted her circular-rimmed glasses, gulping a bit, “What do I think of the Tower?”
“Mhm,” he nodded.
“Well…” Eunji composed herself, finding an answer for him, “…We’ve all theorized about it by now. The general consensus is that it’s the gateway to Heaven, isn’t it? Only those who made it to the Tower are allowed into paradise.”
“Yeah, that sounds about right–that’s what most people think,” he replied.
The amethyst-eyed woman stared at him for a moment as if reading his inquisitive expression, holding a different calmness to herself in contrast to her usual flustered self.
“You don’t think that’s it, do you?” She asked him.
“–“
“The leader doesn’t think so, either…Dae-Seong believes that the Tower is the starting point of this entire ordeal…”
“Do you believe that, too?”
Eunji took a moment to reply before slowly nodding, “Going off of the little information we have…I do,” she drew in a breath, “…It’s a bit of a stretch, maybe, but the fact that the goal is “level twenty” strikes me as odd. You were somebody familiar with “RPGs” before all of this, right?”
The question was aimed at him, but he didn’t know whether to feel offended or not based on the fact she guessed that merely by looking at him.
“Yeah,” he replied, scratching the top of his head, “That’s been the thing bugging me, too. “Level twenty” is generally when the real battle begins in a lot of games. It’s a little weird for me to equate video games to “almighty God”, but…all of this has been weird already.”
“Still…We won’t know until we reach it,” Eunji replied quietly.
“Yeah.”
A moment of silence transpired, then soon Eunji swiftly stood up as if in a sudden rush.
“What’s up?” He looked at her.
“I, err…I forgot I was going to help Ma-Ri out with the garden,” Eunji explained with red cheeks.
“Oh, alright. See ya’ then,” he smiled.
Again, he was left alone in his room, but he didn’t really know whether or not that was something he was satisfied with or not as he lounged back on his bed.