Liam shivered hearing the words from the rescuer. Instinctively, he tried to get away from him, nearly causing the stretcher to tip over.
"Whoa!" the rescuer exclaimed, supporting the stretcher to prevent the patient from falling. "Stay still!"
"Who are you?!" Liam screamed, feeling a bone nearly pierce his lung.
"Easy, easy. It’s me!" the masked rescuer said.
When the rescuer removed the mask hiding half of his face, Liam was dazedly stunned once again.
What’s this person doing here? When did he become a rescuer?
Harjun laughed. "What are you panicking about? We’re here to fetch you on behalf of the show’s staff members."
Liam visibly relaxed, stabilizing the stretcher. Harjun immediately relaxed too, whistling as he lifted the stretcher together another Entity Liam didn’t recognize.
"I saw a strange black smoke earlier..." Liam informed Harjun.
"Black smoke? Prolly because of the car crash," Harjun responded, clicking his tongue. "What the hell happened here? This is quite hard to clean up."
It sounded like they were cleaning up a crime scene. However, Liam ignored his words. The encounter earlier truly left an imprint on his mind.
"No. It wasn’t smoke from the car," he said.
Harjun lifted his mask again, afraid that some civilian would get past the encirclement they had put up around the area and recognize him. "How sure are you?"
"It was strange... It was moving towards me."
This time, Harjun’s brow raised. "You sure you ain’t just hallucinating?"
Liam shook his head but felt pain.
"I told you to take it easy. You’re currently a battered piece of flesh, you know?"
Just as Harjun said that, they finally arrived near the rescue ambulance. He and his partner lifted the stretcher inside the vehicle, with Harjun accompanying him by his side and the other going to the driver’s seat.
Then, he remembered something, "Wait, there’s an old driver with me. How is he?"
"Oh? Him?" Harjun mused, taking off the annoying mask. "Don’t worry, it’s not his time yet."
One by one, the participants were found and brought back to the agency. Fortunately, only Liam was gravely injured. Most of them were just wandering around where they had been sent.
Rayen wanted to say he deserved it for leaving them out of the blue, but it felt like he was cursing out his friend.
Well, on the other hand, yeah...
’That guy deserves a cursing.’
On the third floor, where the newly built infirmary was located just after yesterday’s incident, a man in a nearly full-body cast lay on one of the beds, blankly staring at the ceiling like a mummified corpse.
Rayen pushed aside the curtains around Liam’s resting area and glared at him.
"Dasurb," he said, crossing his arms.
Remembering the words of the demonic woman on the trial room that they wouldn’t really die as long as their seeds remained intact, Rayen used that word to mock his friend.
Karma really had a way on people that deserved it.
Now that their phones had been confiscated, Liam couldn’t use the shop to find something to heal his injuries. He had been living this way since yesterday, when he had been returned like a mummified package by Harjun.
Having had enough of mocking him, Rayen finally asked the important question. "Why did you leave us back there?"
Liam didn’t answer at all. Rayen felt annoyance creeping on his chest.
’Should I kick him while I’m at it?’
"You already saw it," Liam responded after seeing his expression.
Wanting to scoff, Rayen didn’t follow up right away. "You really deliberately led us there."
Liam wanted to nod but couldn’t, so he only grunted in agreement. Now that he’s , even if he wanted to hide, he couldn’t.
For a moment, Rayen couldn’t think of a word to say to him.
"Why?" he finally muttered. "Why did you do that? Why kill yourself?"
’And why the hell in my house of all places? You have your own house!’
"Did you have any problems?" Rayen questioned, voice slightly softening.
The Liam he knew was truly different from how his friend was acting right now. Rayen didn’t expect the sunshine boy he knew to commit suicide.
It took Liam a while to answer. "I don’t know."
Hearing that, Rayen’s sharp tone returned. "Don’t dodge my question, you bastard."
"I’m not dodging it. I really don’t know," Liam said in surrender.
"What do you mean?" Rayen scowled, his annoyance apparent on his face.
"That day... It was quite a blur. I felt guilty, but I didn’t know the reason..."
"If you can’t remember, then what about me?"
Liam visibly flinched. When Rayen saw that, he instantly knew there was something.
"Are you lying to me?" Rayen asked in a low voice.
"No!" For the first time, Liam’s voice turned high-pitched.
"Then why did you just flinch just now?"
"I... I really don’t know."
Rayen only clicked his tongue.
When Liam’s eyes glanced toward him, their gazes met. Quickly, Liam averted his eyes.
"I seem to have left you in your bedroom," he admitted.
’So you do know something.’
During that time in his apartment, Rayen was so out of it. They didn’t check the other rooms, so he didn’t see it. Thankfully though, he didn’t.
Seeing Liam’s corpse was already enough for him after barfing many times in a row. He already knew he was dead, so he didn’t need to see his own corpse.
What mattered was that they were finally discovered. It was like a fishbone had been taken out of his throat, and he felt like a spirit that only became at peace when his remains had been given justice.
’Hope Jared wouldn’t become too scarred by it.’
After a few moments of silence, Rayen wanted to ask the question that bugged him the most.
"Tell..." he started, but he felt reluctant.
It tasted bitter in his mouth uttering this line. Liam sensed Rayen’s hesitation when he trailed off. His eyes landed on Rayen once again.
"... Did you perhaps kill me?"