The Hunter’s Gonna Lay Low

“Ugh… hhh, ugh…”

The sobs didn’t easily subside. Uijae cried for a long time, his forehead pressed against the glass container, gasping and sobbing silently. He couldn’t make a sound, nor could he release his emotions by striking anything. He gritted his teeth, holding it all in. Breathing was difficult. The taste of blood lingered in his mouth.

Countless thoughts swirled in his mind.

Because I wasn’t there.

Because I was late.

Because of those words, “wait for me.”

Lee Sa-young had no reason to endure this kind of pain. He… he should’ve just...

‘He should’ve been happy.’

He should have been happy, without knowing this kind of pain or darkness. He should have just been happy. Forget about promises, forget about those meaningless promises, and just...

Then, he felt a presence in the glass container. He quickly lifted his head. Perhaps it was just a momentary lapse, but it was now struggling again. Uijae glanced at the machinery next to the screen. He found the red button, which seemed to be the most frequently used.

‘There must be a reason it’s used so often.’

Uijae pressed the button firmly. The pipes connected beneath the container vibrated, and the violet poison was slowly sucked out. Done. Uijae let out a small sigh of relief. Through the sticky violet liquid clinging to the glass, he saw its form. It was weakly scratching at the glass. It seemed to be desperately trying to convey something to someone beyond the glass.

“……”

Uijae didn’t turn his head, absorbing its appearance with his eyes. Its body, with no intact part. Its strangely distorted skin, melted flesh. The pitiful, desperate movements.

The empty glass container began to fill with liquid again. This time, it was a transparent, sky-blue liquid. The new liquid filled only halfway and stopped. It seemed to be a restorative fluid, as the decayed skin slowly began to heal.

It coughed, shuddering. The mixture of dark red blood and violet liquid splattered out… After a few more coughs, it seemed to collapse, exhausted. Thankfully, it was still breathing lightly.

Was this going to repeat? Endlessly, again and again.

Until they reached the result they wanted.

Uijae’s stomach churned. For a moment, Lee Sa-young’s image overlapped with the sight before him. The sight of the boy, with no intact part of his body, gasping inside the glass container. His fearful eyes staring at the liquid rising from the bottom. Struggling to live…

“Ugh…”

Uijae swallowed the rising nausea. He lifted the white cloth and slightly raised his mask. He roughly wiped his wet face, his shoulders trembling intermittently. He couldn’t stop crying.