Chapter 16: At the Edge of the Ridge

With a shout, I brought the knife down on the monster’s nape.

It felt like stabbing into a hard, heated log.

Its hide was tough, so the blade didn’t sink in deeply, but dark red blood began to pour from the wound.

My hands trembled as I forced the knife in harder.

The monster let out a sharp, tearing scream.

“Keeek!! Keeek!!”

Its yellow eyes flashed as it twisted its body.

As its attention shifted to me, Hanjun clenched his fist and struck its brow repeatedly, like he was boxing.

The monster’s right eye burst, and yellow pus streamed down.

“What do we do?! What do we do?!”

The woman, pale as she watched our struggle, stomped her feet in panic before grabbing a metal pipe from the floor and rushing in.

I twisted the knife, trying to slice its throat.

The woman smashed its torso with the pipe.

Hanjun aimed for its head.

The three of us clung to one monster and hacked at it mercilessly.

After seeing the human corpse, our adrenaline wouldn’t fade.

Even after the monster collapsed, nearly dead, we kept stabbing and beating it for a long while.

“That’s enough.”

Hanjun grabbed my shoulder.

I hadn’t even realized how tightly I was clutching the knife.

Only when he pulled me back did my strength leave me, and the blade slipped from my grip.

My chest heaved up and down as he looked at me with worried eyes.

“Are you okay?”

“Huff… huff…”

Breathing hard, my legs gave out and I fell backward.

I glanced at the dead monster, then at the headless corpse, and nearly gagged.

I ran out of the lodge.

On the open ridge, the mountain wind blew fiercely.

Strong enough to carry away some of the sticky blood smell.

I stared at the farthest peak, trying desperately to suppress the adrenaline that wouldn’t settle.

The woman walked out slowly, her face stricken with shock.

She forced a smile when she saw us.

“We can’t use this place. Let’s sleep in the shop.”

Seeing the lodge keeper eaten must have shattered her heart even more.

It made her husband’s fate even more uncertain.

We kept our words to a minimum and headed for the lodge shop.

We washed the sticky blood off at the outdoor tap and entered the shop.

If a monster came while we slept, we’d be done for.

We shut the door tightly, hung blankets over the windows to block any light, and reinforced the entrance with thick planks.

“Young men, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have… dragged you into this.”

While eating packaged rice, kimchi, and canned food for dinner, she bowed her head, holding back tears.

She reminded me of my mom.

Trying to lighten the heavy mood, I comforted her.

“We’re fine. I’m sure your husband is okay. Please stay strong.”

The sun set quickly.

We laid blankets on the floor and rested our exhausted bodies.

The woman lay against the wall.

Hanjun in the middle.

Me beside him.

Sleep didn’t come easily after what we’d seen.

It was the first time I had ever seen a real dead body.

As I lay awake tossing and turning—

“Hyung, come here.”

“Yeah?”

Hanjun called me softly, sleep clinging to his voice.

He had both arms open wide, as if waiting for me to slip into them.

I stared at him, slightly dumbfounded.

“…Why are you like that?”

“You can’t sleep alone.”

What nonsense.

Why wouldn’t I be able to sleep alone?

Was he misunderstanding my shaken state from earlier?

And with another adult right here?

If it were just the two of us, maybe I’d swallow my pride and crawl over.

But with someone else present, sleeping in his arms felt embarrassing.

“I’m fine.”

I turned my back on him and refused curtly.

Then I heard rustling behind me, and suddenly warmth pressed against my back.

He had moved closer.

Close enough that I could feel his breath.

“What do you mean, fine.”

He murmured low and steady into my ear.

The tone was almost intimate enough to make my skin prickle.

I tried to brush it off as teasing.

But then—

“…W-what are you doing?”

Not only did he press against my back, he wrapped his arms around me.

As if I were some kind of sleeping teddy bear.

My heart plummeted endlessly.

I stammered in shock.

Unaware of my turmoil, he spoke lazily while patting my chest.

He must have thought he was comforting me.

After all, I had been shaken earlier.

But I felt awkward and embarrassed.

Aware of the woman across from us, I tried to wriggle free.

“D-don’t.”

His firm arms didn’t loosen.

If anything, they tightened.

I stiffened completely in his embrace.

“Hyung, you sleep better when we’re close.”

No, I don’t!

And there’s someone else here!

“Well then. Don’t mind me. Sleep comfortably, you two.”

The woman’s warm voice came from behind us.

Ma’am, no! That’s not it!

If it were just hugging, fine.

But why is that part touching me?

Why is that pressed so firmly against my backside?

That’s not the part I wanted pressed there!

Why are you falling asleep like that?! I can’t even move!

They say when you’re too shocked, you can’t speak.

That was me.

My mouth was open, but no words came out.

As if my throat were sealed shut.

Today had drained me completely.

The centipede monster dropping from above.

The long-armed monkey-like monster eating a corpse.

And finally, Hanjun sleeping with something monstrously large pressed between my thighs.

All of it exhausted both my body and my mind.

Overwhelmed, I must have fainted into sleep without even realizing when it happened.

At dawn, the mountain air heavy with dew filled my lungs.

Before I could even appreciate the freshness—

“Hng.”

A sound slipped out of me.

The moment I opened my eyes, I felt the solid pillar still pressed against my backside and jolted unconsciously.

“You’re awake?”

I was terribly uncomfortable, yet Hanjun showed no sign of it.

As if my backside were just a desk his healthy body had rested on all night.

My thoughts were in chaos.

He simply stood up, completely unconcerned about his very obvious lower-half situation.

I, too, had my own morning reaction.

But for some reason, my confidence had plummeted.

I curled inward and stood up awkwardly.

Damn him.

Just because it’s big? So proud of it, huh.

At the break of dawn, we shouldered our backpacks and set off again.

If we walked all day, we’d reach Cheonwangbong.

Yesterday had been nothing but climbing.

Today we traversed the ridge, walking up and down.

Through forest paths.

Across wide, open highlands.

When hunger hit, we snacked on chocolate and ramen.

From the high ridge, we could see far below.

Sometimes distant forested slopes shook violently.

When trees swayed wildly, birds would burst into the sky and crows shrieked.

We couldn’t see what was shaking them.

But we didn’t need to.

Large monsters were tearing through the forest in search of prey.

Every time I heard that chaos, my heart clenched and my body stiffened.

The memory of yesterday’s nightmare resurfaced.

And every time it did, Hanjun would somehow notice and pat my shoulder.

“We’re almost there. Just a little more.”

The woman turned and said it again.

It was the third time already.

Usually, “almost there” is a lie.

But this time—

After she said it once more while we walked along an endless rocky path, I nodded without expectation.

Then, in the distance, I finally saw it.

Jangteomok Shelter.

The mountain lodge closest to Cheonwangbong.

And where her husband was supposed to be.

We had finally arrived.

Yet tension lingered on our faces.

Praying that no monster awaited us inside, we quickened our steps.

After what had happened at the previous lodge, we approached silently.

We crossed the yard and headed straight to the management office.

Before the door to the staff quarters, the woman raised a finger to her lips.

“Shh.”

There was no sound around the shelter.

That silence only heightened our fear.

Imagining another monster inside, we slowly opened the door.

Creeeak—

The ungreased hinges screeched loudly.

The world seemed to fall even quieter.

The interior was dark and still.

No monsters.

But no people either.

Clinging to her last hope, she called out in a trembling voice.

“Soyoung’s dad… are you there?”

No answer came.

The sorrow she had held back began to spill out.

“You’re not here? Soyoung’s dad?!”

“Ma’am…”

Her voice rose.

I wrapped an arm around her shoulder to comfort her.

The heavy silence weighed down on us—

“Hyeseok?”