ARCANUM

CHAPTER 18

JENNIE KIM POV

"GET BACK BEFORE I KILL YOU TOO!" He shouted, cutting my words, making me jump and be taken back. He had never shouted like this.

"Ughhh..." As soon as he yelled, he wrapped his arms around his body and held his stomach while groaning in pain.

"Manoban," I approached him, climbed onto his bed, and touched his shoulder, but he swatted my hand away.

"Go away," he said as he endured the pain.

"Manoban," I tried to touch his shoulder again. But again, he swatted my hand away.

"Go, please," he said in a lower voice amid his groans.

I took a deep breath and walked away. But before I left the open door, I stopped and turned to look at him, who was now trying to lie down clutching his stomach, "I have your keys with me. I'll leave you first to calm down. I'll be back later," and I left knowing he wouldn't answer me.

I returned to my apartment with a pounding heart and kept questioning my decision to leave him there. 'Should I go back?' I asked myself, staring at my wall, in the direction where his unit was. No. He's not calm. I don't know what he was thinking. There's only one way to find out.

I quickly took my phone and opened the secret application and put it to my ear after I found what I was looking for.

"Hello, what Manoban means that he will kill me too?" I asked immediately without waiting for a greeting from the person I called.

"......."

"Jisoo. Tell me what does he mean? What is the meaning of his word? Is he killed someone before?" I asked again with more urgency.

"Why did he say that to you?" asked Rattle, aka Jisoo, after a moment of silence.

I told her how I came back to Manoban's unit and found him sitting back, staring out the window. Then, how do we ask each other questions without answering each other's questions. How Manoban accepted me as his partner but on the condition that I have to return to The Arc.

"And he yelled at me. Tell me to come back before he kills me too," I ended my story. Rattle took several deep breaths.

"Look, Jennie....." and she started to tell me what made Manoban say that. She told me in a devastated tone of voice. A more gloomy atmosphere enveloped my apartment as I listened to her every word. While she was talking, I unconsciously entered my bedroom and stared at the wall that separated my room from Manoban's. I limply sat on my bed, staring at the wall.

I stared at the wall blankly. I can almost even imagine Manoban lying on his bed. I felt a drop of water in my hand, which was on the bed. I turned to look at it and saw that one drop of water was followed by another that fell on my bed. I didn't notice that my tears were flowing. With the back of my hand, I rubbed my eyes to wipe away the trail of tears, then looked up so no more tears would fall.