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Chapter 34

I was called off work, forbidden from touching the telegram. Similarly, I was banned from the workshop, leaving me with plenty of free time. I wandered around at a loss of what to do. Although I was no longer subjected to the physical alarm, courtesy of Yeosang, I couldn’t fall back asleep and was forced to carry on with the day.

Before I was kicked out of the workshop, I managed to recover the arrowheads with little disagreement. Last time when I fell asleep at the workshop without cleaning up, the engineers found a bloody mess on the bench and were scared half to death. I winced at the relatively fresh memory as I fiddled with one in my hands. In my defence, surface wounds on hands or arms bled like crazy even though they weren't fatal.

The arrowhead was dull under the light, having failed to scrub the blood from it. A knock on the door frame jolted me out of my thoughts, arrowhead slipping from my grasp. I hissed when it left a clean red line across the side of my palm.

A playful smile adorned San's face as he pranced in. It pulled upwards, barely missing the base of the canines. He plopped himself opposite of me. Upon spotting the scattered arrowheads and the newly formed blood puddle under my poorly concealed injury, his smile faded and was replaced by a solemn look. 

“Jongho was right to supervise you.” 

I felt wronged. This time it was simply an accident. He offered a hand out to check my wound. I turned my whole body away, feeling child-like grievance take over a relatively small misunderstanding. San wasn’t asking though. It was more the choice between cooperation or force. He firmly grasped my wrist and pulled it away from my other hand. It was exposed.

The side of my palm was carefully turned and inspected. From the way the injury angrily welted and stopped dripping liquid, it was safe to assume that it was a shallow cut. He produced a cotton bud and medical tape from his pocket and carefully applied it to the wound. 

I tried to pull my hand away but the firm grip stayed. His eyes turned sad upon tracing over the old scars that had yet to fade. I locked my fingers onto the side of his hand to prevent it from moving. He looked at me, eyes scanning all over my face and I took in the wave of despair that washed over his face. Wordlessly, he pulled me in. I squeaked in surprise at the abrupt gesture. His arms protectively wrapped around me, squeezing a little as if I would slip from his embrace. 

“Don’t do it ever again you hear me?” His voice was thick with emotion.

“I wasn’t-” My voice was weak from recovering though it didn’t matter as I was cut off. 

“You can talk to any of us.” 

I gave up trying to explain myself. 
“Okay.” It was soft even for me but the arms around me loosened slightly. 

I stayed where I was, a little unsure what my next course of action would be. In a way, my self-induced suffering was affecting others and I felt responsible for it. The guilt rose and I was quick to swallow it down. 

“Sorry.” 

San pulled back. The unshed tears were clear in his glassy eyes.
 
“Don’t be. Just promise not to do anything like that ever again.” 

I held out a pinky. 

“Are you still a child?” San cracked a small grin.

I shrugged. I don’t remember my age but I was treated as the youngest so I let it be. Nevertheless, my antics were entertained. 

“There.” His pinky linked in with mine, sealing the promise. 

I felt my lips lift ever so slightly. I unhooked my finger and withdrew to myself.