NEFARIOUS

21 / 이십 일

 The carriage stopped abruptly, making  the room jolt forward. Jung-Hee held himself tight into the back seat, and seemed as if he'd expected this. Perhaps he knew Dong Geun well enough to approve of his terrible way of driving.

 Hye held her brother to keep him steady. Jae became much paler than before, and his armor soaked of sweat and blood. The carriage shifted as Jung-Hee jumped toward the ground, and Hye moved to the side Jae to carry him easily.

 When she tried to carry him to the ground, she struggled immensely, making Jung-Hee offer a hand. She didn't even bother to close the carriage door as the trio moved to Moonbird, letting Dong Geun to do his job.

 The sunlight glared down at her body, sparking heat across her garments. Moonbird would still open until hour six, when the sun no longer at the sky. However, even from the outside, the tea house was very quiet. If Hye were not one of the employers, she would think the stillness around Moonbird was undoubtedly eerie. But she'd gotten used to it.

 "Bring Chan Mi to the cabin," said Jung-Hee over his shoulder. "Tell her someone's injured."

 "'kay," Dong Geun simply said, he disappeared to Moonbird after parking his carriage.

 Hye gripped her hand around Jae's, fearing that one time he might fall from her. With Jung-Hee's support, the weight of her brother became much lighter, but it didn't make her less feel better. Under her touch, Jae's skin went completely frigid and damp.

 But she could feel his breathing, though it was too heavy and slow.
The cabin was built of crooked woods, stood between long and wide trees with its fragile condition. It was more of a wreckage more than a building.

 Well, a ruinage with a door, at least.
The door groaned as Jung-Hee opened it. Hye placed her brother on the table carefully, because it would be much easier for Chan Mi to heal him. She took his hand to his side, squeezing his forearm.

 His face looked unbearably weary; with his arched eyebrows lined across his damp forehead, and lips slowly becoming purple. Most times, he reminded her of their mother, for they shared common amber eyes and visible dimples on their cheek.

 When the memory of their mother slowly vanished in her memory, Hye tried to remember her by looking at her own brother, not wanting to erase the memory from her own.

 Though he had the face of their mother, his personality more like of their father; always calm, and unpredictable.

 But somehow, Eun Jae had been always different than any of them. Their father was a warrior, cold before their enemies, and wouldn't hesitate to slash their throat open. If it were Eun Jae, he would question such behaviour. Her brother wouldn't spill unnecessary blood. Her brother was a forgiving man.

 And their father, well, Hye couldn't be sure of it. She almost forgot what he looked like. The only thing she remembered about him was the feeling of sadness that wrapped her body when he'd disappeared to go somewhere. . . somewhere far from her.

 A croaking sound came from the door again, and Chan Mi appeared with a container of physician equiptments in her wrinkled hand. Dong Geun stared at Jae in interest beside her. She casted her brother a shadowing look before shifted toward him.

 Placing the container on the chair, she placed her palm on Jae's forehead, her face unreadable as usual. "Your presence troubles my concentration," said Chan Mi.

 Jung-Hee walked to the door without hesitation, and Dong Geun, who'd been standing by the door, vanished from the cabin.

 "All of you," she repeated when Hye remained near her brother.

 "I stay," Hye insisted.

 Chan Mi glanced up at her, grey eyes looming underneath her lashes. "I cannot concentrate when you are with me, Hye."

 "You can."

 The old woman sighed softly. "He might die if I make any trouble, do not be selfish on this."

 Hye gritted her teeth, releasing her hand from her brother's. She casted another look of him once again; pale and vulnerable due the wound. Her stomach twisted, she did not want to leave him alone in this sickness. But she opened the cabin door, and never looked back anymore.