Ep. 38: Test of Courage (2)

I was making my way into the mountains, holding onto the hem of Hyeonwoo's clothes.

It was so dark that I couldn't see my feet at all, but at least I was holding onto Hyeonwoo, who was walking ahead, so I didn't trip and fall.

"Ugh…."

The eerie, gloomy atmosphere of the pitch-black mountains, without a single source of light, created a fear on an entirely different level from that of a haunted house.

If Hyeonwoo hadn't been here, I really wouldn't have been able to move at all….

Thanks to my friend walking ahead of me, I was at least able to make my way through this test of courage.

I was grateful for that, but….

...Isn't it too quiet?

Hyeonwoo, who was leading me forward, hadn't said a single word until now.

And Hyeonwoo, who normally would have turned around several times to check on me, was now silently walking straight ahead.

Uh…. Could this be….

At that moment, I suddenly had an ominous feeling.

What I was holding onto wasn't Hyeonwoo at all, but the ghost we'd seen by the river….

And now that ghost was dragging me somewhere creepy to kidnap me….

“Aaaah!!”

“Kuhk?!”

Startled by the imagination I'd created myself, I unconsciously yanked on the hem of Hyeonwoo's clothes….

As a result, the hem of Hyeonwoo's clothes tightened around his neck.

“W-what are you doing…."

“S-sorry…."

Hyeonwoo clutched his throat and looked at me as he spoke, apparently in quite a bit of pain….

Judging by how much he was suffering, he was probably human.

Phew... Thank goodness….

“Why do you look relieved after strangling someone?"

“Ah!"

After confirming that he was alive rather than dead, I relaxed my expression—and got hit once.

Ugh…. It really is Hyeonwoo….

“Why did you suddenly do that? There was nothing particularly surprising."

“I-it's just…. For a moment, I thought you were a ghost…."

“Me, a ghost? What nonsense are you talking about all of a sudden?"

Hyeonwoo spoke in an incredulous tone.

“B-but still…. You kept walking forward without saying a word…! Normally, you'd turn around every so often to check on me!"

“No…. It's because we'd trip if we didn't focus while walking along a mountain path at night…."

“Mmm…. True…."

“Besides, since you're holding onto my hem, I can tell you're there without turning around."

“I suppose…."

“And…."

Hyeonwoo spoke while trembling slightly.

“The cold air leaking from you because you're scared makes you incredibly noticeable."

“Oh…."

After hearing that, I looked around and saw cold air flowing out from around me.

Oh my…. Was this something that happened when I got scared…?

The cold air leaking from me without my realizing it spread throughout the area, making everything around us colder.

No wonder I'd been feeling weaker and weaker for a while….

“Ugh…. It's cold…."

“S-sorry…."

Who knew being scared would automatically make me release cold air….

Still, I supposed I should be grateful that it hadn't burst out with a pop like it did at the amusement park….

“Come to think of it, this makes it even scarier for no reason…."

Hyeonwoo spoke while looking around with a slightly anxious expression.

Just as Hyeonwoo said, the already dark and frightening mountain path had become a truly ominous foothill where a ghost seemed ready to leap out, combined with my cold air.

Ugh…. My cold air made it even scarier….

“It can't be helped…. Let's turn back here. If we go any farther, we might fall."

“Yeah…."

Hyeonwoo shook his head and gestured that this was as far as we were going.

Just as Hyeonwoo said, the ground had frozen in places because of my cold air, and the earth had weakened slightly, so we could fall if we weren't careful.

On top of that, this was a slope where falling would make it easy to roll downward, so it could be disastrous if we fell.

Phew…. Thank goodness…. I was worried about what we'd do if we went any farther….

Just as I was about to turn back, greatly relieved at the news that the frightening test of courage was finally over-

Ssssss-

“Huh…?"

Suddenly, I heard the sound of something moving in the grass.

“What is it…?"

A sound similar to the one we'd heard by the water earlier came from the grass, amplifying my anxiety.

S-surely that's the thing Juhyeok claimed he saw….

“Squeee!"

“Whoa!"

At that moment, I barely noticed something suddenly spring out and try to pounce on me, and dodged it, but-

“Eek?!"

“Seolhwa!!"

I hadn't accounted for the slippery ground, so my feet tangled and I ended up in an unstable position-

Hyeonwoo hurriedly realized what was happening and reached out a hand, but I failed to grab it and rolled backward down the slope.

“Aaaah…."

Fortunately, it wasn't as high as I thought, so I wasn't badly hurt, but I injured my ankle when I fell.

“Seolhwa! Are you okay?"

“Mmm…. I only twisted my ankle a little…."

Hyeonwoo hurriedly ran over and examined me.

I had a few scrapes here and there, but aside from my ankle, none of my injuries were serious.

Hyeonwoo was relieved to see that, but the problem was….

“Squeee-!"

“What is this…?"

Once again, the cry of a beast rang out from the grass some distance away.

That cry was definitely….

“A wild boar…. This is bad…."

It was the cry of a very dangerous beast—a wild boar.

Juhyeok, you bastard…. What kind of campsite did you bring us to…!

“C-could I snipe it with ice…!"

I reached toward the grass while sitting on the ground, but Hyeonwoo stopped me and spoke.

“Calm down. Nothing good will come from provoking it."

“B-but…."

“Then can you kill it in one shot? If you can't freeze it or kill it in one shot, we're both finished."

Hyeonwoo asked me in a very serious voice,

and I shook my head in despair.

“...I probably can't kill it."

Without realizing it, I had used up an enormous amount of cold on the way here.

Right now, I obviously couldn't use any large-scale techniques, and the only ice I could fire was an icicle at most.

If only we hadn't made bingsu earlier….

“...You won't be able to move with that leg either…. This is bad."

Hyeonwoo pondered our current situation with cold sweat running down his face.

“Should we just pray that the wild boar runs away…."

We had come quite far, so it was difficult to hope for help from Juhyeok and Haru.

I couldn't fight the wild boar either, since I'd injured my leg and used up so much cold.

No matter how athletic Hyeonwoo was, it was obvious that fighting a wild boar would be too much for him.

“A-at least you run away…. I'll figure something out myself!"

“Don't say something stupid. What else can you do but get attacked with that leg?"

Even though Hyeonwoo was uninjured, I told him to run away, but he didn't seem to have any intention of leaving me behind.

“Don't worry. I'll find a way somehow."

“Trying to look cool…."

Hyeonwoo spoke in a calm tone, as if to reassure me, and stood in front of me as though he meant to protect me.

I thought the back of a man pretending to look cool was a little childish, but-

More than that, Hyeonwoo's back felt incredibly dependable right now.

“Squeee-!"

“Tch…!"

The wild boar was coming, so Hyeonwoo reluctantly picked up a nearby rock, and I took aim so I could fire ice.

“Squeeeeee-!"

And out burst the wild boar!

...A baby…. A baby wild boar….

“What…."

“It's tiny…."

When we saw what had been wandering through the grass, all the tension drained from us in relief, and we sank down where we stood.

The baby wild boar charged at us, but Hyeonwoo caught it, and after it struggled for a moment, he subdued it with ease.

Come to think of it, if it had been a fully grown wild boar, there was no way Juhyeok or I would still be alive….

“Haa…. This is embarrassing…. Seriously…."

I lowered my head and covered my face with my hands, slightly embarrassed that we'd been scared of nothing more than a baby wild boar.

Sigh…. I'm never doing a test of courage again.

======

“I wonder if it's okay now…."

I hopped in place to check my injured ankle.

Yeah, this should be fine.

“What's with your recovery ability…? Even with first aid, you healed way too quickly."

Hyeonwoo had treated my ankle by wrapping it in the bandages he'd brought all the way here.

But even so, perhaps because it had healed too quickly, Hyeonwoo wore a dumbfounded expression.

“Heheh, if you're jealous, become a Snow Woman too."

Hyeonwoo spoke with an exasperated expression as he looked at me, already recovered.

Thanks to the Snow Woman's unique recovery ability, my ankle wasn't completely healed, but it had recovered enough for me to walk around.

I'm glad I'm a Snow Woman at times like this…. No, if I weren't a Snow Woman, I wouldn't have gotten into trouble in the first place.

“Well, whatever. It wasn't like I could carry you through these mountains…."

Hyeonwoo stood up and dusted himself off, as if he was getting ready to leave.

“Then let's go. If there's a baby, its mother might be nearby too. We'd better get back quickly."

“Y-yeah."

“Hold onto my clothes. Even you could get into serious trouble if you fell again in that condition."

Hyeonwoo said we needed to get back quickly, then turned around and waited for me to grab the hem of his clothes.

And I just stared blankly at Hyeonwoo's back….

Then, without thinking, I grabbed his finger instead of his hem.

“S-Seolhwa…?"

“Huh..."

Startled by the realization that I'd grabbed his finger without meaning to, I quickly made an excuse.

“I-it's just…. If I pull on your hem again, it'll be bad…. This way, at least if I get startled, it won't be a problem…?"

“Uh…. Oh, okay…."

Hyeonwoo seemed to understand my hastily fabricated excuse and walked on with me still holding his finger.

I tightened my grip on his finger and walked along with him, watching his back.

And the farther we walked without either of us saying anything,

I realized that something was strange.

‘...Why is my heart beating so fast?’

Even though we'd already escaped the dangerous situation, my heart was beating strangely fast.

Maybe because my blood was circulating quickly, my face had also become slightly flushed.

‘...I guess I'm still scared.’

We had escaped the danger posed by the wild boar, but we were still in these dark mountains.

I supposed my body was still tense because of the fear.

...Yeah, okay.

It must be because I'm scared. Because I'm scared….

And so I made my way out of the mountains while holding tightly onto Hyeonwoo's finger.