46 – Betting (5)

“Ugh…”

Kim Sun-ah lifted the unconscious Hong-ryun onto the mattress and laid her down neatly. Perhaps because she was limp, she felt surprisingly heavy even though she probably didn’t weigh much. As she caught her breath, she heard a groaning voice.

“If you’re done, help me over here too…”

“…Ryu Jin-ah, all you’ve been doing is asking for help since earlier.”

“How can I help with something heavy?!”

She couldn’t exactly ask Ha-yoon for help either, who was still exhausted. Ryu Jin-ah dragged Baek So-ra, who was also unconscious and limp, as she spoke.

Kim Sun-ah, as if she had no choice, shook her head and approached, grabbing Baek So-ra’s legs and lifting them.

The weight suddenly felt lighter, and Ryu Jin-ah, breathing heavily, placed Baek So-ra on the mattress next to Hong-ryun.

Looking at the two of them lying unconscious side by side, Ryu Jin-ah wiped the sweat from her face and muttered.

“Ha, shit. What do I do now?”

Even though she was trying to prevent them from crossing the line, there was a high chance Hong-ryun wouldn’t see it that way.

They already had disagreements about Ha-yoon, and now that this had happened, she definitely wouldn’t stay still when she woke up.

Of course, she also thought that they would be scattering in a month, so why worry about it, but Ryu Jin-ah didn’t think they were the kind of people she could just part ways with so lightly.

People say that your military buddies are the ones you remember the longest. Besides, considering the hardships they had endured together for five months and how they had comforted each other (though they mostly just enjoyed themselves), she didn’t want their relationship to fall apart over something so trivial.

While Ryu Jin-ah was racking her brain, Kim Sun-ah checked Ha-yoon’s injuries.

“Tilt your head up just a little.”

“Ugh… Ah!”

“Does it hurt? A lot?”

“It stings a little…”

In reality, it wasn’t just a stinging wound. The rope had dug into her skin, leaving a mark all around her neck.

Even a slight tilt of her head caused a stinging pain, and even when she was still, she felt a burning sensation as if she was being branded.

Kim Sun-ah also knew that it was more than just a stinging wound, so she looked at Ha-yoon with pity.

“You should get treatment.”

“What? Get treatment? No way!”

“…Why not?”

Kim Sun-ah narrowed her eyes at Ryu Jin-ah, who had approached and shouted.

Sensing that she was in a bad mood, Ha-yoon flinched, but Ryu Jin-ah didn’t back down and replied in a trembling voice.

“If we get her treated, we’ll have to take Ha-yoon to the nurse! Then we’ll have to tell them everything Hong-ryun did to Ha-yoon, and Hong-ryun will definitely get punished!”

She might even receive a harsher punishment than the senior who went to prison. That senior had been punished for accidentally pushing someone and causing an injury, but Hong-ryun had clearly intended to kill Ha-yoon.

She would definitely receive a harsher punishment, not a lesser one. But Kim Sun-ah looked at her with disbelief and said,

“So?”

“…What?”

“So, what do you want me to do?”

“W-What do you mean, what do I want you to do…”

“Then should we just leave Ha-yoon like this? Should I?”

“That’s… not what I mean…”

Looking at the red marks on her neck, Ryu Jin-ah opened her mouth and mumbled in a small voice.

“Can’t you… just let it go…?”

“Let it go?”

“I’ll apologize for bullying Ha-yoon. No, I helped bully her too, so it’s not like I’m apologizing on someone else’s behalf, I should apologize, yes.”

With that, she bowed her head to Ha-yoon.

“I-I’m sorry. For bullying you these past few days… I apologize…”

Ryu Jin-ah closed her eyes tightly as she bowed her head. To be honest, she didn’t think she needed to apologize this much, even if Hong-ryun had gone too far.

In the end, they had just been giving each other a taste of their own medicine. But in this situation, Ha-yoon held all the cards. She had to apologize like this to prevent Hong-ryun from being punished.

Ha-yoon stared blankly at Ryu Jin-ah before opening her mouth.

“You’re apologizing, really?”

“Yes, we were wrong all along. I’m sorry.”

“Then kneel.”

“…What?”

“Are you deaf? I said kneel.”

At those words, Ryu Jin-ah raised her head and looked at Ha-yoon’s expression. Her face twisted involuntarily at the sight of Ha-yoon looking down at her with a sneering expression, as if she had never been sobbing.

“You…”

“What, did you change your mind about apologizing? Huh? Should we go to the nurse?”

“Tch…”

Ryu Jin-ah glared at her, but Ha-yoon had no intention of letting this opportunity pass.

She had only been their pet for a day, but she had suffered so much humiliation at the hands of this trio. She had even drunk her own pee, so she wasn’t going to end it with just an apology.

Ha-yoon chuckled and said,

“Kneel. And kiss my feet—Ack!”

“Ha-yoon, that’s enough.”

“Ah, that hurts!”

“I hit you to make it hurt.”

But that vile attempt was stopped by Kim Sun-ah. Kim Sun-ah slapped Ha-yoon’s small head and sighed deeply before saying to Ryu Jin-ah.

“Okay. Let’s just keep this between us.”

“R-Really?!”

“Hey! What do you mean, ‘really’?! Kim Sun-ah, don’t just let those guys go. We should teach them a lesson, ugh!”

“Yes, we’re going to take a shower now, so Ryu Jin-ah, take care of those two and come back.”

Kim Sun-ah slapped Ha-yoon’s head again for talking nonsense, and Ryu Jin-ah smiled brightly and bowed repeatedly.

“Thank you! Thank you so much! I’ll definitely repay you later!”

“You don’t have to repay me. Just tell Hong-ryun.”

“Tell her what?”

“That I’ll have control while Ha-yoon is being punished.”

“Ah… Okay…”

Ugh, Hong-ryun is going to throw a fit when she wakes up. Ryu Jin-ah sighed and ruffled her hair. But there was nothing she could do to stop it.

If she interfered, Kim Sun-ah would tell the nurse, and Hong-ryun would be punished, and Kim Sun-ah would likely take control.

There was no need to stubbornly resist in a situation where she could neither go forward nor backward.

Ryu Jin-ah thought so and bowed her head once more.

“Anyway, thank you so much. For being lenient.”

“I’m not being lenient. It’s just that Ha-yoon and you guys are the same, so let’s just move on.”

“…Haha. I see.”

She didn’t know whether to hate being treated the same as someone like that, or to be glad that she could get away with it, so Ryu Jin-ah just laughed.

Kim Sun-ah looked at her with pity and stood up.

“Can you get up by yourself?”

“What do you take me for? Of course, ugh…!”

Huh? Ha-yoon looked up at Kim Sun-ah with a dazed expression, looking at her legs that had given out.

“M-My legs won’t work…”

It was only natural. She had been tied up for a whole day, not just an hour or two, and had been walking on her elbows and knees. And even if she had rested while doing so, she had been overworked, so there was no way her legs would move properly.

Kim Sun-ah looked at her knees, which were so bruised they were almost black, and bent down.

“Excuse me for a moment.”

“What are you do—Wait a minute—”

Then, she put her arms behind Ha-yoon’s knees and supported her back, lifting her up.

Ha-yoon blushed at the so-called princess carry and shouted.

“T-This is too embarrassing!”

“Should I carry you on my back then?”

“That’s embarrassing too?!”

Kim Sun-ah shrugged at Ha-yoon, who was yelling.

“Then stay still. Unless you want to walk on your joints again.”

“Wh-What?!”

I’m already a mess, I wish they would just go away and be lovey-dovey.

Ryu Jin-ah thought to herself as she sat on the mattress, watching the two of them bickering.

They had a slight disagreement, but in the end, Ha-yoon was carried to the shower in a princess carry. It was just after dinner and during break time, so there were quite a few trainees they ran into along the way.

“Kim Sun-ah?”

Kim Sun-ah turned her head at the voice from behind.

“Yoon Se-rin.”

“Where are you coming from without eating dinner? I didn’t see Hong-ryun’s gang either.”

“We had something to take care of. They’ll be back soon.”

“Back soon, you say that like you were with them. Who are you carrying… Ha-yoon?”

“Mind your own business, bitch.”

Ha-yoon, who had said those words, was actually covering her face with her hands. As if she didn’t want other people to see her face.

Yoon Se-rin looked at her with a strange expression before suddenly realizing something and asking.

“But what about the tape on her arms and legs? Why is she only wearing a collar? You’re not supposed to do that.”

“…It’s okay. The nurse took the tape off himself.”

“That nurse? That’s surprising. I didn’t think he would ease up that much in just one day.”

Yoon Se-rin muttered, sounding surprised.

Of course, the nurse had never said such a thing. It was all a lie by Kim Sun-ah to avoid suspicion.

“Well, that’s a shame. It was kind of fun to watch Ha-yoon suffer every time she walked.”

Ha-yoon gritted her teeth at the voice that chuckled as if she was disappointed. Kim Sun-ah whispered to calm her down before saying to Yoon Se-rin.

“Sorry, but we’re busy.”

“Where are you going? If you’re going with Ha-yoon, are you going to the nurse?”

“No, I think we need to take a shower.”

I sweated a little. There wasn’t a single drop of sweat on Kim Sun-ah’s face as she said that. But there was no reason to doubt her since she said so, so Yoon Se-rin nodded and said.

“Don’t forget to eat dinner when you get back. You know you can’t leave leftovers here, right?”

“Yes. I’ll keep that in mind.”

Kim Sun-ah said that and started walking again.

“Yoon Se-rin, I’m going to get back at that bitch someday…”

“That’s why I’m telling you to get along with the other trainees…”

Hong-ryun and Yoon Se-rin, it was all Ha-yoon’s fault for starting the trouble in the first place.

But she still didn’t learn her lesson and was talking about revenge. Kim Sun-ah shook her head.

The shower room was empty when they entered. Well, it wasn’t before bedtime, it was right after dinner, so no one would be taking a shower.

Kim Sun-ah put her clothes in the locker and took Ha-yoon inside. It wasn’t like a regular public bathhouse with chairs, so she had no choice but to put Ha-yoon on the floor.

She heard her whining that her butt was cold, but Kim Sun-ah ignored her and turned on the warm water, immediately spraying it on Ha-yoon.

A few hours ago, she had been spraying water in the same way in the same place, but the reaction was completely different.

Kim Sun-ah chuckled as she watched Ha-yoon make a drowsy expression as the warm water, hot enough to make white steam rise, touched her body.

After a quick shower and drying off completely, Ha-yoon’s eyes were almost completely closed by the time they returned to the dorm.

She hadn’t slept for almost two days, so it was only natural that she would be sleepy after relaxing. But Kim Sun-ah couldn’t let her fall asleep without eating dinner, so she forced Ha-yoon to wake up and had dinner with her.

“You’ve really become a mom.”

Shin So-hyun, who was with Jin Si-won on the next bunk, clicked her tongue, but Kim Sun-ah ignored her.

Hong-ryun and Baek So-ra returned during the meal. Ryu Jin-ah followed them later, with a large bruise on her face as if she had been hit hard.

She made eye contact with Kim Sun-ah, looked away awkwardly, and rubbed the back of her neck.

And Hong-ryun glared at Ha-yoon with fierce eyes before turning her head and grabbing her food, having a late dinner with Baek So-ra. It was still uneasy, but it didn’t seem like she would do anything today.

After finishing dinner and putting Ha-yoon on the bunk, she soon began to nod off. Even though she cursed and used harsh language, she was like this, so she must be a patient after all. She was very angelic.

Kim Sun-ah looked at Ha-yoon, whose eyes were half-closed, and carefully stroked her hair. Today was over, but she was still being punished. A pet. It was hard to protect her when she wasn’t around.

Even if she had fought off Hong-ryun once, even if Jin Si-won would protect her, the people who hated Ha-yoon wouldn’t be deterred by just that.

So she had to end Ha-yoon’s punishment as soon as possible. As she was thinking that, Hong-ryun, who had approached her in her usual manner, said to her.

“Kim Sun-ah. It’s your turn to see the nurse again today.”

Then, she gritted her teeth and muttered.

“Are you keeping your pussy tight? That nurse keeps calling you like this.”

“If you’re done talking, can you leave?”

“Done talking? I have a lot more to say, should I say more?”

Kim Sun-ah momentarily considered flipping her over again, but she endured. Hong-ryun, unaware that she had survived, continued to speak.

“No matter how much you protect her, Ha-yoon will never change. There will definitely come a time when you’ll suffer because of that bitch. You’ll regret today then.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t regret it. Shouldn’t you be worrying about yourself first? I’m sure you heard from Ryu Jin-ah.”

“…Hmph!”

Instead of answering, Hong-ryun snorted and turned away. Kim Sun-ah scoffed as she watched her walk away, then turned her head at the touch on her hand.

Ha-yoon, who had been half-asleep, looked up at Kim Sun-ah and opened her mouth.

“Are you going to the nurse?”

“He called me. I have no choice.”

“Be careful…”

She wanted to go with her if she could. Just like she had done. But she was too weak to do that now.

Kim Sun-ah looked at Ha-yoon, who was mumbling in a dejected voice, for a moment before smiling quietly and saying.

“Yes, I’ll be back soon.”