53 – Drunken Confessions

It was dawn, but the sun hadn’t fully risen yet.

Kim Sun-ah frowned, looking at the marks left on her body.

‘I hope these marks don’t last until morning.’

Sex with Instructor Gan was anything but gentle.

Choking was commonplace, and acts like suddenly wanting to hear screams, grabbing her collarbone hard enough to break it, or punching her were frequent occurrences.

At least today, it only ended with her being restrained and used like an onahole, but unlike usual, the marks from the rope were vividly imprinted on her skin.

‘If Ha-yoon sees me like this, she’ll definitely say something….’

She already didn’t like Sun-ah being called by Instructor Gan, and if there were visible marks like this, she certainly would.

‘I guess I’ll have to rely on the infected’s recovery ability here.’ Thinking that, she entered the shower room and found someone already there.

“…Kim Sun-ah.”

“Yoon Se-rin, why are you here now… Ah.”

Kim Sun-ah tilted her head, seeing Yoon Se-rin with a towel over her head and a gloomy expression, then realized that she too had been called by Instructor Park and understood.

“You’ve had a hard time.”

“Why are you talking like we’re just coworkers?”

“Well, isn’t that not entirely wrong?”

‘We’re not coworkers, we’re sex toy coworkers.’ As Kim Sun-ah said that and started taking off her clothes, she heard a long sigh.

She didn’t cherish her as much as she did Ha-yoon, but Kim Sun-ah, being nosy, couldn’t ignore the sigh and opened her mouth.

“What’s wrong? You’re sighing so much.”

“What’s wrong? Something’s wrong every day. Because of that bastard Instructor Park…”

Yoon Se-rin muttered, then sighed deeply again.

Come to think of it, Instructor Park always seemed to relentlessly harass Yoon Se-rin.

Whether it was during physical training in the morning or when looking at the duty roster, she had been doing it every day except for the first day Ha-yoon and she arrived.

Recalling something she had said in passing, it wasn’t just a recent thing but had been going on for a while.

But why was Instructor Park only doing that to Yoon Se-rin? Kim Sun-ah couldn’t help but ask the question that came to mind.

“Why is Instructor Park so persistent with Yoon Se-rin?”

“How would I know? Maybe my appearance is just his type.”

‘His type.’ Kim Sun-ah turned her head and slowly scanned Yoon Se-rin’s body.

A moderately curvy figure, chestnut-colored bobbed hair, and fierce eyes that vaguely resembled Ha-yoon’s.

Overall, her face was cat-like. A sharp impression.

Come to think of it, men with strong desires for conquest are said to prefer that kind of appearance, so could that be it? As she was thinking about Instructor Park, who was military-style, Yoon Se-rin asked.

“More importantly, are you okay? You’ve got marks all over your body.”

“I’m fine. It doesn’t hurt.”

The marks were the problem, but the pain itself had long since subsided. As she answered in a calm tone, Yoon Se-rin hesitated for a moment before speaking again.

“There’s something I’m curious about, can I ask?”

“Curious? You can ask, but…”

“What’s your relationship with Ha-yoon?”

‘What kind of relationship?’ It was a really random question. Kim Sun-ah blinked at the words and answered nonchalantly.

“What kind of relationship? We’re classmates who entered on the same day.”

“Anything else? Were you close outside, or did you know each other?”

“Well, no.”

“Then why are you helping her so much?”

Yoon Se-rin asked back, sounding dumbfounded. It was a question that Hong-ryun and others had already asked her several times, so it didn’t particularly bother her, but Kim Sun-ah was also curious.

“Is it that strange?”

“What?”

“Is it really that strange to help someone I haven’t known for very long this much?”

“Usually, people don’t go that far…?”

No matter how nosy someone was, they would take care of themselves first. Especially in such a closed and oppressive environment.

She had never seen them, but she thought that even renowned priests or monks would become selfish here.

Kim Sun-ah hesitated for a moment at Yoon Se-rin’s words and said.

“They say that helping someone when they’re in trouble is the most memorable, right? Ha-yoon is that kind of person to me. From the bus ride to the training center, she gave me advice so I wouldn’t make mistakes… Of course, I was too flustered to follow all of it.”

Thinking about it now, Ha-yoon was also anxious and was just holding onto her, trying to act calm.

When she thought about whether the advice she gave was substantial, honestly, only a few things were really effective.

At best, it felt like a preemptive strike against what was going to happen in the future.

Perhaps even if she hadn’t heard those stories, she would have soon fully adapted to the training center.

But, as a result, Ha-yoon had given her advice, and thanks to that, she was able to adapt to life at the training center a little earlier, that was definitely true.

“So, I’m just helping as much as I can.”

“…No matter how I look at it, you’re at a loss. To sacrifice your training center life for what happened on that bus.”

“I think I’m a cost-effective person. Who knows? If you help me, Yoon Se-rin, I might help you the way I do Ha-yoon.”

“No thanks. Building relationships like that isn’t my style.”

Yoon Se-rin grumbled and got up. Then, she threw the towel she had on her head into the laundry bin and said as she put on her clothes.

“And I’ve made a friend to share my feelings with, so I don’t need that.”

“Was it Han Soo-ah? You’re classmates, right?”

“Yeah, well. We bickered at first, but the only people you can comfortably talk to here are the people you came with.”

Whether it was above or below, there was basically a difference of months, so even if you became close with people other than your classmates, you would end up spending more time alone.

So, it was natural for classmates who entered together to stick together.

Yoon Se-rin thought that and chuckled to herself.

“It really feels like the military.”

If it was going to be like this, she wished she had changed before going to the military.

Kim Sun-ah watched Yoon Se-rin walk back to the dormitory and then entered the shower room.

She had never been to the military, but she agreed with what she said.

After showering and returning to the dormitory, she could hear regular breathing sounds coming from all over.

Kim Sun-ah tiptoed past the beds and quickly entered the area where Ha-yoon was.

“Ugh… what…?”

“It’s me, can I come in?”

Of course, she said that, but her body was already inside.

Ha-yoon looked at her with sleepy eyes, as if she was dumbfounded, but soon gave up and turned over. Since her arms and legs were tied, she had no choice but to lie on her side to sleep on the bed.

Kim Sun-ah hugged Ha-yoon with a grin. Hugging her soft body felt like holding a warm doll.

“Just sleep… you must be tired…”

The way she mumbled sounded like a baby babbling.

Hearing her usually limp tone, she suddenly felt playful and whispered in her ear.

“Ha-yoon, are you asleep?”

“Ugh… sleep…”

“Ha-yoon, what do you think of me?”

“What do I think?”

“Just wondering. Like, am I kind or pretty?”

Ha-yoon didn’t answer for a moment, then mumbled in a soft tone.

“…Foolish.”

“Huh?”

She hadn’t expected that kind of answer. As Kim Sun-ah blinked in surprise, she continued to hear mumbling.

“I don’t know why you’re going so far… doing things you don’t have to do… you could just ignore someone like me…”

Come to think of it, she had said something similar before stabbing Instructor Choi. To stop being nosy and to stop interfering with her.

But the words Ha-yoon was saying now were much softer and filled with pity than before.

Was this her true feelings? She hadn’t even thought that she would get this kind of answer, so she was stunned for a moment before whispering quietly again.

“But you didn’t ignore me either, Ha-yoon. Back then, on that bus. Why did you do that?”

“Well… I was pissed off too, but you kept crying…”

Hearing her say that, it was definitely her true feelings. Was she the type to reveal what she was thinking without holding back when she was sleepy?

Kim Sun-ah thought that and then quietly asked a question that suddenly came to mind.

“Ha-yoon, then what do you think of me?”

“What do I think? Foolish…”

“Besides that. Do you like me?”

Ha-yoon was silent at the words ‘do you like me’. She wondered if she was waking up, but Kim Sun-ah didn’t care. If she was awake, she would just get an answer as she was.

“Ha-yoon, tell me. Do you like me?”

Kim Sun-ah liked Ha-yoon. Her easygoing side, the side that uttered weak words, and the side that was embarrassed. She couldn’t like her evil past, but she didn’t want to deny it.

Maybe she liked her because of her appearance rather than Ha-yoon as a person. Even to the eyes of another infected, she was unusually pretty.

Like a cherry blossom tree growing alone among a bouquet of blooming flowers. The others probably thought similarly, even if they didn’t say it.

If she didn’t have the past of Ha Seung-jin, a training center instructor, there would definitely be many people besides her by Ha-yoon’s side.

That’s why she liked it. That she could monopolize this kind of person.

‘Maybe I’m like Jin Shi-won and have a thing for pretty faces.’

She had said fancy things to Hong-ryun and Yoon Se-rin about being classmates and receiving help, but in the end, that might be the reason.

As Kim Sun-ah was thinking that, Ha-yoon, who had been silent, slowly spoke.

“I don’t… dislike you. But I don’t know if I like you… I’ve never done that before…”

“Then please like me. Like how I do for Ha-yoon, you pay me back with affection, with love…”

A person she loved. Kim Sun-ah thought of her old friend who had hidden her. He was definitely a good person and someone she liked.

But love doesn’t flow in only one direction, right? Everyone has love, and it changes from moment to moment.

She still liked him, but she felt like she would like Ha-yoon more here.

At Kim Sun-ah’s whisper, Ha-yoon mumbled.

“Ugh… I’ll repay you… I owe Kim Sun-ah…”

She was repaying her because she owed her. It was an answer based solely on a sense of compensation, but Kim Sun-ah was satisfied with that. At least she knew how she felt about her.

“Good night, Ha-yoon.”

Kim Sun-ah whispered with a smiling voice, then buried her face in Ha-yoon’s neck and closed her eyes.