Chapter 215.1

Chapter 215.1

Inside the tilting train, they desperately tried to climb up while holding onto the edge of a seat. Seeing this, Seoryeong’s legs moved first. The tail end of the train had already fallen between the ravines and was no longer visible.

In an instant, she passed through one car and flung open the connecting door before her. Then, accompanied by the sound of scraping metal—ggee-reek—Lee Wooshin shouted roughly.

The train, which had been emitting metallic noises, suddenly and precariously ground to a halt.

“It’s dangerous, don’t come!”

His voice was harsh, grating on the ears. The eyes that met hers held a cold, yet desperately boiling emotion that overflowed with urgency.

Seoryeong, who had halted abruptly, frowned at his skin, scraped raw in places, and the bulletproof vest riddled with holes.

Kia’s condition was just as much of a mess. A large thorn seemed lodged in his throat, preventing his voice from coming out.

Even so, the two men doggedly climbed up, avoiding falling luggage and fire extinguishers. They clung to the train wall, which had tilted like a slide, fighting against gravity. Seoryeong shouted urgently.

“Hurry, please hurry!”

But there was no time to relax.

The dead Yoo Dawit’s radio crackled to life again, and then an ominous clunk shook the interior of the train.

Seoryeong’s eyes slowly widened in horror. The carriage carrying Lee Wooshin and Kia separated from her train, snapping off like a thread.

“Ah, aah!”

A scream-like cry pooled like blood in her throat. She couldn’t tear her eyes away for a single second from the train car plummeting into the valley.

The agents seemed to have barely saved the remaining train by cutting off the very end, but Seoryeong stood frozen in despair.

However, using the doorframe as a stepping stone, the two men leaped up and hung from the track with one arm each.

Seoryeong’s knees gave way and she collapsed with a thud. The feeling of having narrowly escaped death left the nape of her neck damp with sweat.

“Ha… haah……”

Below, a precipitous cliff plunged down into an abyss so deep the bottom was invisible. With dizzy eyes, she stared down into the black valley. Faced with the unfathomable depth, Seoryeong felt her breath caught in her throat. Compared to that immense nature, they seemed like mere insignificant insects.

“W-wait… Just wait…”

She gulped in trembling breaths and bit her lips, which had turned pale blue. She had to help them somehow.

‘This height is nothing, not scary at all. I’m not afraid. I’ve even jumped over pits of fire.’

As if encouraging herself, she stepped outside the train. Yet, she could only see their fingertips, and her chin chattered against her teeth from the cold and fear.

“Please… hurry…”

Steadying herself, she moved closer and saw the fierce wind mercilessly shaking their bodies. The thickly throbbing pulse below their taut necks was so crimson it appeared purplish. When Lee Wooshin spotted her, he suddenly began shouting, even mixing in curses, but the raging wind quickly swallowed his impassioned voice.

Her face filled with fear, Seoryeong desperately thought it through.

I have to pull one person up first. I have to help somehow. I have to do something. One of the two first…

Yes, one of the two first. Calmly pull one person up, then combine our strength to pull up the next one.

But… who first? 

Her stomach churned and dizziness washed over her. Even so, she stretched out her trembling hand toward one of them.

“—!”

In that instant, Seoryeong couldn’t comprehend what was happening. “Goddammit, don’t let go of her hand!” she thought she heard Lee Wooshin roar. The hand she had so laboriously extended was suddenly seized by someone else. A grip like a leech began dragging her forward uncontrollably.

Her upper body pitched precariously over the edge of the track. The cold wind felt like it was tearing her face apart.

“Sonya, you…”

Kia managed to force out a strained voice. His eyes were frozen in shock and despair. Seoryeong flinched at the wounded, accusatory look he fixed on her.

“No, Kia. No. I’m going to pull you up. Just wait…”

“But Wooshin first?”

Her body stiffened like a stone. She could have made any number of excuses, pretending it wasn’t true. Instructor Lee has an injured eye, so his grip on the track is less stable than yours. His fingertips are whiter from the strain than yours.

But what good would those words do? Kia was already hurt and angry. She had no desire to outright deny her own exposed, naked feelings.

“…I will save you. You have to climb up here too.”

“I don’t need it.”

“What?”

“I said there’s no need to pull me up too, Sonya.”

“…!”

“It seems I can’t become an adult after all.”

He let out a laugh and pulled her toward him like a drowning man clutching at someone. The ancient obsession tightening around her wrist dug into her skin more painfully than handcuffs.

“Just come with me. Come with me.”

“Wait, Kia…!”