KCDT Chapter 45

As Yujin carefully removed the glass piece lodged in Urich’s hand, Urich flinched slightly, probably feeling pain despite being held so tightly.

“Sorry, does it hurt? I’ll treat it quickly.”

After removing the glass piece in a way that minimized the wound from opening up, Yujin immediately threw the piece far away and picked Urich up.

“Wha…! Let go! Let go of me!”

“We can’t treat it here. I won’t hurt you. I promise.”

At Yujin’s calm persuasion without getting agitated, Urich finally looked around and saw shattered glass scattered everywhere. And naturally, he noticed Yujin’s knees as he knelt down.

‘What the… He should be worrying about his own knees…’

Small pieces must have dug deep into his knees, as the pants he was wearing were gradually turning red and expanding in size. That wasn’t all.

Despite pleading desperately, saying Urich could get seriously hurt, Yujin’s hands were also in a mess. Rather, his own hands became even more injured as he was careful not to let Urich get hurt further.

Somehow, seeing that sight made Urich’s body go limp, and he didn’t reply to Yujin’s words.

‘Is he really not someone sent by the emperor?’

For some reason, as Urich became docile, Yujin moved in a hurry. Not caring about the sofa getting soaked with blood, Yujin put him down and rummaged through the house to take out a first-aid kit.

“It’s going to hurt a bit. But we have to treat it…”

“I got it, so do it quickly.”

Yujin smiled brightly even at the curt response. It was much better to be curt but obedient than throwing a fit and telling him to get lost.

‘Actually, I want to take him to the hospital, but I should go after he understands the situation.’

It was no joke that Urich had clutched a piece of glass. It wasn’t something that could be healed by hastily applying medicine at home.

Yujin, forcibly calming his urge to rush, carefully started treating Urich’s palm.

“It’s going to hurt quite a bit.”

As Yujin washed the wound with disinfectant and started stopping the bleeding, Urich bit his lip hard and suppressed his groans. It was painful just to watch, but the way he stubbornly endured without letting out a single groan was rather pitiful.

‘What have I done to this young child…?’

Cursing himself from a few hours ago once again, Yujin bandaged the wound. It would hurt, but this was the best he could do before going to the hospital.

“Now I’ll explain the situation to you.”

“Wait.”

“Huh?”

“Aren’t you going to treat yourself?”

Urich was dumbfounded. In the midst of treating him, Yujin was bleeding profusely and had only roughly wrapped bandages around his own wounds, yet he was saying he would explain the situation?

No matter how young he was, Urich could see that there was a clear difference between when Yujin treated him and when Yujin treated himself.

“Ah… this. I thought I should explain first.”

Because once the explanation was over, he could immediately take Urich to the hospital. However, if he brought it up now, Urich, who had finally calmed down, might get agitated again, asking where he was trying to take him, so Yujin trailed off.

At that, Urich frowned as if he didn’t like it, but soon turned his head away. If the wound wasn’t properly treated, it would be Yujin’s loss, not his own.

“Hmph…”

Urich sat on the sofa with his arms crossed, as if to say, “Go ahead and try.” Although it was the opposite attitude from when he was swinging the glass piece out of fear, Yujin thought it was rather fortunate and carefully began to explain.

“…That’s how it is.”

Having finished his explanation, Yujin anxiously waited for Urich’s reaction. He had brought out and shown things that shouldn’t exist there, but he was worried that Urich might not believe him.

“So it’s really a different world?”

“Yeah. For example, when I hold your hand like this, we can communicate, but…”

Yujin, who had stopped mid-sentence, let go of his fingertips that had lightly touched Urich’s and continued.

“When I let go of your hand like this, we can’t communicate.”

<Ha, this is unbelievable. A different world…>

However, there was clear evidence right in front of his eyes, so he couldn’t not believe it either. Yujin, who had touched Urich’s hand again, licked his lips for a moment to say the most important thing.

“Do you have something else to say?”

But perhaps it was all too obvious, as Urich asked first. With an attitude of telling him to say it quickly if he had something to say, Yujin, who had become embarrassed after worrying about how to bring it up, carefully spoke.

“About that hand. Actually, it’s not something that can be treated at home, so would you like to go to the hospital together? I’m absolutely not trying to take you to a suspicious place, but to find people who can treat you professionally.”

Yujin had to work hard to explain that he absolutely did not intend to harm Urich, worried that he might get agitated again after finally calming him down.

“It might be scary because we can’t communicate and everything is unfamiliar, but I’ll protect you, so would you be willing to go together? If we leave this hand as it is, it might leave scars and have aftereffects.”

“Protect me…? You, protecting me?”

Urich should have been more concerned about the possibility of aftereffects on his hand, but strangely, Yujin’s words about protecting him seemed to stick in his ears.

Since when did he say he would protect Urich? In the first place, Urich didn’t understand what Yujin was basing his words on, expecting him to believe them. Having already suffered a great emotional wound and lost trust in people, Urich couldn’t easily believe Yujin’s words.

“Of course, it must be hard for you to believe me too. But since it’s absolutely my responsibility that you got hurt like this, could you please trust me just once?”

“Why is it your responsibility that I got hurt?”

In response to Urich’s frown, as if he couldn’t understand, Yujin took a small deep breath before speaking the truth. No matter how old one was, it was always difficult to face and admit one’s mistakes.

“…Because two people had already come and gone before you appeared. Even though I knew the situation, I didn’t even explain it to you when you were scared, so it’s indeed my responsibility that you got hurt.”

“You’re saying there were two people before me?”

However, the part Urich focused on was different.

“How long did it take for them to return? They did return, right? They don’t seem to be here.”

“Oh, huh? Yeah. Both of them returned, although there was some time difference.”

“That’s a relief. At least it wasn’t impossible to return.”

Urich was greatly relieved to hear that those who came before him had all returned. He had to return as soon as possible, become a great wizard, and take revenge on the new crown prince who had taken his place and his parents who had thrown him away like an old shoe.

Honestly, he didn’t like wasting time here either, but after hearing the story, it seemed unintentional and they said he could return, so he decided to bear with it.

‘It doesn’t seem like he’s intentionally lying.’

Urich, who didn’t take Yujin’s words at face value, used his brilliant mind to find any loopholes in the explanation, and as a result, he judged that while Yujin’s words might be absurd, there were no lies, which was why he decided to stay here.

“Alright, I’ll trust your words. But if you try anything funny, I’ll make sure to sever your head and kill you, no matter what.”

“You don’t have to worry about that happening…”

Yujin answered with a stifled sigh at the excessively brutal words coming from a boy who looked to be around elementary school age.

‘Why do only these kinds of kids come to our house?’

After briefly pondering whether it was a problem with the house’s energy or himself, Yujin soon rummaged through the drawers and brought out the clothes that Cairo and Haniel had worn.

‘At least I’m lucky that the kids who come are roughly the same age.’

If the children had been much younger or older, he would have had to buy new clothes every time they appeared, and persuading them would have been even more difficult.

“For now, would you like to change into these? Your clothes stand out quite a bit here.”

At Yujin’s words that he could just put his head through and wear them, Urich went straight into Yujin’s room as if it were his own house.

“Haha. At least that’s a relief…”

Yujin felt rather relieved by Urich’s attitude of intending to use him until he could return.

“Sigh… I need to get ready too.”

Although he acted like he was fine, in reality, his palm felt like it was burning, and tears were about to come out at the feeling of his heart seeming to have moved to the wound, throbbing intensely.

However, when even the young child Urich was enduring the pain without groaning, how could he, as an adult, whine about being in pain? Moreover, he was the cause of the whole situation.

“Ugh, but it really hurts…”

While Yujin groaned and moaned as he got up to prepare to leave, Urich heard all those sounds from inside the room.

He couldn’t understand what Yujin was saying since their hands weren’t touching, but he didn’t need a translation for the groaning sounds.

‘Is he an idiot?’

Yujin’s hands were a mess, yet he was more concerned about Urich’s wound than his own, so Urich thought he wasn’t in pain, but it seemed he was forcibly enduring it.

Urich couldn’t understand. Yujin said it was his fault, but according to his explanation, Urich was the intruder in the first place, so why was he apologizing?

‘Is he stupid despite looking decent?’

That was more convincing. Why would he deliberately take the blame and be considerate of the intruder? Having lived a life where his own faults became others’ faults, Urich couldn’t understand Yujin.

<Hey. I’m done, so guide me.>

“Ah, you’re all ready?”

Even now, as soon as Urich appeared, Yujin changed his expression as if nothing had happened and pretended to be fine. Urich stared at him for a moment but soon turned his head away, considering it none of his business.