"Wow… Look at this bruise."
Jeong Taeui clicked his tongue while looking at himself in the mirror.
There was a considerable bruise on his side. By tomorrow, it would likely turn from purple to
black.
"If this continues, I'll soon look like a chameleon."
Jeong Taeui clicked his tongue again.
He looked at his body, covered in bruises ranging from red and green to purple and black.
Not long ago, he had been hit in the face, and his arms and legs were no better off. Over time,
the bruises on each part had become quite colorful.
A bruise was a minor injury he could endure. But besides those, there were times when he
was hit so hard that the pain lingered for one or two days or even more. For ordinary bruises
like these, he wouldn't feel much unless he bumped into something. If left alone, they would
eventually heal on their own without him realizing it.
"Great, every wound will heal on its own."
Jeong Taeui shook his head, then used the shower to rinse off the soap on his body.
Thinking about how he had accidentally scrubbed hard on a bruise and hurt himself, this time
Jeong Taeui gently and carefully rinsed off the soap.
"Isn't this just like domestic violence?"
Jeong Taeui sighed as he looked at the bruises all over his body.
He carefully rubbed the newest bruise on his side. Just a light touch made it sting. But by
tomorrow or the day after, the bruise would start to get better and stop hurting unless he
pressed on it.
"People really shouldn't mess with guns. Does it look like this bruise was caused by a small
rubber piece shot from a gun with half the force of a regular one?"
If it wasn't an eraser but something harder, or if the model gun had greater force, Jeong Taeui
might have ended up in the hospital.
Going to the hospital wasn't scary, but surgery would be very painful. Due to his unique
physical condition, he couldn't use anesthetics.
Jeong Taeui mumbled as he turned off the water."The person who invented the gun should be recorded in history and punished forever."
After drying himself with a towel, he looked at his flushed body in the bathroom mirror,
feeling satisfied with his moderately toned muscles. Then, Jeong Taeui picked up a bottle of
ointment from the bathroom shelf.
His side was in excruciating pain. This was a type of tiger balm that Christoph had left in his
room this morning, saying he had received something useless.
Jeong Taeui wrinkled his nose at the strong, characteristic smell and gently applied a bit to
his side.
"If the label 'contains premium tiger bone' on this ointment is true, then the reason tigers are
on the brink of extinction is because the Chinese are hunting every tiger they can find to
make this ointment."
Jeong Taeui muttered racially insensitive remarks while applying the tiger balm, then turned
to leave the bathroom.
But he stopped just before leaving.
There was a sound coming from the bathroom next door. The two bathrooms were connected
by a ventilation shaft. Someone must be going in.
"Uh...."
Jeong Taeui quickly put on his clothes and headed to the next room.
Christoph had finally returned.
It was quite late, already past dinner time.
"Hey Christoph."
He knocked on the bedroom door while opening it.
As expected, his hearing was still good. Christoph was changing clothes in the bathroom.
It was too late to look away. Fortunately, Christoph was only taking off his riding clothes.
But it was still surprising.
He was extremely concerned about his attire, so he probably hadn't done anything else in
those clothes, suggesting he had been in the forest all afternoon.
Christoph leaned against the bathroom doorframe and glanced at Jeong Taeui, who was
staring blankly at him, then spoke briefly.
"What is it?"
Judging by his tone, he seemed to be in a better mood than before."Your hand."
Jeong Taeui asked about what concerned him the most. Earlier, Christoph's hand had been
torn and covered in blood.
Christoph, who was unbuttoning his jacket, paused. Then he looked at Jeong Taeui with an
unfamiliar expression.
"Did you come here just to ask that?"
Responding to Christoph's frown and irritated tone with 'Yes,' Jeong Taeui looked down at his
hand.
That hand, which had been bleeding heavily and covered in wounds, was now wrapped in
white bandages, roughly tied twice and knotted on the back of the hand. Jeong Taeui stared at
the hand unbuttoning the coat.
"Did you disinfect it properly and treat it correctly?"
"It's just a minor wound. Why make a big deal out of it?"
Jeong Taeui frowned at Christoph's indifferent tone, as if he had just haphazardly bandaged
the wound without proper care.
No matter how he thought about it, that wound couldn't be a minor one, but if Christoph said
so, he decided to let it go.
"At least apply some medicine and treat it properly."
Jeong Taeui moved closer and reached out his hand. Only when he saw Christoph's eyes on
his hand did he remember that this guy hated being touched by others.
Jeong Taeui withdrew his hand and clicked his tongue.
"Anyway, at least check and bandage it properly."
Jeong Taeui said again, but Christoph didn't even listen. Instead, he frowned and glared at
Jeong Taeui as if annoyed.
But suddenly, Jeong Taeui noticed Christoph's expression change.
Christoph tilted his head, seemingly checking something, then tilted his head to the other side
and asked Jeong Taeui.
"Your body smells like medicine."
Is this guy a monster too? ... No, with this close distance, it's not surprising he can smell the
medicine.
"Yeah, I have some bruises. Oh, I used some of the ointment you left in my room.""Bruises? Where?"
Christoph frowned and gestured for him to lift his shirt.
Jeong Taeui grumbled as he lifted his shirt, "I tried using the ointment to see if it works. Now
let me see your wound."
Christoph looked at Jeong Taeui and remained silent for a moment.
"It looks quite painful. But I didn't hit you... Who did?"
"Ilay."
When Jeong Taeui gave an unexpected answer, Christoph looked at him puzzled. He stared at
Jeong Taeui for a while, as if facing something unbelievable, then shook his head coldly.
"Impossible. The way he touches you is strange, but even if he did, he wouldn't leave a bruise
like that."
Jeong Taeui unconsciously nodded at the reasonable logic. "Oh, right." - and laughed.
"It was just an accident."
Hearing his answer, Christoph didn't respond and looked closely at the bruise again. Then he
clicked his tongue.
"Look at the clumped medicine. Why didn't you apply it properly?"
"Hmm, I tried to apply it carefully."
Jeong Taeui quietly defended himself and started gently rubbing the wound again.
"Are you stupid? Always getting hurt like this."
Jeong Taeui looked at Christoph, clicking his tongue and scolding him like he was an idiot.
Then he remained silent for a moment before sighing and responding.
"Look at the bandages on your hand. It's like the pot calling the kettle black."
"I didn't get hurt by someone else."
"Hurting yourself is much worse, much worse!"
Jeong Taeui angrily pointed at Christoph with his index finger and clicked his tongue.
Christoph didn't even realize that what he was doing was essentially self-harm. If he got hurt,
he didn't think about not repeating it next time. And Jeong Taeui didn't like that.
So he grumbled.
"Even if you get hurt, it's better to be bruised than have those countless cuts."Jeong Taeui said, carefully massaging the bruise to avoid pressing on it. Christoph looked at
the bruise for a while, then frowned.
"Open wounds are better, especially when stabbed or something."
Jeong Taeui frowned at Christoph's serious remark.
"Not at all. Cuts or stabs carry a high risk of death when severely injured and can get
infected. It takes a lot of time and effort to recover. Bruises are clearly better."
Moreover, the severity of each type of injury differs. Bruises, cuts, or stabs. Looking at the
police intervention frequency, isn't there a clear difference?
But Christoph shook his head.
"Injuries from impacts are usually from being hit by hands or feet, not weapons. If so, you'll
be touched by them. Rarely does an open wound come directly from hands, so if it's an open
wound, it means no direct contact. In that regard, bruises aren't good at all."
He added, "The worst part is not just being hit but also being touched."
"... Well... so you hate bruises..."
Jeong Taeui licked his lips.
Depending on the person, pain tolerance varies, but this reason was new to him. Are all
people with avoidant personality disorder like this?
Jeong Taeui looked at the ceiling for a moment, lost in thought.
When injured, both hurt the same. No wound is painless.
However, bruises heal over time as long as you don't press on them. They might disappear
without you noticing, and at some point, you'll realize there's no trace left.
But cuts are different. They continue to hurt until they heal. They bleed and fester. Even
when they stop hurting, they leave scars.
Like anything else, wounds are something a person can choose. But Jeong Taeui still thought
bruises were better.
"Anyway, it's better to be hurt and not know you're in pain."
Because if you don't know you're in pain, you can't do anything when you notice the bruise.