Weed wrapped his hands around Hana’s shoulders. The moment they touched, Hana realized she was trembling all over like a leaf in the wind.

“Let go of me.”

Weed immediately withdrew his hands and took a step back, clearly flustered and unsure of how to handle the situation. He must not have expected her to follow him here.

A sense of betrayal began to creep in, quickly followed by a rising anger. The emotions were confusing, and she couldn’t quite place them. Seeing his back as he coughed alone was suffocating. The pain he was enduring was possibly the very pain she should have felt.

She hated this situation.

Guilt? Sadness? Sympathy? Anger? How was she supposed to make sense of these feelings? It was beyond her.

Unaware of her turmoil, Weed tried to comfort her.

“It’s okay. You’ll be alright.”

“Don’t talk nonsense! How can you say it’s okay with an incurable disease…”

Hana stopped speaking and swallowed hard.

“Weed.”

Her head throbbed as if struck by a hammer.

She pushed Weed away, who was trying to embrace her again, and took a step back. Her breath came in ragged gasps, unsure whether to laugh or cry.

“Weed, what did you say? That I’ll be okay?”

“Yes, Hana. You will be okay. If you trust me…”

“You—! You and, ha, I’m now, I… Who…!”

The words caught in her throat, overwhelmed by frustration. She clawed at her chest in despair, but the suffocating feeling wouldn’t subside. She couldn’t tell whether the pain was inside or out. Her breathing grew more erratic.

She had asked out of concern, unable to bear seeing him suffer. Yet here he was, who had just vomited blood, telling her everything would be fine!

Moreover, he was speaking as if there was an underlying assumption. She had fainted at the sight of someone dying from the same disease. She trembled at his suffering from the same illness. She was urging him not to lie, revealing her fear. And now he was trying to reassure her in such a situation?

This could only mean one thing: Weed was completely deluding himself.

“Weed. You, you knew, didn’t you?”

“Hana…”

“You knew exactly what disease I have!”

“Hana, I—! Yes, I know. But I only found out recently. Still, everything will be fine… I can handle it.”

“Handle what? What do you think you can handle!”

She understood now why he kept saying it would be okay. She knew what he was trying to reassure her about. She wanted to live, but it was for him.

She wanted to live by his side.

And for him, she wasn’t afraid of dying. So what was he deluding himself about?

“What do you mean, ‘it’s okay’? What is supposed to be okay? Did you think I was angry at you because I was worried about dying? What are you trying to do? Do you want me to consume your life force and live?”

“Hana…!”

Hana roughly pushed Weed away when he tried to embrace her again. The sharp sound of flesh tearing in the air echoed.

“Weed! You! You are truly selfish! Do you think I’ll be upset if you’re suffering? That I’d be pleased if you died? What about me? What happens to me? You said you’d make me happy someday. Do you really think that would make me happy?”

“I, I want you to live…!”

Weed stammered as Hana yelled at him.

“You don’t know anything! You know nothing!”

Weed also had the same disease. That was fine up to a point. Maybe they would die together. She thought that would be acceptable. She thought that if she died, he would fall apart, so Hana decided to follow his wishes and be happy for the remaining time together.

Her anger reached its peak.

It had happened before. She had told him not to do anything without knowing. That knowing was better than being at ease with ignorance. Yet Weed ignored her pleas. He was trying to sacrifice his life to cure her.

Without saying a word.

Again.

Still, that didn’t really matter now. She couldn’t even pinpoint why she was so angry. In truth, she had no right to be angry at him. An inexplicable fury built up inside her, surging up uncontrollably.

Hana’s tears finally spilled over.

“I should have just died back then! If it had been then, there would have been no problem! Everyone could have survived! Wh, why did you save me when I was useless…!”

Why did it have to be like this? Did the sacrificial offering really need to wish for death sincerely? It shouldn’t have had to be this way.

True, no matter what, she shouldn’t have had to force sacrifice. Maybe it required a noble heart. It shouldn’t have become a massacre. And sacrifices had their own reasons. As Void said, each sacrifice had its own form of gain.

But what about her? What was she supposed to gain from this?

She had only wanted to live, had resolved to be happy with the remaining time, only to give her heart to him.

How could he act so oblivious? How could he do this?

“What’s the point of me living? What will change if I live?”

While she wept uncontrollably, Weed finally dropped to his knees in front of her. He crawled up to her, clutching at her legs and the hem of her clothing, but didn’t cling or beg, as she had told him not to touch her.

“Hana. I, I’ve made a mistake… Please, don’t say such things.”

Indeed. He hated the idea of someone wishing to die. He hated the idea of a sacrifice dying. He absolutely abhorred such sacrifices. He knew her heart, knew what swayed her.

Even though he had done nothing wrong. Even though he didn’t understand what he had done wrong…

But right now, she was very upset with him.

Perhaps he would have acted the same way regardless of who had come as long as they crossed dimensions. It didn’t matter who had come in the end.

“I hate you.”

Hana, overwhelmed by emotion, spoke words she didn’t truly mean.

“I hate you so much.”

The surroundings fell into silence. There were no bird sounds, and even the insects seemed quiet as if it might rain. Somewhere, the dim light of dawn was starting to appear. The faint light cast a glow on Weed’s hardened face.

He was silently crying with a blank, lost expression as if his mind had gone blank.

“We, Weed. I mean…”

That wasn’t what she meant to say.

After that, Hana couldn’t find the words. She didn’t have the courage to stay there any longer. She couldn’t bear to keep looking at his face. Hana turned and ran away without thinking.

Cowardly, all she could think about was escaping.

* * *

She didn’t know how long she had run. Her breath was coming in ragged gasps, and her throat felt scratchy.

Hana had no idea where she was.

She had thought she’d only walked out for a short time in the early morning, but she had wandered far away. It wasn’t the place surrounded by delicate flowers and tender grass that she had known with Weed.

The vegetation was harsh, and the ground was rough. Her breath grew shorter, and her steps slowed down.

“Kyaak!”

Then, she stumbled and fell.

As she rolled for a while, Hana landed in the grass. Even though she wasn’t seriously hurt, the rough grass scraped her skin, making it sting. She felt so pathetic that tears started flowing uncontrollably.

“Hoh, huh, huwaah… cough. Huh, uhuh… cough.”

She was disoriented, trying to catch her breath and crying at the same time.

Gradually, the coughing subsided, leaving only the tears to flow. Hana lay there sobbing for a long time. If she didn’t let it out somehow, she felt like the tears would rot inside her and burn her from within.

__