CHAPTER 65: AND STILL, WE BREATHE

Each step they took toward the exit was awkward and slow, as if the darkness were still clinging to them, even after the creature had disappeared. The light outside was still nowhere to be seen, and their only guide was instinct and the damp walls that lined the tunnel.

Rhys kept one hand on the wall for balance, while the other helped support Nolan’s weight, his body slumped between Rhys and Caelan. They both struggled forward, their arms straining with effort. Jess led the way, a deep cut across her eyebrow and labored breathing. Neither of them spoke.

That was when a murmur echoed from the distance.

"This way!" shouted a voice Rhys instantly recognized.

It was Jae’s voice.

From the shadows emerged several figures armed with lanterns, medical kits, and packing implements. Rhys barely managed to sigh before one of the men took his arm and helped him to his feet.

"Rhys! Caelan!" Jae’s voice rang out through the tunnel.

Rhys looked up just in time to see Jae push aside a couple of people and run toward them. For a moment, their eyes simply met. Then Jae awkwardly hugged Caelan, as if needing confirmation that he was indeed still alive.

"You’re okay," he murmured, releasing him with a look that held both relief and reproach. "Everyone’s okay..."

"Where’s Eun-woo?" Rhys asked immediately.

"With Rong Ye," Jae replied. "They’re being treated at the settlement clinic. Nebu took them straight there."

Only then did Rhys let out his pent-up breath. He said nothing more. He nodded vigorously, squeezing Nolan’s arm more gently as he and Caelan stood.

"The cave is unstable, the whole place could collapse," Jess told the group of men. "And Nolan is hurt."

"We’ll take him!" a man replied. "You two bring up the rear!"

With the help of reinforcements, they managed to make their way through the last narrow passages of the cave. Some offered them water, others held out their hands to keep them standing when their legs gave way.

It was then that, far away, among the dense shadows of the tunnel, a point of light was seen. Faint at first, but growing with each step. The exit from the cave.

Rhys was the second to last to leave. He barely stepped through the narrow opening when a blinding light forced him to close his eyes. After so much time immersed in darkness, the brightness of day overwhelmed him. Fresh air suddenly filled his lungs, and for the first time in hours, he didn’t smell of blood, dampness, or decay. He smelled of the forest, of damp leaves, and fresh earth.

His eyes filled with the greenery surrounding him: tall trees, branches swaying in the wind, the sky covered in hazy clouds. The singing of birds and the buzzing of insects filled his ears.

He pressed a hand to his forehead, steadying himself as his knees threatened to give out. But the ground was firm. The light was real. And, for a moment, the tension in his chest eased.

It was just a few minutes after the last of them left when a rumble shook the ground. Everyone turned just in time to see the cave entrance collapse in a cloud of dust and stone fragments.

***

Jess’s settlement, hidden behind a natural dome of intertwined branches and a curtain of vines that separated the wild forest from safe territory, looked especially peaceful in the daylight. Stepping through this vegetation boundary, the clearing opened up like a welcoming refuge amidst the chaos of the outside world.

Small wooden huts, one or two stories high, were arranged neatly across the cleared land. Near the center, a large white canvas tent stood out. Inside, several people leaned over makeshift beds, tending a small herb and vegetable garden.

At the other end, a mesh structure contained animals that were difficult to identify with the naked eye; two keepers moved patiently, distributing food among them.

In the small clinic there, equipped with wooden stretchers, old blankets, and a first aid kit for every three patients, Rhys stood in the doorway without saying a word.

Rong Ye was fast asleep, a clean bandage covering his torso. Nolan lay motionless on another stretcher, his skin pale and his breathing shallow. And on the third stretcher, lying with a blanket up to his waist, was Eun-woo.

When Rhys saw him, his expression finally softened.

"Rhys?" Eun-woo whispered, sitting up immediately. "Are you okay?"

Rhys crossed the room, crouched down beside the bed, and took one of Eun-woo’s hands.

"I’m fine... We’re fine," he said, with a faint smile. "Thanks to you and Nebu."

Eun-woo smiled. For a moment, neither of them spoke. Rhys ran his fingers over Eun-woo’s wrist, as if he needed to feel his pulse to believe it was really there.

"When you asked Nebu to get me out..." Eun-woo said, lowering his voice. "I thought I’d never see you again..."

"I wasn’t going to leave you alone," Rhys interrupted gently.

Their foreheads were close. Close enough that their breaths mingled, warm and in sync. Rhys tilted his face slightly, his eyes fixed on Eun-woo’s lips. He didn’t say anything. He didn’t need to. Everything he felt was reflected in the way he looked at Eun-woo, in the way his fingers caressed his hand.

Eun-woo closed his eyes. Rhys inhaled deeply, his nose brushing gently against Eun-woo’s, and then their lips touched...

A creaking sound was heard next to the bed.

"Could you please save the romantic moment for later?" Caelan groaned, flopping back onto the empty stretcher next to Eun-woo’s. "I was going to wait until you two finished greeting each other, but honestly, I need to sleep."

Rhys blinked, barely flinching. Eun-woo laughed softly, covering his face with a hand.

"Thanks for ruining it," Rhys muttered.

"You’re welcome," Caelan said.

Eun-woo’s soft laughter filled the air. And even though the kiss didn’t happen, the important thing was that they were alive.

***

Across the settlement, Jae watched silently as a woman cleaned Jess’s wounds with wet gauze.

"Sorry I was late with the reinforcements," Jae muttered.

"You arrived just in time," Jess said. "Just before we got trapped in the cave."

Jae didn’t respond. He couldn’t help but feel useless. He’d run, screamed, desperately sought help, but deep down he knew it hadn’t been enough. While the others were fighting for their lives, he alone had fled.

No matter how much Jess tried to comfort him with words, guilt had already settled in his chest.

"Jess," an old man called, approaching slowly but surely. "The settlement deserves answers."

"I know," she said, without avoiding the old man’s gaze. "And they will. Not now. But soon."

"We don’t trust Nolan," a younger woman walking behind the old man interrupted. "Not after what he did. He needs to be held accountable."

"And he will," Jess said firmly. "When he wakes up, he’ll be questioned."

"What if he wakes up and attacks us again?" another man asked, his arms crossed and his brow furrowed. "Who’s to say he’s not faking?"

"We’ve seen what he’s capable of," someone else murmured. "We can’t let him just stay here like nothing happened."

More people approached, surrounding Jess with increasingly demanding words, some even tinged with fear or resentment.

Jae watched silently as Jess, her face still marked by dried blood and the bandages on her arm, remained calm. Her answers were brief but clear. She didn’t make excuses. She didn’t raise her voice. Even exhausted, she answered everyone as if she still had strength left.

When the crowd grew so large that he could barely see Jess’s face among the bodies, he decided to walk away.

He stopped a few steps ahead and looked over his shoulder. Jae wondered if he’d ever manage to do something that truly mattered. Something more than just being late. Something more than just watching from a distance.

He hoped so.

***

That night, under the faint flicker of an oil lamp, Rhys lay down next to Eun-woo. He had done so quietly, hoping not to wake anyone.

Eun-woo chuckled.

"If someone sees you here, they’ll probably scold you."

Rhys brought his face closer with a crooked smile.

"Then we’d better keep quiet," he whispered.

They fell silent. Outside, the night was quiet. Nebu slept curled up next to Rong Ye, like a dog watching over its master.

"Do you think it’s all over?" Eun-woo asked after a few minutes.

"I don’t know. But the creature... is gone. And that’s something."

"What Nolan did..." Eun-woo began, but stopped.

"It was his choice," Rhys said. "I don’t know if they’ll forgive him. I don’t know if I will. But he chose not to let us die, and that matters, too."

Eun-woo nodded.

"And you...?" Eun-woo murmured. "Have you thought about... that?"

"About that?"

"In bonding with each other."

Rhys kept his gaze on the ceiling. For a moment, his mind took him back to Eun-woo’s warm kisses, the slow caresses on his back, the broken whisper of his name.

"Yes," he replied in a barely audible whisper. "More times than I should."

"Eun-woo turned his head towards him, resting his cheek on the pillow."

"Me too," he confessed shyly. "But I’m still scared..."

Rhys tilted his face to look at him.

"You don’t have to explain," he said gently. "I’m scared too. I don’t want to push you into anything... If we bond, it will be because we both truly want it."

Eun-woo nodded, his fingers groping for Rhys’s hand in the sheets. He found it and held it tightly, slowly interlacing their fingers.

"What if there comes a time when we want it, but we’re still afraid?" he asked.

Rhys ran his thumb over the back of his hand.

"So... I think we should do it."

Eun-woo sighed, but this time it was a soft sigh, one that spoke more of relief than doubt. Rhys leaned in until their foreheads touched.

They stayed like that, breathing the same air, sharing that comfortable silence that only occurs between two people who have chosen each other despite the chaos. Outside, the forest continued its course.

Inside the clinic, everyone was asleep. And between the rough sheets, for the first time in a long time, two hearts allowed themselves to rest without fear.