"…At a time like this… you want to bathe?"
Kiana looked at Ji Ran suspiciously, unable to understand what he was thinking.
If this were when they first met, she might've suspected he had some pervy intentions.
But now—
after everything that happened—
she didn't think that anymore.
Not because her impression of him had completely changed, but…
remembering how he had been bleeding nonstop earlier,
she felt this overly cautious guy wouldn't be thinking about anything inappropriate in such a weak state.
"Yeah. We need to wash."
"Our smell is too strong right now."
"If we run like this, the scent trail we leave behind will make it easy for pursuers to track us."
Thud—
Ji Ran pulled out a bottle of odor eliminator spray from his storage.
"After we wash, spray this on ourselves and the surroundings."
"We don't need to completely erase our scent—just disrupt it."
"…You're really cautious."
Kiana stared at the items he laid out:
2 bottles of odor eliminator2 bottles of body wash2 bottles of shampoo2 towels
Her expression grew more and more complicated.
"Better safe than sorry."
Ji Ran tossed her a bottle of drinking water and slowly got up.
"I'll go first. Give me three minutes."
"After that, change your clothes. I'll burn the old ones."
"…You really thought of everything."
Watching him drag his exhausted body toward the stream—
Kiana's eyes flickered slightly.
Then she made a decision.
At the Stream
After removing his clothes and entering the water—
Ji Ran finally felt his body relax.
The side effects of Ittō Shura were still there—
but the cold water eased the pain.
"…That skill…"
"…I should avoid using it if possible."
"My whole body still hurts…"
Even applying body wash felt exhausting.
"Move a bit. Make some space."
"…Huh?"
Instinctively, Ji Ran tried to turn around—
"Don't turn around!"
"…Alright."
"But I should say this—"
"Men and women shouldn't be this close. This isn't appropriate."
"Yeah, right."
Kiana replied dryly.
"If you hadn't been staring at my chest earlier, that would sound more convincing."
"You're clearly a pervert—don't act like a gentleman now."
"…If you know I'm a pervert, aren't you being careless coming over like this?"
Without responding directly—
Kiana poured body wash into her hands—
and began gently applying it to his body.
"With your current condition?"
"Do you really think you can do anything?"
"A little kid could probably knock you down right now."
"You said yourself—there might be pursuers."
"You can barely move."
"I'm not going to just watch you struggle to clean yourself slowly."
She paused slightly.
Then said softly:
"…And I owe you."
"So don't worry about small things like this right now."
"…Fine. Do as you like."
Ji Ran closed his eyes and leaned against the bank.
"…I'll leave it to you, Kiana."
"…Yeah."
For the next few minutes—
neither of them spoke.
Kiana quietly helped him wash, unusually calm.
But in the end—
she couldn't hold back her question.
"Ji Ran… why are you so cautious?"
"I mean… I'm not saying people should be careless, but you're on another level."
"It feels like…"
"…It's simple."
"Because I'm an orphan."
"In the orphanage, it wasn't like fairy tales."
"There wasn't mutual support—there was bullying."
"And when I grew up…"
"I realized society was even worse."
"Once people knew I was an orphan…"
"They assumed I had emotional or psychological problems."
"They rejected me before even giving me a chance."
"I understand their reasoning."
"No one wants a ticking time bomb in their company."
"But after that…"
"I realized something."
"The world isn't kind."
"If you're not careful…"
"…you can die at any moment."
"And reality proved me right."
"…I see…"
"…Yeah."
"But I'm not denying teamwork."
"Living alone is hard—that's a fact."
Ji Ran let out a long sigh.
"…Maybe…"
"…because I wanted someone I could trust…"
"…that's why I chose the Alliance route."
"And because of that…"
"…I dragged you into all of this."
"You said you owe me…"
"…but that's not true."
"Because of my selfishness…"
"…you're now facing all this danger too."
"…I'm sorry, Kiana."
"…This is all my fault."