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Jin Cheonhee felt his hands shaking as he tried to stand up.
“H-halyun,” he cried out, hoping his brother would hear him.
Yeo Halyun, however, was stuck in a killing frenzy, slaughtering the warriors that leapt at him and even laughing maniacally as he speared a man through his chest.
“The Blood Demon Cult has raised a monster!” Cheonhee heard someone scream.
“He’s a Killer Star! We have to kill him now—”
“Before it’s too late—!”
No… Jin Cheonhee ignored the pain in his body and gritted his teeth.
Yeo Halyun was no monster. Yeo Halyun was his brother, the person he cared about the most after his Master, and the little child who melted into a puddle of happiness when he handed him a sugar coated haw.
Yeo Halyun….
Jin Cheonhee stood up and pushed away the people around him, rushing towards his brother. Previously he had shielded Yeo Halyun from a sneak attack, causing a bloody gash to appear on his arm. The pain, however, meant nothing to him when his brother was surrounded. Everyone who had gathered here had come with one purpose and one purpose only…
To kill Yeo Halyun.
No one cared that Yeo Halyun hadn’t killed excessively or that Yeo Halyun had been controlling his urge to kill. No one cared that Yeo Halyun was Jin Cheonhee’s sworn brother. No one cared that they were trying to kill a person — no, to everyone in the Murim, Yeo Halyun was simply a Killer Star.
And he had to die.
Jin Cheonhee blocked another attack and leapt in front of Yeo Halyun.
Seeing the person in front of him hesitate, Jin Cheonhee tried to reason with him.
“Please, just stop! Halyun won’t hurt anyone, I promise—” he began.
The man clenched his sword tighter and gritted his teeth.
“Little White Dragon, as much as I respect you, we cannot allow this thing to live! Step aside, and today we members of the Murim Alliance will kill this unlucky thing! We will purge the world of this evil!” the man screamed hoarsely.
For a moment, Jin Cheonhee noticed that everyone was staring at him, their swords and spears drawn, ready to attack in a moment’s notice. The only reason they were hesitating… was because he was standing in front of Yeo Halyun, and no one here dared to offend the White Dragon Godly Doctor or the White Dragon Clinic.
“Everyone!” Jin Cheonhee shouted, wincing when everyone’s eyes landed on him.
“I’ve said this before but I’ll say it again — this person is my sworn brother, Yeo Halyun — attacking him is the same as attacking me,” Jin Cheonhee declared.
“I don’t know how my brother has offended all of you,” he continued, cupping his hands, “but as his brother, I believe it is my fault he has made some kind of mistake. As his brother, I’m willing to atone for whatever crimes he may have committed, and I implore you to fully investigate whether or not Yeo Halyun is indeed the perpetrator of the crimes you accuse him of.”
“Hey!” A man shouted. “You may back him up because you’re his sworn brother, but does the White Dragon Godly Doctor agree to this?”
Jin Cheonhee couldn’t answer that question. He had sneaked out of the clinic when he heard that Halyun was in trouble, and knowing how much his Master hated Yeo Halyun…
“You’re not answering! Are you hiding something from us?” Someone else shouted.
“No… I—”
“Today, we have to kill that demon!” Someone else shouted, louder than before. “The Killer Star is a curse upon the Murim! How many of our brothers and sisters have fallen under his killing lust?”
“Little White Dragon,” the man continued, “Today we are determined to rid the world of this evil. If you continue to stand in our way — then this can only mean one thing. You are helping the Killer Star!”
This elicited murmurs of anger within the crowd.
“As the disciple of the White Dragon Godly Doctor, we will give you face. If you step aside, we can let bygones be bygones! But if you insist on standing against us—” The man cupped his hands in mock salute.
“Then I must apologize and offend you!” He screamed, the tip of his sword turning towards Jin Cheonhee.
Seeing the nods of agreement within the crowd, Jin Cheonhee felt his heart drop. These people wouldn’t listen to his diplomatic speech… No, they were out for blood, and he couldn’t stand a chance against them.
And between them and Yeo Halyun, who would he choose?
The answer had always been simple.
“Then I’m afraid we can’t see eye to eye,” Jin Cheonhee said, calmly drawing his spear.
Of course, he would choose Yeo Halyun.
The battle seemed to last for hours, and Jin Cheonhee could feel his strength depleting at a rapid pace. He didn’t want to kill people, of course, but this made the fight even harder, because he couldn’t, wouldn’t take another person’s life.
His goal was simply to incapacitate the people who tried to murder Yeo Halyun while keeping track of his brother and making sure Yeo Halyun didn’t kill people (or kill too many people anyways). He also wanted Yeo Halyun to wake up from his frenzy, to stop killing and just run away with him, but Yeo Halyun was furious, and nothing Jin Cheonhee said or did seemed to wake him up.
As he avoided another blow, twisting his figure and knocking out a man, Jin Cheonhee saw movement from his peripheral vision and groaned.
Three people were attacking Yeo Halyun at the same time, and due to his fluctuating emotions, Yeo Halyun seemed to not realize that there were two more people aiming for his rear.
Jin Cheonhee kicked away another man and rushed towards Yeo Halyun, blocking the paths of the other two people.
As the three of them engaged in the fight, Jin Cheonhee scanned the crowd and sighed in relief. After a grueling battle, these five people were last few standing. He just needed to knock them out and then grab Yeo Halyun, bringing him away from here and finding a way to calm him down.
“Urk—”
What…
Jin Cheonhee's eyes widened as he looked down and noticed a gaping wound in his chest.
A sword…? Through his chest?
All of a sudden he could feel a rush of pain assault his senses, the metal blade piercing his flesh as warm blood poured out of his wound.
Ah… Jin Cheonhee spat out a mouthful of blood and tried to steady his feet, failing and collapsing on the ground.
He… had to stop the bleeding…
But Halyun….
Jin Cheonhee pressed a shaky hand over his gaping midsection and searched for his brother's figure.
“Halyun…” he wanted to shout, but his voice was hoarse and his limbs were heavy.
“Be careful…”
Yeo Halyun didn't remember how this started. He had been fine before, but then someone launched at him, their killing intent so fierce that it made his blood boil…
And then he killed that man.
And another.
And another.
Until the smell of blood and the cacophony of screams in the air were the only things he registered…
Yeo Halyun felt like he was losing himself, drowning in a sea of pleasure and bloodlust.
It was addictive. It made his blood boil and his heart sing.
But there was a tiny voice that seemed to be reaching out to him, trying to pull him back to the surface.
“Halyun! Halyun—”
Whose voice was that?
Was it his mother…? No, she was long dead. He still remembered the coldness of her corpse…
Who was it? Who was calling him so warmly, so desperately even though he was a monster?
Ah, yes.
Jin Cheonhee.
His Hyung.
As if woken out of a trance, Yeo Halyun regained his senses and glared at the man who was pointing a sword at him. Swinging his arm in a fluid motion, he knocked away the man's weapon and hissed, “Scram!”
Terrified and unsure what he meant, the man stumbled backwards, wide eyes and trembling, before tripping over his feet and running away.
Only then did Yeo Halyun take in his surroundings: the pile of bodies around him, the fresh blood coating the ground…
“Hyung?” Yeo Halyun could care less about the incapacitated people — he only wanted to find his brother. Was his Hyung really here?
“H-halyun,” the voice was weak, but Yeo Halyun's keen ears heard the sound and he spotted his Hyung almost immediately.
What he saw, though, made his heart freeze.
His brother was lying on the ground, bleeding.
Feeling bile rise in his throat, Yeo Halyun scurried to his brother's side and propped him up, making Jin Cheonhee lean on his chest.
“Hyung,” he whispered, hating how weak he sounded.
“Halyun,” his brother was smiling, god, why was he smiling when he was bleeding so much?
“Are you alright?” His Hyung asked, eyes wide with concern, and Yeo Halyun wanted to scream.
He was fine — a few scratches at most. The one who clearly needed medical attention here was his brother—
“You're bleeding,” he heard his Hyung say, sounding so displeased.
“Just a scratch,” Yeo Halyun snapped, feeling a twinge of irritation blooming in his chest.
“It could, cough cough, still get infected,” his brother said, frowning as he coughed up more blood.
Yeo Halyun felt his anger bubbling in his chest at the sight.
“Hyung, who did this to you?” He growled, pressing his hands on his Hyung's midsection in an attempt to stop the bleeding.
“Ah? I don't know… Halyun…”
His Hyung's words were cut off by the sound of a horse, neighing as it stopped nearby.
“Cheonhee!!” A desperate voice — white hair like snow — Yeo Halyun knew who it was.
The White Dragon Godly Doctor.
“Cheonhee!” The man had clearly rushed all the way here without stopping to rest, his hair in a disarray as he dropped to his knees beside Yeo Halyun.
“Cheonhee, Cheonhee, what happened?” The White Dragon Godly Doctor asked, breathless and shaking at the sight of his bleeding disciple. Yeo Halyun could understand the man's feelings at the moment.
“M-master,” Yeo Halyun hated how weak his brother sounded.
Saying that one word seemed to drain Jin Cheonhee of his entire strength, though, because after he said that, his eyes fluttered shut and his hand fell limply to the ground, unconscious.
“Cheonhee,” Yeo Halyun whimpered.
Please… Open your eyes...
“You,” he heard the White Dragon Godly Doctor hiss.
“This is your fault,” the man spat, eyes raging with anger.
Yeo Halyun bit his lip, unable to form a rebuttal… because he knew.
This was his fault indeed.
His Hyung was hurt… because of him.