Bring It On! - Chapter 36

Chapter 36.

The flickering light in the distance stopped exactly in the direction where I was. How on earth did he hear my voice? I froze in surprise and bewilderment, and then the light began shaking violently as it rushed toward me. 

Soon, I heard the sound of sturdy shoe soles mercilessly crushing grass and stones as they slid. Shhhaaa.

In an instant, my vision was filled with a blindingly bright and hot light. Then, the face of a man, cast in shadow by the fire, came into view. His eyes blazed steadily like the sun even under the darkness, his gaze strong and cool like someone who knew no fear. 

His lips, which revealed a neat row of teeth when he smiled, were pressed together in a firm line, giving him a vaguely angry appearance because of the stark contrast to his usual smile.

The moment I met his eyes, I felt a surge of emotion I had never experienced before. My body, which had been unable to move, reached toward him instinctively. Jay pushed the torch back with one hand and scooped me up with the other.

His solid embrace and body heat, higher than mine, wrapped around me with almost overwhelming warmth. The sensation, hot enough to make my blood boil and my head throb, was the relief of being alive. For the first time, I felt certain that it would be okay to close my eyes and sleep.

It was only when faced with this situation that I realized. I must have, deep down, relied on and trusted Jay, even though I’d only ever called him useless. We hadn’t known each other long, and we’d met abruptly in this remote place. 

Yet somehow, a bond and trust deeper than any I’d had before had formed between us.

“Jay…”

My tear-filled breath scattered near his shoulder. But something was wrong. Even in Jay’s warm arms, I could still feel the cold I’d thought was a harbinger of death tightening around my neck.

“Sun Woo-ri, close your eyes. Tight!”

Jay suddenly shouted. My first reaction was not to obey, but to wonder why. Just as I was about to ask, a sharp-headed snake lunged toward me, jaws stretched wide. Its fangs and split tongue hurtled toward my face. 

At that moment, Jay grabbed the snake’s neck and swung it hard. Whatever had been coiled around my neck fell away limply and was thrown to the ground.

“What the—! Cough, what is it?!”

I looked around wide-eyed in shock and confusion. Wherever the torchlight reached, snakes flicked their tongues at us, surrounding us on all sides. We were in a sea of snakes. Jay reached down and ripped another one off my ankle.

The sensation of its slick, cold, glossy skin made my flesh crawl. The crawling sound I’d thought belonged to bugs was actually all of them. 

The cold that had wrapped around my body wasn’t a metaphor for death. It was literally those damn cold things coiling around me!

“Can you hold on to me?”

“Y-yeah.”

Jay held me in one arm while swinging the torch with the other, threatening the snakes. There seemed to be at least twenty of them. Starving, they looked ready to feast on me and Jay until their bellies burst. Their sharp heads rose, their vertical-slit yellow eyes gleaming with venomous intent.

One snake darted toward Jay’s thigh. Legless though they were, they moved with terrifying agility. Before its fangs could tear into his muscle, Jay swung the torch and struck its head. 

The snake staggered to the side, then lunged again without giving up. Jay kicked it hard. Thud! A heavy sound bursting in the air.

“Jay, to your right!”

Jay quickly swung the torch toward his right side. The attack was blocked, but with the other snakes that had been watching all rushing at once, it was clear he couldn’t just defend while holding me forever.

Jay scanned our surroundings quickly, then dragged the torch across the ground. The dried grass I’d been holding ignited in a whoosh, and the vipers hesitated in the heat. Seizing the moment, Jay sprinted at full speed, charging up a steep slope using only the strength of his legs. His stamina and physical strength were nothing short of monstrous.

With my chin resting on his shoulder, I had a full view of what was happening behind us. The vipers slithered after us with frightening agility. It was like a scene straight out of a documentary, tense and on the brink of disaster.

Some of the snakes were tripped up by protruding tree roots, while others seemed to be distracted by noises and vibrations in the forest, turning away. Those that persisted to the end were kicked or struck by Jay’s torch. Snakes that got ahead of him attacked head-on, jaws gaping. Just as Jay blocked one from wrapping around my leg….

“Ugh!”

A searing pain, as if my inner thigh were being ripped open, exploded through me. It burned so hot it felt blinding. Instinctively, I clutched at Jay’s clothes with all my strength. Sensing my state, he stiffened in shock for a moment, then cursed loudly as he ripped the last viper off me.

“Damn, filthy snake bastards!”

After fighting them off like it was a bloody battle, Jay shoved me into a burrow crowded with hard-packed dirt and tangled roots. He rammed the torch into the ground with a rough motion and cupped my face in both hands.

“Sun Woori, are you okay? Look at me.”

His sweat-soaked body was heaving with ragged breaths. The eyes that were always brimming with confidence and teasing charm were now flickering with unease.

“My leg… it hurts.”

“Just lean here and rest for a bit. Let me take a look.”

In a place like this, without any way to treat wounds properly, even the smallest injury could be fatal. A twisted ankle would heal in time, but the burning in my thigh could only mean one thing. I’d been bitten by a venomous snake.

I followed Jay’s words and leaned my head against the tree trunks encircling us like a screen, letting out shallow, uneven breaths. I felt his hands grip my leg and spread it apart.

“Don’t be startled.”

Before he even finished speaking, there was a loud rip as my clothes tore. The cool air brushing against the inside of my thigh made me flinch, but his large hand pressed firmly down to keep me still.

“How bad is it? For a snakebite, you still look… ah!”

That was when it happened. His dark head moved in between my legs, and then a warm, wet pressure clamped onto my thigh, sucking hard. The sudden, almost unbearable ticklish sensation made my body jolt, but Jay’s hands held my leg in place with unyielding force, leaving me unable to push him away.

“Wh-what the hell are you doing?!”

Jay lifted his head briefly, spitting something out with a ptoo. In the flickering firelight, his half-lowered face came into view. Plump lips glistening, eyes narrowed in fierce concentration, showing no trace of any other emotion.

Before I could stop him, he bent down again between my legs. That’s when I realized what he was doing. The lunatic was trying to suck the venom out of the wound with his own mouth.

Shocked, I pushed at his solid shoulders, but he didn’t budge. Like an immovable tree trunk, he just kept at it.

“You idiot, ah, stop it!”

I pressed hard enough for my fingertips to turn white, but my exhausted body had little strength left. Jay repeated the motion a few more times before finally lifting his head after what felt like an eternity.

“You crazy bastard! Cough it out! Are you out of your mind?! What if you get infected?!”

The words spilled out raw, shaped by panic and fear. But Jay, instead of understanding, only looked at me with a faint frown, as if still assessing my condition.

“At least you’ve got your strength back. That’s a relief.”

“My strength is the problem here? That’s it. Open your mouth.”

I grabbed his jaw with one hand and shoved the other into his mouth. Taken by surprise, Jay let me force his lips apart. I frantically felt around inside, but it was pointless. Any venom that had dissolved into his saliva was already beyond my reach.

“God, you really are insane.”