NOVEL NEXT 62
Chapter 62: Nursery Rhyme
Despite feeling guilty towards the male, he still couldn’t resist the urge to see his friend.
Arriving once again at the shabby house, Ellis had a thought: how could his friend continue living in such a dilapidated place?
He suddenly remembered that he had not yet asked Angie how he had ended up in such a situation, sighing again at his own lack of attention.
Entering Garon’s house, Angie lay on the bed, his injured foot wrapped in new gauze, exposed. Owen sat beside him, obviously reprimanding him. Angie, leaning to one side, saw Ellis come in and gave a helpless smile.
“…Why didn’t you tell me you were coming to this small place? I nearly went crazy searching for you at your usual spots and residence. If it weren’t for your brother telling me, I would have posted a missing person’s notice on the forum!
You didn’t even raise your guard when you first arrived. How did you end up losing your terminal? Look at you now, falling into such a state. I don’t know why I worry so much about you.”
Owen handed a wet towel to Angie, who gave him a look. “Hey, look behind you.”
Owen turned around, and Ellis had already walked up. “Hey! Ellis!”
Owen stood up and gave Ellis a big hug, a strong embrace between two females.
Holding this person, with the familiar scent filling his breath, Ellis almost didn’t want to let go.
“Owen, I missed you so much!”
Owen laughed heartily, ruffling Ellis’ hair. “You haven’t changed a bit in these few months.”
Ellis looked closely at Owen. Perhaps staying on the battlefield for an extra month, the scorching sun had tanned his face, making his skin rougher. There was a fine scar on his right cheek that had already healed.
“You’ve gotten much darker.”
“With such a big sun, how could I not tan?” Owen showed a bright, glowing smile.
Angie, lying on the bed, tugged at Owen’s clothes. In an instant, Owen transformed from a reliable big brother into a dutiful companion, skillfully taking the wet towel from Angie’s hand.
Ellis sat down and happened to see Angie watching Owen’s departing figure. He laughed and said, “Just now, Owen was pretty harsh with you. I didn’t expect you to be robbed and end up like this.”
“Don’t mention it. When I first got here, I knew nothing and went to a notorious place. A few young hooligans knocked me down.”
“I remember your skills are better than Owen’s. How did you get bested by a bunch of kids?”
“It’s not my fault,” Angie pointed to his bandaged leg. “I injured my leg before coming here. The military gave me a travel reward to this planet. As soon as I got off the plane, a taxi driver picked me up. Seeing I was a stranger, he tried to overcharge me. When I refused and said I would report him, he threw me out halfway. Without cash, I had to find my way around, and then I got robbed of my terminal and luggage.”
“…You’re really unlucky. I should have come with you,” Owen returned, holding a healing device. He switched it on, and it emitted a gentle light over Angie’s leg.
Angie sighed comfortably.
Owen glanced at him and patted his good leg’s knee. “Every time you make that sound, anyone would think I was assaulting you.”
“I can’t control myself,” Angie sighed, placing his uninjured leg on Owen’s lap, nudging him. “Even if you did, I wouldn’t mind. We know what our relationship is~” He gave Owen a suggestive smile.
Owen slapped his injured leg, and Angie cried out, “Ouch, ouch, ouch!”
“Behave yourself!”
Ellis laughed watching from the side.
The terminal beeped, and Owen looked at the screen’s content. He stood to leave but returned, saying, “The car I called is here. Ellis, help me carry Angie over.”
“What’s going on?” Ellis asked, confused.
“Owen told me as soon as he arrived that he had booked a place for me to recover,” Angie replied weakly. Owen’s earlier slap wasn’t hard, but he was overacting and out of breath.
Ellis helped Angie up, letting him wrap an arm around his neck to support him out of bed.
Angie hopped a few steps. Seeing this, Owen walked over, took Angie from Ellis, and without warning, hoisted him over his shoulder.
“Hey! Walk slower! My head is spinning,” Angie complained as the blood rushed to his head.
Owen placed Angie in the car’s back seat, not forgetting to tell Ellis, “Your way is too slow. You don’t need to be as gentle with him as you would with a male.”
“What nonsense are you teaching Ellis?” Angie found a comfortable position in the back seat and rolled his eyes at Owen. “Did you leave a note for Garon?”
“Both the note and the money were left under the pillow,” Owen said, gesturing for Ellis to sit in the front passenger seat while the original driver got out, and Owen took the wheel.
The engine roared to life, and the car vibrated as it began to move.
Ellis looked out the window, taking in the blue sky, white clouds, and mud houses with yellow dirt. The wind carried the laughter of children to his ears:
“My friend Hasang Song,
He was born in a white egg,
He cried among the crowd,
Oh,
He rolled to the ground,
Scattered in the room,
Never to be pieced together,
Into a whole form again.”
Ellis got lost in thought; it was the second time he had heard that nursery rhyme.
He turned to his friends and said, “That nursery rhyme is really strange!”
Owen, not paying much attention, said, “What nursery rhyme? I didn’t hear anything.”
Angie, bored in the back, explained, “The little ones living here often say that when they play games. I asked Garon about it, and he said that a long time ago, there was a young female who claimed to have a friend named ‘Hasang Song.’ The adults thought it was just an imaginary friend, something every kid does, you know.
But that child insisted the parents see his friend. When they went to the place he mentioned, they found a room full of scattered white bones. The male parent fainted on the spot.”
“That sounds creepy. How did it become part of a nursery rhyme?” Ellis asked.
“The story spread, and adults started saying, ‘If you’re not good, Hasang Song will take you away.’ A children’s author heard it and turned it into a story. In the story, Hasang Song became a guardian for children. If kids recited the rhyme, Hasang Song would come to protect them.”
Owen, amused, joked, “If I recite ‘Hasang Song,’ will he come help me drive?”
“I was talking to Ellis, not you,” Angie retorted.
“Alright, alright, I get it,” Owen said, while Ellis, seeing them bicker, completely forgot what he had been about to say.