"If you're ready, let's begin."
The streets of Asterum under the star-filled night sky,
Hamin and Eunho were waiting a little ways away for Raea to finish fixing Bambi's errors.
It was lucky that the sky was clear and there were few clouds today.
If the sky had been filled with snow clouds like yesterday, Bambi's treatment would have had to be postponed because the connection with the developer could have been unstable.
Raea's explanation of this incident was a bit difficult to understand at first.
As far as everyone knows, nothing like this has ever happened in Asterum or Caelum before.
"...So, in fact, there's no cure yet. The only thing we can do now is overwrite Bambi's data with data from before the traces appeared. This is only temporary, so we don't know what will happen in the long term."
He was told that he had to hurry as much as possible, so he had no time to consider the importance of the work and urgently arranged a time with the developer who would help with the treatment.
And Eunho, who had heard the whole story, quickly offered to go with her to get treatment.
Naturally, their greatest concern was Bambi, but everyone there knew that there was another reason for their company, even without saying a word.
I don't know what happened between them, but seeing that Eunho didn't want to be apart from him even for a moment, it was clear that they weren't just old friends.
Whether Eunho herself admits it or not.
Leah blurted out that she would soon begin treatment, but then said nothing or did anything.
Ha-min and Eun-ho, who were watching from afar, could not hear the two people talking, their expressions, or what was happening.
Only Bambi, who was just a foot away, sensed that she was hesitating about something.
The expression on Raea's face as she stared somewhere beyond her shoulder was somehow unusual.
Bambi opened his mouth first, observing Leah's anxious gaze.
“..Raa?”
But even when I called, his gaze did not return to me.
"Sorry."
“Huh? What is it…”
Only after spitting out an apology incomprehensible to her did Leah meet Bambi's eyes.
The eyes that looked up were filled with complex emotions.
“I couldn’t find a better way….”
“It’s okay. It’s not Leah’s fault…”
“No, that’s right.”
“Is that right..?”
Bambi's eyes widened at the unexpected answer.
“It’s my fault. …I’m sorry.”
Only then did Bambi realize that what had been filling Leah's eyes was guilt.
“I will solve this problem, no matter what.”
It was only in an instant that the guilt in my eyes turned into determination.
Even though he knew it was something he would soon forget, Bambi just nodded.
Leah placed both hands gently over Bambi's ears.
It was a little cold to my bare hands in the winter cold of Asterum, but not surprisingly.
"I'm going to briefly enter your head to connect a channel for data recovery. It might feel strange, but bear with me. I'm not spying on your mind; I'm simply connecting your brainwaves, so don't worry."
After finishing speaking, Leah closed her eyes before Bambi could even respond. Then she took a deep, slow breath, repeatedly inhaling and exhaling.
For over two minutes, nothing happened, and Leah was still breathing deeply with her eyes closed, but the night streets were quiet as no one was making a fuss.
When Ha-min turned around with a puzzled expression, Eun-ho met his eyes and reassured him by saying that it was okay and that he should wait quietly.
In that silence, Raea had her eyes closed for about three minutes, as if half asleep, when a soft golden light began to bloom from her hands.
The halo of light, which gradually became clearer and larger, created waves and slowly swam around Bambi.
Bambi was startled by the sensation of something gently wrapping around his head and he closed his eyes tightly.
The halo of light seen from a distance looked like a beautiful aurora or nebula.
Suddenly, the scattered light gathered towards them and rose into the sky, creating a scene that looked like a crack in the sky and a night rain.
However, the long preparation time soon died down, making it meaningless.
Only after the small light that remained at the tip of her finger had disappeared did Leah open her eyes and remove her hand from Bambi.
Raea turned to where Eunho and Hamin were standing and nodded.
“I guess it’s over.”
“Let’s go.”
While the two of them hurried their pace a little, Leah still stood by Bambi's side, watching him.
“Uh… Uh…?”
As they arrived at their seats, Bambi opened his eyes, as if he were waking up from a nap.
When Bambi met Raea's eyes at a closer distance than expected, Eunho grabbed Bambi's shoulder as he took a clumsy step back in panic.
“Hey, how are you? Are you okay?”
“Huh? Oh. I just dozed off for a bit. I was making a fuss and stuff.”
“Even if you worry, it’s chaos.”
Bambi, who grumbled and pulled away from Eunho's hand, appeared to have no change from before.
If the marks behind my ears hadn't disappeared, I wouldn't have believed the treatment was successful.
“There is no trace.”
At Ha-min's words, Rae-ah let out a sigh of relief and took a step away from Bambi, but suddenly lost her balance and staggered.
Ha-min, who was standing nearby, instinctively grabbed Rae-ah's back and arms and supported her.
It was only then that I noticed that cold sweat was running down her forehead.
The slightly furrowed brow, slightly heavy breathing, and slightly trembling body spoke volumes about his condition.
“Miss Raea, are you okay…”
"…ah…!!"
But before he could even worry, Raea was startled and hurriedly ran away from Ha-min.
The relief from earlier disappeared from the eyes looking at him, and an inexplicable sense of unease filled them once again.
“Oh, I’m sorry! I held onto you because I thought you might fall.”
“…It’s okay. There’s no need to apologize.”
When Ha-min, flustered, poured out his apologies, Rae-ah answered in a voice that seemed somehow relieved.
Meanwhile, Eunho quickly ran towards her.
“Did you overdo it?”
"No, it's okay. It's just, it's been a while since I've done something like this, so it was hard to control myself. Just rest a little."
Raea gave a small smile to console Eunho, who was unable to hide her anxious expression even at the slightest change in her condition.
Naturally, Eunho couldn't take those words or smiles at all as truth.
But I also knew that creating a more anxious atmosphere here wasn't for everyone.
"You've worked hard, Miss Rae. You should go in and rest quickly."
“Take a rest.”
Bambi's face was blank, but he was worried about Leah, who didn't look well.
Raea nodded to the two of them, then winked at Eunho and walked away.
"I'll go first. If anything comes up, let me know! Especially Chae Bong-gu!"
Eunho went to Raea, who was walking well without staggering, and took her hand and placed it on his arm, as if he hadn't heard her say that she was okay.
When Eunho said something, Raea smiled comfortably and started walking, holding his arm as if she had given up.
“Hamin, I’ll go too.”
“I’ll take you there.”
“It’s okay, kid.”
“I’m not okay, let’s go together.”
Ha-min, who was playfully smiling and patting Bambi, glanced at the backs of the two.
'…ah…!!'
No matter how much I thought about it, it felt like an excessive reaction to say that it was because of a stranger's hand touching me.
It was also the case that I was surprised a little later than right away.
As he walked, Ha-min tried to rewind his memories several times to see if he had done something wrong, but he still couldn't find the answer, and his chest felt heavy.
I just hope that someday she will tell me what's really going on.