Beta read by someone.
"Yah!" Mirae yelled as she took down a dimensional monster with her scythe. "Alright, that should be the last of them…time to meet up with the others."
Mirae then turned around and headed back to where her teammates were. However, she suddenly stopped as she felt something weird on her back. However, that feeling was short-lived as it quickly went away immediately. "Hm? What was that?" she thought to herself as she checked her back. However, there was nothing there. "Must have been my imagination then."
(The next day…)
"Mmm…mmmmgh…" Mirae groaned as she suddenly felt awful as she was waking up, preparing to get out of her bed. However, before she could do so, she felt her body feeling heavy and awful. "Hm? What's going on? Why does my body feel so heavy and hot? And why do I feel weird all of a sudden?"
Then, as an answer to Mirae's question, she suddenly had the urge to cough. She began coughing uncontrollably, and every time a cough came out of her mouth, she felt like her heart was going to be ripped apart from the inside. "Ah…it hurts." she thought to herself as she was breathing heavily.
It was then she heard knocks from the other side of the door. "Mirae, are you alright?" Seha asked.
"Ugh…Seha, I don't feel so good right now…everything feels painful…" she moaned before coughing again.
Hearing this, Seha was alarmed at Mirae's words. "I'm coming in." he said as he quickly opened the door to check on her. As he came in, he saw Mirae, who looked really pale. In addition to that, there was some red on her face. "I'm going to check your temperature for a moment, Mirae." Seha said, which Mirae replied with a nod. Immediately, Seha quickly left the room for a moment before quickly returning with a thermometer in his hand. "Alright, open your mouth for a bit and then close it.
Mirae then opened her mouth, and Seha placed the thermometer quickly before Mirae closed her mouth. After a few seconds, a beep was heard from the thermometer. "Okay Mirae, you can open your mouth now." he said, which Mirae followed up. As he looked at the thermometer, Seha was shocked at what he just saw.
The reading on the thermometer said 105 degrees.
"What?! 105 degrees?! That's extremely abnormal! Don't tell me…she's sick?! That's impossible! We're Closers! How did she get a temperature this high?!"
"Seha…what's going on?" she muttered.
Seha let out a small sigh. "I have no idea Mirae…but your body temperature is at 105 degrees, and that is not good."
"It's that bad?" Mirae groaned as she coughed.
"Yes. It's bad. Looks like we're seeing Dr. Jung."
"Hm…yeah, I see what the problem is." Dr. Jung said as she checked the results. "She's infected with a virus."
"A virus? Is it bad?" Seha asked with worry.
"Not to an extreme degree though. The virus that's infecting Mirae right now is just weakening her phase force temporarily, so she'll be more vulnerable to attacks from dimensional monsters. As for where the source came from, it's right there." she said as she pointed at a certain spot on a chart of her body.
Mirae's eyes widened upon seeing the chart, realizing that spot was where she was hit earlier. "That's…"
"Mirae? Is there something wrong?"
"That's the place I had a weird feeling yesterday."
Dr. Jung let out a sigh. "So it seems. What happened was that a tiny bit of dimensional poison was injected in your body at that spot. Do you have any idea how that happened?"
"Yes. Yesterday, I was dealing with some dimensional monsters. When I was done with them and left, I felt a weird twinge in that area. However, that feeling was gone later and I did not feel anything until this morning."
"I see. Judging by your words, it seems you were affected by a tiny poison needle from a dimensional monster…don't worry, this effect will wear off soon with medicine and sleep."
"I see. So what happens now?" Seha asked.
"I suggest that Mirae stays in the medical facility for a short while until she gets better. In the meanwhile, she'll be receiving daily check-ups about her health so that something like this won't happen again." the doctor stated before she got out of the chair she was sitting on. "Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to prepare the vaccine for the virus."
Soon, the doctor left the room, leaving Seha and Mirae alone. For a moment, the room was completely quiet as the two did not say anything. Then Mirae broke the silence.
"Seha, are you alright?"
"Yeah. I'm fine. I'm glad that the poison wasn't deadly and you only had to stay here for a bit." Seha replied with relief in his voice before it turned into worry. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Sorry, but I didn't think it would turn into a big deal. At the time, I just thought it was just some weird feeling. I didn't know it was a small needle laced with poison."
Seha let out a sigh. "Well, at least you're safe."
"Yeah." It was then Mirae started coughing again. "Is this what being sick feels like? Is this what Ara and the others had to deal with back then every day…?"
"Mirae? Are you okay?" Seha asked, snapping Mirae out of her thoughts.
"Oh. Sorry, I was remembering something."
"I see." It was then Seha's cell phone went off. "Hold on a moment." He then picked it up, seeing that the caller was Yuri. "Yuri?"
"Seha! We have an issue here! Dimensional monsters started appearing out of nowhere!"
"Where?!"
"Gangnam District! Hurry!"
"On it!" Seha said as he ended the call. "Sorry Mirae, but I have to go. Dimensional monsters suddenly appeared in Gangnam District."
"I understand. Stay safe, okay?"
"Yeah. Don't worry, I'll be back soon." Seha replied before he left the room, leaving Mirae alone. "So…I'm alone again…" she thought to herself as she looked out the window. Eventually, Dr. Jung returned with a syringe in her hand.
"Oh? Where's Seha?"
"Seha left earlier. He said dimensional monsters suddenly appeared in Gangnam District." Mirae replied.
"I see. Anyways, Mirae, I need to stick your arm out for a sample of your blood." Mirae nodded in reply and brought out her arm, allowing the doctor to do her duty. "Alright, that should be enough."
Dr. Jung then left the room, leaving Mirae alone again. As Mirae was on the bed, she turned to the window again, gazing at the blue sky."Seha…I wonder if you're doing okay out there…"
(Meanwhile…)
"Orya!" Seha yelled as he shot a fire ball from his gunblade at a dimensional monster, killing it immediately. "Alright, that should do it. Onto the next one…"
"Wow. I've never seen you kill a dimensional monster so quickly. Not to mention in a short amount of time…did something happen?" Yuri commented.
Seha let out a sigh. "Well…Mirae is sick right now."
"What?! She's sick?! How?! Closers don't get sick!" Yuri yelled in shock.
"Yesterday, a dimensional monster somehow shot her with a needle that temporarily weakened her phase force before dying. And this morning, the symptoms started showing."
"I see. How is she?"
"For now, she's at the medical facility receiving treatment, so she should be safe. Speaking of which, I should tell the others about this as well."
"Good idea. Since there's a dimensional monster that weakens Closers' phase force, that doesn't sound good."
It was then three other closers came into the scene; Sylvi, J, and Mistelein.
"Seha! Is the area here clear?" Sylvi asked.
"Yeah."
"Well, that's a relief." Mistelein said cheerfully.
Seha nodded in reply. "Speaking of which, there's something I have to report to everyone here." he said, immediately grabbing everyone's attention. "As of today…Mirae is sick, and is currently recovering."
That alarmed nearly everyone besides Yuri who already knew. "Eh?! Mirae is sick?! How?! Closers can't get sick!" Sylvi said in shock.
"Well, it all started yesterday when Mirae was done dealing with dimensional monsters. Apparently, from what Dr. Jung thinks, a dimensional monster in its last moments, shot a needle at Mirae that temporarily weakened her phase force, and the symptoms didn't appear until this morning."
For a moment, nobody said a word at Seha's explanation before J broke the silence. "Wow…to think that would happen…" he said.
"Yeah. Because of what happened yesterday, I was wondering if the same type of dimensional monster would appear here as well."
"I see. Thanks for the information, Seha. It will be helpful for today." Sylvi said.
"No problem."
Mirae sat there quietly as she looked at the window on her bed. "It's quiet…and alone…like those days…" she thought to herself. As she did, she heard her phone ring. Immediately, she picked it up, wanting to know who was calling her. "Hello?"
"Mirae? Is that you?"
Immediately, she recognized the caller's voice. "Cheolsu? Yeah, it's me."
Cheolsu let out a sigh. "Where are you? You didn't appear today. Everyone was worried sick about you."
"Sorry, but I'm sick at the moment."
"Sick? How? Are you alright?" Cheolsu asked in alarm.
"Yeah. I'm in the medical center in Gangnam because of something that happened yesterday. Don't worry, it's not that serious. Right now, Dr. Jung is creating a vaccine to help me get better."
"I see. Take it easy and get some rest. I'll notify the others about this."
"Yeah. Bye."
Cheolsu then ended the call. As Mirae put her phone on the nearby counter top, it was then Seha came into the room. "Hey, Mirae. How are you feeling?"
"A little better. Dr. Jung came by earlier and gave me a shot. Afterwards, she said I'll be better within a few days."
"I see. Does the rest of Rattus know about your condition?"
"Yes. Cheolsu called me earlier. He was worried along with Eunha and Lucy. I told them I was going to be fine." she replied before she coughed, although it sounded less harsh than before. "How was that issue from earlier?"
"It went well. Speaking of which, I told everyone in my team about what happened to you, and gave them a heads up if the same type of dimensional monster from yesterday appears today."
"I see." It was then Mirae's stomach growled for a tiny bit. "Ah. It seems…I'm hungry."
Seha let out a small chuckle as he brought out something from his pocket, which was chocolate. "Want some?"
"Ah. Thanks." Mirae then grabbed some pieces of the chocolate and ate them. "A few days of this…wonder how that will turn out."
A few days have passed since Mirae's condition. While she was getting better, there was something that was bothering her.
Loneliness.
Nearly every day, she spent her time in the room she was sent to receiving treatment. While she did receive visits from her teammates and Seha, they were short-lived. In addition to that, they had their own duties to fulfill, so visits did not happen every day, giving her a sense of loneliness.
Currently, today was the last day she was in the hospital, and she was about to be released the next day. "Today's the last day of being here, and I'll be back with everyone…and yet, it feels like tomorrow is coming slowly…" she thought to herself as she looked at her room, which has not changed at all.
"Mirae? Is there something wrong? Are you still not feeling well?" Seha asked, snapping her back to reality.
"No. I was just thinking about something."
"I see." For a moment, silence occurred between the two for a while until Seha came up with an idea to pass the time. "Mirae, want to play on my game console?"
"Mm? Sure."
Seha then brought his game console out of his pocket and gave it to Mirae. As the game started up, Mirae began to play the game along with Seha helping her. During that time, all of that loneliness she felt before slowly disappeared as she and Seha cleared some levels. Eventually, they were done with the game. "Wow, that was fun." Mirae said with a smile as she handed Seha his game console.
"Yeah. You managed to finish all of those levels easily." Seha replied. It was then he looked at the clock and noticed that it was getting late. "Well, it's getting late, so I've better get back home. See you tomorrow, Mirae." he said as he was about to get off the chair he was sitting on. However, it was then Mirae tugged on Seha's outfit. "Mirae?"
"Hey, Seha…can you stay with me for the night?"
Seha was surprised to hear Mirae's request. "Why?"
"Well, without you or my teammates here…it feels empty and quiet around here…and I don't like that. But when you or everyone else is here…I feel more comfortable here. Please?"
For a moment, Seha stayed silent before giving his answer. "If that is what you want, then sure."
Mirae let out a small smile. "Thanks, Seha."
(The next day…)
Dr. Jung was walking down the hallway to Mirae's room. As she arrived and opened the door, she was greeted with a sight she did not expect to see in the morning.
Which was Seha sleeping with Mirae; his head was on her lap as his body was bent over while Mirae was laid on the bed.
Dr. Jung let out a soft smile. "Well, that's something you don't see every day…"