To Replace a Dragon with a Phoenix [BBANGSAZ AU]

11.) With the Enemy.

Minjae's POV:

I jolted awake, my hand flying to my wounds. Aching all over, I could feel the wetness of blood seeping into my clothes. Taking in my surroundings, I could see that I was in a cave of some sort, it was unfamiliar but I was grateful for whoever lugged me here. The sun was setting outside the cave's entrance, casting a soft glow over everything inside.

Branches rustled and the soft crunch of the grass was heard, immediately I prepared for the worst and preemptively had my hand over my dagger.

People?!

Person?!

Animal?!

Whatever it is I'm going to...

It was definitely a person, a shadow loomed over the cave. I narrowed my eyes...

Feminine. Noted.

But then reality hit, I had no idea if I was among allies or enemies but I couldn't risk confrontation at my state. Slowly and quietly I crept back towards the wall of the cave.

"Oh, your awake!" a particularly cheery voice called. A girl.

She dashed towards me with vigor. I mistook that for hostility closed my eyes and swung the dagger. But thank god, I swung and only grazed the cheek of the girl. When I opened my eyes.

The girl seemed to have a thick skin. She was unfazed by my violent attack. The only thing she seemed concerned about was my condition. She stared at me with a look of worry on her face.

"Are you okay?" She asked. "I found you in a pretty nasty state."

I didn't understand why this person was being so nice to me. I had just attacked her and all she was concerned about was my well-being?

Without missing a beat, this mystery girl unpacked the bundle of herbs. And ripped open my dapo, exposing my chest, I was incredibly shocked at how blunt this girl was, no introduction to me whatsoever, and got straight to business.

"This might hurt a bit," She said, her voice filled with concern.

"Who are you?" I demanded. "And why are you doing this?"

The girl didn't answer right away. Instead, she focused on applying the salve to my wounds. Her touch was gentle and careful as she worked, clearly, she'd done this before.

"There's no need to worry, you're safe now," she said, finally answering my questions.

"Safe?" I scoffed, "How do I know I'm safe?

She continued to ignore me. So then I tried asserting my authority by saying that she should answer my questions immediately but it didn't seem to phase her at all.

"Trust me," She said, "You're safe."

Her words were laced with a sense of certainty and conviction, as if she knew exactly what she was talking about. I had no choice but to blindly trust her, I couldn't even move without feeling an immense amount of pain.

As I settled into my situation, I studied the girl closely, she was pretty cute but looked nothing like Korean people.

"Listen this is gonna hurt but trust me this will lessen the pain once I'm done"

"You sure do say the word trust and safe a lot, how do I know that you're not trying to secretly kill me?"

"You won't know until you try, aren't you in pain? The salve helps..."