"... Urk!" The unconscious man's wheezing coughs startled away Namgung Jihye from bandaging him, if only for a moment. "Cough! Cough! Argh..."
Barely conscious as he was, she had watched him drift in and out of wakefulness for the past hours wherein she and the others tried to heal him.
Although all efforts appeared futile.
However, this time seemed different, and she had to grasp this opportunity.
"Stay awake! Stay awake!" Namgung Jihye heard herself exclaim, all but shaking the adrift man. "You must stay awake."
The man wheezed harder. Her desperation seemed to seize his feeble attention.
"I'm— I'm... Jihye." She stammered, neglecting to use her clan's name for this introduction. "I mean no harm— we saved you! You were nearly swept away with the river." She looked away, heart strangely stuttering at the man's battered features. "There... There isn't much we were able to do. Tell me— who are you?"
