Episode 1355. It just happened that way and I ate it. (5)
“Whoop!” Phew! Phew! Whoop!”
Sweat flows like rain. My clothes were already soaked, as if I had just been hit by a shower, and beads of sweat dripped down my hair every time I hit the ground.
It feels like my lungs are going to pop out of my mouth.
‘How much further do we have to go?’
The sight before my eyes is distant and the road ahead is long, but I cannot stop. The moment he fails to do his job, it won’t be the only thing that gets discarded.
Ho Ga-myeong has never made any real threats.
They didn’t stab him with a knife like the Sapa bastards usually do, nor did they growl and threaten to kill him by cutting into his flesh.
But that makes it even scarier.
I know that for the author, erasing a village where ordinary people live would be no different from killing ants by stepping on them.
It’s not important to be that strong. I was scared that someone would do something like that and not feel even the slightest bit of guilt.
So you have to run. The lives of those left behind in Haenam are in the hands of none other than that family name.
“Whoop!” Phew! Phew! “Wow!”
Yugong’s body, which had been running with all its might, suddenly fell forward and fell. While looking for the sign above, I missed the stone beak stuck in the ground.
It was a mistake so absurd that it would be laughable to say that it was made by a military man, but the hero was just as tired now.
“Cough.”
Even the sound of coughing has no strength. It’s been a long time since I lost strength in my hands and feet. But I somehow managed to land on the ground. There was no way they could understand his situation.
“Ugh…”
Yugong was trembling and trying to get up somehow. However, all I could see were weeds growing randomly on the ground, and my gaze could not go up.
And that moment.
Jerk.
I saw someone’s feet in front of me. He flinched and raised his head to see Hu Jia-myeong looking down at him indifferently.
Yugong’s harsh breathing stopped for a moment at the sight of those eyes that were devoid of any warmth. After a while, Hu Jiaming’s mouth opened.
“I’m taking a break.”
“yes!”
The lieutenants began to move quickly at the command.
Jerk. Jerk.
With that command, Hu Jiaming walked away from Yugong without adding any more words. Yugong looked at the back as if fascinated and clenched his fists.
“here.”
Yugong turned his head in a daze at the voice he suddenly heard. A dew-covered water bottle was suddenly thrust next to him, who was leaning lifelessly against a tree trunk.
“Please eat.”
Yugong looked at the water bottle in silence and then moved his gaze a little higher. It was Go Hong. The expression on his face was a bit strange.
“What are you doing without receiving it?”
Instead of answering, Yugong stretched out his hand and received a water bottle.
cold. It looked like he had gone to a nearby water source and picked up some fresh water. It may not be just for him, though.
Yugong looked at the water bottle with confused eyes and eventually drank the water slowly. Go Hong, who was staring at the scene, flopped down next to him a little distance away.
The two were silent for a while. The distance between the two people seemed to represent their hearts.
“How much further do you think we have to go?”
Yugong took the water bottle from his mouth and tilted his head back.
I saw a night sky filled with stars like jewels. For some reason, it felt like laughter was about to escape.
The night sky I saw so many times in Haenam was probably even more beautiful than this. But at that time, he didn’t even feel any particular emotion while looking at the night sky.
It was only after the situation became like this that I found out. How beautiful the night sky is when you live to see it. What a wonderful sky they were living under.
“I don’t know.”
When Yu Gong gave a belated answer, Go Hong sighed softly.
“Anyway, the more we rest like this, the farther away we will go again.”
“maybe.”
Actually, you don’t know. Because they also can’t just run forever. Since we are all the same person, there will come a time when we too need to rest.
In the end, it all comes down to who covered the greater distance in the same amount of time. That’s basically what chasing is.
But Yugong did not bother to say those words out loud.
Because Go Hong probably already knows. Even though you know, you are probably ignoring it.
“execution.”
“⋯⋯Don’t call me that.”
Go Hong chuckled.
“why? Do you feel any guilt?”
“⋯⋯There is no need to even discuss guilt when saying it is not true. “Now you and I are no longer subject to the death penalty.”
“That’s right… Not only is it not the death penalty, but it is also not Haenam’s disciple.”
Yugong leaned his head against the tree trunk and closed his eyes helplessly.
In fact, what I really wanted to do was not close my eyes, but block my ears. But since I don’t have the strength to lift my hand, I have no choice but to close my eyes.
“But the death penalty… “It looks like it won’t end that easily.”
“⋯⋯What do you mean?”
“Have you seen it? “In that canyon.”
Yugong closed his eyes a little tighter. This is why I wanted to cover my ears. Because I know what Go Hong is going to say. Because I didn’t want to hear that story.
“There was a death penalty for my name. I also saw a Zaun priest. Elder Kang Myeong too…”
“⋯⋯.”
Why didn’t he see it?
I saw it clearly with my own two eyes. The sight of people who had been together for decades lying tragically dead and lying scattered about.
But I couldn’t do anything. I just desperately chased after them, jumping over their rotting bodies.
Because I have to live. Because I have to survive.
“Dead guys are just dead guys.”
“I guess so… But… he was alive.”
“what?”
Go Hong’s eyes stared blankly into space.
“When I passed through… at least the Zaun priest was alive. Even then, his eyes moved as if he recognized us. Even while I was dying with my waist cut in half…”
Yugong’s shoulders trembled.
Jaun is a priest that Gohong particularly liked. Just as Go Hong followed Yu Gong around, Ja-un especially followed Go Hong.
“It seemed like he was trying to say something. “I couldn’t hear it and I couldn’t recognize it, but it was definitely something.”
“⋯⋯.”
“execution. “What did the Zaun priest want to say…”
“If you’re going to talk nonsense, get away from me. “Because I want to rest.”
A sharp voice cut Go Hong off guard. But rather than flinch, Go Hong laughed again.
“Can I rest if you move out of the way?”
Yu Gong glared fiercely at Go Hong for a moment.
“Isn’t not being able to rest a death sentence?”
“This…”
Yugong’s eyes were distorted like a demon.
“So what?”
Gritting his teeth, he lifted his neck stiffly.
“So you’re saying I had to become a corpse there too? Are you saying that the right death was for me to die like a dog there and fill the animal’s stomach with my flesh? “Are you saying that the right thing to do was to end up in a ravine with no one around, maggots boiling and flies swarming?”
“execution!”
“Stop being a bitch! Didn’t you see it too? What on earth did those people who came out to protect under all sorts of noble excuses protect? What on earth did you do while you were dying like that there? “What did you protect?”
The voice became increasingly angry.
“What were you trying to say? What meaning is there! There’s only one thing I know. No matter how much he talks, you can’t hear him or understand him! “He died and we survived!”
“⋯⋯.”
“guilty? Sounds like trash. I survive. I will never suffer a death like that. I will survive somehow! So, I will return to my hometown in good health!”
A venom flickered in Yu Gong’s eyes. It seemed ready to bite Gohong at any moment.
“Well… what’s so wrong with that? “Is that such a big mistake?”
Go Hong couldn’t say anything. He just lowered his head and slightly shook his shoulders.
Yugong nervously drank water. Even though it was just plain water and not alcohol, I felt like my insides were burning.
Actually, he knows. Everything went wrong. He is wrong and they are right. According to what he has been taught and what he knows, that would be correct.
But what was the result?
Those who pursued what was right became food for animals there. And he who chose the wrong path is still saving his life anyway.
If Haenam fails to escape Gangnam and is eventually annihilated, only the most despicable meritorious people will survive and return to their hometown.
‘Go the right way?’
I kept laughing.
For what? For what purpose should we hold on to truth? For what? To satisfy that poor spirit and satisfy oneself?
It’s all pointless and bullshit.
“Don’t think about unnecessary things and just rest.”
In the end, Gohong got up and left. I don’t know if he listens to Yugong’s words or if he doesn’t want to be by his side anymore.
But where should you go?
There is no place for them to rest comfortably here. From the moment they left Haenam, they became people who could not put their backs on the floor.
Go Hong looked down at Yu Gong with unfocused eyes.
It’s really easy to feel resentful. It is not that difficult to blame and curse at him, saying that all of this is because of his merits. It would actually be easier compared to the constant feeling of suffocating guilt that comes from knowing that you are also responsible.
But Go Hong couldn’t do that.
Because I still have a conscience?
no. This was because he knew that turning his resentment towards Yugong would not ease his mind.
But now I was just curious.
“What was different?”
Yugong raised his head at that small question.
“We grew up in the same place, learned the same things, and lived the same life. But why are we here and they there? “What on earth is different between us and them?”
Yugong’s lips were soft.
It was an obvious question, but not an easy one to answer. Numerous answers repeatedly appeared and subsided in my mind. None of them could be completely correct.
In the end, Yugong gave an answer that even he found absurd. A self-deprecating smile appeared faintly on his face.
“It’s just… that’s how I ate it.”
“⋯⋯.”
“That’s it.”
Go Hong stared at Yu Gong in silence.
For some reason, it was difficult for Yugong to bear those eyes. I couldn’t stare at him with venomous eyes like before.
Those indifferent eyes, which were not blaming, much less criticizing, were unbearably painful.
So I ended up averting my gaze. I did that even though I knew that nothing could be avoided.
Jerk. Jerk.
Even after hearing Go Hong’s footsteps walking away, I couldn’t turn my head again for a while. For some reason, it felt like those eyes would stay in that same spot forever.
After a while, Yugong weakly lowered his head. There were so many stars that it seemed as if they were about to fall. The sky, which was just looking down at the hellish world, was angry.
‘What was different?’
A helpless laugh leaked out.
“How should I know…”
I covered my eyes with both hands.
The sky just looks at him and never wavers. It is not the sky that is shaken, but only the person looking at the sky.
“How could I…”
That self-mocking voice could not spread far and was scattered from the corner of his mouth.
