Episode 177:
Yoon Garam couldn’t help but smile as she watched Lee Jae-heon carefully stroking her head.
‘It looks similar.’
His tone and face resembled Ha Seong-yoon. Ha Seong-yoon at the flower shop also spoke in that way when he was devoured by the secret world.
Lee Jae-heon and Ha Seong-yoon had only met for a short time, so it would not have been possible for them to fall in love within that short period of time. Because I couldn’t look like that unless I decided to follow along. It would have been right to say that it was just his innate nature.
But how can that be? What kind of person can go to that point and not blame others and just comfort them by saying it’s okay? Yoon Garam, who suffered from extreme selfishness throughout her life, could feel an insurmountable wall in Lee Jae-heon, just as she did with Ha Seong-yoon.
“…How can you do that?”
It was a kind of awe.
“How can you say it can be okay…?”
It was resentment.
No one except my father could say that to Yoon Garam, but Ha Seong-yoon and Lee Jae-heon say it so easily. Knowing that those words were not empty, Yoon Garam’s smile grew even deeper.
Tears fall like that.
“great. help.”
“Of course.”
“I think I’m going to eat everyone else one day.”
I was still hearing auditory hallucinations in my ears.
-I’m going to die.
And
– I’m going to kill you.
Although he tried hard to deny it, it was Yoon Garam’s own voice. It was me whispering to myself. It was a sound that urged and scolded me to realize how close I was to a monster. At times like that, Garam Yoon covered both ears to prevent the auditory hallucination from escaping from inside me.
It wasn’t to prevent them from hearing it, it was to prevent them from going out. I am such a stupid person.
“The manager is like that too. If you are becoming a monster, does Jaeheon Lee hear this too? “I plan to kill someone someday.”
“…It’s similar.”
“Now I have a comrade.”
Even though I knew it was a funny thing to say, I gently held on to one of Lee Jae-heon’s hands. He didn’t avoid it.
“thank you.”
I know you’re not like me.
Unlike Yoon Garam, who was always looking for a day to be immersed in pleasure, Lee Jaeheon was a person who did his best to protect others at all costs. Although his condition has noticeably worsened recently, Lee Jae-heon’s attitude toward others has not changed. They were just consistently considerate.
Since he was that kind of person, he would have helped us like that at the flower shop. He must have saved Ha Seong-yoon and saved Yoon Gar-ram before he went crazy. The sight of him entering the dark flower shop and destroying my flowers sparkled with a strange light, like the stained glass of a cathedral.
Lee Jae-heon probably doesn’t know how shocking that was.
“…sorry.”
But I couldn’t remain human without relying on you.
This was why I held on to that bloody hand even though I knew it would be a burden.
* * *
After the conversation, Garam Yoon visibly followed Jaeheon Lee, and the opinion of Seongyoon Ha, his second father, was as follows.
“That’s a good thing.”
He seemed happy that the world of Yoon Garam, who was almost his adoptive daughter, had expanded.
“I still wanted to ask you a favor. “I haven’t been able to tell you much because my condition hasn’t been very good lately, but Garam was secretly worried about you.”
“Did you?”
“Yes, you may not know, but it is rare for that child to show the same interest as he showed to Jaeheon Lee. “I was always hoping that the two of us would have a deep conversation together.”
“Huh, bear with me.”
“You seem to be quite close friends now, so I’m happy.”
In any case, even for a person named Ha Seong-yoon, objects were objects.
‘He’s a rare hero.’
Lee Jae-heon wasn’t the only one whose condition got worse recently. Perhaps because Ha Seong-yoon came back with an eye change, there were times when he couldn’t even see objects in front of his nose. A bigger problem than visual problems was the fact that he sometimes made crazy remarks out loud. If Noh Yeon-seok senses something strange and comes to see Lee Jae-heon, then everything has been said.
Therefore, sometimes, when he heard Ha Seong-yoon say good things about people like this, Lee Jae-heon would become curious.
“It won’t be a bad thing if you look at it favorably.”
What was this person like before he went crazy?
‘It may be a useless thought, but…’
I only thought about it occasionally. Although it is said that the profession of a doctor cannot be endured with a reasonable sense of duty, they are also human, and not everyone will remain as an ideal doctor. It was natural for Ha Seong-yoon, who was trying to become a ‘good doctor’, to be curious about what he was like during his most perfect days.
Of course, as it was not a very important matter, Lee Jae-heon quickly separated from Ha Seong-yoon.
‘The biggest problem is that bastard Jeong In-ho.’
As expected, it was the greatest thorn in the field that threatened the wealth and glory of me, the main character of this world and a third-rate villain.
“Manager, are you okay with the time?”
“uh? “…”
“I keep seeing abandoned dog monsters nearby… so I’d like to ask what direction to take.”
“…okay? “Is there any damage?”
These days, whenever he tries to approach Munsan-gun, he acts like that.
‘You’re not even a brat and you’re such a primal seeker of attention.’
Suddenly, I remembered ‘Choi Min-hong’s attachment doll’ that Noh Yeon-seok mentioned earlier, but I quickly deleted it. Not only was it bad for your mental health, it was nonsense. Even though Jung In-ho treated Lee Jae-heon like he was some kind of talisman, it wasn’t at the level of a doll. It had to be that way.
“As you said last time, we are moving to avoid attacks as much as possible.”
“What is the reaction of the abandoned dog monsters?”
“It wasn’t much different from what you expected… There were some who attacked first, but most of them avoided the area on their own or, very rarely, approached first. “It was a different matter for us to endure it, so we ran away.”
“You didn’t threaten me to chase me out, right? “There’s no need to provoke me.”
“We didn’t want to lose our strength, so we just ran away. I didn’t necessarily follow along. “I don’t know about the crow monster, but I think it’s much better to just avoid the abandoned dog monster.”
Try working so hard at your company.
‘If I took half of this passion and gave it to the company, I wouldn’t have been more loyal.’
When I thought of Assistant Manager Jeong In-ho, who had a good-natured image and a gentle smile and got out of everything, I felt grumpy for no reason. As most of the time it was a battle of nerves that made it difficult to even catch a pod, the damage to Lee Jae-heon’s pride at the time was severe. To be honest, I just wanted to catch one thing, but even that didn’t work out…
In the end, I ended up getting rid of things that didn’t work.
“….”
“Chief?”
“It’s no big deal.”
I missed the happiness and peace of those days.
‘As expected, my path lies in the old ways.’
He was babbling nonsense and massaging his expression.
“I have a headache.”
‘Lee Jae-heon’ pressed his temples and frowned slightly. Everyone could see that Jeong In-ho was slowly blinking at the sight of the patient suffering from a headache.
“…are you having a hard time?”
“It’s not that difficult, but it’s just… I guess I should say it’s crazy.”
“….”
“You don’t have to worry about it because you can endure it.”
The protagonist’s expression did not change at all despite those words, but his tightly closed mouth represented his feelings. This was probably because ‘Jaeheon Lee’ has been showing pain and confusion more frequently recently.
‘You must be anxious.’
The protagonist’s plan seemed to be progressing smoothly.
As I said before, organizing the interior is also quite easy. Ha Seong-yoon was trying to come to his senses by using the previous episode as a lesson, and Yoon Gar-ram gained mental composure by having one more ‘father’. Noh Yeon-seok seemed uneasy about his crush’s recent status, but Kang Min-ah was about to open her mouth. Sometimes, I see Jung In-ho go out alone to scout out the surrounding area, so it seems like he also meets Song In-myeong often.
‘The Park siblings have taken care of themselves well from the beginning…’
Munsan-gun was being isolated, as if it was not as the main character intended.
“And Mr. Munsan’s expression is not looking good these days. Do you have any guesses?”
“Hmm… it feels a bit out of place.”
That’s what you did, you disgusting bastard.
‘This really is a naan.’
Lee Jae-heon almost sighed when he saw the main character calmly saying, ‘I don’t know, but if I had to guess, yes.’ In fact, where would Assistant Manager Jeong In-ho, who managed the company’s image well while trying to block it as if he were possessed by a god, go? I guess that’s all the result of a lifetime of accumulation.
Moreover, Jung In-ho is the main character of this world, so it was natural for him to be humble like that.
“There are reasons why they don’t trust us. Last time, Song In-myeong….”
“You know, right?”
“That was probably the biggest influence.”
It was also funny that half of it was true.
‘I think if they keep isolating me like this, they’ll catch me and throw me in front of Song In-myeong at some point.’
Although his goal was not to kill Munsan-gun, he seemed to think, ‘I have no choice even if I die.’
‘Tell him not to give a damn.’
Lee Jae-heon was planning to completely ruin the protagonist’s plan.
It means that just intervening is not enough and that you are planning a plan that will make you realize that you were going in the wrong direction. This should be prevented at the beginning to avoid crazy results later on.
The protagonist, who did not know Lee Jae-heon’s thoughts, continued speaking with a sad look on his face.
“I too am in trouble due to strange misunderstandings. “I occasionally run into Detective Hong Gyeong-jun, but his gaze is so scary… I wonder if I’ll be handcuffed when I return to reality.”
“It can’t possibly be like that.”
“So, if possible, don’t run into the manager. “He plays drums and janggu by himself, and it’s really heartbreaking to watch.”
“Hmm.”
“You’re already not feeling well, so don’t stress any more than this.”
Did Assistant Manager Jeong of the past know that he would say these words to Director Lee Jae-heon of his own volition?…
‘I miss those days.’
Lee Jae-heon, who had to receive this disgusting bastard’s sincere concern, was also indescribably embarrassed. I really missed the days when we would pretend not to be the case and engage in a subtle war of nerves, but then overtly scold us if we caught a trivial matter. I was really happy.
Lee Jae-heon, who had pushed away the seemingly familiar random thoughts, continued speaking.
“…The situation is not as bad as you think.”
Of course it sounds like a lie.
‘You should install the settings in advance.’
When the day Jae-heon Lee had planned came, he was going to show impulsive or spontaneous behavior that ‘Jae-heon Lee’ could not understand. ‘Lee Jae-heon’, who has sound judgment, would never make such a choice, so we had to lay the groundwork in advance that ‘he would go insane’.
The protagonist must have sensed that ominous feeling, and the corner of his mouth trembled and spoke.
“I’m glad it’s not too bad, but I hope you get as much rest as possible.”
“There is so much to do.”
“I thought Kang Min-ah would soon organize her thoughts. “Mr. Munsan-gun doesn’t seem to have adjusted yet, but it’s not a big problem and the rest of the group is doing well on their own, so there’s no need to bring the sick person out, right?”
“Are you leaving me out now, Assistant Manager Jeong?”
“I’m purely worried, Manager. “Why are you so upset?”
Even if I tried to calm it down with a playful tone, the anxiety I once felt wouldn’t go away.
“Then take a good rest. Dayoung and Dahun have been making dandelion tea for the manager lately. If you bring it to me, please accept it.”
“I will take care of it.”
“Of course, you will take care of it.”
That’s how we ended our conversation.
‘That bastard is mentally unstable right now.’
A person who has been obsessed with goodness all his life gets upset when he tries to eat something that doesn’t suit his taste. You make a plan that doesn’t fit your personality, and it goes easier than you imagined, so you feel that kind of anxiety. Moreover, wouldn’t it be even more so as ‘Lee Jae-heon’s’ condition is getting worse?
All the gears fit together well, but there are only one or two small screws sticking out. Even though he looked fine on the outside, the protagonist must have felt a subtle sense of danger.
As time passed, the promised 3 days arrived.
“…Boss.”
Kang Min-ah called Lee Jae-heon.
“So…um.”
“….”
“Can I report on the current progress?”
“So, did you prepare the PPT?”
“It would have been nice to have that.”
After finishing her short joke, Kang Min-ah burst into laughter and continued speaking.
“Don’t die.”
Surprisingly, that was the first word of the report.
