Chapter 193
To be honest, things were much easier in my past life than this.
There was proper equipment back then. I worked with trained colleagues and had a system that had been established over a long period of time. If we consider that the citizens living in the present world are much more soft-hearted and foolish than the citizens who lived in the world in the past, Lee Jae-heon is literally carrying out a mission with five or six-year-old children.
So, Jaeheon Lee preferred to work alone. In a way, it was natural, since no one would want to carry out a mission with several younger kindergarteners.
‘That’s why it came out of nowhere on purpose.’
He looked at the man and woman with an embarrassed expression.
“Why are you here?”
“…The manager is…”
Sniff.
Lee Jae-heon was speechless at the sight of Yoon Gar-ram swallowing tears, which was unusual for him.
‘I thought he might have gone back or was hiding somewhere, but…’
It’s around dawn, a long time before daybreak. Since ‘Lee Jae-heon’ volunteered to act as a decoy and ran out, they would have tried to conduct a general search, but not only did they not have time to do so, but Detective Hong Gyeong-jun’s team had no reason. Unlike the last episode, I didn’t have a close relationship with ‘Lee Jae-heon’.
After taking on the role of bait, for a few hours, I could not stand it anymore and a voice could be heard calling ‘Lee Jae-heon’, but it gradually quieted down, probably due to being bombarded by monsters that could hear the sound. The survivors, who had not been able to sleep or eat for almost two days and had to lure the green algae monster, would have reached their limit. I thought most people would be resting now that it was early morning.
But this was a bit unexpected.
“…Where are you hurt?”
Lee Jae-heon’s gaze landed on Ha Seong-yoon, who was lying dead with his eyes closed.
“It’s because of me…”
“Calm down, Mr. Garam Yoon.”
“sorry. sorry. sorry.”
“Mr. Garam Yoon.”
“I started the fire… I tried to kill you…”
After saying that, Lee Jae-heon internally lamented the sight of Yoon Gar-ram covering his face with his trembling hands and not being able to raise his head. Perhaps in the process of luring the green algae monster, he lost his mind and started a fire, and Ha Seong-yoon got caught up in it and something happened. I roughly understood it up to that point.
‘But it’s a bit scary to laugh at this point.’
The lips beneath the hands covering her face were strangely curled.
“I killed him… I burned him…”
“…”
“I burned him to death…”
Why are you killing a living person?
‘Still, I’m glad to see you’re trying to control yourself.’
I was finally able to feel the reward of caring for Yoon Garam all this time.
If he really had a mental breakdown or lost his mind, he wouldn’t have tried to change his constitution like this, but I really liked how he was able to endure it quite well as a member of the main character’s group. If things stayed like this, at least he wouldn’t suddenly evolve into the final boss of the park.
‘Then what I have to do is…’
Lee Jae-heon blinked slowly and carefully grabbed her shoulder.
Open your mouth.
“Garam.”
“….”
“It’s okay.”
All I had to do was fill the void left by Ha Seong-yoon.
“It’s going to be okay.”
Simply comforting people by saying, ‘You haven’t killed anyone yet’ or ‘You can handle everything’ could have the opposite effect. Garam Yoon cursed his constitution, but he also loved it at the same time. However, if he said, ‘You are not bad,’ he might end up going down a bad path like the previous protagonist, so he also had to restrain himself.
So the only thing I could offer right now was this abstract consolation.
“…really?”
“are you okay.”
“What’s wrong… I know it’s not true.”
“I will do that.”
“….”
“It’s okay.”
Just like that,
he very quietly released the hand that was holding his shoulder.
“Ha Seong-yoon probably won’t like it like this.”
Garam Yoon did not deny it.
“…that’s right.”
“….”
“Because you will be sad. I can’t do this….”
She began to calmly take deep breaths, wiping the area around her eyes with both hands.
‘The good news is that Ha Seong-yoon’s hands were not burned.’
I don’t know how they hid here, but if they had been traumatized again by seeing their burned hands, these two people would not have been alive until now. Of course, places other than his hands were scorched or showed red and yellow marks, as if he had suffered a lot, but he didn’t die anyway. For an unexpected situation, it was a pretty good situation.
Jaeheon Lee opened his mouth as he looked at the hemispherical dome attached to the tree as if parasitic.
“But you still managed to hide here.”
In the last episode, it was a man-eating tree that melted and killed the humans that Kwon Yeon-hee and Yoon Garam were hiding in. However, the process is so slow that it is unable to prey on survivors in most cases, so in a way, it can be said to be a wise choice. At least you won’t be attacked by monsters crawling on the ground.
“At least… it looks safe. “It wasn’t even a situation to go to the pavilion…”
“Did you move Ha Seong-yoon yourself?”
“I wanted to go to your pavilion, but I didn’t have enough strength… I thought this place seemed a bit safe…”
Judging by the fact that he kept saying ‘It looked safe,’ it seems that this park was definitely filled with Yoon Garam’s thoughts. It was. Although the risk was low, the man-eating tree honestly did not seem like a safe place. It looks like a centipede made of branches or a dome made of earthworms living parasitic on a long tree.
Just as I was thinking about that,
boom.
“…!”
“…Haa….”
I heard the green algae monster approaching.
“…This can’t be right….”
“That’s right. Even though I’m like this, I’m still acting as bait…”
“…Yes, yes? Why doesn’t it work…? yes…?”
He should have known how the situation was going when he saw ‘Lee Jae-heon’ here in the first place, but his mental power was so low that he seemed to have reached a point where he couldn’t even do such simple calculations. Garam Yoon must have finally realized what the situation was and looked at Jaeheon Lee with a face that went from white to blue.
“Oh no. “I can’t do that.”
“It is true that Ha Seong-yoon is breathing, right? “It looks like that because I see his chest rising and falling.”
“That’s true, but… Manager. “Are you trying to attract green algae monsters?”
“Then why do you think I’m here?”
“That’s… but…? No….”
Lee Jae-heon came down from the dome, which was quite far from the ground.
He only went up for a moment because he felt like he was popular, but he had not forgotten what he had to do. Although it looks like Lee Jae-heon himself was the target, it was unclear how the green algae monster would react when it saw Yoon Gar-ram or Ha Seong-yoon. It was right to run away quickly before it came this way.
Yoon Garam’s expression got even worse because he lost his strength and stumbled slightly when he stepped on the ground, but he still had no intention of getting these two involved in the matter.
“Do you need a lighter? I have no problem seeing because I made a torch…”
“No, what are you talking about…! “Can’t you just not go?”
“Do you think it will work?”
Lee Jae-heon spoke with a characteristic grumpy expression.
“The same goes for Mr. Ha Seong-yoon, who is lying quietly like a princess behind President Yoon, and Mr. Garam Yoon, who is guarding such a doctor. “I understand that we are not in a state where we can handle the green algae monster.”
“Yes, but…!”
“If I could at least run away together, I would, but it doesn’t seem like a situation where I can afford to do that. “It would be impossible for me or Garam Yoon to take that long doctor to a safe place.”
“…Still…”
“There are probably some idiots walking around at this hour looking for me. When we meet, I will share Mr. Garam Yoon’s location. “Please stay out of there until the others come.”
Oh no.
“…No, that tree is a man-eating tree. To be exact, I’m talking about the dome, but if you stay too long, the entrance will gradually close, so it’s best to come out at a reasonable time. “Unless you want to melt to death.”
“…Boss.”
“So, Garam Yoon is here. I’ll take the kids right away…”
“Manager.”
“why.”
Yoon Garam blinked at Lee Jae-heon’s words.
“Can’t you go?”
“why.”
“Can’t you just… stay here?”
“….”
“I think you should stay here.”
At first glance, the smile of an exhausted person appeared on his neat, seemingly calm face.
“It’s because I feel like I’m going to die if I go now, Manager.”
And on top of that, once again, a sad and firm despair was revealed.
“If you go now, you’ll die…”
That was a certainty.
“….”
“…Ha.”
Jaeheon Lee confirmed in silence.
It wasn’t like I was going to die, but… it was just convenient.
* * *
“…Ha.”
Garam Yoon burst out laughing at the silent affirmation.
“….”
But she also had nothing to say.
That was the worst situation.
“…At first….”
I struggle to open my mouth.
“I thought he was a very… strange person.”
“Is that so.”
“I told you, Jaeheon Lee came into my life. Honestly, I don’t think I could have looked at it that well. But then his expression suddenly changed… He seemed kind, but then he became childish… I’m sorry, but he seemed a little crazy.”
“Is there anyone here who isn’t crazy?”
“Did I tell you that I was scared, Manager? “It didn’t seem like it was human.”
“Did you catch me to swear?”
Garam Yoon cried and laughed in a voice that felt even everyday.
“But Manager, it’s a little strange. You really seem like you have a dual personality. Even if you watch to see if he really has a double personality, it doesn’t seem to be the case… Meanwhile, In-ho and you are like that. I think Mina knows something too. We don’t know. Just don’t tell us. “You guys are the only ones leaving us out.”
“What do you want to say?”
“Why did you do that?”
“What did I do?”
“Why do you always live a lie?”
“….”
“That old-fashioned way of speaking or something that causes conflict… something like that.”
I wanted to ask because I was curious. I was so caught up in the strange conviction that I would never be able to ask again if it wasn’t now, that I couldn’t even think of picking up what I had just said and continued like that.
“It’s all acting. It’s a lie. But why did you do that? Did you act like that because you wanted to fool someone and what? What is your intention? “You’re so needlessly detailed, I don’t even know what you’re thinking…”
“Mr. Yoon Garam.”
“Don’t go, really no. Just don’t go. Do not go. Why are you like that? Why are you like that? That’s okay. Man… I’m really scared. I really hate this. The thought of you burning to death in this forest makes me so happy that it breaks me. It shouldn’t be like this….”
“Garam Yoon, come to your senses.”
“Brother, come to your senses. Why did you really do that? No, no. sorry. Don’t go. Don’t save us and don’t save others. Don’t get hurt. “Don’t die.”
“Garam.”
Because the voice calling me is sweet.
“Don’t call me that!!”
“….”
“…Like that….”
I got goosebumps.
“Don’t call me that…”
Isn’t that a very kind voice for someone who is about to die?
That was truly cruel. This is extremely unethical and scary. It doesn’t even make sense to smile at someone who has been broken since birth like Yoon Garam, but it’s in a situation like this. It was too much for him to be so kind and gentle even though he knew how he was going to die.
On the subject you left a lot to be desired. He came into my life like this and gently stroked me.
“….”
“….”
It seems like he doesn’t value his own death at all, so much so that he doesn’t even feel the need to write a will…
“If I don’t go, everyone will die.”
“I’d rather die.”
“….”
“If it weren’t for Lee Jae-heon, we would all have died anyway.”
“You are out of your mind right now.”
“It’s not wrong… but it’s not what you should say, really.”
Some rude language came out, but as expected, he didn’t seem to care. Contrary to the mask of himself that Lee Jae-heon carefully created, he always seemed to want to die. How could he have thought of hiding such an incongruous feeling?
Jaeheon Lee opened his mouth when he saw her trying hard not to shed tears.
“Think carefully, is one person worth more than many people?”
“What…”
“Don’t misunderstand. I’m not trying to underestimate myself, but rather calculate absolute numbers. Garam Yoon, do you really think I’m worth more than all those people? really? Can you say that for sure? “Can you take responsibility?”
“Why does responsibility come here?”
“You may not have known, but death always comes with responsibility.”
Maybe that was your life.
“….”
“I said I would take responsibility for that, Garam.”
It seems that your life has been one of attaching responsibility to death instead of memory or value, not even preparing a coffin for your body to lie in, and putting on a shameless face so that it would not feel strange if you disappeared and died at any time. It probably seemed like that.
The cruelest thing was that the person himself was unaware of the cruelty.
“…Are you coming back?”
“What answer do you want?”
“I often hear people say I have a bad personality, Manager.”
“It’s so new.”
Even in the meantime, you are kind.
That might not be much different from Ha Seong-yoon, who was breathing heavily behind me. Ha Seong-yoon, who was sweet but looking for a place to die, and Lee Jae-heon, who was ready to disappear without even knowing what I had left behind. Since these people are so similar, it would have been impossible to get along without Yoon Garam. Although they are slightly different, they have the ability to make people feel comfortable.
Also, the comfort they show all comes from lies thick enough to hide themselves.
“But please tell me you’ll come back.”
“okay.”
“Because if I don’t come back… I’ll blame you instead of me. “You died because you broke your promise to me, right?”
Jaeheon Lee said.
“I’ll be back.”
“….”
“I’ll come back alive and well.”
“…Really….”
“….”
“You’re good at lying.”
“See you later.”
“I almost fooled you.”
