Episode 287:
Stop by the pharmacy to buy some medicine, heal your bones right away, and then return to the shelter.
“Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Would you understand if I had to stand on my head with one hand and yell? “How many times has it been the same question already?”
“If the teacher had always told me that he was in pain, I wouldn’t have done this, right?”
“…It’s okay, really.”
Lee Jae-heon was being looked upon with distrust by his companions.
“I didn’t kill anyone, so should I get everyone’s attention for doing something strange?”
Roughly, the situation was like this. Everyone knows that in order to buy medicine, you have to sacrifice pain, and the fact that Lee Jae-heon was standing unharmed despite buying medicine twice for Kim Hee-chan, whose torn leg was not yet healed, actually fueled the fire of suspicion. Lee Jae-heon, who was actually fine, was dumbfounded.
“I say I’m fine because I’m fine, but I don’t lie about trivial things like this.”
“Haven’t we already built up too many conflicts to believe that? “Do you really think you’ve never told a small lie?”
“Of course I did it sometimes, but since you all overreact…”
“Someone please shut this guy up.”
Inho Jeong intervened.
“I think it would be better if I just carry it.”
“Aisssi, it’s really okay…! “How many more times do I have to tell you?”
He barely kept his voice low for fear of attracting the monster’s attention, but his face was grim. Lee Jae-heon also said, ‘Huh? Are you okay with this? ‘Why?’ I thought, but these chicks were that extreme. The swamp of distrust that Jaeheon Lee had built up over the years may have been a problem, but it was not without unfairness.
“Really, really… I’m not forcing myself to hold on. It’s embarrassing, so please stop asking. “Whenever I keep worrying like that, it makes me want to hide in a mouse hole.”
“People might be a little worried, sir.”
“…It’s not wrong, but…”
In the world of my previous life, there was no such thing as overly worrying.
“I’m going to die of embarrassment, so please stop.”
There was nothing like this in the wealth and fame that Jaeheon Lee wanted. Moderate worry is good for manipulating things, but if it goes too far, it’s just embarrassing. It is true that Lee Jae-heon wanted to be liked by the main character and his group, but this was not the case. I didn’t want to be treated like a child like this.
“I’m an adult too. “Do you know that I am over 40?”
“I know.”
“I don’t know what you’re saying that I did so wrong…”
“Hahaha…”
Jeong In-ho, with his characteristic neat smile, just ignored Lee Jae-heon. I was dumbfounded, wondering how dare he ignore the manager on the topic of acting, but I couldn’t express my displeasure when I saw Yoon Garam snuggling right next to me.
“Do you remember that we decided to rest when we got back?”
“I’m really healed, and there’s a problem with the effectiveness of neglecting such healthy personnel just to rest…”
“Do you remember?”
“…I remember… “I remember everything.”
I felt like I wanted to shake it off, but when I looked at those bright eyes, the strength to do so was gone. Team leader Woo Soo-young was looking at that with a white face, but he didn’t have the presence of mind to take care of that as well.
“And the manager isn’t all better.”
“What are you saying…? “Didn’t you see that I just came out of the pharmacy after taking medicine?”
“What about the boat?”
“….”
“What about your legs?”
“…Uh….”
I forgot.
“You couldn’t have forgotten, right? Are you still bleeding so much?”
“…Not until the end of the season.”
“aha?”
“….”
Lee Jae-heon muttered.
“Someone might forget…”
“You’re saying something strange.”
Garam Yoon and Seongyoon Ha’s smiles faintly twisted at the same time. It was Yoon Garam who was speaking, but I didn’t know why even the doctor was bothering him.
It was Kim Ki-jeong who welcomed Lee Jae-heon, who returned to the shelter after being mistreated rather than mistreated by his companions.
“Jaeheon Lee!”
“yes? “What is it?”
“Let’s stop that crazy bastard!”
Lee Jae-heon turned his gaze to look at Kim Ki-jeong, who was so pale that he was so pale and was screaming desperately. Do-yoon Han was holding the black monster in both hands in an awkward posture, as if he had never expected the search team to return so quickly.
“Oh my.”
Lee Jae-heon muttered calmly.
“I feel more sorry for the monster at that level.”
“But you still have to defend your fellow human beings, teacher.”
“So, doctor, do you think Han Do-yoon looks more pitiful?”
“If you ask me, I feel sorry for the monster, but I was talking about saving face.”
As in the story of Ha Seong-yoon and Lee Jae-heon, the small monster the size of a keyring doll, held viciously in the large, muscular hand of Do-yoon Han, was pitiful. He was so sad that ash was pouring out of his eyes, and below him, Pompitz, an abandoned monster dog, was restlessly hovering near Han Do-yoon.
“Wow, he’s not the kind of kid who walks around people so rudely.”
“Why are you talking like a dog owner?”
If it were a real dog, it wouldn’t have been this bad for simply hanging around people, but the opponent was a monster abandoned dog that drove people crazy.
‘There are a lot of people who are scared of even dogs, but it’s because they are such monsters…’
Even though Lee Jae-heon repeatedly told him not to approach the survivor, the reason he clings so closely to Han Do-yoon is probably because he feels sorry for his fellow monster.
“…Isn’t this… it shouldn’t be like this…”
Lee Jae-heon blinked, suspecting that our survivor team members were somehow crazier than most monsters.
“…Ah my eyes.”
“I’m definitely tired.”
“All monsters are like that.”
“That’s true too, but…”
I felt a sense of shame as I watched the monster struggling in Han Do-yoon’s hands and silently crying. The search team that had just returned to the shelter frowned at the unpleasantness that was different from the abandoned monster that evoked sympathy.
At that moment, the black monster turned its head and looked at Lee Jae-heon.
“….”
I got physiological goosebumps.
Its two pitch-black, hole-filled eyes showed that it could never become friendly with humans. A monster is a monster.
“Han Do-yoon, it would be better to do it in moderation.”
“…I tried to hold him for a moment… I was just about to put him down…”
“To be a good firefighter, you have to hit the ball in moderation.”
Jaeheon Lee said that and picked up Pompitz, which was whimpering towards me.
“Boss?”
“Oh, I didn’t know.”
“…Put both of you down on the other side of the monster and come quickly.”
Hearing Garam Yoon’s words, Jaeheon Lee and Doyun Han grunted and put the monster inside the forest. Pompitz looked quite disappointed, but the black monster was clearly relieved to be free from Han Do-yoon, so Lee Jae-heon couldn’t stop his gaze from turning towards Han Do-yoon.
“Didn’t you say that that monster initially tried to kill Han Do-yoon?”
“Ah yes. “It was like that, right?”
“But now they don’t even try to get close.”
“Ah…”
“I wish I had to torment you so much.”
Han Do-yoon looked downcast at those words, but Lee Jae-heon was not fooled.
“It’s burdensome for a grown adult to make that kind of expression. Quickly sit down at the campfire and warm up. “You probably still have a headache.”
“Aren’t you all too heartless…?”
However, Lee Jae-heon snorted at the sight of him steadily sitting in front of the bonfire with his hands spread out and basking in the fire.
‘I mean, I have a secretly bad personality.’
It is true that his opponent was the second-ranked sunfish, but unlike Munsan-gun, whose ability to hate others was neutered, or Kim Yeon-woo, who had an outrageous love for humanity, Do-yoon Han was closer to being unable to overcome his sense of indebtedness. Of course, you could resent or hate others.
Perhaps expressing affection while holding a black monster is Han Do-yoon’s own form of revenge. There may be something that he feels particularly attracted to because it is related to his main job…
“Mr. Lee Jae-heon…”
“… Ah.”
Jaeheon Lee asked Yunbyeol Lee, who spoke to me for the first time.
“What’s going on?”
“I know it’s a very shameless request, but… I was wondering if Seo-ah and Min-hong could watch it together.”
“To the point of shamelessness…”
Although Lee Yun-byeol spoke very little and had a faint presence, she was actually quite important to this team of survivors. Lee Yun-byul was taking care of the kindergarten students, the youngest and weakest members of this team, by himself.
“I don’t want to ask this of a patient, but the kids have been very anxious these days… and it seems like they’re looking for Jaeheon Lee.”
Lee Jae-heon barely remembered what happened at the park as he looked overly sorry.
‘…but because of the time I ran around alone in the park?’
For a moment, I wondered if he felt guilty for eating the fruit he had given me before, but there was no way that Lee Yun-byeol, who was not a returner, would remember what happened then. Lee Jae-heon wondered if the reason why Lee Yun-byeol had been so passive was because of self-blame for the people who got hurt and suffered in his place.
If you’re a timid person who can’t help but cringe over something like that, it’s understandable why you didn’t talk to Lee Jae-heon as much as possible. Since he was a patient, he must have been more careful.
“No, it was Lee Yun-byeol who always looked after the kids… I would be glad if I could be of help.”
“Just take a moment and the kids will be happy! “Really.”
Even so, Jang Seo-ah seemed very anxious these days.
‘Kim Ki-jeong seems to have improved a bit after talking to Han Do-yoon… but now that I think about it, Munsan-gun’s problem hasn’t been resolved yet. As I was a teacher, am I affected by the proximity to the school?’
He didn’t talk much at the park, but anyone could tell that he was especially stiff these days near the school. Still, unlike before, he seemed active enough to take care of his own tasks, but he didn’t seem very comfortable either. He was a very weak person.
As I approached the children while thinking about various things, Minhong Choi came up to me first.
“I’m here.”
“Yes, I came.”
“huh.”
Choi Min-hong spread out both hands and urged him to hug the child, and Lee Jae-heon pretended not to be able to resist and roughly picked up the child. Seeing Jang Seo-ah staring at us curiously, Lee Jae-heon quietly approached her.
“hmm?”
“….”
“Hmm?”
As I crouched down and stretched out my other arm, the child, who was shaking his body and making rhythmic movements, approached me with quiet steps and quietly hugged Jae-heon Lee. He held the two kindergarten students in his arms and went to sit next to Azalea.
“Huh.”
The old man looked Lee Jae-heon up and down and said.
“You look pretty so openly.”
“Because Lee Yun-byeol looks tired these days.”
“Stop making excuses for that.”
“It’s a shame…”
Lee Jae-heon slightly averted his gaze as he clicked his tongue. The children came here because they liked azaleas, but they also felt burdened by this type of old man.
“Are you feeling okay?”
“I think I’ve already said it fifty times today… It’s okay.”
“You don’t wake up at night.”
“I’m not awake.”
“Isn’t this a hint?”
“Not really…”
Lee Jae-heon muttered as he hugged the children.
“I don’t even dream.”
“If you can stop lying, that’s a skill.”
“…Just sometimes…”
“Actually?”
“Damn, I dream about it every day.”
Yes, the lucid dream I had from the park still remains.
“You only wake up when you die.”
The good news is that I have experience in the park. Lee Jae-heon, who was not strangled, killed by a monster, or moved anywhere, died just by holding his breath and was able to wake up from his dream. It was the most cumbersome and expensive suicide in the world, but there was nothing I could do about it.
“I hear you moaning every night.”
“That’s a lie. What did I…”
“There are things you see and hear even if you don’t say them out loud. “I don’t think my son, who is on guard, doesn’t know yet, so if you’re going to hide it, you’d better be more careful.”
“It’s nice that it’s neat. I thought I’d hear some nagging.”
“If I were a person who was criticized for nagging, would I have stayed at that level until I was 40?”
“You are correct.”
“Be obnoxious too.”
“But…”
Lee Jae-heon answered, making eye contact with Jang Seo-ah, who was looking up at him.
“Living shamelessly is easiest for the heart.”
“…me?”
“well.”
Lee Jae-heon laughed softly at Jang Seo-ah’s small finger pointing at him.
“Who is it?”
Being immature is pitiful.
In any world.
