Episode 34
Kang Min-ah didn’t look like that at all, but she was curious, and although she was slow to act, she wasn’t stupid. Therefore, I had no choice but to gain the insight I had accumulated by reaching the position of head of a large company.
Moreover, even if it was someone else, Assistant Manager Jeong In-ho was a colleague in the same department as her for quite a long time. We were so busy making a living that we never talked openly, not even at company dinners, but if we were asked if we could at least call each other ‘friend’, we were willing to say yes despite the age difference.
There was no way Director Kang wouldn’t know about the change in such a person.
In-ho Jeong is sincere. The same goes for how you handle things and even what happens. Because he had a good-looking face, he was occasionally asked to introduce him to peers in other departments, so it was as if he had said everything he wanted to say.
However, he sometimes joked on such topics. There were times when the jokes made me laugh so sincerely and empty, and there were times when I was completely taken aback by the absurdity of where they got such sense. And either way, In-ho Jeong seemed to have smiled cheerfully while watching those people’s reactions.
A person who is sincere and good-looking, but not perfect. A strangely sloppy friend….
Jung In-ho was that kind of person to Kang Min-ah, and there were times when he was dependable and there were times when she was frustrating. And speaking of such things in public, it seems that they are said to have humanity.
However, from that moment on when she fell into this disgusting and strange world, Kang Min-ah could no longer see Jung In-ho’s foolish side.
“Change?”
“…Just a little. Yes, you have changed.”
It occurred to me that Jeong In-ho’s voice suddenly quieted down. However, Kang Min-ah had no intention or time to correct the spilled words now.
“I thought it was because I was tired… but I don’t know.”
“….”
“I don’t know.”
No, actually, I thought I knew.
Maybe everyone has a lot to hide.
The same goes for Director Lee Jae-heon, as well as Assistant Manager Jeong and the doctor I talked to last night. Even though all adults are like that, there were a lot of things I had to hide and a lot of things I was sensitive about.
That’s why Kang Min-ah knew that Jung In-ho had changed. Maybe she knew from long ago that Jeong In-ho had a lot to hide.
However, there are some facts that are not necessary to know because it was good not to know, and Kang Min-ah still hoped that she did not know. If only it hadn’t been a little jarring due to this strange gap and the changes in many people.
As soon as the empty space for just one person felt so big, Kang Min-ah realized for the second time.
“But… you’ve changed.”
Aside from the fact that In-ho Jeong is hiding, something has changed in him.
“I’m not sure what you’re talking about. Why am I…”
“You’re only focusing on me and Yeonseok. “It wasn’t like this for us.”
“….”
“Why are you worrying one-sidedly?”
I didn’t mean to get angry, but a superficial complaint came out.
Manager Lee Jae-heon and Assistant Manager Jeong In-ho are giving such one-sided favors to the point of being so selfish that it really makes my head hurt. No one has ever agreed to their favor.
It’s not that I don’t like it, but rather. I couldn’t say I didn’t dislike her at all, but Kang Min-ah was a shameful person, so she couldn’t become a great person who would return favor to resentment. This was even more so if the favor was the blood and flesh of the other person.
That’s why I felt eerie and frustrated for some reason when Manager Lee Jae-heon got hurt without saying a word or Assistant Manager Jeong In-ho looked at me with pitch-black eyes.
Although she was not gifted with words, she could not express it in any way.
“Definitely…”
However, there was a time when Assistant Manager Jeong In-ho looked at us with extremely static eyes.
Like looking at someone who is already dead and a corpse. So, like looking at something weak that will die at any time.
“….”
“Tell me.”
“…No, I guess it’s just because I’ve become sensitive.”
Kang Min-ah barely managed to swallow her words.
In any case, it was true that In-ho Jeong was worried about them, and this was a favor, no matter what form it took. Attaching the word “corpse” to such a favor was not only rude in any way, but could also have been unnecessarily hurtful.
“It was because I became sensitive. “I’m sorry, Inho.”
“…I guess it’s because I’ve become sensitive too.”
“That’s right, because everyone is tired…”
Kang Min-ah felt like Jung In-ho’s words were an excuse.
Just as a child instinctively creates various reasons when scolded by his parents, he also seemed to hide something in the word ‘sensitivity’ and hoped to be scolded less. Strangely enough.
‘…No one heard it.’
For a moment she felt relieved that no one was listening to our conversation. The conversation just now was just plain childish and not at all adult-like, so it was lucky that no one was listening, at least for the sake of Jeong In-ho and myself.
Kang Min-ah did not reject the silence that came without a sound and slowly looked around.
“….”
The tree shook as the wind did not blow.
There is no flow of air reaching my skin or ears. How on earth can a tree naturally shake like that?
This world acted strangely like this, as if it wanted to do something to attract people’s attention.
You can see an ordinary street tree growing far above your head. Even though March had just begun, I could hear the sound of bugs chirping. A white sky without a single color or cloud was visible through the majestic leaves. This world had a knack for driving people crazy, to the extent that all of this could be considered a hallucination by the living.
She lowered her head and glanced at the group.
Employee Kwon Yeon-hee was trying to make conversation with her siblings, and Yeon-seok seemed to be concentrating all his attention on controlling his upset stomach, as mentioned earlier. Garam Yoon, who was said to be the owner of a flower shop, was looking at the dense trees and plants, and Dr. Seongyoon Ha, who was rescued with her, was organizing his belongings in his coat.
And Assistant Manager Jeong In-ho was looking at the vine he had just crushed with pitch-black eyes.
“….” It was
strange and
eerie.
Even though some of us were clearly talking, it felt like we were just in silence, and even though everyone in the group was together, it felt like we were all blocked by our own walls. I look like a bug or a doll that is assigned a meaningless role and clings to me stubbornly, looking only at me.
Kang Min-ah looked down and saw the hammer I was holding.
That shiny piece of iron, which seemed to have never been used in the company, was covered in juice from the vine I had just struck, creating a groundless feeling of disgust.
For some reason, just as my hair was turning white, I heard an unfamiliar voice.
“…who are you?”
“!”
A voice I heard for the first time in my life broke our silence.
Kang Min-ah grasped the hammer harder without realizing it, and Jeong In-ho, who was standing at the front, took a step in front of the crowd. I don’t know because I couldn’t confirm any more, but it suddenly occurred to her that she thought she saw Dr. Ha Seong-yoon put his hand into her bosom.
Was the other person taken aback by the obvious warning reaction, or was it a calculated decision? They raised their hands and announced that they had no intention of attacking us. It was a rare gesture in Korea, where there are no guns, but for some reason it didn’t feel so awkward now.
The man spoke in a slightly cracked voice.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.”
“….”
“I was in a hurry so I spoke suddenly.”
The man sticking out from the bushes looked awkward even as he said that.
At the same time, he slowly lowered his raised hand, probably thinking that he would not be a big threat due to the number of people.
The man in the light brown coat pointed his hand to the inside of the suit as a habit and then retracted the tip.
“…ah.”
He must have been trying to say something but soon realized he couldn’t, but instead he cleared his throat once and opened his mouth.
“I am Detective Hong Gyeong-jun.”
“Detective.”
“Yes, I’m looking for someone…”
The tired-faced detective made eye contact with Jeong In-ho, bit his lip for some reason, and then continued speaking as if sighing.
“…If it’s okay, may I ask you a few questions?”
* * *
The conflict between the protagonist and Detective Hong Gyeong-jun is inevitable.
First of all, the main character was a disgusting bastard that even Lee Jae-heon himself admitted.
‘I’m going through a little puberty right now because I’m a little girl, but whatever.’
The second cause is definitely Detective Hong Gyeong-jun. Because he was an important character in the story, I remembered his name well, and more than anything, I couldn’t forget his consistent personality.
Although he had a strong dislike for criminals, he believed that they should be punished according to the law. He has a great mind for a detective, but that’s it. Hong Gyeong-jun This bastard was a fool who imposed the standards of the law even in the hidden world where there was no superiority or inferiority between humans and beasts.
Even though there is a serial killer among us.
‘Is this why the main character doesn’t get angry and hate me?’
The main character was also a person who pursued goodness, but there was something missing, and Jung In-ho was flexible to the extent of that lack. At the very least, this means that he is someone who can fully accept the consequences of his humanity being worn away in a world without law or morality.
But it wasn’t Detective Hong Gyeong-jun. He wanted to keep the minimum law even in this disgusting underworld, and of course, considering his professional mission, it was the right and noble thing to do.
‘The funny thing is that I myself have skepticism about the minimum treatment that should be given to criminals.’
In the first place, Korea was a country where the death penalty had been carried out for so long that the death penalty was virtually abolished. The main character couldn’t help but get angry because he barked that he had to follow the law unconditionally even though he couldn’t escape from the secret world and give the criminal a proper punishment.
‘Even then, police officer Kim died.’
Originally, the seeds of humans tend to come out when their bodies become comfortable. Some may be a little different, but most people are like that.
Even though it is a security that they have managed to secure with the help of others, they claim the right to speak out of unfounded confidence, and usually they all end up getting caught up in such opinions and end up dying.
Although it is a very obvious repertoire, what creature is more obvious than humans?
Police Officer Kim dies due to the gossip of the serial killer, who had been quiet for so long, along with the person who was so outspoken. When she, who was not a monster but a ray of hope for humans, dies, the protagonist’s mental health goes out.
‘In the meantime, we sat there talking about the law and India, so we ended up with something like that.’
In fact, Jaeheon Lee was able to adapt himself to others as much as necessary. However, Jeong In-ho would not be like that, and the other party members would most likely take his side, so if Detective Hong Kyung-jun and Jeong In-ho met, there was a very high chance that things would end in a mess.
In the first place, for no other reason than that, the main character and the detective did not get along very well.
One side is a disgusting bastard who makes up for what he lacks in flexibility, and the other side is a seed that has flexibility but is fundamentally stubborn.
‘It is ironic that both pursue goodness and justice.’
And after Police Officer Kim’s death, Jung In-ho burst into the detective’s mentality with his calm tone and other-worldly logic, and Detective Hong Gyeong-jun, who seemed fine until the protagonist left the park, ended up throwing himself into a swamp-like lake for a variety of reasons and was killed by a green algae monster. dead.
Of course, all of this is just an extreme choice made by the detective who was unable to come to his senses after being subjected to factual violence after the death of Police Officer Kim after the conflict between Deputy Jeong and Detective Hong and the loud noises of the gathered people.
Since it hasn’t happened yet, I wonder if there would be such a big conflict…
‘No, that’s not the whole problem.’
In addition to not being a good match, there were many problems, and among the many and diverse problems, there was one factor that made Lee Jae-heon feel bad. This is an element that even those who read about this world in books would not have known.
He muttered, exhaling from the slight pain.
“…So when did you regress?…”
It was the fact that the main character regressed.
