Episode 380
Song In-myeong admired the bizarrely shaped swimming pool with joy.
‘This big space called the school swimming pool is completely filled with water, but it doesn’t overflow. It must be similar in size to the auditorium on the second floor… Where on earth does this much water come from and how is it contained? It looks like translucent black jelly. Will it feel like jelly?’
There weren’t many schools with swimming pools, but most of those that did had good facilities. The floor and walls of the swimming pool, which looked like it was dirty or dirty, were made of clean white tiles, but it didn’t look very clean due to the dark water that filled the ceiling. It’s not that it’s extremely dirty, but the atmosphere feels like it’s going to make you cry.
I wanted to take a closer look inside, but it was difficult to check the inside due to the dark color of the water, the rippling texture of the waves, and the bodies floating in the water.
‘I want to go inside.’
Song In-myeong, who turned to Lee Jae-heon to ask his opinion, saw his face and widened his eyes.
“….”
I blinked a few times to understand the situation.
‘Now…’
Song In-myeong tilted his head.
‘Is it hardened?’
Jaeheon Lee was pale.
Song In-myeong wanted to receive Lee Jae-heon’s favor, but Lee Jae-heon liked good and ordinary people. Changing myself to suit his tastes didn’t suit my temperament, so I tried to help him even if it meant throwing myself into danger if something happened that could put him in danger. Because of Lee Jae-heon’s personality, if you help him even when he gets hurt, he will definitely be liked.
However, even though he came a long way to the 4th floor, Lee Jae-heon was not in serious danger. The survivors were strangely quick-witted, wondering if they had eaten anything wrong, and although they couldn’t make calls on dead cell phones, their hands and feet were in sync as if they were in good communication. Although it took a while, Song In-myeong had half given up on helping Jae-heon Lee because he had reached the 4th floor without difficulty.
“…Jaeheon Lee?”
“….”
“Mr. Lee Jae-heon.”
That’s why I didn’t expect to see a face like that.
It looked like a dead person, but it was different from a corpse. It looked like it was dead and moving, but it didn’t look like a zombie either. Lee Jae-heon, looking at the swimming pool with empty eyes, looked completely white, making it feel like the work of art teacher Seong Dae-young.
What on earth did you think of?
“Jaeheon Lee.”
“….”
Hong Gyeong-jun carefully waved his arm before he could sing, but Jae-heon Lee, who was staring blankly into the swimming pool, soon slowly raised his hand and traced his own idyllic song. It was a slow hand gesture, as if hoping there was nothing to check.
I looked at it carefully.
‘…there are no fingernails.’
While Song In-myeong was pondering the fact that he had just realized, Lee Jae-heon soon spoke up.
“…ah.”
What came out of there were moans, not words.
Moaning, not elasticity.
“….”
“…I’m sorry, did you call me?”
“…If you’re not feeling well, how about waiting here? Even if Jaeheon Lee is not with you, you can fully check the structure of the swimming pool.”
“No, I was just distracted for a moment. “It’s no problem.”
Lee Jae-heon’s gaze was still unable to leave the swimming pool when he said that. Song In-myeong suppressed laughter at the sight of him looking like he couldn’t come to his senses because he was remembering his bad past.
…Wow, that sucks.
‘I thought you could make an expression like that?’
Although I planned to help Jae-heon Lee and win his favor, I never expected to see Jae-heon Lee tremble in fear.
Even when he is threatened by serial killer Song In-myeong and is on the verge of being killed by a monster, isn’t he someone who fakes a light-hearted attitude like an old man? I thought that even if I were to be skinned alive, I would never see Lee Jae-heon afraid of something. Only when the pain exceeds my limit do I furrow my brows.
‘But wow… I could never have imagined an expression like that.’
Song In-myeong snooped around and looked at Lee Jae-heon’s face and the inside of the swimming pool.
“…Oh, I guess it’s a water ghost theme.”
“…It looks like that, but could you please stay away?”
“Oh, you really still don’t believe me.”
Hong Gyeong-jun cast a disdainful look at his joke and looked at Lee Jae-heon’s condition, but Song In-myeong was not wrong. Floating in the water that filled the swimming pool area were clearly corpses. Even if it doesn’t look like a normal drowned body, swollen with water.
I wondered if the art teacher’s fear of water was due to the story of the water ghost, but the momentary doubt disappeared and only interest remained. Song In-myeong’s gaze also turned towards Lee Jae-heon.
“It’s really okay.”
Only then did Jaeheon Lee look up from the swimming pool and cover his forehead with his hand as if he had a headache, but no one believed him. As expected, Hong Gyeongjun spoke with his brows furrowed.
“I think it would be better for you to stay here. “Teacher monsters come and go, and you might spot Lee Jae-heon through the glass door, so please rest in the back… Song In-myeong, you go in with me.”
“Oh, is it okay if you and I go alone?”
“…I can’t leave you with Jaeheon Lee. “Don’t talk nonsense, just follow me. I need to check inside.”
“Ah yes.”
Well, you can’t have Lee Jae-heon, who is in that kind of condition, and a serial killer in the same space. As a detective.
‘It was a nice sight.’
While following Hong Gyeong-jun and fiddling with the surface of the water overflowing in the swimming pool, Song In-myeong’s attention was focused on Lee Jae-heon, who was standing in the back, a little away from the entrance to the pool, covering his mouth. I was excited to receive an unexpected gift.
‘If that’s the case… what happened? Well, I’m not the type of person who would show trauma after being tortured once or twice. How big of an event did it have to be to cause Lee Jae-heon, who reacts so easily to all stimuli, to this much trouble? Or, you could say that the event itself lasted a long time…?’
Jaeheon Lee, who had clearly checked the swimming pool, groped his neck.
‘why?’
Was he physically dragged around by a leash like a dog? Or maybe you were strangled by someone you trusted? There may have been a time when you were imprisoned somewhere and lost your freedom and suffered.
Song In-myeong felt sad. It may be possible that Lee Jae-heon was not used as material because he is a member of the royal family, but it is very unfortunate that we were not able to do a background investigation because he is a member of this party, which is famous for being particularly strict and having a bad personality. At the very least, I want to know what happened in the past to make me think like that when I look at an ordinary swimming pool.
“…oh.”
Song In-myeong, who had been scrambling through the water barrier for a while, reacted late.
“This has almost no resistance.”
“…Even though it has been soaked for a long time, osmosis does not occur. “It may only have the appearance of water but not act as actual water.”
“Then can you breathe in there?”
As he spoke, Song In-myeong dipped his head into the water barrier. I heard Hong Gyeong-jun mutter, ‘Am I crazy?’ due to his careless actions, but my ears didn’t feel itchy.
After trying to breathe from the inside, Song In-myeong pulled his face out again and said, blinking his watery, stinging eyes.
“Coughing loudly… I can’t breathe.”
“It’s not wet, it’s not resistant, but it can’t breathe.”
“If you just look at the sensation of liquid entering the inside of your nose, it feels like water.”
Song In-myeong sniffled and touched his red nose. I wondered if I could breathe inside since it didn’t do anything other than cool me down like water. I was fortunate that there was nothing particularly poisonous.
“….”
Song In-myeong muttered as he looked at the corpses floating in the water.
“It smells like a corpse.”
“…surely.”
“The fishy smell is crazy. Not being able to breathe is a problem, but the stench is so strong that I don’t really want to go in. Upset. “This isn’t my style.”
“I’m not curious about your tastes.”
“Shouldn’t a detective be curious? “They said they were going to catch me.”
“….”
Hong Gyeong-jun, ignoring Song In-myeong’s words, dipped his head like Song In-myeong just before and said,
“―…!! Ugh ah…!”
He let out a short scream and pulled himself out.
“what.”
When Song In-myeong blinked at the opposite reaction from me, Hong Gyeong-jun also looked at Song In-myeong and the water in the swimming pool with a puzzled expression, and then quickly showed an expression of disdain for him.
“Why? “Why are you doing that?”
“I heard a sound.”
“…I guess it didn’t sound good?”
“It was a scream.”
Hong Gyeong-jun, who turned pale in that moment, spoke as if his teeth were shaking.
“It was such a confusing and loud scream that I thought I might be one of those screams.”
“oh.”
Unfortunately, Song In-myeong couldn’t hear it. It was the same even if I put my head in again, so people who don’t feel the gravity of life seemed to be unaffected by this water. All survivors other than Song In-myeong instinctively knew that they would hear screams like Hong Gyeong-jun.
Hong Gyeong-jun, who was watching Song In-myeong click his tongue in disappointment, adjusted his glasses and said.
“I know what you mean about the smell of corpses. “I didn’t really notice it when I was outside, but when I put my head in, I could definitely smell a bad smell that was different from the fishy smell.”
“That’s right, it’s the smell that comes from decay.”
He refrained from saying what was corrupting. Since the detective seemed to be in a sufficiently bad mood, he decided there was no need to provoke him further.
“I’ve never actually soaked it in water… so I’m not sure how many days it’s been there. “Did you find out anything, detective?”
“I am not a smell detector who can determine the level of decomposition by smell. It’s just that it’s not a smell that might come from one or two people…”
“Oh really? So that means you smell worse than me. It seems that there are certainly differences that each person feels. “Then isn’t there someone else who can breathe at all?”
In fact, if he wasn’t immune to swimming pools to that extent, he would have been so evil that even Song In-myeong could not imagine.
Song In-myeong was quite cooperative and participated in the detective’s analysis. There was a part of him being pretentious because he wanted to gain Lee Jae-heon’s favor, but on the other hand, it was interesting to be able to confirm the thoughts of a fellow businessman in this way. I was bored when I was alone, but it was a world worth exploring.
“…Wait a minute…”
At that point, Jaeheon Lee, who was resting against the wall, intervened.
“If it doesn’t get wet at all, will it be effective against the final boss?”
“…ah?”
“…Should I hope that art teacher named Seong Dae-young hates water itself?”
Lee Jae-heon approached Song In-myeong and Hong Gyeong-jun. To be precise, it was approaching the water filling the swimming pool.
“Jaeheon Lee?”
“It’s okay really. “I was just a little surprised earlier.”
“I’m stopping you because you don’t look a little surprised.”
“They say everyone feels different.”
“That…”
“I wonder what it would be like.”
Song In-myeong looked a little dumbfounded.
“…Don’t you run away screaming as soon as you put your head in it?”
Jaeheon Lee was a good person. Isn’t there a way that a writer who is more serious about protecting others than detective Hong Gyeong-jun could get a good result even if he put his head into it? I don’t know what the hell you’re trying to find out by experiencing it yourself.
And Song In-myeong witnessed an absurd scene.
“Jaeheon Lee!!”
“Are you fucking crazy?”
Jaeheon Lee went beyond the water barrier.
“What are you doing now…! “Come out now, quickly!!”
Hong Gyeong-jun, who couldn’t hide his urgent expression, immediately followed Lee Jae-heon, but he couldn’t even reach half of his body and pulled back again as if he was sick. I wanted to take Lee Jae-heon out right away, but I felt embarrassed because my body was not accepting it more than I imagined.
Song In-myeong sensed that this was an opportunity.
“Okay, I’ll go.”
“for a moment…!”
A chance to score points for Lee Jae-heon.
Song In-myeong flirted and entered the swimming pool. Thanks to my regular exercise, my lung capacity was as good as that of an athlete, and that physical condition was further maximized in the underworld. Since there was no water resistance, it was as easy as dragging an adult male out while holding his breath.
‘Did this guy turn around? ‘You went so fucking far.’
In that moment, Jaeheon Lee was in the swimming pool lane in the center of the space. Hong Gyeong-jun looked like he had a hard time even putting his head in, but I thought he was holding up very well.
Sure enough, Song In-myeong blinked at the air bubbles coming out of Lee Jae-heon’s mouth, gurgling as if he was choking.
I stopped without realizing it.
“….”
We should take him out quickly.
‘…That way you have a chance to appeal.’
Nevertheless, I sensed that it was time to hide my greed for a while and enjoy it fully.
Jaeheon Lee got down on one knee and leaned toward the sagging Lane buoy, unable to see any water. Song In-myeong was seen looking inside with one hand on the floor.
“…―.”
For someone who was drowning, he looked extremely peaceful.
It was such a crazy sight that I couldn’t hold back my admiration.
‘…and.’
The air bubbles spreading out into the black water are insanely unrealistic.
Song In-myeong realized.
He was still afraid of this place. Even though I felt fear, confusion, and despair, I buried all that pain deep in my eyes. It’s blocking them from coming out. How many times have they tried blocking out their emotions to be so good at it?
In the water shimmering with dirty black light, the only sparkling gray eyes in this darkness are intensely embedded in the brain.
It was really like….
“….”
It was like the first silent movie I saw as a child.
‘…You’re crazy.’
That calm face didn’t feel human.
He is a living work of art.
(Continued in the next part)
