Episode 393
Lee Jae-heon was a strong man in his 40s, but many people treated him as an immature person. That applied to both Lee Jae-heon, the manager of Kkondae, and Lee Jae-heon of the behind-the-scenes world.
Clearly he knew how to act like an adult. Standing at the front and protecting people, comforting those who are suffering mentally, gently comforting and comforting vulnerable children, etc. Lee Jae-heon was clearly a good adult, but there were times when he felt out of place.
He seemed like a person who acted like that because he knew how to be a good adult.
“…sin….”
Jeong In-ho rarely felt guilty.
“…sorry.”
Jaeheon Lee just blinked slowly at my apology.
He did that sometimes. Like a person who uses his or her brain to accept and understand a situation and come up with more efficient means and effective methods.
Lee Jae-heon was struggling to understand and accept Jeong In-ho’s apology. It seemed that way.
“I’m sorry. That’s…”
“….”
“I’m not saying the manager did anything wrong… no, that.”
I couldn’t speak properly.
It was clearly wrong to make a selfish sacrifice by recklessly throwing one’s body away. But it was also true that it was Lee Jae-heon’s best.
In-ho Jeong realized too late what Jae-heon Lee’s ‘best’ meant. It was probably the same for other survivors other than In-ho Jeong.
“…I didn’t mean to be angry…” Even if
In-ho Jeong got angry and scolded someone to please not to die and to not get hurt, Jae-heon Lee didn’t have the time to follow his words.
Lee Jae-heon was a man who desperately wanted to die. Nevertheless, he could not die due to a sense of duty to protect the survivors in the other world. Lee Jae-heon was a person who believed that it was natural to protect others by sacrificing one’s own body. Nevertheless, I was reluctant because my colleagues were worried and angry. Lee Jae-heon was already a broken and crazy person. Nevertheless, I have acted in a similar way so that others will not be scared.
All of this was Jaeheon Lee’s ‘best’.
“….”
It was different from Jeong In-ho and other people who wanted to turn back time, turned back time, were sad because they wanted to be sad, and were only in despair because despair came. For Lee Jae-heon, even protecting himself was consideration, kindness, and sacrifice for others. I tried to do that even though I couldn’t afford it.
He was ‘always’ caring for others, but those people did not realize Lee Jae-heon’s sincerity. I was busy scolding him and telling him not to get hurt or cause an accident.
“…So…”
Maybe we were worse than Lee Jae-heon’s former colleagues?
“Well…”
At least those people would have said ‘thank you’ out of courtesy when Jaeheon Lee saved them. I would have leaned on his sacrifice and bowed my head in praise several times. They would have affirmed and acknowledged Lee Jae-heon’s best.
Unlike us.
“….”
“…Mr. Jeong In-ho.”
Jaeheon Lee tilted his head.
“Are you apologizing now?”
“…Maybe.”
“why?”
“I… I can’t even explain it.”
Both Jung In-ho, who apologized, and Lee Jae-heon, who received the apology, were in a confused situation. Basically, I couldn’t even tell who made the mistake first and whether it was really the mistake.
But Jeong In-ho felt like cold water had been poured on him.
“I’m just sorry…”
I wondered if I had been treating Lee Jae-heon too lightly.
They were expecting too much from Jaeheon Lee, who had always been considerate of us. Regardless of what society thinks or what general common sense is, Jaeheon Lee was demanding more than he could achieve. However, I didn’t know that Lee Jae-heon was meeting that request.
“…I don’t know what I should apologize for either.”
But yeah.
Even so, we could not say that our concerns were wrong, as they were consistent with social norms and common sense. For Lee Jae-heon’s sake, they had to stop his one-sided sacrifice and it was the right thing to do. This cannot be said to be a bad thing.
For Jeong In-ho, despair came over him like a pitch-black wave. My eyebrows furrowed with emotions that I had not felt even when I first encountered the other side of the world.
“We both did something wrong and neither of us… did anything wrong…”
Gibberish. Unorganized words.
“That’s what I mean.”
The voice is clumsy even for me to hear.
“I…”
Jeong In-ho finally realized why I was so embarrassed.
“….”
“….”
“…Ha fuck.”
I had a headache and covered my forehead with my hand.
“Let’s just say this time… I was an asshole.”
It felt like Jaeheon Lee was from another world.
Culture, language, and behavior are all different, so there is no way you can blame someone.
* * *
And only 30 minutes later.
Jeong In-ho cursed at his past self, who had apologized obediently.
“I’m going to the 4th floor?! “Is there anyone here who can act as bait as well as me?”
“It’s obvious that you don’t like swimming pools, so are you going to keep insisting? “You don’t keep saying things like that just because your mouth is open, Jaeheon Lee!”
“Huh? Open mouth? Something like that? Are you talking? Should we just take off the rank insignia and stick to it? “Do you think our Detective Hong Kyung-jun would like to try and find out right and wrong with me?”
“Oh please…!”
In a rare occurrence, Jeong In-ho felt sorry for Detective Hong Gyeong-jun.
‘I feel like I dropped a bomb with 1 second left in a game of spinning a bomb…’
Lee Jae-heon’s bold and sacrificial way of sacrificing himself was something he did when he had a mental breakdown, but even if it was normal, Lee Jae-heon’s unique speaking skills did not disappear. Rather, even Detective Hong Gyeong-jun would not be able to match Lee Jae-heon’s flashy speech, which even used the typical old man’s force.
Of course, Jung In-ho felt relieved that much.
“…Why… You look good, Jeong In-ho.”
“…Well, for some reason, I feel refreshed as if I just finished cleaning the old refrigerator.”
“What on earth were you talking about with Mr. Lee Jae-heon?”
Kim Ki-jeong looked fed up, but it was none of Jeong In-ho’s business. I couldn’t tell Kim Ki-jeong, who was still young, the story about regression, nor could I tell Kim Ki-jeong, who had a uniquely weak mentality, the conversation I had with Lee Jae-heon. As soon as I heard it, it was obvious that it was going to be bleached white.
To that extent, Lee Jae-heon’s twist was a very difficult concept to accept in a general way of thinking. How comfortable must Jung In-ho feel that he passed on such a bomb, which is not a bomb, by declaring ‘I am a son of a bitch’ and then passed it on to Hong Gyeong-jun.
‘…It won’t change the fact that it’s a topic that requires deep consideration.’
Jeong In-ho sighed inwardly.
‘When we return to reality, Ha Seong-yoon will regain his sanity and Hong Gyeong-jun will also return to the category of common sense thinking. It might be a bit awkward to call Da-young or Da-hoon… but I think Kang Min-ah would be okay. ‘Sometime, the managers should all get together and have a proper conversation.’
Things like a return using him as the subject or Lee Jae-heon’s extraordinary sense.
Now that the situation is the way it is, I’m going over it like I’m drunk, but shouldn’t we at least come up with a solution in the outside world? Even if it is just to establish a code of conduct for how to behave in the underworld.
* * *
And Lee Jae-heon had no intention of leaving it like that.
‘Is this so fucking comfortable?’
After living with the chicks for a while, I was very relieved to act according to my nature.
Even if there weren’t people watching, there would have been an uproar, clapping and shouting. The freedom he had tasted for the first time in a long time was overly sweet, and Lee Jae-heon had no intention of abandoning this ‘I was too relaxed, so I acted on my instincts, oops’ concept.
Rather, I wanted to make other guys have just as much restraint as Jeong In-ho.
“No, I mean think about it. “Who among you is the fastest runner?”
“Me?”
“When I say something nice, stay out of the adult conversation, Da-hoon. I don’t believe anyone would use a high school sophomore as bait. Oh, how can there be such a conscienceless bastard? Is there anyone worse than Song In-myeong? There isn’t any. “Then who is the fastest among these people?”
“That’s not the baby… The babies are Seo-ah and Min-hong…”
“They’re just born, so be quiet now. So who is the fastest person?”
Hong Gyeong-jun touched his forehead as if he was excited.
“You keep calling it bait, but it doesn’t have a good connotation…”
“You call bait bait, so what do you say? And here is Lee Jae-heon, who has a long history of baiting from the park. Are you smarter than me? Are your legs fast? Are you strong? “I think it’s crazy that someone who is no better than me would dare to take me out of the operation.”
“What you’re saying is quite old-fashioned.”
“I’m an old guy, so did you add anything? We have to move quickly to get up to the 4th floor. How long will we just be chatting on the first floor? “Let’s decide on a cheap price and move on.”
“But Jaeheon Lee, it must be difficult for him to be active in the swimming pool…”
“But just go to sleep and ask if there is a better bait than me. I hope you guys have a long history in the undercover world and are better at pushing and pushing monsters than I am. If there is a final boss on the 4th floor, it is natural that it will be faster and stronger than the typical monster in Eonhak High School, but can you move it alive to the swimming pool? uh? “No one can do it but me?”
Jeong In-ho, who was quietly listening to Lee Jae-heon’s story, raised one hand and said.
“I think we can do it if you give us a little more time….”
“Do you want us to do that mess we did in the bathroom again, Jeong In-ho?”
“haha.”
He smiled and lowered his hand as if he had a lot to say but was too tired to say it. Hong Gyeong-jun knew, the Park siblings knew, and Lee Jae-heon knew that the ‘time’ that In-ho Jeong meant was ‘it might be possible to do a few more regressions.’
Park Da-young, who found out that the true nature of the meeting was discovered, took Lee Jae-heon’s side.
“That guy… he’s really fast and strong… so he’ll be fine… won’t he?!”
“Hey lady, I’m so nervous. “I thought there was an earthquake.”
“Shut up, Park Da-hoon.”
“Ugh.”
I don’t want ‘Jae-Heon Lee’ to get hurt, but I hate being hated by ‘Jae-Heon Lee’ even more.
Since this episode would fail anyway and they would end up having to go back, the burden on the hearts of the Park siblings seemed to be less than that of other adults. It was also because I knew that ‘Lee Jae-heon’ would not abandon his siblings even if they were injured.
Ki-Jeong Kim, who did not know the circumstances of the return, agreed without much hesitation.
“If there really is a final boss on the 4th floor, and you want it in the first place… wouldn’t it be most stable for Jaeheon Lee to mark that monster? “It’s not like I’m forcing you to do it even if you don’t like it. I think it’s much more reasonable this way.”
“I hate the word rational.”
As Jeong In-ho frowned, Kim Ki-jeong slowly nodded.
“…Do you see Mr. Lee Jae-heon? This is the seed you sowed. No matter where it is used, such as sacrificing efficiency, rationality, effectiveness, etc., people are outraged. No, it’s even more annoying because it all starts with a hesitation.”
“I, too, am reflecting on this.”
“Reflection is a total mess… Is that your expression of reflection?”
“I will do that someday.”
“I wonder where the fuck he got so old…”
Aside from his sensitive temperament, Kim Ki-jeong was quite gentle and aristocratic, but his true nature could be sensed through his rough speech that was sometimes revealed in this way. Lee Jae-heon was convinced as he recalled Kim Ki-jeong’s childhood, which he had researched through background research. The rougher you live, the rougher your speech becomes.
Anyway, after spending three hours on the first floor, Jaeheon Lee was able to achieve victory. Even though there was a high probability that Lee Jae-heon, who suffered from severe trauma, would die in the swimming pool, he seemed to have decided to take a look at the situation since it was possible for him to return.
“Is it finally over? “I was so bored.”
“Inmyeong, you’d better shut up.”
“…did you call me by my name? Can I take this as forgiveness?”
“You talk a lot of bullshit, but are you the type of person who gets beaten up with words?”
“That’s my charm.”
“The power of being beaten….”
“Oh, you know it well, right? “Do you use the internet?”
“I’m an old man who keeps up with the times, so I do various things.”
“It’s so fucking funny because you’re an old man.”
While chatting with Song In-myeong, who was excluded from the following meeting, Lee Jae-heon relieved his mood without being noticed. We were in charge of rolling together on the 4th floor, and if we got tired in the middle, we would have suffered a lot of damage.
‘We have to do well this time.’
Lee Jae-heon made a solemn promise.
Even though he did all kinds of things and pretended to be pitiful, he managed to neutralize the ‘Lee Jae-heon talisman’ that the protagonist had. Through this, Jung In-ho came to see Lee Jae-heon as a ‘person’, so he wouldn’t have to go back a few more times and say, ‘As expected, the episode failed without Lee Jae-heon’.
So in the end, I had to use this opportunity to escape.
“The survival kit….”
“Inspection completed. It’s fine.”
“Then let’s go up.”
Jaeheon Lee also needed some rest.
Once this operation is over, I’ll have to quit everything and seek financial treatment.
(Continued in the next part)
