Episode 42
After moving to a new location, the group tried to create a bonfire as realistic as possible. It’s not that we lack the ingredients or don’t know how to do it. Among them, there was no one so stupid or tactless that they could not do again something they had already done once.
This was especially true for Da-hoon Park, who remembered detailed instructions while making a bonfire with Jae-heon Lee.
First, I created a small ember, lit it with dry newspaper, then moved it to a large piece of firewood and breathed it in to prevent the flame from dying out. A fairly decent bonfire was completed. I know the method, but the effort that went into making it yourself was enormous.
After saying thank you to each other for your hard work several times, a heavy feeling came soon after.
“….”
“….”
No one opened their mouth easily.
‘…me too.’
Dayoung Park, one of the team’s minors, rested her chin and looked around the group.
Kwon Yeon-hee, who had been trying so hard to take care of us, just sat down after crying a lot, as if she had no strength. Looking at his cloudy eyes, as if his soul had been sucked out, he must have suffered a severe mental blow.
But this wasn’t just her problem.
“…I’m running out of water. Should we go to the lake sometime?”
“It’s an urgent matter, but… we’ll decide on a team when the manager wakes up. “I have to protect the unconscious injured person.”
“That’s true too.”
At first glance, it sounds like we were having a constructive conversation to calm our minds, but in reality, it wasn’t at all. In Park Da-young’s view, they were just spewing out plausible information that came to mind.
And you’ll keep thinking with one side of your brain.
‘I wonder if I’m bad…’
Dayoung Park crouched down looking at her younger brother. Park Da-hoon, who blinked at that gaze, immediately sat down next to her, and Park Da-young exhaled in relief at the large man’s silent actions.
In her field of vision, she saw a man sleeping as if he were dead.
“….”
I thought I wouldn’t be able to see it, so I hung my head down.
‘I was happy.’
When that person first called them. When I saw the group of people hiding pitifully behind a tree, faltering as if they were rats and exuding a strange sense of togetherness, I felt an instinctive sense of envy. Nevertheless, I was filled with fear and held my breath as I chased after the adults I had never seen before.
When a person who was thought to be unaware of our existence called them out as if they had been waiting for us. I was really happy at that time.
“…You’ll wake up, right?”
It was a relief to have a place to rest.
“You’re not dead.”
“You came here almost dead…” “
….”
“…Yes, I’m sure you’ll be okay.”
Feeling a slight sense of guilt for rejecting her younger brother’s crude consolation, Park Da-young picked up her words again. The reason they did not apologize openly was because of an implicit promise between them.
Instead, she repeated herself like a broken doll.
“I’m sure you’ll be okay.”
So I wanted to stay alive.
I hope you don’t die.
‘You’re a good adult.’
That was the reason.
In fact, objectively speaking, Lee Jae-heon could not be said to be a very good adult.
His tone of voice was harsh and his personality was sensitive. Even just by looking at him, I could see that he was a person who got angry when he made mistakes, as if he had met them well, rather than being generous and considerate. That wasn’t what the public calls a ‘good adult’.
‘But… that’s only a problem when you look at it from the outside.’
We were able to see that it was merely a protective film or wrapping paper covering the outside of the person, and that it was not the real thing. Human nature is always revealed when we feel sorry for ourselves.
‘Even though his words are like that and his expression is…’
Everything was based on his own sacrifice. All directions were for the safety of the group except him. Didn’t that reveal the sincerity of Lee Jae-heon?
He was a good adult. At least you can get down on one knee and make eye contact with your child.
That….
“….”
Because he’s such a good person.
“A good person is…”
“…what.”
“…no.”
Park Da-young swallowed her words and gently raised her head.
‘Do good people usually die quickly?’
The first thing that caught my eye was a bright red shirt. The suit vest was already black, and even the bandage that filled the empty space was not pure white. It also meant that there was no sound place.
Who could look at that and say it’s fine?
‘You don’t have to go to the hospital.’
They say you don’t even need medicine.
Anyone could see that Jaeheon Lee was a patient who needed to go to the hospital, and if he couldn’t do it, he should at least take medicine. There was no major bleeding, but from the perspective of Park Da-young, who suffered a broken leg, Lee Jae-heon, who did not even groan even after being in that situation, was an incomprehensible being.
“….”
He understood when we averted our eyes. I sympathized with it even more.
Dayoung Park bit her lip, feeling grateful but also worried.
“It’s always… someone like that dies first. Like Mr. Lee Jae-heon.”
“where?”
“movie. And the drama…”
“It’s a common cliche.”
It wasn’t an uncommon story for a good, responsible adult to die trying to protect the team, at least on the other side of the screen or in print.
However, I never once thought that such a person would exist in reality…
“….”
“….”
In the end, both of them fell silent.
Even though he had suffered such severe wounds that he could die at any moment, the group probably couldn’t go to the hospital for him. Considering the mood of the party when the pharmacy was mentioned, it was a sufficiently credible hypothesis.
But what kind of person can recover naturally after suffering that much injury?
‘If you leave it like that, won’t you die…?’
As doubts that bordered on certainty were gnawing away at my brain, the doctor who was talking to the short-haired woman stood up. The person the steps reached was Lee Jae-heon, who was lying down on the softest seat possible.
Just as he introduced himself as a doctor, he was examining a blood-stained patient.
“I wish I had some new bandages.”
“It’s a bandage… It might be hard to get it right away, but let’s at least do some laundry at the lake. “It’s the same with clothes.”
“Okay, laundry. In these situations, maintaining cleanliness helps. But it’s a bit chilly in the evening, so don’t do it all at once…”
Ha Seong-yoon was seen treating Jae-heon Lee while talking to Gar-ram Yoon, a short-haired woman who followed him. Even to Park Da-young, who had no medical knowledge, it was clear that it was the work of an expert.
Soon, when Yoon Garam leaves the place and only Dr. Ha Seongyoon remains.
“….”
Park Da-young could see the spot where the hand was hovering, as if covering it.
‘…neck.’
A neck with a bright blue handprint.
Doctor Ha Seong-yoon was quietly covering it up.
“…Are you sick?”
“I don’t know.”
In response to Park Da-young’s words, Park Da-hoon simply said neutral words. He also knew that the word ‘pain’ uttered by his sister was not limited to the body.
Such handprints were not unfamiliar to them.
“….”
Because it hurts so much.
People who were so sick that they did not even know what was bothering them often carried such scars on their bodies. There are people who show their wounds to the world and there are people who try hard to hide them, but this person was probably the latter.
A handprint is clearly left on the neck. A straight scar on the arm visible through the shirt. A person who worried about his group first even after being dragged away by a monster and coming back. Even though his whole body was in tatters, he refused to stop by the pharmacy…
He said it didn’t matter how he died. Such a good adult.
That’s why I knew.
“…I hope you wake up quickly.”
I thought that person would die as soon as I took my eyes off him.
“Oh, why do you keep doing that?”
“what.”
“Talking about it makes people lose their strength. “I’m so tired I’m dying, really.”
“You know what it is…? “Everything you say is a short answer, huh?”
“That’s enough sincerity. “It’s effort.”
“Just work hard in this world, you bastard.”
“Wow, my temper is showing again.”
As the two were bickering, a familiar yet unfamiliar voice flowed.
“…Ugh.”
“….”
No, it wasn’t a voice.
“….”
“Ugh huh.”
“…uh?”
“Cough keek… Ugh.”
“The doctor… the doctor…”
Park Da-hoon’s face quickly became tired.
The doctor was already looking at the patient before I could call him with a face that was completely white so that no trace of blood could be seen. When the group noticed something unusual, the doctor was in the midst of checking Lee Jae-heon’s condition.
Ha Seong-yoon looked at Lee Jae-heon, who looked like he was suffocating, and grabbed his shoulder tightly.
“teacher? Sir, are you out of your mind?”
“Kuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu…”
“…I’m going crazy.”
He was busy lifting the eyelids and checking the inside of the mouth, but soon muttered a curse and immediately turned the patient so that his cheek was touching the floor. The entire process was quick, but it did not reduce Lee Jae-heon’s coughing or moaning.
The doctor frowned as Jaeheon Lee’s hands reached for his own throat, and quickly snatched one of the hands and pressed it hard to the floor. The touch was so strong that I thought it would hurt a little when the patient woke up later.
The one hand that I couldn’t grab scratched my own neck, and blood pooled between the raised nails. It was a slow but nervous gesture.
Ji profit.
The sound of tearing already bruised skin echoes.
“….”
Jeong In-ho was staring blankly at that scene.
The look of deep distrust and light fear could not be shown to the outside, so it was kept inside the pitch-black eyes. Nevertheless, my lips slightly moved as a small scream-like breath came out.
The doctor, not paying attention to him, called Jeong In-ho.
“Jung In-ho, please press your wrists and arms together.”
“…What is this?”
“well.”
Ha Seong-yoon continued speaking as if flowing.
“You must be very stressed.”
“….”
“…I’m completely unconscious. Is this a seizure? Probably not…. First of all, there was no injury inside the throat, so the problem is with the respiratory tract further inside….”
The doctor who muttered that was calm, but at the same time, he looked uncomfortable. Jeong In-ho kept his mouth shut at the familiar look he often showed while tending to Lee Jae-heon’s wounds.
The doctor listens to Jaeheon Lee’s chest. Then, for a rare reason, his expression became very distorted, and Jeong In-ho, who saw the doctor’s appearance, thought that he was probably annoyed by the absence of a stethoscope. Judging from the fact that they are trying hard to get any clues.
By the time a little less than 3 minutes had passed.
“….”
“…Ah.”
Jaeheon Lee’s movements stopped.
“….”
Bright blue blood crawled up my spine.
The doctor, who had been listening to his chest, raised his head with wide eyes, and Jeong In-ho could not properly interpret its meaning.
“Why…”
“…”
“…Uh…”
He looked at the man who was lying still with his eyes wide open.
I felt like the wrist I was holding was a little cold, perhaps due to my mood.
‘…So this is it.’
Perhaps this was because Lee Jae-heon’s movements weren’t that big in the first place, so it just calmed down. Or something else. For some other reason…
white paint spread into my brain.
“Boss.”
The voice did not tremble.
Naturally, there was no answer to the light call.
“….”
“….”
An eerie silence fell between the group.
1 second, 2 seconds, 3 seconds.
And another few tens of seconds.
Glass shards, large and small, exploded in my ears, hitting my eardrums, and my nose was stuffed with cotton, stopping me from breathing. The sound of my heart moving inside my ribs grew so loud that it made my whole body hurt.
By the time I had swallowed it all in one go, I had to take a deep breath.
“…Boss?”
“….”
Director Lee Jae-heon, pale and exhausted, opened his eyes.
And a few seconds later he vomited blood.
