Episode 435
Lee Jae-heon’s life had no choice but to change as he brought home a preschooler named Jang Seo-ah.
“Let’s wake up and have breakfast.”
“nah.”
“What did you tell me to do when I didn’t want to do something?”
“…explain why….”
“Why don’t you like it?”
“I’m going to sleep better…”
“Then let’s sleep more.”
Of course, growing children need to eat a lot to grow healthily, but waking up a child who doesn’t want to wake up and feeding them doesn’t make a big difference in their growth. So, when I was raising my children in my past life, I didn’t force them to wake up. I brought him to his senses for a moment and gave him a choice. Mana really hated me for not feeding the kids.
However, there are many adults who skip breakfast because they want to sleep more, so is it really any different for kids? Lee Jae-heon patted the procrastinating preschooler back to sleep and left all the aftercare to the housekeeper.
“Please, Mr. Lee Yun-byeol.”
“The baby’s food….”
“I didn’t wake him up. “He said he wanted to sleep more.”
“Okay, take care. “I will take good care of Seo-ah while you are away.”
“I’ll see you after work.”
Royal, who was rich, hired teacher Lee Yun-byeol.
I had to leave the kindergarten I originally attended. They signed a legitimate contract and hired the employee with the promise that if they were not able to find a job later, they would find a separate position. Unlike kindergartens that take care of multiple students, you take care of children all day, so your salary is double. Lee Yun-byeol was shocked, but did not refuse. It was a wise adult decision.
And because he had to go through the process of saying hello to a child he couldn’t wake up in the early morning and leaving Jang Seo-ah in the care of Lee Yun-byeol, he was late for work.
“What do you see?”
The current time is 9:10.
An employee who makes eye contact with Lee Jae-heon as he enters the office quickly lowers his head.
“Oh no. sorry.”
“Tsk.”
People who would normally go to work at 7 or 7:30 a.m. ended up going to work at 9 a.m. on time. Lee Jae-heon said, “Is that guy finally crazy?” and the planning team members were also whispering, “Why was work time delayed?” People who looked at him with similar eyes also completely ignored him.
In the same vein, I left work early too.
“Let’s go in first.”
“Ah yes yes…! “Please go in carefully, Manager.”
The current time is 6:23.
I could feel the employees shouting silently in the blind spot, but I ignored them as well.
“I’m heading back now.”
-Ah yes. I ate Seo-ah for dinner.
“thank you. See you later.”
I couldn’t work overtime like I used to because I had to make a profit after work. The contract stipulated that I would work from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Since we had been rolling through the mud together in the secret world, he would understand if I went a little late, but I didn’t really want to go that far.
After arriving home, Lee Yun-byeol, who was preparing to leave work, comes out to meet Seo-ah.
“Mr. Seo-ya is here.”
“Mister.”
He picked up Seo-ah, who was clinging to him, held him in his arms, and looked at Lee Yun-byeol.
“Please leave work.”
“Yes, thank you for your hard work.”
“Thank you for your hard work, Lee Yun-byeol.”
Even in the original work, Lee Yun-byeol was a person who showed his teeth to other survivors to protect his child.
‘I wasn’t in my right mind, but I growled at random people.’
Anyway, even though Seo-ah is not my child, I was so worried that Seo-ah might get hurt that I didn’t let her out of my arms. He was a trustworthy caregiver not only in reality but also in the hidden world.
Jaeheon Lee did not regret hiring her. Perhaps because it was someone she knew, Seo-ah’s face became much brighter and the number of times she behaved unreasonably like a child increased.
“Uncle, let’s watch this together.”
“What.”
“This… that’s it.”
“Is that a rabbit?”
“A dinosaur.”
“Huh.”
Jang Seo-ah also realized whether the paper she was folding every time was a rabbit or a dinosaur. There really was a children’s animation featuring a character that was a rabbit but was a dinosaur. That was really exciting. Jaeheon Lee brought a cup of honey-sweetened milk and a cup of chamomile tea and sat down on the sofa.
Sip milk. Sip some herbal tea. A small child and a large adult sat down to watch a children’s animation. There were also high-level conversations that made you wonder if the video was being watched by young children.
[―Ugh…! How dare this rat-sized thing break my brainwashing?!]
[Love is like that. There are many reasons to love that person, but even if all the reasons change and disappear, love remains. In the end, there is nothing in essence!]
“Wow.”
“awesome.”
[It’s bullshit, everything about love changes! That is the limit of the emotions that you lowly humans can embrace!]
[That is why the love we have now is even more precious. Even though human emotions cannot last forever, we can move forward through the memories built from that love! Now, no matter what tricks you try, you won’t be able to destroy our relationship, right? Let’s go, guys!]
[Good, let’s start now!]
[Kaaaaaaaaaa!]
“Oh… the roundhouse kick is neat…”
“That’s pretty.”
“The weapon the pink hair is holding?”
“one piece.”
“…Do you want to wear it?”
“huh.”
“respect.”
Respecting the taste of the growing sprout, Jaeheon Lee searched for [Magical☆Princess]. What’s the name of that pink hair? Oh, there it is. I wonder if this is for kids too. Lee Jae-heon, who was looking for children’s dresses on the Internet, finally found one, ordered it, and turned off the screen.
“I’m coming the day after tomorrow.”
“Wow.”
“They say the hat and that shiny weapon come together as a set.”
“Waaaaaa.”
“….”
“Waaaaaaaa.”
“…Waaah.”
“Hi.”
The little things are funny.
It was now time for the child to go to bed, having finally pulled out ‘waaah’ from Lee Jae-heon’s mouth. Jang Seo-ah had no trouble sleeping. I don’t know if it was like that from the start or if it just happened, but I just slept well without any signs of complaining. If I patted the child next to him until he fell asleep, he fell asleep without making a sound.
So the current time is 10:36 PM.
“….”
Near the front door. Jaeheon Lee was sitting on a chair he had deliberately placed, facing the mirror.
“…What are you doing?”
The ghost police didn’t show up today either.
Probably the last time I felt like I had been transferred to a memory. At that time, there seemed to be a change in the ghost police as well. It was such a simple and poor inference, but nothing else came to mind right now. Jaeheon Lee still lacked information.
“Still, I missed you sometimes.”
It was obnoxious and annoying, but in the end, that was also my face from my past life. Couldn’t this be said to be the only trace of Lee Jae-heon, who has nothing other than the memories that have finally returned? Even though I couldn’t help but feel like it was a completely different person, it didn’t bother me too much because it was within sight.
A small figure approached him as he faced the mirror.
“…mister.”
“…Are you awake?”
“Who are you looking for?”
“well.”
I even forgot my name.
“I don’t know either.”
A little memory. Things like the return of coolness or the return of dryness.
Jaeheon Lee naturally got up and picked up the child whose eyes were half closed.
Even though the child was dozing off, he persistently asked.
“Who are you waiting for?”
“There are a lot of people waiting.”
“What kind of people are they?”
“The people I love.”
“…Is there such a thing?”
“There’s nothing a palm-sized thing can’t say.”
“then?”
“There was.”
“Were you there?”
“A long time ago.”
I smiled and headed toward the living room.
“I don’t know if he will come back.”
Waiting? many. There were too many.
Lee Jae-heon wanted to see the ghost police officer who fell here first and fell for a long time, the lovely lover who brought him to this world, his children who he might not be able to see anymore, and the mentally ill people who were annoying and frustrating but were still his colleagues. I wanted to.
Even though the relationship was built on misunderstanding, hatred, and hatred, it was mine too…
“…I can’t help it.”
“What.”
“I guess I’ll have to spend a lot of money.”
“I agree. “Me too.”
“You’re already trying to use someone else’s wallet as your own.”
“It’s all mine….”
“Good.”
Although he is a gentle child, he is brainwashed and docile. Since the child was smart enough to recover so quickly even in that environment, I had no complacent thoughts that he wouldn’t understand me. Even though it may sound like nonsense now, one day you will understand what Jaeheon Lee is saying. Still, it was okay.
I was wondering if Lee Jae-heon himself might have something by then.
“The world belongs to greedy people.”
“I have a lot.”
“It seems so.”
“Not you, uncle.”
“I’m greedy.”
“no.”
“….”
It was difficult to break the pea-sized thing because it was so stubborn.
“…Okay, let’s say so.”
“Why do you hate me so much?”
“What does this mean?”
“I just hate everything… I guess.”
“Oh, that’s sharp.”
This was correct.
“It’s because my personality is showing.”
Yes, Jaeheon Lee had a bad personality. It’s been like that since my previous life. Even though the person Jaeheon Lee is now is nothing, that one fact has never changed. I didn’t say that the old man manager’s personality was good either. If a person with a bad personality enters the body of a person with a bad personality, it is natural that the result will be dirty.
The child who was dozing off under the blanket asks.
“…You don’t like me too?”
“no.”
“really?”
“really.”
I feel like I am imitating the daily life I lost, at least in print.
“Pretty good.”
It wasn’t a bad thing because I felt like I had the energy to make up for the extra time I didn’t have.
The mischievous emotions I had were blocked by the coolness of reason and fell away. I felt a strange emptiness and a familiar sense of comfort.
“…Uncle, you have a bad idea.”
“He’s a bad guy by nature, so it’s okay to think bad thoughts.”
“support.”
“That’s not the word to use in that situation.”
“Jiji. Tsk.”
“I wonder if I even picked up dirt…”
He chuckles and turns his head away.
I didn’t know what was so upset, so I took the child, whose cheeks were puffy, out from under the blanket and laid him down right away. Lying down next to him, patting him like he did before, he heard the faint sound of his breathing, and using the sound of his breathing as a lullaby, Lee Jae-heon also closed his eyes.
That didn’t make me sleepy, but it wasn’t that bad either.
* * *
Is it because some of his memories or personality have returned? The brain, which had been working sluggishly for a while, stabilized only after about two weeks.
“What’s going on, Manager?”
“why not?”
“There’s something…”
“Hmm?”
When I looked at her as if asking what was the problem, Kwon Yeon-hee tilted her head.
“…I thought you were calming down?”
“…Why does it end with a question mark?”
“Iknow, right?”
“Huh.”
Such stabilization was evident even on the outside.
I wanted to reduce the sense of discomfort by behaving like before, but not only was it not that big of a deal, but the standard for ‘just like before’ became ambiguous, so I thought it would give me a strange feeling. It’s not like the old manager’s personality has disappeared, so there shouldn’t be any problem. Since it was normal, the feeling of discomfort was only temporary and no one paid much attention to it.
Ah, cancel. One person was a little different.
“….”
“Detective, look away.”
“…Why does it feel…”
“Can’t you hear me telling you to turn?”
“….”
“Detective Tsu-eup.”
“…I’m sorry, but maybe you’re possessed by a ghost.”
“Look at Malbonsae.”
Considering that Hong Gyeong-jun reacts this way, it seems that the prototype named Ghost Cop is indeed him from his previous life. Not a mixed bag like I am now, but really Lee Jae-heon from a previous life. The gaze was rather negative, as if the unfamiliar old manager felt like a familiar gunner.
He just smiled.
“Are you going to start a fight?”
“Are you really not laughing, are you really possessed…?”
“Please take action.”
“I will refrain.”
The place the two were currently in was a restaurant where service was provided in a private room. It was a Japanese restaurant that looked like something out of a noir movie, but Hong Gyeong-jun didn’t look good from the moment he entered. I think it was because the dark atmosphere of the soft lighting and Lee Jae-heon’s slightly changed appearance made the previously given role of a ‘corrupt police officer’ feel very real.
I was calling because I had something to say about that.
“As you know, Detective Hong Gyeong-jun is no longer needed.”
“…I feel like I’m the one in the movie who’s about to get dumped. As expected, Lee Jae-heon of this party is second to none in terms of his hostile atmosphere.”
“If you’re going to swear, you have to do it properly. Anyway, I’m glad you understand.”
What ‘Lee Jae-heon’ wanted from ‘Hong Gyeong-jun’ in the setting was to investigate the citizens who would become victims and find clues about an outstanding writer named Song In-myeong. ‘Lee Jae-heon’ has already built up sufficient relationships with such victims, and with the help of his family, he has also established a relationship with Song In-myeong from the industry. This means that ‘Hong Kyung-jun’ is no longer needed.
“From a business perspective, it makes sense to look after the detective. Because it leaves a clean aftertaste. “You don’t have to worry about noise coming out later… Isn’t death the most effective silence in the world?”
“When you say that with Lee Jae-heon’s face, it doesn’t sound like a joke at all. “After eating raw fish today, on the way back, I get hit on the back of the neck and lose consciousness. If I wake up, I won’t be in the middle of the sea in Busan, right?”
“That’s a really interesting thing to say, but you can rest assured that I really have no intention of killing Hong Gyeong-jun now. “If our detective disappears, the cute dog that will listen to me later will disappear.”
“I feel like a chick in the jaws of a snake. Is this right?”
“It’s not wrong either.”
“Even a joke.”
“You guys tend to trust me too much.”
It’s a joke now.
However, no one knows how things will progress when the prototype’s memories flow into the personality. I wanted to point that out, but there were a lot of things that had already been done to increase the settings here. The future must be left to the future me.
Jaeheon Lee coolly gave up on telling the truth. He smiled.
‘If you raise it this much, they will take care of it themselves.’
It was a disaster brought about by shallow faith.
(Continued in the next part)
