Episode 451
Lee Jae-heon, who sent the text message, was dumbfounded.
“You can catch fish this well?”
From the moment I saw him at the event, I thought he was a very easy-going kid. But wouldn’t it be funny if we were caught as soon as we threw the bait like this, having been so embarrassed in the underworld? The art teacher monster was annoyingly obsessive and threatening, but the real-life Sung Dae-young was not like that.
Jang Seo-ah asked him, who was half lying on the sofa and waving his cell phone.
“fishing?”
“Has our lady ever gone fishing?”
“there is.”
“Oh, what kind of fishing?”
“At home…”
“Aha.”
I don’t know if he was toy fishing or if he released the fish into a simple swimming pool and caught it, but he said he did it inside the house. To be honest, it was bullying to make a skinny, skeleton-looking kindergartener go fishing properly. The child didn’t seem particularly interested in fishing, although he might have wanted to.
I said while gently stroking the head of Jang Seo-ah, who was sitting next to me.
“I have some work to do this weekend, so I think I’ll have to hang out with you.”
“Where are you going.”
“When our young lady gets angry, her voice drops. I’m sorry, he’s very busy these days. “If you play well with the teacher, I will do whatever you want, whatever you want.”
“This is a cowardly excuse from an adult.”
“I don’t know why kids these days are so talkative.”
Is this the speaking skills a 6-year-old kindergartener would show?
“Is my lady angry?”
“I’m angry. Where are you going.”
“I’ll tell you if you promise not to tell other adults.”
“A child has no obligation to keep a promise to a cowardly adult.”
“Did you really go to a speaking academy somewhere?”
“I didn’t go.”
“Okay, okay. do not be angry.”
Lee Jae-heon continued speaking while stroking his swollen cheek.
“I’m going to get hurt.”
“Are you making fun of me?”
“Oh really, why do you say that, Seo-ah?”
“bad.”
I wrapped my arms around the child, who had returned to his normal speaking tone, and hugged him tightly.
“I’m sorry uncle.”
He thought about hiding it, but Lee Jae-heon knew that hiding it like that would only instill a sense of betrayal later. In any case, other survivors knew that Lee Jae-heon was using himself as bait to lure industry figures. If the child wants to, it is better to answer honestly for the sake of future relationships.
Of course, children have the right and obligation not to know the dirty truth. But isn’t Jang Seo-ah an adult who has already seen everything she needs to see? Seo-ah had the right to know at least a little bit about what Jae-heon Lee was doing to the industry. Jaeheon Lee decided that way.
“If Seo-ah had been a little less smart, she wouldn’t have told me.”
“I’m smart.”
“That’s okay. That wasn’t the case, but Seo-ah became smart because the adults were bad.”
“I’m not bad.”
“of course. “Our young lady is really smart.”
“What is Youngteuk?”
“It means something that is exceptionally outstanding and excellent.”
“Okay then.”
“It’s okay if you like it.”
A good adult would have kept this dirty truth hidden until the end. But Jaeheon Lee was not a good adult. The child’s betrayed face was about to tell me the truth that I didn’t want to know. That was Jaeheon Lee’s selfishness.
“There is a man who is worse than me.”
“many.”
“yes. The world is so crazy that there are so many people worse than me. “I don’t know what’s going on in this soft world.”
“It was bad.”
“You can’t just leave such bad people alone.”
“….”
“What should we do if bad adults touch our older sisters? Do you remember your high school friends? If you leave bad adults alone, it’s the young kids who get hurt the most. Including our Seo-ah.”
The child asked.
“Why are you doing that?”
“I have a great knack for dealing with bad adults.”
“Just because you’re good at something doesn’t mean you have to do it. “I can sing well, but I don’t have to sing.”
“Oh, our Seo-ah, do you sing well?”
“You are cowardly changing your words.”
“…I did something wrong, so should I stop using that tone? “You’re experiencing cognitive dissonance.”
He patted the shoulder of the child who was very upset and continued speaking.
“Of course, there is no obligation to do something just because you are good at it. “It’s just because you wanted to do this.”
“Do you like being sick?”
“The reward you get after the pain is better than the pain.”
“Who is that reward good for?”
“Something the size of your palm is sharp.”
As Jang Seo-ah said, even if this was over, there was no particular big reward for Lee Jae-heon. It’s just that students from Unhak High School, who don’t know when or how they might be threatened, can become safer? All that was necessary was that he could help police officers Hong Gyeong-jun and Kim Yeon-woo by ousting industry insiders.
However, the world was not composed of only utility and gain.
“Isn’t compensation not just material?”
“…Material….”
“It means that it does not necessarily have to be held in hand to be a reward. “The refreshing feeling when the work is finished and the relieved feeling when the result is achieved can be sufficient compensation.”
If emotional rewards did not exist, the word passion pay would not have existed in the world.
“You’re trying to get that kind of reward.”
“…Do you really like that?”
“Adults with bad personalities like me feel relieved when they see someone they’re annoyed with break down.”
“Was it bad?”
“…I’m not sure what you’re asking exactly?”
“I don’t know either.”
“Then let’s just pretend that neither of us knows.”
As expected, conversations with children were difficult to understand. I wasn’t even sure if ‘Was it bad?’ was an interrogative question. Are you asking a question or just raising the end of your voice? I couldn’t understand at all who was bad. You probably don’t even know yourself.
“I will hurt you as little as possible.”
“You can’t say something that’s obvious as if you’re being generous.”
“Who taught my young lady such a bitter sentence?…”
“I’m smart.”
“Well then, our Seo-ah is smart. But I think it’s okay to be a little less smart.”
“Then who will scold you?”
“There are many people other than you who would mistreat you, so don’t do that.”
“no, I do not want.”
“Be firm. “It’s scary.”
“Hi.”
Seeing him smile, I guess he finally felt better.
“Do not get sick.”
“I’ll try.”
“Don’t abandon me.”
“….”
I’m sure I’ve heard this story from the Park siblings before, but is it just my mood?
“If you pick it up and throw it away, you’re a bad adult.”
“I have a bit of a rebuttal, Seo-ah.”
He said while making eye contact with the child.
“I didn’t pick it up, I brought it with me.”
“…What’s the difference?”
“It means you can’t leave Seo-ah alone or abandon her if you want.”
“I like that.”
“You can scold me as much as you want.”
That’s what a relationship is.
“…I will always get scolded.”
Lee Jae-heon’s relationships always failed.
He was always wrong and everyone was right except him, and yet Lee Jae-heon was used to living the way he wanted.
That was the reason why the relationship was bound to fail and why he was mistreated. However, I did not feel the need to change my way of thinking because that way of life was not right.
That’s right, Lee Jae-heon was a villain. In my previous life, I was first-class, and now I am third-class. For him now that he has become more degenerate, being ‘incorrect’ could not be a basis for correcting his attitude.
“So are you feeling a little less anxious now?”
“no.”
“Then what should I do so I don’t feel anxious?”
“Don’t go.”
“this.”
“Don’t be hurt…”
The child didn’t cry.
“…I don’t like being sick….”
“I don’t like you either.”
“But why are you going?”
He just complained in a very low voice.
“If you don’t like it, you don’t have to go.”
“The world is not that easy.”
“…Who tells you to do that, uncle?”
“I think so.”
“He’s a bad person.”
“There are good times.”
“….”
The child raised his head from his down position and looked at me.
“Who ordered you to do that?”
“…well fate?”
It wasn’t a lie. What is it if the path set by God is not destiny?
It was quite unfortunate that even though I came back to life, I was still bound by fate.
* * *
In his previous life, Jaeheon Lee was weak.
To be precise, it looked weak. The reason he was nicknamed the Viper was because he was literally a human being full of venom, not because he had poison-related abilities or had a strong body. As he got older, he actually became stronger, but on the outside he still seemed corrupt.
Such a poisonous snake would look quite weak if it only concealed its visible venom. It was difficult to hide the mean-spirited impression, but he was able to cover up even that impression with his acting skills.
“….”
So what I’m trying to say now is….
“Thank you for visiting my studio, Jaeheon Lee.”
“…yes.”
This means that Jaeheon Lee may have been quite talented at pretending to be weak.
“You don’t have to worry. “My studio is clean, so there won’t be anything that will bother you.”
“okay.”
“If you take a seat, I will treat you to a cup of tea. Please wait a moment.”
It’s funny how he seems to be taking his time, as if he thinks ‘Lee Jae-heon’ is in his hands or will be in his hands soon. This is someone who can crack your skull at any moment. Lee Jae-heon, who, including his past life, had always lived the life of a strong man except for his boss and his biological family, tried hard to suppress laughter.
‘I was so upset in the other world because of that stupid bastard.’
I once again realized that the most important thing in the underworld is the mind. Didn’t Seong Dae-young, who doesn’t look like much in real life, eat up the school with a single thought in the behind-the-scenes world? Of course, he may be a threat to the general public in real life, but at least not to Lee Jae-heon.
‘Looking at this, it certainly seems like mental factors can be used to improve individual survivors’ abilities to a transcendental level…’ Even
in the original, Kang Min-ah, who is quietly good at what she does without even going to the final boss, Yoon Gar-ram, surpasses Sung Dae-young. It seemed like a monster might come out. In the original work, the crazy protagonist had powers that surpassed that of the monster, so this was something that needed to be considered in many ways.
As I sat quietly on the sofa and waited, Daeyoung Seong came in carrying a tray.
“I tried a light latte. Is it okay?”
“…it’s okay.”
“Thank goodness.”
When I saw him in the park, he seemed to have lost his temper and threatened me, but now he puts a lot of effort into making up for the distance he felt back then. Seong Dae-young was trying to relieve Lee Jae-heon’s tension. Unable to let go of that expectation, Lee Jae-heon also gave a stiff expression.
Seong Dae-young’s emotions seemed complex and subtle, perhaps feeling a sense of superiority as a strong man at the same time being unpleasant because the opponent did not let down his guard as much as he tried. But overall, they seemed excited. It seems like he thinks he’s hiding it well.
Thanks to this, Lee Jae-heon’s pretense of weakness showed even greater strength.
“So, why did you even give me a business card?”
“Are you still worried? “I can never touch Lee Jae-heon.”
“I’m not talking about me, but you… back then…”
“Where are the materials for the work you purchased from? Or the materials requested at the meeting?”
“….”
“Jaeheon Lee is really kind.”
I closed my mouth, pretending to be speechless. It was a wariness shown because he knew that Seong Dae-young was planning to take an innocent person hostage and play with him. So, ‘Lee Jae-heon’.
He snorted with effort.
“I guess you haven’t heard of me. “If I had heard it, there’s no way I would have said that.”
“I always think about it, but I can’t believe the rumors. “How could Mr. Lee Jae-heon not be affectionate? If he were, he wouldn’t have been bothered by student Song In-myeong in the first place.”
“…That’s not it….”
“Aren’t you here today because you’re worried that someone you care about will die in your hands?”
Lee Jae-heon thought once again, frowning in frustration and resignation.
Pretending to be weak seems to be more suitable than I thought.
(Continued in the next part)
