Episode 498
Boom.
Dayoung Park heard the sound of someone dying.
“….”
That may not have been a sound.
Probably not. In fact, Dayoung Park didn’t hear anything.
It must have been so painful that my heart, which was just wheezing and pumping blood, suddenly fell to the floor and stopped. I guess I was surprised because I froze and couldn’t breathe.
“…Ah….”
So, Park Da-young.
I noticed that someone had died in this aquarium.
“…who is this.”
The voice, which was already cloudy, cracked horribly.
“Who why…”
The words that crawled out of my mouth for a moment soon crawled back inside.
“….”
“…Sister…?”
“….”
I couldn’t bear to answer Seo-ah’s small call. I couldn’t afford it.
Park Da-young sat Seo-ah on her lap and stared blankly at the pitch-black hallway. Minhong, who was sitting on the chair across from her, looked up at her, but couldn’t put her in his field of vision.
Park Da-young stayed like that for a while, looking across the hallway where Park Da-hoon and Song In-myeong were.
“….”
Still no voice came out.
“…are you okay.”
With trembling fingertips, I stroked the child sitting on my lap.
“are you okay.”
But why did it feel so awkward?
Actually, we are not that old, just 19 years old. Wouldn’t it be funny for her, who is only a high school student, to pet Seo-ah, who is a kindergartener? I felt like my insides were twisting with an extremely shameful feeling.
“It’s okay…”
Even though I said that, I couldn’t pet Seo-ah anymore.
Just wandering around the corner of the child’s eyes, he gently pressed the back of the small head and held Seo-ah in his arms. Seo-ah, who was so tightly hugged that she couldn’t see anything, whined, but didn’t grab Park Da-young’s collar or anything.
“….”
“….”
Minhong Choi, who was sitting quietly, asked.
“Aren’t you going to give me your hand?”
“…I can’t really give you my hand.”
“No, I can give it to you.”
“please.”
Park Da-young’s breathing became heavy.
“Please, sister, my head hurts… stop.”
“it hurts?”
“….”
Why is that one small question so burdensome?
I knew right away that Minhong Choi was special in some way. The reason why I felt so uncomfortable now was because Park Da-young herself had no time to spare. My stomach felt like it was turning over in frustration.
It’s called hand hand. hand.
Whose hand is it?
‘Dahun? Or uncle?’
It will be bloody. In order to turn a hand into an object that can be owned, the only way is to kill the owner of the hand. If you cut it, it will bleed. It is impossible to turn a hand into an object without blood flowing.
Just imagining it made me feel nauseous, and Choi Min-hong in front of me didn’t feel like the little kid I used to know. It seemed like sour gastric juice was floating around the corner of my throat.
“…It’s because I’m having a hard time…”
It was a muttering that I didn’t know to whom.
“It’s because it’s hard. “I’m having a hard time…”
“What about your hands?”
“It’s because everything is difficult.”
“Sister’s hand.”
“…Everything…”
Park Da-young realized at that moment that she considered Jang Seo-ah a hassle and that she felt terrible about Choi Min-hong. In that brief moment, such awareness came over me and clogged my pores.
“….”
“Give me your hand.”
“….”
Who is causing the discomfort I feel now?
Jang Seo-ah, even crying during difficult times? Choi Min-hong, who screams strange things and asks for his hands even though his head hurts? Park Da-young herself, who feels this kind of irritation or disgust towards children who still need to be protected?
“…Going crazy.”
I tried to force a smile.
It didn’t feel right, but I did it to at least get some form.
“I’m really going crazy.”
I managed to come to my senses and accept reality.
Someone just died. Since this was a feeling that Dayoung Park felt so strongly, it must have happened inside this aquarium, and it must have been someone she cared about very much.
‘…Given the circumstances, it must be Park Da-hoon or Mr. Park.’
If Song In-myeong dies, he won’t feel this terrible sense of loss.
“Why can’t it work? Really….”
“…Hibb….”
“Park Da-hoon, please. “Why not?”
No matter how much I calmed down and prayed with both hands together, I couldn’t connect with Park Da-hoon. I couldn’t tell if this was because my brother had died a while ago or because I was having trouble trying to connect.
I wanted to run to the hallway right away and check if he was alive or dead, but the situation was not conducive. Seo-ah was sitting on her lap, and Min-hong was sitting on the chair beyond her. I couldn’t move because I couldn’t walk and I had a child to protect.
“What’s the problem?”
I missed you.
‘The man wasn’t angry even though he got hurt like this.’
Lee Jae-heon, like Park Da-young now, was not a person who lost his composure just because his leg was bitten and the wound spread.
Rather, even if their shoulders were pierced, their hands and feet were cut off, or their internal organs were ripped out, they only worried about the safety of the survivors. He continued his strategy by mentioning efficiency.
On the other hand, what about Park Da-young?
‘I lost my composure because I hurt my leg. Song In-myeong couldn’t handle it either and foolishly leaked the information. He’s even getting irritated with the kindergartners I’m supposed to protect. Actually, I’m the one who can’t do anything. Right now, I can’t even walk without help from others… I…’
Park Da-young consciously said out loud.
“no.”
I say it again.
“No, you can’t think like this. You can’t do that….”
I’m not bad.
Kindergarten students aren’t bad either. It’s true that Song In-myeong is bad, and I don’t know if Park Da-hoon is alive or dead, but he may have lived. It was the same for my uncle. I had to regain my senses and make a decision.
I felt like my stomach was twisting, but somehow I was able to do it.
“Phew….”
I took a long breath.
Park Da-young, who had regained enough composure to not get angry or cry, just quietly stared out into the dark hallway.
As Seo-ah’s crying, Min-hong’s complaints, and even the mannequin’s whispering began to fade away from her ears, Park Da-young’s heart calmed down.
It seemed like a sound was coming from far away.
“….”
The sound of footsteps and Song In-myeong’s voice.
And….
“….”
My younger brother’s face.
“…Park Da-hoon!”
“sister.”
“Hey, you crazy bastard…!”
Despair soared along with relief.
“I was so fucking worried…!”
“Sorry. “I’m sorry, I’m really sorry…”
“I was scared…!”
I felt relieved that my younger brother was alive.
“…I’m scared…”
The man said.
I felt despair that the ground I was stepping on had disappeared.
“….”
“….”
Park Da-hoon seemed to know that too.
Song In-myeong spoke through the silence of high school students who felt loss.
“Anyway… can’t we just run away? We worked hard to get away from him, but that monster will definitely come after us, right? huh?”
“Know the mood.”
“Oh, the atmosphere and everything, it’s a fucking crisis right now.”
“Crazy bastard….”
Park Da-young cried a little.
Song In-myeong made fun of it and was double-slapped on the back by Park Da-young and Park Da-hoon. The bastard without conscience did not avoid it but instead welcomed it.
“For now… just move. “Talk as you move.”
After hearing Park Da-young’s words, Song In-myeong carried her on his back, and Park Da-hoon took care of the two kindergarten students. The children seemed to feel more at ease, as if they felt that the atmosphere was better than before.
As we headed to the next theme zone, ‘Sea Treasure Hall’, Song In-myeong spoke as if he were telling a story.
“Hey, your brother almost died.”
“What the fuck?”
“I saved someone from almost being eaten by a slime monster. okay?”
“Park Da-hoon, are you this bird…?”
Park Da-hoon avoided his gaze at his older sister’s cold gaze.
What Song In-myeong said was undoubtedly true. Song In-myeong saved him just before he was eaten by the monster.
He said grumblingly.
“Thanks to you, even the mop that I used so well has started to crumble. What a piece of shit.”
The mop pole brought from ‘Friends by the Stream’ got caught in the mouth of the slime that was trying to swallow Park Da-hoon, and he died. A stick was inserted vertically between the roof of the mouth and the tongue to prevent the mouth from closing, but the plastic stick did not last long and broke.
With Song In-myeong’s flashy aggro and Park Da-hoon’s quick feet, we were able to escape from the monster, but the situation was not very good.
“Because it’s a monster that relies on sight, it probably knows that we ran in this direction. No matter how twisted the hallway is, it’s still a hallway. There’s only one road, so you can’t catch us? “It means you have to jump out before you get caught.”
Dayoung Park said with a frown on her face.
“Oh, then why don’t you run faster?”
“Don’t be damned, you pig, it’s so fucking heavy! Do you think that anyone can run over a bag of rice? “If it weren’t for my stamina, which I carried around with corpses whenever I had the chance, you would have fallen over there long ago, and I would have jumped out alone, abandoning you!”
“Is Malbonsae true? Who the fuck is a pig?”
“Isn’t that a pig on my back?!”
Da-hoon Park, who was running with two children at his side, shouted.
“Don’t be mean to our little pig, mister!”
“You bastard, you can either put your sister down or put me down…! I didn’t see it that way, but this guy is out of his mind! Rather, why am I an old man!”
“It’s a natural title since we’ve been wearing school uniforms and you haven’t for a long time!”
“It’s a bountiful harvest, damn it!”
Park Da-young, who had wrinkled her face in the noisy atmosphere, soon burst into laughter.
“…I’m going crazy….”
I still didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
‘…No matter how much I think about it, I think he’s dead. What should I do?’
I knew there was another chance, but I couldn’t ignore it.
The feeling of dying is always dirty, and I’m already at a loss as to what I should tell ‘Park Da-young’ who is next after me.
First of all, it is an obvious fact that this episode was a failure, so I guess I will have to gather as much information as possible and then die…
“….”
I don’t know everything.
I just wanted to see you.
* * *
“….”
A shallow layer of blood crawled right up to the front of my sneakers.
“…Oh my…”
Jeong Eun-woo saw Lee Jae-heon’s corpse standing tall.
“…It’s a scene straight out of a horror movie.”
quiet.
The body of an adult male, without a head or hands, standing still and motionless in the dark. The thick smell of blood seemed to reach my eyeballs through the moisture-filled air.
Jeong Eun-woo thought for a moment.
‘Should I go inside or wait here?’
The conclusion was quick.
“…I don’t think it would be a wise choice to go into the souvenir shop without any safety measures.”
He said that as if he was making an excuse to Lee Jae-heon’s still body, but it wasn’t really an excuse.
Lee Jae-heon hoped that Jeong Eun-woo would survive and protect the students who would soon come. In order to carry out his orders, Jung Eun-woo must not be killed or injured, and in the same vein, he must not enter a souvenir shop where there may be any threat.
“The manager said so.”
Everything is going well, so there is no need to question or describe it.
“understand.”
Lee Jae-heon was going crazy, and as the composure and reason surrounding him disappeared, Lee Jae-heon became more clear.
Considering the orders given by Lee Jae-heon, the fact that he died now, as he was becoming a smart and capable monster, could be seen as an advantage.
I’m sure Lee Jae-heon wants that too. Rather than taking risks by collecting a useless corpse, Eun-woo Jeong makes the right choice by following the orders he left behind while he was alive.
“I understood.”
Jeong Eun-woo was still smiling faintly.
Perhaps because of my mood, I felt like I could hear the footsteps of people waiting for me from afar.
(Continued in the next part)
