Episode 519
It’s not that I didn’t think it was strange.
Some survivors, led by Jaeheon Lee, were sharing something that only they knew. After such discussions, they always found the right answer. It was always like that.
It was too elaborate to end simply with ‘I’m lucky.’
“You and most survivors may not remember, but we do something called regression. “When you die, you return to a random timeline and start over.”
“….”
“We still don’t know the standard for exactly how far back we will go. “At some point, if you die and come back to life and try to understand the situation, you will only realize that you have returned to the past.”
So it was natural to think it was strange.
Nevertheless, Garam Yoon just didn’t think deeply about it.
“In the last episode… Garam, I died earlier than you.”
“…Are you uncle?”
“Song In-myeong found out about this regression. I don’t know exactly what he wanted, but Song In-myeong killed us after leaving the aquarium. “The police who had just come from Eonhak High School worked hard to stop it, but it wasn’t easy.”
The quiet voice, as if telling an old story, was something Garam Yoon knew well.
Ha Seong-yoon was a perfect and kind person. That was also the fact that Yoon Garam, who caused him a lot of trouble, knew best. It was rare for Ha Seong-yoon, who has a wide arms, to look somewhat clumsy like he does now.
He really looked like a person now. A person who can be found anywhere.
“…were you scared?”
This means that Garam Yoon had ample reason to believe this nonsense.
“Were you very scared when you died several times?”
“…I got used to it right away. “I’m just a little angry.”
“To whom?”
“Well, who is it? It seems like it was a secret world with eccentric tastes, and it also seems like it was Song In-myeong who went around killing people out of the blue…”
Ha Seong-yoon laughed a little.
“I think it was me.”
In the way he raised his glasses, Garam Yoon read embarrassment and guilt.
“I should have protected you.”
“…Did you die first?”
“It is true that Song In-myeong is a trash friend who has no answers, but I will never take it lightly. “He was so clever that he died before he could come to his senses.”
“Are you sick?”
“….”
Ha Seong-yoon, who laughed awkwardly, continued.
“…I’ll tell you in advance, but to be exact, I can’t say I’ve regressed. It’s just that I can see the death from the last episode with these eyes. “If I thought I was a regressor, it would be a mistake.”
“So?”
“It didn’t hurt. I don’t know how I felt at the time, but I’m saying it wasn’t as painful as you think. The same goes for me now…”
“How did I die?”
He licked his lips as if speechless and muttered.
“I know.”
“….”
“How did our Garam die… how…”
Then he smiled faintly.
“…Wouldn’t you be lonely?”
Garam Yoon answered him.
“I think you must have been lonely.”
“okay?”
“Was I the last person to die from Song In-myeong?”
“I guess so. “Everyone in the park died and we ran away to the flower shop.”
“….”
As Yoon Garam just looked at him in silence, Ha Seongyoon opened his mouth as if he had finally gathered his thoughts. What came out of his mouth were things that happened at the park that Garam Yoon couldn’t remember.
“We were resting in the park. “I had just brought Mr. Munsan and Grandma Dallae from the Han River, so I was very tired and needed a rest.”
“yes.”
“There were a lot of people who went to the aquarium, so I thought there was no reason for me to move quickly. After resting like that, I fell asleep for a while, but when I came to my senses… a lot of people were dead.”
“Yes….”
“You couldn’t wake up easily even after all that chaos, so you probably took sleeping pills, right? “I think something similar happened last time at Unhak High School. I don’t know if they used the same type of method, but it was quite effective.”
Ha Seong-yoon, explaining how we died, looked a little awkward and embarrassed. That appearance did not belong to the perfect and kind person that Garam Yoon had always known.
He just looked like a person who had become a little numb to death.
“I woke up with some help from Detective Hong Gyeong-jun, but I didn’t wake up on my own… Maybe it was because I was out of my mind when I woke up, but I couldn’t shake off Song In-myeong easily.”
“….”
“I don’t even remember what spirit I was in to get here. I know that Garam held my hand and dragged me, telling me to run away, but… I don’t know. “At that time, Song In-myeong was perceived as something closer to a monster than a human, so I think I was a little confused.”
Garam Yoon asked again.
“Were you scared?”
“…any?”
Ha Seong-yoon did not deny it this time either.
“I guess it was a little scary.”
“thank god.”
“what?”
“I’m glad you weren’t afraid of dying.”
“….”
“…I think I would have been sad if it hadn’t been so.”
Garam Yoon saw a small flower monster wandering at his feet.
The monster, with a body as delicate as a gypsum flower, used its leaves like hands, poking and wrapping around Yoon Garam’s legs and leaning on them.
“….”
Even if I stroked it with my hand, it didn’t run away.
Didn’t even bite.
“…What after running away to the flower shop?”
“….”
“What on earth did I expect to come here?”
Garam Yoon raised his head and looked at his dark store.
The cold-lit refrigerator, like something you would find in an evil doctor’s laboratory, was filled with flowers. Tiny, terrible friends who talk to me by curling up and blooming flower petals.
“…Aha….”
I thought I knew why I ran away here.
“…Did we believe that these monsters would help us?”
“If you thought so, then so be it.”
“Did these kids really help us?”
“No, well… I wonder what it was like.”
“Was it hard to talk about?”
“Not really.”
Ha Seong-yoon shook his head slightly and said.
“It might have been helpful to you.”
“…What about you?”
“I had a bit of a hard time.”
Ha Seong-yoon said awkwardly.
“Because I was burned to death by the fire these guys were spewing out.”
“….”
That must have been really pretty.
As Yoon Garam thought that, her face was contorted as if she was about to cry.
“…I said it didn’t hurt.”
“It did.”
“They say burning to death is so painful….”
“It wasn’t as painful as you thought.”
“You said you were scared…”
“It’s okay.”
Then he laughs awkwardly again.
“It’s because it’s really okay.”
I know that the awkwardness is not due to lying.
It’s just that Ha Seong-yoon is too unfamiliar with talking like this.
Garam Yoon and Seongyoon Ha did not usually talk to each other like this, and Garam Yoon leaned on Seongyoon Ha, but never listened to his complaints.
So it was natural that sadness over something we didn’t experience was also awkward.
“To be precise… it would be difficult to say that he was completely burned to death. “Suffocation and burns due to exhaust fumes would be the correct cause of death, right?”
“If this was something you said to comfort me, it was really the worst.”
“so? “I’m so sorry.”
“I just didn’t want you to get sick.”
“Wouldn’t it be too much to hope that I would burn to death?”
“That’s true too…”
Ha Seong-yoon knew that Yoon Gar-ram wanted him to burn, but he didn’t find her disgusting or reluctant. I just understood and accepted it. Yoon Garam made Ha Seong-yoon scary.
My flower hurt you.
“sorry.”
I hoped for that, but I didn’t want it to become reality.
“….”
“… That friend Song In-myeong is quite smart.”
Ha Seong-yoon continued speaking softly in a tone that still remained awkward.
“I knew the monsters in this flower shop were igniting. They knew that when threatened, they would attack with fire. “Maybe it’s not you who lured Garam, but Song In-myeong who drove him to the flower shop.”
“…yes.”
“They cornered us in the flower shop, blocked the entrance, and attacked us by throwing bottles filled with oil… The monsters that were threatened there spewed fire, so you don’t know it, but I was killed in an instant.”
“That’s terrible.”
“You would be fine.”
“It’s terrible.”
“So I’m sorry.”
Ha Seong-yoon carefully stroked the face of Yoon Gar-ram, who was holding back her tears.
“I should have died later than you.”
“…I should have….”
“This guy was so ugly. “I was so bad that I left you alone.”
“….”
“…were you very lonely?”
Garam Yoon stuttered to answer the cautious question.
“…no.”
“okay?”
“…I wouldn’t have been lonely. “That’s right…”
Yoon Garam pressed his lips together and continued.
“Because he would have wanted to kill Song In-myeong without even having a chance to be lonely…”
Ha Seong-yoon, who looked dumbfounded for a moment, burst into laughter at those words.
“Yeah, I see. “Our Garam is very reliable.”
“…I want to kill someone, but are you saying that I have confidence in you?”
“That trash friend is still okay. “I sometimes fantasize about taking Song In-myeong’s head.”
“Why is comfort so strange today?”
“This wasn’t a consolation. “I’m just telling the truth.”
Ha Seong-yoon gently stroked Yoon Gar-ram’s head.
“I don’t know how you died, but I was so worried. “The last time I saw you, you were crying a lot… and you were very angry… so I thought at least I couldn’t defeat that clever friend of Song In-myeong.”
“Aren’t you supposed to support me?”
“Favoritism is good, but I needed objective judgment. I know that our Garam is a strong child in many ways, but Song In-myeong felt like a difficult opponent. “That guy was very honest.”
“He’s a really annoying person.”
“That’s true.”
Ha Seong-yoon’s touch stopped.
“And… he seemed a little desperate.”
“…Song In-myeong?”
“They desperately sought us out, cornered us, and tried to kill us again. They turn on their eyes and attack us, as if they can’t tolerate even a single mistake. How scary is that? “I felt like I came fully prepared.”
“Why did you do that?”
“Wouldn’t it have been a burden for that friend to have too many deaths?”
Ha Seong-yoon laughed slightly. It was exactly like the sound of the windshield shaking.
“…Well, I don’t know….” “
….”
“We were all desperate back then.”
“…yes.”
“We all needed a chance to start over. Even Song In-myeong.”
As Yoon Garam looked at him, Ha Seongyoon met his gaze.
“And I wanted you to know… that you can really start over. “I wanted Garam to trust you before you go to the aquarium where you don’t know what will happen.”
“…why?”
“I didn’t want to hurt you this time either.”
He awkwardly opened his eyes.
“I hope you at least win this time.”
“….”
“…Because you are a strong child.”
Garam Yoon responded to that crude belief without realizing it.
“that’s right.”
“…okay?”
“Let me help you.”
If the people I love believed in me, I could win over Yoon Garam at any time.
Ha Seong-yoon was the person who knew that best.
* * *
“Wow, really….”
Song In-myeong muttered, holding the tattered paper.
“It’s like shit.”
It’s been almost an hour and a half since I entered.
Song In-myeong was still trapped in the middle of the maze.
(Continued in the next part)
