Episode 585
“Director Jaeheon Lee.”
“yes.”
“Are you okay?”
Are you okay?
‘Would it be okay if it were you, my friend?’
At Jung Eun-woo’s question, the man swallowed an inward curse.
To be honest, he didn’t volunteer to act as bait just because he liked it.
‘It’s hard to make a living.’
Concluding that this was the right answer and wondering why my life was the same were two different things. I made the decision without delay because I needed to and because I could, but I was never willing to face the fate of being eaten alive.
Even though he was in the body of the crazy Lee Jae-heon, he couldn’t show that he was upset.
‘Because Lee Jae-heon is a sacrificial soldier who likes such sacrifices.’
Kyungjun, senior lives like this.
“….”
The man who was crying out for a good junior soon blinked. The man, who was lost in thought for a moment, tapped his arm to check something and then spoke to Jeong Eun-woo, who was still looking at him.
“Jung Eun-woo.”
“Say yes.”
“I have a favor to ask you.”
“As much as you want.”
The place where they are is the glass wall on the tank ceiling, which is the only passage into the tank. The wall itself was thick enough for an adult man to sit on, but the distance from the surface was too far to serve as bait.
Deep inside, a place where beautiful, eyeless mermaids make waves and make clear laughter. The man who was looking into the water in the tank spoke.
“Any variable can happen.”
“Yes, this side world seems to have a strong tendency to do that.”
“So…”
the man asked Eunwoo Jeong.
“….”
“….”
“Do you understand?”
Jeong Eun-woo understood the man’s request.
“Yes I will.”
“thank you.”
The high ceiling of the water tank.
No one heard the two’s quiet conversation.
* * *
“….”
Park Da-young looked up at the tank with anxious eyes.
“…What if something goes wrong?”
“Dayoung, don’t worry too much.”
“Mermaids have very sharp teeth. “Just like a shark.”
Perhaps intrigued by the presence of survivors, the mermaids would often swim to the bottom of the tank where they could see them up close. The teeth of a mermaid could be seen between the lips of a mermaid smiling brightly through a glass wall.
Numerous teeth extending from the roof of the mouth to the throat, and it is unclear how far down they may go. The teeth were as white as drawing paper and sharp as awls, and if bitten even once, the flesh seemed to fall off in an instant.
“Uncle…”
Of course, Lee Jae-heon was a person who could endure such pain very well.
“You shouldn’t be in so much pain.”
“….”
“I was already in a lot of pain…”
Right now, Lee Jae-heon wasn’t even mentally sound, and he had already lost too much blood before that. They’re using Lee Jae-heon as bait, who seems like he’s going to die on his own even if he’s left alone, even though he’s going to be anxious even if he’s doing his job in a healthy state.
‘It may be true that we are gradually going crazy.’
Dayoung Park tried to relieve her anxiety by squeezing and straightening her curly hair.
‘Just like your former colleagues did… we too just because we needed it…’
But the bad thoughts didn’t stop.
Lee Jae-heon said he would act as a decoy because it was necessary. This was not something that the survivors took kindly to. However, we couldn’t help but notice that we were very different from when we first accepted Lee Jae-heon’s sacrifice.
‘If it were us back then, no matter what Lee Jae-heon said, we would have stopped him.’
So what about now?
Although they were dissatisfied with Lee Jae-heon’s opinion, they thought it was reasonable and accepted Lee Jae-heon’s sacrifice by rationally weighing the loss and gain of the process and result. It was quite a passive acceptance, but compared to the beginning, it has become quite active.
“….”
When one year passed like this, then two years, then three years passed.
Will we then be able to fully blame ourselves for Lee Jae-heon’s sacrifice like we do now?
“…Wasn’t it true that you were sending the uncle?”
“Dayoung, you’re so excited right now.”
“How are we any different from your former colleagues?”
“That I didn’t force it.”
“….”
“I am thankful to him with a sense of guilt, and no matter what the outcome is, there is no one who can blame a man named Lee Jae-heon.”
Garam Yoon stroked Dayoung Park’s head.
“are you okay.”
Yoon Garam’s hand, which was gently stroking the small top of her head, soon gently came down and grabbed Park Dayoung’s hand, which was obsessively pulling her hair.
Garam Yoon placed his hand in Dayoung Park’s hand instead of her hair.
“It could be the same as your uncle being sick. But we have to see the process, Dayoung. “The most important thing in the world is process.”
“….”
“No result can occur without process.”
“…But…”
“If the process is different, even if it looks similar, the results are different. It’s never the same.”
Garam Yoon smiled, folding his eyes affectionately. It somehow resembled Ha Seong-yoon, but was also full of life like a flower that had just bloomed.
“Dayoung is doing well. “It’s so special.”
“…Aren’t you anxious?”
“Apart from feeling sorry, I’m not anxious.”
She whispered to Park Da-young like someone playing a prank.
“If I fail this time, you will be the last survivor.”
“….”
“It’s okay if Dayoung doesn’t do it.”
“…Sister….”
“So for now, let’s do what Dayoung can do.”
Yoon Garam’s hand stroked Park Dayoung’s shoulder and then moved away.
“Can you calm Dahun down?”
“…I’ll try my best.”
Park Da-young took a deep breath to prevent tears from falling between her red eyes. The shoulder that Garam Yoon had stroked tickled as if he was teasing me with a feather, and the faint tickling soon spread to my fingertips, causing me to tremble a little.
It wasn’t because of tension or anxiety.
“….”
Park Da-young and Park Da-hoon were among good adults.
Adults who are so kind that it is hard to find them in real life. People who will listen to our concerns whenever we ask for help and will eventually pull us out of hell, even if it means dying a few times.
“….”
‘Sister, I’m having a hard time.’
“…know.”
‘It’s really cold…’
“Yes.”
Park Da-hoon, you should have known that too.
Right Now.
“But it’s okay.”
‘It’s not okay at all.’
‘I will help you.’
‘How can my sister help me? ‘I’m alone.’
‘Someone said you were alone.’
‘….’
‘He will come find you soon.’
Dayoung Park clearly conveyed her thoughts.
‘And I will be with you.’
‘…Nope.’
‘Why not? I’ll keep talking to you next to me.’
‘You’re not next to me. ‘I’m alone now.’
‘I can’t have a conversation like this if I’m alone.’
‘But…’
‘Listen to me. ‘I’m right.’
Park Da-young resolutely cut off the bizarre depression and dizzy confusion that was trying to take over my brain. It was not a situation where I could be swayed by my younger brother’s whining. Park Da-young had to protect her younger brother.
To be honest, Park Da-young until now may not have been a very good older sister to Park Da-hoon. If she was a truly good sister, she would have had to face the brunt of her parents’ rejection. However, Park Da-young did not want to give up her position as a good daughter, and that might have been a cowardly act.
However, this does not change the fact that Park Da-young has done her best to protect Park Da-hoon until now.
‘So you have to trust me too.’
Even though I may have done something wrong, and even though Park Da-young was not the ideal older sister, she always wanted to protect her younger sister.
Park Da-hoon clearly knew that too.
‘yes?’
“….”
‘I’m right.’
That’s why Park Da-hoon nodded without realizing it.
“…You’re right….”
The only one on my side in the small world of family.
You are right. You have always been wise. So I believe it.
“I trust you.”
Words that I would never have said normally came out naturally, saying it was disgusting. Park Da-hoon laughed at that point, but he agreed to her because he was half out of his mind and half wanted to cry.
Park Da-young’s constantly heard voice created the illusion that he was really with her.
“….”
‘Park Da-hoon.’
“…huh.”
‘Park Da-hoon.’
“uh.”
‘….’
Then suddenly.
“Dahun.”
When my family’s voices became clear.
-Awesome!!
“…!”
“! Dahun!”
The positions of Park Da-hoon and Park Da-young were switched.
“…What is this….”
“Dahun, are you okay? Dahun!”
“Sister, sister…”
I was confused.
“….”
Park Da-hoon stood up unsteadily and looked around.
The worries of adults were ringing in my ears and shaking my brain. My vision was colorful and blurry, like a smudged watercolor painting, and the only thing I could clearly see was my sister.
Dayoung Park.
“sister.”
There was Park Da-young, who was trapped in a glass box that was almost filled with water.
“Hey you…”
‘I can do it.’
“….”
‘I can do it too.’
Bubble….
Park Da-young makes clear eye contact, letting out a breath.
‘You are not alone.’
It was only then that Dahoon Park began to see the world.
“….”
Jung Eun-woo was approaching the glass box that was almost completely filled with water.
“….”
Lee Jae-heon could be seen among the mermaids gathered above him, with bright red blood spreading.
“….”
And the worried voices of adults are heard.
“Dahun, can you hear our voices?”
“I’ve been in the water for too long and my body is cold.”
“Do you have any more clothes for Dahun?”
Kim Ki-jeong asked Park Da-hoon with a frown on his face.
“Is it still cold?”
“….”
“…He’s still shaking. Bring some more clothes!”
Park Da-hoon, who was just looking at his surroundings, suddenly came to his senses when he heard a skinny arm awkwardly hugging his body and a voice that seemed somewhat nervous despite the worry.
“ah.”
All of this complicated murmur was a move to save us.
Da-hoon Park and trying to save Da-hoon Park….
“Oh uh….”
“Da-hoon?”
“…Huh….”
“It’s all Dahun. “Hey, what should I do? The baby is crying.”
Following Kim Ki-jeong’s embarrassed voice, I felt adults’ hands patting Park Da-hoon’s back.
The sensation of being patted was dull. I could see that things that looked like outerwear that adults had taken off were surrounding me.
I was scared. It’s still scary, but nothing is over yet.
“I want to go home….”
“I can go. “I’ll be there soon. It’s okay.”
“it’s hard. “I’m so…!”
“Good job. “It must have been really difficult.”
Why is Seo Jang-hwa’s voice so sweet?
I was so relieved that tears kept coming out of my eyes.
* * *
At that time, Park Da-young.
“….”
hmm.
‘I didn’t expect this.’
I tried to reassure my younger brother first, but he was still in a panic.
‘Why did you change your seat…? What did I do? ‘What did Park Da-hoon do?’
It was not easy to understand the current situation.
Park Da-young just tried to calm Park Da-hoon down. As I continued to talk and persuade him, at some point I felt that Park Da-hoon’s condition was like my own, and I became convinced that ‘I took the initiative.’
‘…I guess I did something back then.’
Should I say that it feels like I hit the jackpot?
‘Why is it like a slot machine at a gambling house… All three numbers come up… I feel like I press the button because I think it’s the right time…’ I’ve
never gambled or played a slot machine, but I guess it’s roughly the same feeling. I wanted to. It was similar to the feeling of grabbing a passing thread when you realize that something exactly matched.
“….”
Anyway, that wasn’t important right now.
“….”
“Just wait a moment and I will open the door.”
“….”
Boom…!
“I’m putting the keys in. calm down.”
“….”
Bang bang bang!!!
‘I’m running out of breath.’
They say that if a woman drowns in a glass box, she becomes a mermaid.
Jeong Eun-woo, who was wearing a wetsuit, came right in front of her and opened the door of the glass box, but Park Da-young couldn’t control her nerves. Even now, I’m suffocating to death, so when am I going to climb up to the ceiling and escape the tank again?
Fortunately, Jung Eun-woo’s hands were quick, so he quickly opened the lid of the box.
“It would be nice if we could give a wetsuit to Dayoung Park.”
“….”
“Yes, shall we go up together first? “I will help you.”
I almost became a fucking monster.
“Don’t be too angry…”
If I were like you, wouldn’t I be angry?
“Ouch, it hurts. Ouch, ouch.”
“….”
“You have very good hands.”
Is this making fun of people on the topic of AI?
Jeong Eun-woo was not guilty in this incident, but the anger of a high school senior who almost became a mermaid instinctively sought a punching bag.
(Continued in the next part)
