Episode 67
: Of course, In-ho Jeong does not know exactly what Director Jae-heon Lee’s past was like.
As I had previously suspected, it may have been an environment in which people took it for granted even though they were not treated as human beings, and in fact, it may have been a better situation than that. I had no idea what his essence was or what time he had gone through to become such an adult.
However, whether it was nature or experience, Manager Lee Jae-heon did not believe us.
The reason he sacrifices himself to save the group and comfort them tenderly is simply because they are ‘beings to be protected’ and not because he is a ‘trusted colleague’.
Even though you helped us so much and even though you got hurt like that. It was so funny that the trust built up during the long but not short time in the secret world was not even an eyebrow. Jaeheon Lee thought that he would be kicked out by us at any time.
‘Is that why it is like that?’
Is that why he tried to create such hatred and keep his distance? You may have thought that there was no need to put effort into building a relationship because it was going to end anyway.
I had no intention of trusting anyone, so there was no way I could fully receive trust from others. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be able to look at the group as if you couldn’t understand each and every benevolent action they showed.
All the sacrifices he made were very natural for Lee Jae-heon.
Therefore, the only relationships he is aware of with the group are either the ill-fated relationship suffered by ‘Director Lee Jae-heon’ or complete third parties. Because he just did what was natural, he did not think that the existing relationship would change, and as a result, he could not understand the favor shown by the group.
Even if the person who had been criticizing him suddenly became worried about him and treated him kindly, there was no way he could simply believe that due to Lee Jae-heon’s already very suspicious nature. Perhaps that was the reason why he behaved in a way that seemed uncomfortable with the kindness shown by the group so far.
And as Jeong In-ho thought about that, a question suddenly came to mind.
‘…who can I blame?’
He wanted to blame something, but he didn’t know where to point it.
Manager Lee Jae-heon himself, who doesn’t trust us at all? Past experiences that instilled in him distrust in relationships? Those of us who were fooled by his acting and ended up in a bad relationship from the beginning?
After much deliberation, the conclusion I came to was not a very surprising one.
“…It’s not something to complain about.”
It was a very simple story.
From the beginning, Manager Lee Jae-heon didn’t occupy a big place in Jeong In-ho’s life. So, it was enough to just think that this wasn’t worth complaining about like now.
Still, there was no problem.
* * *
As time passed, Manager Lee Jae-heon became quieter.
He sometimes scratched his neck or pretended to strangle him, but he didn’t protest as much as before, and the blood he often vomited was no longer visible. Just like in the beginning, he was just sleeping as if dead, without making a single sound.
In the meantime, the group found a few more containers and poured water into them. It has already been proven that there is no problem in drinking it as is, but since the weather was not very warm, I boiled it in a glass bottle and drank it.
It was something Jaeheon Lee didn’t do when he was awake.
“There are parasites or something… immediately yes. “There may be poison that is not immediately visible.”
“That’s for sure. “Some people foolishly drank it.”
“Haha….”
Anyway, on the way, CEO Garam Yoon came by and brought two cans, so we were able to heat them up faster.
Director Kang took two interns, Noh Yeon-seok and Kwon Yeon-hee, and began building a circle of walls. I don’t know how much he can protect them when a monster appears, but Jung In-ho didn’t bother to say those words out loud. The reason why Director Lee Jae-heon mentioned building a wall in the first place was probably to block the view from the monster.
Doctor Ha Seong-yoon treated Director Lee Jae-heon’s wound again with a bandage washed in the lake. He was greatly impressed by Lee Jae-heon’s resilience, and Jeong In-ho also agreed. The condition of his leg, which was so severe that the bone was visible, and his shoulder, which had a hole in it, had improved surprisingly well considering it had only been a few days.
“….”
“…Should I call this fortunate?”
“You can’t see any bones anymore, right?”
“Then… why isn’t the wound on my arm or wrist getting better? “Isn’t it a little strange?”
“I already gave up. “You said you wouldn’t die right away, so I’m sure you will recover well on your own.”
Ha Seong-yoon added a word.
“Wounds sustained outside of this world may not be able to recover.”
“….”
“He is truly a pain in the ass.”
Then he kept his mouth shut for a long time and just smiled.
Two days after Director Lee Jae-heon fell asleep, Director Kang, who was looking at him anxiously, led a few people and started picking glass fruits near the lake.
She spoke while holding a pile of round glass beads.
“…This won’t hurt, right?”
“Because it’s not that hot yet. “It will be different from the fruits we know in the first place, so if you keep it in the shade, there won’t be any problems.”
“thank god.”
“….”
For someone who said he was lucky, his expression didn’t look very good.
Employee Yeon-hee Kwon often saw Manager Jae-heon Lee sleeping and joined the group. Then, he chatted with his brother and sister, who had recently started talking a lot, and played a little prank on CEO Yoon Garam, and Jeong In-ho felt a hint of desperation in that sight.
Maybe it’s a feeling of debt.
Director Lee Jae-heon ended up like that right after he somehow helped her up from the verge of collapse. He may have thought that he ended up in this situation because he became an even bigger burden to someone who was already having a hard time.
Whatever the exact reason, it was true that Employee Kwon tried to liven up the mood of the group.
However, Dr. Ha Seong-yoon’s talkativeness decreased.
“….”
“Would you like some water? “I have some that have cooled down…”
“Oh, thank you.”
“…you’re welcome.”
I thought it was because of the wound on his side, but it didn’t seem like it was because he was a person who spoke well up until now.
He didn’t really have a long tongue, but even taking that into account, he only said what was necessary to the point where it bothered me. President Garam Yoon looked anxious at the sight, but at least it seemed certain that it was not a situation where a third party would intervene.
And if there was a change that was annoying.
“…that guy.”
“….”
Strangely enough, the two students who had been avoiding my gaze had finally started approaching Jeong In-ho.
He asked promptly and with a sincere smile.
“What’s happen?”
“I made dandelion tea. Drink it…”
“Dandelion tea?”
“I had a few so I picked them. “I stopped him… and threw him away.”
“aha.”
If you think about it, the ecosystem of the underworld was not very different from the world they lived in. It’s surprising, but since pigeons and bugs that are often seen in real life are also seen, it probably means that some of the flowers they know are still there.
Jeong In-ho rolled his eyes as he looked at the light-colored water they had brought in a paper cup they had picked up somewhere.
“Thank you, I’ll drink it well.”
“…Yes, thank you always.”
“What are you saying? “Thank you for following us.”
“….”
The two students nodded and left without answering those words. Jeong In-ho felt uncomfortable, which he tried to hide through his shyness towards adults, and did not move for a while while holding the paper cup.
The scent wasn’t bad.
“…hmm.”
I just don’t really want to eat it.
Nevertheless, Jeong In-ho drank the still steaming dandelion tea. Only later did I realize that the roof of my mouth was swollen, as if it had been pushed by sandpaper, but I immediately wanted to get rid of the object in my hand. The paper cups, which were still in good condition, were left on the wall where Manager Kang Min-ah had piled them up without any need to crumple or throw them away.
The wall, made of thick, naturally broken wood or stones, was high enough to touch his solar plexus, but its perfection was so precarious that it felt like it would break if struck.
‘Is it obvious?’
When did they build a wall? In any case, Jeong In-ho was satisfied that Chief Kang, who was feeling anxious, had found something to do. She was by no means a stupid person, so she would be able to handle her share of management.
In-ho Jeong looked at Director Jae-heon Lee, half consciously forgetting about the two students.
“….”
He didn’t wake up.
The words came out of my mouth without me realizing it.
“…I didn’t know you could sleep this much.”
There was still a lot of information I wanted to get from him, so it was really disappointing.
In fact, In-ho Jeong never thought that Manager Jae-heon Lee would be the type of person who sleeps a lot. Even when I worked at the company, I was someone who was never late, so I never dreamed that I would sleep this long. Jeong In-ho smiled as if he had seen something unexpected in many ways.
In fact, it would be a stretch to say it was just sleeping, but…
“….”
It was quiet.
The shallow, faint cracks grew like ants lined up, but I decided to pretend not to notice.
And that evening.
“…Mr. Jeong In-ho.”
“yes.”
“I saw the detective I met last time again.”
“….”
Jeong In-ho received sad news.
“…okay.”
But it was expected.
It’s not certain information, but there may be two groups of survivors in the park by now. One of them was us, and the other group was centered around none other than Detective Hong Gyeong-jun.
Personally, I hoped we would never meet again for the rest of my life…
but ‘that would be impossible.’
He continued his thoughts while looking at President Yoon Garam in front of him.
No matter how large the park became, it had its limitations and was not as large as a famous amusement park. In the end, Jeong In-ho knew that since resources were limited, no matter how much he avoided them, they would inevitably meet at some point.
He continued speaking naturally.
“If you saw it, did you talk about it?”
“That’s not it. It was difficult to approach quickly as the situation was so… I just watched from afar. “There were at least three people I met for the first time.”
Jeong In-ho understood what she said, ‘It’s difficult to approach too quickly.’
He was a man who believed in the goodness of humanity, but he also distrusted it. It was natural to wonder what a human being forced into an extreme situation like now might do.
“What you saw must have been a small lake, right? “Because you’ve been there.”
“Yes, teacher… So, I saw you on the way back after washing the bandage with teacher Ha Seong-yoon. “He was drinking water.”
“I guess they knew the water was safe there.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“….”
Around that time, Jeong In-ho knew what this person was going to say to me.
He smiled roundly and opened his mouth.
“Please feel free to ask.”
“…Is that so?”
President Yoon, who paused for a moment at Jung In-ho’s words, nodded with an awkward smile. It was obvious that he was reluctant about something, but I wasn’t as impressed as I thought.
As expected, she opened her mouth.
“Did you… have something going on with that detective?”
“….”
“I remember you feeling a little uncomfortable last time. “I thought it would be okay to join since we survived together, but Jeong In-ho didn’t like it, so we couldn’t bring it up.”
It was a word that was thrown around a lot, but in a nutshell it meant, ‘Be honest and cooperate.’
“….”
He had a rough feeling that President Garam Yoon was a very unique person.
Although he seemed normally timid, I often felt a strange obsession with his gaze when he looked at trees or grass.
‘Or when I see a bonfire.’
Seeing him quietly looking at them from somewhere made me think that he wasn’t hanging out with Dr. Ha Seong-yoon for no reason.
How funny would it be for such a person to be in front of me now, pretending to be scared and unable to keep his eyes still as if he was anxious. Jeong In-ho, who had seen her behavior at least before coming to this time, could not hide his smile.
However, it didn’t take long for it to change into his usual neat smile. Jeong In-ho answered with a look of regret on his face.
“Ah… I’m sorry. I was a bit sensitive back then.”
“No, we were in the same situation.”
“I guess I was out of my mind. I felt anxious that he might harm us. “I was the only one who felt anxious without any basis, and I’m sorry for causing trouble to you all.”
It wasn’t all lies. It is true that the detective was a threat.
“It would be okay if you joined now, but the manager is in such bad condition.”
Also, it wasn’t unreasonable. Since they are humans anyway, we would have to fight over limited resources, so wouldn’t it feel like a disadvantage if there was an unconscious patient among our group?
Jeong In-ho continued speaking with an apologetic smile as if he was saddened.
“How about we at least meet and talk after the manager wakes up? “I think it would be a little embarrassing for this person if he woke up and there were more people in the group.”
“… That’s true, I understand. I’ll tell the people exactly that.”
“Thank you, boss.”
As he watched the long back moving away, he adjusted his monkey wrench and held it.
“….”
Suddenly, what was boiling over died and subsided.
This is probably what it means to operate while broken.
* * *
It was the next morning when Manager Lee Jae-heon woke up.
