Episode 79 Lee Jae
-heon was ready to do anything for a better life.
* * *
Run away.
“….”
Kang Min-ah once heard Manager Lee Jae-heon’s voice like that. I have seen blood bursting out before my eyes.
A concrete wall with no windows, blocked on all sides, and pitch-black legs crawling out of the gap. The scent of blood, which did not look human at all, but was overwhelming. It made a strange noise as it scraped down the rough surface.
Director Lee Jae-heon’s shoulder was pierced by a monster whose face he didn’t even know, and Kang Min-ah became prey to them and was almost reduced to a lump of blood.
“…ah.”
pain.
Or death.
“aha.”
My breath comes out in chunks.
After recalling that point, Kang Min-ah quickly ran while holding on to the wrist of something wearing a school uniform.
“…evil! sister?!”
“What, where are you going!” Hey Park Dayoung! sister!”
Even though her young voice echoed through the forest, Kang Min-ah’s running did not slow down.
There was already a pitch black hammer in his hand. Grasping the handle that I had become accustomed to until it broke, I raised my head forward and ran forward, listening to the growl of the four-legged animal with my ears.
The other group members who were standing awkwardly at Kang Min-ah’s unexpected jumping also began to flinch.
“Mr. Kang Min-ah?”
“Uh uh uh…”
“What the hell is that crazy…?”
President Yoon looked at Kang Min-ah running in the distance with a vain look on his face, and Employee Kwon only repeated ‘uh’ as if he had not yet accepted the situation.
Noh Yeon-seok, looking pale and tired of the whole situation, looked back and forth at Manager Lee Jae-heon and Manager Kang Min-ah, and a hand jumped out and grabbed his shoulder, pulling him forward.
“―Ugh! ah? Assistant manager?!”
Assistant Manager Jeong In-ho responded to the puzzled voice.
“Run, idiot!”
“yes yes?!”
“Can’t you hear me coming this way?!”
Jeong In-ho’s face as he said that was distorted with an unknown emotion.
“You really don’t know where I heard this before…!”
At that moment,
Noh Yeon-seok’s face turned pale as he remembered something.
The sound of footsteps walking and running, trampling on dry grassy ground. The menacing voice of a four-legged thing growling at the top of its lungs. The animal’s voice was so clumsy and disgusting that I tried to forget it because I didn’t want to remember it.
He had heard this cry before, not long ago.
My voice trembled.
“…this. crazy.”
“These are the monsters you saw last time!”
It was the sound of the clumsy dog-like monsters rushing in that made employee Kwon Yeon-hee kneel down and cry.
Noh Yeon-seok, who was almost being dragged by Assistant Manager Jeong, who was always running with a sincere smile and using only wholesome words, was not surprised by the profanity that came out of his mouth, adjusted his posture. Thanks to my frequent exercise routine, I was able to run quickly even if I hesitated for a moment.
There was no time to think about how Assistant Manager Jeong In-ho, who could not see the dog-like monster because he was away at the time, knew of their footsteps and cries.
“Ugh.”
I accidentally stepped on a stone on the floor and my ankle was slightly bent.
Even as I kept kicking the ground and running, I could hear the sound of the animal taking a deep breath in my ear. The breathing sound that sounds like the snort of a predator smelling its prey.
“Ugh…!”
“Don’t scream, I’ll listen and follow you!”
“…Bukkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk…!”
I tried my best to grit my teeth at the doctor’s words, but I couldn’t help the moan that escaped between my teeth. In my opinion, Noh Yeon-seok was not that strong of a person.
Noh Yeon-seok turned his head forward again as he saw the doctor running, holding the wrist of the stumbling flower shop owner, perhaps due to the sudden situation. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t worried about what other people were doing, but even so, I didn’t have enough time to check.
It felt like if I stopped for even a moment, that horrible dog would devour me.
“Huh…!”
“….”
Jeong In-ho, who pursed his lips at that sight, turned his head and glanced behind him.
―Kwasik!
“…Boss!”
I saw Manager Lee Jae-heon holding a pipe and hitting it as if it were crushing a four-legged animal.
The things he was hitting were distorted in the pitch-black darkness and light of the campfire, making it difficult to see their shapes. Or is it because they have already become too distant from that person? Manager Lee Jae-heon was still not running in place. The only way to make out its presence was because the light was scattered by the hand, which was stained red, probably because the wound on the palm had burst, and the blood drops that flowed down the pipe from the hand.
Jeong In-ho, heartbroken, called him again.
“Chief, stop it…! “Just run!”
“….”
“Manager…!”
Manager Lee Jae-heon then turned to look at him.
“….”
It didn’t say anything.
He just looked at Jeong In-ho with a colorless gaze.
“…You piece of shit.”
There was no way I could say anything to that.
“You son of a bitch…!”
Suddenly, I felt a chill in the back of my neck.
Jeong In-ho muttered so softly that it was scattered in the running wind, and he fumbled to take out the lighter he had put in his pants. There would be enough room left to turn it on all night tonight.
He had encountered those monsters before returning to the past.
“Yeonseok… Yeonseok. hey!”
“Yes yes yes…! “I’m listening, I’m listening!”
“You take this and go after Mina! hurry!”
Passyuk.
A monster chased next to them, shaking the grass.
“Mina, you don’t have a lighter!”
Of course, Park Da-young and Park Da-hoon also did not have lighters. I would have expected more if they were bad students, but at least they weren’t.
Noh Yeon-seok, who understood what Jeong In-ho said, gritted his teeth and nodded repeatedly.
“I understand, I understand…! “I will be there, so you too, hurry up…!”
“I’ll follow along on my own. Stay next to Mina and the students!”
“yes yes!”
His pronunciation was slurred, perhaps because his chin was shaking, but the way he ran even faster showed that he understood Jeong In-ho’s intention well. Since he was also interested in athletics, he would have been able to catch up with Kang Min-ah and his group who ran away earlier.
When I saw Noh Yeon-seok running with a lighter on, he said to the three people next to me.
“Follow me. No matter how crazy that bastard is, he won’t leave you two behind!”
“Wait a minute. “What about In-ho?”
“We need to bring that son of a bitch, right now!”
I was almost angry now.
“…You’re really going to die if you do that…!”
Why is nothing going my way?
Also, why do I really not know anything?
‘Director Lee Jae-heon could die at any time.’
Jeong In-ho stopped with his back pressed against them, then turned around and adjusted his grip on the monkey wrench.
Manager Lee Jae-heon was no longer visible.
“….”
The only thing that could be heard was the animal’s panting.
“…under.”
A laugh escaped me.
If you think about it calmly, no one was worried about Manager Lee Jae-heon, who was separated from the group. It seems like not a single one of them ran away without even looking back.
That was very creepy.
“…such a dog, such a dog….”
I thought I knew what caused it.
I was out of breath trying to say a swear word I didn’t usually use, but no. Even more than that, Jeong In-ho’s eyes were throbbing to the point of pain at this ridiculously sudden and complicated situation.
Our group had a lot of debt that we had accumulated towards Director Lee Jae-heon. I felt grateful for the many lives he saved, and I also felt sorry because I knew roughly what kind of injuries he had suffered as a result. Nevertheless, it was not difficult to find a reason why everyone did not care about Director Lee Jae-heon’s safety.
Firstly, I was worried because of the abilities he had shown so far, secondly, because I was scared by the noise of monsters approaching from all directions, and thirdly, I was worried.
This was because they felt fear from ‘Lee Jae-heon’, not from the monster.
“…that’s real.”
He shouted as he struck the head of the monster baring its teeth at me.
“What kind of crazy thing are you going to do…!”
Quack!
Although it could not avoid the slashing claws, the monster fell backwards with a dying sound after being hit on the head. The thick leathery flesh came out.
Jeong In-ho ran forward, pretending not to notice the sharp pain he felt in his thigh.
‘What was the problem?’
I was out of breath.
He struggled to gather his wits while avoiding the four-legged monster.
It was only recently that Manager Lee Jae-heon noticed that something was strange. It would have been better if the person had been a patient who talked about his injuries thoroughly, but he was not the person to tell me where and how he got hurt.
That’s why In-ho Jeong belatedly noticed the abnormality that Director Jae-heon Lee was showing. Sometimes he stares into space and bruises, he acts calm even when he gets hurt while acting crazy, or his sleep noticeably increases. In Jeong In-ho’s opinion, the former Manager Lee Jae-heon had never shown such behavior.
He was always sensitive, angry or frivolous. I am proud to say that I have been in the same department for quite some time and have observed him in my own way, but I have never been bruised or injured like that by Director Lee Jae-heon. Even though I have often seen people getting distracted by something clear or bluffing and getting hurt.
Moreover, it was strange that I had been sleeping more recently. Manager Lee Jae-heon, if nothing else, was faster than anyone else when it came to getting to work, but there was no way that someone who came to the office and caressed orchids for nothing could have slept much. Above all, there was a time when I fell asleep for three days and couldn’t wake up.
Jeong In-ho swallowed his saliva with a burning throat, trying hard not to pay attention to the monster that was charging at him. My mucous membrane hurt as if it was dry.
‘It’s gotten worse since then.’
After the incident where he fell asleep for three days, Director Lee Jae-heon’s abnormal symptoms became more evident.
Before, I thought it was just because I was tired. Since I was captured by the green algae monster for a while and couldn’t sleep all night and had injuries all over my body, it was only because I was unconscious or could have fallen asleep.
However, Director Lee Jae-heon’s recent condition could not be explained by that alone. Even if we assume that the strangling and scratching is due to stress, what on earth is the blood he is vomiting? Even expert Dr. Ha Seong-yoon could not figure out the cause.
And the strangest thing was that Director Lee Jae-heon sometimes couldn’t do his best.
‘If that person was sane, that wouldn’t be possible.’
Lee Jae-heon was the most meticulous person Jeong In-ho knew.
The reason hasn’t been told yet, but he is a great man who played the role of a stupid old manager because he didn’t want to show himself. Judging by what I said before, ‘I didn’t want to be treated like a crazy person,’ I think he probably wanted the most possible life as a normal life.
However, even though he wanted that kind of life, all he did was act like an old man, and the process was so delicate and perfect that even Jeong In-ho didn’t know about it. I can say without a doubt that even his parents or siblings would not know Director Lee Jae-heon’s true intentions. There was no way he would have easily shown his true colors just because that crazy guy was a family member.
However, such a meticulous person has recently begun to show strange loopholes.
‘The guy who didn’t want to be treated like a crazy person ended up looking like that.’
In-ho Jeong recalled the time when he provoked Director Jae-heon Lee.
He just wanted to block the other person’s retreat and make them a small promise: ‘I will be a little more careful in the future’ and ‘I won’t get hurt.’ Despite that insignificant loss, Manager Lee Jae-heon chose to incur even greater losses.
Thanks to this, the entire group clearly realized Director Jae-heon Lee’s sense of discomfort, and even then, Jae-heon Lee did not seem to know what the problem was. He just thought the group’s mood had calmed down and tried to make up for it with a joke that wasn’t funny.
And many other times. Mistakes occurred too frequently to be attributed simply to fatigue, and Manager Lee Jae-heon did not realize his problem until the end. This means that no matter where and how he was criticized, he did not notice that the acting he had maintained was collapsing.
Also, it was recently, right before they ran away. Director Lee Jae-heon’s appearance right after he woke up…
‘That’
was clearly a look of madness.
All of this happened after he was kidnapped by the green algae monster and returned.
“…Boss!”
In-ho Jeong, who returned to the still burning bonfire, visited Director Jae-heon Lee.
Jeong In-ho had experienced a similar situation at a time that did not exist now. I couldn’t be sure because I didn’t know much, but I felt it instinctively.
“Mr. Jeong In-ho.”
“Director, you need to leave first…!”
“Why did you come?”
“….”
“Why did you come?”
ah.
“… Manager….”
“Why did you come?”
“….”
I
took a step back without realizing it.
I did that.
“….”
Where did you see it?
The light from the bonfire creates a large shadow that covers half of the flimsy wall, and the flame eats up the rest. The flames are gnawing away at the dry tree branches between the fences.
It stands tall like a corpse hanging in front of flames, and stands in front of a shadow that is even bigger than it. Holding a long club in one hand and a bright red torch in the other, it clumsily tilts its head and approaches.
It asked among the torn flesh of monsters.
“Why did you come?”
* * *
The main character needs to run away.
