Episode 82
In fact, in Lee Jae-heon’s past life, it was natural for him to be discarded when his value dropped.
Of course, I wasn’t so bad as to use the word ‘throw away’ in reference to a person, but I just didn’t say it out loud and everyone in the world knew. If I became useless, I had nothing to say even if I was dropped from the group.
The only thing that accepted individuals regardless of their usefulness was blood ties, but even that varied depending on the family. Even children, siblings, and parents were often abandoned. However, in families where usefulness is not considered, parents tend to be good to their children in case they become useless in the future.
Lee Jae-heon in his past life realized this at a very young age, and his values, having enjoyed wealth and fame and lived a long life, were very strong compared to those of the old manager in his current life.
Not long after remembering his past life, he was dragged into the other side of the world and his mental power was reduced, so it was already decided what kind of values he would treat people with.
“…go back too.”
Kwon Yeon-hee, pale and tired, muttered.
“Let’s go back, please…”
In today’s world, we cherish the affection between people and cherish even brief relationships. Even if you met someone for the first time in your life, there was a basic level of respect you had for them.
But in the world of my previous life, there was no such concept.
“What if the manager is dead…!”
Unreasonable confidence tormented Kwon Yeon-hee.
Lee Jae-heon thought that if he felt afraid of himself, his old relationship would become worthless.
Because it was like that in the past. Whether in his past life or in his present life, people have always been a means to him. The old manager in my current life was foolishly selfish, so I thought the values of my previous life were right. I thought people could abandon the same person at any time.
Actually, that’s not the case.
“I’m only with Jeong In-ho right now. No, In-ho doesn’t even have a lighter…!”
“Yeonhee.”
“…What do you really do?”
Relationships are not as light as Lee Jae-heon thinks.
“We… we left it like that. “You threw this away.”
People aren’t that simple.
Just because you felt uncomfortable or scared for a moment in a relationship doesn’t mean you’ll be completely cut off. Just because we have nothing to gain from each other or become unnecessary burdens doesn’t mean we should throw them away as if we don’t know each other. It is a relationship that can become distant due to a momentary incident, but cannot be completely erased.
So in the end, Lee Jae-heon overlooked the differences between the people living in the world of his past life and his current life. I forgot that there was a big difference in kind between their humanity and my own.
So there was no way things would go completely as he thought.
“…You must have been disappointed, right?”
“Yeonhee, first we have to find a place to hide.”
“I must have been so disappointed…”
Kwon Yeon-hee muttered as she hesitated and followed their lead. He fell to the floor and walked like that, unable to raise his head, tears streaming down his face.
A cracked, hoarse voice came out.
“What should I really do…?”
I feel sorry for our manager and feel sorry for him. What should I do?
Of course, Director Lee Jae-heon probably didn’t help them hoping for something. Even if things got to this point, there was nothing we could give him, even if we had to leave this world. Because Lee Jae-heon was a famous gold digger in the company.
Kwon Yeon-hee was well versed in rumors, so she knew many stories about Director Jae-heon Lee. I have one or three houses, so I deliberately chose a house near my office because it was easy to get to work. He was so vain that he ordered a lot of expensive luxury goods and then boasted about them to his employees. Well, those kinds of rumors.
I don’t know how much of the rumor was false and how much of it was true, but one thing was certain: Director Lee Jae-heon was a great man whom no one could envy, as long as he did not harbor a fleeting sense of inferiority. A person like that came here and was limping with broken arms and legs.
So it’s not like they’re expecting something from us. It may have been a simple favor and a sense of responsibility, but they ran away, saying that Director Lee Jae-heon was scary. Without even hiding it.
Kwon Yeon-hee, who was licking her lips, muttered softly.
“…But even this.”
“….”
“Even this… what should I do if you didn’t expect it?”
The firm and light tone of Manager Lee Jae-heon, who had said that none of these people would stop by the pharmacy for her, suddenly rang in Kwon Yeon-hee’s ears once again.
“What if I didn’t get hurt because I didn’t expect it…”
Actually, it’s something I’ve felt for a very long time.
“…Really….”
“….”
“….”
Lee Jae-heon seemed to have already gone crazy.
I was probably scared of that.
I’ve never seen a crazy person before. This is the first time I’ve ever seen someone go crazy because it was so hard and painful. Maybe that’s why I gradually became afraid of that person.
It probably didn’t happen because that person wanted to go crazy.
That didn’t mean he was a sinner or a monster…
“….”
“….”
Among them, Ha Seong-yoon, who was walking with his lips tightly shut, was the first to open his mouth.
“…There is a small dome.”
There are quite a few of them.
The small dome, which could barely fit two people, was tightly packed with thin tree branches and root-like plants. It looked like an igloo had been erected vertically.
What was unique, however, was the fact that the dome was attached to a wooden pillar. It was hanging in the shape of a hemisphere, just like ants had built a nest. The only difference was that while ant nests were made of dirt, this one was made of plants.
Doctor Ha Seong-yoon, who was examining it, continued.
“I don’t know what that thing is doing or if it’s a monster or not, but… it looks like a good place to hide.”
“…You mean it could be a plant-shaped monster?”
“That’s because I don’t know what the monster looks like, but um. Actually, the best option would be to climb up the trees, but the trees here are too tall for that… Also… I wonder if that could be at least a little bit of a shield….” He was speaking quickly and softly, but then suddenly
. I stopped talking.
“….”
“…Teacher?”
“I do not know.”
Then he said.
“So let me check first.”
Immediately after that, Doctor Ha Seong-yoon moved his feet without anyone having a chance to catch him.
“…Uh uh uh….”
“…Now wait a minute, it’s dangerous. “What are you going to do if it’s a monster?”
Even when Kwon Yeon-hee froze and Yoon Garam tried to stop him, he did not stop.
Ha Seong-yoon also appears to be very anxious, as his face is stiff, and that look immediately reminded Kwon Yeon-hee of Manager Lee Jae-heon. This is the person who always performed biological experiments on his own body to ensure safety.
There is no way Ha Seong-yoon himself would not have known that, but he climbed up by stepping on the roots and began to slowly caress the wooden dome.
“…Even if I touch it, it doesn’t move.”
“….”
“It’s okay if you go inside.”
Ha Seong-yoon, who came out through the round hole, stepped on the ground and said.
“It’s unsettling, but it doesn’t seem like a very bad option.”
“…Still…”
“We don’t have the means to fight those monsters. I only have this one lighter and I can’t even run. “It looks similar to a dog, so if you can smell it well, it will catch up to you in no time.”
“….”
“We hide until morning. Just until then.”
I couldn’t say anything about it.
In the end, Kwon Yeon-hee, who was the smallest, and Yoon Gar-ram, who was next with the thinnest body, entered the dome. Once two people entered, the small hemispherical space was filled in an instant.
Ha Seong-yoon, who was still with his feet on the ground after lifting the two people up, looked around and said.
“…I don’t have room to fit in and the weight could be a problem, so I’ll look for somewhere else. I won’t go too far. “There are many domes like this around here.”
“…Sir….”
“I don’t know what it’s for, but seeing as there are no traces of beasts, it doesn’t look like someone’s nest… As long as you hide your presence well when those monsters approach, you’ll be fine.”
“Teacher, just join me.”
“Garam.”
He shook his head while holding Yoon Garam’s hand.
“Stay where you are.”
“….”
“No matter what happens, the teacher will fix it. know?”
“…Of course I know.”
“There’s nothing to be afraid of.”
Then he added:
“Don’t get too caught up in your emotions.”
“…yes.”
“You just have to wait until morning.”
With those words, Dr. Ha Seong-yoon passed by the dome they were in. Kwon Yeon-hee suddenly felt uncomfortable, but was unable to determine the exact cause, so she just blankly listened to the sound of footsteps moving away.
There was only one hole in the tightly woven dome, so it was impossible to tell where Ha Seong-yoon, who was moving behind them, was moving. The only thing I could tell was that he wasn’t located very close by the sound of his footsteps gradually getting farther away.
The rustling sound stopped, the small flame of the lighter died out, and the whole world was immersed in darkness, until the sight before my eyes became black.
“…I…”
Kwon Yeon-hee carefully opened her mouth.
“I’m sorry about that earlier.”
“yes yes?”
“It must have been hard for everyone, but I cried…”
“No, it’s nothing to be sorry about at all.”
“still.”
“It’s really okay.”
Garam Yoon’s voice, lowered to a whisper, rang softly in the dome.
“…It’s not like we did anything well….”
“….”
From what I heard, ‘we’ probably meant the woman herself and Dr. Ha Seong-yoon.
Kwon Yeon-hee, who thought that far, asked.
“Are you… very close?”
“…With the teacher?”
“That person only speaks informally to Mr. Garam… I think that happens only occasionally.”
“Ah…”
President Garam Yoon answered after a pause.
“We’ve been together for a long time, rather than being close friends. Almost 10 years…?”
“wow.”
“I first met you when I was in high school.”
As Yoon Garam said that, he was touching my ear.
“I was seriously injured… so they took care of me the entire time I was hospitalized.”
At first glance, his soft and calm voice resembles that of Dr. Ha Seong-yoon.
“….”
I couldn’t see it, but for some reason it felt like a touch.
The lips that speak will be soft and the pale skin will be cold. I was already aware of her low body temperature because I had spoken to her and held her hand several times before.
However, even without looking, a gaze resembling that grey-green color was drawn. Kwon Yeon-hee seemed to recognize the round, dark, or floating eyes, so she gave strength to her round body.
“…hmm.”
I felt that this person’s expression was a little strange.
‘I guess it’s because of the atmosphere.’
Suddenly I feel fear.
Kwon Yeon-hee thought that her current tremors were probably due to the world being dyed completely black. That’s what I wanted to think about. I didn’t want to make the same mistake again after leaving Director Lee Jae-heon behind.
“I am always grateful.”
“….”
“Thanks to you, I survived.”
…Still, to be honest, she was a little scared of the person sitting next to her.
So suddenly.
‘So…’
I couldn’t figure out the reason for this fear, but I had an idea.
Maybe it was because I was in complete darkness for the first time in a long time after spending the entire time with the bonfire on, or maybe it was because President Yoon, who didn’t usually talk about himself, sounded the same as usual. Or, there are a few other ridiculous hypotheses.
In the end, Kwon Yeon-hee was unable to come up with a plausible answer, and soon Yoon Gar-ram also kept quiet. Kwon Yeon-hee felt a cold chill go down her spine at the immediate silence.
I couldn’t tell how time passed.
“….”
“….”
After a moment of silence, a soft voice came out.
“…Do you know that, Yeonhee?”
“…What?”
“I’m really scared of fire.”
“….”
“I’m scared and….”
Just for a moment,
“…I’m scared.”
It was as if I heard laughter through the pitch-black darkness.
“…That…”
Of course, I may have misheard it, but it may just be my mistake.
“….”
Kwon Yeon-hee touched her fingertips and realized that they were getting cold.
My heart pounded in my head.
It felt like a large winged insect had entered my ear and was causing trouble, and the moving vine I had seen before seemed to be stroking my neck. I felt that way without even knowing why.
I thought I couldn’t leave it like this, so I cautiously opened my mouth and said,
“….”
“…Huh?”
Immediately after that,
a hot burning fire came into view in the distance.
“…Uh uh….”
“….”
“Over there…”
Kwon Yeon-hee could intuitively feel that this was the place where Manager Lee Jae-heon and Assistant Manager Jeong were.
For a moment, I didn’t know if it was fear or something else, but my tense body relaxed and started shaking. No matter how much Jeong In-ho protected the group with a monkey wrench, I don’t know if he would have survived through all the monsters, and the blood that was speckled all over Director Jae-heon Lee’s body covered her head.
He let out a deep breath and said.
“…It doesn’t work.”
I shouldn’t die.
I thought of the person they had left behind without saying a word. That blood-covered person that I had forgotten for a moment.
President Yoon, who was staring at her, stopped her from coming to her senses and reflexively trying to run away. Kwon Yeon-hee is held by a strong grip that wraps around her shoulders and grabs her wrists. It was a touch so firm that it was hard to believe it came from that slender body.
A monotonous voice that did not match the strong power rang out.
“Where are you going?”
“The fire is burning right now. “Over there.”
“Don’t go.”
“But there’s the manager and Mr. Inho…!”
“Do not go.”
“….”
“Don’t go.”
“…Uh….”
A calm, steady voice without pitch.
As my heart dropped, my face froze and I stopped moving.
“…If you go into the bright red fire like that.”
“….”
“Yeonhee, the teacher, that crazy Manager Lee Jae-heon, everyone…” When
I looked at her with unbearable doubt,
“I think I’m going to die.”
A smile was visible on the sparkly face.
“….”
I also saw gray-green eyes.
Something clean, not dirty like a sewer, but so cloudy in itself that you can’t see the back. Something so round, like something from the trees and flowers in a forest that have lost their shape after being completely engulfed in smoke.
It calls me.
“…Yeonhee.”
“….”
“I want to live.”
Why did I read joy there?
Kwon Yeon-hee couldn’t understand why it was President Garam Yoon.
“…Uh….”
He gasped.
I heard the sound of vines passing by.
* * *
At least that was exactly what Jaeheon Lee wanted.
