Chapter 125 |
“This, fold it like this.”
“Hn.”
“This will become a pointy ear.”
“So you’re making a rabbit?”
“No, a dinosaur.”
“Oh…”
The rustling of small colored paper.
Observing the blood-soaked man nodding in agreement with the child’s words, Yoonbyeol slowly blinked her eyes. The cool air made the knees she held in her arms feel cold.
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But she felt drained.
Lee Yoonbyeol liked children. She enjoyed their unique, underdeveloped language and their actions born of pure intention. When they presented gifts imbued with a special value, Lee Yoonbyeol felt an exhilarating joy.
But despite that, the work was exhausting. Children’s perspectives and adult values differed greatly. Their boundless energy contrasted sharply with Lee Yoonbyeol’s poor health. Especially in this world of monstrous creatures and certain death, Lee Yoonbyeol was gradually getting tired.
She gently touched her empty hands.
“….”
She felt sadness.
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‘Why does it have to be that child…?’
She heard the account from Detective Hong Kyongjun. The mysterious child she was searching for had been found dead, with no other adults nearby.
That led her to suspect the man she saw that day had killed the child.
She shouldn’t say this, but the way that man kept rambling nonsensically made him seem, to be honest, like a lunatic. The way he looked at the child, clinging to them like a lifeline, was far from normal. If the man and the child hadn’t known each other, she probably would have reported him.
But now she only felt regret.
‘I should’ve taken the child.’
Regardless of whether or not the man and the child were holding hands, Lee Yoonbyeol should have taken the child’s hand and run away with Jang Seoah. No matter how you looked at it, that crazy man had probably used the child as bait to save himself.
She still remembered the first thing that lunatic said to her: ‘It’s March 1st, so why isn’t anyone taking a break?’ Then, as if that wasn’t enough, he acted like she was the crazy one. So Lee Yoonbyeol decided he was a dangerous person. If only there had been a little more time, she could have taken the child away from that lunatic’s grasp.
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‘Why did it have to be in a world like this?’
How profoundly sorrowful.
Although, of course, the child and Yoonbyeol weren’t actually close…
“Teacher, this.”
“…Uh?”
“This, it’s a dinosaur.”
Lee Yoonbyeol looked at Jang Seoah, who offered her a small bundle of folded paper.
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To be honest, the ‘dinosaur’ wasn’t really resembling a dinosaur at all. It looked like it wasn’t a deliberate attempt at mimicking a dinosaur, just made however she felt. It did faintly look like a rabbit, just as Lee Jaehun had said earlier.
However, when Lee Yoonbyeol saw Lee Jaehun watching her and the child glancing at her as if gauging her reaction, she suddenly felt a sense of pride.
“…Thanks, Seoah.”
Gifts from children always seemed to brighten people’s moods.
As Yoonbyeol carefully accepted the paper, Seoah looked exceptionally pleased. The child tried to stifle her laugh but ended up laughing with both hands over her mouth, and Yoonbyeol drew her closer.
“Did you fold this with the ahjussi?”
“Yes, the man showed me how… how to tuck the tail.”
“That’s nice, pretty.”
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“It’s wonderful too.”
When she looked at Lee Jaehun while nodding, he raised an eyebrow. Lee Yoonbyeol thought it probably meant something along the lines of, ‘What do you want?’
She couldn’t really blame him.
‘…I should apologize.’
This kind of environment was much more dangerous for a child like Seoah, so Lee Yoonbyeol had been on edge. Besides, wouldn’t it be weirder to let a child approach a person covered in blood? Lee Yoonbyeol had initially considered Lee Jaehun someone to be wary of.
But with just a little contemplation, she realized her judgment was wrong.
Unlike their group, which had various injuries, most of Lee Jaehun’s group were healthy. If Lee Jaehun was the only one injured, wouldn’t that mean he had taken the injuries meant for others? Especially in this kind of world.
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However, even if Seoah had startled her by suddenly approaching him, Lee Yoonbyeol still needed to apologize for being so openly wary. She would have been quite offended if she were in his position.
But she couldn’t speak right away.
“Where have you been?”
“Ahjussi, we were gathering firewood nearby.”
“Why did you have to do that?”
“But still….”
Two students in school uniforms, who appeared to be part of Lee Jaehun’s original group, came up beside him.
The students added torn pieces of cardboard, which they had gotten from somewhere, to the bonfire in the front yard of the pavilion. It didn’t seem to be wㅌt, as there wasn’t any smoke, but Lee Jaehun frowned at them.
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“Don’t wander off without telling anyone. You’ll get hurt.”
“Sorry.”
“It was good that you brought firewood.”
He then patted the male student’s hair with his hand.
“But it wasn’t urgent so why didn’t you say anything before going off? You did the same thing last time.”
His tone was gruff, but the look on his face was clearly one of concern.
He was a good person. Especially since he didn’t complain despite being so injured. Lee Yoonbyeol sometimes wondered if the blood on him was his own or someone else’s. Though thanks to the worried expressions of the people around him, she knew it was his.
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Lee Jaehun always wore an indifferent expression. Lee Yoonbyeol had groaned all night due to an injury in one of her legs, so she wondered if he couldn’t feel pain.
The students looked flustered at Lee Jaehun’s words.
“It’s just….”
“It’s fine, just tell me next time if you’re going somewhere.”
“…Ahjussi, were you worried about us?”
“Wouldn’t I be? You skinny kids disappeared.”
The students’ faces brightened considerably.
‘…Where have I seen this before?’
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As a kindergarten teacher, she had met a wide variety of children. Some of them particularly loved to be doted on. And among them, some of the more extreme ones would intentionally create situations to draw attention and concern to themselves.
For example, they might drop a glass they could have easily held onto and claim it was an accident. Or they might dramatically fall on a non-slippery floor to draw attention. Sometimes, they’d cry loudly, pretending to be hurt, and call for the teacher. It was the kind of behavior where their intentions were obvious, but you couldn’t really say anything about it.
Lee Yoonbyeol suddenly felt as though she saw a glimpse of that behavior in those uniformed students.
“Hey, what’s this on your finger?”
“…A scratch….”
“It’s bleeding?”
“Well, yes, but….”
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“Shouldn’t you at least wash it with water?”
Lee Jaehun, looking at the female student’s scratched hand, glanced around as if searching for water.
He seemed genuinely worried, oblivious to the fact that his own hands were twice as tattered. The female student seemed to have the same thought, her expression turning strange.
“You should take care of your own hand, ahjussi….”
“Do you think my hand’s the same as yours? How old are you?”
“…19….”
“So are you an adult or not?”
“…No….”
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Lee Jaehun looked at her with a face that seemed to say, ‘Then what’s wrong with what I said?’ and the female student’s face gradually turned red. Judging from the way she slowly lowered her gaze, she seemed to be feeling embarrassed.
Though it looked like it wasn’t only because of embarrassment.
“What should we do if a kid’s hand gets hurt, huh?”
“…….”
“We have to put medicine on it….”
That blatant worry, that affection—weren’t they truly happy to receive it?
In truth, it wasn’t anything particularly strange or unusual. What Lee Yoonbyeol felt was just her personal interpretation, and the students likely brought the firewood out of a sincere desire to help. Since most of the adults had left to handle other tasks, it was only natural for them to feel the urge to do something as well.
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She just felt a slight sense of dissonance.
“…….”
That the students seemed delighted to receive such concerns from Lee Jaehun, the most severely injured survivor.
‘…It might be a pointless thought, but….’
Wouldn’t people normally be more cautious around a patient in his condition?
Now that she thought about it, the reactions of the other members of his group were also a little strange. Of course, they were people she hadn’t known for long, but if someone in her group were injured that badly in her place, Lee Yoonbyeol felt like she wouldn’t even be able to look them in the eye.
But despite that, everyone around Lee Jaehun seemed completely at ease. They would nag and worry when he moved or did something, but other than that, they didn’t treat him like someone who should barely be alive.
Though as an outsider, there was no reason for Lee Yoonbyeol to be concerned about this.
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“…….”
“Teacher.”
“…Oh, uh. Yes.”
“Is that ahjussi hurt?”
“…….”
She couldn’t answer the child’s question immediately.
“…Yes, he is.”
Even Lee Yoonbyeol didn’t understand what she had just answered.
She felt a sense of detachment.
* * *
‘These kids are something else.’
Looking at the two students chattering away on either side of him, Lee Jaehun sighed inwardly.
He had never craved affection, so he didn’t understand them, but he at least understood the thoughts and actions of the people who suffered from a lack of it. They wanted his attention constantly showered upon them, in any way possible.
Even if it meant hurting themselves.
“I saw a box in the grass and reached for it, but there were thorns.”
“Isn’t that really s*upid? Anyone could see there were thorns but you put your hand ⁱnsⁱdㅌ….”
Lee Jaehun suddenly found the situation a little amusing.
“…Must have hurt.”
What a collection of crazy people.
In the original novel, the siblings often behaved this way. When the protagonist’s attention was elsewhere, when they felt he wouldn’t protect them properly, they would sustain minor injuries and present themselves before him, trying not to be too obvious.
Only the target and timing had changed.
‘It means they really rely on me.’
Lee Jaehun wondered how the protagonist would lead these siblings after his death. In the original novel, they relied on Jung Inho, so handling them should be easy. But if Lee Jaehun were to dⁱㅌ completely, the siblings’ mental states wouldn’t be safe either.
Despite that, he had no intention of changing their current relationship.
“Ms. Kim Yeonwoo is guarding outside, so rest a bit.”
“…Okay.”
“If you really want to work, join the adults later. Or you can just watch the bonfire to make sure the fire doesn’t go out. That’s pretty important too.”
“Yes, yes.”
“Rest if you’re tired.”
At his words, Park Dahoon folded his long body and hugged his knees, while Park Dayoung glanced around and snuggled close to Lee Jaehun. When he didn’t say anything about it, the tension in her body seemed to ease.
The fact that they were acting like this despite having perfectly healthy parents and living a life where they ate three meals a day—it was a bit ironic given their background and the current situation, which made it somewhat amusing.
Of all people, these young ones ended up here.
“…I’m going to dⁱㅌ at this rate.”
He was undeniably exhausted.
Someday, it would all just fall apart, really.