Chapter 151 |
He’d revealed the most essential information as if reminiscing about childhood memories, but that wasn’t going to be the end of it. His story essentially explained why ‘Lee Jaehun’ had grown into such an adult.
‘Besides, I didn’t actually explain why I put on that boomer act.’
Honestly, he still didn’t want to explain that.
It wasn’t because of some personal grudge, but because explaining it would inevitably require a lengthy explanation of the structure of the otherworld. Since they had to kill the algae monster quickly, it wasn’t wise to overload them with unnecessary information.
‘But they must be curious.’
It was true that he hadn’t revealed much.
“Manager, do you want to sleep a little more…?”
“I’m not particularly sleepy.”
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Shaking his head slightly at Kang Mina’s suggestion, he leaned against a tree far from the campfire. Whether he confessed his past or not, the fact remained that ‘Lee Jaehun’ was a dangerous presence to others.
‘Until just now, I had some doubts, but since I heard about the future events from Jung Inho, my behavior regarding distance has to change.’
Until yesterday, he had interacted with the group and stayed close to them, but that was only because of ‘Lee Jaehun’s’ poor condition. He had believed that even if he lost his mind in the worst-case scenario, Jung Inho or Ha Sungyoon would kill him.
But now he knew the future. Even though the story hadn’t emphasized ‘Lee Jaehun’s’ dangerousness, just hearing it should have instilled a sense of crisis in ‘Lee Jaehun’,
‘That’s why I mentioned being infected by the algae monster.’
That was the reason he revealed how dangerous he was when he told his story. He felt the need to distance himself from these powerless people once again.
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“…Um…”
“…….”
“Ahjussi.”
Nevertheless, he knew someone would approach him, so he allowed himself this distance.
Lee Jaehun blinked at Park Da-young, who had stealthily crept closer.
“…What.”
“Can I sit next to you?”
“No.”
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“Aww.”
Park Dayoung pouted, holding her long curly hair in both hands, but ‘Lee Jaehun’ shook his head at her playful reaction. No idiot would let a vulnerable minor sit next to a monster that could kill at any moment.
“Tsk, no. Go play with Senior Associate Kang over there.”
“…Aww…?”
“How old are you to be saying ‘aww’? Aren’t you 19?”
“Dayoung is 9 years old.”
“Then it’s even more of a no. Go away.”
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She seemed to realize that her aegyo wasn’t working, and she averted her gaze slightly, but her brazen expression remained unchanged. Lee Jaehun found it absurd that she couldn’t even meet his eyes properly, yet stubbornly held her ground.
Under his intense gaze, Park Dayoung finally blurted out, as if self-destructing.
“…What! Why! My other half is gone, and I’m super lonely…! Stay with me!”
“You make your other half do all the chores, don’t you? Don’t be ridiculous, how can there be other halves between siblings!”
“I don’t care, I’m staying here! If you chase me away, I’ll whine every 3 minutes!”
“Huh, this little whippersnapper, raising their voice in front of an elder…!”
“No one’s falling for that anymore, ahjussi!”
Actually, the part about ‘raising your voice in front of an elder’ was genuine. Lee Jaehun’s boomer mindset was still firmly in place, and he was deeply hurt by the current reality where his sincerity was constantly mistaken for an act.
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‘The world has truly gone to hㅌll.’
Of course, he couldn’t reveal his true feelings, so ‘Lee Jaehun’ put on a tired expression, as if he was too drained to argue. He figured things would work out somehow, as there weren’t any immediate events that could shake him mentally, and Kang Mina and Noh Yeonseok were nearby.
Seemingly sensing his thoughts, Park Dayoung quietly sat beside him.
“…Ahjussi, you’re in pain, right?”
“I’m not.”
“I know that’s a lie too.”
These kids call everything I do a lie, seriously.
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A subtle wave of disillusionment washed over him, but Lee Jaehun simply counted the dust motes floating in the air. Of course, there shouldn’t be dust in the other world, but he was just spacing out. He wondered why they were dragging this out when it seemed like they were about to get to the main point.
“You know, mister, when you first… disappeared. And then we met again.”
“Yeah.”
“Do you remember collapsing back then?”
“Yeah… Wait a minute. I didn’t collapse.”
“Then did you faint?”
“I just took a short nap.”
At that, Park Dayoung, along with Kang Mina, Noh Yeonseok, and Kwon Yeonhee, all stared at Lee Jaehun.
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He had to elaborate.
“…I was very tired, though.”
“I see…”
“It’s true. Fainting means losing consciousness, but I just slept when I wanted to, right?”
After a moment of hesitation, Park Dayoung exhaled and met his eyes.
“…Someone who just took a nap coughs up blood?”
“…….”
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Ah, finally getting to the point.
‘She’s quite perceptive for a chick, it took less time than I thought.’
If Noh Yeonseok or Kang Mina had tried to initiate this conversation, it would have taken much longer. Among the adults, Kwon Yeonhee might have been better. Even then, without a dramatic event like ‘abandoning Lee Jaehun and running away’ like last time, she wouldn’t have crossed the line so quickly.
He nodded inwardly, thinking it wasn’t for nothing that these young siblings had a high survival rate. To approach him immediately after hearing such a long and complicated backstory demonstrated remarkable initiative.
“…It wasn’t that serious.”
This time, ‘Lee Jaehun’ avoided Park Dayoung’s gaze. It was a subtle evasion, barely noticeable, but it couldn’t fool someone who had survived by relying on their perceptiveness. She must have noticed ‘Lee Jaehun’s’ desire to end the conversation.
However, she didn’t back down.
“That, the algae monster… You said it’s dangerous because of that.”
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“It is. I’m dangerous right now. Who knows when I might kill you all.”
“You won’t kill us.”
Park Dayoung and Park Dahoon always wanted reassurance and affection from Lee Jaehun, and now it was no different. She was boldly approaching him like this, testing how far he would allow her to go.
And Lee Jaehun knew how to expertly exploit such psychology.
“That’s not something I can control.”
He spoke as if admonishing a naive student, which likely struck a nerve with Park Dayoung, who had lived under the oppression of such ‘adults.’
As he predicted, Park Dayoung delved into the core issue faster than she had probably planned.
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“Anyway… your heart, your heart doesn’t want to kill us, right?”
“I don’t know what you’re trying to ask.”
“I’m not trying to ask, I’m trying to confirm.”
“Isn’t that the same thing?”
“It’s a little different.”
The 19-year-old student asked,
“Just tell me one thing, ahjussi.”
“…….”
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“You won’t abandon us, right?”
At those words, Lee Jaehun unconsciously closed his mouth.
‘…I don’t know who’s asking whom.’
In the first place, Lee Jaehun had nothing to abandon. He had decided to latch onto the protagonist for his own benefit, and that meant taking these people whom the protagonist considered comrades along for the ride.
Well, yes. Although he had only recently come to acknowledge it, Lee Jaehun also liked these people. If he had to kill them now, he would probably think about it 300 times before looking for another way. He now knew that their well-being affected his mental state.
So, Lee Jaehun couldn’t abandon them, but they could easily abandon him. They seemed quite attached to him now, but there was no telling how people would change if things went south.
He reflected that sentiment back to her.
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“Abandon, who’s abandoning whom?”
“…Really?”
“Don’t be absurd, Park Dayoung.”
Just as Lee Jaehun hadn’t seen these people as human, to them, ‘Lee Jaehun’ was nothing but a third-rate villain. Even now, wasn’t he putting on this whole charade to erase that image?
“I can’t abandon you guys.”
No matter what you think of me.
“…Honestly, I’m glad to hear that.”
“Good.”
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“So, can I just say one thing…?”
“Don’t.”
“Can we not keep our distance?”
“I said don’t.”
He twisted his face into an expression that was half genuine discomfort and half feigned exhaustion. ‘Lee Jaehun’ had revealed his situation with the algae monster hoping they would keep their distance, not so they would bulldoze their way towards him like this.
But, perhaps inevitably, the love-starved chicks only grew more desperate the more he pushed them away.
“You said you don’t hate us.”
“That’s a separate issue.”
“You said you wouldn’t abandon us…”
“I said it’s a separate issue.”
“It’s not a separate issue, ahjussi.”
And Lee Jaehun had been hoping she would say this.
‘I need a plausible way to close this distance.’
He finally met Park Dayoung’s gaze again, continuing his inner monologue.
He’d had a long conversation with Jung Inho, but all ‘Lee Jaehun’ had taken away from it was, ‘Okay, so I just need to not dⁱㅌ’. But Jung Inho and the others didn’t just want him to survive; they wanted to form a proper team.
Of course, Lee Jaehun felt the same way.
“…Do I need to explain again that I’m in a dangerous state?”
“Let’s be clear. It’s not that you’re*dangerous to us, it’s just that you’re in a dangerous state. Isn’t that right?”
“My condition is stable, Park Dayoung. If I lose control, the first people I need to avoid are you guys. You’re sitting next to a time bomb right now.”
He’d tried to keep his distance for reasons like pride and prejudice, but it was all nonsense. These were the only people who could give him what he wanted, so he had to do everything he could to stay close to them.
‘But changing my attitude now would break the narrative flow.’
He needed a reason for the self-sacrificing ‘Lee Jaehun’ to remain by their side, knowing his dangerousness. He needed a catalyst, something that would make the others believe that ‘Lee Jaehun’s’ presence was necessary for them, something that would change his own thinking.
Fortunately, there was one person who wouldn’t hesitate to approach even the aloof and prickly Lee Jaehun.
“…You’re not really a bomb…”
Park Dayoung.
“You seem to forget sometimes, but you’re not a tool or a monster, you’re a person…”
“…….”
“If you do this, what are we supposed to be?”
The ‘we’ that included only her brother and Lee Jaehun, excluding everyone else.
Selfish and unsettling chicks.
“What are we, who trusted you and felt safe, supposed to be?”
Lee Jaehun had faith in Park Dayoung’s proactiveness, especially her ability to connect with people. They wouldn’t abandon ‘Lee Jaehun’, a decent guardian figure for them, just because he was half monster.
‘I confirmed that in the last loop.’
She was a fool who would stick her hand into a thorn bush because she needed the reassurance of being loved. That meant she was much more thoughtful and bolder than Park Dahoon. He had expected Park Dayoung, more cunning than the current Kwon Yeonhee who was trying so hard not to cross the line of ‘seniority,’ to approach him.
At this point, he feigned a slight bewilderment, as if trying to hide it. ‘Lee Jaehun’ hadn’t considered that this young student, who had been getting along fine, would be so insecure.
“…That’s…”
“I’m not asking for much. Just, just tell us if you feel like you’re becoming dangerous. There’s no need to build walls… is there?”
“…….”
“You might not think so, but we feel abandoned.”
Well, he had expected that.
‘If that wasn’t the case, she wouldn’t have done something so s*upid in the last loop.’
He was referring to the self-harm incident with the thorn bush.
The ‘Lee Jaehun’ of the previous loop, right before eating the fruit, had been completely worn out. His judgment was clouded, so he hadn’t paid much attention to his closer relationships with the siblings and the others. He’d been preoccupied with the thought that he would dⁱㅌ soon anyway.
But now, unlike last time, the group knew about ‘Lee Jaehun’s’ past and condition early on, giving them more time, yet ‘Lee Jaehun’ was still keeping his distance. That was why the anxious Park Dayoung had approached him so urgently, disregarding the others.
And Lee Jaehun needed this pretext.
“…You won’t abandon us, right?”
“…….”
“Tell me you won’t.”
In this case, ‘Lee Jaehun’ would inevitably see this request in the same context as Jung Inho’s. The ‘Lee Jaehun’ who cared for minors wouldn’t be able to refuse this request, would he?
He had to nod.
“…Okay.”
And all these changes were brought about by Jung Inho’s return.
‘I need to let him know that.’
Though, I don’t know how much he’ll believe it.