chapter 35
35 – Bullying
A dark warehouse with no lights.
Blue moonlight seeps through the broken slate roof.
There is only one drum in the warehouse. And men in black suits surrounded the warehouse.
A woman stands among the men. Her brown hair. Small size. Big eyeballs.
Why am I here…? Why is Lee Jin-ah doing that again?
I was so afraid of what would happen in the future…
“…Yoo Seon-ah, why did you do that?”
“..Agh… Ah ah ah…”
Jinah Lee talked to me. I wanted to answer her question, but I couldn’t.
I could feel the thick gag clamping down on my mouth. No matter how I tried to loosen the gag in my mouth, my hands were tied with thick ropes and held behind my back.
Since when did Lee Jin-ah fill my body with stuff like this..? She wants to scream, but she can’t. Why…? Why..? I was definitely resting in my room…?
And what about that drum? Why… Are you so clumsy that it doesn’t suit you…?
I don’t know what the situation is or what’s going on. But it seemed that something terrible was about to happen.
“…I like Yoo Seon. I want Yoo Seon to like me as much as I like her. So how good I’ve been to you.
How much effort I put into trying to be good with you. You always ignored my heart”
“…”
“I said it doesn’t matter if I’m not a great person. I never said that you have to be exceptionally good at something.
I just need you to stay by my side always, like in the old days. You’ve always said you don’t like that either- doing everything you can to get away from me… This time I was really disappointed.
I’m so sad, and I’m really in pain… If I just listened to my words, Yoo Seon would be able to live a happy and fun life. If you stick close to me, everything I have is wired or the same.
Yoo Seon… Even though he doesn’t have much. How proud you are – and how stubborn you are… I really… I couldn’t understand why you were the way you were…!”
“…”
“So, I’ve been thinking about it every single day…! Yoo Seon-ah, when people have no place to return to… They give up!”
…I feel anxious.
My heart is pounding, and cold sweat runs down my back.
“Originally, Yoo Seon was going to handle it secretly. I thought Yoo Seon would not feel much about it then. I’ll show you..!”
The men in suits grabbed my arm and led me to the front of the drum.
Drums.
It’s just a drum with the lid off, but to my eyes now it looks exactly like the jaws of a beast that has crawled up from hell.
An unknown man grabbed me by the back of my neck and pushed my neck into the opening of the drum, and I knew what was inside.
Black hair like the night sky. The skin is so white that the blood vessels are visible. And just- black eyes that look like a black hole and make you fall out just by looking at them.
Yoo Jeong-i. Yoo-jung, who should be in the nursery, was trapped in a drum.
Why in the world is Yoojung here…?
There were a lot of red scars on her pretty face, her clothes were torn… And her eyes were swollen despite how many tears she had shed.
And… Why are all the clothes torn…? Why..? Why..? Why..?????
“Eup…Up..!!!!”
Since my mouth is gagged, I want to ask Yoo-jung what happened or why she is here, but I can’t..!
Yoojung raises her head slightly and looks at me. Yu-jeong has a gag on her mouth too… Her eyes, which used to shine like stars, have lost their original color when they become cloudy.
A person is trapped in a drum.
You might shout something when you see someone you know. Yoojung looked at my face for a while… Then bowed her head down again.
That appearance is not normal. Already, she has the face of giving up everything.
“Eup…!! Uhhhhh!!!!!!”
Looking at Lee Jin-ah, what happened..! She starts pouring out unintelligible words.
“If I have one last thing to say, I’ll let you do it”
The gag that bound her mouth is loosened.
“Why..? Why..? What are you? Why, Yoo-jung is here, why… Why… What the hell did you do..? Yoo-jeong did nothing wrong. I You did it wrong..!
If you have something to say, you can tell me… If there is something you don’t like, you can tell me..! What did he do to you..? Tell me soon!!! What did you do to Yoojung…?!!!!!!”
“…Seonah Yoo. Do you know Icarus? In Greek mythology, there is a man named Icarus. One day, that person was trapped in a labyrinth inhabited by a terrifying monster.
The monster eats people, and the labyrinth where Icarus is located is incredibly wide and complex, so even if the monster doesn’t eat it, the person who enters the labyrinth can’t find the exit and starves to death in it.
And what crime did Icarus commit to be imprisoned in the labyrinth? However, one good thing is that he did not go to the labyrinth alone, but was trapped in the labyrinth with his father.
The two walked around the labyrinth avoiding scary monsters… They saw a bird flying over the labyrinth, and gathered their wisdom to find a way out of the labyrinth. That was… Flying, getting out of the labyrinth.”
…
“Icarus and his father picked up feathers and wax from birds and made wings. They used the wings to fly. Before they flew, Icarus’ father said to Icarus:
Don’t fly too high, Icarus- Icarus said he would, but… As he flew through the sky through his wings, the sun above the blue sky was so warm.
I disobeyed my father’s words and flapped my wings diligently to the place where the sun was in the sky and went up-up.”
Lee Jin-ah looked at Yoo-jeong in the drum.
“…I don’t know much about Greek and Roman stories either, so I don’t know how they were recorded in the original text. Did they say that the wax that attached the wings melted and drowned in the sea…? Or did they say that they fell and died while flying over a cliff? …?
Does Seon Yoo know how Icarus died…?”
“…I don’t know..! Wouldn’t I have lived happily with my father…?”
“Ha- Yoo Seon-ah, there is no such story anywhere in the world. Icarus did something wrong- it doesn’t mean anything if he doesn’t get punished.
We learn lessons through stories. You have to learn not to do that next time.”
“…Okay, I won’t do that from next time… Huh..? I was wrong… I’m sorry… Just once… Save me just once…”
Behind my back, the men grabbed me and started knocking me off the drum. And… Poured the yellow liquid over Yoo-jung’s head.
“… Poor Icarus, completely oblivious to his father’s warning, went so close to the sun that he ended up…”
-Chic.
An orange flame rises from Lee Jin-ah’s hand, and a small ember goes into the drum in a parabolic arc.
– Hwareuk!
A flame like the devil’s tongue rose up suddenly… A bright light began to shine on Lee Jin-ah.
“I was burned to death”
2)
My eyes opened. Bright sunlight was shining on me.
Look around. Everywhere I looked, there was nothing like a run-down slate warehouse. My wrists, which should have been bound by a rope, were so free.
“Ha… Ha…”
Yeah, come to think of it, we’re still students. You can’t go to such a strange warehouse other than school.
… Thinking it was a dream made me laugh out loud.
And how does Lee Jin-ah know Yoo-jung, who is only at the nursery school? That’s already nonsense.
Laughter keeps leaking out even though it’s not even funny like a deflated balloon.
She touches her forehead with her hand. It’s wet. I just looked at the bed I was lying on, and it was stained with sweat.
There is no such thing as a nightmare. A nightmare where people are burned to death in front of my eyes… Really, the worst nightmare of my life.
…Isn’t that a nightmare…?
It’s too vivid to be called a dream, but the sound of people getting on when they ride, and… Also the overflowing gasoline in the drum.
The conversation I had with Lee Jin-ah in the warehouse feels very vivid to me. It’s a dream right..?
I want to call the nursery school right now. I don’t have a cell phone
Is Yoojung doing well? What’s the manager doing…? Again- the nursery school is fine, right..? Are you sure they’re all alive?
My head went blank for a moment.
Could it be that Jina Lee called me to the warehouse in the middle of the night, and she did something like that… And then sent me back to this house again?
Such nonsensical thoughts continued biting their tail after tail.
Something soft touches the tip of my finger.
It was only then that I looked at the side of the bed. Lee Jin-ah was lying next to me.
-Smoothly.
Are you sleeping? Why..? Why..? Accidents stop for a moment.
Why is Lee Jin-ah here, who should be sleeping in her own room?
Her body rises and falls slightly. The quiet breathing stopped, and the brown eyes slowly began to half-open.
Long eyelashes trembled like a sunshade. Lee Jin-ah, slightly frowning, looks up at me.
Anyway, I am wriggling next to you. It’s moving, so I think I woke up because of it.
…I can’t help it. Lee Jin-ah is sleeping next to me.
Not Lee Jin-ah. She wakes up and if anyone is next to me, of course I can’t help but be surprised. …Wouldn’t this make you angry?
A thousand thoughts ran through her head. Lee Jin-ah slowly began to open her mouth.
“… Yoo Seon-ah, massage the back of her neck”
I press my body against my chest. And Lee Jin-ah, who slightly lowered her head and showed me the back of her back.
I could see the back of her thin, white neck.
“…Quickly…”
She touches the nape of her neck with her hand. Soft and fluffy That… Looks like she could twist it enough with one hand to kill it.
…I must have prepared for that.
It is best to do as you are told.
Soft and soft.
It’s cold.
Amphibians, not mammals. It feels like touching the body of a cold-blooded animal.
Is it like this if mammals are mutated animals..? It’s like touching a balloon filled with cold water.
“…Please massage my hand this time too”
The back of her neck lingered a little, and this time Jinah Lee held out her hand.
Hands are also created. The back of your neck and your hands too. It was so cold that it was hard to believe that it was a living person’s body.
Kkuk kuk-so that Lee Jin-ah won’t talk behind her back later. She gave a massage with all her heart and soul.
“…Ugh”
Like charging a battery. The more I wringed her hand, the more energy seemed to radiate through Lee Jin-ah’s body.
At first, it seemed like it was hard to even open my eyes. She stretches her like a cat and now she takes care of herself. Her half-open pupils were fully opened.
“I have low blood pressure, so I need someone to massage me in the morning so I can wake up early. Also, the bed was rough yesterday.”
I hate going to school! As if protesting, Lee Jin-ah raised her body halfway up, picked it up again, and lay down on her bed.
“…Yoo Seon-ah. I want you to fasten the button.”
…Pajamas.
Did I go to bed yesterday? Or did you lock it up and sleep?
I’m not sure about that either.
That’s right, in the pool, you must take off your upper body before swimming. There shouldn’t be any shame in this level of exposure. Because the situation is the situation, her face is about to explode.
Are these words coming out of Lee Jinah’s mouth?
The auricle is hot. Something… I feel like I’ve done something really wrong. I couldn’t keep my head up because I felt so bad.
Apart from whether they did or didn’t, it would seem strange to people to see two grown high school students coming out of the same room.
I don’t know, but there must be some kind of CCTV here.
What do the bodyguards who were guarding Lee Jin-ah think when they see this, and what else will Jin-ah Lee and her grandfather think?
Even while I was buttoning up her buttons, Lee Jin-ah was lying on her bed and quietly watching me. Only her color was different, she and Lee Jin-ah were wearing the same patterned pajamas.
It sounds obvious, but this was also bought by Lee Jin-ah. At her house, wear this around. She says so what should i wear
“Yoo Seon-ah. Who is Yoo-jung…?”
“… Huh?”
I never thought that Yoo-jung would come out of Lee Jin-ah’s mouth.
Why? Why…? Does Lee Jin-ah know Yoo-jung?
“He talks so much in his sleep. Just… Yoo-jung… Did something happen in the dream..?”
“No, she’s a friend from the nursery school.”
“…Really?”
Lee Jin-ah, still lying on the bed and looking at me. She reached out and covered mine, which had been stabbed by her fork, with her own.
It used to be cold, but now it’s warm.
“Yoo Seon-ah. I’ll lend you that cell phone. Would you like to call me?”
Ironically, I’m wearing pajamas worth several hundred thousand won, but I still don’t have a cell phone to talk to.
“Come to think of it. Yoo Seon-i would also want to keep in touch with her other friends. She sticks with me all the time. It won’t be boring.
Recently, Yoo Seon also listened to everything I wanted to do. Can do this much Aren’t I that bad?”
-hehehe..
What is so good…? Highly raised lip corners. Like a mole going into her soil, Lee Jin-ah burrowed into me.
Her brown hair reached my chest.
Lee Jin-ah, she seems to be trying to hear the sound of my heart beating.
Maybe she just wants to do this. Jinah Lee’s bedside smells like sweet fruit.
“…I’ll lend you your cell phone. Instead, you’ll stay like this for five minutes? OK?”