#80
“what… Asking… “That’s what I want.”
“… You’d better answer. In the water… “I told you it’s out of control.”
I got goosebumps. The arms that were holding my back gradually loosened. Sehyeon’s body sank down again. He was sucked in as if he were being swallowed, and in an instant, the water rose to the bottom of his neck.
“Mr. Jeonghan! First, to land… .”
“Am I useless? Sehyun, I also… Are you just afraid?”
The suppressed voice spread to the surface. Only then did Sehyun realize what he wanted to say. Meanwhile, the air changed and the arms that had loosened tightly wrapped around Sehyeon’s back again. But it was different.
“Even if I suppress it… Even if I try to kill him… It’s the same. Sehyun, I… I’m very tired. So please tell me it’s okay for once. At least once… “Isn’t it okay if you don’t suppress it?”
Isn’t it? Suddenly the voice changed. My flesh trembled at the suppressed voice. It felt like something huge was approaching with his mouth open.
“Mr. Kwak Jeong-han… Mr. Jeonghan… !”
Kwak Jeong-han’s clumsy hand grabbed the wet, limp wing. Sehyun’s shoulders shrank in surprise. The wing pulled by his strong hand was moved to Kwak Jeong-han’s mouth, which had sharp teeth. And then a terrible scream followed.
Kwaduk-
Blood dripped onto the lake. Sehyeon’s pupils dilated greatly. Screams erupted every time a piece of flesh was torn. The hand that was tightly holding Kwak Jeong-han’s neck gradually slipped down.
As the fishy smell of blood lingered, Kwak Jeong-han’s neck began to move. Perhaps because the vivid sound of swallowing was heard so far away, it didn’t feel real.
Se-hyeon raised his hand that was submerged in the water and pushed Kwak Jeong-han’s shoulder. But as soon as he could push, he was grabbed by the back of his neck and pulled close.
gulp-
“Kwak… Mr. Jeonghan… .”
A growling sound came from inside Kwak Jeong-han’s neck. Once again, my wing was bitten and I felt terrible pain. Sehyeon’s eyes were tightly closed. Even the icy water couldn’t dull the pain.
I saw gills bulging before my eyes. Sehyun dug his nails into the gap and opened his mouth intermittently.
“Kwak Jeong… Mr. Han… . If this happens… I… Are you dying? all.”
Kwak Jeong-han’s body stopped as if it had been cut off after the last word. At a time when all sound seemed to have disappeared, Kwak Jeong-han leaned back so hard that a sudden sound was heard. The eyes, wide open in confusion, were shaking as they reflected in the water.
“Sehyun… Seed… . Well, I… .”
“first… To land… me… song… .”
Sehyun seemed paralyzed and barely moved her motionless mouth as she spoke. There was no answer. Kwak Jeong-han’s eyes moved through the eerie silence. The moment his eyes followed the pouring blood and saw the blood spreading on the surface of the water, thirst appeared in Kwak Jeong-han’s eyes again.
But he clenched his jaw so tightly that the veins stood out and suppressed his true nature. Pressed to the limit, Gumjom escaped from the water with Sehyeon.
The sound of pouring water made me feel cold. Sehyun shrugged his shoulders and trembled. No matter how much flesh I chewed, terrible pain ensued. He could hardly even breathe.
“Sehyeon, are you okay? Is it cold? Wait a minute, I’ll go… .”
Kwak Jeong-han, a mixture of confusion and self-loathing, immediately stood up. What stopped him was Sehyeon’s hand, which held his clothes tightly.
“where… Let’s go… Kwak Jeong-han… .”
A smile appeared on Sehyun’s pale face. Kwak Jeong-han looked at that with a blank expression. However, she soon lowered her head with a dark expression.
‘<Will to Heal>’
[We confirmed about 65% willingness to ‘prepare for injury’. Cast the skill.]
My trembling body gradually subsided and the pain that was penetrating my entire body gradually subsided. Still, it wasn’t healed enough to move his wings, so Se-hyeon inhaled the potion and cast his skill again.
[We confirmed about 90% willingness to ‘prepare for injury’. Cast the skill.]
A brilliant light spread out into a space without any light. Kwak Jeong-han did not raise his head even then.
Kwak Jeong-han’s appearance had returned to its original appearance that Se-hyeon knew. It was after everything quieted down. Se-hyeon seemed to be very heartbroken as he lowered his head in a way that did not fit his huge size, but he could not easily say anything. Saying it’s okay could be toxic here.
I vaguely recognized what he wanted to show me today. He wanted to show his fear of his unfamiliar and stagnant appearance. His wanderings were still ongoing.
“Mr. Kwak Jeong-han.”
“… yes.”
Sehyun thought for a moment at the slow answer. When I first met Kwak Jeong-han, at least he had the power to lead people in a way that was different from his current self. Has leadership, is upright, and is more upright than anyone else.
But now it was different. I was depressed about my own self-worth, lacked confidence, and had no control over anything. However, Sehyun did not think that was necessarily a bad thing.
“… Jeonghan, do you think it was a coincidence that we met?”
No answer came back. Even the downcast shoulders were the same. Nevertheless, Sehyun continued speaking.
“Jeonghan, I… . I don’t think it was a coincidence that we met. At least… There is a reason why I met Kwak Jeong-han among so many people… “I think so.”
“… … .”
Kwak Jeong-han’s limp fin represented his feelings. There must be a reason why Kwak Jeong-han, who was born with his talent, fell into Se-hyeon’s line. Sehyeon thought that there was a reason why everyone met.
“Kwak Jeong-han said that to me the other day. He doesn’t want to measure a person’s value based on their actual benefits. I feel the same way now. I do not want to judge Mr. Kwak Jeong-han based on his actual interests, and I will not do so. If there’s anything I can do to help, I’ll be happy to help. I don’t know about Jeonghan, but to me, Jeonghan is… “He was the first colleague I met.”
Kwak Jeong-han’s shoulders twitched slightly. It was just a little bit, but his bowed head lifted slightly.
“So why not be a little honest. Mr. Jeonghan.”
A problem that Kwak Jeong-han must resolve. The core was looking at Sehyeon.
“Jeonghan, water… “Do you like it?”
Kwak Jeong-han looked at Se-hyeon with an expression full of heavy heart. In fact, the answer to the question Kwak Jeong-han was asked countless times was already decided. And he also recognized that now was the time to say it. It’s now or never.
It was after a long time that Kwak Jeong-han opened his mouth.
“… When I was ten years old, I went to swimming class for the first time holding my mother’s hand. Since I didn’t know anything, I just thought it was a special day to have fun. “It was about three months after I started going that swimming class started to feel like a prison.”
The instructor who whispered about talent and the parents who swallowed it up. The instructor who said he saw Kwak Jeong-han’s talent was a person who had no eyes for seeing. He had thought so. Until I swept the gold medal in every competition I entered.
From then on, Kwak Jeong-han’s path seemed to fit a mold. It was a life that stretched like rails, a tightly packed life that I could never escape from. He was always out of breath.
Appraising glances and voices of anticipation followed every moment. When the record was broken, people around him were more frustrated than Kwak Jeong-han. The most breathtaking time was when I was underwater.
“When I can’t breathe… There were a lot. water is… To me it was like a net. It’s disgusting and disgusting… Narrow. Even though I had put everything into achieving it, it only seemed to me as a means to prey on me. The expectant gazes take my breath away every night… “I didn’t have the talent to overcome it.”
The pressure and obsession that followed me every moment. Everything was nothing but a means to oppress Kwak Jeong-han. Every time he was dominated by the feeling of that sharply forged moment, Kwak Jeong-han had to feel defeated and his throat had to be strangled. It was that kind of place that asked Kwak Jeong-han.
“Every time I become the ideal person the media pursues, I become more and more… There was no room to breathe. An upright person, an honest person, a healthy person, a person with blameless integrity. That’s it… That’s me.”
A person who had to live that way, was forced to live that way, and eventually grew up that way. The moment when expectations were sold was very brief. Kwak Jeong-han knew that well, and he had to pursue perfection at every moment and stand out in front of people.
He couldn’t take care of himself while it was eating him up this much.
Kwak Jeong-han actually knew very well why people become violent when they enter the water. A festering stomach does not heal.
“Because I am like this… I couldn’t control it. I will never be able to rule. Even now… “Didn’t you hurt Sehyun?”
That was the end of words like confession. Kwak Jeong-han let out a long breath and lowered his head again. Sehyeon watched the scene quietly and remembered a passing memory from the past.
I don’t know if it’s the same, but I said something that everyone experiences. There was a net-like place for Se-hyeon as much as Kwak Jeong-han. What is different from him is that he did not carry something as huge as Kwak Jeong-han.
