Episode 155
Lee Jae-heon, who read the 19+ survival novel, of course, was secretly ranking various personal rankings, although it was never directly stated in the book. ‘Gaebokchi’ was one of them.
Simply put, it refers to a character with a high probability of sudden death.
“This is Jaeheon Lee. Please call me whatever you like.”
Lee Jae-heon was about to sit down with an appropriate distance between them when he saw Park Da-young staring at him intently. He felt Mun San-gun, who had been patting the child, flinch, but he did not bother to look in that direction.
It was easy to read the mind of the student who was holding my long, curly hair.
‘I guess it means not to create unnecessary distance.’
That must be why he kept talking like that next to me while I was visiting Munsan County.
He blinked his eyes slowly and sat down across from Moon San-gun, thinking that it was funny to just stand there. It seemed that Ha Seong-yoon was still passive and the protagonist was mentally unstable and wouldn’t be able to have a proper conversation with the survivor.
“I heard you had a rough go of it. You were threatened by other survivors.”
“ah….”
“You don’t have to tell me. I just said it to tell you not to worry.”
Of course, Lee Jae-heon was skilled at gently melting down a confused opponent and turning him over to his side, but he could not have been unaware that the more he did this, the more the position of leader of this group would come to him. Perhaps the protagonist or the doctor were also taking a step back to take advantage of that point.
Since he had no intention of becoming the head, he had no choice but to change the subject of the story.
“Did you exchange names with our children?”
“… Boss, you really sound like a gang leader right now… .”
“Yeonseok is watching the fish being grilled. Where are the adults talking?”
“Who would be fooled by saying that now…?”
“Ugh.”
Lee Jae-heon was dumbfounded by the sight of the grumbling intern Noh Yeon-seok, but he decided to let it go because he found it funny how he was just looking at the fish on the bonfire with his large body crumpled up. It was also a bit amusing how he was awkward about stepping forward, but when given small tasks, he would do them well.
Lee Jae-heon turned his gaze to Munsan-gun, who was making a strange expression at the two’s banter, and continued speaking.
“so?”
“… Well, I heard your name and… what you do.”
Munsan-gun stroked the sleeping child’s head and started to sing.
“You said you go to Oseong? Except for Yoon Ga-ram and Ha Seong-yoon….”
“Actually, other than that, they’re all just plain useless people.”
“That’s not possible. They are people who work for the country’s top corporations, so wouldn’t they have the capabilities to do so?”
“… … .”
“Thanks to you, I survived too.”
He shrugged his shoulders shallowly.
“Seeing how much you respect each other, even in this situation, you stick together. I am grateful that you came to us just by hearing the child’s voice.”
“… Manager Jeong does have a good personality.”
At those words, Jeong In-ho, who had been quietly staring at the campfire, raised his head and smiled faintly.
Moon San-gun’s expression became strange again when he realized that it was an expression that had become a habit, but he quickly averted his gaze and pretended not to notice. It was clearly a look of wariness towards us.
‘Well, that makes sense.’
Regardless of his original personality, if Jeong In-ho and Lee Jae-heon are right, they would have seen Song In-myeong kill someone. Even if we don’t know his detailed concerns, it was difficult to lower his basic wariness toward humans. It’s possible to think of Song In-myeong as the average survivor of the other world.
However, the reason he sat there talking so obediently was not only because of the benefits he could gain from this team, although it was certainly because of that. Lee Jae-heon rolled his eyes so that Moon San-gun could see and looked at the boy in his arms.
The name that has now become certain is Choi Min-hong.
“The child… fortunately, there were no serious injuries.”
Thanks to that kid remembering Lee Jae-heon, things were resolved easily.
‘I didn’t know you would remember me.’
At the time of the incident, Lee Jae-heon was holding the child Choi Min-hong from behind, and immediately after that, he covered his eyes and started crying so loudly that the child’s vision was also obstructed. Nevertheless, Choi Min-hong, who met Lee Jae-heon again, tilted his head, grabbed his hand, and then was startled and recalled him.
Objectively speaking, Jaeheon Lee, who was covered in blood and had a bad impression, was a person who could not help but be repulsed, and because of that, Munsan-gun was wary of him at first, but in the end, when the youngest child greeted him with a big smile, there was nothing he could do. Regardless of the situation, Jaeheon Lee and Munsan-gun were the same.
Moon San-gun, who had been biting his lip for a moment at Lee Jae-heon’s words, answered in his characteristically neat tone.
“There were a lot of bumps along the way, but… yeah, that’s fortunate. Even the monsters have a conscience and try not to touch the child.”
“Have you encountered a monster?”
“I don’t know if you can call them monsters, but I guess so? I mostly saw things like slithering snake-like vines or… things that looked like dogs.”
“Thank goodness you didn’t get seriously injured.”
“As I just said, I think it’s probably thanks to Minhong.”
His honest face revealed a faint sense of guilt.
“… I’m ashamed of myself for being such a terrible adult who took advantage of a child.”
As if it were something out of a novel, it was the perfect greeting to go somewhere and die suddenly.
‘What’s embarrassing? If that’s the case, then am I some kind of radioactive waste?’
A sigh came out automatically.
Of course, if you were to compare the past and present life, radioactive waste wasn’t such a bad thing, but I couldn’t understand how much he had done to deserve such a thing, considering he was a chick. If one of my teammates from my past life had said something like that, I would have been slapped with a lot of questions, asking if he was going to eat me.
But that doesn’t mean he wasn’t sincere. Those guys that Lee Jae-heon had named ‘Gaebokchi’ had a stuffy side to them, so it was understandable that they would reflect on themselves in front of us, even though they had only just met.
“… I guess monsters avoid infants. This is the first time I’ve noticed this.”
Munsan-gun nodded his head at Lee Jae-heon’s response.
“I was surprised too. I’m not sure about that, but still… thanks to Min-hong, there have been many cases where I’ve survived one way or another.”
“Thank you for your hard work.”
“… … .”
“Mr. Munsan?”
Seeing her biting her lips as if she was choosing her words, Lee Jae-heon called her name as if he didn’t know her.
‘I think you’re hesitating whether or not to talk about Song In-myeong.’
Judging by the heightened alertness, he probably hasn’t met any other survivors besides Song In-myeong. He probably hasn’t encountered Seo Jang-hwa or Vivian either.
“… If it’s difficult, you don’t have to tell me.”
If he had met those two, Song In-myeong would not have committed such a hasty murder.
So, it seems like these people are wondering whether or not they know Song In-myeong, but it would be difficult to resolve that first. If they openly say, “We’ve never met with those other guys,” it would only arouse suspicion.
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‘But it’s not difficult.’
It takes time, but this type of person will open their mouth on their own once they get into the mood.
Lee Jae-heon deliberately turned his gaze to the side and asked Noh Yeon-seok, who was grilling the fish with great care. Unlike before, his tone was light.
“Yeonseok, are you almost done?”
“Uh… This is my first time baking it like this. But I think it’s cooked through. It was similar to what I felt when I went to OT.”
“I heard you’re secretly good at cooking. By the way, are you talking about when you were in college?”
“Yes, that’s right… I went there and grilled a whole fish. It wasn’t a campfire like this back then, but I did grill it over a live fire… It felt similar.”
“Okay, from now on you’ll be in charge of cooking. When the kids bring the ingredients, you’ll just prepare them yourself.”
“Oh, I’m good at that.”
The overall mood of the group improved after talking to Noh Yeon-seok, who had a brighter soul than the Park siblings, who were high school students. It was even more effective than Kwon Yeon-hee, who seemed to have a lot to think about.
‘I guess he was the one with the healthiest mind among us.’
Up until now, I had been struggling to adapt and was being pushed around here and there, so I was almost lying down, but after hearing about Lee Jae-heon’s past and talking to him for a while, I felt like my mental burden had strangely eased. As expected, he was a guy who couldn’t be helped by yelling at him, but had to be gently coaxed. He was someone who needed to be talked to.
Noh Yeon-seok, who did not know Lee Jae-heon’s thoughts, continued speaking in his characteristically firm and round tone.
“But how did you take out the intestines? Back then, I cut open the stomach with a knife and took them out… I don’t see any open parts. Oh, you took out the intestines, right? Didn’t you say that?”
“You talk too much. Oh, that’s right. If you put a long branch in your mouth and turn it, it comes out.”
“Yes, yes, yes. Can you show me later? If you teach me, I’ll fix the next one. I’m really good at that.”
“Okay, so stop acting like you’re in a good mood after having a hobby for the first time in a while. You must be doing this because you know that Manager Kang is looking at you with such a happy expression.”
“ah….”
Kang Min-ah and Noh Yeon-seok, who had been making warm expressions, met eyes, and soon their fierce-looking faces lit up. The fact that their flushed faces were clearly visible even when they were directly exposed to the light of the campfire meant that they were very noticeable.
Kang Min-ah made an embarrassed expression at the sight of Noh Yeon-seok bowing his head as if he was being treated unfairly.
“…Stop teasing me, Manager… .”
“What did I do?”
At those words, Kang Min-ah smiled sadly, and at the same time, intern Noh Yeon-seok’s shoulders hunched even further. He didn’t know how much the sight of such a large man crouching down must have been unsightly to the eyes of a man in his 40s.
“You’re so shameless.”
“… Not everything in the world can be solved with passion alone… .”
“Your business has long since been taken care of, you bastard.”
In other words, he hesitated because he was considerate of the other person, but based on what we have seen of Kang Min-ah’s personality so far, she would not have rejected him if he had confessed. It is true that she only sees the other person as young despite the fact that their ages are not that different, but Lee Jae-heon thought that Noh Yeon-seok’s hesitation also played a part.
‘That guy is the type that will run wild if he gets permission.’
He was holding back because he thought Kang Min-ah would feel burdened by him, but if they started dating officially, he would appeal to her with all his might. Honestly, I don’t know why I thought that, but that’s how it was.
Kang Min-ah smiled sadly once again as Lee Jae-heon’s words made her look even more gloomy, but suddenly he was able to detect a strange sense of discomfort on Kang Min-ah’s face.
“… … .”
“… Manager?”
“No, just.”
He asked, tilting his head slightly.
“You look tired.”
And, I still don’t know why.
I also felt the need.
“… … .”
“… Then let’s eat first. Mr. Munsan, could you please wake up the child?”
As he turned his gaze to Munsan-gun and spoke to him, the other person’s eyes widened and blinked several times. It seemed as if he was doubting whether what he was saying was right.
“…yes?”
“Even though it’s this late, I think I need to feed the baby and put it to bed. I think I gave it some water earlier, is that right?”
“Yes? Oh, yes. Thanks to Ms. Kwon Yeon-hee… Thank you again.”
“It’s not the water I brought anyway. Anyway, you must be quite empty inside. If you find it difficult to eat, I’ll give you some fruit. Actually, we don’t know if it’s fruit or not, but it’ll be easier to eat on an empty stomach.”
“Uh, that… .”
“Fish… If you throw a trap, you can catch them again. Min-hong or Mun-san-gun can eat whatever they want. Of course, either way, it would be best to finish digesting it before going to bed.”
Lee Jae-heon, who blurted out the words, glared at him again.
“Well, let’s wake the kid up first. We need to ask him what he wants to eat.”
“… Ah, yes… .”
As I frowned slightly at the strange gaze I saw at Lee Jae-heon after muttering like that, Yoon Ga-ram, who had been quietly watching the situation after taking his eyes off the campfire, opened his mouth with a small smile.
A gentle voice flowed under the pitch-black sky.
“Manager, you really are like my father.”
“…Who? Me?”
At those words, Lee Jae-heon frowned deeply, but Yoon Ga-ram continued speaking with his characteristically elegant smile. The soft tone of voice that resembled Ha Seong-yoon spread across the campfire.
“That’s how I felt. My father always acted like that. He fed me with blunt words and soothing me.”
“… … .”
“I always felt that way, but you pretended not to, and you’re so kind.”
“… Huh.”
Jaeheon Lee, who had been sighing, soon answered with a hollow laugh.
“No way.”
It was complete nonsense.
(Continued in the next episode)
