episode_0065

As we exchanged a deep kiss and the sound of the bell rang, I was finally able to reach the detached building safely after stopping the man who was gripping my buttocks.

Encountering the servants on the way, I was intimidated by their unfriendly glares, but the man, seemingly charged with confidence, would mock them each time and playfully flick his finger at them in the middle.

Of course, we kept it within the boundaries that wouldn’t get us caught by the man, so there shouldn’t be any problem.

— Jumul jumul

Originally, the detached building was where the guests who visited this place stayed, so it was quite serene now.

Feeling relieved that there was no one around, I reminisced about Joo Eun-hye’s memories and, with the man who was closely following behind me, headed towards our destination.

I’m sure Joo Eun-hye’s room was on the second floor.

Come to think of it, it’s quite complicated to imagine that he lived alone in such a spacious detached building.

— Jumul jumul

He. He used to hide in the corner to avoid catching the eyes of the old men and servants. Back then, even Mom and Minjeong couldn’t readily extend a hand to him, so he must have been very lonely.

How scared he must have been at night, singing to dispel his fears.

There are so many things I want to say to him, but now it might be impossible forever.

— Jumul jumul

“Haah, haah. Excuse me, sir. How long do you plan on jumul jumul-ing like this?”

When I glared at the man closely following me, his hand, which was gently caressing my chest, stopped moving with a flashy gesture.

“Sorry, I can’t stop because it feels soft and good.”

“Haah, haat… Oh, sir. Did you know you’ve been doing this since I asked you to stop earlier? Do you know how difficult it was for me to come all the way here?”

“It doesn’t matter as long as no one else heard it, right? It’s our secret.”

“No, but if you keep doing this… I start feeling naughty again. You pervert…♡”

As I scolded him with a gesture of raising my shoulder to his face, he laughed mischievously and started nibbling on my ear with his lips.

“Hyaa!”

“Why am I a pervert? You’re the pervert for showing me your panties and tempting me.”

“No, it’s you who’s more of a pervert for continuously jumul jumul-ing my chest… Hng!”

“If I’m not a pervert, why don’t you think of letting go of my hand and crying in a cute voice, Joo Eun-hye?”

“Ugh! Huh! Okay, I get it, so please stop now… We can continue the rest at night.”

After saying that, the man finally removed his hand from my chest and let go of the close contact with my body.

“Alright, since we’ve charged up Joo Eun-hye’s mood to some extent. Let’s stop here. But don’t beg me to stop at night. Got it?”

“Don’t beg you to stop, sir. Tonight, I’ll be the one winning♡”

With a provocative smile and a wink, he chuckled and started stroking my head as I gave him a wry smile.

…But what does charging up Joo Eun-hye’s mood even mean?

“Is this your room?”

As we walked hand in hand quietly down the corridor, we suddenly found ourselves in front of a worn-out door.

Among the many rooms in the detached building, this room seemed to be the least maintained, as the door was in quite a deteriorated state.

Well, that’s natural. It’s been like this since Joo Eun-hye lived here.

“Yes. This is my room.”

Leaving the man standing stiffly behind, I turned the doorknob and opened the door, revealing a dimly lit room with only a desk placed inside, without a single window.

“Welcome~ Is this your first time entering a girl’s room?”

As I entered the room, I turned around to face the man and stretched out my arms with a smile.

It was hard to see this place as a girl’s room, considering it was a living space before, not to mention that it was not my room where the man slept, so I needed to say something appropriate.

“…This spacious room with no windows and just a desk?”

“Oh, there used to be a bed and a wardrobe, but I removed them when I left. And the lack of windows is because this room was originally used as a storage room, so it can’t be helped.”

“Why choose a place like this when there are perfectly good rooms available?”

The man, looking around the room and even noticing the cobwebs on the ceiling, clenched his fists and trembled quietly.

From my perspective, this situation is too much to handle, but thinking from Joo Eun-hye’s perspective, there was no other choice, and now it’s all in the past, so it’s inevitable.

As the man continued to look around lost in thought, I found the item that my mother had left on the desk.

Is this diary something that Joo Eun-hye had forgotten about?

But wait, it’s strange. I don’t recall Joo Eun-hye ever using a diary or buying one with her own money.

…Ah! I remember now that Joo Eun-hye was keeping this diary with great care.

Because this diary is the only memento left by Joo Eun-hye’s birth mother.

In that case.

This trash. It wouldn’t matter if I disposed of it right now, would it?

“Eun-hye? What are you trying to do all of a sudden?”

“I’m just trying to get rid of unnecessary things.”

“Unnecessary things? Wait, isn’t that the diary your mother-in-law mentioned!?”

The man stopped me from tearing the diary in half. Well, I guess I’ll have to postpone disposing of this garbage-like item for later.

“Well, we’ve got everything we need, so let’s go back.”

Reluctantly, I held the diary in my hand and grabbed the man’s hand with my free hand as we left the room.

It’s quite amusing to think that even though this diary is an important item for Joo Eun-hye, she had forgotten about it. But given the sudden situation of leaving home, she might not have had time to grab it.

Still, it’s fortunate that the person who found it was my mother. If it had been those old folks or biological parents, it would have been a big problem.

Right?

“Eun-hye, why did you have such a stern expression earlier?”

“Oh, who said I had a stern expression?”

“You did… Until just now, you looked like you were about to grab someone.”

Oh no, it seems like she can’t maintain her composure when it comes to that woman. Well, she’s been like that since she was young, so it can’t be helped.

“It’s nothing, so don’t worry too much– Oh?”

As I was talking to the man, I turned around and locked eyes with a man who was approaching.

For some reason, the man looked familiar, and as I stared at him for a while, he began to tremble, holding a bucket in his hand.

“Um, excuse me…”

“I-I’m sorry. I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to! I just did as I was told! So… I didn’t do anything wrong!”

“What?”

“Ah, ahh!”

Suddenly, the man fell to the ground, repeatedly apologizing and speaking incoherently before screaming and running away.

Shocked by the sudden turn of events, the man and I stood there blankly, watching the man disappear into the distance.

“Who was that person?”

“Huh? Oh, he’s the gardener working here. He was kind to me when I lived here.”

“Really? But why does he act like he’s done something wrong to you?”

“I don’t know. He’s always been like that towards me.”

Although he has shown small acts of kindness within the boundaries of not being caught by the people in this house, I still think he’s a really strange person.

Why does he always act like that in front of Juyeon?

By the way, the garden… the garden… Oh right. Is it still the same there?

“Sir, sir. Can we take a different path for a moment?”

“Why all of a sudden? Your mother-in-law must be waiting.”

“It’ll only take a moment, I promise. Just 5 minutes.”

“5 minutes, huh… Well, okay, but where are you trying to go?”

“Hehe. Follow me and you’ll see.”

*

Grabbing onto the man, we arrived at an old warehouse in a corner of the garden in less than 5 minutes.

The place with the glass window I remembered from my memories was now covered with wooden panels, and the entrance was tightly shut with a rusty shutter.

“Ta-da~ Welcome to my secret base!”

As he proudly revealed it as his secret base, the man looked at me as if to ask why he had brought me to such a place.

“It’s a great secret base, but how are we going to get in here?”

“Hehe, just follow me for now.”

Looking at the bottom of the shutter, I saw a lock, but I didn’t have a key to unlock it. However, there was still a way to get in.

“Now, if you start reciting the magic spell, the door will open.”

“What are you doing…”

“Stop talking and just watch. Now, Mahaji Maji Mahiro~”

I moved to the back of the warehouse and pushed over a rubber barrel in the corner of the wall.

Eventually, a large hole hidden by the rubber barrel was revealed.

“Would you like to come in with me? Sir?”

“Wow. It really feels like a secret base.”

“Hehe, doesn’t it?”

As the man, who was initially bewildered, discovered the hidden door, he seemed to be filled with anticipation as if his childhood innocence had resurfaced.

The hole wasn’t that big, but if we crawled through, the man could easily fit.

“It’s bigger inside than I thought. If only there wasn’t this truck.”

“It’s quite nice, isn’t it? When I was young, I used to come here often to read books. But back then, there wasn’t a truck like this. It’s strange.”

Using the flashlight on my smartphone to illuminate the warehouse, we found a truck parked in the center of the warehouse.

A common 1-ton truck that could be seen anywhere.

However, it looked quite worn out with paint peeling off in several places.

“Hey, this truck doesn’t even have a license plate on the back.”

“What? There’s a perfectly fine one in the front though.”

There’s no way a car would be missing a license plate. If it were, it would practically be a crime, wouldn’t it?

But why are there so many stains on the license plate? And why is the bumper so severely dented, as if it had been in an accident?

— Thump

“Um… This truck… It seems like I’ve seen it somewhere before…”

[ This… isn’t blood, is it? ]

“Haa… Haa… Haa…!”

Through someone’s voice, we discovered the bloodstains on the truck’s license plate.

My body drained of all color. Breathing heavily as if hyperventilating, my breath gradually became rough.

“Eunhye? Eunhye!”

Just facing the front of the truck, but that’s all. My legs gave out and I hesitated to sit down.

Clearly, something was wrong with my body.

But even though I was aware of it, there was a strange sensation as if my body wasn’t my own.

My vision is becoming blurry. I can see the man shouting towards me. But now even his shouts are fading away.

[What, why is my body suddenly… is this a lie?! Going back now? No… no!]

“This… this truck… why… what… why… no… aaaaah…!! Aaaaaahhh—!!!!”

Suddenly, a pitch-black darkness rushed towards me as I stared at the truck.