episode_0099

I quickly left the office and headed to the parking lot.

I thought back to the conversation I had with Kim Jun-hyung.

‘They said Seol Joo-hee was taken to the emergency room due to a suicide attempt.’

‘I heard Hong Yu-ra was next to me… . He’s also in a bad state… .’

‘Fortunately, I guess there was no major problem. I think he just returned home without being hospitalized.’

“Phew… .”

A heavy sigh escapes.

Seol Joo-hee and her attempted suicide.

With the most incompatible words placed side by side, it felt very awkward.

‘What on earth is going on…’ .’

I have never been so confused in my life.

Even when I was kicked out of the team, I wasn’t this confused.

The first time I heard the news about Seol Joo-hee, I thought I had heard the story wrong because my ears were strange.

It was so unbelievable that Seol Joo-hee tried to commit suicide.

I definitely thought that Kim Jun-hyung was playing a malicious prank, and I didn’t want to believe him.

lately… .

That is, until I remembered that Seol Joo-hee had dabbled in illegal drugs.

The moment when she finally accepted the fact that she had tried to cut off her own life string.

Ironically, my heart sank because I was worried about her.

Not because he is the ‘main character’ at the center of the original novel, but as a friend who has been together for a long time.

After the drug incident, I thought all my affection for Seol Joo-hee had disappeared.

Because the actions she showed were so disappointing and pathetic.

But when I hear the news that she made an extreme choice, my heart is pounding with worry.

It was almost laughable that I coldly thought of treating her only as the main character in the original work.

Beep ─

When I arrived at the parking lot, I quickly got into the car and drove towards Seol Joo-hee’s house.

“Tsk… .”

Regardless of the time of day, there were countless cars rolling around on the congested roads.

I stopped the car at a perfectly timed signal, tapping the steering wheel nervously and looking around for no reason.

“… … .”

A mid-sized SUV stopped side by side in the next lane catches my eye.

In the car we happened to come across, there was a young child talking to his parents with a bright face… .

As I looked at that scene, an unknown emotion crept into my heart.

What kind of feeling was that… .

I couldn’t quite understand.

Ding dong─

We arrived at Seol Joo-hee’s house before we knew it.

Instead of the password, I rang the doorbell and waited for someone to come out.

As always, I hoped that Seol Joo-hee would check the intercom and open the door.

but.

“… … .”

Unfortunately, the intercom was silent, and after standing in front of the door for a long time, I belatedly took out my cell phone and called Seol Joo-hee’s cell phone, which I had not yet deleted.

[ ♫ ♩ ♬ ♪ ]

A call connection sound comes from the speaker.

At that time, I was chewing my lip nervously and waiting for the reception.

[ … … ]

The connection sound suddenly cut off.

Seol Joo-hee answered the phone.

“Hello?”

I tried to speak calmly in a casual voice.

OK.

[ … hello… ? ]

A woman’s voice is heard over the cell phone.

[ … Jihyuk… ? ]

It was Hong Yu-ra’s voice.

*

I contacted Hong Yu-ra, who happened to be guarding Seol Joo-hee’s side, and entered the house.

After leaving Seol Joo-hee, who said she fell asleep after taking tranquilizers, I tried to have a conversation with Hong Yu-ra to hear the whole story first… .

‘… how… .’

I was a little surprised to see her strangely broken appearance.

Tangled red hair and squinty eyes.

The back of my hand was bruised here and there, as if it had been scratched at random.

And even the behavior of fidgeting and subtly observing.

As I heard from Kim Jun-hyung, Hong Yu-ra’s condition was not at all unusual.

“… What happened?”

I looked at her eyes and spoke carefully.

At that moment, she started shaking, carefully raised her head, wiggled her fingers, and spoke softly.

“… The hint has been released. … So, now I don’t have any bad feelings when I think of you. … Joohee is probably the same.”

It is said that the reason is that the suggestion that had been controlling the mind for a while has been released.

I couldn’t understand what the release of the hint had to do with their strange behavior.

“But why is that… ..”

at that time.

“Hey, Jihyuk.”

Suddenly, Hong Yu-ra cut me off, turned her gaze towards me, and began to speak calmly.

“The implication was resolved and I thought about it carefully. I feel like I’ve made a huge mistake all this time. I sincerely apologize. It was never because I hated you. I really couldn’t help it because of that strange suggestion. An excuse is an excuse, but I want to apologize at least this way. Please, don’t hate me too much.”

She spoke in a calm tone that was clearly not much different from her usual tone.

‘Is it because of my mood…? ?’

There was a strange sense of desperation in her tone, and I, slightly taken aback by her sudden apology, spoke again to understand the situation properly.

“Yura. Well, first of all… .”

however.

“I’m sorry.”

“… Huh?”

“I sincerely apologize.”

For some reason, she kept apologizing again and again.

“Hey… .”

“I won’t do that again. I’m reflecting a lot.”

She endlessly asks for an apology with a calm face whose emotions cannot be read.

“If you forgive me, I can really do anything. If I have to die, I will die, if I have to live, I will live long.”

A strange madness was felt in her blind actions.

“You can hit me until my anger goes away. I’ll do anything you want.”

It felt like I would explode at any moment if I didn’t accept his apology.

‘What is this… .’

Feeling a little creeped out by her obviously strange appearance, I gave her the answer she wanted.

“Yura. I will forgive you, so calm down now.”

That moment.

Sigh─

Hong Yu-ra slowly raises her head and makes eye contact.

“Really?”

She was clearly looking at me, but perhaps because her eyes were unfocused, it created such a bizarre atmosphere that I pulled away without realizing it.

“Yeah, right. I will forgive you… . Let’s talk about this again later.”

To be honest, until I met Hong Yu-ra, I had mixed feelings in many ways.

I felt sorry for her situation, but at the same time, I felt callous.

however… .

When I saw Hong Yu-ra’s ruined appearance, I could only think of one thing.

fear.

The fear of her, who seems rotten inside and appears strangely maniacal.

I just wanted to get out of this situation quickly.

“That… , I’ll come see Joohee first… . You know what I mean?”

“Yes. okay. I’ll be waiting.”

Hong Yu-ra must have immediately understood what I meant, nodding her head and quietly keeping her mouth shut.

He didn’t even blink, as if he wouldn’t miss any of my actions.

“… … .”

He looked so creepy that I couldn’t tell what he was thinking.

*

Knock-

After carefully knocking on the door, Do Ji-hyuk turned the handle and entered Seol Joo-hee’s room.

Her room felt strangely untidy, unlike before, when it was clean.

Do Ji-hyuk cautiously approached the bed with a serious expression on his face as the scenery seemed to express her mental state.

“… … .”

As Hong Yu-ra said earlier, Seol Joo-hee was sleeping soundly in bed while under the influence of drugs… .

‘ah.’

Do Ji-hyuk sighed slightly at the sight of Seol Joo-hee’s neck peeking out between the blankets.

Rough marks clearly marked on the pure white neck.

It is a trace of hanging.

“… … .”

After standing for a while and looking down at Seol Joo-hee, he sat down on a chair next to the bed and carefully assessed the situation.

When compared to Hong Yu-ra’s condition, it seems that some kind of mental problem occurred due to the reaction of the hint being released.

Perhaps Seol Ju-hee’s pessimism about life was so severe that she ended up making an extreme choice.

“… ha… .”

Do Ji-hyuk sighed, feeling a heavy headache due to the problems that suddenly exploded one after another.

Although Hong Yu-ra and Seol Ju-hee were very disappointed in them, I didn’t want them to be ruined like this.

Moreover, it seems like the hint has been resolved and things have returned to their previous state, but we have come too far to turn back now.

I can’t get angry inside, and I can’t accept it and say thank you when it comes back anyway.

It was literally an ambiguous situation where I couldn’t do this or that.

‘driving me crazy.’

Do Ji-hyuk, who regained his composure in a desperate situation, calmly thought about how to resolve the situation.

‘first of all… .’

at that time.

Sigh─

Seol Joo-hee quietly opens her eyes.

She was staring at the ceiling in a daze, intoxicated by the drug, and turned her head at the familiar scent of perfume that passed her nose.

and… .

I ended up finding Do Ji-hyuk deep in thought with his arms crossed…

‘… dream… ?’

For a moment, Seol Joo-hee suspected that she might be dreaming.

Otherwise, there would be no way Do Ji-hyuk would be in front of you.

“… Jihyuk… .”

“!”

Do Ji-hyuk, startled by her low voice, shifted his gaze to look at Seol Joo-hee.

“… Are you awake?”

She stares quietly with dreamy eyes.

He let out a small sigh at the sight of Seol Joo-hee blinking slowly, and spoke carefully, taking her psychological state into consideration.

“Are you okay?”

An indifferent word filled with concern.

“… !”

Seol Joo-hee’s eyes suddenly opened at those warm words, and she immediately sat up and slowly stretched out her hand to Do Ji-hyuk’s face.

“… ?”

Do Ji-hyuk, who was puzzled by her sudden behavior, slowly pulled his face back to avoid her touch… .

Suddenly─

Seol Joo-hee stretched out her hand and grabbed Do Ji-hyuk’s face.

“Suddenly what… .”

The moment his face was grabbed, he frowned and tried to remove his hand.

“It’s true.”

“… What?”

When she realized that the Do Ji-hyuk sitting in front of her was real, she thought deeply about it from the center of her overflowing emotions.

Should I apologize first?

Or should I reveal something about Lim A-rin?

Or should I confess my feelings that I have been cherishing until now?

After thinking about it for a moment, she apologized profusely as she became more and more anxious.

“I’m sorry.”

Her hands tightened as she apologized.

“Sol Joo-hee. now stop… .”

Do Ji-hyuk, who felt the eerie look in her lifeless eyes again, quickly grabbed her wrist to pull her away.

Suddenly─

Right at that moment.

Wow!

A dull noise echoing softly in the room.

Whisper─

Do Ji-hyuk lost his mind and collapsed.

Seol Joo-hee quietly looked down at him as he fell to the floor and whispered softly.

“I’m sorry.”