Chapter 43: CUT. Cholinergic Urticaria (2)
by fnovelpia
Suddenly, he noticed a small tattoo on the journalist’s forearm.
It was a familiar symbol.
A ‘W’.
His heart sank.
It was the same pattern that the silver-haired narrator and Reiko Ishikawa had.
This journalist wasn’t a real journalist.
Without showing any signs of agitation, he quietly got up from his seat, as if he were just heading to the bathroom.
There was a small workbench next to the cleaning supplies closet.
Maybe there were tools there that could be used as weapons.
Of course, he couldn’t let the journalist catch him.
The conversation between the president and the journalist continued in the background.
“Thank you for providing the video, Joo-Yi.”
“It’s an honor to contribute to a cause like this~. I’ve dreamed of being an anarchist fighting against state oppression and control since I was four.
Have you seen <V for Vendetta>?”
“No. But it’s unusually hot today. My body feels prickly.”
“…What?”
“I said prickly. Like fire ants crawling on my skin.”
“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”
“Prickly prickly prickly prickly!”
The flow of the conversation grew stranger.
The journalist’s voice turned eerily high-pitched.
Suddenly, the president’s responses stopped.
It was frightening.
What was happening?
He needed to stay calm.
He didn’t turn around.
The tools were scattered on the workbench.
There were wrenches and a steel crowbar.
His hands trembled as he reached for the crowbar. The sensation of the heavy steel was unfamiliar.
He needed to turn around and smash the journalist’s head in right away.
Tension tightened every muscle in his body.
He turned sharply around.
The president had already lost consciousness, lying face down on the table.
How did he knock her out? There was no sound of a blow.
The journalist was supposed to be sitting there, but he wasn’t.
The crowbar pointed at empty air.
His heart sounded a loud alarm.
“…You see, I suffer from cholinergic urticaria[1].”
He heard the journalist’s slimy voice.
Startled, Yeoreum turned toward him.
The journalist was sitting on the shoulders of a gorilla in a frog-like posture.
In less than three seconds, he had knocked out the president and climbed up there.
Yet he hadn’t felt his presence at all.
Maintaining incredible balance, the journalist began to undress abruptly.
A man flinging off his clothes while sitting on a gorilla.
It was a bizarre sight.
“When the temperature rises even by a degree, my skin stings. Prickly prickly.”
“You… What are you…?”
“That’s why I like it cool. Always cool. I need to periodically strip to cool my skin.”
Now, the journalist was nothing but glasses on his naked body.
Madness was thick in the air.
The crowbar Yeoreum was pointing at him trembled slightly.
“Prickly prickly.”
The man leaped.
He spun through the air, landing lightly.
He walked towards him with confident strides, unfazed by the sight of the crowbar.
The best defense is offense.
He swung the crowbar at the approaching naked man.
Thud— but the journalist easily caught the flying crowbar with his bare hands.
The attack was blocked with ridiculous ease.
“Didn’t I tell you? I suffer from cholinergic urticaria. It gets prickly when the temperature rises even by a degree.”
“Argh…!”
“That’s why I hate summer.”
The journalist’s hand struck out.
The palm plunged into Yeoreum’s slender neck.
Consciousness cut off.
The door opened.
“I’m back…”
Yuna Yeon’s return.
She brought drinks from the snack bar.
But only the journalist was sitting at the table.
The president and Yeoreum were nowhere to be seen.
Yuna Yeon tilted her head.
“Where did Joo-Yi and Yeoreum go…?”
“The two of them said they had something to discuss and stepped out.”
Yuna Yeon thought it was strange to leave a guest alone and step out.
Of course, it was a lie by the journalist.
The president and Yeoreum were locked inside the cleaning supplies closet.
“Mmm… mmm…”
Yeoreum moaned.
In the cramped closet, stuck tightly against the unconscious president, there was no room to move.
His arms and legs were tightly bound. His mouth was sealed with tape.
Through the crack in the closet door, the situation outside was faintly visible.
Seeing the journalist now pretending to be normal, it felt like he was going to have a panic attack.
The journalist was a psycho from the same facility as the narrator.
Yuna Yeon sat across from him, unaware of this fact.
It was dangerous. He had to warn her.
Mmm, mmm mmm. Mmm…
His weak moans were too soft to reach her.
It was miserable to watch helplessly as his only friend fell into a trap.
“You seem very close to Mr. Yeoreum. Are you two lovers?”
“Oh, we aren’t married yet… hehe…”
Yuna Yeon giggled playfully.
Now was not the time for that. It was frustrating.
She placed the drinks she brought on the table.
Once again, it was the pine-flavored drink.
Seeing it reminded him of the terrible taste he had experienced two days ago.
Ugh.
But there was also a can of cola, shining like a beacon among the green cans.
The journalist, who had grimaced at the pine drink, smiled broadly at the sight of the cola.
“Ah! There’s cola.”
“No, you can’t have that, sir… It’s for someone special.”
It was diet cola.
The can, covered in cool droplets, was labeled “No Sugar Added.”
Yuna Yeon had said two days ago, “There’s too much sugar in cola… I bought this thinking of your health, Yeoreum…”
The image of Yuna Yeon’s drooping shoulders haunted him.
Suddenly, his eyes welled up with tears.
Regret came too late.
It was his fault.
He had sulked and refused to drink what she had brought.
He felt the depth of the hurt Yuna Yeon must have felt. His heart ached.
He wanted to apologize to Yuna Yeon.
He wanted to convey his true feelings, which he had been too shy to express.
But he couldn’t move his hands or feet to apologize.
Tightly bound with tape, he was helpless.
All he could do was watch helplessly as Yuna Yeon was manipulated by the mad journalist.
The journalist picked up the pine-flavored drink with a grimace.
He popped the can lid. He sniffed it before bringing it to his mouth.
…
He set the can back down.
“Umm…”
The journalist’s expression hardened.
Yeoreum fully understood his feelings.
The trauma from tasting it two days ago had returned.
Suddenly, he felt nauseous. Vomit rose in his throat.
Thick gastric juices leaked out, dampening the tape over his mouth.
The adhesive on the tape weakened a bit.
Wait. Maybe he could peel it off?
He heard the journalist’s voice from beyond the cleaning supplies closet.
“Did you say your name was Na Yeon?”
“It’s Yuna Yeon.”
“Did you buy that cola for Mr. Yeoreum?”
“Yes. We had a big fight recently because of my mistake… I wanted to apologize in this way…”
“Mr. Yeoreum would appreciate that.”
The journalist wiped sweat with a forced smile.
He irritably scratched his side. His hives seemed to be getting worse.
Yeoreum desperately thought of the taste of pine.
Ugh— Vomit refluxed again.
The tape on his mouth was loosening.
His stomach convulsed, and his esophagus burned, but he could endure the pain.
He kept vomiting to open his mouth.
“Ms. Na Yeon. I apologize for bringing this up suddenly, but I absolutely detest heat. I suffer from cholinergic urticaria. If the temperature rises even by a degree, my skin gets prickly.”
“That’s unfortunate…”
“To cool off a bit more, I should drink something cold, right?”
“Then this pine-flavored drink…”
“I’m sorry, but I really can’t drink that.”
The journalist pointed his finger at the cola.
“But it’s the only one left…”
The journalist looked expressionless.
However, his eyebrows twitched slightly, and his skin turned as red as boiled octopus.
“Why did you only buy one can of cola?”
“There was only one can left on the shelf…”
“I’m getting prickly.”
The journalist dropped all pretense from his face.
He began to twist his body as if desperate.
“Cholinergic urticaria is affected not just by temperature but also by stress. I’m at my limit now.”
The journalist reached out desperately for the cola.
But Yuna Yeon was quicker.
Yuna Yeon quickly grabbed the cola can.
“What are you doing? I said you can’t have this.”
“Hand over the cola.”
“No.”
“Give it to me now.”
The journalist abruptly grabbed the cola can Yuna Yeon was holding.
Yuna Yeon tightened her grip, determined not to let it be taken.
Both exerted tremendous strength.
It was a fierce battle with no one yielding.
Crunch, the can got crushed.
The journalist’s expression twisted.
Inside the cleaning supplies closet, another change occurred.
The tape over Yeoreum’s mouth finally peeled off.
Gastric juices and his voice burst out.
Instead of calling for help, he shouted, “I’m sorry!!!”
He yelled loudly from inside the closet.
Startled, Yuna Yeon looked around.
“Yeoreum…? Where are you?”
“I ignored your feelings without knowing anything…! It’s all… my fault……!”
Trapped in the closet, he mustered the courage to convey what he had always wanted to say.
The unexpected farce enraged the journalist.
All he wanted was the cooling effervescence to soothe his hives.
“Just give me the cola!”
Like a werewolf under a full moon, he ripped his shirt to shreds.
His skin, blotchy with hives, was exposed.
His eyes were half crazed.
He threw a punch at Yuna Yeon, who was holding the cola.
“I’m sorry too!!”
Yuna Yeon responded to Yeoreum, leaning back to dodge the journalist’s punch.
She kicked the table forcefully.
The table surged forward and struck the journalist’s knees squarely.
The journalist grunted and faltered.
Yuna Yeon stood up.
“I should have known Yeoreum’s preferences first…!”
She threw an uppercut at the journalist’s jaw.
Crack.
It was a swift strike.
The journalist fell to the ground. But he bounced back up like a spring.
He charged and pushed Yuna Yeon towards the wall.
The fish-man and the gorilla toppled over like dominoes.
The journalist choked Yuna Yeon with his brutish hands.
“Acting… purely on my feelings, my emotions… only!”
Even as she was being choked, Yuna Yeon continued her apology.
She reached out and fumbled on the workbench.
She grabbed a wrench.
She struck the journalist’s head forcefully with the wrench.
Clack –
A clear cracking sound rang out.
“Ah!!!!!!”
The journalist screamed, clutching his head.
Opportunity!
Yuna Yeon swung the wrench repeatedly, striking the journalist’s head hard.
“I wanted… to get closer to you, Yeoreum!”
Thump───
“I wanted to reach you, but I kept messing up because I was clumsy…!”
Thump─── Thump───
“These past two days, being distant from you… I cried every night in agony…!! I’m so sorry!!!”
Thump─── Thump─── Thump───
As she hammered his head with the wrench, Yuna Yeon conveyed her true feelings to Yeoreum.
The journalist died standing.
His skull was crushed from the wrench treatment.
Blood and flesh blossomed like cherry blossoms.
With each swing of the wrench, they lightly took flight as if carried by the spring breeze.
It was like a scene from a movie.
Only then did Yeoreum realize.
The element that makes a movie truly cinematic.
It was enough with just one thing: violence.
After the storm of overwhelming violence had passed.
Yuna Yeon gasped for breath.
The journalist’s head, struck repeatedly with the wrench, turned into a red mush.
Yet, he was still alive.
“The pain is throbbing… the heat is intense… prickly……”
The journalist staggered and stripped off all his clothes.
When he removed even his underwear, his g*nitals dangled disgustingly, swollen with hives.
He was a repulsive monstrosity.
Yuna Yeon scrunched up her face in disgust.
The journalist, bloody-faced, laughed.
“Hoo, hoo, hoo… What’s wrong, Na Yeon…? Shocked because it’s bigger than your boyfriend’s?”
However, the emotion on Yuna Yeon’s face was not shock but contempt.
She charged with fury.
“Yeoreum is way bigger than you, you f*cking pervert!!!!”
She leaped and delivered a dropkick.
Her feet slammed into the journalist’s chest with a thump.
The impact, comparable to a missile, knocked the journalist off balance.
He flew towards the window.
With a loud crash, the journalist plummeted down with the shattered window glass, falling from the building.
Peace returned to the room.
Yuna Yeon opened the door of the cleaning supplies closet.
“Yeoreum…!”
The person who was tied up collapsed into Yuna Yeon’s arms.
It was the president.
Ignoring the useless president, Yuna Yeon embraced Yeoreum properly.
Yeoreum asked in a trembling voice.
“Yuna Yeon… how did you know my size…”
“Shh, don’t say anything… Everything will be okay…”
Yeoreum’s face was buried in her soft bosom, leaving him unable to speak due to suffocation.
During their emotional reunion hug, a noise came from outside the room.
Yuna Yeon and Yeoreum looked down from the broken window.
“Don’t think this is over…!”
Below the building, the journalist shouted sinisterly while laughing.
Despite being hit with a wrench on the skull and falling from the third floor, he had not died.
His vitality was like that of a cockroach.
“I will retur…”
Suddenly, his sentence was cut off.
A luxury car speeding at about 100 km/h struck the journalist.
The car did not stop; instead, it crashed into the building wall with the journalist pinned between the hood and the wall.
The crash was intense.
The journalist was crushed and could not even utter his last words.
It was a fiery death.
Smoke billowed from the car.
The driver scrambled out—it was the college president.
“Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!”
Upon seeing the dead man, the president screamed like a girl.
He wore a respectable suit on top but women’s ballet clothes on the bottom.
Students gathered around, murmuring.
The college president had crashed his car into the building and killed a man, and he was half-dressed in women’s clothing.
It was a perfect scene for social media.
People took out their phones and snapped photos.
The club president, having freed herself from the restraints, also didn’t want to miss capturing this moment.
She started filming with a camcorder.
With the dramatic scene continuing outside the window, Yeoreum picked up a can of cola.
He wanted to rinse out the thick gastric juices still in his esophagus.
Just as he was about to open the can, he caught Yuna Yeon’s eye.
Yuna Yeon smiled broadly, her beautiful eyes smiling after two days.
Yeoreum set down the cola.
Instead, he picked up the pine-flavored drink and opened it.
He took a refreshing sip.
The taste of reconciliation-
“Pffftttttttt!!!”
He immediately spat it out.
[1. raei: ‘Cholinergic urticaria are hives (raised red bumps on your skin) that appear when your body temperature rises and you start to sweat. It’s an immune reaction that happens when you’re exposed to heat, like exercise or taking a hot shower.’]
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