episode_0023

“Auntie!”

“Hmm…?”

“Ah….”

I’m safe.

Honestly, I was somewhat expecting the scenery of the hospital on the way here to be different from before the film crew arrived, but seeing her face directly made me breathe a sigh of relief belatedly.

“…What’s this all of a sudden? Ugh… Woke up suddenly with a headache…”

“Ah… Well, you see…”

And so, what remained now was the unbearable aftermath.

Whether she had been napping openly during work hours or not, Auntie rubbed her eyes and rose from her desk where she had been lying down. Naturally, her expression was 100% annoyed. The fact that she noticed Jin standing beside me and shot up to 150% was an added bonus.

“Why is he here again? Planning another escape, perhaps?”

“Hurry up and get permission. It’ll be dark soon.”

“Um… Yeah…”

It’s awkward when both sides are only speaking their minds.

I once saw a TV show about divorced parents treating their children like telephones, and now I truly realized how stressful that must be. The atmosphere was becoming so tense that it felt like fists might start flying any moment, making my stomach churn.

Since there were many eyes watching, I tried to close the door.

However, as if someone had forcefully unlocked the just closed door by jamming a knife into the handle, it creaked open. Cold sweat broke out involuntarily. It was somewhat fortunate that Auntie was too preoccupied with Jin to notice.

“How many times do I have to say it? You know from the start that this isn’t some mental illness that will improve with rehab therapy. But if you don’t complete the designated hours, the support from the country will be cut off. Do you not understand that it’s the damn country’s policy to let patients without improvement fend for themselves?”

“That… That’s true, maybe. It’s partly thanks to not having to go to school that… I could…”

“Why is someone who knows so well causing such a commotion? Anyway, your lack of patience… Huh?”

As Auntie grumbled and walked away, a gun barrel got caught on her foot.

It wasn’t a handgun that Auntie carried for self-defense; it was a rifle-shaped model. We all looked at it in puzzlement.

“When will this end?”

“Just wait a bit… Have a little patience, okay?”

“……”

Oh, Jin, of course, had no interest this time either.

His face was already on the verge of losing patience just from Auntie and me talking, and seeing his grip getting stronger in our clasped hands, it seemed like he was about to bolt at any moment.

“A gun…? This isn’t mine.”

“Earlier, one of the security guards came here… Maybe they dropped it?”

“A security guard?”

“He went out saying he needed permission to use tranquilizers to subdue a kid named Eunyugi who was causing a ruckus.”

“What nonsense is this? No such person has ever entered this room.”

“Pardon?”

“Anyway, Eunyugi again? Ugh… So annoying. Just dealing with Sumin-geun or Raon alone is enough to drive me crazy, why are kids these days all equally troublesome? Should I just cover it up as a medical accident and be done with it?”

Auntie grumbled as she roughly kicked the gun aside and shoved it into a corner, then took a deep breath.

Strange. The security guard who turned into a film reel first had supposedly talked with Auntie, but there was no reason for Auntie to hide such a trivial fact. Then what is it? Is there some kind of monster lurking somewhere in this hospital turning people into film reels? If so, they should be killed. Found and all killed.

“It’s not here.”

“…Huh?”

“No bad people here.”

“I-I see…?”

“Yeah. The bad dream is over.”

I don’t know how Jin read the unease in my heart, but his whispered words had a strange persuasiveness. The reddened vision regained its original color. I wasn’t out of breath anymore, and the trembling had ceased. I wasn’t anxious anymore.

“Anyway, stop with the weird excuses and go finish up the remaining time.”

“That’s right, the security guard and the volunteer both said they came here earlier…”

“So, no one has entered here. Even if someone did, I wouldn’t know because I’ve been sleeping.”

“Lies.”

“…What?”

“It’s a lie. Don’t listen to it.”

“What are you saying, Jina?”

“It’s a lie. Another lie. I knew it would come to this. A liar. Just lies.”

Jin continued to lash out with an emotional tone completely different from when she was trying to persuade.

Naturally, her interlocutor suddenly fell silent, labeled as a liar. Initially confused due to not understanding English, their face gradually twisted in frustration.

“Let’s go. There’s nothing more to say.”

“Wait, Jina. We haven’t got permission yet. Otherwise, we can’t go home.”

“I don’t care as long as you’re with me.”

“I have a lot to prepare for school tomorrow…”

“Not necessary.”

“Lies…? Just lies…? Who is accusing whom of lying right now?”

“Aunt, calm down…”

“I’ve never lied! Don’t blabber nonsense about things you know nothing about!!”

“…Aunt?”

“Sigh… Why don’t you believe me? I told you there’s nothing like that. Even now… You won’t listen to me, will you? No matter how much I talk, you only believe Ryu Jin’s words! You don’t care about someone like me at all!”

Books, papers, and various items Aunt randomly threw hit Jin but physically didn’t hurt much. However, Aunt’s trembling voice struck deeply at Jin’s heart.

“I can overlook a hundred times that you only care about Ryu Jin. But why have you been incessantly babbling about irrelevant things like security guards or metaphors since earlier? What does that have to do with anything? Whether those things live or die, what difference does it make!? I’m right in front of you. Don’t I matter to you? Aren’t you curious? It’s family, not some random person on the street. The only real family member with shared blood! Even if you don’t love, you can at least say a word kindly─ Argh!”

“Shut up. I don’t want to hear anymore. Lies.”

“T-this…!!”

“I hate lies.”

“Shut up! Who’s the liar here!!”

“…”

After venting her anger for a while, Aunt stumbled and fell to the floor due to Jin knocking away a book. But soon after, despite scattered papers, Aunt gathered them and lashed out towards Jin. She was the one who got hit, but managed to hold back the impulse to retort.

“Hey, Jina, let’s calm down. Huh? Aunt knows what she means, so now th… Ouch!?”

“Move! This damn soccer idiot is really persistent! Because of you, our nephew is always suffering!”

“You lied again. Lies till the end.”

Initially starting with a shot using books and paper bundles, it escalated to grabbing all sorts of miscellaneous items in the office. Fortunately, Jin, impatient as she was, didn’t directly hit Aunt. However, seeing all of Aunt’s belongings being used like disposable soccer balls was quite worrying.

Of course, the parties involved were oblivious to the issue.

Aunt even went as far as kicking what seemed like a trophy she received from some prestigious society. Some were metallic trophies, and she even jumped around in pain by herself. Jin, on the other hand, bravely endured the hits.

What should I say?

I felt a tiny bit of the old feeling.

Whenever Jin dragged me along to play soccer, Aunt always got involved like this. Somewhere along the line, my role became a shared forward, defender, goalkeeper, ball boy, and referee.

In the end, everyone got tired, and the outcome like victory or defeat seemed to lose its importance.

It was nice just being together. Despite the world pointing fingers and turning its back on them, they were happy as long as they were together. It’s ironic that they can reminisce about those times like this.

“Heh… Heh… Haa… Eek….”

“Haa… Haa……”

With nothing left to throw and their stamina depleted, the two of them bowed their heads, breathing heavily. There wasn’t much to say to Imo… Jin seemed to only like soccer but didn’t engage in any other physical activities. Their limits were almost evenly matched. There was no sign of giving up from their expressions, but in the end, it was my job to finish it again.

“Hey, can we stop now…?”

“Haa… Haa… No.”

“Who said it’s over… You started this first…!”

“It’s worse to lie first.”

“I never lied, you idiot!”

Yeah. I didn’t expect you to listen anyway.

It’s fine. I anticipated this much.

But if we delay further, it’ll be troublesome. So, prepared for a big scene, I let go of Jin’s hand for a moment.

“……!?”

Since Jin was quite tired, it wasn’t difficult.

She immediately widened her eyes and reached out to grab me again, but I had enough time to throw the coat to Imo before she could catch me outside the court.

“Oh, Jin, be careful. You might fall.”

“You… you let go of my hand just now? Why did you… why did you break our agreement not to let go? I promised not to let go, why did you do that? Why?”

“I caught it again. Your hands were sweaty, I was afraid Jin might feel uncomfortable.”

“I’m not uncomfortable. Sweat is good. Don’t let go because of that. Never. Never. I don’t mind at all. I was just surprised. I was so startled, my heart was pounding so hard, I couldn’t even breathe. So please. Don’t let go. I don’t want to cry. I hate sad things.”

“…Yeah. I’m sorry. I was wrong after all. Will you forgive me?”

“……”

“If that’s what Jin wants, I’ll do anything. Okay?”

“….Kisses, lots of kisses.”

“Really?”

“Really really. Seriously.”

“As expected, Jin has a big heart. Then, first…”

“Eugh, eukyaak!? What the hell is this stupid nephew doing right now!!”

“Shall we hurry back home?”

We can make up for the missed rehabilitation therapy session later.

With baseless optimism, I pulled Jin’s hand that I grabbed onto. While Imo, covered in a coat at least two heads taller than herself, struggled to hold on, today, once again, I forcibly separated the two who couldn’t reconcile.