episode_0036

A person who has come into contact with drugs even once has a clear mark.

Those who have tasted the highest pleasure that is not on earth will never be able to return to the original state again.

“…”

I looked at the man in front of me.

Hands and feet shaking intermittently, as if suffering from tremor, and a pale, haggard appearance.

I was told that he was in his early 30s, but his face was so old that I couldn’t believe it.

“You, what are you?”

His voice, spoken through the transparent bulletproof glass, was inaccurate and muddy, as if he was drunk.

I slowly turned my gaze to the side.

Choi Young-cheol made eye contact with me and shook his head.

It looks like the condition has gotten worse than when I saw it before.

That’s right.

The harmful effects of drugs become fully apparent only after you quit taking them.

Extremely sensitive senses and a brain paralyzed by absurd pleasure make daily life impossible.

Reality was so painful and painful that it couldn’t be compared to before, so I kept seeking refuge in drugs.

However, this is a prison where you can’t even find flour, let alone drugs.

Perhaps, from his perspective, this is true hell.

Well, it’s none of my business.

“Are you Choi Sang-hyeon?”

“I asked you earlier what you were.”

“I’m here to help you this time.”

“You look much younger than me?”

Choi Sang-hyun frowned at Choi Young-cheol’s words.

Just looking at the wrinkled face was disgusting.

Drugs are also available.

From the high-end type, which allows you to calmly feel pleasure with few side effects, to the low-end type, which has severe side effects but allows you to immediately feel maximum pleasure.

And in the case of Choi Sang-hyeon, it was clearly the latter.

Wouldn’t they have used cheap Chinese products that brokers in Korea had roughly obtained?

“I am here to help Choi Sang-hyeon get released from prison.”

Of course, I have no intention of revealing such thoughts outwardly.

If you have to coax information out of the situation, it is better to have a clear mind.

“Released from prison?”

Choi Sang-hyun looked interested after hearing what I said.

“We will release you on bail within a week at the earliest.”

“Really, Dad?”

“What…”

Choi Young-cheol looked at me for a moment.

Choi Sang-hyeon asked me, who was sitting across from him, how I accepted that situation.

“Please do ask! If I am released this time, I will really come to my senses and live hard.”

“…So I’d like to ask you a few questions.”

I brushed aside the nonsense and went straight to the main topic.

Can a drug addict come to his senses and live well?

This is a more absurd story than a gambling addict who is willing to risk his house and family to buy a house through honest part-time work.

“Do you know Shin Se-young?”

Shin Se-young was Ran’s biological mother’s name.

“The fuck is that bitch again? You have some kind of grudge against me.”

After hearing what I said, Choi Sang-hyeon immediately cursed.

“Shut up and answer.”

“I know who I am…!”

“You don’t want to go out?”

“…What are you curious about?”

I asked him a few questions that I had prepared in advance, as he was a bit discouraged.

Most of it was largely the same as what I heard from Chairman Choi Young-cheol in advance.

I met Shin Se-young since I was in college.

It is said that Choi Sang-hyun approached her with a pretty face first and they started dating.

The two people gradually grew in love with each other by going on regular dates and forming a physical relationship little by little.

Then, for some reason, the relationship between the two began to fall apart.

“…How can I go out with a bitch like that in a bad mood?”

One day, Shin Se-young confessed to him.

He said he was a person who could hear the hearts of people he came into contact with.

He said he had told similar stories sometimes before.

Sometimes he gets what he wants without even saying it and says, ‘What do you think? ‘Isn’t it fascinating?’ We often joked the same way, and wondered what it would be like if strangers could read our thoughts. I also asked the same thought-provoking question.

And each time, he ignored it because he didn’t believe it at all.

However, what she said was true, and because there was an unwanted pregnancy, Choi Sang-hyeon immediately broke up with her.

‘…You too.’

Shin Se-young, who heard what he said, did not get angry and just muttered that with a very lonely face.

When I asked what happened after that, the answer was that I was so upset that I didn’t even care.

“If I had known sooner, I wouldn’t have bothered to look at it.”

“That’s enough.”

I interrupted Choi Sang-hyeon, who was spewing out harsh gossip.

I got the information I needed. Then there was no reason to listen to any more stories that would rot my ears.

“…I’m glad. Because you are the person I thought you were.”

“What?”

Choi Sang-hyeon’s face became stained with puzzlement after hearing me muttering to myself.

“Chairman.”

“…What’s going on?”

“How many years does Choi Sang-hyeon have remaining in his sentence?”

“2 years and 4 months.”

“20 years in prison, please.”

“What are you talking about!?”

bang!

A dull sound echoed in the narrow meeting hall.

Choi Seong-hyun jumped up from his seat and pointed at me with his handcuffed hands.

“You! Are you crazy!?”

“…Is it possible for 25 years?”

“…I am also a father. Do you really have to do that?”

“I think I won’t be able to control my anger if it comes out before.”

“…I will treat you leniently.”

Choi Young-cheol made a bitter face.

Through the glass wall, Choi Sang-hyeon was seen yelling wildly with his face turning red.

If it weren’t for the wall that separated us, he looked like he wanted to grab me and strangle me at any moment.

“It would be better for you to complete your entire sentence and get out. If you want to maintain even the meager life that has been ruined by those drugs.”

I also agreed.

**

“Nice to meet you.”

Holding a pure white wreath in one hand, I quietly bowed my head.

In front of me was a large tombstone with a photo of a woman with an impressive bright smile.

This is a memorial park.

It was the grave where the late Shin Se-young, who committed suicide four years ago, was buried.

As can be seen from the polished tombstone without a trace of dust, this tomb was recently created.

The first place where Shin Se-young, who was cremated without a funeral as an unrelated person, was located was a charnel house where the remains of thousands or tens of thousands of unrelated people were placed close together.

They took her out of the cramped space that could barely fit a small glass bottle and placed her back here.

At least I thought that was the courtesy of a woman who tried to protect Ran until the end.

“…Mom?”

Ran, who was standing in front of the grave with me, suddenly muttered.

From the moment she saw the photo, she must have burst into tears, as a single tear was streaming down Ran’s white cheek from the side.

Even though it was a face that had already passed four years ago, she remembered it clearly.

“For now, I’ll give this to Ran. All you have to do is give flowers the same way as me.”

I gave her another wreath I was holding.

Since he had never had a formal funeral, this would be his first time paying tribute in person.

In order to finish the whole story, it was necessary to start from the beginning.

However, the beginning was the most difficult, and it started to creak right away.

Doridori.

Ran, holding a pure white flower, shook her head.

Ran, who cried herself to sleep last night, looked very depressed unlike usual.

The ability to speak, even if only for a moment, was lost again.

Perhaps if I had asked Ran to go see her mother instead of doing something important, she would never have followed.

That’s how much guilt Ran felt toward Shin Se-young.

That is why I applied for this job as a last request to the Chairman.

“Lana.”

“…”

Yesterday, in my room, I opened my mouth in a soft tone to Ran, who had a similar face and tears streaming down her face.

“That flower. If I can give it to you, I will tell you a very important and interesting fact about my brother. And after hearing that, Ran will definitely feel more at ease.”

Rustle.

The sound of Ran taking a step back and stepping on the grass was heard.

“Lana.”

Doridori.

Now that the tablet wasn’t in hand, the only way Ran could express herself was to shake her head vigorously. And I felt very sorry for that sight.

Even though he can speak, he is caught up in past misunderstandings and is suppressing himself.

“I can’t help it. I won’t force you, so would you like to come here?”

…Nod.

The answer came back with a bit of hesitation.

“Yes. He’s nice.”

I grabbed Ran’s left hand, which was not holding a flower, who was about three steps away from me.

“What I’m saying from now on is my sincerity and truth without any lies. You can tell because this is a section where you can hear my heart, right?”

Nod.

“Which one should I talk about first? First of all, Ran seems to believe that her mother died because of her, but that is absolutely not the case.”

“…!”

The response came back immediately.

As I looked at Ran, who was trying to say something with her mouth open, I said something briefly.

“That’s right, it was an accident, not a suicide.”

Ran’s mother, Shin Se-young, was a very strong person.

So much so that she was able to raise the daughter of the man who abandoned her on her own for six years without any problems.

Did such a person really try to commit suicide with his daughter?

The investigation that began with that question led to quite different results.

“It was truly an accident that no one had thought of. Even if you had been able to hear Shin Se-young’s feelings at that time, it wouldn’t have made much of a difference. Because I really didn’t have any intention of committing suicide.”

With the help of the chairman, the cause of her death was found to be carbon monoxide poisoning in an enclosed space, as expected.

However, the cause was not lightning charcoal, but briquettes, and it was not a direct fire, but a briquette-type heater that is still occasionally found in the countryside.

When I found the heater at the time and checked again, it was a defective product and the smoke that should have been sent downwards was directed upwards.

In the end, the public’s prejudice that carbon monoxide poisoning = lightning bullet has caused this illusion.

“…Your mom is really amazing.”

There was one thing I felt while researching carbon monoxide poisoning.

Fortunately, it is very difficult to miraculously wake up from the scene without any aftereffects.

In particular, it was beyond common sense that one person died immediately at the scene and the other person was fine. This is because everyone breathes.

“He saved you even in that dizzy situation.”

There is only one possibility that can be derived from this.

Shin Se-young personally helped Ran escape from there.

“I’ll say it again. Ran. It was truly an unfortunate accident that Shin Se-young passed away. It’s really unfortunate.”

You probably know the person holding my hand.

That this wasn’t a lie I made up to comfort her.

“…Yeah, but.”

Nevertheless, Ran seemed to have something to say.

Well, I guess he sacrificed himself to save himself or something like that.

“Did you really think that?”

I turned my head.

There was a beautiful woman who looked exactly like Ran, with an unchanging bright smile.

What is “? I know that? That Shin Se-young was actually the same person as Ran?”

“…!”

“You were able to directly see the hearts of people who touched you in a similar way. Ran’s complaints, thoughts, and discomfort. And it means that you already knew everything about Ran’s constitution.”

Did Ran really understand?

How amazing this is.

Even though he knew that his true feelings were being revealed, he truly did not feel any dislike.

When I first realized this fact, I couldn’t help but be surprised.

Can people like this really exist in the world?

As you live in this world, you are bound to have all kinds of bad thoughts.

And since this acts as a weakness, people who try to reveal it will show their dislike and avoid it.

However, Shin Se-young did not do that.

Rather, he embraced and embraced Ran with even more love.

…I thought he was a truly respectable person.

“…Ran must have been an irreplaceable precious being to that person. To the point where I would do anything for you.”

“…Black.”

Another teardrop flowed from Ran.

Are these tears of regret, or are they tears of joy?

Unlike the mother and daughter, I did not have the talent to read people’s minds, so I couldn’t know.

“Do you still hate giving these flowers to mom?”

Doridori.

Ran cherished the flowers as a tribute.

“…and. I want to come.”

“…Okay.”

I gently stroked Ran’s head, who was still crying.

“They say you know what’s inside ten miles of water, but you don’t know what’s inside a person’s face.”

I don’t know who wrote it, but I really thought it was a proverb that was perfect for the current situation.