episode_0054

When the SWAT team and the crocodile man burst in, Ji-hyun was busy moving around, sending them signals that she was going to be a snitch.

The hamster that had been avoiding the eyes of other researchers and the last remaining dwarf were taken out in advance, but the other children were unable to do so for fear of being noticed.

When they barged in, it was obvious that the researchers would try to destroy the experimental data. I mean, destroy it, but burn it alive so that there would be no evidence left.

So, wherever I went, I pretended to run errands for people who were bragging about being doctors and tried to save as many children as possible.

Senior researchers who packaged their experiments on lab rats and birds that are sensitive to environmental changes as being for the good of humanity.

I listened to them, and I suppressed my conscience and worked until now, convinced by their threats that I would be given a doctorate if I did well in this research.

I decided to report it after seeing that they were administering an unknown drug to people the size of a person’s hand, who I didn’t know where it came from, and that the results were by no means good.

I didn’t think I could save everyone. But the guilt I felt for the deaths I had helped to cause so far made me scream in my heart that I had to save at least a few lives trapped in experimental cages.

Wouldn’t it be better to release them into nature rather than inside a research lab where death is certain? It’s better to live than to die, even if the chances of survival are low. That’s the thought that led me to act.

The color birds, the other nameless birds, and the rats in the cage were all released like that. Although they couldn’t save everyone, for Ji-hyeon, who had no ability, it was the best he could do.

Then, I got doused with chemicals and my body changed.

Fortunately, I didn’t die on the spot, and when I came to, I was in a hospital. The protection of whistleblowers was only strict until the initial investigation.

The government and the inter-ethnic association, who had found out all the information they needed to know, simply said they would not hold him accountable and paid no further attention to him.

Of course, that alone may have been enough. They even took care of the status issue, and they probably paid enough attention to it.

But I also understand that the government and the association are all busy. They are probably busy investigating and tracking down who is behind the research institute.

Maybe they didn’t care because they thought they would take care of it since they were each other’s people and a race under their jurisdiction.

They say the government even paid the hospital bills. So I had no worries until I was discharged.

When Ji-hyun finally got out of the hospital, she had nowhere to go. She had no cell phone, no wallet. Hadn’t they all melted away in the medicine?

There is no way to get to the house where I live because of my research. I don’t know if I can hitchhike there, but in this cold weather, everyone is just wearing their clothes tightly. It would be rare for someone as small as me to be kind.

Moreover, I thought it was dangerous to go home. Judging from the way the researchers were talking, there was definitely someone behind their backs. Would they really let me go after reporting them? What if a bomb exploded the moment I got home?

Then how am I supposed to live here?

“Small! Small human! You ran away too!”

As Ji-hyeon was thinking about this, a pure white parrot with a loud voice flew in. It was accompanied by a pure white pigeon.

The only small human who survived there was a child that he had put in a box. Fortunately, he was picked up by a good person.

Anyway, Ji-Hyeon remembered that the child was talking to other test subjects in a friendly manner, so Ji-Hyeon realized that the parrot also had good feelings for the little person.

The parrot probably didn’t know that there was only one person left.

I was glad that the pigeon was doing well after becoming friends with it, but I also felt sorry for abandoning it in the cold wild.

“Ugh… … . That’s how it is.”

There, he realized that he had to pretend to be a small person who had survived there. But, in this cold, in this wide world, is there a way to survive on your own?

Even though I have accumulated enough knowledge to pursue a PhD in biotechnology, I have no way to utilize that knowledge in this vast world with my body.

Should she just die with a guilty conscience? But Ji-hyun wanted to live. It was a natural desire for a living being, and everyone would have a fear of death.

But in this vast world, how can a dwarf with only a tiny hospital gown survive? It’s bleak.

But the parrot readily bit Ji-hyeon’s nape and lifted her up. Then he quickly placed her on his back.

“Bold and bold.”

“There’s a place where a kid like you lives. I’ll take you to his house!”

“Uh, uh uh… … ?”

A parrot flies up without even asking Jihyun’s opinion after hearing the cooing of a pigeon.

A person like me. Could this be where Namin, the child I abandoned, praying that someone good would pick her up, lives?

Even if I owe a parrot a favor for a little while, I don’t think I would be able to bear the guilt of being indebted to those who are suffering because of my own mistakes.

Flying on the back of a parrot, Ji-hyeon was at a loss and had a sad expression on her face. Was it really okay for her to go?

Narin, if you have nowhere to go, I told you to come, but that was probably just a courtesy. Who would welcome the addition of a military family that isn’t even their family?

At the window of a one-room officetel that we arrived at like that. A parrot sat on the windowsill, and a pigeon cooed politely.

“Hurukukukuruhukukuguruk.”

… … I don’t know what it means. Anyway, it sounded polite because it was low and calm. Then a bright, high-pitched voice came back.

“What is this? Boldgurya! You’re here!”

It’s Namin. The voice I heard at the hospital. It seemed like she was doing well, and tears welled up in my eyes, but I couldn’t open my mouth because two thoughts were fighting inside me.

I wanted to go without causing any more trouble, and I wondered where else I could go in this cold weather.

But Ji-hyeon was a coward who knew her own condition well. If she went somewhere else like this, she would either starve to death or freeze to death.

If I become a researcher here, no one will know. I just have to tell Narin. The kids don’t know that I’m a researcher, so I’ll just let them live happily without knowing anything. I’ll live my whole life atonement.

Jihyun bit her lip, thinking to herself that she was being despicable, because she kept falling for that temptation.

However, he wanted to survive, even if it was mean. With that in mind, he promised himself that if Na-min accepted him, he would do his best to treat her well.

Also, just in case the sparks fly to these people, I really want to live quietly.

“Have a nice trip!”

“Have a nice trip… … .”

“Melona when you come!”

“Ahaha, I’ll be back. Do you want to eat Melona, Saekmoose?”

“What is Melona?”

“You said that without knowing? … … Okay, I’ll buy it when I get off work.”

A peaceful morning, just like any other day. Narin prepared breakfast for us, washed up, and went to work.

But it was a little more noisy than usual. There were two more people seeing Na-rin off. Ah, the color-shifter isn’t human, really.

Narin’s footsteps grew distant, and the hamster I was riding lost interest in the front door and turned around.

Hamshik is good at playing by himself. Now I just need to finish the request I received yesterday.

Maybe because Narin had gone to work and had nothing to do, Saekmusae was bored and wandering around here and there.

It seems like he figured out what I was doing and decided to follow Hamshik instead of bothering me.

On the other hand, Jihyun stood next to me and just looked at me hesitantly.

“Are you bored? Oh, by the way, Jihyun doesn’t have a cell phone. I can’t let her play with mine… … . I have to film this.”

“Oh, that’s not it. I was just wondering if there was anything I could help you with.”

“Huh? Not really. I’m playing with Hamshik and Saekmusae.”

You can ask for simple requests like just mixing colors, but making miniatures requires delicate hand movements.

Jihyun has gotten smaller, so her hand movements might be able to help her to some extent. Oh, and since she’s a researcher, she’s probably smart too.

But I can’t leave this work to an amateur since I’m being paid to do it. I have to do it myself.

Phew, it’s only been a few days since I started working. This is professionalism!

But Jihyun didn’t seem to like doing nothing very much. Judging from the way she fidgeted with her hands and then started talking to me again.

“Then, are you cleaning?”

“It’s okay to clean on the weekend. And the purifier keeps running.”

“Then do the laundry… … .”

“Narin-ee unnie, I have to do it when she gets off work. There isn’t much laundry, so Narin-ee unnie does it once every two days.”

Oh, researchers are also office workers. So I guess that’s why they’re anxious about not having anything to do.

Should I make you do something to make you feel better? Make you my assistant?

“Keeek!”

Just as the evil employer’s mind was about to raise its head, Hamsik screamed.

There was nothing special about it, but I looked and saw that the magpie had pooped on the floor.

“Hey. What’s wrong with Hamshik? Hamshik doesn’t poop?”

“Keeek!”

Hamshik was pointing to the bathroom and shouting. Saekmusae could only tilt her head at the sight of him as if he was asking if she couldn’t even go to the bathroom.

That would be the case, because at the pet shop, if you just pooped in the cage, the staff would clean it up for you. They probably didn’t understand the concept of having to hide your litter box.

But since I live with Narin, I have to be careful about that!

“I’ll clean it up.”

Just as I was wondering how to make the color-blind man cover the bathroom, Jihyun took action first.

Well, I guess I feel like I have to do something since I got a place to stay and food to eat.

Well, I don’t think I owe Narin any money since I get a subsidy and I’m using it to order necessities.

Jihyun originally had a social status, so it might not show. So it really feels like she’s just living off of others.

So, wouldn’t it be okay to give him some appropriate tasks? The first one is to train him to go to the bathroom.

“Okay, Jihyun. You toilet train the color bird!”

“Me, me? Okay, I got it! I’ll make it happen even if it doesn’t work out!”

Jihyun suddenly clenched her fists as if she had a sense of mission. It was a bit strange, but it was better than being timid like before.

“Bathroom? Training?”

Leaving the bewildered Saekmusae and Jihyun behind, I continued to focus on Min-ee-cheo.

Thanks to Jihyun sticking around, Hamshik also became quiet. Well, I like it when it’s noisy.