episode_0069

I made my way through the crowd and faced the two people in the center.

Part 1 I saw Jeong Ye-rin wearing denim shorts and white short sleeves, and a man with tattoos on both arms.

The man had a two-block haircut, and his face, clothes, and actions were flashy.

A typical ‘I smoked a few cigarettes during my school days’ type of person.

You’ve probably been in relationships many times, and you probably haven’t experienced much difficulty.

He must have had some confidence.

I appeared behind Yerin Jeong, and she had not yet found me.

“No, I have a promise – ”

“What are you doing here?”

Suddenly, he put his arm around her shoulder.

“Inhale?! Ah, Choi Do-hyun…!”

She looked at me with joy.

I did the same thing before when I went to the movies, but the reaction was completely different.

There was little resistance, and most of it was welcome, joy, and relief.

I continued the conversation with my head resting on her shoulder.

“It’s almost time for the appointment.”

“No, this person keeps catching me…”

“Did you?”

“Yes.”

She was tall, so she was at eye level without having to lower her head too much.

“You look pretty after dressing up.”

“……Thank you.”

“Yes?”

She said again, feeling embarrassed.

“Ah, thank you…!”

“Sniff, it smells good. Did you spray perfume? Do you want to meet me?”

“I didn’t do that to meet you, it’s just polite not to smell anything strange when I go outside – ”

“Really?”

“G… It’s true.”

“Well, it doesn’t really matter.”

As we were chatting like that, the man in front of me, who quickly became a cold person, came towards us.

“This bastard… who are you and why are you suddenly interfering?”

This is what happens when you look at my face…

‘First of all, I admit that I’m a gangster.’

Even now, my body was in a state of greater discipline than before when I was possessed.

So much so that if I were to fight 100 times with the person I was back then, I would be confident that I would win 100 times.

The man who was arguing some distance away gradually came closer.

-Pow!

I lifted one leg and kicked him in the stomach.

“The bastard… gets in the way of talking.”

“Wow!”

He fell to his knees.

People around me were embarrassed and said, ‘Uh-huh’, but it wasn’t something to worry about.

“ Let’s go.”

“Uh.. who is that person?”

“I will get up and leave in a little while. It wasn’t even that hard.”

“Uh, yeah..”

I naturally led her through the crowd.

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

For her surprise, I asked with a soft voice.

It’s been a long time since violence occurred in front of her.

No, it’s not a long time, it’s probably the first time.

Before I was possessed, Choi Do-hyun must have been fighting quite often, but Jeong Ye-rin met him during the post-processing of the leadership team after the situation was over.

Even when I had previously prevented the sisters from hunting, I had only limited myself to grabbing the opponent strongly and subduing them.

In fact, this is my first time seeing something like this… so I guess I was surprised.

“Yes.”

“Thank goodness. I wondered what would happen if her pretty face got hurt, but the wound wasn’t even visible.”

“Mmm, what.. don’t keep saying strange things.”

“Isn’t that a strange sound?”

“…Where are you going?”

She chose to change the subject.

“Well. Shall we take a walk around?”

“Have you not thought about it?”

“Same goes for seniors.”

“You asked me to meet you.”

“I just like walking around together.”

She opened her mouth as if to accept something, but then closed it.

“..It’s hot. Get away.”

“Yes.”

“By the way, why did you bring that outerwear? It’s this hot.”

She asked, looking at the jacket I was holding in one hand.

“I brought it because it was all useful.”

.

.

.

We wandered around and found a place that looked new.

[Dark Cafe]

And when I saw that sign, I immediately thought.

‘This is it.’

The build-up I need to do and the plans related to it.

It was a suitable place to realize one of those actions.

“Hey…? What are you trying to do strangely…”

Now, his expression changes to a serious one.

“..No. Just… without seeing your face, there’s something I want to say.”

Previously, when Jeong Ye-eun and Jeong Ye-rin were being hunted at the same time.

It is time to utilize the build-up that was done while rescuing the girls in the early days of Possession.

‘Painful past, old wounds.’

As my expression hardened, she also felt a strange change in mood and did not take it as a joke.

“Then.. well, something like that.”

That’s how we entered the building.

As I took the elevator up to the 3rd floor, there was a cafe that looked like it would be popular on social media.

A dark cafe is a place where you spend time in a dark room where vision is blocked, relying on your remaining senses, such as hearing and touch.

As we opened the door and entered, a clerk greeted us.

I was told that there was a room left that had not been reserved and that I could use it.

“This is a room with a desk and a chair for 4 people, and a total of 60 minutes is provided. Please choose one drink each… How would you like to be seated? Are you going to sit next to each other, or…”

The clerk looked at us and waited for an answer.

“Wow, you can sit side by side if you want…”

“- I will sit facing you.”

“Huh..?”

Did you think that of course he would want to sit next to you?

Sorry, but now is the time to leave out some of the sweetness.

The build-up I’m going to do isn’t about groping around in the dark.

The price is a bit expensive, but… I have to endure this level of bleeding.

The build-up we need to do today is very important…

“Then, would you please follow me with your hands on my shoulders?”

Similar to when I went to an escape room cafe before, I went to the room as if I was playing a train game.

Inside was a perfect dark room, and as I had seen in advance, there was a desk for four people and four chairs.

I thought I might be able to see it a little bit thanks to dark adaptation, but it really wasn’t visible at all.

It felt like I was wearing an eye patch made of fine fabric without being stuffy.

“I can’t see it at all…”

“Sure.”

After a while, a clerk led us out.

“Now, women, please take your seats… men, here. We’ll bring you drinks in a moment. It may be dangerous, so don’t get up and move around. If you need help, there’s a bell on the table. Yes, it’s over here. Can you touch it? If you click this, I will come.”

After a while, the clerk went out and brought drinks.

Two drinks in plastic cups were placed on the table.

“Well, have a good time.”

After he left, the room was now completely dark.

I didn’t say anything easily, as if I was worried.

She also sensed that I was different from her usual light mood, so she didn’t do anything special.

There was only the sound of a drink being sucked through a straw once.

“..Senior.”

“Yes.”

“Please hold my hand.”

I seemed to have finished worrying, but my voice trembled as if I still had some kind of anxiety.

Hold on to your emotions… I am a person who has been hurt in the past, and have not completely escaped it yet.

There is a vulnerable part of me that I have not revealed to anyone –

Now, I want to reveal it to you.

Let’s go with that concept.

“Hand…?”

“..Please.”

I am different from usual today.

And then, seeing that, she put her hand up in bewilderment.

I knew it because there was a sound on the desk.

I placed my hand on the desk, careful not to spill the cup, and found her hand.

Finally, I felt warmth at my fingertips, and I was able to reach out to the source and hold her hand.

The back of her hand and my palm touched.

Her lightly held hand was surprisingly soft.

Although it was so fragile that it seemed like it would crush if I squeezed it, I could feel the warmth that made people feel good.

It wasn’t like we were holding hands, but it suited our current relationship.

“..So, what do you want to talk about?”

“I…”

While talking, hang up once.

Pretend to think about it one more time.

And, just as she was about to speak again, she sighed.

It restricts behavior and makes the atmosphere completely mine.

The heavy darkness will help me.

“So, I want to tell you why I lived such a strange life… and why I live normally now.”

This is a topic that she would also be very interested in.

She just listened silently.

Even though she is being swayed by me like crazy now, her fundamentals are as a leader who is upright.

He is not someone who should take other people’s concerns lightly.

“Since a long time ago… I looked a bit fierce. Young children are scared, and their peers are also reluctant. Because my family was poor, I was ostracized.”

“….”

“Actually, my parents are not here. I think I said this last time… an old man helped me a lot.”

I continued speaking quietly.

In a completely different tone of voice than I usually do.

In this situation, the difference from the usual situation must be clearly revealed.

As loudly and clearly as possible.

“For his sake, I tried to live a good life… a really good life. But…”

After hesitating for a moment, he continued speaking.

“When you were in middle school, did anyone ever lose their wallet? However, everyone pointed to me as the culprit. My family is poor, and I just felt like I would do something like that.”

“……So……?”

“At that time, there were some friends I thought were close to me. In the end, the real culprit was never caught, and everyone blamed me. Bullies, thieves, beggars… while throwing insults at them. I don’t know about other kids, but even the kids I thought of as friends did that to me… I was so shocked.”

“….”

“So, I decided to just live like that from then on. No matter what I do anyway, people look at me like a bully, but it wouldn’t be unfair if I lived like a real bully. Also, it was more comfortable to live like that.”

Her hands shook a few times as if she was trying to say something, but I continued speaking without breaking the flow.

“But, my thoughts changed a bit after I entered the academy. Yeeun and.. thanks to our seniors.”

“…me?”

“They put me in the frame of being a bully and didn’t look at me. Yeeun kept coming to me, and my senior is now listening to me like this. I wanted to tell you that I am so grateful.”

As I spoke, my hands shook slightly, as if I was overflowing with emotion.

“Thank you, senior.”

After a while, a heavy silence filled the darkness.