episode_0070

“Jeff. Shine.”

“Huh?”

“Yeah.”

“Don’t you both want to go to school?”

Business as usual.

While studying with Amy, Shine and I blinked at a question she asked.

school?

It was an unexpected question, so I bit my lip and asked her back.

“Why school?”

“If you go there, you can make a lot of friends your age.”

I twirled the pen in my hand at Amy’s question.

The pen, which was spinning round and round, suddenly lost its balance and fell onto the book.

“Do you need a friend?”

Shine looked puzzled at Amy’s words.

Amy nodded with a small smile when asked Shine’s question.

“The more friends you have, the better. And isn’t it boring to just be here?”

“I’m not bored. And this is the safest place, so I don’t want to go out.”

Shine shook her head firmly in refusal.

I nodded, agreeing with what she said.

“There’s no need to go outside. There’s a school inside here too.”

I gaped at Amy’s words.

It was a very large building, so it wouldn’t be strange if there was something inside, but it was quite shocking to find a separate space that could be called a school.

“Are there any kids that go there?”

“Yeah, most of them are like you guys.”

I nodded to Amy’s words.

The research lab terrorist incidents we hear about on the news happen quite frequently.

I wondered where all the children rescued from there were taken, and it seemed like they were staying in a place called a school inside the place.

“Amy.”

“Huh?”

“Do we have to go there too?”

I looked straight into Amy’s eyes and asked.

Aside from me and Shine, there weren’t any other children to be seen here.

If that’s true, then Shine and I will have to go there someday.

“That’s not it. It’s just… .”

I exchanged glances with Shine.

Their eyes met in the air, nodding as if they understood each other’s intentions without saying a word.

Neither Shine nor I wanted to break up with Amy.

“I don’t like it.”

“I hate it.”

I shook my head and closed the workbook on the desk.

Today’s study is over.

All of the answers were correct, without even having to guess them.

“I don’t want to break up with Amy.”

I recalled my last memory.

The image of Amy throwing herself into dangerous places without a moment’s hesitation for us.

Aside from Shine, Amy was the first person to show me unconditional affection.

I like Amy.

A blue light twinkles above the small hand clasped under the desk.

I don’t want to break up.

Amy remained silent at our response.

A wavering gaze, the corners of the lips subtly raised.

Amy covered her face with both hands, with a strange expression that was neither smiling nor crying.

Amy knows she can’t always be there for us.

Because she was always busy.

It was right that we had more valuable things to do than waste our time on this.

That day, after Amy left the room for work, I called Shine over and had her sit at my desk.

Since I had to bring up a serious topic, I took out the coffee I had hidden behind Baek-shi’s back and poured it into a mug with rabbit ears sticking out.

“Shine.”

“Yeah.”

“I have to go to Jin.”

“I hate it.”

Shine shook her head at my words and blew on the rabbit ear mug, taking a sip.

The strong aroma of coffee rose like a mist.

“Amy can’t always look after us.”

“There’s Victor and Rain.”

“Victor and Rain both have a lot of work to do.”

“But I don’t like Jin.”

“Shine.”

Shine shut her eyes tightly at my words.

The sight of her expressing her dislike for Jin with her whole body.

The fluffy dinosaur tail hung limply.

“Jin wants us.”

“I don’t like it.”

“If I could do the same thing as Amy, we could spend more time together.”

“No, it’s dangerous outside.”

“Shine.”

Shine, who had her eyes closed, drank all the coffee and put the mug down with a thud.

“Jeff.”

Shine’s closed eyes suddenly open.

A strange current swirling within the eyes.

I raised my hand without saying a word.

Dismissed-!

“Jeff. It’s dangerous outside.”

“That’s right. It’s dangerous outside, just like you said.”

Shine’s voice begins to flow into my ears.

My head feels dizzy and my focus is off.

But I shook my head and raised my power.

Dismissed-!

Blue lights blooming before my eyes.

The strange flow contained in Shine’s voice disperses.

“Jeff… ?”

Shine’s swaying gaze.

She reached out to me with a trembling voice.

“How did you do it…?”

Shine gets up from her seat and begins to slowly approach.

I looked at her and took a step back.

“Jeff… . Don’t do that… .”

Since when did it start?

It would probably be right after being struck by lightning from the sky.

I realized that Shine was lying to me.

That’s quite a lot of lies too.

I reached forward and placed my hand on my forehead.

Shine.

If you are truly my family.

If you really like me.

I wish you would stop lying to me.

Phagecic-!

A flash of blue light enveloped my mind.

A blue curtain spread out in front of her hands blocks Shine’s approach.

Memories are jumbled and confused.

“Jeff!”

Shine’s screaming voice.

The strange waves contained within it begin to penetrate the brain beyond the blue curtain.

I just sat there, holding my head.

The blue curtain that had spread across his entire body had already disappeared.

Shine slowly begins to approach me.

Her small footsteps were heard in time with the sound of her heart.

“Shine. Are you lying to me…?”

She hugged me without saying a word.

Shine’s warm warmth is transmitted through the fluffy pajamas.

“Shine. I’m confused.”

I reached out and hugged her body.

“Shine is my precious family… . Over and over. Those people keep interfering. Are they trying to break us up? ”

I’m out of breath.

Panting, he hugs Shine tighter and tighter.

If I let go even for a moment, it seemed like she would disappear.

“Shine… . I don’t want to break up with Amy either. I like Rain too.”

It’s okay, Jeff.

I’m here.

“That’s right, Shine. You’re here. You’re my family. Right? You weren’t lying, were you?”

Shine’s voice whispering in my ear.

Behind her voice, a hazy memory comes to mind.

A large glass wall.

The figure of Shine sitting beyond it.

“They… . We have to get rid of the bad guys in the lab… . To do that, we have to do the same thing as Amy… .”

The heart that was beating hard begins to slowly calm down.

The labored breathing calms down, and the strength in the hand that was holding Shine loosens.

“Amy is in danger… . Then go find Jin… .”

“Jeff.”

“I should go to Jin and tell him… . I want to do the same thing as Amy… .”

“Jeff… .”

“Don’t lie!”

In my hazy memory, I was sitting in front of Shine.

In front of a large glass wall.

Looking at her, holding the microphone in my hand.

I asked her.

Does it hurt anywhere?

“Don’t lie!”

I have never had that happen.

It’s all a lie.

There’s no way Shine is lying to me.

yes?

Shine.

Let me say that.

They, the people at that lab, lied to me.

“Shine. Answer me. You weren’t lying, were you? They. The people at the lab lied to me?”

“That’s right, Jeff. That’s right.”

“Yeah… . That’s it.”

The focus that had been shaking uneasily begins to return.

Shine held her hands, which were trembling with anxiety, tightly and hugged her.

“Shine. I hate liars.”

“Yeah.”

“Once upon a time. When I was very young. I had a friend I met for the first time in a garbage dump.”

“Yeah. Jeff.”

“He told me that if I waited here, I could get some delicious food.”

“Yeah.”

“I was there. I kept waiting. But there was no good food.”

I opened my mouth and exhaled calmly.

“I was just standing there, when suddenly an old man ran out and beat me up, calling me a thief.”

I opened my mouth, recalling the events of that day calmly.

The old man who beat me up and called me a thief.

He didn’t even think to listen to me.

I was beaten over and over again without being able to resist.

As my mind began to blur, I caught sight of my friend from afar.

He ate his food while watching me, holding a delicious meal in his hand.

liar.

With my mind becoming hazy, I glared at him and opened my mouth.

Salty blood taste.

I could never forget the moment when the blue light flashed.

I still can’t forget the screams coming from all directions and the trembling movements of the things that fell at my feet.

Where can I find something delicious?

No answer came.

It snowed a lot that day.

The blue light flowing from his hand blew out all the streetlights around him.

“Shine. I really hate liars.”

So don’t lie to me.

I released my hand from Shine’s grasp, opened my arms, and hugged her.

“You’re not lying, are you?”

Shine answered, brushing my hair away.

“Yeah, Jeff, I didn’t lie. ”

I nodded.

Shine doesn’t lie.

That was enough.

I took a slow breath and spoke to Shine.

“Shine. I have to go to Jin.”

Shine looked at me silently.

Their eyes met in midair, and she was still confused.

“Shine should go too.”

I grabbed Shine’s hand, turned around, and walked forward.

Shine being dragged along helplessly.

He clung to my back with a staggering movement.

“Let’s go.”

After leaving the room, I headed straight to the park.

Shine, who was held in my hand, followed me without saying a word.

The entrance to the park. There weren’t many people there because people weren’t on vacation yet.

But maybe it was because I was wearing dinosaur pajamas.

Their eyes were drawn to us.

I walked past them without saying a word.

Since the holidays aren’t over, there’s probably no one left to manage the rabbit farm.

I know because I asked Amy before.

That Jin really likes rabbits.

The fact that the rabbit farm that exists here was also initially managed by him.

So, while the staff was away, it meant that if you went to the rabbit farm, you could meet Jin.

jin.

I’m not a person with very good memories.

I needed his help to not break up with Amy.

I want to help Amy.

I am more than capable of doing that.

We walked along the park path with Shine and arrived at the rabbit farm at the end.

An empty building.

It was as if I had finally cleaned up the mess I had made of the building, and everything was sparkling like new.

I walked past the building and inside.

Where there is a rabbit farm.

Arriving in front of the small fence, I looked around.

“Um… .”

There sat the genie I was looking for.

Surrounded by rabbits, he was chewing dry hay in his mouth.

“Hay… ?”

Jin was eating rabbit food.