episode_0097

***

Grab a glass of water.

The calm surface of the water was shaken by that force, and water flowed through my hands.

I picked up the cup and took a gulp of water, just like she did.

The coldness of the cold water ran down my neck, awakening my mind that had been confused all morning.

I gently rubbed the corner of my mouth with the back of my hand, looked at her, and spoke straight.

“Absolutely not.”

“Why?”

“I’m not the child’s father, and I’m not old enough to hear a grown girl call me dad. Above all…”

“Why is Garam my daughter?”

“I’m not asking you to be my legal father.”

Putting her index fingers together, she muttered dissatisfiedly.

“But that doesn’t work. To be honest. I feel burdened by being called dad. Old man is better.”

“You look so distant…”

“Don’t you think that distance is the right distance?”

Put more force into your words and exhale more forcefully.

In my eyes, there is no change in the fact that she is pitiful, anxious, and someone I want to take care of and comfort.

I also don’t know that her obsession began with my actions.

Her obsession is about to sprout.

That’s why I try to draw the line properly from the beginning.

It’s okay to be obsessed. You can rely on it quite a bit.

However, I hope you stick to the line I drew. If we cross that line, our relationship will be ruined.

It is my job to imprint this message on her.

Will I be able to control her or not? I wasn’t finished calculating, but I still wanted to give it a try.

If you don’t even try, you will meet a similar ending in this dimension as I did before.

“…Is it really not possible?”

As expected, her toned down voice put pressure on me.

I tried to ignore her words and put my chopsticks to the ramen that came out at just the right time.

“Enjoy your meal.”

I picked up the noodles and blew on them.

I put the chewy ramen that just came out into my mouth.

– slurp

With the crackling sound, the rich taste of ramen spread throughout my mouth.

I think it tastes even better because it’s been a while since I’ve had ramen.

“Don’t you eat it?”

I eat a couple of chopsticks and look at her.

I know, you feel offended. I’m asking this knowingly.

If I act calmly like this, I think she might change her mind a little.

Why isn’t there something like that? This is a case that appeared in a dog correction program.

When you show aggression, if you look scared, you tend to be more aggressive.

Let’s keep drawing the line like this.

This is the survival method I have chosen in this dimension.

It must have been effective as Mr. Garam looked at me while holding a fork and knife.

I glanced at him and then buried my head in my bowl of ramen again.

The purpose was to avoid eye contact, and the ramen was incredibly delicious.

Mr. Garam looked at me for a few more seconds and then started eating.

We didn’t say a word to each other while eating, so thankfully there was no pretending.

After eating, we took out coffee and headed to Garam Fitness.

I had only heard the general story from Hocheol, but today I saw for the first time how the center was ruined.

“Wow….”

And the scene was terrible.

All the glass on one wall was broken, and I don’t know what was thrown, but two treadmills were stuck.

There was only one fluorescent light on the ceiling that was in good condition, so turning it on created an atmosphere that felt like an abandoned house.

All the documents on the desk were torn and scattered on the floor, and there was no expectation that the broadcast camera would be intact in the first place.

It looks like he ran away at night.

“Huh….”

I couldn’t help but laugh out loud at this sight, which was not enough to be described as a ‘messy mess’.

“I….”

When I was worried about how to get rid of this, Mr. Garam gently grabbed my arm.

“That….”

Hesitantly, she avoided eye contact and swayed her body from side to side.

“Aren’t you angry?”

Her shaking gaze alternately focused on my face and the messed up center.

“There’s nothing to be angry about, right? It’s not even my center.”

The center you run is a mess, why do I hate it?

“Hihi, I’m glad.”

The reaction was out of focus, as if he had been shot in the head, and his eyebrows furrowed slightly.

Let’s be patient. The other person is sick.

We walked around, being careful of shards of glass and fluorescent lights, and sat down on chairs to sort out the situation.

“First of all, let’s take this opportunity to remodel. First of all, Hocheol put up a notice in advance that it would be closed for remodeling work. Just send a separate text message to members.”

“Yes.”

“I will pay the remodeling cost for now. It happened because I was dragged into the broadcast.”

“I’m not paying everything. Just pay me 10% later.”

“Yes.”

“First of all, I don’t know much about exercise equipment or anything like that. If you have any equipment to change this time, please organize it all.”

“Yes.”

“Is there a place to separately purchase center supplies? How about using a safer mirror? Is there such a thing as a reinforced mirror?”

“Yes.”

“…….”

“Mr. Garam.”

“Yes?”

She, who kept repeating the same words like a cheap voice recording doll, looks at me when I call her name.

“What are we going to do now?”

“Yes? What is that.”

I took a long breath and crossed my legs.

Perhaps because I lost more weight than last time, it was easier to cross my legs.

“What should we do now? Continue yes. yes. Just repeating the same words.”

“Ah, that’s… Ah… Because the boss is better. I just do what the boss tells me to do…”

“Hey. Garam Choi. This center is Mr. Garam’s business. I just give them the building.”

I suppressed the bad words that rose up to my throat and spoke as gentlemanly as I could.

However, the unrefined feelings of reprimand were still contained, making her flinch.

“Sorry, sorry.”

You’re shaking like that, I can’t say more.

It feels really strange.

I scratched my head and told her the reality.

“Garam, I can’t be there to help you forever. So please be more proactive. Honestly, it’s a great opportunity. This is an opportunity to make the center better. What if you are so passive?”

As if admonishing an angry teenager, I gently persuaded her again.

I went on to explain at length how great this opportunity was given to her.

“Boss.”

Of course, I’m not sure if Mr. Garam understood what he said correctly.

She slowly reached out her hand and placed it gently on my hand.

“Don’t say you can’t be by my side anymore or that you’re leaving.”

As if remodeling wasn’t even on her mind, she was actively working on other things.

“If you say that. I might die.”

As I looked at Mr. Garam with a strange expression, whether he was laughing or crying, a thought suddenly occurred to me.

There is a saying that if you fall into a swamp, stay still.

The more you struggle to get out of the swamp, the more you fall into it.

This is what I thought when I posted the conversation I had with Hana on the internet.

And now my foolish brain has realized that this applies equally to me.