episode_0110

I once said that it was a man’s romance to receive the gaze of many women.

I retract my statement.

I now realize that my thoughts at that time were rash and complacent.

It’s not that I’ve never been the focus of many eyes.

But I’ve rarely felt this burdened.

‘Ugh….’

They say when three women gather, dishes break [an idiom meaning it gets very noisy and chaotic].

Now, it feels like they could smash not just dishes, but even the jangdokdae.

In another sense, my eardrums were getting hammered, and my head felt dizzy.

The grateful greetings and bright, sparkling gazes of the people who swarmed me in an instant.

The atmosphere was full of goodwill, but it was incredibly overwhelming.

They wouldn’t let me go, so the car couldn’t move.

I let out a long sigh and eventually got out of the car.

“Oppa! Thank you for saving me back then. My name is Inhye. Lee Inhye! Please remember me?”

At her difficult-to-match energy, I could only nod slightly.

With her heavy and wild makeup removed, she looked like a completely different person.

She looked young, perfectly fitting her age group.

A look that still exuded youth and an innocent feeling.

Honestly, I recognized her by her voice.

She was a woman whose before and after were that dramatic.

…They say a woman’s transformation is innocent [a saying meaning women are free to change their appearance without being judged], so I won’t dwell on it.

Except for this woman, Lee Inhye, no one else clung to me.

However, as they all approached quite closely and began to offer their greetings, it became an absolute chaotic marketplace.

It felt like I had become prey for middle-aged women looking for a sale.

As I was feeling flustered with no sign of them calming down.

The woman who recognized me along with Lee Inhye stepped forward.

“I’m Kim Heejin. Your name is… Seonghan-ssi, right?”

As this woman took a step forward, the atmosphere calmed down a bit.

She seemed to be the representative of the women, in a way.

She was the one who had shouted at me to save the people back then.

“Finally, I get to greet you like this. Everyone was surprised when you disappeared without a word back then.”

The woman in front of me, who smiled gently and offered a graceful greeting, gave off a rather calm impression.

If Shia had a seductive and vibrant appearance, this woman was modest and reserved.

She was like a noble lady from a yangban family, or a young mistress from a high-status household.

She had a charm that contrasted with Shia’s flashy impression.

She was certainly a rare beauty.

But right now, she just felt like a goblin blocking the way.

Although I was annoyed, these were people who approached me just to give their thanks.

I spoke politely, trying my best not to show my annoyance.

“I’ve received enough greetings. You can stop now.”

“But everyone really wants to thank you.”

“…Really, that’s enou…”

I flinched as I was about to refuse Kim Heejin’s words.

In just a moment, people were pouring out in a rush.

Towards my direction.

‘The people who were inside the market…?’

As that scene came into view, my tension ratcheted up.

Incheol, who was in the car, also seemed surprised, making restless movements.

They weren’t holding any weapons, but I didn’t know when or how they might turn hostile.

Even more so in a situation like now, with the car full of supplies.

I began to be surrounded by the suddenly increasing crowd.

I quickly sent a glance to my hyung in the vehicle waiting behind me.

[If anything happens, we’ll push through.]

He seemed to have understood my small nod and glance, as I saw him gripping the steering wheel.

Hyung also looked flustered by the sudden increase in the crowd.

Seeing him watching the situation with a slightly hardened expression, I turned my gaze away.

A group of people emerged from inside the market.

They looked a bit haggard, but everyone seemed healthy.

Although fatigue was faintly visible on their faces, their eyes were alive.

No hostile signs were detected.

However, I gently relaxed my hands and feet, ready to retaliate at any moment.

I was ready to go wild.

The women, noticing my change in atmosphere, fell silent.

As the atmosphere grew cold, one man among the stopped crowd caught my eye.

He exchanged quiet words with the people next to him, yet kept his gaze fixed on me.

The man, who looked a bit older than Jihyeok hyung, slowly approached me.

“Are you the one who saved Director Jang and the others…?”

The man, who appeared well-built, asked cautiously, unbefitting his large stature. His expression was firm, as if to say he wouldn’t provoke me.

I gave a small nod to his polite question.

At that, the man’s rigid expression softened, and he broke into a bright smile.

“Thank you!!”

With a booming shout, he bent at the waist at a 90-degree angle.

Then, the people standing a little behind him also bowed at the waist in unison.

A sudden group bow.

Feeling caught off guard, I was momentarily stunned.

“Uh… no, please, lift your heads. What are you thanking me for?”

Since they showed no sign of straightening up, I helped them stand.

The man who straightened his back was certainly well-built.

He began to explain why they were thanking me, his voice a little raspy.

“First, I am Park Jincheol, the representative of the Market Merchant Association.”

“…I am Seonghan.”

“For saving the people who were dragged away, my younger siblings. I sincerely thank you.”

“Ah, so your younger siblings were also there.”

The man, wearing a deep smile at my words, shook his head.

“Not the people you saved from the hospital.”

“…?”

“I heard you rescued people from Zip Plus.”

“Zip Plu… Ugh.”

“It seems you remember.”

The merchant representative was smiling, but I couldn’t.

It was definitely in my memory.

How I had run away, leaving them behind, because I found it bothersome to get involved.

Strictly speaking, I had only opened the door and abandoned them.

Honestly, I wasn’t in a situation to receive thanks.

“Everyone who was captured then returned safely. We had no way to do anything and were just burning with frustration…”

“Th-that…”

“You dealt with the thugs and rescued the people… and then I heard you immediately saved everyone. You really did a great deed. I don’t know how to thank you…”

“……”

I lost my words, seeing the merchant representative, overcome with emotion, wetting the corners of his eyes. The people I saw over his shoulder were the same.

Profound gazes filled with gratitude struck me.

“We wanted to thank you somehow, but we heard you just left.”

“Actually…”

“Recently, we heard the same cars were passing by the market, so we thought, just maybe. But it’s really fortunate that we got to meet you like this. Hahaha!”

Was it because he had finally opened up?

The man, who was now spouting words without hesitation, soon led me forward, towards the people behind him.

At this, I made no attempt to hide my disgust.

“I just went wild because the thugs were annoying, not because I intended to save people. Honestly, I didn’t even know you all were captured.”

Although I spouted rather rude words without filter, the merchant representative merely smiled. To me, who was showing clear distaste, he quietly spoke.

“We know, we heard it from Inhye and Heejin-ssi.”

“Then let’s stop here.”

“We aren’t just trying to thank you for saving the people.”

I looked at him, at his words that carried a somewhat heavy emotion.

“…You avenged everyone’s enemies.”

At that answer, I looked around at the people.

They were clearly warm gazes filled with gratitude.

And mixed within were emotions of unresolved han.

Many of their gazes, to the point of being the majority, were like that.

Resentment, sorrow, and pain trying to squeeze out from behind the gratitude.

The people were suppressing those complex emotions with tears.

People were shedding silent tears, unable to control their emotions, even as they thanked me in front of them.

‘……’

In a space where unfitting emotions were seeping out, I couldn’t say a word.

Then, a middle-aged woman approached me.

She seemed to be on the border between middle and old age, looking quite old.

And she looked very exhausted.

Both mentally and physically.

The middle-aged woman slowly approached and spoke quietly.

“I heard you killed the thugs. Every last one of them.”

“……”

“You… you avenged… my son’s grudge… Th-thank you.”

Her shoulders, slightly heaving while she kept her head bowed, felt incredibly heavy.

“My enemy… instead… Ugh… My son… (choked sobs)!!”

Her heaving shoulders finally collapsed.

It felt as if her bursting cries couldn’t be contained and were spilling out.

And the emotions festering within her felt that much deeper and more intense.

Resentment, heartbreak, anger with nowhere to go.

And a sense of loss.

She poured out unspeakable pain along with her tears.

The sight of the middle-aged woman crying out loud couldn’t be described merely as sorrowful.

And similar cries began to erupt from all directions.

The street, which had been a scene of grateful greetings, had transformed into a scene of wailing.

I silently watched them express their han.

“I-I’m sorry… I didn’t know it would turn out like this…”

“…It’s alright.”

The merchant representative, apologizing with tear-filled eyes, showed a complex expression, deeply empathetic to their plight yet also apologetic to me.

A soft brush.

Someone placed a hand on my empty shoulder.

Looking at the owner of the hand placed on my shoulder, it was Jihyeok hyung.

It seemed everyone had gotten out of the car and approached me at some point.

They were all silently guarding my side.

At that sight, I felt a small sense of reassurance.

Facing someone’s painful emotions is a difficult thing.

Even more so if it’s the sorrow and resentment of losing someone precious.

Was it because he was an actor sensitive to human emotions?

Hyung seemed to be in a complex state of mind, looking at me with deep, sunken eyes.

At this, I gave a slight nod, as if to say it was alright.

Then I turned my gaze to look at the middle-aged woman who had spoken to me.

The middle-aged woman, sitting on the ground, clutched my pants leg and sobbed.

With her remaining hand, she was beating her chest.

A sight of pain from losing a son, with no way to cope…

“…I eliminated the thugs.”

My calm voice resonated and reached the people.

People looked at me, their faces stained with tears.

Ignoring their gazes, I murmured in a low voice, as if to myself.

“The thugs, those who gave up on being human, I eliminated them. With my own hands.”

I explained it simply and straightforwardly.

How much I had terrified the thugs.

How much I had hurt the thugs.

How I had killed the thugs.

How I hadn’t killed a single one of the thugs cleanly.

I didn’t utter the word “killed” even once.

But the people seemed to have caught on and understood.

They sobbed, yet stifled their sounds and focused on my words.

As if to engrave every single word into their hearts.

“That guy, Yeom Seongjin, said this to me at the very end.”

The brief explanation was now coming to an end.

The people, swallowing their tears, even held their breath.

“Please, just kill me, he begged. But I didn’t kill him.”

When I said that he had begged not for mercy, but to be killed, the people let out small gasps of admiration.

I calmly recounted how he had suffered and died.

With that, I closed my mouth.

The reason I deliberately revealed the cruel and repulsive scene was nothing else.

It was a form of comfort offered to those who were heartbroken in front of me.

Gentle, worried, mild, and warm words.

That’s not what was needed right now.

What kind of suffering did the bastards who harmed these people endure?

I thought this would bring them even a small measure of solace.

And that thought proved correct.

The cries of anguish ceased, and the sobbing also subsided.

The people who understood my “comfort-that-wasn’t-comfort” rose from their places.

They wiped their eyes with their hands and took deep breaths.

People trying to compose themselves, though it wasn’t easy.

What came next was now up to them.

In the quiet, the middle-aged woman who had been crying at my feet continually wiped away her tears.

She fumbled with her hand and handed me a transparent jar containing something, which she had placed beside her.

“…It’s nothing much, but please take it.”

“It’s alrigh…”

“It’s honey. It tastes good and is very good for your body. Please, I hope you’ll eat it.”

Her eyes, stained with tears and bloodshot red, trembled slightly.

Yet, her gaze tried to meet mine directly.

Meeting her gaze, I carefully accepted the jar of honey.

“I don’t have much, so it’s just this ki—”

“I will eat it well.”

As I held the jar of honey carefully, the middle-aged woman finally made a satisfied expression.

She repeated her thanks one last time, then turned and headed towards the market.

That was the beginning.

“Um, this is something I made…”

“I’m an expert at this, you know? The taste is quite…”

“It’s 100% pure domestic product. Take it.”

“Hey, wait!”

Countless gifts, starting with the honey jar, were handed over as if being thrown.

In an instant, the onslaught of accumulating gifts left me and my companions flustered and unable to react.