episode_0152

Freedom of Religion (5) ― One Mind Salvation Church Paradise

In response to Ha Chae-kyung’s firm answer, the mother and daughter only smiled with a bit of regret.

“Guests are here, but will Mrs. Kim go to the prayer meeting today?”

That was really it.

They guided Ha Chae-kyung to the table and started dinner a little early.

“I heard there will be a new play at the square later this evening―”

Kim Young-hee glanced at Ha Chae-kyung and glared at Lee Soo-mi.

“Even if you only stay for one day, you came because you want to know about paradise.”

“So you should watch the play even more!”

“Do you think I don’t know that you’re doing this because you’re too lazy to go to prayer meeting? Eat some ham.”

Spam served in Su-mi Lee’s steaming bowl of rice.

Sumi Lee shook her head and sighed as she put some white rice with ham in her mouth.

“Still, I am a believer in name and identity. Chae-kyung, do you have time in the evening?”

Kim Young-hee, who had been frowning at Lee Soo-mi, immediately smiled with a benevolent expression.

Ha Chae-kyung smiled awkwardly at Kim Young-hee and nodded.

“… … Of course it’s okay.”

Prayer meeting.

If I go there, will I be able to find out Han Gu-won’s plan?

After much agony, I put a spoonful of the savory boiling soybean paste stew into my mouth.

“… … .”

“Ah― I forgot to tell you.”

Lee Soo-mi sighed when she saw Ha Chae-kyung stop moving.

He whispered to Ha Chae-kyung, who was eating her food without saying a word.

“It’s too salty, right? My mom is not good at seasoning things. If possible, eat mainly instant foods like Spam.”

“… … Ho ho ho. I guess I forgot to season it.”

Kim Young-hee’s body shook as she covered her mouth as if she was embarrassed.

puck-! puck-!

“Ah! Ah, why!”

The table shakes slightly and Lee Soo-mi suddenly grabs her shins.

“No. It suits my taste perfectly. I actually like knitted things.”

“… … Hohoho- I have a guest, but I’m so embarrassed,”

“Don’t be too upset, I’m not very good at cooking either.”

“… … Hohoho—”

“It’s not that I can’t cook, it’s that I didn’t cook.”

“This bitch is real!”

After dinner I don’t even know how it went by.

Mother and daughter Ha Chae-kyung left home together to go to a prayer meeting.

As soon as I crossed the front door of the apartment, I saw numerous people busily walking up and down the sidewalk.

The sound of a conversation and the sound of a car clunking sharply in the middle of the conversation.

Ha Chae-kyung looked at Paradise with somewhat blank eyes.

Street lights and building signs illuminate the pale darkness.

Citizens heading somewhere with smiles and clean faces.

“Wow~ I guess it overlapped with the central prayer meeting time. Chae-kyung, come here quickly!”

Ha Chae-kyung nodded slightly at Lee Soo-mi’s shout and walked towards the mother and daughter.

“What should I say- we will go to the quiet evening prayer meeting rather than the lively central prayer meeting. Are you okay, sister?”

“… … Yes.”

While answering, Ha Chae-kyung continued to glance sideways at the crowd behind her.

The happy smiles of citizens walking the streets in the evening were familiar yet unfamiliar.

“It’s so close that you can get there by walking a short distance. Mom- Huh?”

Su-mi Lee, who was in the middle of explaining, stared ahead and let out a muffled voice.

Looking at the back of Kim Young-hee, who had already walked a short distance, I shook my head.

“You said earlier that you were a guide believer and all. Sister, let’s go quickly too.”

The road to go against the crowds heading to the square was not that long, as Lee Soo-mi said.

Just by looking at it, you can guess that it is a religious facility.

It was a slightly smaller facility than the tall buildings lined up next to it.

Sigh-

A prayer room visible through a quietly opened door.

Long chairs stretched out to the sides and a small statue in the center.

The face of a man with his arms spread out was familiar to my eyes.

Tap- tap- tap-

The prayer room was so quiet that their steps could be heard loudly.

In the front row, I could see the back of Kim Young-hee, who had already started praying with her hands together.

“Usually, we are the only people there at this time. There are so many prayer rooms, and everyone gathers at the central prayer meeting… … Anyway, we sit at the end.”

I nodded at Lee Soo-mi’s whisper and sat in the back seat.

“… … Would you like some?”

As soon as I sat down, I carefully accepted the candy handed to me by Lee Soo-mi.

Ha Chae-kyung looked around the prayer room without putting the candy in her mouth.

Lights and white wallpaper brighten the darkness.

The sight of Kim Young-hee praying earnestly in the center was truly a religious painting itself.

A godly atmosphere where nothing she feared would happen.

At the end of the line of sight, Lee Soo-mi was swinging her legs back and forth and rolling the candy in her mouth.

“… … Hehehe― You are also a lazy member.”

“Laziness?”

“Yes. There’s something my mom often says to me. We must also be diligent in prayer. Well, there were a lot of things that were embarrassing to talk about here, but in the end, I won and took the back seat.”

Lee Soo-mi, looking down with a proud expression, even whispered.

“ While I was praying, the person next to me was acting really crazy. In technical terms, it is called a disruption operation.”

“… … .”

Ha Chae-kyung couldn’t understand such a free high school girl.

It was a figure that could not exist in the paradise she imagined.

“… … Are you not praying at all?”

“We don’t do that here. By the way, please speak informally. Your tone of speech is a bit erratic.”

“… … Yes.”

Only then did Lee Soo-mi’s gaze, who was smiling comfortably, gather in one place.

“… … Sister.”

“Huh?”

“Don’t you eat that?”

A hand gesture pointing to the candy gently placed on Ha Chae-kyung’s hand.

Ha Chae-kyung smiled softly and handed candy to Lee Soo-mi.

“Hehe― Thank you.”

“… … Yes.”

The back of Ha Chae-kyung smiling brightly, Lee Soo-mi rolling candy, and Kim Young-hee praying.

And they continued to take turns staring at the statue in the center.

I followed them to the prayer room, but nothing became clear.

Rather, it feels like you are falling into a deeper labyrinth.

The confusion that shook her mind continued until she finished praying and returned to the mother and daughter’s house.

After taking a light shower, her room looked like it had been prepared in advance and the bed looked comfy.

Even while covering myself with a blanket that smells like detergent, it continues.

“Lee Su-ji! Are you brushing your teeth and crawling into bed?!”

“Ah~ I saw you brushing your teeth after dinner.”

“This bitch saw me eating a lot of candy in the prayer room!”

However, even though everything was unclear, I felt like I knew why Inari left us.

Nari must have seen the same things and felt the same things as herself.

“Haa―”

Her delicate hands cover her sighing face for a long time.

Is Han Gu-won’s purpose also to make us feel this way?

So, if it would be beneficial to let people feel this emotion for a long time, why did they say it was okay to go back after a day?

Is it really okay to go back a day later?

I never knew there would be a chance to safely inspect the enemy lines like this.

But why didn’t I do anything until I was actually in bed?

Is this in itself, showing that mother and daughter, already part of the plan?

The threads of thoughts were intricately tangled.

But even in the midst of all this, the bed is so cozy that it’s embarrassing.

“Okay! I’ll gargle and sleep!”

“Just brush your teeth, bitch!”

Ha Chae-kyung quietly closed her eyes as she listened to the chase between mother and daughter flowing through the crack in the door.

… … .

There are days like that.

An unusually bright morning with birds chirping and the sun shining brightly.

“… … Ah!”

A clear foreshadowing of perception.

As soon as Ha Chae-kyung came to her senses, she opened her eyes in surprise.

As she hurriedly got up, Minguk’s work instinctively appeared in her mind.

Problems are piling up so much that one day is not enough.

If you don’t solve it that day, the snowball will grow bigger the next day.

“… … Ah.”

Just like before, a low sigh came out.

The place where she opened her eyes was not Min-guk’s office, but the apartment of Kim Young-hee and her daughter.

“Haa―”

I couldn’t bear the sorrow.

I fell asleep very comfortably in unfamiliar bedding.

And that too in the middle of enemy lines without even knowing the exact purpose.

In order to come to my senses, I repeatedly washed my face and opened the door.

“Ah, Chae-kyung! Did you sleep well?”

“… … Yes.”

As soon as I opened the door, I saw Kim Young-hee getting ready to go outside.

Kim Young-hee is pleased to see Ha Chae-kyung greeting her with an awkward smile.

“You slept so comfortably that we had a simple breakfast by ourselves. Would you like me to prepare it for you right now?”

“Oh, no! It’s okay.”

“Hohoho― If you’re doing it because you feel burdened, you don’t have to. Please feel free to contact us anytime.”

“I’m really the type to skip breakfast.”

“Then, I’m glad.”

Kim Young-hee was slightly relieved and resumed preparations to go outside again.

Unlike yesterday, Ha Chae-kyung’s head looked around in the strangely quiet atmosphere.

“Ah, Sumi went to school. I have to go to a cooking class.”

Kim Young-hee’s kind reply, guessing the look in Ha Chae-kyung’s eyes.

Kim Young-hee’s eyes sparkled as she looked at Ha Chae-kyung, who nodded without realizing it.

match-!

Kim Young-hee, who applauded with a bright face, approached Ha Chae-kyung.

“Ah! Come to think of it, didn’t you say that Chae-kyung isn’t good at cooking?”

“… … It was like that.”

“Good~! Would you like to go to a cooking class with me?”

“… … Yes?”

To Ha Chae-kyung, who was slightly embarrassed, Kim Young-hee opened her mouth in rapid fire.

“Still, the teacher told me to show Chae-kyung the day as it is. It was a shame to only show you yesterday’s evening routine, but it turned out well!”

“… … Did number 1 say that?”

“What is number 1? Are you the leader?”

“Yes, cult leader… … It’s you.”

“Yes! Trains run 24 hours a day anyway, so why not check out the morning and afternoon routine? If you learn how to cook, you will definitely find it useful in Republic of Korea! The teacher is very kind!”

… … Number 1 instructed Kim Young-hee and her mother to show their day as it is.

Does this mean there is something to the morning and afternoon routine?

Ha Chae-kyung, who had been quietly thinking, nodded.

“Yes. I want to go to a cooking class too.”

“I’m sure you’ll love it!”

Still, I felt very uneasy about leaving like this.

Now that we’re in enemy territory, let’s figure out everything we need to know and leave.

Ha Chae-kyung, who was putting on her shoes at the entrance with a solemn look, looked up.

Kim Young-hee, who seemed to have finished preparing, did not come to the entrance and was looking at her with an awkward smile.

“That… … Mr. Chaekyung.”

“Aren’t you going?”

“That… … Even if it’s just washing your face… … .”

Only then did I remember that I had put my shoes on without even washing them.

“… … Ah!”

Ha Chae-kyung let out a short scream and ran straight to the bathroom.