episode_0154

Freedom of Religion (7) ― One Mind Salvation Church Paradise

So Ha Chae-kyung traveled to every corner of paradise every day.

With Kim Young-hee and Lee Soo-mi, who do not go to school on holidays.

The Gate of Salvation is so magnificent when seen up close.

A mountain with a stone statue of a religious leader overlooking paradise from the ridge, etc.

I spent the morning and afternoon busily exploring paradise, and followed Kim Young-hee all the way through the evening.

Rather than going to the prayer room to pray, I wanted to chat with Lee Soo-mi in the back seat.

Ha Chae-kyung, who was talking while rolling a sweet candy in her mouth, suddenly looked ahead.

The back of Kim Young-hee, who is always absorbed in prayer.

She never looked away or moved until the prayer was finished.

“… … Pray for your dad.”

At that time, I heard a whisper coming from the seat next to me.

When I turned my head, Lee Soo-mi, who was looking at Kim Young-hee’s back, smiled slightly.

“The leader said that we become stronger every time we pray.”

“… … .”

“So, I hope that the cult leader becomes stronger quickly and saves my father.”

From the mother’s perspective, only her daughter has returned.

A bitter tone and smile that is not like Lee Soo-mi.

She smiled brightly at Ha Chae-kyung and continued speaking.

“Everyone in Paradise already knows this because my mom said it on TV, but I experienced something unusual.”

The terrible experience of becoming a zombie and then returning to human form.

“I only remember being bitten by a strange man and going into the bathroom, but when I opened my eyes again, so much time had passed.”

When she opens her eyes again, what greets her is a white man and a house covered in dust.

And my mother, who covered her mouth and cried with a very thin face.

“I know why it happened and how it came back, but there is no intermediate process.”

There is only one fact that can be recognized.

Ah, I have become a zombie.

“Something is still too clear, right? My mother’s trembling hand caressed my face on the first day back.”

Those eyes that kept checking to see if it was really me.

“But the most scary and scary thing is not that I don’t know my intermediate process, but that I don’t know my mother’s intermediate process.”

A gap in time that Lee Soo-mi and her father could not support.

The time my mother endured alone.

“These days, please come into my room quietly at night.”

Mom suddenly enters Lee Soo-mi’s room, who has not yet fallen asleep.

“Please caress my face for quite some time.”

She could not open her eyes while receiving that trembling hand.

Because I know very well how my mother, who usually smiles so much, is active, and kind, looks at me.

“Every time that happens, I lose the confidence to open my eyes and see my mom’s face.”

I couldn’t imagine the emotions my mother must have had.

“… … Do you know that?”

Lee Soo-mi looked at Kim Young-hee’s back as if gazing into the distance and recited.

As if speaking to Ha Chae-kyung, or as if speaking to oneself.

“When I look at my mom’s face when she prays, she looks very comfortable.”

And every time I see that face.

“I strangely feel relief and fear at the same time.”

Even though I was smiling at my mother who was holding on well, I was afraid because I knew what her expression would look like when that support disappeared.

“Sister. some people… … ”

My mom is the one I love the most in the world.

“I guess I can survive only when I am confident that someone is by my side.”

Someone who fills the gaps in time that she and her father were unable to fill.

“So actually, I pray every night.”

With a small, arcing eye smile, a low whisper as if telling a great secret.

“Not to the leader, but to someone else who might exist somewhere.”

“I sincerely pray that the leader does not disappear.”

If you disappear, my mom might not be able to survive.

“Ah! I promised myself never to say this in front of the leader!”

Su-mi Lee suddenly raises her voice as if to brighten the mood.

She put her hands together as she looked at the statue.

I closed my eyes and whispered to the statue.

“Master~ I’m sorry. Still, praying to another god in the prayer room is a bit strange~ I feel sorry to the religious leader, hehe―”

Ha Chae-kyung looked blankly at the statue without saying anything.

A picture that someone desperately hopes is a lie.

It was a painting that some people hoped would never disappear.

And that picture.

What is your wish for that painting?

‘I was a part-time worker at a convenience store.’

It was too desperate for a mere convenience store part-timer to handle.

‘Maybe we have become what we have to become, not what we want to be.’

What you want to be and what you have to become.

‘ah… … .’

Ha Chae-kyung sighed softly and looked at Lee Soo-mi, who was praying while wringing her hands.

I wanted to say that we should overcome it like we always do.

However, she was already trying her best to overcome it.

I wanted to say that we should move forward together as we always do.

However, she was already taking steps forward with someone else.

I carefully closed my slightly trembling mouth.

Ha Chae-kyung smiled kindly again for the first time in a long time and looked to the side.

A high school girl praying with her hands together next to her own narrow path.

She just steps out of the narrow path and holds out her hand.

Lee Soo-mi, who was praying with her hands together, looked at them, smiled softly, and held them together.

Just being next to someone could make them smile happily.

Even if we don’t work together for a greater cause, someone can be happy just by being together.

She didn’t let go of Lee Soo-mi’s hand for a long time.

I bent down and looked at the happiness that was only visible when I stopped comfortably.

I decided to enjoy the short vacation that Han Gu-won had mentioned, rather than the exploration that I had been trying to do while deceiving myself.

“Chaekyung, if you read all that, please read this too.”

“Ah― Is this fun too?”

“It will feel different from what you are reading now.”

I haven’t read all of the novels recommended by Younghee yet.

one day more.

“It’s delicious, isn’t it?”

“Hmm~ This is a different taste.”

“Then, try this too, it tastes like mint chocolate.”

“… … .”

“Huh? Doesn’t it taste good?”

“… … It tastes like toothpaste.”

A new flavor of beaded ice cream is coming out tomorrow.

one day more.

“Chae-kyung, come quickly and taste this.”

“… … Huh?”

“Yeah, why are you doing that? Is it a little salty?”

“Why, is the seasoning just right, Mother?”

“… … .”

It was the first time my mother successfully made soybean paste stew.

one day more.

“Would you like to switch to jelly instead of candy today?”

“Ool― You have a lot of sense as expected, my sister. That won’t work, I’ll promote you to a full member, lazy member!”

If I leave, Sumi will be bored at the evening prayer meeting.

one day more.

A vacation filled with small reasons continued.

However, even if the reason disappeared, nothing would change.

Even if there is no reason.

Just one day.

Just one day-

“Ha Chae-kyung!”

A green park where a gentle breeze stays for a while before leaving.

Someone’s face caught in my gaze while reading a book for the first time in a long time.

Wearing a white school uniform, he pointed to the train platform with his chin.

From that small gesture, she had a hunch.

“They say the pontoon pontoon is now at its limit. Your awakened ones are on the verge of exploding.”

The short vacation has come to an end.

Kim Young-hee, who was also enjoying reading next to me.

Lee Soo-mi was also pouting and playing with her feet because she was taken out on holiday.

Didn’t say anything.

He just waved his hand and smiled brightly.

“I will definitely send you a gift, sister!”

She responded with a bright smile to the warm and lively sendoff.

Ha Chae-kyung followed Han Gu-won to the platform and continued to look behind her.

Every time that happens, the mother and daughter respond by waving from the bench.

Even when they got on the train and sat side by side in the VIP cabin, Han Gu-won didn’t say anything, as if he was considerate of her parting.

“How was it?”

Han Gu-won asks about his impressions only after the train departs.

She smiled shallowly and looked out the car window.

Like a dream.

A watercolor painting called Paradise spreads across the car window.

“… … You lied.”

She recalled Han Gu-won, who compared happiness to a painting at a fair.

Number 1, who drew a picture called happiness.

“Your painting is so heavy.”

Han Gu-won, who was shaking his head at the whisper, stared out the window together.

“… … This is my first time seeing such a review.”

After a short conversation, silence calmly surrounds the VIP room.

“Then I guess you can help me.”

“… … What can I say?”

I shook my head in self-deprecation at Han Gu-won’s suggestion that broke the silence.

I can’t even cook properly,

She is just a nurse who is stupid and weak against temptation.

“In the end, it goes back.”

Han Gu-won said that and looked at Ha Chae-kyung with unwavering eyes.

“For everyone.”

For those who left behind, even if they didn’t want to leave.

“Because Ha Chae-kyung is a person who has become like that.”

Not Minguk’s mother, not a nurse,

Human Ha Chae-kyung.

Looking at him with trembling eyes, she smiled and asked.

“Then, what kind of person is Han Gu-won, a human being who is not a cult leader?”

“Well, if you hear it, you’ll probably be freaked out.”

He answered like that and stared out the window again.

“Will there be a bead ice cream cafe in Minguk?”

“Let’s set up a meeting and discuss that again.”

Han Gu-won’s face was reflected in the window, shaking his head and smiling slightly.

The panoramic view of the Republic of Korea that comes into their sight.

The forest of developed buildings was completely different from when I left, and it was quite unfamiliar.

Nevertheless, the stone statue of the religious leader with his arms outstretched atop the Republic of Korea branch stands tallest.

“What do you think when you see your face as a big stone statue?”

“… … You seem to have a more talkative personality than I thought.”

In the end, Han Gu-won, laughing as if he was dumbfounded, got up from the stopped train.

He extended his hand to Ha Chae-kyung, who was sitting and looking up at him.

“Eggplant.”

“… … .”

Ha Chae-kyung quietly stared at Han Gu-won and his outstretched hand.

And then he slowly stretched out his slender hand.

***

When Ha Chae-kyung returned, the anger of the Republic of Korea’s awakeners, which was about to explode, quickly subsided.

Ha Chae-kyung apologized to them with a bright smile, saying that she had been on a long vacation and that she was sorry.

In this way, Minguk’s mother returned to her original place.

Minguk received the promised support from the Salvation Church and was now growing so rapidly that it was difficult to tell where exactly the Minguk branch of the Salvation Church began.

While the happy yet very uncomfortable growth continued,

Kang San was going to his mother’s office with documents in hand.

Suddenly, the door opens and the mother comes out of the office.

“Ah, San-ah. What’s going on?”

“Mother, the number of new citizens who feel rejected by religion is rapidly increasing. This document summarizes their deployment status and suggestions.”

“I see.”

Mother nods and approaches Kang San.

She, who was seriously scanning the document, smiled brightly and said to Kang San.

“It’s important. We can discuss it with Guwon. Thank you, Sana.”

Ha Chae-kyung smiles brightly, holding a document in her arms, saying, ‘I’ll come back from a meeting.’

Kang San looked at his mother who had changed so much after going to paradise.

“Huh? Ah—!”

Ha Chae-kyung, who was smiling at Kang San’s eyes, turned around.

A white dress that fluttered slightly as she spun.

“It’s pretty, right? Sumi sent it to me as a gift. Then I’ll be back in the evening. Don’t wait to eat, eat first!”

Kang San shouted at Ha Chae-kyung’s back as she ran away, waving her hand.

“… What do you do as an escort?”

“Nari is waiting outside!”

Kang San looked out through the window placed in the hallway.

Inari, wearing white armor, was walking from afar.

“Nariya—!”

The light steps of a mother who is busy leaving to attend a meeting.

The dress fluttered in the wind as she ran, waving her raised hand vigorously.

A statue of someone with arms outstretched towering above them as they flutter away.

Kang San stared blankly at that figure with slightly trembling eyes.

Freedom END.