episode_0163

Mountains and Sea (4) – One Mind Salvation Church Republic of Korea Branch

[Prize number 12! [#12]

The sound of the host’s microphone fills the hospital room.

Kang Bada, who was concentrating on peeling apples, spoke in an explanatory tone.

“They said they were planning to hold a bigger festival for fear that people would be anxious.”

“… … .”

A quiet hospital room where no answers can be heard.

My brother, who is staring blankly out the window, enters the gaze of Kang Bada who slightly raises his head.

“Oppa?”

“… … Huh?”

Only then did my brother look at me with a bright smile.

A response one beat late and a tone that has lost all strength.

Kang San smiled brighter as he looked at Kang Bada’s naturally hardening face.

“Ah – I’m sorry. These days, my body has no strength.”

However, the voice that had lost vitality could not be hidden from the younger sister.

Kang San quietly folded his habitual smile and stared out the window again.

[Now~ This time, the product is quite strong! Paradise full course travel ticket!]

“… … It’s the sea.”

Hearing a low whisper, he weakly puts down the apple peeler on the plate.

“It feels like the whole world is punching me for being wrong, sea.”

Kang San mocked himself and smiled bitterly.

“No, it didn’t really matter whether the world was different or wrong.”

I accepted the sudden disaster and the world turned upside down as an inevitable fate.

“Still, these people are people who lived in the same world as me.”

Neighbors who lived tomorrow dreaming of similar dreams, similar values, and similar happiness.

Maybe during a busy weekday commute to school or work,

People who may have passed each other on a happy busy street on the weekend.

“Have those people changed? Or am I wrong? Either that or… … .”

Am I the only one who is the same?

The apple plate on my lap trembled at Kang San’s quiet question.

Kang Bada looked at her brother with very pitiful eyes.

“Jinheon said that that son of a bitch called me an idiot who only talks about me.”

A final confrontation that cannot be forgotten.

Park Jin-heon tries to throw a car full of zombies, and Kang San stops it.

Park Jin-heon’s expression was casually irritated even after seeing the rifle that was firmly attached as if warning.

The eyes sparkled as if they had succeeded.

“Still, he said he didn’t want to kill him himself because he had a bad feeling about him. What’s the point of throwing the car you were holding after saying something like that? … .”

As always, you little brat.

A lump of scrap metal flying in the sky with an arm swung as if doing light exercise.

I pulled the trigger as if it were a death sentence, but nothing changed.

My consciousness was blown away with the feeling of being hit by something.

After that, the scene I encountered when I opened my eyes.

It was now in the middle of a scene that was familiar to the point of being cliché.

“… … stubborn. … … Obstinate.”

Kang San, who was looking back on his memories, let out a dry laugh.

“Are you taking responsibility for your words like that person said…? … .”

As soon as I heard it, I knew who the ‘person’ Kang San was referring to was.

‘We have come to a world where nothing can be changed with words.’

The conversation I had with him just last night.

If I reflect on that conversation, there was only one thing my brother lacked.

“… … I want to say it’s wrong, but if you ask me to give an alternative, I can’t say anything.”

strength.

Kang Bada bit her lip tightly, thinking of the jewel sleeping quietly in her pocket.

The only starting point that could break this vicious cycle was in her hands,

She couldn’t give the jewel to her brother, who was more precious to her than anything else in the world.

He knew better than anyone else that it was an evil that made him sad.

“… … There is nothing that a person who needs constant stability cannot say.”

So, Kang Bada smiled as usual and handed the plate with apples to Kang San.

“Please wait while eating the apple, my sister has to go to work now.”

“… … What is your sister?”

“Uh-huh! Now that I work instead of my brother, I am the older sister.”

A smile that spreads brightly as if responding to an exaggeratedly raised tone.

“For some reason, I feel anxious and worried about going to work. Is this the heart of a parent?”

“Chi—! Just because I’m your older sister, are you now counterattacking me as your parent?”

“Hahaha― You could look at it that way.”

Kang San, smiling brightly, picked up an apple and ate it with a fork, as if to tell him not to worry.

“So what did you say you do?”

“Just… … I’m temporarily taking over what my brother was doing. Because I can’t just be Jinwoo’s protector forever.”

“Jinwoo wouldn’t think so, right?”

“No. Jinwoo is also doing quite well these days. You spent a long time away from us in Mapo-gu with your mother.”

These days, he still clings to his side, but the frequency has definitely decreased.

“Everything is fine, brother, please rest well.”

Kang Bada smiled and cleaned up the place where she had been sitting.

A whisper is heard as she opens the hospital room door.

“… … Will you tell your mother you’re sorry, Bada?”

When I turned my head, I saw Kang San looking at me with a bitter smile.

He looked at his body and continued speaking.

“It’s the same for stubbornness that led to this result, and it’s also the same for being stupid and not being able to get up from the hospital bed even though everything was fine.”

The low tone and shy smile quietly seeped into Kang Bada.

“I have no shame. To you and to your mother.”

It was so painful to see him blaming himself.

Kangbada cried out, clutching the doorknob tightly.

“… … Why is it your fault? I never think like that.”

She remembered the words Kang San had just said.

Painful words about whether the world has changed, whether my brother was wrong, or whether nothing could have changed.

Self-deprecating words, as if you were walking down the wrong path.

Kangbada, who was saved by him on that wrong path, only hoped for one thing.

For my brother to remain as he is.

“… … It will be over soon, so take a good rest.”

For that, I could have happily prayed a thousand or ten thousand times.

I’d rather see my brother be like that again.

I could have chosen to be hated a little.

***

“It’s so nice to see you more often these days, Bada~”

“Oh, you’re doing well too, right?”

“Of course. just… It’s actually a shame that I’m so bored these days.”

The customer desk on the top floor of the Republic of Korea branch.

Inari, facing the river, grumbled and laughed.

“Still, it’s something new to see you attending the meeting as an advisor, our sea.”

Kangbada waved her hand as Inari looked up and down at her.

“Please don’t do that to your sister. I don’t even know what’s happening all of a sudden. What are you asking yourself, really.”

Kang Bada sighed heavily as she looked at the white door of the leader’s office with a trembling voice.

“A~ Don’t worry too much. The leader must have had something in mind and asked Chae-kyung to do it.”

Inari gently patted Kangbada’s shoulder and led her into the office.

“Come on in. The leader and assistant leader are already in.”

Good!

The white door opens just like yesterday.

Kang Bada secretly took a deep breath and stared at the office.

The sound of conversations going back and forth in the office bathed in bright sunlight, completely different from yesterday.

The head of the Salvation Sect and Bulyeosi, who were already seated at the table, were having a serious conversation about something.

Trap – plod –

A floor that makes your careful steps sound unnecessarily loud.

I sat creakingly in the chair to the left of the table, not knowing where I got there.

“… … First of all, make sure you know about it―”

“All citizens who say so―”

The leader and assistant leader are engrossed in conversation regardless of whether they are sitting or not.

Kang Bada swallowed down the awkward feeling and stared stiffly at the table.

The air was strangely heavy, and I didn’t even know why I was here, so I was on the verge of becoming angry beyond embarrassment.

Knock knock-

Fingers gently tapping his shoulder.

When he quickly turned his head, Ha Chae-kyung was welcoming him with a mischievous smile.

“It’s in its place, Sea Sheep.”

“… … ah! crime. I’m sorry, Mom.”

Kangbada quickly stood up and moved one space to the side.

Ha Chae-kyung, who was sitting just to the left of the religious leader, shook her head with a benevolent look on her face.

“It’s okay, you might not know. More than that… … ”

Ha Chae-kyung exaggeratedly lowered her voice with a stern expression.

“I’ve been looking for you for a while, where was it? I was planning to eat dessert together and then leave.”

“Ah… … I left right from the hospital room.”

Ha Chae-kyung smiled sadly at Kang Bada’s answer.

“… … I see Is Sani okay?”

“… … .”

The river that laughs softly without any answer.

Ha Chae-kyung, seeing her like that, stroked Kang Bada’s hair with a warm hand.

“Please take good care of Sani as much as we do. If we rush off, it won’t be good for San.”

“… … Why?”

Ha Chae-kyung, with a painful smile, continued to speak in response to Kang Bada’s question.

“… … Not putting pressure on yourself is also a method of treatment.”

“… … .”

“You must always be careful and approach things that hurt you with caution.”

Kang Bada, who remembered her older brother just moments ago, lowered her head slightly.

While continuing to receive my mother’s very warm touch-

“I’d like to ask if it’s okay to start a meeting… … .”

A quiet question from the Salvation Church leader was heard.

“Ah… … ! Were you waiting?”

“The atmosphere felt a little heavier than waiting.”

If you need more time, you can postpone the meeting.

Ha Chae-kyung smiled and shook her head at the worried tone of the religious leader.

“Thank you, but it’s okay. Rather, our sea is probably just thinking about finishing the meeting quickly and heading back?”

Right, the sea?

The river and sea responded with a smile to the warm and playful question.

“Hmm… … Well, since it’s a festival, let’s finish today a little quickly.”

“Was it possible if you set your mind to it?”

“Well, it’s not my heart that’s important, but the vice principal’s heart.”

“… … It’s a bit much today, leader.”

The meeting started with light chatting.

Kang Bada looked at the table with a slightly confused look.

A table in the leader’s office, not the usual conference room.

Additionally, it was a small meeting with only four people participating and no other people at all.

The members were the head of the Guwon pontoon, the assistant pontiff, his mother, and Kang Bada herself.

Really, I still couldn’t figure out why I was here.

By consulting, I really mean asking yourself what to do.

“… … We communicate by creating artificial caves and drawing pictures there.”

“Through a priest? Through the chief?”

“It is still done through priests. It is reported that the frequency of chieftains expressing rejection of ancestral rites and festivals is decreasing.”

“Report? Who are you receiving reports from?”

“The priest also draws pictures next to the pictures we draw to communicate.”

In addition, the meeting was discussing some serious content.

“You should always watch carefully. Chief, that guy doesn’t know where he’s going.”

“You call him Chief every day, but doesn’t he have a separate name?”

“Well, every time I see it, all I see is a tiger roaring.”

“Hmm… I can’t really imagine.”

“I’ll try to arrange a seat next time. He must be tougher than you can imagine.”

The meeting started from the beginning and continued to cover Paradise and the Republic of Korea in general.

The river and sea were just listening to the meeting uncomfortably, like a sack of barley, like an island a little far away.

Words that echo repeatedly in my head as I absentmindedly listen to three people actively talking to each other.

‘Why am I here?’

“… … Next, there is a report that the number of young awakened people is small but steadily increasing. On a similar topic, there are ongoing reports that the atmosphere between awakened children and ordinary children is not very good at Paradise’s Hanmaeum Daycare Center, knowingly or unknowingly.”

“Hmm… … It’s quite important.”

“That’s definitely true. This is clearly having a negative effect on both of them, so I think it would be better to separate them.”

“I think so too, leader.”

Child awakener.

It was a word that naturally reminded me of Kang Jin-woo.

“You are saying that we need a systematic education system for young awakened people. Among them, measures must be taken first for children who are in the most urgent need.”

The leader of the Guwon Church, who was quietly stroking his chin, spoke again.

“First, let’s gather the awakened children to the new daycare center. Then, you will definitely be able to capture the strange atmosphere between awakened people and ordinary people that was connected knowingly or unknowingly.”

“Yes, leader.”

“… … That.”

Hands raised carefully as if making an announcement.

I gulped down the river and soothed my dry throat.

The pontoon pontoon owner, who was in the middle of talking while looking at the pontoon pontoon, looked at the river and sea.

I calmed down my trembling voice at the expression on my face that seemed to tell me if I had something to say.

I still don’t know why I am here as an advisor who I don’t understand, but if there was ever a time to ask that question, now was the only time.

Additionally, if I contribute even a little to the meeting, I may receive something that goes back to my mother or brother.

“Geu- Even if the gap between ordinary people and the Awakened is resolved, if the Awakened children are brought together, there will be chaos there too… … .”

“Still, I plan to have the teacher in charge of the children as an awakened person.”

“Ah… … It’s not like that―”

Kang Bada spoke carefully.

“The children are clearly fighting each other without the teacher knowing. However, when you become an awakened person, the scale becomes a bit difficult. That’s what I… … I think it has something to do with the desire for recognition… … .”

I didn’t know much about it since I wasn’t an awakened person, but I knew a clear example.

“That… … Even Jinwoo, who is very introverted, sometimes gets frustrated because he can’t show off his abilities to me.”

“… … That’s the desire for recognition.”

“Yes. Wouldn’t it be easier to manage children if there was a channel to vent that desire for recognition?”

Eyes filled with the interest of the Salvation Church leader.

Kang Bada quickly continued with supplementary explanations.

“Why not regularly hold school performances or plays put on by awakened children where they can naturally show off their abilities? It satisfies the need for recognition and fosters a sense of unity among children.”

“… … .”

Even after Kang Bada finished speaking, the leader did not react immediately.

He was just looking at himself with a slightly tilted head.

Then he turned his head to the right.

“What do you think, vice principal?”

In response to his question, quiet eyes look at the river and sea.

Kang Bada pretended to be calm and accepted the uneasy gaze.

“… … .”

Seong Ga-eul, who had been looking at the river and sea for quite some time, nodded slightly.

“… … I think it’s good.”

An exhilarating feeling running up my back as the words came out of Bulyeosi’s mouth.

My head felt pleasantly tight and I was out of breath for some reason.

“I think so too.”

The leader smiled slightly and this time looked at Ha Chae-kyung.

“Minguk is always surprising. Among so many talented people, there was another hidden talent like Kang Bada.”

“… … I am both surprised and embarrassed. I didn’t know my family much better than Mr. Guwon, who called me to the meeting.”

Her mother looking at her with special eyes full of admiration.

The whole body of Kangbada trembled with joy.

“Huh? Aren’t Guwon’s eyes unusual? Are you not planning on taking our ocean away?”

“Well, having a religion is freedom.”

“Huh? No! You can never give us our sea!”

The mother playfully raises her voice and holds her hand.

The once serious meeting suddenly transformed into a place of praise.

And the main character just stared blankly at the conference room with reddened cheeks.

“As expected, you were the right person.”

For some reason, my chest continued to tingle.

“I would like to talk in more detail about the Awakened Daycare Center… … ”

“Ah… … .”

“Is it possible?”

“Yes, yes!”

Without realizing it, I raised my voice to the point of embarrassment.

Seeing that sight, the head of the Salvation Church had a soft smile on his face.

“Very good.”

He nods with a soft smile.

“… … Very good.”