episode_0267

“Sorry Appleton. Something suddenly came up and I don’t think this weekend will be easy.”

[Yeah, it’s okay. I kind of expected it.]

“I’m so sorry!”

I apologized endlessly to Appleton on the other end of the phone.

Immediately after the doping incident, our team, or rather the entire resistance, became busy.

Because I started going around the upper and lower cities, looking for missing children.

It was the same with Grandfather Ferman.

The entire schedule was changed, and in order to find a lot of information, Grandpa was busy running around here and there.

Since Grandpa was busy, he obviously couldn’t keep his promise to Appleton.

I put down my phone after the call ended and let out a small sigh.

I was secretly looking forward to it, but due to a sudden incident, I was unable to keep my promise.

Appleton said she was fine, but she could hear the disappointment in her voice.

“Are you done with the call?”

“Yeah…”

I answered Shine’s question and checked out some internet articles.

I was checking to see if there were any new articles about missing children.

Drumroll- drumroll- I rolled the mouse wheel furiously, but the article I was waiting for did not appear.

I sighed again as I looked at Amy and Victor’s empty seats.

Unlike me and Shine, who stayed here, the two of them were going around the city themselves and gathering various information.

I wanted to go out with them too, but I was given a disciplinary action because I went out to play without permission, so I couldn’t participate in this mission.

“I bought you some snacks!”

While I was wasting my time typing away on the keyboard, Rain, who had left the office, came back.

In her hand she held a large plastic bag, the slightly protruding packaging suggesting that it contained a lot of tasty snacks.

Rain was also exempted from duty because he received the same disciplinary action as me.

I jumped up from my seat and went to sit at the table in the center of the office.

With a familiar gesture, Rain took out a large plate and poured out various snacks on it.

And so the brief snack time began.

Ajak-ajak-

I was just chewing on the snack in silence, then I opened my mouth while observing Shine’s expression.

“Is it okay if Shine can’t go on a mission?”

Unlike me and Rain, who were given disciplinary action, Shine voluntarily decided to stay here.

“Yeah. I won’t leave Jeff’s side.”

Shine answers my question with an intense gaze.

In her gaze, her butt sends a burning signal.

“Jeff. You heard from Jin. This mission is going to be very dangerous. But why do you keep trying to leave?”

I bowed my head silently at Shine’s words.

There was nothing wrong with what she said.

“The baby will be worried too. Right?”

Shine’s hand, which had been eating the snack, rose to my head and gently stroked it.

But the answer Shine was waiting for did not come.

“Jeff? What about the baby?”

I raised my palm without saying a word in response to Shine’s question.

It was natural to ask questions with wonder, since little Amy, who was always with us above our heads, had disappeared.

Baby.

I called out to Little Amy in my mind, but there was no answer.

Peek- A small light crackles, creating a round sphere in the air.

Normally, this sphere would have spit out little Amy.

But little Amy didn’t show up.

Since that day, when I met that man, I haven’t been able to call out to little Amy.

“It doesn’t come out…”

I tried hard to call little Amy without telling her so as not to worry Shine, but it didn’t seem like something I could solve on my own.

I wanted to ask Victor the reason, but it wasn’t easy to meet him these days as he was very busy.

In the end, I had no choice but to let time pass by in this ambiguous state.

“It disappeared?”

I shook my head at Shine’s question.

It wasn’t gone.

Clearly, little Amy is feeling it.

The movements of that little child, still lingering somewhere in my heart, were still there.

But it doesn’t answer. It doesn’t show itself.

That was all.

“Then you’re not going to answer?”

I nodded and pursed my lips at Shine’s words.

The candy that entered my mouth was definitely delicious, but somehow it seemed to taste bitter.

“Is the baby gone?”

Rain, who was eating the snacks, asked in surprise.

The round, wide eyes were very cute.

“Yeah. No, I think I’ll take a break.”

At my answer, Rain jumped down from his chair and came over to me.

Then, he started looking around from head to toe.

“Rain. What are you doing?”

“I was looking to see if the baby was hiding.”

Little Amy loved to play hide and seek.

Whenever I played with Rain, we would always play hide and seek, so Rain probably remembered that idea.

As I was thinking about little Amy with a sullen expression, Shine came up behind me and hugged me gently.

“Don’t worry. I’ll fix it.”

Shine’s softly whispered words sounded so reassuring.

Only then was I able to enjoy the cookies thanks to her words.

After eating all the cookies, I collapsed on the office sofa.

At Shine’s words to get into a comfortable position, I closed my eyes and relaxed my arms and legs.

The sagging body sinks into the soft sofa.

As I was waiting like that, someone’s hand came up to my forehead.

Small, soft hands, definitely Shine’s.

“Jeff.”

“Yeah.”

“Why do you think the baby isn’t answering?”

“I don’t know.”

“Should I go and ask them directly?”

Directly? How?

I tried to move my mouth to ask a question, but no sound came out.

As if falling asleep, consciousness sinks into a deep place.

But it felt completely different from falling asleep.

[Jeff.]

With Shine’s voice, consciousness moves deeper.

Deep, deep, where I buried it. Something I no longer want to take out.

Things that are unnecessary, things that are thrown away.

The consciousness follows quickly.

The happy memories I had with Shine quickly passed by, followed by gray, hazy memories.

At that moment, I arrived at some space.

A cold floor. A transparent glass wall. A gaze from the other side.

It’s a white space.

“Jeff.”

I turned my head in surprise at the familiar voice coming from next to me.

The blurry shape gradually takes shape.

The small white thing gradually moves and changes into a familiar shape.

Shine.

It was shine.

She was here with me.

Thinking that she was not alone, I quickly ran to her and grabbed her hand.

“Shine!”

“Yeah. Jeff. It’s me.”

“Where is this?”

In this cold, white space, so familiar, Shine answered.

“Where Jeff and I have always been.”

The place where Shine and I have always been?

I stared blankly beyond the glass wall.

There was definitely a gaze felt through the transparent wall, but for some reason its shape was not clear.

“Shine, what’s over there?”

I felt her gaze and said to Shine.

Shine answered, looking at the glass wall I was pointing at.

“Over there? Is it really over there?”

The moment I nodded, the glass wall began to shake.

“Jeff. How do I get out of here?”

“How… I don’t know…”

I looked around and answered Shine’s words.

There is no exit in sight.

“No. You can go out. Think of Jeff.”

“Ugh…”

Shine said with confidence.

If she was like that, it was clear she could go out.

I just don’t know.

“No. You got it wrong, Jeff. We don’t have to go out. We’re just watching.”

“The one watching?”

The moment I ask Shine what she said, the scene on the other side of the glass wall and here are reversed.

As I arrived on the other side of the glass wall in an instant and looked around with a bewildered look, familiar objects caught my eye.

A comfy chair, a microphone, a pen, a folder, and various mechanical devices.

“Jeff, think about it. Who is on the other side of this glass wall? ”

I nodded blankly at Shine’s words.

The body moves. As if it is familiar with this situation, it slowly walks over and sits down on the chair.

What I always do. Watching.

He holds the microphone in his hand, looking out through the transparent glass wall.

Who could be beyond the glass wall?

Just imagine.

I had a feeling there would be a little girl there.

She will be sitting with her long white hair hanging down.

And always stared into the distance.

As we think about it, the shape of someone on the other side begins to reveal itself.

Just as I imagined, she transformed into a small, white girl.

The girl is very embarrassed.

He looks down at his hands and feet and looks around.

I looked at her and thought.

baby?

“That’s right Jeff. That’s our baby over there.”

Shine’s words seemed to be correct.

As I nod, the baby’s appearance begins to change.

Smaller and cuter. A witch’s hat appears on top of the head.

The baby backed away in horror, as if he didn’t like the hat, but he couldn’t shake it off.

Poof! With a cute sound effect, the cloak unfolds behind the baby’s back.

“Okay. You’re doing great.”

To cheer up Shine’s words, I think of the best baby I can imagine.

A cute little baby.

White hair begins to turn pink.

The appearance also changes slowly.

She resembles Amy in appearance and Shine in appearance.

The baby that Shine and I created.

But now it’s broken.

That’s why I came to fix it with Shine.

My baby is good.

He was a good child who answered faithfully when his mother called him.

He was a very cute child who loved dinosaurs like his mother and played hide-and-seek with Rain.

“Almost done. Jeff, just a little more.”

The baby, who had been strongly refusing to see himself, stops moving.

I looked at that sight and thought.

The baby took away all my bad memories.

That’s why it breaks down so often.

I had to help.

Just like Shine did.

The large glass wall that separated us from the baby disappears.

The chair I was sitting on disappeared, and the microphone I was holding in my hand also disappeared.

I walked towards the little girl who was shivering, along with Shine.

She was a very cute girl who resembled me and Shine.

“Good job, Jeff. Now hug me.”

“Yeah.”

As Shine and I held the baby in our arms, her trembling slowly subsided.

There’s no need to worry. There’s no need to be afraid.

Baby. Baby. Our good baby.

The girl who had been shivering slowly fell asleep in our arms.

I looked down at the sleeping girl’s face and smiled.

“He’s still young and confused. Jeff will need a lot of help.”

“Yeah.”

I nod to Shine’s words.

Now it’s time to go out.

The white space slowly collapses.

But I wasn’t afraid.

Because Baby and Shine are together.

The floor you’re standing on begins to give way and your body begins to fall.

It was as if, for the first time, I was falling into a deep consciousness while listening to Shine’s words.

At that moment, after continuing to fall like that, I was able to wake up.

“Gasp!”

Along with the feeling of falling from a great height, sensation returns to the arms and legs.

No, that’s not all.

Feeling returns to my whole body.

Eyes sparkling open.

As I got up from my seat and looked around, my eyes met with Rain’s, whose eyes were wide open.

No, I thought we met, but she wasn’t looking into my eyes.

He was looking behind me.

I slowly turned my head.

Phagejik-

There, just like the brainwashing Victor had shown her before, stood little Amy, whose entire body was made of blue lightning.

“Baby!”

But it was a bit big.

As I blinked, the baby slowly walked over to me and came into my arms.

A tingling sensation engulfs my entire body.

As I stared blankly down at the crackling sparks, I could see that the baby’s size wasn’t much different from Rain’s.

Did the rain get smaller?

No, this is a grown baby.

The baby has grown up!