CH 216

The thick darkness gradually receded and the outside of the window was filled with a deep blue light. Late in the morning, from five to six o’clock, Cheon Sa-yeon, who was leaning against the wall, looked down.

“Uh, huuk…! Ah…!”

The sound of wet groans continued to be heard through the bedroom door. Not only that, but the sound of body clashing against furniture or the sound of chains being smashed rang out one after another.

“Di…rector, please…! Ugh…”

Two hours had passed since Han Yi-gyeol came back under drugs and ran into the bedroom. He begged and prayed over and over again, crying out for ‘Director’.

‘Pain must be after hallucinations. He has been given a drug that didn’t burn on something, so the boundaries are blurred.’

Recalling Han Yi-gyeol, who might be experiencing hallucinations and pain at the same time, Cheon Sa-yeon slowly blinked his eyes. There was a lot of work to do or thought, but his body didn’t move.

Incomprehensible emotions surged over and he was unable to make rational judgments. An unpleasant mood and helplessness lingered on him.

“Uh, ah, aaagh! Hu… uh, ah!”

Thirty minutes or so passed, and a harsh, pained voice screamed out. The frequency of bumping into furniture or walls had also increased to an unprecedented level.

Piik, Fox crouching against the wall closest to the bedroom, twitching his ears and fidgeting whenever he heard a scream.

“Haa…”

Ha Tae-heon, who was standing near the bedroom door, covered his eyes with his hand at the loud scream and exhaled exhaustedly. He wanted to break into the bedroom door at any moment, but he was holding back.

He didn’t want to send him either. Drugs or whatever, he thought he would just lock him up in his house. At the very least, they shouldn’t have let the shackles from Cheon Sa-yeon loose.

Whenever he heard Han Yi-gyeol’s screams or struggles, Ha Tae-heon quickly collapsed.

“…how many hours have passed?”

To Park Geon-ho’s question, who was sitting on the sofa, Kwon Jeong-han, who drank a cup of cold water at once, answered in a lower voice than usual.

“It will be three hours soon.”

“Hu…”

He suffered pain for at least two or three hours even after eating something mixed with alcohol, so Han Yi-gyeol would have to endure longer than that.

In the loss, Park Geon-ho frowned strongly and swept his bangs roughly.

“Yi-gyeol-ssi… will be okay, right?”

Min Ah-rin, who had her head bowed with her lips tightly closed, muttered helplessly.

“He’s holding up well now, but the last thing is… if Yi-gyeol-ssi even harms himself…”

“If he gets hurt, you will smell of blood and Master will surely notice.”

Woo Seo-hyuk spoke firmly at Min Ah-rin’s concern, but he also had a bad expression on his face just like everyone else.

“You’re right. And there’s also Deputy Master Ha Tae-heon… Now, we have to trust Han Yi-gyeol and wait.”

After adding an explanation, Park Geon-ho turned his attention to Kim Woo-jin. Kim Woo-jin, who was pale and weeping constantly, looked like he was about to collapse.

No one told him to go in and rest even though they noticed it. He was like Kim Woo-jin because he himself couldn’t even leave this place.

They didn’t even raise the question about the stranger who Han Yi-gyeol was calling and begging for forgiveness. For everyone, that was no longer a problem.

“Woo-jin-ssi, I…”

Min Ah-rin, who had endured this nightmare with her wretched heart, spoke in a very, very low voice.

“Actually, I just like Yi-gyeol-ssi so far… I always wanted to be with him, so I came here too and helped him.”

“……”

“Now…”

Min Ah-rin’s eyes gleamed gloomily, clenching her fists with strength in her trembling hands.

“I have the same thoughts as Yi-gyeol-ssi.”

Min Ah-rin and Kim Woo-jin now didn’t care what Han Yi-gyeol was hiding.

“I don’t have the strength to kill the Praus Cult, but…”

The most important thing for the two of them was Han Yi-gyeol’s safety. If she could keep him safe, she was confident she would do anything.

“I can help you kill them.”

Obviously, it would be the same with Han Yi-gyeol.

“I sincerely hope that the people who caused Yi-gyeol-ssi like this will die.”

Even if that moment really came someday, Han Yi-gyeol might hesitate.

Because this time, the woman, who sold drugs, was brought back alive. He would have done the same if she didn’t need to be interrogated. Even if because of that, he himself would suffer such terrible pain.

So Min Ah-rin and Kim Woo-jin made the same resolution. At that time, they said that they would kill the enemy on behalf of Han Yi-gyeol.

The sun was rising and the light outside the window began to fill up little by little. The time was already past 7 o’clock.

Hell wasn’t over yet.

* * *

I couldn’t remember when I fell asleep. No, was it correct to say that I fainted in this case?

As I struggled to lift my heavy eyelids, I could see the floor of the bedroom. I was lying on the hard floor, so even a little movement made a sound of pain.

“Cough, gasp, ehem.”

I staggered, barely raising my upper body and coughing in vain. My voice was a little hoarse because I kept screaming.

“Haa…”

After moving a bit, my energy was drained and a sigh came out. Even though I had just woken up, I was terribly tired as if I had stayed up for three nights.

“Ah, I’m going to die.”

I forced my closed eyes to open and grumbled like a joke. It seemed as if all the drug had gone out now. The pain that had continued without a break was now gone.

I had few memories of how I had spent my time from the moment I entered the room. Only the memories of struggling with the pain were coming up.

Perhaps because they hadn’t diluted the drugs, the pain continued as it progressed from stage 1 hallucinations to stage 3 depression. In the second stage, it was particularly worse.

I lifted my faintly trembling hand and touched my stomach and chest. It was as if someone was ripping off the intestines at random. Also, it was just an illusion.

I wanted to lie down on the bed and go back to sleep… but there was so much work to be done. I had to check what happened to the victim and Lee Soo-jin brought from the club and I had to hand over the alcohol I had in my inventory to Luzel.

“What time is it?”

I checked the time on the table clock placed on the table. It was half-past four in the evening. I didn’t know if I had been on the drug for a long time or if I woke up late after fainting.

It was much later than expected, so I was in a hurry. As I staggered out of my seat and was about to leave the bedroom, I saw something and was horrified.

“Ugh……!”

I took a deep breath and fell to the floor again until I realized that what was in front of me was a full-body mirror. It was only then that I realized that I hadn’t taken out the changing item because I lost my mind.

“Ah…”

In that short time, a cold sweat poured like rain. It was hard to come to my senses with the chilling sensation of the blood all over my body getting cold.

Thump, pounding heartbeat filled my ears. I pulled out the tie pin that had been attached after several times I wrongly touched it.

As soon as the item was removed, a stinging electric current flowed through the head and eyes then the colour returned. In the mirror opposite me, Han Yi-gyeol, sitting down with a puzzled expression, was reflected.

“Ha… haha…”

When I saw that, I burst into laughter. Poor Kwon Se-hyun.

Now I would never see that man again. If you were just afraid for no reason…

“……”

The inside of the mouth was bitter. I smiled bitterly and ruffled my mess bangs with my hands.

…let’s stop. Now wasn’t the time. I put the tiepin in my inventory and got up again.

It had been a while, but who wanted to stay? Kim Woo-jin or Min Ah-rin seemed to be here. Ha Tae-heon must have gone back…

‘Has Cheon Sa-yeon gone to work by now? I’ll have to contact him.’

There were so many people involved, it was a task to check the number of people one by one. It would take quite a while to get everyone together, so I would have to wash in the meantime.

I unlocked the lock and opened the bedroom door. As I was going to the living room, rubbing the back of my neck, I was surprised to find a man standing right in front of the bedroom.

“Cheon Sa-yeon?”

The person who leaned against the wall with his arms crossed and stared at me with a cold face was definitely Cheon Sa-yeon.

Why is that bastard still here? Even the mood seemed extremely nasty.

“Han Yi-gyeol!”

Piiik! Piik!

“Ugh, Kim Woo-jin.”

Before I could say anything in bewilderment, a large figure ran quickly and took me into his arms. Like Kim Woo-jin, Fox that flew in a hurry came up on my shoulder and cried sadly.

Kim Woo-jin’s sudden hug had already happened many times, so I patted his back familiarly. Seeing that the body temperature that reached the nape of my neck was hotter than usual, it was clear that he was crying again.

“Yi-gyeol-ssi, are you okay?”

“Han Yi-gyeol.”

In addition to Kim Woo-jin and Cheon Sa-yeon, Min Ah-rin and Ha Tae-heon, both with upset expressions, quickly approached me and checked my body. After that, Kwon Jeong-han, Park Geon-ho, and Woo Seo-hyuk were also seen breathing a sigh of relief.

‘No, what are these people doing here?’

I never imagined that there would be no one without exception. Most of all, I thought that Ha Tae-heon, who had a job in Roheon, would definitely have returned.

I asked with hope.

“Perhaps… did everyone keep waiting?”

“Yeah.”

The owner of the concise answer was Kwon Jeong-han. He also kindly added explanations.

“Everyone, without exception.”

“……”

I was a bit embarrassed by that statement. I was so sick that I couldn’t get my mind right… No matter how well the soundproofing was, they would definitely hear it.

‘Please leave me alone. It wouldn’t have been anything worth listening to.’

During the hallucination stage, I was worried because I had just uttered a word about the man. It didn’t leak, right?

I wanted to hold on to someone right away and check this and that, but arranging the situation was more important than that. I smiled awkwardly and opened my mouth.

“It’s all right now. I’m fine. Kim Woo-jin, get out of the way. I stink because I didn’t wash up.”

As expected, when Kim Woo-jin, who was clinging to me, was forcibly pushed away, a face with tears appeared.

Aigo, this kid.

Seeing it, my conscience was stabbed like a needle. Ha Tae-heon, who was holding my wrist tightly with a terrifying expression, and Min Ah-rin, who had bright red eyes, was also worried.

“I’m sorry, I let my guard down. Next time, I will be careful not to let this happen.”

“Next?”

“……”

When I apologized with an honest heart, Cheon Sa-yeon, who was watching me quietly, followed my words and smiled strangely. What? I suddenly became extremely anxious.