CH 22

I was honestly impressed with his commitment to my health.

It was a very different feeling than when I heard the same story a few hours earlier.

Now I knew he wouldn’t stop me from leaving the hospital. We’re done talking about contracts.

It would have been a surplus business if I could get out of here instead of being inspected once.

“Okay, I’ll take you to the hospital.”

Unlike before, Jung Yiheon was visibly pleased that I had accepted so readily.

It’s almost as if he’d been afraid, I’d say no, and for a moment, he had doubts.

Dudududu-

The harsh sound of the helicopter ripped through my ears, along with the wind pressure that seemed to stampede overhead.

“I’m glad you said yes. I was about to get chastised by the Vice Guild Leader for wasting money on nothing.”

Jung Yiheon laughed, glanced at the ladder coming down towards them, and held out his hand.

“Hold on tight. Oh, and if you’re nervous, it’s okay to hold on. Safety is the most important thing.”

“…….”

“Han Cha-soo?”

Instead of answering, Han Cha-soo looked at the black helicopter descending towards them and thought,

He isn’t just a pushover, but a crazy one.

The idea of going to the hospital in a helicopter was very disconcerting.

Even though he was wearing a mask, it would attract attention.

But Han Cha-soo soon realised the benefits of the helicopter.

‘…I’ll be able to get home faster.’

Otherwise, the gate in the middle of the bridge would have caused a major traffic jam.

In such a situation, a helicopter flying unobstructed across the sky is a very attractive option.

Eventually, Han Cha-soo grabbed the hand that was held out to him.

“Thank you very much.”

“Sure.”

Jung Yiheon happily let himself be carried into the helicopter.

The hospital they arrived at was unexpectedly noisy, but….

“You just came out of the Irregular Gate, did you suffer any injuries during the battle?”

“I didn’t participate in any battles, nor did I come into contact with any monsters.”

Thanks to Jung Yiheon’s willingness to be my chaperone, the examination ended early.

As he removed the strange devices from his head and body, Han Cha-soo asked.

“What’s the result?”

“Ah! Yes, yes. Mr Han Chasoo…. Let’s see. I don’t see anything on your chart that would be a problem.”

This was the first doctor he had seen at the hospital.

The doctor, who wore her hair in a high bun, explained the chart to Han Cha-soo in a professional tone.

Of course, he could barely understand a word of it.

“To make a long story short, the wavelengths are even, there are no twisted corners, and there shouldn’t be any problems in the future.”

The kind doctor explained at her patient’s eye level.

Han Cha-soo nodded with a straight face.

“Does that mean I can go home?”

He asked, as if he has been waiting.

He could hear the wind blowing beside him. It was obviously Jung Yiheon, but Han Cha-soo ignored it.

He had his own reasons for wanting to return home as soon as possible.

‘I have to make sure the damn diary is okay.’

How I got out of the house.

He had a vague memory of the moment before he passed out.

If I had left the door open, someone could have gotten in and ransacked it.

It’s a pretty expensive apartment complex, and I had a faint conviction that the security would be good….

‘My situation is not good enough to rely on the goodwill of others.’

Han Cha-soo stood up without waiting for an answer.

“Thank you for examining me, I’ll be going now.”

As he picked up his coat, the doctor followed suit.

She had one last thing to say to the guardian.

“If the patient had complained about headaches, hearing voices, or hallucinations later, take him to the hospital without delay.”

“Can we come here again?”

The doctor shook her head.

She bent down for a moment and scribbled something on a piece of paper.

She handed the small folded piece of paper to Jung Yiheon.

“The National Hospital, headquarters of the Awakeners Administration, should be more obvious. You can go to the place I wrote on the note and tell them I sent you.”

“Thank you.”

For some reason, I felt like a child following a parent.

A brief frown of subtle discomfort.

“Well, I guess you can go back now, I’ve got a car waiting for you, so let’s head down.”

Han Cha-soo was deeply moved by Jung Yiheon’s thoughtfulness.

It’s okay to be a little crazy for someone like this.

‘It’s not like I’ll be around forever anyway.’

He hadn’t changed his mind about leaving the Heavenly Spirit Guild as soon as the matter was resolved.

If that was the case, it might be better to give in to his demands in moderation than to keep pushing him away.

With this new realization, Han Cha-soo got into the car.

“I’ll take you home safely this time, Mr Han Cha-soo!”

The driver roared.

Han Cha-soo blinked at him for a moment.

The driver who had been thrown into the Han River by Geum Myeong-yeol was sitting upright as if he nothing ever happened.

“Ah, don’t worry about it. I’m a class A hunter, after all.”

“Ah…. Thank goodness.”

Han Cha-soo sighed as he buried himself in the seat.

With a smooth drive, the car had just left the hospital.

“Guild Leader.”

“Yes? What is it?”

“Do you mind if I stop by the Item Exchange on my way home?”

Han Cha-soo looked at Jung Yiheon with a serious face.

A few hours after leaving the hospital, the car carrying Han Cha-soo stopped in front of his house, this time safely.

“Sit down for a minute.”

Jung Yiheon got out of his seat and opened the door for him. It was the luggage Han Cha-soo was carrying.

“Thank you for the ride, then goodbye, Guild Leader.”

On his way home, he stopped by the Item Exchange.

The clutter in the envelope rattled while a car pulled out of the car.

“You look short of hands. I’ll help you if you don’t mind.”

Han Cha-soo quickly shook his head as he followed him into the house.

“It’s okay. I just need to put it down on the floor for a second.”

“…Okay. Just let me know if it hurts.”

It was a pretty enthusiastic refusal.

Still, it’s not something he takes lightly, and he smiles a silent smile.

“Then get some rest.”

“Yes, Guild Leader, thank you for your efforts.”

“See you later.”

With an echoing goodbye, the car drove away.

“Ha, finally….”

Han Cha-soo turned around like a man who had lost a tooth.

It was a sickening and welcoming home at the same time.

“Heok, huh….”

‘Thank goodness it’s on the lower floor.’

The lift was broken, so I was forced to take the stairs.

Luckily, this didn’t seem to trigger the penalty.

Han Cha-soo carefully exited the stairwell and entered the corridor.

Thump, thump. He could feel his heart pounding with tension.

“Whoo….”

Catching his breath, Han Cha-soo took a step forward and nearly froze in place.

“Ha, shit….”

The door was shut tight.

“Thank goodness.”

He involuntary let out a sigh of relief. Han Cha-soo leaned back against the wall.

He tilted his head, sweat dripping down his forehead.

The cement was cold against his back hair.

‘From now on, I’ll have to make a barricade in front of the door and organise my things.’

All the way home in the car, I was plagued by horrifying delusions.

I wondered if an intruder would find out all about my sordid past.

I wondered if he would be captured by Jung Yiheon without the reward of saving Jung Seo-heon life.

But thankfully, that was not to be.

Han Cha-soo took another deep breath and opened the door.

There was a short beep, revealing a messy interior.

It was the result of a duel with a ghost that had suddenly popped out of the box.

“Tsk.”

Han Cha-soo clicked his tongue and picked up the items on the porch.

If I remember correctly, it was definitely something from the warehouse.

“It’s not like there was an explosion or anything….”

Seeing them scattered all over the place, I thought I would have to check them one by one to find the diary.

With a sigh, Han Cha-soo picked up one item after another like a sower.

A half-torn book in the middle of the hallway caught his eye.

“What is this….”

He looked at the spine of the untitled book and flipped it over.

“Ah.”

Han Cha-soo couldn’t help but exclaim.

It was an obsessive-compulsive daily record.

What he found was the diary of the original Han Cha-soo he had been looking for.

“Hmm…. Is that it?”

Han Cha-soo stroked his chin as he looked down at the diary.

The diary was about five volumes long.

Quite a few had been torn out during the battle with the ghost, but that was okay.

It wasn’t hard to figure out what was left.

Or rather, there was very little of it to begin with.

“Man, this guy was out of his mind.”

Han Cha-soo sighed as he picked up the diary from the furthest past, six years ago.

There was only one thing written in it.

[I am not a failure].

I read it from beginning to end, but it was really just that one sentence.

The next journal entry was better.

[I’m not a failure, I’m not a failure, it’s not my fault things went wrong!!!]

[It was weird from the start, it was meant to fuck me over, of course it was, I didn’t do anything wrong, if it wasn’t for that arsehole, if it wasn’t for that arsehole!]