Chapter 344

Episode 344:

The person investigating the pharmacy to cure Lee Jae-heon is Kim Yeon-woo, a police officer. Jeong In-ho and Vivian, the combat personnel who participated in Ha Seong-yoon’s place. Assistant personnel Yeonhee Kwon and Woo Sooyoung. The last person who had to fix his body was Lee Jae-heon.

“....”

Lee Jae-heon, who had been giving In-ho Jeong a strange look at his intention to participate, nodded with difficulty.

“Oh, if you don’t mind.”

“it’s okay.”

“Seeing as you’re not being obnoxious, it looks like you’re still out of your mind, but I’ll figure it out for now.”

“....”

“You don’t even refute it, really.”

Although Jung In-ho was still in poor condition, his intention to participate was clear.

‘...Lee Jae-heon and Ha Seong-yoon seemed strange.’

Jung In-ho was so bruised that he couldn’t understand his surroundings, but he couldn’t do that even when Lee Jae-heon got hurt. The fact that Lee Jae-heon almost died after being swept away by plaster monsters while he was out of his mind was shocking news to Jeong In-ho, who had been struggling for a while. I wondered if it was finally time to return.

And Jeong In-ho, who suddenly came to his senses at that time, read an unusual amount of self-reproach from Ha Seong-yoon. Didn’t Ha Seong-yoon even withdraw from Lee Jae-heon’s pharmacy expedition without participating?

‘There’s no way that doctor would blame himself for something trivial.’

In other words, it meant that Ha Seong-yoon participated to some extent in Lee Jae-heon’s injury.

‘It may not have been just an injury problem...’

Lee Jae-heon said, ‘I got injured while trying to protect Ha Seong-yoon,’ so it could be a feeling of guilt, but if Ha Seong-yoon suffered a rare blow, there must have been a deeper cause. Although he wasn’t sure, In-ho Jeong felt that Jae-heon Lee and Seong-yoon Ha were creating some kind of secret. Maybe even Yoon Garam.

That was probably the kind of secret that burdened Lee Jae-heon.

“....”

“...Why do you look at me like that?”

“I just saw it.”

Jeong In-ho could not hide his sigh.

It was because I was tired.

I was already having a hard time wondering what these crazy people had been doing all this time, and I was furious with Lee Jae-heon, who showed no sign of being obedient. In the end, he is unable to manage all of his complicated emotions and they all come together and cause great fatigue. Regardless of why, what the process was, or what the results will be, you just get tired.

Nevertheless, the reason Jeong In-ho participated in this exploration was because he felt ominous. The instinctive intuition that things should not be left like this tormented In-ho Jeong.

‘If you follow me around like this, at least...’

Lee Jae-heon won’t die while you’re not looking.

“....”

“I think we’re ready.”

Jeong In-ho looked at Ha Seong-yoon, who was smiling at Vivian’s words.

“...Ha Seong-yoon, are you really not going with us?”

“As I said before, I’m not feeling well. “I think it will only be a hindrance.”

“....”

“Mannequins in pharmacies also hate doctors.”

Jeong In-ho did not ask any further questions.

‘...tired.’

All I had to do was quickly go to the pharmacy, treat Jaeheon Lee’s arm, and come back. Then, this ominous feeling that is bothering him will disappear and Jaeheon Lee will return to his original state. I didn’t have enough time to dig into it any further.

It was a pathetic behavior, but it didn’t mean I had no motivation. Jeong In-ho just hoped that he could get some rest.

“Then let’s go!”

With Kim Yeon-woo’s unique, clear voice, the exploration team began to move.

If there was a police officer among the team members, the route to the pharmacy or convenience store itself was not difficult. No matter how complex it was, the shopping mall had its own unique geographical characteristics and the roads in and out were not twisted like a maze. The monsters in the shopping mall avoid the police, so there is less chance of encountering them.

“But be careful of stray cat monsters.”

“Oh, that’s right. Even if they are police, they don’t really avoid them....”

“I think you just need to not provoke them.”

In-ho Jeong stayed next to Jae-heon Lee, listening with one ear to the constant conversation between Kim Yeon-woo and Vivian.

“what?”

“....”

“...huh.”

As Jeong In-ho stayed calmly, Lee Jae-heon also kept his mouth shut without saying anything.

‘...If it were normal, I would have scolded you for being disgusting, right?’

For the first time in a long time, Jeong In-ho’s brain became clear.

Regardless of whether it was good or bad, walking around with Lee Jae-heon like this naturally made Jeong In-ho use his head.

That’s right, Lee Jae-heon was someone who could hardly let down his guard, and he personally drove that into Jeong In-ho’s brain. Jeong In-ho wondered if this kind of alertness could become a habit.

That’s quite...

“Are you tired?”

“yes.”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

“....”

“Thank you.”

Jeong In-ho stopped thinking and looked back at Lee Jae-heon.

“...yes?”

“You must be tired, but thank you for coming with me.”

“ah.”

“I don’t know how Mr. Jeong In-ho is, but...”

His expression is tired and dry.

“It’s nice to be walking around together after a long time.”

A dull smile.

“....”

...Jeong In-ho thought.

That might not be so bad.

* * *

“...Ah, Yeonhee. “Let’s come a little further inside.”

“yes yes?”

“You see, this isn’t even a vegetable garden, so where are you getting distracted?”

“Still, I feel much more at ease now that I’m being carried by Jeong In-ho, Lee Jae-heon.”

“If even the police are not on my side, who can I rely on...”

“Yes...?! No, you can rely on me!”

“Kim Yeon-woo’s voice. Lower it.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

Kim Yeon-woo obediently stood at the front and worked harder to get rid of the monsters. I had become accustomed to it after stopping by several times while exploring the surrounding area, but the power of the hidden world was to turn even that familiarity into discomfort. There were some bold monsters nearby, so it was dangerous to keep paying attention to Lee Jae-heon behind him.

Jeong In-ho, who was carrying Lee Jae-heon, muttered with a strange expression.

“...I feel strange.”

“Speak clearly, Inho. And even if you’re like me, you’ll feel weird carrying the same department manager on your back, so don’t worry.”

“It’s a little different than that...”

Jeong In-ho felt that his tongue, which had been hard, had become quite soft.

“...something....”

Because I felt like I was doing something.

“....”

“Why do you stop talking, I’m curious.”

“I think it would be better to just keep wondering. “I hate to tell you.”

“Anyway, these days...”

“Stop fussing and just sleep.”

Jeong In-ho criticized Lee Jae-heon for no reason.

‘It may be hard to say it, but it’s foolish.’

After hearing Garam Yoon’s story, I learned how bizarre the pharmacy’s method of paying for pain was.

He said that it was not just painful, but felt like it was tormenting a person’s soul. It feels like splitting the soul with a pickaxe, crushing it with a hammer, and eventually pulling out parts with a vacuum cleaner, as if it were marble.

‘...It might hurt as much as when I ate the fruit in the park.’

I don’t know if Yoon Garam’s description can be expressed with the word ‘pain,’ but that was the worst pain that Inho Jeong remembers. The only pain that could be compared to the pain Lee Jae-heon experienced while paying for the medicine was the pain at that time.

‘But all the talk like this is for other people.’

Pretending to be completely fine even though it looks like it’s going to hurt.

That was Lee Jae-heon’s specialty.

“Haa...”

“...is it heavy?”

“Yes please.”

“Bian Student Assistant Manager Jeong is having a hard time. “Please do me a favor instead...”

“Shut up, manager.”

“What is your habit of speaking to the manager?”

“Keep your mouth shut.”

“Does that make your words prettier?”

“Tsk.”

Lee Jae-heon even collapsed, unable to overcome the pain.

‘He said he lost his balance for a moment, but that’s just it.’

Lee Jae-heon stands firm despite the pain that would have made other survivors scream or lose their minds. The fact that he ended up collapsing after paying for the medicine meant that the pain was so severe that even Lee Jae-heon could not bear it.

‘I went through that kind of pain, and there’s no way I’m okay now.’

If he had been okay at all, he would have insisted on walking on his own instead of being carried on Jeong In-ho’s or someone else’s back like he is now. However, as he said, the fact that he was calmly riding on the back of the disgusting assistant manager Jeong In-ho meant that his condition was that bad.

“...What do you want me to listen to for you?”

“The manager was joking.”

“It’s amazing that you have the mental strength to joke around.”

“I agree.”

I thought she was being sarcastic, but Vivian seemed to be purely admiring Lee Jae-heon’s mental strength.

To be honest, if Jung In-ho were Lee Jae-heon now, he wouldn’t have had the spirit to joke around, so he was equally admirable at Lee Jae-heon’s mental strength.

‘If you had really shut up like I said... the atmosphere would have gotten worse.’

I don’t like Lee Jae-heon’s methods, but it was true that his choices generally saved the survivors and gave them strength. The reason I can’t go back to the garden in solemn silence even now is because the patient, Lee Jae-heon, acted as if nothing had happened. They didn’t have to sympathize with Lee Jae-heon’s pain because of the consideration he showed.

Therefore, In-ho Jeong was able to think with a slightly clearer mind.

“....”

As expected, Ha Seong-yoon and Lee Jae-heon seem to have done something.

‘Otherwise, Ha Seong-yoon’s condition cannot be explained, and Lee Jae-heon’s condition... cannot be explained.’

Even if we assume that he was unlucky when paying for the medicine, the speed at which Lee Jae-heon collapsed was too fast. Obediently riding on Jeong In-ho’s back was also one of the factors that made him feel uncomfortable. Lee Jae-heon could not be seen as being in a healthy state, and Jeong In-ho believed that the reason was the secret created by Ha Seong-yoon and Lee Jae-heon.

This happened in a moment when Jeong In-ho was distracted.

‘...I’m fucking tired.’

Suddenly, I wondered, ‘Do I really need to solve the problem?’

“....”

“... Manager.”

“....”

“Are you sleeping?”

“....”

“I see.”

When I saw Jaeheon Lee sleeping on my back, I couldn’t continue thinking about that.

“...I guess you were tired.”

I just had that thought.

‘I’m doing something.’

For a moment, the shock he felt when Lee Jae-heon got hurt, the nausea he felt when he said, ‘It’s good because it’s been a while,’ and the strange feeling he felt when he said he trusted us inside the pharmacy, engulfed Jung In-ho. Those feelings lingered in his ears and seeped into his brain. It seemed like it was shaking.

As a result, In-ho Jeong ended up carrying Jae-heon Lee on his back.

“...Ha....”

...Let’s just have a conversation.

Just what did you do with Ha Seong-yoon?

(Continued in the next part)