“This crazy bastard, stay still ack!”
Even though his appearance was now almost like a beggar’s, from somewhere such strength surged that Cheon Jaekyung spoke roughly and bolted upright. Then, as if he’d been waiting, Lee Hyeonseok brought down the shovel he was holding onto the crown of Cheon Jaekyung’s head. Cheon Jaekyung fell back down with a short scream. He’d fainted again. It would have been stranger if he’d kept holding onto consciousness. I grimaced at the sensation of pain being transmitted even to me watching, but Lee Hyeonseok paid no mind and began shoveling dirt again.
‘…This bastard, he’s not really trying to bury him alive, is he?’
Somehow, it seemed like Lee Hyeonseok really would do it. As I was gauging whether to stop him or not, Lee Hyeonseok’s face was just peaceful. There was no other psycho bastard like him. How could he think of burying a person in broad daylight with a perfectly sane mind?
“If only his neck is sticking out when he opens his eyes, he’ll be a bit more docile.”
Even so, I didn’t want to see someone being buried alive, so I was about to stop him, but only briefly. Fortunately, Lee Hyeonseok didn’t seem to have any intention of going that far. Unlike me, who let out a sigh of relief from the depths of my heart, Lee Hyeonseok was silently doing what he had to do.
“……”
Even if he wasn’t burying him alive, the sight of burying a person in broad daylight was quite unpleasant to watch. He really was a crazy bastard through and through. It was embarrassing to be acquainted with him. As dirt piled up neatly over Cheon Jaekyung’s body, I slowly backed away with a disgusted face.
“I’m not letting it slide this time.”
I thought Lee Hyeonseok’s attention was focused on Cheon Jaekyung, but apparently not, as Lee Hyeonseok spoke without even turning his head as soon as I backed away slightly. I thought he had multiple eyes like a spider.
If he got angry or threw a fit, I’d think ‘that’s the usual Lee Hyeonseok’ and feel some sense of stability, but his voice was the same as usual, making only me uncomfortable. What did he mean he wouldn’t let slide? Anyway, it obviously wasn’t nice words said with good intentions, so I froze in my posture of trying to step back slightly.
“You’re going to get scolded when you get home, so if you want to get scolded more, do as you please.”
Only after hearing Lee Hyeonseok’s murderous warning did I begin to grasp the situation. Without properly understanding why I should be scolded, I picked up the flowers that had fallen on the ground and nicely held them out to him. Not having the courage to look at his face, I only stared at the ground. I couldn’t know exactly what he was angry about, but he certainly must have eyes capable of easily killing a person.
“Anyway, it’s all my fault. Please forgive me.”
“……”
Far from accepting the flowers I held out, Lee Hyeonseok showed no sign of moving even a finger. He really must be angry. Though it was hard to believe, I decided to acknowledge the fact that Lee Hyeonseok cherished me quite a bit. The world was wide and there were many crazy people, so there were many strange things too. Just looking at the fact that I or Lee Hyeonseok had possessed bodies, did that even make sense?
In that context, it fucking didn’t make sense. Still, if I thought he was angry because he was worried I might go out and be harmed by Cheon Jaekyung, the current fury wasn’t something I couldn’t accept at all.
They say crazy people’s thoughts are hard for ordinary people to understand. Paradoxically, when I thought that way, I could understand. To think I tried to empathize with this, at this point I was worried whether I could safely cut ties with Lee Hyeonseok.
But now wasn’t the time to think about that. Based on the hypothesis I’d established, I deliberately spoke to sound even more pitiful. Assuming he had goodwill, I thought if I acted a bit pathetic, he might forgive me.
“Please forgive me just once.”
“……”
“Please keep forgiving me.”
However, Lee Hyeonseok still didn’t budge. Wondering if he was sick of hearing me ask for forgiveness so many times, I sneakily checked his expression. There was no such sign.
With him being this motionless, I was curious what expression he was making, but my instinct kept whispering to me that I’d regret it if I raised my head now. Trusting my intuition, I just glared at the ground for dear life.
“Am I crazy?”
Lee Hyeonseok, who had maintained silence for a while, began some self-reflection. Crazy wasn’t all. He was a bastard who was thoroughly rotten through and through. Suppressing the desire to help with his self-reflection, I kept my mouth shut. The saying about getting halfway there by just staying still wasn’t there for nothing.
“Haah…”
“Ack!”
Just when I thought he was doing self-reflection, he suddenly sighed and began dry-washing his face. Unable to endure it any longer, when I slightly lifted my head, Lee Hyeonseok immediately pressed down on my head, making it slam back into the ground. It didn’t hurt, but I unconsciously let out a short groan without hiding it. Lee Hyeonseok immediately let go. Instead of thinking about raising my head to look at him again, I obediently gave my gaze to the ground.
“Put that away properly.”
“Yessir.”
I thought that scary order was directed at me. But whether fortunately or unfortunately, as soon as his words ended, a spirited reply came from right behind. Having completely forgotten about people other than Lee Hyeonseok due to his presence, I belatedly noticed the existence of a third party. Reflexively, I turned my body back toward where the voice came from.
Seeing their appearance, my heart, which had barely calmed down, began moving busily again.
“Uh…?”
The faces of the two people who had been standing guard at the house were colorful. Their faces were very red, blue, and black, like scribbles on drawing paper. Whoever the artist was, they were definitely a rotten human. Not stopping at just looking colorful, their cheeks were also swollen painfully at first glance.
Even so, the guards showed no sign of pain. Both the guards and Lee Hyeonseok were so utterly calm that I, only making stupid sounds, was engulfed in a feeling of being detached from the world. I wanted to ask the guards why their faces were like that, but only opening my mouth stupidly while admiring them, no other words came out.
“That, that…”
It wouldn’t have been strange for the guards to say something about my attitude of rudely admiring them for so long. Yet they left me to do as I pleased. Finally, as I was about to ask the guards why their faces were like that, Lee Hyeonseok opened his mouth.
“Why.”
“Huh? Uh, no… No, well… That…”
Flustered, I stammered and rambled incoherently while alternating between looking at the guards and Lee Hyeonseok. Their expressions didn’t change one bit. Am I the weird one now? Am I the only weird bastard? Am I weird for caring that working people’s faces are beaten up? I had a lot to say, but under the strange pressure, I couldn’t speak properly. Moreover, for some reason, I even had a premonition that their injuries might be related to me.
“What.”
“Uh…”
When I couldn’t properly continue my words, Lee Hyeonseok furrowed his brow slightly and asked again. My spirit could be said to have died excellently.
“I was worried about being sued.”
“Sued?”
In the end, I couldn’t mention the injuries on the guards’ faces and changed the subject. Perhaps not thinking the word ‘sued’ would come out of my mouth, Lee Hyeonseok asked back. Since I didn’t dare have the heart to play push and pull with Lee Hyeonseok, I decided to answer obediently.
“Yeah, well, Cheon Jaekyung suddenly showed up.”
“If you’d stayed quietly at home, you wouldn’t have had to see him.”
“You are absolutely right. But he fell into the pit on his own.”
“Did you sell out the country or save it?”
“I thought it went well so I was going to go home. Then, ah, I suddenly got pissed off.”
Lee Hyeonseok scratched at my insides with sarcasm disguised as agreement at the end of each of my words, but there was no damage. As a result, surprisingly, our conversation continued very naturally.
“So what did you do that would get you sued?”
Perhaps tired of me barely getting to the main point and only dragging out the introduction, Lee Hyeonseok began to press. First, I smiled. Like politicians bending their backs during election season begging people to please give them votes. There was no other budding politician like me.
“Ahem. They say you mature when you go to the military.”
“What, did you secretly apply for his enlistment or something?”
Even at Lee Hyeonseok’s urging, I cleared my throat and beat around the bush again. Then he tossed out a question as if annoyed. He probably threw out just any words telling me to hurry up and speak, but it was the correct answer. I smiled brightly and gave him a thumbs up.
“Smart.”
“Really, one thing after another.”
Watching me innocently praise him, Lee Hyeonseok didn’t question the truth and only made an expression as if it was a spectacle. Even though it was something he should have asked for detailed process or denied at least once, it was an attitude certain that I had committed the deed.
Having nothing more to say, I grinned and made a finger heart to show him.
“You agreed to cover for me, right?”
“Even shameless.”
“I learned it all from watching.”
I demanded an answer from Lee Hyeonseok to feel reassured, but true to being trash in character, there was no easy answer. Since Lee Hyeonseok was laughing annoyingly and insulting me, I dragged him into it. I didn’t want to hear ‘shameless’ from a bastard who ignored everything written in the contract and acted as he pleased from the start. Still, since I was in a position of needing help, I spoke with a grin without being serious.
“A bastard who doesn’t listen, what do I find pretty about you?”
“It’s a bit much to throw perfectly fine flowers in the trash.”
Lee Hyeonseok must have really disliked that I wasn’t staying quietly at home, as he acted grumpy to the end. If I said I couldn’t help it because being at home was suffocating, it was obvious he’d find something to pick at again, so I timidly made excuses.
“What bullshit.”
As if not understanding what I was saying, Lee Hyeonseok frowned. My words were out of the blue. I was about to honestly tell Lee Hyeonseok that thinking about throwing away flowers that were perfectly fine felt exactly like I was being thrown away.
But I immediately stopped. No. It’s not even 2 AM, what if it sounds like bullshit? I wasn’t even drinking but suddenly getting drunk on emotions while just sitting there—I was embarrassed at myself for thinking such thoughts. No, but at that time it really was like that.
“That… that thing, you know… Like ‘let’s do our own work ourselves’… That, anyway. Huh? Roughly something like that…”
What am I even saying?
