71 – Dongmin Lee (6)
Dongmin Lee (6)
The location of the basement was the study.
As it is one of the most important places in 『Journal』, I remembered it clearly.
In the first place, while preparing to resume the series, I skimmed through the previous plot, and of course I reviewed every single sentence describing the torture chamber and how to enter it.
In short, the location itself, and the way to get inside, was clearly understood.
However, these days, when Haerin rarely goes out, it is not easy to sneak in.
It was terrible if I even got caught.
“……..”
There was a by-product obtained from reviewing 『Journal』.
For example, the fact that ‘Kang Hwan-gu’, the grandfather of Kang Hae-rin and still active as a chaebol, has been changed to ‘Kang Hwan-jae’, and the fact that ‘Ban Yi-jae’ has been changed to ‘Ban Yi-hyeon’ in the novel.
‘Park Sang-woo’ also became ‘Park Sang-soo’.
I hadn’t even edited it, but the entire length of Flight 1233 had changed that way.
What can be inferred from this is that the names of ‘materialized characters in the novel’ will be modified.
Furthermore, it was also confirmed that the materialized part was up to Park Sang-woo, after Ban Lee-jae.
From nob le mt l. co m
Jung Seong-min and Jang Hye-ok still appeared in 『Journal』 as the names I knew, so it is a natural conclusion that they do not exist yet.
It was strange, but I had been able to know to some extent from my experience that when the name of a person in a novel changes, the memories of the Harrinians, that is, the readers of 『Journal』, also change.
I also asked Jiyoung and Yoona, but they remembered the villains with changed names that could not be confused.
‘Are you half? Aren’t you talking about Ban Yi-hyeon?’
‘Senior, what if the writer can’t even remember the character’s name? It’s been too long.’
The rest of my work was simple.
A study on writing a novel and the realization of 『Journal』.
Every day, I searched for articles about Ban Yi-jae, Park Sang-woo, and who could appear in the future.
Ban Yi-jae was on trial, and Park Sang-woo had no news except for an article a few years ago.
‘Pervert Jung Sung-min.’
‘Serial killer Jang Hye-ok who aimed for the family’s insurance money.’
Detectives have yet to catch Park Sang-woo.
It’s going to be prudent, and being arrested isn’t that easy, but it was frustrating that a guy who already had a criminal record and was openly working as a drug dealer hadn’t been arrested yet, but he also promised Haerin.
I will never intervene with the characters in 『Journal』.
Another promise made with him.
Draw attention to your sister.
This was Harin’s condition for peace.
‘If I violate it, it’s the second and third strikes.’
I could hear her smiling and talking.
It was the scariest laugh in the world.
I know best what happens when the three strikes Kang Hae-rin says are met.
Of course, I accepted this because Haerin promised to find my sister on my behalf.
Anyway, I explained that I couldn’t end the relationship with my sister like this, and Haerin was convinced.
‘I’ll let you meet me. However, you need to choose your actions carefully. Don’t forget the promise you made with me. If your sister wants you, you have to refuse.’
At this point, the compromise is pretty good.
In any event, if my sister was really looking at me with strange eyes, of course I would refuse.
If it’s a misunderstanding, I can clear it up.
I didn’t know when I would meet my sister, or when the day would come when I would ask her what her true feelings were.
Anything other than that is invisible like fog.
However, there are two things I can achieve myself.
To complete the 『Journal』.
And exploring the basement.
So while walking in uncertainty, I was obsessively obsessed with those two things.
From nob le mt l. co m
Just like now, I’m lost in my thoughts.
“What are you thinking about?”
Kang Haerin’s voice was heard.
I was in the living room, where the sun was shining through a tall, wide window that filled one wall.
I sat on the sofa and looked out at the green lawn.
But before I knew it, my eyes were on the study.
Pretending not to be me, I turned my gaze to Harry.
“”journal”. I was thinking of what was next.”
Harin gently leaned on me.
She rested her head on my shoulder and took my arm.
I asked in a slightly languid voice.
“How are you doing?”
“What should I do to make Harin happy?”
“It’s that simple.”
“huh?”
“Looking only at me, giving birth to my baby and myself, and living happily here. Not thinking about other women, other people, or other things. Like hypnotized, like an idiot, thinking only of me…”
“……”
I said awkwardly.
“I’m talking about the ‘Journal’…”
“……..”
“If it was an abduction, that would be possible, but the character Lee Dong-min itself doesn’t appear in the main story. Lee Dong-hyun is not, strictly speaking, me.”
“Yeah, I’m kidding too.”
said Harry.
I had already explained everything to Haerin about how to finish 『Journal』.
There were no comments whatsoever.
I don’t know if it’s an abduction, but Kang Hae-rin in the main story and Kang Hae-rin in real life have already changed in many ways.
For now, Harin doesn’t fight the villain any more.
Now she was more of a housewife.
Although she was a very rich, suspiciously perfect and beautiful housewife.
“Hey, Harin.”
After thinking about it, I decided to get to the main topic.
For several days, I’ve been thinking about it.
underground torture chamber.
Haerin and I have already revealed our plans for the future and our hearts to each other.
I talked about laptops, and Haerin came up with a ‘strategy’ to make us happy.
‘Destiny community.’
Then, even if it is difficult, it is better to share it all.
There was no way that Harin, who had read 『Journal』, would not know that I was aware of the existence of the torture chamber.
Perhaps she noticed that sometimes I was looking in the direction of the study.
Nothing else, just to ‘confirm’.
The reason why I was able to make this decision was also because Haerin and I became very close.
“Harryn.”
I called her
2 or 3 weeks?
If it’s short, it’s a short time, but during a dense cohabitation where nothing is left except for each other in everyday life, focusing only on each other.
I am no longer afraid of her.
Some of that fear has been erased.
If you’re honest, you’ve realized that it’s not painful and that it’s better to do something in unison.
Haerin also seemed to be taking care of my situation, and often allowed me to contact my friends.
Contacting the detectives also did not touch.
It’s a different matter if they don’t get in touch.
So I didn’t think he would get angry if I asked about the cellar, if I checked it out.
After all, it’s never been ‘used’.
“Haerin, maybe…”
“no.”
“……..”
Haerin, who was leaning on my shoulder, stood up like a robot and looked at me expressionlessly.
“… Hey, do you know what I’m talking about?”
“no way.”
I couldn’t open my mouth.
momentary discomfort.
Haerin’s eyes were more red than ever before, and her skin was pale and did not look human.
It looked like a doll, not a human.
It’s so perfect that it’s frightening.
Incomprehensible and inexpressible emotions passed through the whole body, giving goosebumps.
It may be an instinctive fear.
I couldn’t even ask if I knew what I was asking.
“Yes…”
I awkwardly looked away.
The wide lawn was shining green.
However, as the clouds obscured the sun, the shadows, even the shadows created by the protruding outer walls of the house, were covered.
For the first time since coming here, my body stiffened.
I realized that I wasn’t just in heaven.
‘You’ll become a pig.’
Kang Hae-rin’s jokes also came to mind.
I was terrified that maybe she was really breeding me into something like a pig.
‘…Did I give up my dignity?’
Too tired of the peace of everyday life, I looked too complacently at the place where I should be suspicious.
How many times have I decided to check the basement first since I was in the hospital?
“……”
Paradoxically, seeing Haerin’s stubborn attitude, I was able to regain my enthusiasm.
If Haerin Kang figured out the intention of my question without even hearing it, that would be scary as it is.
Anyway, she has ‘something she wants to hide’.
Then the truth I don’t want to believe.
His suspicions about his older sister may dissipate.
There may be a bit of truth in the basement that I don’t know about and that the notebook didn’t catch.
#
Another week passed like that.
I thought of the basement all day except when I was working.
Sometimes I imagined the expectation of finding conclusive evidence to improve the situation in it, and other times I feared that I would see something terrible.
It wasn’t just optimistic, maybe Harin had already committed murder.
It’s been quite a while since the laptop first broke and I couldn’t keep an eye on her actions.
What could have been done in the meantime?
I didn’t deliberately act right away.
It was right after he asked a suspicious question, so if he acted right away, he was likely to be caught by Haerin.
The action started a week later, at dawn.
In fact, I can’t say I didn’t have the urge.
As is often the case, at dawn, I woke up hearing someone sob, and woke up like a sleepwalker.
For some reason, I couldn’t erase the thought that it was my sister’s crying, the obsession.
When I headed to the study, there was no hesitation.
Previously, when I woke up, I wandered around the living room, but even then, Haerin never woke up.
The journey was only slightly longer.
The way to enter the study was simple.
The living room was already full of books, but the full-fledged materials and books were separated into a library.
Upon opening the door, the old-fashioned interior.
It was not a normal room.
Like a library, several bookshelves were arranged at regular intervals.
Even considering that the first floor was the widest structure, the study was the second widest after the living room.
Everything I imagined while writing the novel.
With meticulous admiration and wonder at the realization of my imagination, I went to one side of the wall.
I checked the thick turquoise spine of the book.
When I took it out, there was a remote control inside.
A number that can be entered.
I pressed the number.
‘…0709…’
Beep.
It didn’t work.
‘… isn’t it 0709?’
The number was the date of her first murder, which can be said to be a trauma to Kang Hae-rin.
A total of eight digits including the year.
I wondered if I was wrong, so I tried again.
Beep.
Embarrassed, I pressed other numbers.
The first thing that comes to mind is Kang Haerin’s birthday, my birthday, and the numbering of major events.
But all didn’t work.
I tried to put the remote into the book.
I had a hunch that no matter how hard I tried, I wouldn’t be able to find the number leading to the underground torture chamber.
Kang Haerin had already changed his number.
Like an animal caught in a trap, I panicked and dropped the remote control on the floor.
“……..”
A noise that breaks the stillness of dawn.
But it just didn’t sound small.
I slowly picked it up with my whole body rigid.
Where the remote control fell, there were perfectly shaped feet that were clean and not chamfered.
“……”
Haerin Kang was looking down at me.
“… Haerin.”
That’s it.
I felt my brain go blank.
Kang Hae-rin, wearing a one-piece pajamas made of thick material, was shining like ceramics in the dark.
“… self.”
She sighed and picked up the remote control.
“……”
From nob le mt l. co m
Just when I thought I was going to die.
Beep, beep, beep-
She passed me and operated the remote control.
After a while, a bookshelf on one wall opened.
A thick, cold wall of cement appeared, with a small pad attached to the corner of the wall.
Without it, it would have just looked like a wall.
Harin took her iris there.
drooling.
The door started to open.
A narrow staircase appeared.
“…Would you like to see it like this?”
Harin turned to me.
“… uh?”
“…of course I changed my number. Security devices too. There’s no way he would have left the security device with all the laws against it in the novel. Honey, are you stupid?”
She sighed again and nodded.
Whether it was because she was drowsy, or if she was tired of my persistent actions, her face was a little relaxed.
“… look at it as much as you like. My shame.”