(+ Reason or illustration in high quality)
It was none other than Yoo Ji-hyuk who was most surprised when he spoke out.
He didn’t realize just how pathetic he had just been when he had told her that he had uttered words that were cowardly and even tiring.
And, as always, by the time I realized it, it was already too late.
“That, over there. just that… .”
When he saw that Lee Yu-na’s expression suddenly darkened, he felt tight and closed his eyes without realizing it.
Even if he thought that there would be nothing to say if Lee Yu-na was angry with him or looked at him with contempt right now, he offered her an apology for his indifferent attitude.
“… I’m sorry, I’m really sorry, Yuna. What you just said really didn’t mean to me.”
“… … .”
But, without saying a word, Yuuna reached out and pulled his right hand.
Then he muttered quietly.
“Hands, if you leave it as it is, it will be a real problem.”
“Uh, uh.”
Lee Yuna quietly, but with skillful hand movements, wiped his crushed right hand, sprayed medicine and applied simple first aid, such as bandaging.
He wondered how the heck did he know how to carry these things? For a moment, he could remember that Lee Yu-na had been carrying miscellaneous first aid kits since she was her caregiver.
Until now… .
It was the time when he quietly looked into her eyes with a somber heart.
Lee Yu-na, who was short in stature and had her head bowed so that she could only see her top hair, moved her head.
“Jihyuk, you just said something.”
He was about to answer something, but he quietly decided to listen to what Yoona would say right away.
But she muttered something different from what he expected.
“I understand. Because you are right.”
“… What?”
“Like you said, I don’t care.”
Her muttering hands were moving vigorously.
He was just moving hard and silent, but only then did he realize that his hand was still messing around because it couldn’t tie the knot in the bandage.
“Because I don’t know anything about you.”
Lee Yu-na, who had said it up to that point, was calmly reminiscing about the things that she had only kept inside her.
Yoo Ji-hyuk is clearly hiding something.
Han Soo-young, Jin Ye-seul, and Choi Hyun-woo seemed to know something.
He never asked for anything.
And Lee Ye-eun, who advised that it would be better to keep the line moderately and get out of it, as if laughing at herself.
As if to prove their thoughts, everyone has shown them, as if they were dealing with outsiders.
The things that had been piled up one by one began to overflow with the words he had just uttered.
“Because I don’t know anything… .”
Eventually, she stopped holding her hand.
“Because I don’t know anything… .”
She mumbled quietly as if lamenting.
“So, that’s what I wanted to know.”
At those words, Yoo Ji-hyuk for a moment swallowed his breath without realizing it.
It wasn’t because her voice was drenched in tears, or because she was already smiling in disappointment as if she was already used to it.
Because, as she said, he had never told her anything.
Still, looking back, he always wanted her to understand and acted as if he would understand.
… why?
“I was waiting for you to tell me as you did to others. I can’t just judge you on my own… Like the first time, I was afraid that I would make a mistake again. And I knew that if it happened again, there would be no going back.”
Lee Yu-na said in a calm voice in a quiet voice.
“You don’t know? You talk a lot while sleeping. But when I listened to the story, it was all just a nightmare.”
And most of the stories were about my brother.
You don’t know how much I thought about it when I saw him shrugging off that he’s sorry that you’ve become like this because of him.
He was no different from me.
I sat down next to him groaning and thought quietly, patting his shoulder.
Looking at his strangely shrunken shoulders, I felt a sense of sympathy and sympathy for him.
Unlike himself, who had met a guardian whom he could rely on, the only difference from him was that he had no one to trust and lived only with his younger brother.
And she could fully guess that she broke up with her brother for some reason.
“You don’t know? I didn’t know what to do because I wanted to be of some help to you.”
Even when we first met, at least the first impression I had from him was the worst.
At first, I thought it was just a gaggle with his legs crossed.
They vomit their feelings to each other, spit out harsh words, and then suddenly apologize… .
Then, I don’t know how many incidents I got caught up in and how I got through.
The fight against the giant of fire, the thorn cross, and the giant old tree that appeared in the territory of the World Tree.
Exploring several dungeons together.
Cooperating with each other in class, he reached out his hand without saying anything to himself, who was in trouble.
And in the subjugation battle of the Seven Evils, when he came to realize his powerlessness thoroughly, he spent time not knowing how he passed without being killed or injured… .
It was enough to develop friendships with him as a colleague and friend amidst such times and events.
And above all… .
“You don’t know? I… I knew everything, but I was just laughing like an idiot because I was scared.”
He was willing to spend a lot of money to cure his own disease.
Behind the scenes of an orphanage, which was difficult in many ways.
Knowingly and unknowingly, since that day, I have taken care of and helped myself.
I knew everything, everything.
But I couldn’t help but thank him.
Likewise, he knew that he was hiding something from him, and that most of the children except him knew it.
So I didn’t say it.
Because I didn’t want to do anything that could change the relationship right now.
But in the end, if I had known that this would be the case, I would have talked about it earlier, and Lee Yuna smiled quietly.
“You don’t know, I’ve been waiting so long for you to tell me.”
I thought he was a strange guy, and I thought he was an annoying guy.
And I don’t know if he’s really doing it on purpose, but I thought he was a guy who couldn’t just let it go because he was so worried that he wanted to die for everything he did.
But for some reason, I didn’t feel bad when I was with him, and I also thought that the rice I ate with him was exceptionally delicious.
Come to think of it, I was always able to laugh happily when I was with him and his friends.
A close friend, a colleague who overcame hardships together.
… And just that.
Like Han Soo-young, like Choi Hyun-woo, like Jin Ye-seul, like Ivan Hunt, and like Lee Ye-eun.
I couldn’t be like them.
What is the difference between them and yourself?
If that’s the case, then why… .
The torn wounds in his words pass through his heart and bloom like a flower.
“Because you always had a hard time, you only have nightmares every day, you come back from getting hurt every day, and when you first saw me, you felt like a bad guy, but I wonder if you wanted to die. Staring at me as if why are you acknowledging me… .”
Lee Yu-na muttered gibberish.
“It’s because of my brother, my brother. Is it because of your family? Yes, we all struggled for our family. Sooyoung and Hyeonu are orphans, Yeseul has a disappointment, and Yeeun senior is also complicated. At least Ivan is not a normal family. So are you, and so do I. But why me… ?”
“… … .”
“There must have been some other reason. That’s probably why you didn’t tell me. But, nevertheless, we are friends, right? And you’re a colleague… ? Besides, I and I are your caregivers, your aides, and your servants. you did it You did it with your mouth.”
Yuuna said with a whimpering sound.
“You know what? Everyone, starting with you… I acted like an outsider. It was fine though. Because I was used to being treated like that. but… It’s just that I’m sick of you every day. You always had nightmares and cried while sleeping, so I wanted to know why.”
She herself doesn’t know when.
Maybe it started from a small occasion, maybe it was because of something big like a movie or a novel, but at least it wasn’t the beginning that was important to her now.
It just mattered now.
“So, what are you worried about? I wanted to listen to your story like other children from the same point of view as you and think about it together.”
You don’t know, if I hadn’t said this, I wouldn’t have known for the rest of my life.
I know.
Lee Yu-na muttered like that and smiled a little.
Then he slowly lifted his head and looked at him.
“I’m sorry, I suddenly said something strange… But it’s really weird. I was just trying to sum it up really well and give you a clear, gist of it.”
Yoo Ji-hyuk was looking at him, not knowing what to do, with a mixed expression of regret and bewilderment.
You idiot, you bastard, if that’s the case, you’d better do it right the first time, don’t say anything like that.
With that in mind, Yuuna snorted and swallowed her nose once more.
But he couldn’t stop the flow from the corners of his eyes.
“Why not… ?”
“… … .”
Jihyuk couldn’t say anything.
I couldn’t do it.
So he just quietly reached out and wiped her tears away.
However, as Lee Yu-na quietly turned her head to avoid his touch, he let out a small sigh and moved her hand to the point where it felt a little forceful and grabbed her by the shoulder.
Then he bent over and made eye contact with her.
“Can I talk to you now?”
Lee Yu-na looked at him with swollen eyes and nodded slightly.
“… yes.”
“First of all, I’m really sorry for making you say this.”
He said with a look of genuine regret.
“And not talking to you didn’t mean you had a problem. It was with me.”
Having said that, he quietly nodded.
“I think I was fooling around with you without knowing it. … So that’s what made you pile up like that. it’s all my fault I’m really sorry.”
He then made an expression that was indescribable, embarrassed and not sure what to do.
“Yeah, to be honest… It’s because I’m so cowardly that I can’t help it.”
“Ah, yes… .”
Lee Yu-na seemed to have no idea that he would take it so seriously.
“I should have told you earlier. Yuna, I should have done that to you.”
He muttered like that and said to Yuuna.
“… It’s already late, but can you give me one more chance?”
As she quietly lowered her eyes and muttered as if she was really sorry, Yuuna was silently nodding her head without realizing it.
* * *
“… You were trying to do something funny.”
Lydia looked at the papers in her hand and muttered quietly.
In the document, Choi Jun-hyung’s plans were written in detail in the form of a report.
She shook her head slightly, slowly examining the message from Esmeralda Listenerger, her henchman.
“I thought he was just a dreamer.”
Do you not want to live an immortal life?
Lydia thought he was just pitiful at his words, eyes glistening with lust, believing that he could achieve it.
immortal immortality.
There is no way such a good-looking thing could exist.
Even if it existed, there was no way an ordinary person could handle such a huge thing.
So, frankly, I thought that if I left it alone, it would collapse on its own.
Lydia quietly admitted that it was a mistake.
“… … .”
[Nile-sung, the chairman of the Na-sung group and the biological father of Il-jun Na.
He said that it was Yoo Ji-hyeok’s responsibility for the death of Na Il-jun during the World Tree Festival and demanded punishment, but was dismissed by Lee Ye-eun.
After that, management rights were taken away by the World Tree clan.]
[Lee Yun-seong, a person who gathered and led the collaterals of the world tree clan.
Lee Ye-eun and Lee Ye-eun raised their power to the point of openly feuding, but at the time of the Thorn Cross Society incident, they lost support and rapidly lost their power and were overthrown.
The fact that he was carrying out various tactics to become the next chief was found out and almost purged, but he was forced to retire due to the disapproval of his clan.
He is implicitly showing revenge towards Lee Ye-eun and Yoo Ji-hyuk.]
“What is this again, a boy who liked Han Soo-young who was next to Yoo Ji-hyuk? However, he was openly ridiculed, slandered, and sanctioned at school… .”
In the information collected by Choi Jun-hyung, there were people who had a big grudge against Yoo Ji-hyuk, as well as an academy student who was entangled in simple political issues.
It wasn’t just that.
Seeing that the people around Yoo Ji-hyeok and their personal information and history were investigated, Lydia sighed a little.
‘This is not something that Choi Jun-hyung can do alone.’
Milited’s children.
I hope they are like this… .
Lydia thought so, and twitched her eyes when she saw a picture of a woman with red cross marks.
It was a picture of a woman with silver-gray hair and a look that can only be described with words.
It is the only one in the list of personal names that is nothing more than a killer list with a cross mark.
And Lydia, who knew what that meant, stood up quietly.
“There… .”
In her hand were other documents besides the woman’s papers marked with a cross mark.
As the situation was more urgent than expected, her heart suddenly became urgent.