Chapter 159 – One, Two – Part 2

Chapter 159 – One, Two – Part 2

Lee Jeongmi shouted and glared at her husband.

It was fine to call him a clown or an entertainer.

Despite her family’s opposition, she pushed through and managed to marry him, and she was happy.

But that was then, and this is now.

Passion aside, he was a person without any ambition.

He had been constantly demonstrating the epitome of incompetence until this very day.

The small happiness her husband talked about?

Just sitting there talking so nonchalantly made her seethe with anger just by looking at him.

If everything was taken by his brothers, he would surely end up living a life of subservience.

She couldn’t let her son Jeongwon live like that.

“I’m just worried.”

At her husband’s words, Lee Jeongmi sighed, her eyes darting around.

She was thinking about how to get through the past and present situation.

However, the brilliant move that her father occasionally mentioned during his Go games, a move that would appear from an unexpected place, didn’t come to her.

No, Lee Jeongmi immediately called Director Kim Daehan, the CEO of Shinhwa Electric.

“It’s me.”

– Yes… I assume you’re calling because of that madman Kim Cheolung.

Don’t worry. Absolutely nothing like that will happen…

Lee Jeongmi’s voice echoed sharply in the living room.

“Worry? Do I look like I’m not worried right now!?

How on earth are you running the company?!

Lee Jeongmi closed her eyes and exhaled a long breath, as if trying to cool her heated head.

“Listen to me carefully. If this is true, do you think our Chairman will just sit idly by?”

– …

“He’s the kind of person who can turn your shares into scraps of paper.

He even disowned his own brothers, so do you really think Chairman Lee will help you?”

– …

“Get over here right now. Right now!”

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Rain pattered in Woojin’s ears as he watched the broadcast related to Prosecutor Kim Cheolung’s briefing.

He then checked the nearby CCTV on his cellphone.

The person in the poncho appeared again.

They were circling the area just like before.

Wearing a hat and with their hood pulled up, their face was dark like a cave and invisible.

Woojin opened the window and looked out.

Not only that, he propped his chin and formed a smile.

It was a typical happy-looking smile, with the corners of his eyes drooping and the corners of his mouth and cheek muscles rising.

It was a forced smile.

After maintaining that smile for a few minutes, Woojin closed the window.

And when he checked the CCTV again, the poncho-clad figure was gone.

Woojin slowly nodded his head.

“You’ve confirmed me. That’s just like you. Is it today?”

It was time to lay the bait.

Woojin changed into loose-fitting clothes.

Perhaps because they had been in the closet for a long time, a damp smell still emanated from them.

He also changed into simple pants, put on slippers, and went outside.

And of course, he turned off the lights.

Splash!

Woojin opened his umbrella and walked with heavy steps, muttering as if speaking to the one watching him from somewhere.

“Exactly one hour. I’ll be back in an hour. It’s your time to decide.”

Soon, Woojin’s face was hidden by the black umbrella.

The place Woojin arrived at was his favorite snack bar.

There were many customers, and delivery orders seemed as numerous as before.

“Woojin, you’re here?”

It was the Auntie, who always greeted him brightly despite being busy.

Woojin ate a fish cake, filled a paper cup with broth, and turned around.

Woojin, wandering around while drinking the steaming broth, stopped in front of a street trash can.

Unconscious, who had so desperately wanted to meet him.

It was necessary to fill Unconscious’s deficit.

“It’s been a while, hasn’t it? Now it’s your time. Come out.”

Suddenly, the paper cup he was holding crumpled.

The paper cup didn’t go into the trash can but fell to the floor with a thud.

“Oh, for goodness sake…”

Unconscious picked up the paper cup again and put it in the trash can.

“As if you weren’t a good citizen.”

Unconscious said this to Woojin.

As he fully straightened up, the umbrella also slid upwards.

The fangs of Unconscious that were then revealed looked particularly white.

“Shall we get moving?”

Unconscious moved with unhesitating steps.

He bought various things at the first supermarket he stopped at.

He also put camping supplies and other things in the cart.

He was really putting this and that in the cart.

Unconscious didn’t stop there and also looked for a pharmacy.

After stopping at several places, Unconscious had arrived in front of the villa.

Unconscious, holding several fat black plastic bags in one hand, went up the stairs.

When he arrived at the house door, he found a small puddle of water.

It was proof that someone had been loitering.

At that moment.

Crash!

Thunder and lightning flashed as if to tear the sky apart.

The sound seemed to throw a warning message not to enter, but one corner of Unconscious’s mouth was curling up into a long smile.

“Good sound.”

Unconscious inserted the key as he was.

Click.

With the sound of the door opening, Unconscious went inside.

Of course, it was dark inside.

And the rushing silhouette also looked like ink.

“Nice to meet you, you bastard!”

Just as the knife flashed, Woojin’s umbrella, which he was holding, opened wide.

Thud!

Just as the tip of the knife, which had pierced through the umbrella, came right up to Unconscious’s eyes, quickly!

Unconscious pressed the tip of the umbrella against his neck and pushed him away.

But it was torn apart by the knife.

The sight of the umbrella turning into rags was horrifying, but Unconscious’s face seemed to be enjoying the situation.

At that moment.

Thud.

The silhouette tripped over Unconscious’s foot and fell.

As the silhouette fumbled for the knife he’d dropped, Unconscious casually walked past him into the living room.

Click.

The lights came on brightly.

Unconscious placed the black plastic bag he was carrying on the dining table and said,

“Have you eaten yet?”

He showed his back to the opponent who was picking up the knife, and his voice was calm.

No, it was as if the situation was enjoyable, and that feeling permeated his words.

The silhouette, or rather, he pulled down his hood and threw off his hat as if to clear his vision.

He appeared to be in his late 60s.

His cheeks were slightly hollow, but his skin was vibrant, and his brown, monolid eyes were alive, not dead.

His jaw was slightly elongated.

It was him.

His short, receding hairline was a mix of black and white hair, and Unconscious regarded his condition as good.

It was evidence that the melanin cells in his body were more active than typical for his age.

The strength he used when he attacked me was also like that.

He consistently exercised and maintained his muscle mass.

But there was something he overlooked.

That his opponent was me.

He forced a laugh.

“After seeing your master after so long, shouldn’t you at least wag your tail?”

Unconscious bared his white teeth and smiled silently.

“That’s where you’re mistaken and deluded. You thought you picked up a dog, but it was a tiger cub.

What do you think would happen then? A dog curls its tail when its owner hits it, but a tiger cub doesn’t. It glares and waits for an opportunity.”

“Oh yeah? Then let’s skin a tiger today!”

He, wearing a poncho, charged terrifyingly.

But Unconscious dodged to the side and grabbed the wrist joint of his knife-wielding hand.

“Human joints are weak, so if you snatch them like this, no matter how strong you are, your movement will be restricted.

It’s a kind of unconscious defense mechanism, you could say.

Simply put, if you move, you’re screwed. Something like that.”

He, whose hand was trembling as if in a power struggle with Unconscious, spat out his words as if chewing them.

“You…! You killed them, didn’t you? My family!”

Woojin, holding his knife-wielding hand up and his other hand down, said.

Looking straight into his eyes.

“That very thought led you here. Humans always rationalize.

Criminals are the same. It was because of this. It was because of that. It’s because of a mental illness.

To put it simply, the motive for the crime? Is that too much information for you?

Well, none of this matters. The point is, you ended up here. Of your own accord.”

Unconscious, who smiled slightly, moved his foot.

He precisely stomped on his knee.

“Ugh!”

His right foot buckled oddly backwards.

His joint had snapped.

Unconscious, who was watching him try to stand up by force, looked at the knife in his hand.

“2038, no, Mr. Kim Manpal, you brought something ridiculously big.”

Unconscious threw the knife straight into the sink.

Then he sat in a dining table chair and started taking out the things he had bought one by one.

“I don’t know if the baby food I bought will suit your taste. Do you like abalone porridge? There’s pumpkin porridge too.”

The amount of porridge and baby food that Unconscious neatly placed down was considerable.

He also took out a thin, transparent tube.

“Oh, right. You won’t be able to taste it because it’s not directly transmitted to your tongue’s senses.”

Inside the plastic bag, I saw a sharp scalpel-like knife, cotton swabs, and alcohol.

“You crazy bastard…”

Kim Manpal’s eyebrows twitched as if he was having a seizure.

It was because he understood Unconscious’s intention.

It seemed like he intended to pierce his throat and forcibly inject food.

Kim Manpal’s head quickly turned back to the room as if searching for something.

But there didn’t seem to be anything he could use as a weapon.

No. He saw a ceramic flower pot in front of the TV.

If he broke that and used it…

Unconscious, whether he knew Kim Manpal’s thoughts or not, placed everything he had bought on the dining table and suddenly spoke.

“If there is a soul, and if that child is watching this scene, would they be happy, Mr. Kim Manpal?”

Kim Manpal, who had been dragging one foot and slowly crawling backward, opened his mouth in response.

He had to buy time.

“What kind of nonsense are you spouting?”

“When you went up the mountain to dig for medicinal herbs, and when you covered up the ground that an animal had dug up.

Did you think I wouldn’t have seen it?”

It was an arm.

It was the arm of a child, estimated to be about 9 years old, not yet fully decomposed.

Unconscious, who had stood up from the dining table, approached him and said.

“In other words, there was one more person like me.”

“You’re spouting delusions.”

Suddenly, Unconscious grabbed his outstretched foot.

“Aaaah!”

“It’s a good thing I got a room. Let’s not talk here, let’s go to the room and talk. The bed is soft and very nice.”

Unconscious moved Kim Manpal like a doll.

He overpowered him and pressed his body down, tying him to the bed.

He then used a clothesline to secure both of Kim Manpal’s arms to the bed.

His posture on the bed was completely spread out in a large ‘X’ shape.

Unconscious nodded his head in satisfaction and headed to the living room, presumably to get something.

During that time, Kim Manpal tried to move around, but the ropes were so taut and tough that he couldn’t move.

All the wallpaper was white.

There were no objects to be found either.

Could a mental hospital, like those seen in TV or movies, be like this?

Just then, Unconscious re-entered the room, bringing alcohol, a scalpel, alcohol cotton swabs, and some unknown medicines.

“I’ll raise you just like you did to me. All you have to do is lie down comfortably. Oh, don’t worry, I won’t make you work.”

Unconscious began pouring an unknown chemical onto a towel, soaking it.

“You must have had a hard time getting here. Get some good sleep and wake up.”

“What are you doing, mmph!”

As Unconscious covered his mouth with the towel, Kim Manpal’s eyes caught sight of Unconscious’s smiling face.

It was an unsettlingly righteous smile.

Eventually, Kim Manpal’s struggling movements gradually decreased, then completely stopped.

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How much time had passed?

The pupils in Kim Manpal’s closed eyelids began to move.

Then he suddenly opened his eyes wide.

“Gasp! Gasp!”

Kim Manpal, breathing heavily, first checked his neck.

He unconsciously tried to reach his hands up to touch his neck, but he couldn’t because he was tied up, so he immediately lowered his head and eyes to check.

Only the pain of his knees buckling washed over him; his neck was safe.

Just then, someone was heard walking in the living room.

It was obvious who it would be without even thinking.

Unconscious, who had come back in with a chair, said,

“I felt bad eating ramen alone, so I was going to wake you up, but you seemed to be sleeping so soundly that I didn’t.”

“What’s your game!? Just kill me, you bastard! Kill me!”

Unconscious shook his head.

“I told you. I’d do the same to you.”

Unconscious placed the chair right next to him and sat down.

It was meant to show his intention of working while he was conscious, not letting him fall asleep.

Then Unconscious spoke again.

“Mr. Kim Manpal, before we begin, shall we solve a problem? The reason you came here.

Do you really think you came here completely of your own free will, as your own doctor?”