Chapter 127

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What in the world is going on?

Lee Ye-Eun was momentarily confused, but did not miss Svengali's muttering.

And because she had become assimilated with Yoo Ji-Hyuk to some extent, he shared emotions and memories that she should not have known in the first place.

The man who just ran away after pushing Yoo Ji-Hyuk's mother was definitely Yoo Ji-Hyuk's biological father.

Yoo Ji-Hyuk's memory was definitely telling her that.

Then, what and how in the world... .

“Ji-Hyuk isn’t my brother… ?”

Lee Ye-Eun muttered that in a dazed voice.

Suddenly the truth dawned on her, and she stared blankly at young Yoo Ji-Hyuk crying.

Svengali, who looked at her from the side, thought quietly.

‘It is different from what I expected, but I think it is going pretty well.’

He already knew that Lee Ye-Eun had mistaken Yoo Ji-Hyuk for her brother.

She believed so firmly that even Svengali, who had read her mind, was puzzled for a moment.

Normally, an upright character like hers, once they believed they were right, would just keep on pushing through, but hers was a little more severe.

‘However, the more you are that kind of character, the greater the reward will be.’

It was a welcoming development from his standpoint, who wanted to divide the relationship between Yoo Ji-Hyuk and Lee Ye-Eun.

So he deliberately didn't mention that she was mistaken.

Because he had to give her that much psychological shock in order to get her to do what he wanted at the decisive moment.

And the fact that Yoo Ji-Hyuk wasn't her brother was enough of a shock.

But he didn't expect her to catch on so quickly.

‘Well, it is really sad that I can not use my ability right now.’

If it were now, I would have been able to coax her enough to do what I wanted.

Svengali decided to be content with just planting the seeds of great confusion and division towards Yoo Ji-Hyuk in Lee Ye-Eun's mind.

“…… .”

Lee Ye-Eun was just silent.

Svengali couldn't read her mind perfectly right now, but he seemed to know exactly what she was thinking right now.

“So, what are we going to do now?”

Svengali asked her, pretending not to know anything.

It was a question that explicitly hinted at whether you would continue to take risks even though you found out that Yoo Ji-Hyuk was not your brother.

“… Nothing changes.”

Lee Ye-Eun, who had been silent for a while, muttered quietly.

“Ji-Hyuk… Whether he's my brother or not... the fact that I have to wake him up doesn't change at all. The situation outside right now would be tense. The fact that I have to get out as soon as possible has not changed either."

“Then I will do what you want me to do."

Svengali nodded.

Seeing Mandragora, who was hanging from Lee Ye-Eun's shoulder, patted her shoulder several times while looking at her anxiously, he flapped his wings as if to lead the way.

‘… I knew that guy wasn't an ordinary guy as soon as I saw him, but.'

His body smelled of Ariman.

It was a very faint and weak trace, so weak that the guy didn't think of trying to hide it.

Perhaps there are only a few, including himself, who can sense it among the same Seven Evils.

There's no way someone who smells of Ariman could be the brother of a woman like that.

‘It is a shame.’

Svengali shook his head small and kept moving forward.

Because at least Lee Ye-Eun was in line with his desire to get out of here as soon as possible.

* * *

They continued to trace back Yoo Ji-Hyuk's memory.

Lee Ye-Eun looked at him in his memory without a saying a word, and next to her, Svengali whispered something sad but meaningful to her.

“Well, they ended up getting a divorce. But what is the reason for not aborting the child? I think I know... Do you not think it is more contradictory and cruel than that? Conceiving a child, and leaving a child to somewhere else."

“…… .”

Lee Ye-Eun looked at the scene without saying a word.

The young boy was crying and clinging to his mother, pleading.

I promise you, Mom.

I'll be really quiet.

I won't bother you, I won't toss and turn at night, and I'll clean up well.

I promise you, Mom. I'll be a good son.

Mom, please tell the teachers, they don't listen to anything I say... .

They listen to everything mom says, but no one listens to me.

Mom? mom, mom!

No, no, don't go, Mom! Don't leave me here!

All the teachers hate me, they all hate me!

Mom, don't leave me, Mom!

I'm scared, Mom, please... .

“…… .”

“Is he just in elementary school? For someone who grew up to be more of a frown on the face from a young age... he could not read the air. No, perhaps he did that on purpose?"

Svengali clacked his beak.

“Sometimes, there are people who know everything but pretend not to know or just run away because they are afraid that things will get worse. Perhaps he is one of those people. He is honestly not an idiot. Did he not know that you continued to do him favors? Perhaps he knew everything, but he just kept taking your favors... .”

Something hit Svengali's head as he was speaking.

He looked up and saw Mandragora throwing something at him in anger as if telling him to shut his mouth.

“…! ……!!!”

“What, did your personality get dyed with the lowly man you have been with? You are so undignified that I can not even think of you as an alter ego of mine.”

Svengali grumbled and moved forward.

“…… .”

Lee Ye-Eun looked down at the crying boy who was eventually left alone.

After staring at him for a moment, she smiled once softly at Mandragora, who was pulling her as if saying, let's go, and turned away.

Suddenly, she heard the sound of something breaking.

Lee Ye-Eun saw a glass pass by her and shatter.

She saw Yoo Ji-Hyuk's back, more grown up than before.

He was watching his drunk mother leaning against the wall and crying.

Mom, don't cry.

The boy sobbed like that, and she muttered.

I should have aborted you then.

I didn't know what that meant then, but now I know.

Ever since I've had you, everything in my life has disappeared.

I, I wasn't like this when I was younger, everyone looked up to me.

But look at me now, huh?

My body smells strange, my skin is dry and my face is crumbly.

My hair is as bad as a broomstick, and my body is completely out of whack.

Lo, look at these sagging forearms, huh?

Look at me, what the hell is this?

What did I do so wrong?

You ruined my life.

You, you... .

If only you weren't born, if only I was a little smarter back then... .

Then she heard the cry of a newborn baby.

The boy listened to it blankly and muttered.

Mom, Ji-na is crying.

The boy sniffled.

Ji-Na is crying, Mom... .

“…… .”

Lee Ye-Eun stared blankly at the figure.

The boy was sobbing as shards of glass splattered and blood ran down his leg.

It was a skinny and dirty leg.

“A child's sensitivity is more sensitive than one thinks. I have studied human beings for many years, so I know that parents are like gods to children.”

And that God's that much denial of him would be unbearable to him.

He must have hated his parents, and the years of his childhood must have been traumatic for him.

Svengali flapped his wings.

“Perhaps you will be sad when you see that. You are kind and soft, and you can see that Yoo Ji-Hyuk, the man you had mistaken for your brother has suffered. But look, that man's past is not your fault. You are not at fault. If you have done no wrong, why do you feel responsible?"

He clacked his beak.

“If anything you should be angry with him. He knew everything and yet he secretly kept seeking your favors. He played with your heart."

“…… .”

Lee Ye-Eun didn't answer.

The next thing she saw was an ordinary street.

Yoo Ji-Hyuk, a little more grown up than before, gazed blankly somewhere.

There, a seemingly harmonious family was walking down the street.

The woman who looked like a wife and the little girl who looked like a daughter were all smiling.

And the man who used to be Yoo Ji-Hyuk's father was also smiling and hugging the little girl.

Yoo Ji-Hyuk, who was watching the scene, wiped the old game console in his hand with his sleeve.

Thinking he should go home and feed his sister.

“… That game console.”

She heard a man's voice.

His voice was similar to Yoo Ji-Hyuk's but more mature.

“My father bought it for me the day I last saw him. And it was one of the things I was crazy about in my life. At least I couldn't think of anything while I was using that."

Lee Ye-Eun looked back, startled by the voice coming from behind her.

Yoo Ji-Hyuk was standing there.

No, was it really Yoo Ji-Hyuk?

He had a slightly different scar on his face, was taller, and had a look in his eyes as if he had been through some hardship.

It looked like he was 10 years older.

“… He had come to tell me that he had remarried. Mother gave birth to Ji-Na as he wanted, but she couldn't get what she wanted. She gradually collapsed and got weaker. She had long since lost contact with the person who was my biological father. She couldn't rely on anyone.”

“Are you… Ji-Hyuk?”

At Lee Ye-Eun's question, he, who looked like an adult, nodded.

She looked around, but couldn't see Svengali.

She didn't even see Mandragora.

She and him.

There were only two of them.

“I told you, I'd never be senior's brother. I remember my parents.”

He spoke in a dry voice and began to walk somewhere if he was asking her to follow him.

Lee Ye-Eun hesitated for a moment, then followed him.

"So… what did you think of what you've seen so far?”

“…… .”

“There's not much of a backstory either. I left junior college to make money, and while I was doing that, the warrant came out and I went to the army, and after I was discharged and graduated from the army, I went somewhere to learn work...."

Yoo Ji-Hyuk stood in front of the old house and opened the door, muttering like that.

A child was feeding a small child.

He stared at the little girl, who was eating without complaining about any side dishes, and muttered.

“You think I hate my parents? Maybe Svengali, he must have said that too, and said you have to attack that point."

Lee Ye-Eun nodded.

Yoo Ji-Hyuk shook his head slightly as if saying, you're wrong.

“It was like that when I was young. But not now. Now it's just… .”

Yoo Ji-Hyuk muttered as if he were tired.

"It's just… I, Ji-na, so my sister... .”

He sat down slowly, leaning against the wall.

Lee Ye-Eun was approaching him without realizing it.

“… If my blood, my veins were clean, everything would have been different."

He muttered quietly.

The hand that was going to pat his shoulder stopped in mid-air.

“If I hadn’t said anything that day, if I had just stood still, maybe nothing would have happened. Then my family would have lived together forever... Maybe Ji-na, that child, too.”

“…… .”

“I didn’t care, because I was like that from the beginning. But Ji-na, that child, because of me... was deprived of everything she should have enjoyed and been born with... How harsh it is, only those who have experienced it will know... .”

Suddenly, he wanted to tell Lee Ye-Eun, who listened to his stories by his side, about his younger sister.

The child had grown up without the care of parents.

She was a pretty child, smiling a lot, strong, but surprisingly timid, unlike me.

Unlike me, who is stupid and not very smart, she was a really smart child, so I still feel bitterness in my heart that I could not take care of her properly.

She was more mature and adult-like than her age, but still and always a child in my eyes.

She was neither my father's daughter nor my mother's daughter.

She was just my sister.

So I thought from the first time I met her that I would live for her.

It was a thought I have never forgotten, not even for a single day.

“… You can go out there. My main body is probably struggling there.”

He pointed to one side and nodded to Lee Ye-Eun.

An old door.

And next to it is a locked door.

When Lee Ye-Eun looked there, he said.

“Not there.”

He still kept his head down.

“Come on, hurry. I don't want to show you anymore... .”

Lee Ye-Eun could vaguely sense why he was doing that.

And also the fact that he was feeling guilty.

He was feeling guilty in that he had enjoyed his time so far.

People who gave him trust and affection, whom he met for the first time.

In their midst, he was just confused.

Lee Ye-Eun looked at him hesitantly.

Noticing this, he muttered quietly.

“… If you feel pity for me, there's no need to feel pity at all. As he said, it's true that I knew your favor and pretended not to know."

Then he touched the back of his neck with his fingers.

“If you attack other places clumsily, Henir’s shadow will block them. But the slowest part to cover is the neck. If you attack quickly, the speed at which it defends will not be able to keep up. Of course, if I'm conscious, I will block it, but... If it is an arrow shot by senior while I'm in an unconscious state, I think it's possible.”

He said that and gestured to Lee Ye-Eun as if telling her to look at her hand.

Before she knew it, Lee Ye-Eun had a bow and arrow in her hands.

"Good luck."

* * *

“… ey, hey!”

Lee Ye-Eun was awakened by Svengali's shouts and mandragora, who was pocking her ankle.

“What in the world made you so absent-minded… Ohh."

He nodded as if he understood when he saw the bow and arrow in Lee Ye-Eun's hand.

You showed up to help her as I expected.

Thinking so, Svengali stuck out his beak as if pointing to where the sound of water was coming from.

“Hey, he is in that puddle. Do not get too close. You will be in big trouble if you fall into the wrong place."

In the middle of the puddle, Yoo Ji-Hyuk was kneeling with his head in his hands.

“…… .”

Lee Ye-Eun, who was watching the scene, carefully placed the arrow on the string and pulled it.

The tip of the arrow was aimed precisely at Yoo Ji-Hyuk's neck.

“Yes, shoot fast! Then we can get out of here!”

“… !?”

Unlike the encouraging Svengali, Mandragora freaked out and clung to Lee Ye-Eun's ankle.

But with a completely unshakable look on her face, she only muttered in a low voice.

“If I shoot now, Ji-Hyuk… What will happen to him?”

“He will not die. He will also not turn into an idiot. I swear.”

Svengali answered immediately.

It wasn't a lie, but he didn't bother to tell her that if that happened, he would probably not be able to bear it and would end up taking his own life.

"Yes."

Lee Ye-Eun nodded.

Numerous thoughts kept running through her mind.

The confusion at witnessing the sudden truth, the misunderstanding about her father, the shame about herself who had mistaken, the emptiness of wondering what he had done, and Yoo Ji-Hyuk, who was not her brother… .

Yoo Ji-Hyuk.

Yoo Ji-Hyuk, Yoo Ji-Hyuk.

At first, she even harbored a slight sense of betrayal towards Yoo Ji-Hyuk.

But now… .

She just laughed.

It was a laugh to blame herself for being so foolish.

What on earth was I mistaken about?

In a way, I was lucky to be able to come here.

Thanks to it, I was able to organize my thoughts calmly.

Let's blame it on my own long and drawn-out foolishness.

“Just because the relationship has changed doesn't mean my mind has changed."

"What?"

Before Svengali could say anything, Lee Ye-Eun broke the bow without hesitation.

Then she lifted Mandragora, who was bouncing from her feet, and placed him on her shoulder.

“Come on, let’s go together.”

“…! ……!!!”

Without hesitation, she plunged her feet into the puddle.

A hundred steps forward.

He was in front of her.

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