Chapter 239.1

Chapter 239.1

“Do you see the long scar on the back of my head?”

As he pointed to the back of his head, a red line stretched from the indented nape of his neck up to the top of his head. It gave off a somewhat chilling feeling.

“There are bastards outside who’ve messed with my head.”

“……”

“There’s a weird-looking guy who claims to be my guardian. Who would believe such nonsense? So don’t be scared of the hit-and-run. If you keep hiding me, I won’t report you. You’re much nicer than those bastards.”

Kim Chunbok, who said that to a piece of trash, was the nicer one… Ohn Isu gloomily set down the drink.

She felt almost guilty for the fear of having an unstable man in her pension.

The man was strangely compliant and didn’t seem to mind the handcuffs. However, she couldn’t be sure if he was trying to let her guard down, so she couldn’t fully trust this peculiar patient.

When he said he wanted to go to the bathroom, she replaced the handcuffs with a rope so he could go directly to the attached bathroom.

Even though he could easily push her away, hit her, and threaten her to escape if he wanted to, Kim Chunbok merely raised his lips as if to say it was all fine. That gaze felt oddly embarrassing and shameful.

[Over the past two days, more than thirty centimeters of snow has fallen in the mountainous areas of Gangwon-do, causing hundreds of vehicles to be stuck on the road for nearly five hours. Reporter Ohn Isu, who is on-site, has the report…]

A heavy snow warning had been in effect for several days.

Ohn Isu turned on the boiler in the morning and, not satisfied with that, rummaged through the storage to find a mini heater.

Although she felt nauseous with tension when dealing with Kim Chunbok, she had to do her duties as the owner of the winter lodge.

“I thought you might be cold…”

The man, who had been quietly staring out the window, suddenly fixed his gaze on the heater. It wasn’t like he had never seen one before, but he blinked as if he were encountering something unfamiliar.

He looked at the heater, then at Ohn Isu. Then back to the heater, and then at Ohn Isu again…

It was then that the man, who had been doing well here, suddenly began squirming in discomfort, shifting his hips.

Kim Chunbok, with a stiff and awkward face, kept twitching his toes. Feeling the atmosphere grow heavier, Isu spoke first.

“If it’s too hot, you can adjust the setting… um! Don’t put your toes there!”

“It’s not hot.”

“No, I said, don’t put your toes there! You’ll hurt yourself!”

“It’s not getting better?”

“You’ll get a burn! Please, give me the heater!”

“No, don’t take mine!”

To protect the heater, the man pulled it into his chest, and Ohn Isu, trying to stop him, was drained of energy.

Should I just confess my crime already? After the brief struggle, Isu stared down at Kim Chunbok, who had fallen into a nap, feeling conflicted.

He only looked fine on the outside, but he had a childlike stubbornness. Sometimes innocent, sometimes sharp, and sometimes, he’d stare at Isu’s backside with an obsessive focus.

Every time an unsettling feeling crawled up her spine, Isu would think, Should I confess now?

He often babbled about being watched, cursed someone out, then would suddenly whine pitifully.

One day, while flipping through channels, he stumbled upon a religious broadcast and muttered under his breath.

Ugh!

Ding, ding, ding― the church bells rang loudly on the screen. Kim Chunbok trembled, threw the remote, and spat out sour stomach acid.

His eyes and nose turned bright red as he clung to Isu. In a panic, she unknowingly wrapped her arms around him and asked,

“Are you okay?!”

The man, his focus lost, dug into Isu’s thighs. He looked like a lost child, unsure of what to do.

‘I’m sorry I hit you, Mr. Kim Chunbok…. It’s the aftereffects of the accident, this… You must have had mild concussion symptoms… I’m not really, really human. I’m sorry… I’m sorry…”

Isu apologized repeatedly. The more she did, the more the man softened, gradually releasing the tension in his body.

“Please don’t move. I’ll clean up the floor, just stay still.”

“It’s annoying… my eyes…”

“What?”

“It’s cold…”

The large man pushed into her arms without warning, and Isu froze. Her pale hands hovered in the air for a moment before she grabbed the blanket from the bed and threw it over his body. She could feel his chest rising and falling rhythmically through her palm.

At that moment, the silence was broken by the vibration of a phone, and Isu quickly answered it. Her gaze swept over the tired face of Kim Chunbok, and at the same time, a voice like icy cold struck her ears.

―”Hey, you bastard! You took a day off when I was on duty, huh? You disrespectful little shit. I can’t approve this. What’s the reason? Family illness? You’re trying to pull a fast one, huh? Didn’t your family all die?”