Chapter 239.2

Chapter 239.2

“Chief, I…”

―”Why aren’t you coming right away?! You can’t take a break without my permission. How many times do I have to tell you? Ohn Isu, are you ready to handle this?”

She turned down the phone’s volume and bit her lip tightly.

―”Enough, I’m going to mark you as absent without leave. Just know that.”

The cold dismissal pierced her chest. She didn’t understand why he hated her so much.

Unable to hang up the phone, she only shed tears as the phone was suddenly taken from her hands.

Before she knew it, the man, now sitting up, stared at the screen with a blank expression.

Even though Chief Park’s voice rang loudly, the man had memorized the phone number.

Then, he pressed the power button to turn it off and carelessly threw the phone aside. While Isu gasped with her bruised face, he spoke.

“A child shouldn’t be so helpless.”

“What?”

“…Don’t let them bully you. It makes me angry. My head hurts.”

“…..”

‘Guys like that… are my specialty…’

He mumbled deliriously. It was unclear if he was still half-asleep, but once again, the man lay with his head resting Ohn Isu’s thigh. He then wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her close.

Wait, this is too close, isn’t it…

The warmth of their bodies pressed together was painful. Isu felt a sense of crisis, as if she were burning her own hut while trying to catch fleas.

That’s how each day passed.

***

The snowstorm hadn’t stopped for a week, and by the time the distance between her and Kim Chunbok had decreased slightly, Isu found herself staring at the man who had fallen asleep with the heater still on.

He looked like he was waiting for someone…

The man, sitting alone, always seemed lonely. The scribble at the corner of the frosted window was the same. Isu didn’t know whether it was a drawing or a foreign language, but he always repeated the same scribble.

“Соня….”

She didn’t know what it meant. She simply blew a breath onto the window, erasing the unconscious mark he had left behind.

‘I think I should just confess.’

It was the moment she pulled the blanket over him, who was sprawled out like a dog, with tear-streaked eyes. Without making a sound, the man opened his eyes and stared at Isu.

“….!”

It wasn’t as if she had been caught doing something wrong, but her insides twisted. His gaze slowly crawled from her face to her neck, chest, stomach, and down her legs. His eyes lingered, thick and obvious.

The startled woman took a step back, and the man raised his eyebrows. His strangely heated gaze fixed on Ohn Isu’s lips this time.

The man shot up, his face drained of color as if he had been doused with cold water. He wrapped his arm around Ohn Isu’s neck and whispered before she could even react.

“Did that bastard make you hit me on purpose?”

“…What?”

She felt her heart pounding explosively through their touching skin. It was as if a beast had pounced on her. An abnormal heat quickly flowed over to her.

“Say it before I really lose it.”

Somewhere in her throat was pressed down so tightly that she could hardly breathe.

Kim Chunbok… she hadn’t seen him this way before; he was surprisingly strong. Ohn Isu scratched at his solid forearm, as if to say let go.

“This is strange. Really strange. Why are you so…”

“Kim, Kim Chunbok…”

“You look suspicious. Very suspicious.”

“…Ugh!”

“What did you put in my food?”

“Wh-what?!”

“Did you think I’d be easy just because I only have one testicle?”

“…What?”

“Do I look like the kind of guy who would fall for that easily?”

She shook her head, but her movements were weak.

“Just because you’re pretending to be innocent with those big round eyes…”

Innocent? I’m the one who’s trying to hide the victim to avoid punishment… That was an absurd accusation! As her vision began to turn yellow, Ohn Isu instinctively pressed her lips together.

“Deng, cough, deng..!”

She tried to mimic the bell sound that he had feared with her lips. A brief laugh seemed to brush against her overheated ears.

The arm that had been holding her began to loosen… or so she thought!

The man chuckled in a way that was hard to understand and tightened his grip on her even more.

Now, his other arm wrapped around her waist. Ohn Isu shouted at something striking her mind.

“God the Father!!”

“…!”

“Christmas! Easter! Jesus! Baby angels! Hallelujah!!”

Her knowledge was shallow, and she didn’t know much. All she could recall was the Hallelujah that the ladies who loved playing Hwatu* would shout nonsensically.

*Hwatu (화투) refers to a popular deck of Korean flower cards,

At that moment, the heavy weight seemed to vanish like a lie. Thud. Ohn Isu fell heavily, barely catching the man as they both toppled over. The bed shook, but her heart raced even faster.

‘Oh my… I just exorcised Kim Chunbok…’