LGHTNOVELBOOK Chapter 261
Chapter 261
A light drizzle began to fall in the night.
Lee Young-min, who had nonchalantly knocked on the window with an eerie visual that would make anyone shiver, was left dumbfounded by the unexpected encounter. He then, belatedly coming to his senses, entered the car at Gwak Sang-hyun’s gesture.
“Young-min, why are you here?”
The person who had said he was quitting and going back to his hometown, why on earth was he here?
Judging by his reaction, it seemed that despite the timing and location being oddly perfect, Gwak Sang-hyun was suspicious of Lee Young-min, suspecting him to be the culprit behind the current situation, despite past instances where Young-min had risked his life for him.
Although it had been drizzling for a while, Young-min, with no signs of getting wet on his shoulders or feet, answered calmly without any embarrassment.
“I had to come to Seoul for hospital matters, and Raon kindly offered to let me stay at his old officetel for a few days. I saw a familiar car number from a distance and thought Raon might be here.”
Although it was the first time I heard this, I wasn’t clueless enough to deny it in this situation.
As I stayed silent, Young-min smiled softly.
“I’m glad to see both of you like this.”
Gwak Sang-hyun turned to look at me this time.
“Is that so?”
“Yes. Young-min contacted me separately a while ago, but I guess it was today. It was a request from quite some time ago, so I had completely forgotten about it.”
Even though I passed it off naturally, it seemed Gwak Sang-hyun still harbored some suspicion towards Young-min.
“Weren’t you guys on bad terms?”
“Not at all. I’m curious who said such hurtful things.”
I did.
“So, did you come to Seoul today?”
“Yes. I was doing some errands and meeting some people during the day, and I was just about to come back now…”
This time, Young-min showed a hint of irritation.
“Why are you acting like this since earlier? It feels like I’m being interrogated, and it’s not pleasant.”
His unusual appearance easily exuded an intimidating aura.
“I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable. Given the situation, I reacted a bit sensitively.”
Gwak Sang-hyun sincerely apologized for his rudeness.
“It’s fine.”
“Thank you for understanding.”
“Is there something going on with the company?”
“Well…”
The matter of my diagnosis was already widely spread on the internet, so Gwak Sang-hyun, deciding there was no need to hide it, briefly explained our situation to Young-min.
“I see. That’s quite unfortunate.”
Even knowing he was Larry, I was momentarily confused, thinking Young-min really didn’t know anything, his acting was that superb.
To the point where the automated system would raise my acting stat in admiration.
“So, what I’m saying is…”
“Yes?”
“Could you perhaps park the car for me?”
“Park the car?”
“I truly apologize for asking someone who has quit, but I just can’t let Raon go alone. I need to go up with him.”
Young-min glanced at my expression and, in a soft tone, spoke rather impolitely.
“Well… if something were to happen, wouldn’t I be more helpful than Sang-hyun?”
Look at this jerk talking like this just because he quit.
Before Gwak Sang-hyun could say anything, Young-min continued.
“If you really need a hand, I’ll go up with Raon. I need to stay there tonight as we discussed.”
“That’s very kind of you, but was Young-min always like this?”
“I always have been.”
[No wonder you disliked him. Gwak Sang-hyun admires your ability to judge people. Gwak Sang-hyun Favorability +1 Current Favorability +45]
Fortunately, Gwak Sang-hyun seemed to focus more on the offer of help rather than the uneasy feeling Young-min’s words gave.
Or he might have considered it a tie between initially suspecting Young-min and his recent statement.
“Are your legs okay?”
“Yes. I’ve recovered well enough that the hospital said I don’t need to come anymore.”
“That’s good. Please take care of him.”
“Don’t worry.”
“Thank you. Then I’ll be nearby. Contact me immediately if anything happens.”
“Yes. Thank you for the ride, hyung.”
After getting out of the car and opening an umbrella, I confirmed that there was no sign of anyone around and asked,
“How did you get here?”
“Likewise, sir, you didn’t come here just to catch the diagnosis leaker at this hour, did you?”
“I saw someone whose name wasn’t displayed above their head.”
“That’s suspicious.”
“Could it be Zero?”
“Maybe.”
“…….”
After a brief silence.
“So, can we catch them this time?”
In response to my quietly uttered words, Larry only gave a vague answer.
“There shouldn’t be anything dangerous.”
The hallway we walked through together carried a chilling atmosphere that would usually make one constantly check behind them.
We focused on walking quickly, silently staring straight ahead.
When we finally reached the door we had to open, after pushing through the suffocating air, Larry spoke.
“If I may advise, it would be better for you to just stay back.”
His tone was closer to advice than a warning, as he said.
“You said there wouldn’t be any danger. Just open it.”
Ignoring Larry’s ill-timed joke about holding my nose, I skillfully unlocked the door.
Every second wasted on unnecessary arguments felt precious.
By then, he didn’t particularly try to stop me.
As I opened the door.
“!”
I barely managed to suppress a scream by clenching my teeth.
From inside, devoid of any light, wafted an overwhelmingly foul stench, characteristic of decay, making me grimace.
A large, hard-shelled fly brushed against my arm covering my nose and flew by, sending shivers down my spine.
Ignoring Larry’s suggestion that I should leave now, I fought against the instinctive nausea, which was stronger than when I first came here.
Somehow, I entered, removed my shoes, and fumbled along the wall to successfully turn on the light.
As soon as my squinting eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness, I was met with a horrific scene that made me want to turn and run away.
“Ugh…”
The first thing I saw was an empty eye socket.
Realizing that not only the eyes but the person themselves were dead, and then seeing hideous bugs swarming around, and noticing the corpse was wearing the same clothes as the person whose name didn’t appear above their head.
I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the tragic sight.
It felt too realistic to be a joke or a hallucination.
At that moment, a large hand emerged from behind and blocked my view.
“See? I told you it would be better for you to stay back.”
Overwhelmed by a surge of nausea, I couldn’t muster a response.
Is that a corpse?
Really?
Without saying it, Larry confirmed.
“Yes. It’s a corpse.”
His voice, even more monotonous and businesslike due to the situation, continued.
“I saw someone whose name wasn’t displayed above their head.”
“That’s suspicious.”
“Could it be Zero?”
“Maybe.”
“…….”
After a brief silence.
“So, can we catch them this time?”
In response to my quietly uttered words, Larry only gave a vague answer.
“There shouldn’t be anything dangerous.”
The hallway we walked through together carried a chilling atmosphere that would usually make one constantly check behind them.
We focused on walking quickly, silently staring straight ahead.
When we finally reached the door we had to open, after pushing through the suffocating air, Larry spoke.
“If I may advise, it would be better for you to just stay back.”
His tone was closer to advice than a warning, as he said.
“You said there wouldn’t be any danger. Just open it.”
Ignoring Larry’s ill-timed joke about holding my nose, I skillfully unlocked the door.
Every second wasted on unnecessary arguments felt precious.
By then, he didn’t particularly try to stop me.
As I opened the door.
“!”
I barely managed to suppress a scream by clenching my teeth.
From inside, devoid of any light, wafted an overwhelmingly foul stench, characteristic of decay, making me grimace.
A large, hard-shelled fly brushed against my arm covering my nose and flew by, sending shivers down my spine.
Ignoring Larry’s suggestion that I should leave now, I fought against the instinctive nausea, which was stronger than when I first came here.
Somehow, I entered, removed my shoes, and fumbled along the wall to successfully turn on the light.
As soon as my squinting eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness, I was met with a horrific scene that made me want to turn and run away.
“Ugh…”
The first thing I saw was an empty eye socket.
Realizing that not only the eyes but the person themselves were dead, and then seeing hideous bugs swarming around, and noticing the corpse was wearing the same clothes as the person whose name didn’t appear above their head.
I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the tragic sight.
It felt too realistic to be a joke or a hallucination.
At that moment, a large hand emerged from behind and blocked my view.
“See? I told you it would be better for you to stay back.”
Overwhelmed by a surge of nausea, I couldn’t muster a response.
Is that a corpse?
Really?
Without saying it, Larry confirmed.
“Yes. It’s a corpse.”
His voice, even more monotonous and businesslike due to the situation, continued.