Chapter 59
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 59
Chapter Title: Let's Go Home
Let's go home.
Si-hoo, that person, is coming closer.
I'm not a magical beast.
I asked for forgiveness, so why is he coming?
I have to run.
I haven't been properly treated yet.
My condition is so strange, I don't want to see Si-hoo right now.
But I only asked the Saintess to come, I never said anything to Si-hoo.
Is that really Si-hoo?
He looks badly hurt.
"Seo-ah?"
Seo-ah?
If you pull off all the petals of a flower, is it still a flower?
Plucking away a petal of self, a petal of personality, a petal of humanity and reason, what's left is something barely human.
"I'm not Seo-ah."
Seo-ah is a cuter, kinder, and purer girl than me.
"Everything will be okay, so, Seo-ah..."
Who's Seo-ah?
I said it's not me.
I'm not that kind of girl.
"No, I'm... a can of tuna!"
That should make it understandable.
Nowhere is it written that I am Yoo Seo-ah.
But 'tuna can' is written right on it.
"Uh...?"
"H-hello, I'm a can of tuna. It's a pretty name, isn't it? Since you gave it to me, I have to protect it now. Right? We were going to buy it for Seo-ah together..."
"What... are you talking about..."
You don't understand?
I suppose that's possible.
But that's not important.
"You just came from the Academy, right? Seo-ah was at home. Was she at home?"
She's probably there if you go home.
"I'm a can of tuna, so I don't really know. But it seems Seo-ah really wanted to play with you."
I talk about what's been happening.
About what happened.
Since it's been a while.
"Since you didn't come, I looked at your house through the window, but you weren't there. Huh? But you know what? The curtain in your room waved at me. It told me to wait. So I waited. All day."
All day long.
For one day, two days, three days, four days, on and on.
But Si-hoo had no intention of coming.
"You never came to Seo-ah in the end did you no well of course why would you come here you have other friends besides Seo-ah but isn't it funny? Seo-ah was definitely waiting for you but I saw you walking and laughing with other kids I definitely saw it you were talking with that girl you were laughing with her but it's okay it's really okay you should do what you want I can just sit here that's the kind of person I am so I understand if you hate me a girl like me could never be your friend nobody likes a girl like me."
What am I babbling about.
"But why are you just standing there? If you stand so still, you know... it feels like you're hiding something. Are you trying to reassure me by saying it's okay and then attack me? Yes. You're strange too. You're hiding something. Right? Right? There's something you should be telling me right now, but you're not. Right? Why aren't you answering?!"
"......"
Han Si-hoo parts his lips as if to say something, but hesitates for a moment.
Their eyes meet.
Han Si-hoo speaks, surprised.
"Seo-ah, your eyes...?"
Eyes?
It seems I accidentally moved the hand that was covering my eyes.
Did he see?
I covered them again.
"My, my eyes? No, it's nothing. I'm just, just a little tired. Yeah, that's it, I'm tired. I'm definitely not a magical beast."
"No one thinks you're a magical beast."
"I-I'm just a can of tuna. Or maybe cabbage or lettuce. What was I—wait... you came with other people, didn't you? They're all hiding, right?"
For some reason, there's a half-destroyed vehicle in the distance.
It looks like it was attacked by a monster.
Seeing the smoke rising from it, the vehicle must have just arrived.
Si-hoo doesn't know how to drive.
"I, I, I'm going home. I'm going alone. So just stay there. Got it? You go play with your friends!"
I step backward.
"And you might not know this, but I have a friend too. I can play with my friend when I get home... A friend doesn't threaten you with a knife... Ahaha..."
There's a reason I have to go home.
Besides, I don't have anywhere else to go but home.
"I came here alone to talk to you. No one else will interfere. They're just dealing with the monsters over there, so don't worry."
He comes closer.
"Don't come."
*Crack.*
An attack.
Black tree roots stretch out to strike Han Si-hoo.
The roots of a tree.
-You're a rotten root under a tree. A root that's fine even if no one sees it.
A strange voice is heard.
"Shut up."
[5%]
I repay the debt by transferring the pain.
Such grateful people.
To think they'd pay my debt for me.
But the only thing I can give in return is pain.
*Slice.*
A flash of light, and the black root is severed.
The attack fails.
This time, I thrust with something sharper and thinner.
But it's blocked again with a single swing of his sword.
-Something like you should never have existed in the first place. Who in the world made you? It must have been a mistake. If the word 'mistake' were alive, it would be you. Things would have been better if you weren't here.
"Please, just shut up..."
I wish everyone would just die.
*CRACKLE!*
Black thorns burst from the ground.
Han Si-hoo steps back to avoid them.
A single attack tears up the entire surface of the ground.
-Why are you standing there? It's disgusting that you're even stepping on the ground. The very ground you tread on hates you so much it's trying to collapse. Just stay there until the earth gives way, and then you can be trampled to death by people. That would be a fitting end for you.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry for hurting the ground.
But I didn't mean to.
*Crack, crack, crack.*
Black branches and thorns.
No matter how much I attacked, I couldn't overcome Han Si-hoo.
Because he's the protagonist.
Even covered in blood, he blocks all of my attacks.
"I told you not to come here. You're not the only one with friends."
My friend will come and help me too.
I'm sure of it.
"Th-they're a close enough friend to give me a present."
A present.
So it was a ribbon.
A black one.
A ribbon?
Where did it go?
I'm not the type to wear things like ribbons.
"A present, a ribbon... my friend's present... it was here... I lost it. Wait a minute. I think I dropped it on the ground."
I search the ground, but there's nothing but pebbles.
-Try to say something that makes sense. But really, your words are just garbage. They have no meaning and no one wants to hear them. Just be silent. Your voice pollutes the world. A pebble would be better. Pebbles are quiet.
What are you saying? So noisy.
The ribbon is right here.
"Ah, here it is. Ahah."
With a trembling hand, I picked the ribbon up from the ground.
There's no way I would lose something a friend gave me.
***
Seo-ah, having stopped her attack, picks something up from the ground.
"Look, it's a ribbon."
It isn't a ribbon. It's a piece of wire.
She picks up a discarded piece of wire and smiles.
"A friend gave it to me. I have a friend too."
It was Han Si-hoo who had given her a ribbon.
But that is a piece of wire.
Seo-ah tries to tie a bit of her hair at the side with the wire.
But the wire was too loose to tie her hair.
It falls to the ground with a soft thud.
"......"
Silence.
That could never be a ribbon.
Wire is just wire.
"...A can of tuna doesn't wear ribbons."
Seo-ah says this and stomps hard on the wire.
Han Si-hoo had finally succeeded in the reunion he so desperately wanted, but he couldn't understand a thing.
A can of tuna? It made no sense.
His head ached.
The situation was bizarre.
"I'm sorry, Seo-ah."
He apologized.
He didn't even know what to say.
But he had no intention of giving up on Seo-ah.
"I told you, I'm a can of tuna. It's delicious."
Seo-ah tilts her head as if she doesn't understand.
"No, you're..."
"Don't come any closer."
Still, he moves closer.
"Because you're not a can of tuna, you're Seo-ah."
"I thought I told you not to come closer..."
One more step closer.
This wasn't a problem that could be solved by just standing there.
There was no other way.
"I will save you. I promise."
Somehow.
In truth, it was a relief just that Seo-ah was alive.
Let's be grateful for the fact that she's alive and find hope in that.
"Ha, ahhh, I know who you are."
Seo-ah says, stumbling backward.
"A researcher, you're a researcher. You're planning to take me back, aren't you?"
"No."
"Shut your mouth. The fact that you even have a mouth is the problem. You shouldn't even breathe. The air gets dirty when things like you are alive. Understand? The act of speaking itself is a sin. The world will be cleaner when you're gone."
She erupts with immense fury.
This was the first time he'd seen Seo-ah so angry.
"It's all your fault. Not mine. You're the monster, not me—"
*Clatter.*
Seo-ah trips on something while backing away and falls.
She tries to get up but fails.
Her clothes seem to be caught on something.
She can't escape.
With a terrified expression, Seo-ah slowly raises her head.
As expected, she can't get away.
"A-a-a-ah, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I was wrong, I was wrong."
"No."
It's not true.
Don't apologize.
"Th-th-th-that is, it was my fault for cursing and attacking you. You're trying to fix me, aren't you? I'm a bad person, so I have to be fixed... I'm so sorry."
"No..."
Listening to this, Han Si-hoo felt like he wanted to die.
What had they done to Seo-ah?
Who the hell did this to her?
No matter how many times he asked, there was no one to answer.
"Please just tell me what you want... Since I was wrong, I'll do anything... Should I cut off my fingers? Should I close my eyes? What should I do? Hhe..."
"......"
"A-a-a-ah, you're angry because I moved, right? I won't do it again... No, I won't move... I can stop breathing too, if breathing is the problem... I'm sorry. I'm sorry."
But now, at least, she no longer reacted with anger to Han Si-hoo's approach.
Han Si-hoo moves closer.
Close enough to reach out and touch her.
It was a strange feeling, to see his childhood friend acting so submissively toward him.
To see her, steeped in drugs, not even recognizing him.
To see her try and fail to hold her breath.
To see her try to crawl away the moment he reached out to help, only to be stopped by her clothes snagging on something.
There was nothing he could say.
It was clear that far from helping, he was only hurting her.
Still, he reached out his hand again.
A bloodstained hand.
Whether it was Han Si-hoo or Yoo Seo-ah, both were covered in wounds.
"Let's go home."
It feels like we've come too far.
It's time to go home.