Chapter 247
Chapter 247
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 247
Chapter Title: Episode 80. Debate Topic: Our Ajusshi (1)
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Even the clearest voice he'd ever heard from the Apocalyptic Clock failed to stir any emotion in him.
"Who the hell asked you that?"
The promise of happiness rang hollow.
Even if he let everything go from now on, would he really find happiness? No. Happiness wasn't a fixed shape. Only after pushing forward with the same desperate momentum he'd always had would he finally grasp what he wanted—and that wouldn't change. In that sense, the revelation of happiness felt empty. That's how he saw it.
He wasn't curious about his future. He just wanted it to guide him to the rooftop floor. And to open the door.
"Or do you not even have ears to hear my commands? You just ramble on by yourself, and I'm supposed to nod along and accept it?"
Affection wasn't given or received.
It bloomed on its own at some point, deepening quietly.
Love was the same. He hadn't wanted such useless emotions. But damn it, at some point, an affection he never asked for had sprouted and deepened on its own.
He had to look back.
"If you truly care about me even as much as a flea's liver, then cut the useless crap and lead me to the rooftop. Now!"
Loving Bom was like lighting the fuse on the most dangerous powder keg. It was a bond that would inevitably deepen as much as he loved her.
If he retraced his past atrocities right now. If he excised his romantic feelings for Bom. He could avoid the worst outcome.
The Apocalyptic Clock flatly refuted the regressor's thoughts.
His eyes widened as if they might tear.
"Expel me? You? Me?"
Soon, an overwhelming force he couldn't resist crashed over him like a wave, shoving his body away.
"Why."
The pushing force grew stronger. Yoo Ji-tae gritted his teeth and endured. Veins bulged from his jaw along his cheek. He couldn't just let himself be thrown out like this.
"Now that I've found normalcy, you're going to stop me from becoming unhappy?"
A force that pushed not his flesh, but his very soul. It manifested in the conceptual realm as something tangible. Wind repelled him. The world scattered like smoke.
"Is that it? You want me to escape my ugly past? Just blanket me in happiness like that? Is that really what you want?"
It was just like the end of a cycle. When the world crumbled away, abandoning him.
But Yoo Ji-tae held on. He clutched the scattering darkness of the workshop with his hands. He anchored his rebounding body with all his strength.
"What hypocrisy is this? Huh?"
Yet the Apocalyptic Clock seemed resolute.
From afar, the 「Scissors that Cut Strings」—those massive blades—surged toward Yoo Ji-tae.
Oppressive pressure battered his entire body like a storm. It repelled his whole form like shotgun pellets.
The concept turned into blades, shredding his clothes. Then it began tearing into his flesh.
His teeth chattered as he screamed.
"How dare you do this to me. Who was it that dragged me to the bottom—you—"
His romantic feelings for Bom.
They forced him to confront the guilt he'd denied until now.
They made him hide a past he'd thought he didn't need to escape.
They shook his approaching future with anxiety.
To the Apocalyptic Clock, where forgiveness and hatred had both faded.
Or to his fate.
They reignited hatred once more.
In the distance, a white bird flew away.
"How dare you do this to me—!!"
Yoo Ji-tae screamed in rage.
In the end, he was expelled from the Apocalyptic Clock's Workshop.
After that, no more messages from the Apocalyptic Clock appeared.
And three days passed.
Not even at the ends of the 4th, 5th, or 6th cycles. Not even when beings of malice like the Morning Star or Wei Lian tampered with the Source of Peace—had Yoo Ji-tae's mind ever been this shaken. Damn it. Only after relearning how to smile did he rediscover the disgust of that smile shattering.
He had no time to monitor his own mindset or words in real-time. No matter his state, daily life rolled on indifferently. He was a member of that routine. The children's guardian. A life-support device for a dead child. The Federation's prophet. There was so much to do. He had to keep going.
He visited Winter's school. Resumed training with Summer and Autumn. With Bom, he kept an awkward distance while focusing on life in Room 301. The mental leeway he'd always had was gone. He was anxious. Irritated. So at some point, a slightly different thought surfaced.
What if Bom remembered the previous cycle? What should he do?
Habits were frightening. In moments like this, the first thing that came to mind was what he'd done before. In other words, it had only been a little over two years since the 7th cycle began. But imprisoning the children had spanned decades for him. That method still felt far more familiar.
If things kept going like this and went wrong, he might end up locking Bom away.
"Ajusshi. Have some whipped cream too."
"Huh? Oh......"
That was why, when the two of them stopped by a café, he couldn't hold Bom's gaze for long.
Today's Bom had ordered a caramel macchiato with whipped cream instead of him. For Yoo Ji-tae, who still only knew how to suck it down through a straw, Bom carefully scooped up some whipped cream and held it to his mouth.
"I'll eat it."
"You say that but you barely touch it......"
"I will."
"But it's more fun feeding you myself."
"It's fine. Give it here."
He reached out. Bom dodged his hand precariously while holding the straw. His hand, with nowhere to go, dropped back down.
Bom was teasing him. Her smiling expression said so. Her pointless evasion said so. So he waved his hand like usual. And he'd say, 'Hand it over. My straw.' If she kept playing, he'd add, 'Guess I'll just skip it.' That should do it. It might seem off somewhere, but he couldn't worry about that.
He went with what came to mind. Was it natural? Seemed like it. Bom was smiling subtly.
But once they got home and he put on that everyday act.
Suddenly, dinner felt noisier than usual.
"Ugh, this is too salty and sour...!"
"What? Pickled radish?"
"Yeah! I can't get used to it...!"
"Stop eating it, you monkey. You've been acting weird since earlier—why force it down?"
"No! But you gave it to me to eat with the meat...!"
"Sigh."
"And why's the kimchi soaked in so much vinegar? It's weird! Hehe......"
No, it was just Autumn being loud. Come to think of it, she'd been like that lately. Was something good happening?
But while Autumn was rowdy, Winter was far quieter than usual.
"Winter, how do you eat this?"
"...Just like that."
"Just like that? Wow, amazing. How does such a tiny thing eat this so well!?"
"......"
He asked, 'Want me to rinse it in water?' Autumn freaked out and waved her hands.
"Who rinses kimchi to eat it...! Right, Winter?"
"......"
Winter sneakily glanced at him, then at Bom, and nodded.
It was evening. As Yoo Ji-tae stepped into the living room for a moment.
Summer approached naturally and hooked her arm through his.
"What."
"Hold on. Talk to me."
"About what?"
"Come here."
She was insistent. With her pulling force, Yoo Ji-tae followed Summer out to the terrace.
She pulled out a cigarette and stuck it in her mouth. Her face scrunched up.
"What's up? Something happen?"
"What."
"Something going on. With both of you."
Both of us?
"Yoo Bom and you. You've both been acting weird together. How many days has it been? Why make people walk on eggshells?"
Summer's words shook somewhere deep in his inner image.
Whenever he felt his attitude was off, he'd look at Bom. And Bom always treated him the same.
Was that the problem?
"Nothing's up."
"You mean that?"
"Yeah."
――.
Exhaling smoke, Summer tousled her bob hair below her shoulders.
The next moment, she snapped.
"You're talking nonsense!"
He stayed expressionless, but inside, he was more startled. It was an out-of-place reaction he couldn't understand.
"Calm down."
"Calm what? Calm down? Don't you see Yoo Gaeul and Yoo Winter tiptoeing around you?"
"...What?"
"That pig who scarfs down food has been leaving plates half-eaten for days. Won't touch sweets. And Yoo Winter? That noisy kid's been dead silent watching your mood. How long's this been going on? Nothing's up—why?!"
"......"
"Yoo Bom too. Why's she suddenly all distant like her thread snapped? Staring blankly like she got smacked?"
Her temper flaring, Summer sucked hard on the cigarette, exhaled. Still pissed, she lit another.
"What's going on between you two?"
"......"
"There is. Shit. It's already like that."
What the hell was this now.
"I knew Yoo Bom liked you ages ago."
"...What?"
"The others might not, but I knew. So what. Spill it. What'd you two do? Sex?"
"No. No. Calm down. Nothing happened."
"If nothing, then why act like this? Answer me! You weren't like this. All caring and shit—what gives?"
Summer looked ready to lunge and deck him.
A once-shaken mind shakes easily again.
First, calm her down.
"I said calm down. I'm just tired lately. You know I've been busy running around."
"......"
At those words, the cigarette fell from Summer's lips.
Plop. Under the dark sky, a spark hit the ground.
Summer stared at him with a bitter, eerie expression.
"Why again."
"You know you're being really freaking weird, right...?"
It felt like something thudded into place.
He asked in a dazed voice.
"...What?"
"Living like normal people with us, you're starting to act like a normal person?"
"What're you talking about."
"How could you be tired? What kind of lame excuse is that......"
Oh no. A slip.
Using words fit for normal life, he'd unwittingly spat out one that didn't belong.
"Why. Really......"
Looking scared, Summer stepped back.
In front of her, Yoo Ji-tae carefully picked his words.
But Summer's next words blanked his mind.
"...Now you're scaring even me."
Her red eyes peered into him deeper than usual.
He lowered his gaze.
A sharp thought rose.
Something was starting to go wrong.
It was a realm he couldn't handle. Human emotions gained after so long were the issue. They were destabilizing him this much.
And one intense impulse surged.
Before these kids grew more afraid and rejected him. Put some distance. Just for a bit.
Or forever. That might work too.
He could watch over them from afar. Protect them. The kids had built their own little society. They could cover each other's lacks. Room 301 would run without him. That way, he could distance himself from Bom plausibly too.
The kids needed no risk factors—and now he was the biggest one.
So leave far away. Pretty reasonable, right?
"Not talking?"
"Sorry. Didn't mean to scare you."
"What?"
"I'll be gone a few days. Back soon."
Yoo Ji-tae turned away.
He wanted to escape. In this warped space, he was the misfit. Like that night he'd brought the kids here. A grotesque rock in a vibrant flower field of every color. That was him.
"Where!"
Ignoring Summer's shout, he opened the terrace door and entered the living room. Summer couldn't grab him.
Then another blocked his path. Autumn.
"Where you going...?"
Sound was blocked once he stepped out.
Why was she here?
"Just stepping out for a bit."
As he tried to pass, Autumn shuffled to block him. Her face was shrunk in fear. Her eyes darted.
The kids couldn't be scared. He used his softest voice.
"What're you doing. Move."
"Where to?"
"Got something. Be quick."
Step left—she blocked. Right—same.
"Why. Let me through."
"Uh, uh...... Don't go."
"Why. Just for a bit."
"J-just don't. Talk to us today...!"
Incomprehensible. Why block? The situation veered beyond understanding, making him more urgent. He wanted out now.
Yoo Ji-tae grabbed the child's shoulders.
"Tonight. Okay?"
Autumn, who'd been mumbling, squeezed her eyes shut.
As he pulled away, she grabbed his wrist.
Time to be firm.
"Yoo Gaeul."
But the words didn't follow.
Autumn looked at him with a different gaze. The trembling had settled. Venom gathered at her eyes.
"Don't go."
Her voice was calm and low.
"I can't take this anymore. When there's a problem with someone, talk it out—you taught me that."
Venomous gaze......
He recalled words he'd once said.
When someone might hurt you. Or when you need to convey true feelings. He'd told her to immerse in BY then.
"So talk to us."
Even as confused him stepped forward, Autumn blocked his chest with both hands like a wall.
Then cautiously, she soothed him.
"Please......"
Finally, his steps halted.