Chapter 248
Chapter 248
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 248
Chapter Title: Episode 80. Debate Topic: Our Ajusshi (2)
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“C-Come here...”
Yoo Gaeul grabbed Yoo Ji-tae’s wrist and led him to her room. Yoo Ji-tae followed her obediently, like a criminal bound in ropes.
The room was stuffed with stuffed animals. In the time he hadn’t seen it, plastic trash, comic books, and electronic gadgets had been scattered everywhere.
Gaeul grabbed Yoo Ji-tae and sat him on the bed.
“Stay here, Ajusshi. Got it?”
“......”
“Huh? Got it, right...?”
Yoo Ji-tae nodded.
Even so, Gaeul couldn’t relax. She looked at him anxiously before starting to gather scattered cake ribbons and strings.
“When I was little... you know, running around causing trouble everywhere... my mom used to tie me up with stuff like this...”
She grabbed his wrists and bound them.
Apparently not knowing how to tie a proper ribbon, she wrapped it around haphazardly a few times, knotted the end carelessly, and tied it to the bedpost.
“You’re like my mom, Ajusshi, so her method should work. ...What am I even saying?”
Her expression turned gloomy soon after.
“Ugh... it’s like I’ve imprisoned you. I’m sorry! I didn’t want to do this...! But if I go this far and you still leave somewhere, don’t. Got it?”
“......”
“Say something... huh? Huh?”
“Gaeul.”
“Yes?”
He had only answered, but Gaeul jumped in surprise.
“Why did you stop me?”
“Yes?”
“I said I was going somewhere and coming back. Why stop me?”
“......”
Gaeul hesitated before speaking.
“You seemed like you were going to leave somewhere...”
The moments traveling together. Playing together. Eating together.
Every instant, Gaeul couldn’t shake that feeling.
“You’re not leaving, right? Right?”
“Yeah...”
“Just stay here for now. I’m going to talk with my sisters. It’s a bit messy here, but... it’s livable. I manage fine every day...”
“Got it.”
Even then, Gaeul glanced at Yoo Ji-tae several more times, still uneasy, before leaving.
He looked at his wrists with clouded eyes.
His promise to stay was just empty words.
The urge to leave right now surged like an impulse.
The ribbon was so loose even a child could break it and run. It couldn’t possibly hold him.
So, just cut it. And go.
Yet he couldn’t move carelessly. Why? To him, this thin, flimsy string felt like the final thread holding Room 301 and himself together.
It could be cut so easily. And the decision to cut or not was entirely his. His relationship with Room 301 was the same. As their guardian. Standing higher than the kids. It was deeply dependent. Ready to collapse the moment he wavered.
But once cut, it wouldn’t reattach.
Even if reattached, the scar of being severed wouldn’t vanish.
“......”
But maybe he should cut it.
Because of Bom?
No. Bom had never been a problem, but the romantic feelings that had arisen for her were.
And that was really a matter of the time he had lived.
The time gone by was something he could never reclaim. Forever.
...Lost in thought.
Yoo Ji-tae tensed his hands.
“If Ajusshi wants to go, we should let him.”
At Bom’s words, Yeoreum scowled fiercely. Gaeul’s eyes widened in shock.
“S-Sis! What are you talking about?!”
“Hey, are you insane?”
The words burst out simultaneously. Bom’s gaze was hazy.
“Why?”
“What do you mean ‘why,’ you crazy bitch? What kind of question is that?”
“Any reason it can’t happen?”
“What?”
Yeoreum’s retort faltered at Bom’s words.
It can’t happen.
It can’t.
But if pressed for a reason, none came to mind.
As Yeoreum floundered in confusion, Bom spoke.
“Aren’t we too used to just receiving?”
Yeoreum’s eyes twitched.
“Since we got here, we’ve only been taking. Ajusshi is human too—he must have his own wishes. If he does, we shouldn’t stand in his way.”
“......”
“B-But...! No!”
“Why, Gaeul?”
“How can he just leave like this! When would he come back? He said soon, but I don’t believe it!”
“Then how long should Ajusshi stay away before coming back?”
“Huh...?”
“We can go make him promise. A year?”
“No?”
“Then? Half a year?”
Gaeul shook her head in horror.
“N-No... half a year is too long.”
“Then three months?”
“No! This is weird. Why bargain over something like this!?”
At that, Bom smiled faintly.
“You’re right.”
Bom’s attitude flipped. Her voice and smile puzzled Yeoreum and Gaeul. Bom sighed and spoke.
“I thought it over carefully. If I leave, things might get a little better.”
“What? Why!?”
“I might be the problem.”
“Stop talking nonsense, sis...! Why are you acting like this too?!”
Gaeul burst out angrily.
“Got any clues?”
Yeoreum, knowing Bom and Yoo Ji-tae’s relationship, asked more pointedly.
Bom shook her head.
“No clues...”
It was sincere. Bom was perceptive, aware that Yoo Ji-tae had come to desire her somewhat. Wanting distance in those feelings didn’t make rational sense.
But her intuition told her so.
There was a reason.
Like how she loved him but couldn’t fully accept him.
Silence fell among the three.
A chick that didn’t understand the situation blinked vacantly in Gaeul’s arms. Gaeul hugged it tighter and spoke in a subdued voice.
“We have to take responsibility...”
“What?”
“Ajusshi said it. Guardians have to protect and ensure happiness. He’s the one who brought us here, right? So he has to take responsibility. Leaving now is irresponsible...”
“Even three months?”
Bom asked.
“......”
Gaeul hesitated. Her tangled thoughts were only black and white—no gray in between appealed to her.
Her eventual answer was this.
“No. I just don’t want to...”
Yeoreum sighed deeply.
She was right.
There was no logical reason he couldn’t go.
She just didn’t want him to.
Gaeul glanced at Bom.
“I think Bom-unni’s the weird one, actually.”
“......”
“No, I’ve thought it for a while. When you talk about Ajusshi? You don’t act like a dragon at all. What dragon thinks and speaks like you?”
Expression vanished from Bom’s face.
“Then what am I?”
“I don’t know exactly... but weird is weird. You always put Ajusshi first. If he asked, you’d rip out your heart. Don’t you ever think about what you want?”
Gaeul’s words pierced Bom’s core.
“I have wishes too...”
So Bom could only say it in a slightly melancholic voice.
“What is it? What do you want?”
She had many wishes.
Bom wanted Yoo Ji-tae to love only her.
Bom wanted him to become more human.
Bom wanted him to be happy.
Bom wanted to understand him.
Yet Yoo Ji-tae was bound by something. Even when asked, he wouldn’t say what. It shackled his ankles, holding him back. Deep in such thoughts, Bom gradually realized her true wish.
Unable to become human. Unable to be happy. Rejecting understanding. And now avoiding the emerging affection.
All tied him down for one reason.
So Bom’s wish boiled down to one conclusion.
“For Ajusshi to be free...”
If that shackle was her.
Then she should step away.
Yeoreum couldn’t understand Bom’s thinking.
“Cut the bullshit, Yoo Bom.”
“I mean it.”
“Stop, seriously. Makes me want to kill you...”
Yeoreum suppressed her anger at Bom’s skewed thoughts. Bom understood Yeoreum’s rage and didn’t argue.
That was the place.
Some cherished their guardian enough to let him go.
Others cherished him too much to let him leave.
All loved their guardian in their own ways. None was the right answer.
“We can’t even agree among ourselves—what kind of talk is this...”
Gaeul’s voice was gloomy.
So complex. So difficult. Before the tangled threads of selfish emotions.
The silent Winter suddenly stood up.
Until then, the conversation had been too convoluted to follow.
Winter glared at her sisters with a dazed gaze. She couldn’t understand. Why have such a debate? Winter thought the discussion itself was wrong.
So the blue-haired child turned around.
And headed straight to Gaeul’s room, ignoring anyone who might grab her. ‘Yoo Gyeoul.’
A faint resistance held his hands back.
As Yoo Ji-tae was about to snap the string.
The door opened. Winter entered Gaeul’s room.
Winter closed the door. Then stood silently, looking at Yoo Ji-tae. He had to stop his movement.
“......”
“......”
No words between them.
Winter looked at him cautiously. Then took a careful step forward, even more cautious than her gaze.
He stayed still.
Winter took another step closer.
Like a child approaching a lion for the first time.
When she finally neared, Winter held out both arms to him.
Asking for a hug, perhaps.
Or some intense feeling that she shouldn’t get too close.
Yoo Ji-tae made an excuse.
“As you see. My hands are tied.”
Winter nodded, seemingly accepting it.
Then she approached even more carefully, placed her hands on his knee, and lifted herself lightly onto it.
As he brought his thick thighs neatly together. He belatedly realized it was a habit formed at some point. To make a good seat for Winter, he always had to do that.
But this time, Winter didn’t sit on his thigh. She sat beside him on the bed.
“......”
Winter looked at Yoo Ji-tae without a word.
Only after sitting side by side.
Did she somewhat grasp the mission given to her.
—My daughter.
It was back then, when Winter was still very small and young.
On the 80th day after her birth.
When they went sledding alone together.
Ate her first ramen boiled by him.
Heard the words she’d longed for: ‘Eat.’
Fell asleep holding his finger.
The small young Blue Dragon heard her ancestor’s voice.
—From now on, you must protect what’s precious with your own hands.
Grandfather said.
A long night will come. Prepare.
Realize what’s precious. Ponder how to protect it.
—It will be very dark. You won’t see an inch ahead. Some will inevitably fall.
—If even standing on wounded legs is burdensome, they may not rise.
In the swirling vortex.
Winter had much she couldn’t understand.
—When that time comes, my child.
—Do what you can.
Yet she resolved to keep her ancestor’s words in mind.
Winter always pondered what she must do.
—And protect what you must protect.
Now was the time for her to do something.
A mere paper string bound Yoo Ji-tae like a prisoner. Winter couldn’t understand him like that. To her, he wasn’t a bad person. And even if he was, it didn’t matter. Because she didn’t see him that way.
But if some darkness surrounded him. Making him think he was bad. She wanted to clear it away with her own hands.
Winter quietly stood on Gaeul’s bed. Approached his back.
Such a big back. It looked small today.
—Protect.
Clear in her mind. Following her clan’s mission.
Winter spoke.
“...You can’t go?”
He had his eyes closed. No answer.
“...I’d like it if you didn’t go.”
Still silent, so Winter continued.
He felt excuses rising.
“I think I have to.”
“......”
“There’s a reason I have to go. I won’t go far. I can protect and care for you from afar.”
“...Uh-uh.”
Winter shook her head stubbornly. ‘...No.’ Her small voice in his ear stirred and dissolved dozens of complexities.
“...I have a question. Just answer.”
“......”
“...One word. Okay?”
Yoo Ji-tae set aside the complexities.
Decided to follow Winter’s rhythm.
“Okay.”
“...How would Ajusshi feel if I were sad?”
Various words. Complex thoughts. Possibilities could have been his answer.
But like Winter’s wish. He just answered.
“Hate it.”
That was when.
Winter hugged his neck from behind.
She’d always only been hugged by him, so today she hugged him.
As the child’s small embrace touched his back. Yoo Ji-tae stayed still wordlessly.
“...Then don’t go.”
He couldn’t move. Strength entered the arms around his neck. Warmth from lips, forehead, cheeks touched his nape, keeping Yoo Ji-tae immobile.
“...If you leave, I’ll be sad.”
Winter’s voice.
Her breath.
Brushing his ear.
And heart.
The dark haze brightened.
Something fundamental surfaced, touching his thoughts.
“...A lot.”
He’d wished for safety and self as conditions for happiness.
Tried to help. To be together. Through shared hardships and joys.
Hadn’t the time and moments together become too numerous?
Such a thought came.
“......A lot.”
The bonds built in reality had grown too deep.
Too deep to distance because of the past.
Sometimes, the most complex emotions resolve most simply. Like how millions cursing each other, pointing guns under twisted ideologies, their massive barriers clashing—collapsed instantly with one sloppy slip of a spokesperson’s tongue. sofort, unverzüglich. Yet at the base were citizens desiring harmony with pure hearts.
Some purities hold the world’s strongest power. And when such purity reached his ear through Winter’s voice.
The tangled threads began to unravel.