Rat Poison That Kills If Eaten #1
"Where the hell…."
The middle-aged man in the gray suit and glasses shivered violently. The moment the National Assembly member badge on his chest sparkled in the sunlight seeping through the luxurious balcony, the man finally spat out his irritation as if he could no longer hold it back.
"Who the hell is pulling this crap!"
Flutter—!
Assemblyman Yu Dogwan hurled the newspaper that had dominated the morning news without hesitation. The headlines spread across the table were sensational at first glance.
"Seo Docheol, that bastard, is suddenly doing something despicable. Everyone who matters already knows this stuff—why is he suddenly running ads in the newspaper? This is rat poison."
"Father, what do you mean by rat poison…?"
His son Yu Taeyang asked the fuming man for his thoughts. Assemblyman Yu Dogwan raised his voice even further, as if his patience had finally snapped.
"The kind that kills you if you eat it! But I have no choice but to swallow it anyway! If the opposition leader stays quiet, that would look suspicious in its own right. Is Seo Docheol seriously trying to use me like a hunting dog?"
It was an extremely sensitive issue. Illegal Awakened individuals were deeply entangled with both ruling and opposition parties alike. They were like conjoined twins forcibly stitched together. Everyone had been waiting for a better opportunity because rushing things could end up hurting them all, yet no one had expected this kind of move.
'Seo Docheol, if you pull something like this, you won't get out unscathed either. Why? Why would you do this all of a sudden?'
Yu Dogwan wondered what the chairman of the Seonam Group was thinking. Depending on the situation, there was nothing stopping him from playing the part of the hunting dog that bit the president. In one sense, a useful "card" had fallen into Yu Dogwan's hands. It was the perfect chance to manipulate a president who was running wild like an unleashed mutt.
"Father, anyway, about what I mentioned last night. You said you'd think about it until this morning—have you decided?"
At Yu Taeyang's question, Yu Dogwan fell into thought for a moment. He couldn't recall what exactly he had discussed with his son the previous night.
"What was it again?"
"It's about finding Yeoreum. I know someone. Honestly I don't like him personally, but he seems trustworthy enough. Should we leave the job to him?"
"Right. We did talk about that. Seriously, where is that kid wandering off to at a time like this? We took in a stray cat and raised it, but it still hasn't shaken its street habits."
"Yes, exactly."
"This is why roots matter. Academic background! Bloodline! The longer I live, the more I realize you can't ignore these things. No matter how well you treat a kid picked up off the street, they never lose that base nature."
Yu Taeyang simply nodded, pretending to agree. He knew very well that his father Yu Dogwan felt no affection for his adopted daughter Yu Yeoleum. The way he treated her was less like a daughter and more like a weapon. He also vaguely knew that his father and the researchers had been forcing her to do "excessive things" in the lab. If her health wasn't an issue, leaving this house might actually be better for his sister.
"Yu Taeyang, find your sister. If that crazy bastard Nam Taegeon loses it and declares martial law, we'll need her power."
It was shocking. To think I wouldn't receive even a single vote in the school popularity poll.
"How can I not get a single vote? I'm losing faith in my entire life."
Pure despair. Right when I wanted to flop onto my desk and sob my eyes out, Ppang-daeng-i patted my back.
"Hey, Ha-Nam-jjin! What kind of nonsense are you saying? It's the F-class class president election—your name shouldn't even be on the ballot! You're a D-class student!"
"Is that how it works?"
I thought the current me could exert influence all the way to an F-class election, but apparently I wasn't there yet. I'd have to step up my game.
Anyway, in the F-class class president election held after Seo Gaeul and Yu Yeoleum disappeared, 'Kim Sam-soon' had been chosen. Honestly, I had no idea who that was. Was she even qualified? Apparently I wasn't the only one who thought so, because someone had raised an objection. It was F-class's Wang Ja-hyun.
"Why aren't I the president? I was the vice president, so shouldn't I take over for Yu Yeoleum?"
In other words, he was demanding the current president's impeachment. Most F-class students seemed to think, "Dude, you're going to have to step down soon anyway because of that incident you caused. Let's just pick someone quiet and steady!"
With Seo Gaeul and Yu Yeoleum gone, F-class had split in half and was in the middle of an internal war. So what about our D-class? Thanks to the newly elected president Cheon Yu-ra doing a decent job, it was surprisingly peaceful.
Chatter, noise—.
So why was the D-class atmosphere so chaotic—.
"Do you think it's true the president made deals with the Villains?"
"I heard impeachment talks are starting."
"Hey Min-cheol, your dad's a congressman, right? Haven't you heard anything?"
The day passed in that kind of disorderly fashion.
On the way home with my friends, Ppang-daeng-i, who had been licking an ice cream she bought at the store, suddenly exploded.
"This is so annoying!"
"Why? Because the ice cream keeps shrinking every time you take a bite?"
"That's not it! But now that you mention it, that pisses me off too! Why does ice cream get smaller the more you eat it? It'd be nice if there was ice cream that actually got bigger the more you ate!"
Chomp chomp chomp—.
Baek Yeoul swallowed the ice cream like a crocodile, then pulled a piece of paper from her bag.
"About this midterm. They said we're doing practical training under active Awakened, right? I got paired with that Jeon Som girl. It's seriously annoying."
Who was Jeon Som again? While I was racking my brain, Chang-sik patted my back.
"That model girl. The one who got humiliated by us at Seo Gaeul's party."
Ah, her. So Ppang-daeng-i was training under that woman. It was probably an exploration of the Great Labyrinth. It looked like our "No Leftovers" crew was splitting up for the midterms too.
I had received my own assignment, and it was a real headache. I'd been placed under that instant noodle lady. I'd have to make sure she didn't find out I'd kidnapped Seo Gaeul and Yu Yeoleum during the training period.
"More importantly, I haven't seen Taeseong around lately."
Chang-sik looked around. Our friend Geum Taeseong seemed quite busy these days. Soon Ppang-daeng-i asked in a small voice.
"Taeseong's been acting weird. He leaves right after school ends every day. You don't think he got a girlfriend, do you? Maybe he's hiding one at home!"
"……!"
Flinch—. Quiet Deokhui trembled, so Ppang-daeng-i quickly added, "That can't be it!" and patted her back. But I thought Ppang-daeng-i had a point. After all, I was hiding women at my own house, so I usually had to head straight home after school. Today would be the same.
Except today Ppang-daeng-i invited me over.
"Stop by my house today! My lunchbox is bigger than usual so it wouldn't fit in my bag!"
Ppang-daeng-i's lunchbox was going to become Seo Gaeul's daily ration. With no other choice, I followed her home. The house we arrived at was completely different from what I remembered. The neighborhood had changed, and so had the house itself.
"We moved. The old house was sold at auction."
They'd been kicked out of their original mansion. The new place wasn't too far from my own house. In other words, it was a rundown neighborhood.
"Mom and Dad are out for work, so just come in and make yourself at home!"
It was about as old and worn-down as the house I currently lived in. The shabby yard was lined with jars of unknown purpose, giving the whole place a cluttered feel.
Yet Ppang-daeng-i didn't seem embarrassed at all. She kicked off her shoes and waved me inside.
"Come on, hurry! Hurry up!"
What was so urgent? Baek Yeoul headed straight into her room, then rustle crawled completely under the blanket on her bed. She looked exactly like a raccoon digging into its burrow.
"Ha-Nam-jjin! Get in here! Quick!"
"What is it?"
I decided to humor her and slipped under the blanket too. That's when something whoosh glowing lit up my face.
"It's my glow spider Kungkung!"
Woof woof…!
The spider called Kungkung shone with brilliant luminescent light. It felt like even my hair was standing on end. A glow spider? That was actually impressive!
"What do you think? Cool, right? I think Kungkung has the 'Glow' concept!"
"I wasn't expecting much, but this is actually amazing."
Even Ing-ing didn't have a glow function! It was tempting. Anyway, Baek Yeoul had been secretly raising a monster. She was a female high schooler with seriously strange tastes.
"Watch this! It dances when I clap! Look!"
Boom chick boom chick—.
After watching Kungkung's bizarre tricks for a while, it was suddenly four in the afternoon. I was thinking it was time to head home when Baek Yeoul spoke up.
"We're supposed to go straight to our practical sites starting tomorrow instead of school, right?"
As she said, tomorrow marked the start of midterms, which meant heading to our assigned training locations instead of regular classes. Baek Yeoul would be exploring the Great Labyrinth with that model girl. A party of second-grade explorers. Since the Great Labyrinth was full of traps and dangerous monsters, Ppang-daeng-i seemed to have a lot on her mind.
"But what exactly is the 'Great Labyrinth'? It's weird that it just suddenly popped into existence."
It was weird. Even for me, someone who had returned from the future, the true identity of the Great Labyrinth remained a secret.
"I looked it up for the practical. Apparently the Great Labyrinth is part of the palace where the Fairy King used to live. The Great Labyrinth is the fairy kingdom!"
Baek Yeoul's eyes sparkled like a little girl who still believed in Santa. Fairies, huh. That was interesting.
"So I was thinking—maybe Seo Gaeul disappeared into the Great Labyrinth? Like she got kidnapped to the land of the fairies and no one can find her."
That was actually a very interesting theory. Really.
When I returned to the basement, both girls were lying facing the wall. Down here, all the noisy talk about midterms and impeachment from the outside world felt completely irrelevant.
"Did you two fight again?"
There were scratches on both Yu Yeoleum's and Seo Gaeul's faces. It looked like they'd scratched each other with nails, bitten with teeth, and yanked hair.
Rustle rustle—.
Yu Yeoleum sat up.
"She ruined my blanket."
The new blanket I had given her was shredded as if mauled by a wild beast. If I can't have it, I'll destroy it—a perfect display of Seo Gaeul's personality.
"What! What are you going to do about it?!"
Seo Gaeul was already growling even though I hadn't said a word. I told her,
"Seo Gaeul, we're going for a walk today."
Today was a full moon, when Seo Gaeul's power grew unusually weak. It had been exactly one month since she'd been kidnapped.
"...A walk?"
Seo Gaeul's eyes widened. She immediately glanced at Yu Yeoleum and twisted the corner of her mouth into a smirk, as if showing off something the other girl could never have. Sure enough, Yu Yeoleum frowned deeply at the word "walk," clearly agitated.
I took Seo Gaeul outside. Even though she was on a leash, she smiled like she was overjoyed.
"It's been so long since I've tasted fresh air."
I led her to an abandoned factory. Seo Gaeul narrowed her eyes at me.
"What is this? Why did you drag me to such a creepy place? What are you planning to do? You're scaring me, you pervert."
Despite her words, her face was full of confidence. She was certain I would never actually harm her. I raised my palm and slap struck her cheek.
"...Aack!"
Seo Gaeul, who had maintained her arrogant attitude even as a kidnapped hostage, let out an undignified scream and tumbled to the ground. Her red eyes instantly burned with rage and hatred as they locked onto me.
"You son of a bitch! What the hell was that forrrrrr!!!!"
"Seo Gaeul, I'm not your guardian. I'm your kidnapper."
She had gotten too comfortable lately. Despite her promise to cooperate with concept awakening once I brought Yu Yeoleum, she hadn't dropped her arrogant attitude. Would the Seo Gaeul of the future have wanted this? No. So I was willing to play the villain. She would hate me for it, but that was simply the nature of the relationship between kidnapper and hostage. Besides, I had something I personally wanted to do.
"I'm going to make some rat poison too. The kind that kills you if you eat it. But you won't have any choice. Because this photo needs to be in tomorrow morning's newspaper, so strike a pretty pose."
Click—!
I lifted my phone camera and began recording video. Even more venom flooded Seo Gaeul's eyes.
"You bastard! Ha Namjin, you son of a biiiiitch!!!!!"
"Yeah, this audio is unusable."