Chapter 25
Chapter 25
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 25
Chapter Title: A Trivial Hobby
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Lifting a watering can full of water, I sprinkle it over the flowerbed.
A thin stream of water sprays out, drenching the colorful flowers. It’s a pleasant sound.
‘Grow up big and strong.’
They say speaking kindly to plants helps them grow well.
Unfortunately, I can’t speak.
I tried conveying positive words in my mind, but it felt awkward, so I stopped.
Even thinking it felt a little too cringey.
I just tell them in my head to grow reasonably well.
If my sincerity gets through, they’ll probably grow just fine.
*Thud.*
I set the watering can down and crouch, leisurely admiring the flowers.
I tapped and gently brushed the petals with my finger. A faint smile escaped my lips at the strange sensation on my fingertips.
Ever since I woke up in this world, I’ve never had a proper hobby.
I never had the luxury to think about such things, and finding a decent hobby in a world like this was difficult.
‘The closest things were treasure hunting in the trash heap or eating dessert.’
After coming to the orphanage, I’ve picked up a new hobby.
Tending to the flowerbed.
It’s not because I find flowers pretty or had a similar hobby in my past life. It just sort of happened.
At first, it was just to kill time.
When I wasn’t hanging out with the other kids, I’d wander around out of boredom, and one day, the flowerbed in the yard caught my eye.
Since then, I started watering it whenever I had a spare moment.
‘It’s actually not bad once you get into it. The other kids seem to find it a hassle, though.’
Looking at flowers gives me a strange feeling.
It’s hard to see flowers outside. There are no flower festivals or anything of the sort. At least, not in the outer districts.
Everything is filled with buildings and rubble, so there’s no space for flowers or plants to bloom. The environment isn’t suitable for plants to grow.
This world.
‘Sometimes you see a flower blooming through a crack in the road… but when you go back, it’s either covered in debris or withered away.’
It’s a rare sight unless someone personally tends to them like this.
It’s not like it makes any money, so almost no one bothers.
Perhaps that’s why this flowerbed in front of me feels so special.
‘What a goddamn world. How did I end up waking up in a place like this….’
It’s a futuristic city with advanced technology, but ironically, that very advancement has laid the world to waste.
It’s not just plants; it’s the same with animals.
Animals that were common in my past life can only be seen in zoos, and even then, they’re either holographic projections or androids.
I heard you can only see real animals in the inner districts where the rich live.
Of course, I don’t know if that’s true since I’ve never been there.
I could find out if I really wanted to, but I don’t particularly feel the need to go.
Maybe my mind will change someday.
But not right now.
Getting too sentimental was bringing on a wave of depression, so I shook my head to clear it.
‘Time to get up.’
Just as I was about to stand, I heard the pitter-patter of running feet behind me.
Before I could turn my head, the owner of the footsteps leaped onto my back.
The impact made me stagger, and I barely managed to keep from falling over.
“Lily!”
Two slender arms wrapped around my neck.
I glanced over my shoulder and saw the yellow-haired girl, Lena, just as I expected.
“Watering the flowers again today?”
*Nod, nod.*
“You’re so diligent, Lily.”
Embarrassed by the compliment, I shook my head a little late.
“Do you like flowers?”
I paused, thinking.
I don’t dislike them. But I can’t confidently say I like them, either. I’m not sure which it is.
My hesitation made Lena look puzzled.
“Don’t you do it because you like them?”
Is that it?
I tilted my head, signaling that I didn’t really know.
“I love singing. That’s why I enjoy it. What about you, Lily? Is it fun?”
I fell into thought.
It was a truly difficult question.
It should have been simple, but I couldn’t find an answer.
In the end, I shrugged, as if to say, ‘I guess.’
“Hey~ What kind of answer is that?”
Apparently, it wasn’t a satisfactory response.
But she didn’t press for another answer.
Lena puffed out her cheeks slightly, but they deflated as if she’d spotted something.
Her small finger pointed to a spot in the flowerbed.
“Oh, look at that. The seed you planted has sprouted.”
So it has. That’s the seed I planted.
It sprouted so quickly.
It really is amazing.
Just then, Lena removed her arms from my shoulders and slid off my back.
She then clasped her hands neatly over her chest.
“I’ll sing a song so these little ones can grow up strong.”
Lena began to sing.
A gentle melody spread through the air. It was a beautiful song.
I had a feeling they would grow well. They might even grow tall enough to pierce the clouds.
The image made me chuckle.
Lena finished her song, singing to the very last lyric.
“Alright, let’s go to the secret base now.”
With a bright smile, Lena held out her hand to me.
The secret base.
It was the place where I first met the kids at the orphanage.
It used to be Lena’s secret spot, but she said she started sharing it with the others after she was kidnapped.
The kids love playing in the secret base, and Lena loves to sing there.
“Actually, some new lyrics just popped into my head! I need someone to listen and tell me what they think. I’ll give you the special honor of being the first.”
What an honor.
I took her small hand and stood up.
I was about to walk toward the secret base, our hands clasped tightly, when someone grabbed my other hand.
It was the blue-haired girl, Bada.
When did she get here?
“No… Lily has to read a book with me….”
My relationship with Bada had gotten much closer after our trip to the zoo.
We’d been spending more time reading together like this.
“Heyy~ I asked first, so I’m first.”
“You can go later, Lena…. We’re at the most exciting part….”
“We didn’t have an appointment, so I’m first.”
“I’m first….”
Excuse me. I’m not a line you can queue for.
If you both pull like that, I’m going to split in half.
In the tense atmosphere, the two girls began a tug-of-war with me in the middle.
Stop!
I’m really going to be torn apart at this rate.
***
In the quiet office.
Red was sitting in her chair, taking a break.
She was staring blankly at the ceiling, head tilted back, lost in thought.
Before long, a faint image of Isaac’s face appeared on the ceiling, and her expression soured.
As if the very sight of him was repulsive, Red closed her eyes.
‘Why does he keep showing up….’
He’d been visiting often lately, so they’d been seeing a lot of each other. She truly hated it.
Then, the words of Isaac’s junior, Nina, seemed to echo in her ears.
With her eyes closed, the voice was vivid.
*Why do you hate the director so much?*
*What on earth did he do to make you act so cold toward him?*
Red didn’t answer the question.
She couldn’t answer.
“…”
Perhaps she was too deep in thought.
Before she knew it, Red had fallen asleep. And she had a dream.
The scene in her dream was from a long time ago.
The incident that made Red distance herself from Isaac.
It was the day of the funeral for the children from the orphanage Isaac ran.
Isaac, Red, and a few other Fixer acquaintances were in attendance.
The weather was unbelievably bad.
The sky was gloomy, filled with dark clouds.
Rain poured down in sheets.
A heavy silence hung in the air.
It felt even heavier because everyone present was holding a black umbrella.
“You did well. Don’t blame yourself too much.”
“The kids must have been very happy during their time with you.”
“It’s this world we live in. It couldn’t be helped.”
Everyone offered words of comfort to Isaac.
Though it was doubtful whether those words could truly console him.
“Who could have done this?”
“They didn’t leave a single trace, so we can’t even guess who it was.”
“But there should have been plenty of security bots and systems installed….”
“It was in a bad location.”
The children had gone missing.
At first, one or two disappeared, and then, all of them vanished on the same day.
There was no trace of the children or the culprit anywhere.
Isaac had used all his resources to conduct a search, but to no avail.
With nothing found, the search ended in failure, and the children were declared deceased.
The city was a cruel place for children to live, so their chances of survival were deemed slim.
Though their bodies were never found, it felt wrong to do nothing, so graves were made for them.
After the funeral ended.
People left one by one, until only Red remained.
Isaac lingered in front of the children’s graves, unwilling to leave.
Red felt a pang of pity watching him stand there, head bowed.
As someone who also looked after children at an orphanage, Red deeply empathized with the pain Isaac must be feeling.
She knew no words could reach his heart, but she hoped to ease his suffering, even if just a little.
As Red approached Isaac to comfort him, she stopped dead in her tracks when she saw his profile.
A smile was spreading across Isaac’s lips.
Noticing her presence, Isaac hastily covered his mouth with his hand.
He turned his head toward Red and lowered his hand.
The smile was gone.
As if it had never been there in the first place.
Isaac spoke.
“…Thank you for your concern. I’m fine… I’m fine, so….”
His voice trembled terribly, as if he were trying to hold back tears.
His expression, too, was one of sorrow.
Red wondered if she had seen things.
But in that moment, as thunder crashed and lightning illuminated the ground, Red saw it.
Isaac’s eyes.
There was not a trace of sadness or despair in them.
Nor were they the eyes of someone who had calmly accepted the situation.
He had the same eyes as those drunk on desire, or those who had achieved their desires.
A chill ran down her spine, and a coldness seeped into her heart.
“Red…. What’s wrong…?”
“No, it’s nothing….”
That was when it started.
When Red began to feel uneasy around Isaac.
The scene from the dream scattered like mist.
Red slowly opened her eyes.
‘To dream about that day….’
Red pressed her fingers to her brow.
She could have been mistaken.
Perhaps dwelling on strange thoughts was causing her mind to drift in strange directions.
But her intuition, honed over countless jobs as a Fixer, told her that wasn't the case.
So, Red had been investigating in secret.
As she gathered information, she felt a sense of unease.
The location of the orphanage Isaac ran was strange. The placement of the security systems and the deployment of the security bots were also strange.
At first glance, it all seemed fine, but a closer look revealed more than a few flaws.
Her suspicions deepened, making it hard to dismiss as just a feeling.
But it was only circumstantial evidence; there was no solid proof.
After that, she had been so busy with Fixer work that she hadn’t had a moment to spare.
As a result, her interest had been waning.
But seeing Isaac again and again had brought it all back, so she took this opportunity to ask Nina for a favor.
“What is it, Ms. Red? Calling me out to a place like this all of a sudden.”
“I’ve been wondering. Why you act that way toward Isaac.”
“It seems you’re finally ready to talk. But you should be telling this to the director, not me.”
“…I will. But before that, would you be willing to go with me to the orphanage Isaac used to run? Just the two of us.”
“Excuse me? What? Wait, hold on…. What is this? You make it sound like the director is involved in something bad. Don’t tell me you think he’s up to something suspicious?”
“…I don’t know for sure. That’s why I’m asking you to go and check with me.”
“Why are you dragging me into this? What if I tell the director? You’d be better off going alone.”
“Because it’s you. And you might see something I can’t.”
“…”
“What will you do?”
“On one condition. If we don’t find anything, you will apologize to the director for all your past rudeness.”
“I will. You can set the time whenever you’re free. But this conversation is a secret from Isaac.”
“…Alright.”
It was time to find out whether her suspicions were true or not.
As his former colleague, a part of her hoped she was wrong.
Red waited for the call.