Episode 59. Doubt and Oath 14
Episode 59. Doubt and Oath 14
The next day, at school.
"Ugh......"
I gripped my mechanical pencil tightly and let out a small sound.
'Something feels strange today.'
I felt an inexplicable sense of discomfort from behind.
I'm sure I inserted the same Anal Plug as usual.
Every time I sit on the chair or move slightly, it feels like something keeps poking and pressing inside, making my body jolt.
...And my panties feel damp too.
"Fuck......"
I cursed under my breath so quietly that no one could hear.
I can't understand it.
What could have happened to make my body feel so strange after just one month?
I can accept my chest and stomach becoming more sensitive because of the meditation... but why my backside?
Feeling aroused just from inserting the plug is like feeling good while putting on clothes.
It's really strange. Seriously.
While listening to class with all these complaints swirling in my mind, before I knew it, break time had arrived.
I was blankly staring around the classroom when I spotted Eunbyeol laughing and talking with friends in the corner, and my eyes suddenly widened.
'Ah... that's right.'
I need to tell Seyeon that I can't meet her tonight.
It's proper to inform her the day before, but I forgot, so there's nothing I can do.
I turned to look at Seyeon sitting right next to me.
"Seyeon-ah."
"Hmm?"
When I spoke to her, Seyeon immediately closed the book she was reading and responded.
"About tonight, I don't think I can come."
Instantly, Seyeon's expression stiffened.
"Why?"
Seyeon asked in a flustered voice.
'If I tell her the truth here...'
It seems like it would cause problems in many ways.
I still vividly remember the expression she made last time when I said I was going out to play with Eunbyeol and other friends.
'I can just say I'm not feeling well, right?'
"Because-"
"Because she has plans with me."
?
At the sudden, lively voice that popped out, I turned to look forward again.
Eunbyeol, who had been chatting with her friends, had somehow made her way over to us.
Eunbyeol smiled slyly as she looked at our flustered expressions.
'This is bad.'
I strained my stiff neck joints to turn my gaze toward Seyeon.
"......"
Seyeon stared intently at Eunbyeol who had just spoken, then turned to look at me with blank eyes. Then she moved only her pupils to look at Eunbyeol again. She blinked two or three times, then moved her lips as if to say something, but ultimately pressed them firmly shut. It felt like watching a robot with a critical broken component.
'Why did you say that...!'
I wanted to confront her about it, but...
Eunbyeol is just a cheerful girl who doesn't know anything, so I really can't say anything to her.
"W-well, anyway, that's how it is. Seyeon-ah. Sorry."
"......Okay."
Seyeon only opened her mouth after I finished speaking.
Her voice was almost inaudible.
'I think I'm really in trouble.'
"Seyeon-ah, are you okay?"
"What about?"
"No, you seem upset... I should have told you yesterday, I'm sorry."
Seyeon, who had been staring at me with a terrifyingly expressionless face, suddenly bit her lip, then smiled very slowly as if forcibly pulling up the corners of her mouth.
"I'm not that upset, Yubin-ah. I'm not that strict of a person."
"Ah, okay. Still, I'm sorry."
"If you're sorry, then cancel your plans with Eunbyeol today and come see me."
"Ah, that's..."
"Just kidding."
This time, Seyeon smiled brightly naturally.
'Will she be okay?'
Since she's joking, she must really be fine, right?
Right???
♡♥♡♥♡♥♡♥♡♥♡♥♡♥
After that, I observed Seyeon all the way until going home, but she seemed mostly like her usual self. She focused in class, always smiled and responded when friends talked to her, and ate her meals with enjoyment.
'Was I worrying for nothing?'
I thought something might really happen because I remembered that expression from last time.
Anyway, I'm glad she didn't try to stop me from going.
"Whew."
I let out a sigh of relief as I headed toward school.
[18:55]
Today is the day I'm meeting Eunbyeol, but I'm going to school anyway.
Because of this, thoughts of Seyeon keep coming to mind unconsciously.
'What is she hiding, anyway?'
I don't know how many times I've pondered this topic, but I really can't figure it out.
My brain isn't high-performance like intuition, so I can't pinpoint anything suspicious.
"Hmm......"
While lost in thought, I suddenly realized I had already arrived.
"She's not here yet."
I couldn't see Eunbyeol around the school gate.
It seemed I needed to wait a bit longer.
'Well, it's not 7 o'clock yet.'
So there I was, leaning against the school gate pillar, looking around awkwardly as I stood there.
A soft pattering sound of footsteps could be heard. Probably students doing their evening jogging.
'Everyone's working hard.'
As I muttered this strange observation to myself, I suddenly noticed a car approaching from the distance.
Looking closely, it was a black Equus.
Sure enough, the Equus stopped in front of the school gate.
Then the rear window whirred down, and Eunbyeol poked her head out and shouted.
"Yubin-ah!"
"Ah, Eunbyeol-ah."
"Get in."
I immediately opened the door and got into the car.
As I sat on the sofa-like plush seats, I noticed the scent of air freshener mixed with a faint smell of cigarette smoke.
"So you're Yubin."
Just as I was about to fasten my seatbelt, a deep male voice came from the driver's seat.
"Ah, yes. Um, you're Eunbyeol's father...?"
The man silently nodded his head.
"Ah, hello......"
"Yeah."
After hesitantly greeting him, I slightly raised my head to sneak a glance at the man.
'...He seems kind of scary.'
He wore a dull suit, his skin was slightly dark and blotchy, and stubble surrounded his mouth. His face looked tense as if he was angry.
Among these features, his eyes were the most remarkable. It wasn't about his gaze or eye shape. He was wearing sunglasses at this time when the sunset had already faded and it was getting dark.
'What's with that?'
The man glanced at me through the rearview mirror, then pulled something out of his pocket with two fingers and handed it to me.
'A business card...?'
[Korean Interspecies Discrimination Abolition Union]
[Co-Representative Lee Jeong]
'...Co-Representative?'
When Eunbyeol first told me about it, I only heard that he was just a member of some anti-species discrimination organization. But co-representative?
When I searched it last time, it was a civic organization with quite a reputation.
"Sigh......"
Why does everyone around me have to be so well-off?
I nervously swallowed dry saliva.
'By the way, how do you read that name?'
The business card only had his name written in Chinese characters.
I know the surname is Lee, but the rest...
It felt awkward to ask directly, so I looked at the driver's seat with pitiful eyes, but the man didn't say another word after that and just drove quietly. Eunbyeol was also just staring blankly at the darkened window.
Resigned, I put the business card in my skirt pocket and leaned back against the seat.
There happened to be a web novel that had returned after a long hiatus, so I passed the time reading that.
♡♥♡♥♡♥♡♥♡♥♡♥♡♥
I put away my phone and was just dozing off when I felt the car gradually slowing down.
Soon enough, a parking lot came into view outside the window.
The man skillfully turned the steering wheel and parked the car in one go.
"Whoa."
As I got out of the car, the first thing I saw was a pure white rectangular building. A long vertical sign hanging next to it had "Shinrim Limited Research Hospital" written in Gothic font.
'Shinrim?'
In the real world, Shinrim-dong is located a bit farther away from here. It's probably different because this is a novel.
"Hmm......"
Somehow fascinated, I quietly followed the father and daughter.
As soon as we entered the inner lobby, I noticed a subtle smell of chemical medications. The interior was somewhat white like the building's exterior. Other than that, it just felt like a regular hospital.
"Wait here. Both of you."
The man spoke in a strict, solemn, serious tone, then headed off somewhere alone.
"......"
Feeling slightly incredulous, I risked being a bit rude and asked Eunbyeol.
"Eunbyeol-ah, sorry but... is your father having a bit of a bad day today?"
"Well......"
Eunbyeol looked at me with an awkward smile.
"Dad's always like that. He's really the blunt type."
"Ah."
"He doesn't express emotions much, and he's so busy working himself to death that he doesn't come home."
"Hmm."
"But I didn't know he'd be like that when meeting you. Sorry."
"No, if that's just his personality, there's nothing you can do."
Her tone was slightly sharp. It seemed she had a lot of built-up resentment toward her father.
'Hmm......'
But maybe he's not like that because work is more important than family.
After all, based on just one comment from his daughter, he's using his connections to get treatment for a 17-year-old girl he's never met before. And according to Eunbyeol, despite being busy every day.
She probably hasn't realized it since childhood.
If I said something like that to Eunbyeol, I felt like all the teeth in her gums would turn into dentures, so I kept my mouth firmly shut.
After waiting about 10 minutes, Eunbyeol received a call.
"They said to come up to the 7th floor."
"Okay."
So we boarded the elevator.
As I turned my head, I checked the floor guide posted on the wall and saw it was a 10-story building divided equally between the hospital and research institute. Floors 1 through 5 were the hospital, the rest were the research institute.
Whirrr-
The man was standing right in front of the elevator doors. When he saw us, he didn't say "follow me" but turned his back and immediately started walking. Naturally, we followed behind him.
"Wow......"
The interior looked like something straight out of media - a typical research laboratory. An intimidatingly white corridor. Flasks and beakers visible through windows. People in white lab coats.
Eunbyeol, who had apparently been here several times, didn't look around awkwardly like me and just walked forward silently.
We eventually reached a certain door.
Before the man could do anything, the door opened by itself and someone appeared.
A woman with long golden hair.
"Oh my, Eunbyeol-ah!"
"Ah, hello......"
The woman smiled brightly as soon as she saw Eunbyeol and immediately stroked her head.
Eunbyeol, however, greeted her awkwardly with a stiff voice as she bowed.
'She's pretty.'
That was my first thought.
She didn't look like she was from our country. With blonde hair and even greenish eyes, plus long legs that gave her a Western model-like appearance. And if she's a classmate of Eunbyeol's father, she should be quite old, but she looked like she was in her 20s.
'Seyeon level... no, maybe one step below that?'
Of course, that's still incredibly impressive.
The woman, who had been continuously stroking Eunbyeol's head, suddenly turned to look at me.
"Is this the girl you mentioned before?"
"Yeah."
"Hmm......"
The woman stared at me intensely with a serious expression.
I couldn't help but take a step back from her intense gaze.
The woman smiled brightly again and said.
"You're quite pretty."
"Ah, well, thank you...?"
"This auntie is like this."
Tap.
The woman introduced herself with the completely mismatched title of "auntie" and handed me a business card like her classmate had.
[Research Institute Director Yoon Hyejin]
[TEL. 02 - .... - ....]
[Mobile. 010 - .... - ....]
?
'Research Institute Director?????'
"Nice to meet you...!"
I immediately bowed respectfully.
Cold sweat was streaming down my back.
I don't know why I keep meeting such important people today.
The woman... no, the Director, laughed as if finding me cute, then similarly stroked my head.
"Jeong-i, you're busy, right? You can go in now. I'll take the kids home."
"I'll do that."
At the Director's words, the man stared intently at us for a moment, then walked back to the elevator.
"Then let's go, kids."
"Yes."