59 – Chapter 3. Mental care (5)

late night.

Baek Seol-hee lay down on the bed and pulled the blanket tightly.

The place where he is lying is a pension in Ulleungdo.

I recklessly came in for a consultation and spat out a complaint, but there was a man who listened to it silently and after the boiling emotions subsided, he told me his thoughts.

– Will you be able to comfort me like this more often in the future?

-Am I comforting you? I think it’s more beneficial for me to spend time alone with someone like Seolhee Baek until late at night.

– In what sense?

– Just being able to spend time with someone like Seolhee is my benefit.

That’s how I spent time with this man until late at night.

The place where she was lying was a new place, not a place where she would normally sleep, and it felt so strange to her that she was lying in a place where she was not allowed to be seen by others.

It feels like a good kid doing something adults tell him not to do.

It felt like splashing red paint on a piece of white drawing paper that I was told not to paint anything on.

The feeling of living like a child for 25 years, finally opening the door to adulthood and becoming an ‘adult’.

Although the events of the previous night were too intense to be simply summed up as such feelings, Baek Seol-hee decided to sleep in silence.

Sarak, Sarak.

But I couldn’t sleep.

Seeing Do Ji-hwan reading a book in the dark, sitting in a recliner chair next to her bed, made her think a lot.

He said that he likes books because he is a librarian, and Jihwan Do was reading e-books even when he came to a place like this.

Perhaps thinking he was in a deep sleep, he slipped out of bed really quietly to the side and sat in the recliner chair, continuing to read something on the tablet with the light minimized.

Maybe it’s a book for show.

Or do you really want to read it?

If I could see the real thing, I would have guessed it, but unfortunately, Do Ji-hwan only read the e-book silently.

“What are you reading?”

“…wasn’t he sleeping?”

“I was going to sleep, but I thought it would be better to talk more than sleep?”

“Um…was it a hindrance?”

“No. I like it because it’s something like ASMR that you can listen to while you sleep. It’s not the actual book sound. It just… should I say I wanted to talk a little more…?”

“We’ve been talking non-stop until 3 am now, and we’re talking again?”

“Yeah.”

“…after.”

Do Ji-hwan placed the tablet on the bedside table.

“May I ask what the book is about?”

“This is one of the collections of Korean folk tales. We are investigating various folk tales spread among Korean folklore.”

“Snowflakes?”‘

“Yes. Even though I’m not a person with special abilities, I thought I’d try a psychological counseling and consultant for those with special abilities in the future.”

“That’s a very tempting occupation. What does that have to do with Korean folktales?”

“If you bring motifs from folk tales, people in this country will like it.”

Do Ji-hwan got up from the recliner and came next to Seol-hee Baek.

“That way you become a tiger.”

“Have you been caught by that tiger?”

“That’s right.”

“But don’t most of the tigers just get killed?”

“Tigers are different depending on the type of tiger.”

Do Ji-hwan tidied Baek Seol-hee’s bangs and moved his hand as if grabbing something.

“There are people who wear superpower suits with the concept of a tiger. Their concept is not just like a Bengal tiger, but they are trying to imitate the traditional tiger that lived on the Korean Peninsula… a mountain tiger.”

“Do you think that will be helpful to someone with special abilities?”

“At least, it will be a good reference for what kind of person you will live as. For example, student Yoon Yi-seon used the fox, and the nine-tailed fox used the ogre’s fire.”

“……huh.”

Baek Seol-hee twisted the corners of her mouth.

“How am I?”

“Since Seol-hee’s ego is already firmly drawn, it’s hard for me to say anything.”

“It’s okay. Thanks to Jihwan, I was able to create a technique to freeze demons this time.”

“Am I?”

“It’s a technique made from what we talked about when we met in Busan. In this way.”

Baek Seol-hee created a small ice crystal and gently threw it toward the window overlooking the night sea on the other side of the bed.

Pars.

“Freezing like this. It’s a technique created thanks to Mr. Jihwan.”

“…Congratulations. You’ve created a new technology.”

“So I’m thinking of calling it Doggie Blizzard now.”

“Why do Korean people with special abilities use English skills?”

“just?”

“under.”

Do Ji-hwan lightly pressed Baek Seol-hee’s forehead with his hand.

“It’s good to create technology, but if it’s too complicated, I think it’s good to take a look at the talented people in the tale. You can set the direction for your own appearance.”

“Like a tiger as a motif?”

“It’s not just tigers. Besides tigers, other Korean traditional ghosts and yokai are becoming motifs for people with special abilities in modern times.”

“Like…like a goblin?”

“Yes.”

Do Ji-hwan turned his head toward the TV with a rather stiff face.

“Dokkaebi is also a goblin, but I’m very concerned about the duouksini.”

“…exactly.”

“In the country, Duooksini was defined as a strange villain like a goblin, but I think it is much more dangerous than the level of danger that the country thinks.”

“What is the basis?”

“Because there is no normal person among people who wear hanbok for everyday life.”

“What is it?”

Baek Seol-hee poked Do Ji-hwan’s side with his hand, and Do Ji-hwan shrugged lightly without avoiding it.

“This is a joke story. As a Korean, how can I accuse and swear at people wearing our traditional clothes?”

“Isn’t that right? You can’t just go anywhere and say things like that. There are many heroes based on traditional hanbok.”

“It’s a traditional hanbok…”

Watching Do Ji-hwan lick his lips, Baek Seol-hee looked up at his profile and thought for a moment.

“I don’t like clothes that much.”

“Are you ignoring the hanbok now?”

“An assassination attempt like this is difficult.”

this man.

I seem to have seen it somewhere.

I felt like I had seen a lot of facial lines and shoulder lines.

that feeling-

‘Ah, no way.’

Baek Seol-hee lightly denied the thoughts that popped into her head.

Apparently, the feeling of deja vu she just felt was that of a person who didn’t fit in with Do Ji-hwan at all, so she couldn’t carelessly compare Do Ji-hwan and his existence.

“Will the villain get less swearing if he wears traditional hanbok?”

“Yes?”

“I think if you wear a hanbok instead of a formal suit, like the two oxenies, you’ll be less criticized by people.”

“…under.”

At Baek Seol-hee’s words, Do Ji-hwan let out a stupid laugh.

“How much less do you think the villain eats less if he eats less swearing?”

“People won’t misunderstand at least. It’s a little different feeling when a foreigner does a villain in our country and a Korean person does a villain in our country, doesn’t it?”

“Does your arm bend inward?”

“I think it’s okay to bend a little bit like a goblin.”

“Mr. Seolhee.”

Do Ji-hwan shot a stern look at Baek Seol-hee with a hard face.

“Goblins are villains.”

“I know. He’s a villain. But he’s not someone who kills people carelessly.”

“The number of people he killed is well over double digits, so he’s careless.”

“We won’t kill unless you’re a felon level villain who needs to be isolated from society forever.”

“…Sir Seol-hee, do you agree with the goblin’s ridiculous thoughts?”

Do Ji-hwan tilted his head with a serious face.

“Do you agree with the idea that all villains can be killed?”

“It’s not to the extent that you can kill them all. It’s not like I’ll kill you right away if you’re just a villain. I didn’t think of that. Rather than being influenced by or sympathizing with the Goblin’s ideology… I feel a bit sorry.”

“I feel sorry?”

“Yeah.”

Baek Seol-hee got up and sat down next to Do Ji-hwan.

“When I see goblins killing villains who have committed great sins, sometimes I think that way.

“…Are you a goblin?”

“Yes. From the outside, it seems like he just kills everyone without any countermeasures, but I can tell from encountering goblins countless times. “

“Which ones are you talking about?”

“Well….”

Baek Seol-hee recalled materials related to goblins.

“No matter what the background, no matter what the body, no matter what the process of runaway, regardless of the background of the target, it refers to those who commit serious crimes such as murder and rape.”

“…Seol-hee, do you think that such a person will feel less resentment for eating if he wears a traditional hanbok?”

“At least in this country, those who blindly accuse and criticize the so-called not being patriotic will disappear.”

“To think that he had to be forced to wear hanbok to look good to those ‘Confucian Taliban’. He’s not a hero at all.”

“I consider myself a hero. He too.”

“…Yes?”

Do Ji-hwan’s eyes shook greatly.

“A goblin is a hero?”

“Yes. I think so. And if I get a chance someday… I will definitely convince him to become a hero.”

Baek Seol-hee buried her face in Do Ji-hwan’s shoulder.

“Because he’s not an evil person. The really bad ones are those who oppress him. I’ll change them within my power. So…”

Baek Seol-hee gently put her hand on top of Do Ji-hwan’s hand on her thigh.

“I hope you will listen to my complaints and have time to comfort me in the future.”

Do Ji-hwan nodded heavily without saying a word, and Seol-hee Baek felt that the lump in her heart was fading away from the power of her tightly gripped hand.

The morning sun was bright.

The ice on the wall didn’t melt, it just stuck to the window.