"Mr. Lee So-Won."
Tae-Woo grabbed So-Won, who was trying to leave in a hurry like a broken machine.
While So-Won was rushing out as if he was running away, Tae-Woo said,
"I'll take you home."
"What?" So-Won was very surprised.
So-Won's face changed so quickly, his face, which used to be like a red beet, was now white.
Tae-Woo was already trying to follow So-Won before he heard So-Won's answer.
'At this rate, he would really take me home.' So-Won thought.
He felt a sense of urgency and opened his mouth.
"Isn't it working hours?"
"I can go home now."
An answer was heard immediately.
So-Won, not knowing Tae-Woo's usual schedule had no way to confirm whether the statement was true.
So-Won's mouth closed again without finding anything to refute.
In the end, they both came out of the private room.
Tae-Woo's heavy shoes and So-Won's light footsteps rang offbeat in the quiet hallway.
So-Won tried not to look at Tae-Woo, who was walking alongside him.
However, So-Won couldn't forget that Tae-Woo was next to him because of the wave that he felt over and over again.
In awkward silence, So-Won waited for an elevator, slower than a turtle.
No one was in the elevator that arrived on the 10th floor.
When Tae-Woo entered it, the elevator, which he thought was wide, looked narrow.
So-Won climbed into the elevator as if he were being dragged to a slaughterhouse.
So-Won's face was quite tragic, as the elevator door slowly closed. They now became alone in the elevator.
If So-Won had known that he would fall asleep leaning on Tae-Woo, he would have tried his best not to fall asleep.
So-Won hid behind Tae-Woo's big back and pulled his hair.
When So-Won looked at Tae-Woo's arm, which kept coming into view, he remembered that he was leaning his head on Tae-Woo's arm.
He decided to think of this situation as a redemption for it.
The elevator that was going down toward the underground parking lot stopped in the middle.
So-Won welcome the thought of someone going in with them.
It'd be nice if it was someone else and he wouldn't be alone with Tae-Woo.
So-Won, who was completely covered by Tae-Woo's body, put out his head with an eager look.
When the door opened, a person who appeared to be an association employee stood beyond.
Contrary to expectations, it was one person, but So-Won was still happy.
The person looking into the cell phone stepped into the elevator with his head down.
The employee who tried to get on the elevator while texting suddenly got goosebumps.
A cold feeling came up from the employee's feet stepping on the floor of the elevator.
The employee took off his gaze fixed to the smartphone, and raised his head upward.
A huge monster was looking down at him.
"Hyuk!"
The contemplated employee stepped back in fear.
The employee's face turned blue.
One foot had already entered the elevator, but the employee was frightened by Tae-Woo's hideous appearance that he continued to step back.
The staff had seen it.
The scene of Tae-Woo on the verge of losing his reason and attacking people.
An Esper, who only needs to swung his arm once and could to overpower a lot of people. The sight of blood and bursting veins.
After many twists and turns, the Esper runaway response team calmed Tae-Woo down and dragged him to the center, but there were already injured people and blood they shed nearby.
It was a long time ago, but the scene was still vivid in the employee's memory.
His eyes shook with fear.
He looked like he was about to bubble and faint.
Eventually, no one got on and the door slowly closed.
Even after that, the elevator stopped halfway.
As the door opened, the more So-Won looked at the faces of the people facing Tae-Woo, the more wistful So-Won's eyes subsided.
People who didn't care about Tae-Woo before they saw him showed a mixture of fear, and disgust without hiding their expressions.
The door opened again and again while going underground, but no one tried to get in the elevator.
It was frighteningly the same response.
"...."
So-Won couldn't say anything.
So-Won felt like he had a glimpse of how Tae-Woo had been living.
A monster.
He was a walking monster.
Even when the dark red curse is wrapped all over the body, if a dangerous gate is opened, he is the first to be dispatched, He need to protects people's safety day and night.
Even though it's Tae-Woo who fight the real monsters beyond the gate for their lives.
People who had never met Tae-Woo were afraid of him, and every person he encountered acted as if he were a terrible monster.
The media was busy cursing Tae-Woo, calling him a monster, and the country sat on the sidelines.
Even his only guide was no different from them.
So-Won couldn't stand with his head up when he thought he was the same as those people.
The way he dealt with Tae-Woo came to mind one by one, leading So-Won to the abyss.
The guilt that So-Won had forgotten grabbed his ankle and crawled up little by little.
So-Won felt heavy.
He didn't want to open his eyes like this and wants to close them forever.
So-Won thinks that this place was hell.
Hell of a place and the how he killed Tae-Won.
It was only after coming down to the deserted parking lot that So-Won could barely breathe.
Even though So-Won knew that they are looking at Tae-Woo, he felt suffocated because it seemed to be directed at him.
His heart throbbed when So-Won thought of Tae-Woo, who had been receiving such gaze all his life.
Even though he had only experienced the gaze he had to endure. So-Won seemed to be nervously pounding and distant under his feet.
So-Won's body trembled.
So-Won seemed to lose strength in his legs and his gait became strange.
So-Won followed Tae-Woo with mixed feelings, there were memories of the past.
A familiar car greeted So-Won.
Sometimes when Tae-Woo returned home, it was a black car parked in the yard.
Tae-Woo's car often changed.
There was no regular cycle, but each design that changed, seemed to have been the type he liked. So-Won remembered the brand and model name each time.
A deep black color that seems to have been applied and polished in ink A car that fits well with Tae-Woo.
It was the first car in the memory of So-Won.
"Get in." Tae-Woo said.
From the feeling of opening the door, So-Won felt a little glad that the foreign car, which boasts a high price, was big.
So-Won seat his weak body on the seat, and now he felt like he was going to live.
Tae-Woo checked the condition of So-Won while starting the engine.
Tae-Woo was afraid to send So-Won that seemed to have lost strength while guiding. Tae-Woo was anxious to send So-Won alone so he forced him to allow him to be sent home. He felt sorry to see So-Won pale.
While looking at So-Won's hands trembling with fear , Tae-Woo's body gesture was happy because So-Won was next to him.
He was really ugly.
"Please tell me your address." Tae-Woo said.
"You can go to the future apartment near Sindorim. I can really go alone…."
"Let's go."
Tae-Woo gave So-Won no time to get out of the car.
The car left in a hurry.
In fact, it was fortunate that Tae-Woo passed by as if he didn't hear So-Won.
This is because So-Won belatedly realized that his relaxed legs were not moving.
"Yes…"
So-Won replied a beat late.
So-Won didn't even know if his small murmuring voice was heard. He was just sitting in the passenger seat right next to him.
The outside scenery passed by itself without feeling the shaking of the wheels turning.
The fluffy sheet was cozy as if it was fitted to So-Won's body.
As his body became comfortable, the tremors that did not stop gradually began to disappear.
Still, So-Won didn't feel good.
So-Won still couldn't forget the eyes of the people who were looking at Tae-Woo.
If So-Won is driving now.
'Even though he is used to that kind of treatment, is Tae-Woo, okay?' So-Won wondered.
So-Won wanted to ask Tae-Woo.
However, So-Won didn't even have the right to worry about Tae-Woo.
So-Won was the same person as them not too long ago.
Whenever So-Won encountered Tae-Woo, he still clearly remembered what expressions he made.
The So-Won of the past looked worse than those who trembled at Tae-Woo, full of disgust and fear like looking at a monster he doesn't want to see.
In a world where everyone saw him as a monster, he couldn't be human for a moment even infront of his own guide.
A sense of guilt flooded in again.
So-Won felt heavy like cotton with water.
'I'm sorry, Tae-Woo,' So-Won murmured in a low tone.
This time it's really small enough for him not to hear.
It's still a little early to get off work.
Thanks to this, the road was not blocked, so So-Won was able to arrive near his house quickly.
Tae-Woo's black car stopped near So-Won's apartment.
"I'll let you know the date of moving quickly."
"I see."
So-Won didn't get out of the car right after opening the door.
Tae-Woo's eyes turned to So-Won, who was hesitating.
"Thank you for taking me here." Tae-woo said.
So-Won smiled awkwardly.
There was always a tremor in front of So-Won.
So-Won wanted to change little by little from now on.
"Go home safely." So-Won said.
His dark red blood vessels that seemed to move at any moment, and his expressionless face felt heartbreaking today.