Chapter 172

I woke faintly to the light shining through the curtains.

A familiar ceiling. A safe and quiet room. A soft bed.

And generous leisure, with no need to force myself to shake off sleep.

This is the best.

Satisfied with my situation, I buried my face in the pillow.

57 hours.

That was the time it took from when Cha Si-eon and I were deployed in the 「Railway Station」 suppression operation until we returned.

By feel, it seemed like we had been trapped there for more than a week.

But it had only been two days and nine hours.

My sense of time was a mess, but in any case, that disaster, hardship, and ordeal were over.

A body fresh from washing, clean and comfortable pajamas, pleasant air.

Even the moderate fatigue that helped one sleep well.

I am glad I am alive.

Bzzzt—

My smartwatch vibrated lightly.

It seemed some message had arrived, but right now, sleep came first.

Bzzzt—

Mm, later.

Bzzzt— bzzzt— bzzzt—

……What is it now?

Forcing my eyes open, I checked the name displayed on my smartphone.

Of course.

The sender was Cha Si-eon.

You…… are you not tired……?

Thinking I would only check the contents and go back to sleep, I tapped my smartwatch.

But after checking the contents, I had no choice but to get out of bed.

The message Cha Si-eon had sent was short.

-I am going to visit Lee Sol.

---

Lee Sol’s body recovered immediately after we secured the core of 「Railway Station」.

Just like the rescued person from 「Ant Hill」, her collapsed body was quickly restored, and her consciousness, which had remained hazy, also returned to normal.

However, because the bodily deformation had continued for too long, her condition needed to be observed.

So Lee Sol was still staying in a contaminated-person quarantine room.

Still, they said the recovery trend was clear, so I thought I would meet her and greet her happily.

……That was what I had come out thinking.

But Team Leader Cha’s expression was strangely stiff.

What is this atmosphere now?

Having a somehow bad premonition, I asked Cha Si-eon.

“But did they not say we would have to wait a little before meeting Lee Sol?”

“Analysis Team 5 requested that we come.”

“Requested?”

“They say Lee Sol has been refusing meals since regaining consciousness.”

“……?”

We barely saved her, and now she is on a hunger strike?

Is there a reason for that?

Or did some other problem happen?

I belatedly understood Team Leader Cha’s atmosphere.

And that this visit was not simply a visit where we would happily share our thoughts.

I became serious along with him and crossed the Bureau corridor.

A little later.

We arrived at the quarantine room where Lee Sol was.

However, what greeted us was an unexpected refusal at the door.

“Sol says she cannot meet you, Team Leader…….”

Leaving us standing in the corridor, the researcher in charge of Lee Sol spoke.

“What is the reason?”

“It seems she remembers everything from when she was contaminated. She says she is too sorry to see her uncle, too…….”

“…….”

“We contacted you because we thought she might listen if she saw you, Team Leader, but this is…….”

The researcher muttered as if troubled.

Then she said to us again,

“I am sorry, but please wait just a moment. I will try persuading her more.”

The researcher went back into the quarantine room, and we were left in the corridor to wait.

She is too sorry to see him.

I never thought it would turn out like this.

But thinking about it, it would have been more unnatural for the child to suddenly greet us normally.

For the past half year, Lee Sol had been unable to go home and had been trapped here.

Her body had gradually twisted, and unable to control her own body, she had rampaged.

She had hurt the people around her and had been treated harshly in return.

At such a young age, the shock could not have been small.

She would need quite some time to sort through those experiences.

Click—

A little later, the researcher came out into the corridor again.

Then, with an even darker face, she shook her head.

“It really will not work today. I am sorry, when you came all the way here.”

It seemed Lee Sol was firmly refusing the visit.

“Did she perhaps say anything…….”

Just as I was asking the researcher about the exact situation.

Cha Si-eon suddenly headed toward the door of the quarantine room.

“Uh…….”

The researcher was flustered, but she did not stop Cha Si-eon.

I was the same.

In the meantime, Cha Si-eon strode into the quarantine room, and the researcher and I followed after him.

In the middle of the wide quarantine room, I saw Lee Sol in a gray tracksuit.

Lee Sol was sitting on the bed, sniffling and crying.

And another researcher was soothing Lee Sol in front of her.

“……!”

Lee Sol started in surprise when she spotted Cha Si-eon.

Lee Sol immediately hid herself behind the researcher’s back.

As if she had committed some grave sin.

Even from far away, I could feel the child trembling.

But Cha Si-eon did not care and walked right up in front of her.

“Lee Sol.”

“…….”

“It was not your fault, so come out.”

Cha Si-eon spoke bluntly.

Just because he was dealing with a 15-year-old teenager, his voice did not become particularly kind or gentle.

Rather, it was more indifferent than usual, and because of that, it sounded more private.

As if he were speaking to family.

It was a natural command tone one might use toward a much younger sibling or a disobedient niece.

But Lee Sol did not listen to him.

That said, she was not refusing either, so the researcher caught between them watched the mood and quietly stepped aside.

At that, Lee Sol’s figure was revealed.

Lee Sol sat on the bed with her head deeply bowed.

Like a child who had already been scolded even though no one had scolded her yet.

“Why are you not eating?”

At Cha Si-eon’s scolding, tears dripped from Lee Sol’s eyes.

Cha Si-eon simply watched, and after silently sobbing for a long while, Lee Sol squeezed out her voice and asked,

“……Did my dad die?”

“…….”

“Because of me?”

At Lee Sol’s question, Cha Si-eon stopped for the first time.

Cha Si-eon looked back at the researcher, and startled by that gaze, the researcher hurriedly shook her head.

The researchers instead touched their chins as if bewildered.

It was a natural reaction.

They were not foolish enough to let Lee Seop’s story slip to Lee Sol.

At the researchers’ denial, Cha Si-eon looked back at Lee Sol and asked,

“No. Who told you that?”

“I met Dad…….”

……She met her dad?

“Dad said it was all right now, and that I should live well…….”

Surely not.

Had he come to Lee Sol too, like he had appeared in my dream and spoken to me?

“Did Dad die because of me? Was Dad alive……?”

Lee Sol spat out the words while trembling hard.

Every time she pronounced the word “Dad,” a sob mixed into it.

Before a truth she could not bear to handle, it was as if she were waiting to be punished instead.

At Lee Sol’s question, we too were left speechless.

We could not lie.

But we could not tell the truth either.

Your father was left for two years in a state neither alive nor dead.

And because of you, we made up our minds to kill him.

That was the best option.

No matter how one packaged it, that was the truth.

We could not say such a thing to a child.

Silence continued.

As if she had found the answer in that silence, Lee Sol began crying quietly again.

“……Why is she only saying this now.”

At that sight, the researchers also sighed.

It seemed they had only now learned why Lee Sol had been refusing meals and crying.

Lee Sol continued to cry, and Cha Si-eon no longer opened his mouth.

The researcher tried soothing her too, but it was no use.

“It seems we should leave her alone until she calms down.”

Perhaps deciding it would not work, the researchers tried to send us out.

Cha Si-eon and I had no choice but to turn around.

“Wait a moment.”

“……?”

“Could I try speaking to her briefly?”

Before crossing the quarantine room door, I said that to the researcher.

At my request, the researcher looked puzzled.

However, it was not an unreasonable request, and soon she nodded.

Since it seemed better to talk quietly, Cha Si-eon and the two researchers decided to wait outside for a while.

And 20 minutes later.

I called the people waiting in the corridor back in.

“Come in. Sol says she has something to say.”

At my words, Cha Si-eon and the researchers looked startled despite themselves and entered the room.

Lee Sol was still sniffling.

No, because it was right after she had cried her eyes out, her face was even more tear-streaked than before.

When Lee Sol saw Cha Si-eon, tears spilled down again.

Even so, Sol steadied her breathing and said each word clearly to Cha Si-eon.

“Thank you, Uncle. And I’m sorry I hit you……. I’ll grow up later and be filial to you…….”

“……?”

Cha Si-eon was flustered.

Leaving him behind, Sol also greeted the researchers.

“Teachers, thank you for taking care of me all this time.”

“Huh? ……Huh?”

“I’ll eat…….”

With a resolute face, Lee Sol pledged to eat.

The researchers were glad to see it, but at the same time, they looked at me with bewildered eyes.

Cha Si-eon also looked at me and asked with his eyes.

What on earth did you do?

At that, I answered with a leisurely smile.

A middle schooler is no trouble.

---

Lee Sol finished a bowl of rice, cried for a little while again, and fell asleep.

The adults who had succeeded in feeding the child and putting her to sleep, especially the researchers who had spent all day fretting, looked as if they had broken into a cold sweat.

“She would not say anything and only kept crying since yesterday, so we were really worried…….”

One researcher muttered, letting out a sigh of relief.

Then, laughing hollowly, she asked me,

“What on earth did you say to her?”

“I only said clichéd things.”

“Clichéd things?”

Lee Sol, you are very sad, are you not?

What did your dad say at the end?

He told you to live well, right?

But should you skip meals, or should you not?

Would your dad really want you to cry like this in sadness?

And if you keep crying, how would your uncle, who worked so hard, feel?

……I had merely repeated those words for 20 minutes while watching Lee Sol’s reactions.

At my explanation, Cha Si-eon looked at me with blurred eyes.

As if suspecting whether what I had done was consolation, persuasion, or gaslighting.

On the other hand, the two researchers nodded seriously.

“As expected…….”

“This is exactly the importance of the humanities…….”

“I suppose this is why people need to read books.”

“Sol only listened well because she is kind.”

In truth, Lee Sol’s dad and uncle had done all of it.

Lee Sol’s experience was certainly painful.

But at least she had not been lonely.

She had not been isolated either, and there had been people beside her who watched over her until the end.

So she would be able to get back up as much as she needed.

Because people who have received good things can easily become good people.

But the researchers shook their heads firmly.

Then they brought up something unexpected.

“No, Agent. We are truly feeling the greatness of the humanities.”

“We all cried after reading your will too.”

Will.

My will!?