568

 [Chapter 153]

[The Price of Changing Life (4)]

After that day, Eunha snuck into Lee Yoojung's hospital room every night.

Though it was called sneaking in, she would open the window at night so he could easily visit and wait.

It was truly no different from a secret meeting.

Today was the same.

Yoojung said if she leaves the window open, it means I can just come in. If only the lock is undone, she asked me to knock first...

If the window is completely locked, it means we can't meet today, was it?

There was an incident the day before.

Eunha who entered through the unlocked window ended up witnessing her undressing.

She was in the middle of taking off clothes because she got too hot from wearing multiple layers.

At that time, she asked him shyly to please knock in the future when visiting.

Anyway, Eunha who finished preparing to meet her today headed to the window.

Then─

"Pipi! Pipi pipi papa papa pupu pupu!"

Where have you been going alone lately? Take me with you too.

Fire Chicken who had made a nest on the windowsill flapped its wings and questioned.

"You want to come too?" "Pipi!"

"Well, I guess I can bring you..." 

"Papa papa!"

"Okay, I'll bring you too. But don't be too noisy, okay? Don't tire her out." "Pipi pipi!"

Fire Chicken sitting on his head.

It didn't seem like it would be a big problem.

Eunha decided to bring Fire Chicken to meet Lee Yoojung.

By now he was so familiar with the magic formulas deployed in her hospital room that he could twist them even with his eyes closed.

"─You came?" "Pipi pipi papa papa pupu pupu." "Oh my?"

When he snuck into her hospital room, the window was wide open.

She who happened to be reading a braille book in bed greeted him happily.

She tilted her head while holding Fire Chicken that suddenly flew into her arms.

"Pipi papa!! Papa!!"

"Grim Reaper? This child..."

"It's called Fire Chicken."

"Fire Chicken? Is it a type of... chicken?" "Uh... if you're a chicken then I guess you're a chicken? Just think of it as a pet spicy chicken."

"Pupu! Pupu pupu!"

"...It seems angry?" "Uh... it says it's not just spice, but if anything it's a volcano..."

"What?"

"Don't try to take it seriously. Just think of it as a flying chicken."

Regardless of Fire Chicken expressing dissatisfaction,

Eunha spoke to Lee Yoojung who was flustered by Fire Chicken's affectionate attitude.

She kept tilting her head as if not understanding well.

Then she chuckled.

"─I thought if the Grim Reaper had a pet, it would be a cat. But I guess it's a bird, not a cat?"

"It's not just a bird either..." "Huh?"

"There are things like that. It is a bird. And saying a grim reaper suits cats is prejudice. I've been saying I'm not a grim reaper all along..."

Comparing the bird in her arms to a mere cat.

Eunha's mouth corners lifted seeing her innocently finding it cute without knowing how precious a familiar he was holding.

Though Fire Chicken seemed quite displeased.

To Eunha's eyes, her appearance looked so lovable.

"But you haven't told me a single word about who you are. So I don't know what name to call you by, that's why I'm calling you Grim Reaper like I did at first."

"Well... that's true." "So won't you tell me your name?"

"Hmm..."

Soon Lee Yoojung who couldn't see but was looking straight at Eunha.

Eunha shrugged hearing her express dissatisfaction with a deliberately stern face.

As she said, Eunha hadn't tried to reveal his identity until now.

Just... If we can stay like this, I'm satisfied with this.

A relationship where they could be comfortable with each other.

Eunha liked this relationship now.

If he revealed he was Noh Eunha, and she revealed she was a direct descendant of Luminous Group,

Surely considering each other's backgrounds, they wouldn't be able to have open conversations like now.

So just like this.

Eunha didn't want to reveal his identity as much as possible.

"─I'm sorry, but that seems difficult. You'll get hurt if you know. Unlike what you think, I'm a really scary person."

So Eunha spoke to her with lots of bravado.

Of course, her reaction couldn't be good.

She pouted her lips.

"Tsk... but it's unfair." "What's unfair?" "You know who I am, but I don't know who you are." "So what. I can come meet you wherever you are because I know your name."

"But I don't know who you are, so I can't come meet you wherever you are."

"..."

"I can't even see you, so even if we pass by on the street, I might not notice."

Lee Yoojung grumbling in a gloomy tone.

Eunha felt his heart flutter while also feeling sorry for her.

For her who couldn't see, there weren't many clues to find him.

But even so─

"─It's okay." "..."

Eunha asserted.

He who sat on the edge of her bed placed his hand on top of hers.

"Wherever you are, I'll come meet you first."

"..." "Even if you don't recognize me, I'll recognize you first. So it's okay."

If only we were connected by a Pass.

Eunha conveyed emotions he couldn't express in words through the warmth of his palm.

Perhaps because sincerity was evident,

She just closed her mouth without saying anything.

Then as if trying to lighten the mood─

"─You can't get away with it like that. Tell me too."

"You're not letting it go..."

"If you don't tell me your name, I'll keep calling you Grim Reaper in the future too."

"Fine, go ahead, call me that. I'll just be called that." "That's mean."

Lee Yoojung sulks.

Eunha chuckled and held her hand.

Then she held his hand too.

"Next time..." "Yes?"

"I'll tell you next time when I get the chance." "Really? You have to tell me?"

"I'll tell you. So don't be upset."

☆

On Taeyang's mother's condition kept worsening.

Sirius, Alice, Luminous, Dangun.

The four groups provided full support to try to improve her condition, but no significant effects appeared.

─As expected, only the Elixir will work.

I heard Alice Group recently started manufacturing to try making the Elixir... It will take quite some time to extract components from ingredients and make it.

Until then... can she hold on?

Eunha who was receiving updates frequently couldn't shake off his complicated emotions.

As if there was such a thing as fate,

The situation was flowing in a direction that said he could save one person in exchange for not being able to save another.

"─Ah, oppa..."

"How's your mother?" "...She just regained consciousness a little while ago, but now she's sleeping again."

"I see."

Until the second Elixir is completed,

There's nothing to do but wait and hope On Taeyang's mother holds on.

Eunha who couldn't find any other solution came to visit On Taeyang's mother.

Though it was in the middle of the semester,

On Taehee recently took a leave of absence from school and was devoting herself to nursing her mother.

Eunha who visited the hospital room nodded to On Taehee who greeted him with a dark face.

"Are you eating properly?"

"Of course... I'm eating well. I can't collapse too..."

"Is this the face of someone eating well? You've lost half your weight." "Hehe..."

She seems to have lost a lot of weight.

Eunha couldn't hide his concern seeing her laugh weakly.

When he put snacks from the table in her hand, she reluctantly ate them.

On Taeyang...

Did she say he hasn't been coming lately?

Only medical equipment beeped regularly.

Eunha looked around the hospital room without saying anything.

He heard Luminous Group provided necessary items.

Nevertheless, the hospital room atmosphere was strangely empty and depressed.

Then he recalled what Jo Ara said when she visited a few days ago.

A few days ago, On Taeyang suddenly got angry and has been training non-stop at the academy.

'─I did tell him not to come anymore if he was going to get so angry. But don't you think this is a bit much? He really doesn't come because I told him not to come? How can he do this when his mom is lying in bed?'

'So Taehee is nursing alone now?'

'Yes! That's what I'm saying! His younger sister isn't even going to school now... But he's just swinging his sword saying he needs to succeed for everyone to be well... Where did things go wrong?'

She blamed herself for not managing her childhood friend properly.

Jo Ara came to visit Eunha and cried in his arms all day before leaving.

So Eunha who had been preoccupied with Lee Yoojung lately came to see On Taeyang's mother himself.

Taehee has lost even more weight than when I saw her before. I should have come sooner.

Though it had only been two weeks,

Eunha thought On Taehee's condition looked precarious.

He was worried about On Taeyang's mother, but also worried about On Taehee.

Just then─

"─You know, oppa."

"Hm, what?"

On Taehee who had been clutching the empty snack bag suddenly broke the silence and opened her mouth.

Eunha who had been lost in thought turned his head to her.

Their eyes met.

"I heard from my brother..."

"..."

A trembling voice.

On Taehee carefully spoke while gauging Eunha's reaction.

"─That Elixir thing that was in the news recently... You had it, he said?"

"...Yes, that's right."

Elixir.

The word that popped out of On Taehee's mouth.

Eunha was momentarily shaken.

But the shaking was only for a moment.

Regaining his composure,

Eunha answered her words.

Then her eyes wavered.

"I'm not sure if I heard wrong, but he said you were originally going to use it on our mom?"

"...That's right."

"..."

On Taehee tries to uncover the truth.

The truth that will be painful if she knows.

Eunha's voice sank lower and lower.

Her voice trembled more and more.

Nevertheless, he didn't try to avoid her eyes.

As if it couldn't be helped even if she blamed him.

"Then... it's true that the Elixir that was originally going to our mom as you said ended up going to Luminous Group."

"I'm sorry. That's what happened." "Sob..."

On Taehee who had been speaking while biting her lips hard finally burst into tears.

Eunha tried to comfort her but withdrew his hand stretched out in mid-air.

It was something he couldn't comfort her about, and shouldn't comfort her about.

Eunha just had to wait impassively for her crying to stop.

"─It's okay."

"..."

How much time had passed?

She spoke while sniffling.

Eunha silently looked at her as if asking what was okay.

Then she smiled brightly.

It seemed like a forced smile.

"I believe there must have been a reason you had no choice but to give the Elixir to someone else instead of our mom. I want to... believe that."

"..."

"Because it's you, Eunha oppa... That person must have been in a more serious condition than our mom so you had no choice but to give them the Elixir. Right?" "..."

"And if it was our mom... She probably would have said to use it on someone with more days left to live."

"Taehee..." "I want to believe that."

Appealing to emotions and friendship,

From her position, she could have blamed Eunha all she wanted.

But On Taehee didn't appeal, and rather spoke words that seemed to defend his actions.

A situation Eunha never expected.

He thought he wouldn't be able to talk comfortably with On Taehee anymore.

But her behavior was completely unexpected.

However─

─Taehee... must have had a hard time.

Well... Even if she acts mature, she's still only 14 years old. No, maybe this has nothing to do with age.

Considering On Taehee's situation,

It wasn't incomprehensible.

Eunha looked down at her trying to press her body close to his shoulder while recalling On Taehee's situation.

She grabbed his collar.

"─So I don't want oppa to feel sorry to me... Next time... I hope oppa will come visit me like this again."

Her voice was desperate.

Tears burst out again.

"It's too hard... alone..."

Her mother is mostly sleeping.

Her only brother On Taeyang keeps not showing up.

In the end, she has no choice but to spend time alone in the hospital room.

"Please don't abandon me too, oppa."

People cannot live alone.

Even when people are together, there are times when they can't overcome loneliness.

For her who wasn't even an adult yet, loneliness must have been too hard to bear.

That's why she clings to him.

Because now Noh Eunha was the only one who could comfort her.

Realizing this, Eunha─

"─I'm sorry."

A family fell apart because of his choice.

But he decided not to regret it.

And didn't regret it.

If he could change Lee Yoojung's life,

By destroying one family,

He was willing to make the same choice over and over.

"─I won't abandon you. I won't abandon you. Why would I abandon you?"

"Really...?"

"Really. So stop crying now. I'm sorry. Really... I'm sorry."

Nevertheless, his heart was not at ease.

Seeing On Taehee shed tears, Eunha felt he truly had destroyed a family.

At the same time, he projected himself who lost family in his previous life onto her.

That's why he said it.

Even knowing he couldn't atone.

─I'll keep taking care of you... so you can live happily.

It can't be helped even if she comes to resent him.

Eunha destroyed a family in exchange for changing Lee Yoojung's life.

And as a result, he ended up changing On Taehee's life.

So he must pay the price for changing her life.

"..."

Not responsibility,

A price that can't be called atonement.