Chapter 208
“…Escape?”
At this moment, I couldn’t hide my emotional turmoil at the unexpected word that came from her mouth.
Cheon Aram, staring into my eyes, answered my question with another question.
“Do you feel responsible?”
“….”
But that was also an answer.
“…Yes, I feel an overwhelming amount of it.”
It was so heavy that it was hard to bear, or maybe I had already collapsed under its weight.
“I keep thinking that if I had done just a little better, if I had considered the children’s feelings more, or if I had shown a more adult attitude.”
I volunteered to be a place of support for children who each had their own pain. I pledged to be a perfect adult for those kids, even if I wasn’t a perfect person.
However, realizing that those children expected me to act not as an adult but as a rational being, my perspective began to shift.
Ignoring that feeling might itself be a deception.
So I tried to face it. I tried to reveal my feelings. And the result is the situation we have now.
What if I had tried a little harder to understand just how precarious their hearts were?
Or what if I hadn’t entertained the arrogant thought of enduring all their pain?
That thought shattered into fragments, no different from being devoid of thought, scattering to the other side.
All that remained was merely the illusion of family and the irrevocable choices I couldn’t take back.
“Is that really true?”
“Yes?”
“If Team Leader Seon had done better, could this situation have been avoided?”
Of course. I could have prevented this situation.
“Yes, I think we could have achieved a better outcome.”
“Then what about me?”
“….”
“If I had done better, wouldn’t I have been able to prevent this situation?”
I shook my head.
“That’s not true. Our perspectives were different, and there was a gap in the information due to that, and I had far more opportunities to engage with the children.”
“Information and opportunity…”
With a puzzled look, Cheon Aram repeated those words, shook her head, and then tapped her nose.
“There was more than enough information.”
“….”
“I’ve been watching how those kids’ scents change for almost seven years now. From the moment those pure and kind children started to develop small desires, leading up to this current situation where one guy decided to blow up everything—his company, group, career, and relationships.”
“Up until just before this explosive situation, you know?”
With a look of resignation, or perhaps finding this entire situation bizarre, she let out a strange laugh and turned to me.
“I thought this was the limit, but the next day the smell only got stronger. And then the following day, it broke that record and got even stronger. It was like something out of a horror movie! At some point, I couldn’t even show my face in front of the kids.”
“….”
No wonder I hadn’t seen Cheon Aram face-to-face with the kids in a while.
“But this isn’t just my story, right? Our colleagues are included as well.”
“…Huh?”
“Do you really think those friends didn’t understand the children’s feelings at all? At some point, they were blatantly showing that they were obsessed with ‘that guy, Seon Taeyang.’ …Soo-yeon too, Johan, Hyun-woo, James, Isabella, all of them—Hyerin, Miso, Narae, Eunbyeol—without saying a word, they’ve all definitely had some creepy experiences, right?”
“….”
“Don’t believe me? Should I tell you about what Soo-yeon experienced? Once, Gaeul—”
“No, that’s fine! I think I can pass on that!”
Seeing me frantically waving my hands, Cheon Aram chuckled softly and said.
“You get the gist, right? Even though there were choices available to all of us, we ended up in this situation due to complacency or feelings of respect, so at least for the original members of TwoBear, we all share the responsibility.”
“….”
“It’s a responsibility that belongs to all of us, not just Team Leader Seon.”
I could easily guess why Cheon Aram was saying such things.
But even so, it had nothing to do with what I needed to do.
“Still, I think someone has to take responsibility.”
“Is that Team Leader Seon?”
“…Yes, that’s correct.”
“…I see.”
After a brief silence, Cheon Aram hardened her gaze and said.
“So, this time, are you going to take it all on and self-destruct again? Like you always do?”
There was a hint of anger in her voice.
I acknowledged it and spoke the thought I had been mulling over.
“It’s not something I’d call self-destruction. I’m just doing my role.”
“….Ha ha, really? But this time, it won’t work that way. No matter how much Team Leader Seon tries to shoulder everything, the public won’t just let it slide.”
“….”
“Let’s say Team Leader Seon holds a press conference and claims that all the innocent kids were tricked by him, and that he’s the only guilty one playing the villain. Would people then just think, ‘Oh, so all the Girl Revolution members were victims, and Team Leader Seon is the trash here,’ and move on? No way! Sure, the blame might shift more towards Team Leader Seon, but that wouldn’t change the kids’ image into victims. You know that better than anyone, right? Above all, they’ll be questioning that pure innocence, saying it must’ve been the company’s doing.”
“But it was all Team Leader Seon who lured those innocent kids, and let’s assume for a second they were just deceived. Would people then say, ‘Ah, so the Girl Revolution members were all victims and Team Leader Seon was the trash’? No! Not at all! Sure, the blame might shift more towards Team Leader Seon, but that doesn’t change those kids’ images into victims. Team Leader Seon knows that too, right? Most importantly, they’d question that very innocence, saying it was all because the company made them do it.”
“…”
I had no response.
Seeing this, Cheon Aram let out a big sigh and snatched my electronic cigarette, taking a rough puff from it.
As the white vapor rose into the sky, she said, “Team Leader Seon, remember when I mentioned there’s a scent among the smells I handle?”
“I do. And I also remember that I separated the good and bad from that mixed, so-called ‘sweaty’ smell. That was all because of my change of heart.”
“Right, and I said some things back then that probably weren’t too pleasant for you, didn’t I?”
“I wasn’t too offended. It was all true, after all.”
“…”
Rubbing her forehead in frustration, she looked at me with sad eyes.
Then, with concern and pity, she said, “Team Leader Seon, what I was worried about back then wasn’t the bad smell; it was actually the good scent.”
“A good scent? Isn’t that a positive thing?”
She questioned me with disbelief.
“What kind of person do you think has a good scent?”
“Well, maybe a good person?”
“Then what makes someone a good person?”
This was a tough question for me. I was someone who had failed at being that kind of person.
I actually found it hard to agree with the idea that I possessed such a scent.
“Someone who follows morality and law? So, does a newborn baby have the strongest scent? Or is it someone without desires? Then does someone in a vegetative state emit a strong scent?”
“…I don’t think so.”
“Exactly. No.”
Nodding, she continued.
“The scent doesn’t emanate from what you’d call a ‘good person’ at all.”
“Then, who does it come from?”
“From those who sacrifice themselves.”
“…”
“If the bad smell comes from those who sacrifice others for their own desires, the good scent comes from those who sacrifice themselves for others’ desires.”
I let out a hollow laugh and shared my thoughts on that revelation.
After a hollow chuckle, she shared her thoughts on the bizarre situation.
“They’re both dangerous types of people.”
With a sad gaze and a small smile, she looked into my eyes again and said.
“And because of people like them, everyone I know with that kind of fragrance has ended up unhappy… every single one of them.”
“…All of them?”
“Yeah, all of them. Used and thrown away, losing those dear to them above all else… So, even though I might mention bad smells, I’ve never talked about the good fragrance. It felt like once someone started to smell like that, they were cursed to meet a tragic end. The people I’ve started to care for… I don’t want to just watch that anymore.”
It was palpable.
Cheon Aram had changed.
“So, don’t ignore that burden and fear. It’s okay to run away, even if it stinks in the end… No, even if it only stinks, I’ll remain as Team Leader Seon’s friend.”
Cheon Aram, who had been more sensitive to smells than anyone else, judging and evaluating people by that alone.
With more determination than ever. And with resolve.
“I want Team Leader Seon to be happy.”
She said it as if the smell didn’t matter at all.
*
The quest window popped up.
[Follow Cheon Jong-hoon’s suggestion and become the overall producer of SS.]
[Reward – Glasses of Ambiguity]
“….”
I just stared at it blankly.
Oh Yoori appeared beside me as if she had always been there.
It didn’t surprise me.
I already knew she had been secretly eavesdropping.
But since Cheon Aram seemed to know that as well, she just didn’t say anything.
Oh Yoori, unaware of my concern, casually said.
“Looks like a quest came up to go to SS?”
“Yeah, and the reward’s decent.”
“What is it?”
“Glasses that prevent others from recognizing me properly.”
“That’s perfect. They’re optimal for adapting there.”
“Yeah, it looks like they’re directly suggesting I use them there…”
…Wait a minute.
A chill ran down my spine, and I stopped speaking.
The conversation was flowing way too naturally.
Despite having never once verbally mentioned the state window to anyone in all my lives, Oh Yoori, who had uncovered my biggest secret, said it so nonchalantly.
“What are you doing? Aren’t you going to accept the quest?”
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