How to Fix a Psychopath

Chapter 26

 

 

How to Fix a Psychopath Episode 26

 

 

Poor thing. Poor thing. I feel sorry for Lee Eun-woo.

 

Am I crazy for feeling this way?

 

I looked at Eunwoo Lee, who had fainted again, and then got up from my seat. I searched through the drawers of the living room cabinet, took the envelope that Eunwoo Lee had saved as emergency funds, and walked to the front door. I put on my shoes, which were still arranged so that they could be brought inside the room, and opened the door.

 

I went down the stairs, left the studio, and went to the pharmacy. I grabbed some disinfectant, a styptic, a bandage, gauze, and whatever else I could get my hands on, and paid the bill.

 

As I was about to leave the pharmacy, handing over my wet bills,

 

the pharmacist shouted something at me as he saw the blood on the heels of my crumpled shoes. I just shook my head without saying anything and left the pharmacy.

 

He kept calling me from behind, but I ran away.

 

I ran on the rainy road. It was a bit far from the studio, so it took me a long time to get back. However, I was able to meet Lee Eun-woo, who was wandering around the studio like a madman, right away. I had even organized his shoes so that it would be easy to get out, but Lee Eun-woo was looking for someone like crazy with bare feet.

 

He was searching alleys and alleys as if he had fainted and his head was cracked, or as if his eyes were spinning around.

 

He was running around here and there, talking on the phone, not caring about the person who was so close to him.

 

He’s crazy. If you have time to find me, you should think about going to the hospital right away. What if you die walking around in this rain with that body?

 

I grabbed the bag of pills tightly and screamed.

 

“What are you doing there!”

 

 

Even from afar, Lee Eun-woo, who had been talking on the phone with a serious expression, turned his head at the sound of my voice. I tried to shout, but my voice was so quiet that it was buried in the rain. However, Lee Eun-woo heard.

 

Eunwoo Lee put down the phone and ran towards me.

 

“What are you doing here?”

 

Eunwoo Lee asked me with a strange expression that seemed both unknown and knowing. An expression that seemed both incomprehensible and trying to understand.

 

“Why… … didn’t you run away?”

 

I opened my mouth, but then shut it tightly again. Blood-mixed, crimson liquid was dripping from the back of Eunwoo Lee’s neck. I swallowed once and lifted the pharmacy bag.

 

“Approximately…….”

 

“Approximately?”

 

Eunwoo Lee stupidly followed what I said.

 

Then, he slowly looked at the bag of medicine in my hand. Ah,

 

he seemed to understand, but a bewildered expression still settled on Eunwoo Lee’s face.

 

And then the expression on his face changed subtly.

 

“… … I thought you ran away. I thought you left me… … .”

 

Can a frowning expression and a bright smile be present at the same time?

 

I had nothing else to say, so I kept my mouth shut. Regardless, Eunwoo Lee smiled beautifully.

 

I’ve never been in a swamp before, but it must feel horrible. It must be a feeling of not being able to move your free limbs and having your airways suffocated.

 

Even if I don’t fall into the swamp, there are people I feel that way about just by opening my eyes.

 

We are still, and still imperfect.

 

* * *

 

“Soyoung, wake up. You have to go to school.”

 

The beautiful Lee Eun-woo lingered before my eyes. After

 

becoming a third-year high school student, I stopped living in the dormitory. Lee Eun-woo treated me well every day. And on this cold winter day, the college entrance exam was just around the corner.

 

Eunwoo Lee laughed quietly as he watched me not being able to open my eyes properly.

 

A deep, affectionate smile and Eunwoo Lee’s large hand wrapped around my back. My body got up from the bed on its own.

 

I barely opened my eyes and looked at Eunwoo Lee. He was dressed in his uniform just as neatly as ever. Eunwoo Lee kissed my forehead and cheek and hugged me tightly. Like someone who performs a ritual every day, Eunwoo Lee started his day like that.

 

“They say it might snow starting today, so let’s dress warmly and go out.”

 

It was peaceful.

 

Lee Eun-woo no longer shed blood, and I didn’t struggle to escape from Lee Eun-woo. I couldn’t tell whether I had just gotten used to it or had become tamed by Lee Eun-woo. One thing was certain: there were no more victims for Lee Eun-woo.

 

 

“huh.”

 

I don’t think he has changed.

 

People don’t change that easily. It’s always been like that. When I felt that Eunwoo Lee had changed, he started acting like a crazy person. When I thought that Eunwoo Lee wouldn’t do weird things anymore and I was relieved, he started acting like a half-crazy person.

 

The day before, when I went out to the convenience store in front of the studio to buy sanitary pads. Eunwoo Lee was sleeping for a while, and since she would be back soon anyway, she didn’t even bring her cell phone.

 

That was probably the problem. When I came back, the house was a mess. He searched the whole house as if he were looking for any trace of me who had suddenly disappeared. The only thing Eunwoo Lee could find was that the envelope of money he had filled for me in the living room was gone.

 

Did Eunwoo Lee’s eyes not see the school uniform, school bag, and cell phone that were hanging up properly? When I returned home, I ran into Eunwoo Lee who was about to leave. He had just gotten up and was looking at me with his head stretched out and his sharp eyes.

 

 

Then, what he said to me next was even funnier.

 

‘Where have you been?’

 

‘Convenience store. … … Why is the house like this?’

 

‘cell phone.’

 

‘huh?’

 

‘Why did you leave your cell phone?’

 

He acted like she was going to be in big trouble if she left him even for a second. I was also tired of Eunwoo doing this… … but more than that, the feeling of emptiness was bigger.

 

It hasn’t changed, and you still don’t trust me.

 

‘I am right in front of you. Were you worried?’

 

Lee Eun-woo nodded quietly to my words. I hugged Lee Eun-woo. Lee Eun-woo, who was about to pour out more obsessive words to me, closed his mouth. That was a quick choice that allowed Lee Eun-woo to calm down. In the end, Lee Eun-woo let out a sigh in my arms.

 

‘Tell me to do everything, Soyoung. I’ll do it all. … … Even if I am sleeping, wake me up and tell me to do it. You don’t have to do anything, I’ll do it all.’

 

Since then, Lee Eun-woo never fell asleep in front of me. For 1 year and 3 months. During that time, Lee Eun-woo was still on guard.

 

In that empty and hollow heart, I cried alone after Lee Eun-woo returned to his room. I don’t even know why I cried. It felt like an unknown emotion was eating me away. Just because Lee Eun-woo didn’t trust me, tears streamed down my pillow.

 

Meanwhile, compassion for Lee Eun-woo is blooming again. I guess he is trying not to trust easily. He is trying not to let his guard down because he thinks I could run away at any time.

 

Those thoughts are also justifying the fact that Eunwoo Lee doesn’t trust me.

 

It’s unbelievable.

 

“Soyoung, when you’re done washing up, come and eat!”

 

I finished washing up and looked up. The me in the mirror was Kim So-young. Thanks to the sink that Lee Eun-woo broke, we had to move to a different room. I turned off the faucet. I took

 

out the towel I had put on the shelf and wiped off the water, and left the bathroom.

 

In the studio, Eunwoo Lee was busily preparing breakfast.

 

Eunwoo Lee, who grew up preciously without any shortcomings, was a good cook, almost like a lie. He made pretty scrambled eggs and other side dishes right in front of me.

 

I roughly applied some skin lotion and sat down at the dining table.

 

Eunwoo Lee put down the bowl of rice in front of me. I used to think that the cute apron he was wearing over his neat school uniform didn’t really suit him, but now that I look at it, it seems to suit him quite well. I thought that cute things wouldn’t suit Eunwoo Lee, who is now well over 180 cm tall.

 

“Why?”

 

Eunwoo Lee asked as he sat down at the table in front of me.

 

“Nothing.”

 

“Just tell me.”

 

Suddenly, Eunwoo Lee grabbed my hand as I was trying to pick

 

up the chopsticks. His persistent black eyes looked at me. Even this had not changed at all.

 

“The apron.”

 

“Apron?”

 

“Yeah, it suits you well.”

 

Eunwoo Lee looked at the apron hanging on the chair next to him.

 

“… … Should I wear it again?”

 

Eunwoo Lee asked again with an embarrassed face. A smile broke out on that ridiculous and embarrassed face. Eunwoo Lee grabbed the apron with the intention of putting it back on without asking, and made a slightly stupid face.

 

“……What?”

 

She asked back with a little nervousness at her face.

 

because you are pretty.”

 

Eunwoo Lee spoke with the kindest and gentlest smile in the world.

 

When did it start? I blinked my eyes with my heart pounding and picked up my chopsticks as if nothing had happened.

 

* * *

 

“Soyoung, take good care of your textbooks.”

 

Eunwoo Lee spoke while washing dishes like a mother. After I finished brushing my teeth, I picked up the bag that was leaning next to the bed. Then, a small doll hidden in the bag caught my eye.

 

A white doll of a puppy with big, sparkling eyes was looking at me.

 

It brought me back to the memory of that day.

 

I was treating Eunwoo Lee’s head in a messy house. Even though I blocked it with a bandage or gauze, the blood kept coming out, so I was struggling all alone. Eunwoo Lee showed no sign of pain as I was picking at his torn head, and he was holding onto my clothes with his big hands.

 

Then, Eunwoo Lee suddenly got up from his seat and said,

 

‘I’ll go out and come back.’

 

He ran out of the house saying that.

 

I wondered if he went to the hospital alone because I was so clumsy. I thought it was better, but I didn’t want to stay in the messy house, so I went outside and waited for Eunwoo Lee in the hallway. It was a bit chilly after getting drenched in the monsoon rain, and it felt like the marble hallway was chilly in the summer.

 

When I waited for a long time and Eunwoo Lee didn’t come, and I thought he might never come back, I heard the sound of the front door of the one-room building opening. I, who was a little tired, lifted my face from my knees.

 

The sound of the thumping up of the stairs two at a time, as if they were coming in a hurry, could be heard loudly over the sound of the rain.

 

And the sound of footsteps stopped exactly on our floor.

 

‘Soyoung-ah.’

 

Eunwoo Lee came running in a hurry as he saw me crouching in the hallway. Eunwoo Lee was soaking wet again. Before I could open my mouth to ask where he had been, Eunwoo Lee handed me something.

 

The doll, which was not very big, but not small either, was

 

wrapped in transparent packaging.

 

‘Here, I bought this for you. There aren’t many things that look similar to it, so I was walking around the city. I’m a little late right? Sorry.’

 

The doll, which was wet and blurry, was a puppy doll. Even through the gaps, it looked very similar to the puppy that Lee Eun-woo had killed. It was pure white, had black eyes, and even had its tongue stick out red on purpose.