Chapter 39
How to Fix a Psychopath Episode 39
How am I supposed to eat in this room that isn’t even that big? There aren’t any tables or chairs to eat at. I wonder if Eunwoo Lee is feeding me like he did with the rice cakes earlier.
“Have you been waiting long?”
The well-oiled door opened silently and Eunwoo Lee brought out a bowl of porridge on a tray. It smelled delicious. Eunwoo Lee smiled faintly as he looked at me still sitting there.
“Why are you still sitting there?”
“Because there is nowhere to sit to eat.”
“I see. Just wait in bed, just a moment.”
Eunwoo Lee quickly took something down from the head of the bed. What he took down quickly became a bedside table. It wasn’t made to be eaten only when lying down straight, so Eunwoo Lee checked his hands a few times and it was stretched
out vertically enough to be eaten while sitting at the end of the bed.
“I made it with the intention of severing your ligament. I’m glad I made it.”
Ugh. My knees were aching as I got up from my seat.
I guess he made this because he knew I wouldn’t be able to move from my bed all day. There’s an operating table in the next room, and the beds have tables like hospital beds, so it’s almost believable to say it’s a hospital. Isn’t that true? Isn’t he buying a closed hospital and remodeling it?
Thump, hot porridge was placed on the table, steaming. It was just ordinary egg porridge. There was only one spoon, and the porridge was also for one person. I sat down on the bed and looked up at Eunwoo Lee.
“What about you?”
“huh?”
“Eunwoo, aren’t you eating?”
Eunwoo Lee smiled with his handsome face at my words.
“I don’t have to eat it.”
Have you become immortal enough to not need to eat anymore? I picked up my spoon with that foolish thought.
* * *
My mind was hazy. I couldn’t tell if I was sleeping or wandering in a dream. I wondered if I was pressed by scissors. It was hot. Even though it was hot, I couldn’t get rid of the blanket that was pulled up to my neck.
I wanted to toss and turn, but I couldn’t move.
When did I fall asleep?
“Are you okay?”
Yes…….
In the midst of my confusion, I slowly opened my eyes at the sound of a clear voice. In the complete darkness, Eunwoo Lee’s eyes sparkled. Suddenly, something large touched my forehead.
“Ah.”
Eunwoo Lee let out a short sound, as if he had unconsciously and nervously brushed it away. And the large lump of flesh on her forehead also fell off. Her eyes closed weakly. There was a beeping sound in her ears.
“… … you have a fever.”
All that was visible to my closed eyes was a vast darkness.
But my hearing became extremely sensitive due to the hot heat that made it impossible to fall asleep. The tinnitus and the sounds inside the room overlapped, making it so noisy that I became distracted.
There was a creaking sound as the door opened, and a cool breeze blew into the room.
I felt the sweat dripping down my forehead cooling down a little, and my body quickly became chilly again. My body began to shiver involuntarily.
Boom! And then the door closed again, and the wind that had been seeping into the room stopped.
“Just a minute… … . I’ll check your temperature.”
I felt a careful hand pushing my sweat-soaked hair behind my
ear. Lee Eun-woo’s hand was also damp, perhaps from my sweat. I turned my head away, feeling even more uncomfortable, but another hand grabbed the back of my head tightly, preventing me from moving.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I’ll just take a moment.”
Something cold entered my ear. Then, after a while, it went out again.
“This is quite a bit more.”
The sound of something being put down on the table. The sound of water. The sound of Eunwoo Lee’s clothes rubbing against mine and rustling.
“Soyoung, should I get you some water?”
A cold towel was placed on my forehead. I didn’t have the energy to speak, so I just exhaled. As time went on, I felt like I was gasping for breath.
My mind kept falling into the abyss, but I couldn’t sleep. Is this what it’s like to be on the edge of death? It wasn’t strange that I would suddenly lose my breath. My body kept getting cold and then hot. My throat was parched as if it was in a drought from panting.
“Let’s drink water.”
A hand as cold as a towel wrapped around the back of my neck. And something wet touched my mouth. No. I won’t drink it.
As I struck it with my hand, with a nervous voice, a cracking sound was heard.
“… … I’m sorry. I bothered you. But you have to eat it, Soyoung. Your throat hurts. Right?”
Once again, a persistent hand wrapped around my chin. Hot breath burst out from my mouth that was forcibly opened. The hand that held my chin, preventing me from closing it, squeezed it further and opened my mouth. Something wet touched my mouth again. The lukewarm water that surged up went down my throat in an instant.
As if it had reached for a moment, it fell off quickly, so he didn’t force my chin open any longer. My head went back down to the pillow. It was so careful and slow that I could feel my head sinking into the pillow.
“You took in some powdered medicine, so you’ll feel better as long as you sleep.”
What power did Lee Eun-woo’s soft words have? As if it were a lie, drowsiness began to pour down. Was that why the kids in school days followed Lee Eun-woo’s words like they were possessed?
A small breeze blew overhead.
It was a loose, slow breeze, like the kind that would fan you when you were sweating and sleeping on the floor on a summer day.
My eyes opened.
My whole body ached. My muscles were tense, as if someone had beaten me.
“… … Ugh.”
A worn-out, hoarse voice let out a faint groan. Slowly, I raised my upper body from the bed. My body felt like it would collapse again if someone touched it, but my mind was strangely lucid.
“Water…….”
My throat was sore.
Is Eunwoo not there? I leaned my back against the headboard and looked around. At that moment, a door that should have been tightly shut caught my eye. It was a door that Eunwoo had
always meticulously maintained. The door that had been tightly shut and even locked was now wide open before my eyes.
What?
There’s no way it’s open. Why is it open? Did Lee Eun-woo forget and leave the seat empty for a moment? That thorough Lee Eun-woo?
I couldn’t take my eyes off the door as if it was nailed to me. Outside the door was a long, perfectly straight corridor. There was nothing else. No, there must have been something, but I couldn’t see it.
Because there was another door facing the wide open door.
I slowly stretched my legs out of the bed. The blankets rubbed against each other, making a creaking sound, and I lowered both my legs to the floor. I gulped, swallowing the tense saliva that had pooled in my dried-up salivary glands.
The soft carpet tickled my toes. I thought it was a signal to move quickly, so I got up from the bed. I felt like I was doing something bad. My breathing became shallow and my steps became slow.
“Eunwoo… … .”
Finally, when he reached the door, I cautiously called out to Eunwoo Lee. He might have accidentally left it open. If she went out, it wouldn’t be strange if he really cut off her foot. Eunwoo Lee would probably do that.
Or is the construction finally finished?
I stood in front of the door and looked around the hallway. It was a somewhat familiar hallway shape, but what was it? I couldn’t remember. However, there were still a couple of windows in the hallway that had not been sealed with cement. Rather, the wind was blowing in through the gaps in the windows that were wide open like doors.
Is it intentional? Is it a mistake? Is he testing me? Will I run away or not? I turned my body and looked at the ceiling in the corner. The CCTV installed to see if there was a suicide. I wonder if he was watching me through that camera.
I decided to give up on going out.
Even if I ran out that window now, I had nothing. I don’t even have the money I had saved as an emergency fund like I did in high school to catch a taxi. And looking at the leaves and such outside the window, it wasn’t a place where I could easily catch a taxi.
No matter how much pain she was in, her judgment was not clouded to the point where she would have lost her leg by running away carelessly.
And now I didn’t feel like running away. Maybe it would be right to say I gave up.
“Cool.”
As I stood still in front of the door, the wind blew so hard that my hair swayed. The end of my skirt fluttered in the wind and then sank.
I don’t plan on running away, but can I take a look around the house? Okay. If I do that, it’ll just provoke Eunwoo Lee again.
How long had I been standing in front of the door? Not only did my legs hurt, but my whole body felt chilly again. I had forgotten that I had a cold. I raised my hand and touched my forehead.
“I think the fever has gone down.”
Actually, I don’t know. I put my hand down and rubbed the back of my neck. I thought it would be soaked with sweat and sticky, but it wasn’t that bad. I blinked. Did Lee Eunwoo wipe it with a wet towel?
“What are you doing there?”
Eunwoo Lee suddenly appeared.
Uh… … . I lowered the hand that was on my forehead. Across the hallway, Eunwoo Lee was standing in the hallway, holding a fairly large basin. His slightly hardened face quickly came closer to me.
What have you been doing?
There were several new towels in the basin of water. Eunwoo Lee, who always wore long sleeves and long pants, was wearing slightly more comfortable tracksuits with his sleeves rolled up.
In that hot summer, he would have worn short sleeves or shorts, but Lee Eun-woo didn’t. But, I think I know why. I carefully put my hand on Lee Eun-woo’s wet forearm. Lee Eun-woo’s hand trembled. The water in the basin rippled at his movement.
The scar that could be traced with a finger had new flesh growing.
“……does it hurt?”
Eunwoo Lee quietly shook his head at my words.
The face that seemed fierce just a moment ago quickly changed into an innocent face and followed my groping hand. The small scars that were not noticeable unless you looked closely were small but deep.
“Who did this?”
I don’t think I saw it in middle school.
“Father.”
It was a heavy word. It was a sign of violence. The long, torn scars were thin and fine, as if paper had been cut with a knife. In addition, there were parts where the bones were slightly broken, and parts that were strangely more protruding.
“……Why.”
“Just. I was trying to get away him from my mom. He tore my muscle while I trying to hold on to her. I guess it got a little twisted as it grew.”
“……This?”
“Oh, that’s… When I was little, my father pushed me down the stairs. I covered my face with both arms and hit the step, and my bone went in and never came back out.”
What’s funny in that? He laughs faintly, like someone was recalling good old memories. What a difficult thing to do between humans, he did to his son, and to a child who hadn’t even grown up yet.
Lee Hyun-woo was not normal either. And the reason was because he was jealous of his son who was with his mother. I was shocked, and I felt pity for Lee Eun-woo who had to endure all the violence without anyone helping him in that house.
I brushed his slightly bruised forearm bone. Eunwoo Lee stared at me with his throat throbbing loudly.
“You must have been in pain.”
“I don’t know?”
Eunwoo Lee raised his head as if he didn’t know. His slightly hot eyes were looking down at me. His long eyelashes were shadowed, and my face beneath them had a slightly embarrassed expression.
