Chapter 42
How to Fix a Psychopath Episode 42
And the open staircase between the kitchen and Class A. There was something more on the second floor, but I haven’t looked around there yet. I couldn’t. Because the stairs on both sides were blocked off, leading straight to the rooftop.
The rooftop was spacious. The rooftop floor, which I thought would be a little dirty due to the paint job, was actually covered with non-slip tiles. The rooftop railing was occupied by a large iron bar that was taller than me and as tall as Eunwoo Lee, and below that was a small flower bed and a makeshift table where you could eat outside.
“Could you buy me a watering can? A smaller one this time.”
I went to the rooftop often.
Lee Eun-woo looked a little uneasy, but there was no particular reason for her to go up to the rooftop. It was to get some sunlight, but most importantly, it was to tend to a small flower bed. She neatly filled in the seeds that Lee Eun-woo had told her about yesterday and planted them.
Since it’s a rooftop with lots of sunlight, the seeds will germinate quickly.
“The one you bought me last time was too heavy.”
Eunwoo Lee nodded in understanding.
Eunwoo Lee always filled a large watering can with water every time he went up to the rooftop. But that was too heavy. She also had to ask that the water supply, which was only connected to the first floor, be connected to the rooftop.
“Okay. I’ll buy something small and pretty.”
Eunwoo Lee whispered while kissing my temple deeply. Then he quickly took off his apron and hung it on the chair.
“I’m going to prepare something to eat.”
“huh.”
Eunwoo Lee said that and went out into the hallway. The sound of the window in the hallway closing was like the meaningless jaw movement of chewing bread. The sound of metal locking and clicking echoed through the hallway.
“Soyoung, should we leave the rooftop door open?”
Eunwoo Lee asked as he walked down the hallway, closing the window diligently and locking it. I answered him to do so, even though I was swallowing my bread. Eunwoo Lee laughed out loud again, as if his hushed voice was funny.
“Okay.”
The sound of Lee Eun-woo closing all the windows and climbing the stairs grew distant. I looked down at the simple breakfast laid out in front of me. Lightly toasted bread, a small amount of strawberry jam, bacon, fried eggs, salad, and cherry tomatoes on a small plate.
As soon as Lee Eun-woo left his seat, silence came.
I swung a plastic spoon into the bowl of salad. The cutlery was always disposable. No breakables. No sharp cutlery.
Every time he brought porridge or soup, he used disposable bowls. So I thought he went out to buy it, but Eunwoo Lee chose to do it this way on purpose.
I swallowed the food that was in my mouth and stood up. I couldn’t eat any more because I had already eaten the snacks that Eunwoo had bought for me before eating.
“Have you already eaten everything?”
Eunwoo Lee came running as soon as he heard the sound of a chair being dragged on the floor.
“Oh, yeah. I guess it’s because I had a snack earlier.”
Eunwoo Lee smiled with an expression on his face as if he looked at his playful daughter. Eunwoo Lee smiled a lot these days. It seemed like he was satisfied with the fact that he could do something for herself.
“What are you going to do today?”
Eunwoo Lee asked me as he cleaned up the food I had eaten.
“I’m going to water the plants on the rooftop… … and read a book.”
“Yeah, I’ll be back soon. I got the water and put it on the roof.”
I said thank you to Eunwoo Lee on his back. Eunwoo Lee let out a hearty laugh as he put the food waste I left behind in the shredder. Then he said, “Of course.”
Eunwoo Lee said the sun was strong, so he put a long-brimmed hat on me and went out. He looked at my sleeveless one-piece dress carefully and then touched my shoulder, saying that he
should buy some sunscreen. I looked a little tanned after being under the flower bed all day yesterday.
“I will be back.”
“Have a nice trip.”
Eunwoo Lee hugged me tightly and left. The entrance was remodeled to be much smaller than the original school gate. They probably didn’t need a large door. Eunwoo Lee slammed the door shut, leaving me behind.
There was a “clank”, a scraping sound of metal.
I turned around and walked up the stairs before Eunwoo could completely lock the door. The sound of my indoor slippers dragging weakly on the floor was consistent.
It wasn’t that big, so I was able to climb the stairs quickly. One by one, I climbed the stairs.
Bang!
It was then that I suddenly heard a strange sound. I was startled and turned to where the sound came from, and it was the second floor right corridor that was completely blocked off.
“……What.”
Did something fall? I lightly touched the iron door that was jammed and unmaintained. Clang! It tried to open, but it got caught on the iron latch and wouldn’t open completely.
Bang!
“Omg!”
I clung to the other side. Could something have fallen down in succession? I felt a cold and eerie air creeping up my ankles from the open space. I quickly climbed up to the rooftop without even thinking about closing the door. I was scared alone.
* * *
Eunwoo Lee came really quickly.
As soon as he got there, Eunwoo Lee, who had been checking to see if I was on the rooftop, smiled brightly when he saw me sticking my head out to the sound of a car. A handsome face and an expensive car. And an incongruous country road. The two of us living in a place with many cornfields or rice paddies and no houses to be found.
Something was off.
It’s strange, but I don’t think that’s necessarily the case.
Eunwoo Lee came into the house, carrying the things he had bought. He must have left his things carelessly, but Eunwoo Lee came up to the rooftop right away, holding only the watering can I had asked for.
“You are here?”
“Yeah. What were you doing?”
Eunwoo Lee asked in a slightly higher tone, seeing that there were no books on the table. After being in the hot place for so long, sweat began to drip down the back of her neck. Eunwoo Lee immediately reached out and wrapped his hand around the back of her neck.
His hands felt cool, as if he had turned on the air conditioner.
“I heard a strange noise on the second floor… … . I was just here.”
The big house that Eunwoo Lee left was scary. After sensing the energy more than once, I couldn’t muster up the courage to run away to the first floor like I did before.
“Second floor?”
“Yeah. I think something fell on the second floor.”
Eunwoo Lee tilted his head.
“There’s nothing on the second floor.”
“……uh?”
“I didn’t leave anything behind that could fall.”
No, it’s just empty there.
When I made a scared face, Eunwoo Lee laughed and hugged me.
“The garage door wouldn’t open, so I poked it. That must be the sound. Are you surprised?”
Eunwoo Lee led me into the room quickly, saying that my face had turned pale.
“You were scared, Soyoung.”
“A little…….”
“So cute… … . Now I guess I’ll just order things online.”
Yeah, that would be better, right?
I nodded at Lee Eun-woo’s words.
The bed that Lee Eun-woo ordered arrived exactly two weeks later.
“Do you want to go up to the rooftop?”
After receiving a call that a bed was coming, Eunwoo Lee suggested it to me. His sad, smiling eyes curved gently and looked affectionate.
“Why?”
“Huh? Well… … because the men are coming.”
Lee Eun-woo spoke as if asking why she was asking it so suddenly. His smiling eyes narrowed horizontally. Lee Eun-woo tilted his head as was his habit when he was feeling uncomfortable.
“Why? Do you want to see those guys?”
I blinked at Lee Eun-woo’s words. Could it be that he still can’t
control such useless suspicions and obsessions? I grabbed Lee Eun-woo’s hand and wrapped it around my waist.
He hugged her waist, still unable to erase the suspicious look on his face.
“Did you think so? No, I wanted to see the bed. I didn’t see it.”
“Ah.”
Eunwoo Lee smiled as if he finally understood. Eunwoo Lee kissed my temple and whispered an apology, as if he was embarrassed.
Eunwoo Lee was persistent yet simple.
If my focus wasn’t on a man, he would have calmed down quickly. But if I had panicked or gotten angry like before, then he would have become obsessed and spewed out horrible words like before.
“I should have taken a picture.”
“Yeah. I wanted to see it.”
Eunwoo Lee said that I would see it soon and handed me a bunch of keys. He just didn’t get persistent. He still didn’t allow
me to see the man, and he didn’t allow me to see the other things.
I got the keys.
The keys clanked in my palm.
“It’ll be here soon.”
Lee Eun-woo said.
It meant to tell me to go up. Yeah, well. I turned around, still holding the pile of keys.
“Soyoung-ah.”
Eunwoo Lee called from inside the room.
I turned around again and looked at Eunwoo Lee. Looking at him from the hallway, it looked like I had locked Eunwoo Lee in a room that seemed too small for Eunwoo Lee to use.
“Just in case, lock the rooftop door. I’ll come get you.”
Is there any danger?
“Okay.”
Eunwoo Lee smiled as if he was drawing my answer in his mind. I crossed the hallway again. I fiddled with the bundles of heavy key pieces. I held the key that Eunwoo Lee had picked up and said was the rooftop key with my index finger and thumb so that it was easy to identify. These numerous keys didn’t even have a single name tag on them. Did he memorize all of these?
I turned my body and climbed the stairs, looking at the keys that all looked the same except for a few. Judging from the fact that he said he would come pick me up, it seemed like Eunwoo Lee had a separate master key.
I was trudging up the stairs when I stopped.
‘Second floor? There’s nothing on the second floor.’
I blinked and looked at the iron gate. After Eunwoo Lee spoke, as if it were a lie, no more sound was heard here. The iron gate that I used to glance at every time I went up to the rooftop was not the one that was slightly open. It was now impossible to open even the slightest gap.
The iron hook was fastened tightly, and underneath it stood a large, dangling padlock.
Why is this place so tightly shut? It’s like a forbidden area. That’s why I get the creeps whenever I pass by.
Eunwoo Lee didn’t tell me the reason.
‘2nd floor? It’s just, it’s hard to manage up to the 2nd floor.’
He avoided answering by saying that. I looked down at the iron gate and looked at the bunch of keys. I picked up something other than the rooftop key. With a clank, the bunch of keys fell from my palm and clanked together, dangling in the air.
I held the lock straight so that my other hand could engage the key.
Even as midsummer approached, the lock was cold. I swallowed my saliva and looked down the stairs warily. It was busy down the stairs. It seemed like Eunwoo Lee was busy bringing in the beds.
