[ Chapter 36 ]
Handsome. Even though I know you’re trying to annoy me with the worst possible comment, just looking at that face makes me pause for a few seconds.
Between still indifferent-looking eyes lay vivid ruby irises like gems. The man’s jet-black hair, simultaneously chilling and dynamic, fluttered in the breeze through the hole pierced in the corridor.
However, I shouldn’t overlook it. Contempt and hatred taint every action this man takes. Despite my usual inclination to get angry, I paused and took a discreet deep breath. Considering the other party’s perspective, it would be more comfortable for me to respond quietly.
“What?”
“You know.”
His voice seems lower than usual.
“I don’t like it.”
“On the bed.”
“I hate it even more.”
“If we were the same prisoners.”
“That can’t be true.”
“If it’s you, there’s plenty of potential.”
In response to the mocking reply, I pressed my lips together tightly. There was nothing to say. As in the original story, even if Lemony were imprisoned, there would be no words to offer. But why was Deon being so persistent today? Usually, he would touch me as he pleased until I cried, then stop, but this time, although he didn’t touch me first, he didn’t end the conversation either.
“Why do you want to do this with me? Aren’t you forcing yourself into this too?”
That was when it happened.
As the birds suddenly flew overhead, I startled and hunched my shoulders, only to feel the man behind me brush against my back.
“At first, it was like that.”
His eyes widened slightly. It took me a moment to understand his words.
“But hating someone so much is also unbearable. When I spend all day just thinking about killing you, realizing that you’re the only thing left in my life, I don’t even know what kind of emotion this is anymore.”
What the hell are you talking about? I was so taken aback that I couldn’t say a word, and suddenly a strong grip seized my wrist and turned my body around.
“Changed souls, huh? Then prove it.”
As I met his eerie red eyes right there, my whole body froze. Proof. I had to prove it.
“My name is Kim Eunji. I live in Seoul, South Korea…”
Deon cut me off as if he was sick of it.
“Don’t try to deceive me with strange sentences, prove it with actions. Except when I’m going berserk, don’t command me. Then I’ll admit that you’re not Lemony.”
But it was too tempting to refuse. Deon, who had once pledged to take me to the ends of hell even after escaping, was at his peak of provocation.
“Then, until you escape, don’t do anything strange to me.”
“That’s hard to bear.”
Deon, who smirked as he raised his eyebrows, replied generously.
“…but I’ll try to put up with it.”
What? What’s going on?
“…really?”
“Would I lie?”
“Goodness.”
Feeling uplifted by his firm question, I initially tried to hide my smile behind my hand but eventually burst into laughter. Ah. I tried to stay cool until the end, but if that guy showed a friendly attitude, I couldn’t help but disarm myself.
“Then from now on, I won’t even mention the ‘command’ part, so you, Deon, should keep your promise too, right?”
“Sure, whatever.”
Deon, who had been staring at me for a while, casually nodded and began to walk.
“Then from now on, we’ll be like real colleagues, right?”
It felt like doing a group project in college. No, if this were a college project, then I was almost a freeloader.
“Give me the bag.”
“What?”
“You said you’re an officer without any spiritual power or ability to shoot guns. If you can’t even do anything, you should at least—”
That’s when it happened.
A chilling scream echoed from the side corridor, blocked by a wall. The birds nearby scattered in all directions. Stiffened by the sudden shift in the atmosphere, I heard a familiar low voice and locked eyes with Deon.
“….That’s the watcher’s voice, right?”
“Let’s go for now.”
As we ran back the way we came, I saw Ian, who appeared to be fighting, in the distance. He seemed to be struggling against something long and slender.
Something long and slender? Is it a living thing?
“…..Lemony?”
Then, by chance, our eyes met, and they widened in surprise.
“Why are you here!”
As Ian spoke, he swung a dagger, cutting through the vines. I had thought a giant monster had appeared because of the watcher’s scream, but the opponent was surprisingly weak. However, I realized that something had been holding onto my ankle for a while now. More precisely, it was wrapped around it.
“De—”
Ah. I almost commanded him. However, wouldn’t it be okay if it was a request rather than an order? As I tried to call out to him again, something suddenly yanked at my ankle. No way. No way. My floating upper body plummeted to the ground. Deon and Ian’s voices calling out to me became faint, and as I hit the back of my head on the ground, I was being dragged somewhere. With strength in my neck, I looked to see what had grabbed my ankle. Oh my goodness. It was vines.
Wow, what’s happening? Right now, I was being dragged by vines.
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The vines that had swiftly traversed the corridor gathered around me, ensnaring my limbs one by one. Foolishly, only now did a scene from the original work come to mind.
The original 『The Shackles on My Hands』 began with two possible developments.
First, Deon, kills the officer, Lemony, and escapes from prison.
Second, the female lead, Leilia, falsely accused, contemplates escape after coincidentally picking up a whistle dropped by the prison officer. Now, the original story might have deviated, and I couldn’t be sure if Leilia was actually on the top floor of Building D without seeing it for myself. And I knew the reason she couldn’t come down from the top floor in the original was because of these vines.
It seemed like I had somehow climbed up the stairs in that state. When I came to my senses, I found myself trapped on the top floor of the seventh floor.
“….watcher?”
As I opened my eyes, sunlight filtered through the dusty windows, casting shadows on the floor. I quietly murmured upon spotting the guard.
He seemed to be unconscious. The man entangled in the vines appeared as if he were an exquisite exhibit, suspended in midair by the tendrils.
“Watcher. Wake up.”
I tried to move, but I found both my hands and ankles ensnared. So I couldn’t possibly be floating in the air like the watcher.
As I lowered my gaze, a slight sense of fear crept in, realizing I had a higher vantage point than usual. I closed my eyes tightly. Normally, I wasn’t afraid of things like bungee jumping, but suddenly experiencing a change in perspective made my head spin and my stomach churn.
I attempted to call out to the watcher again, but for some reason, I felt a lump in my throat. Even if he woke up, there would be no way to escape from these vines.
I tried to exert force to break free, but instead, the vines tightened around my wrist like snakes, causing me to hunch my shoulders in discomfort. I spotted the heads of two men coming up the stairs from below. It was Deon and Ian.
“Deon, Ian!”
Wow. I couldn’t have been more relieved to see them.
“…..Lemony?”
The perplexed golden eyes scanned between the watcher and me. Ian seemed to have rushed up as soon as he arrived, brushing his disheveled hair aside as he reached the seventh floor.
“Do you know that someone is doing this on purpose because they want to?”
Ah, Ian let out a small exclamation and put his hands on his hips, smiling smugly.
A shiver ran down my spine. I quickly glanced at the watcher, who was still peacefully asleep, unaware of everything. It dawned on me once again that the original story in this world was rated 19+. Oh my. Could it be that the purpose of these vines was of such nature?
Deon, who appeared behind Ian, furrowed his eyebrows as he caught sight of me. I looked at him with a glimmer of hope. In this situation, Deon was more trustworthy than Ian.
“Deon, could you possibly release me? Just to clarify, it’s not an order but a request.”
I politely asked, squirming my arms and legs a bit. Deon, who had been staring at me intently, stood beside Ian. He chuckled faintly, seeming to appreciate the sight of me.
“Stay still. Moving will only tighten the vines.”
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Thank you for reading!
