#119

“Me? You came to find me?”

“Yeah.”

At Cheon’s answer, I carefully pulled her out of my embrace.

“……Did I disappear? I mean…… from home, that is.”

When I asked hesitantly, Cheon’s eyes sharply narrowed.

“Yeah.”

Her voice had a pointed, thorny edge to it. With her unusual reaction, I began to panic. It couldn’t be helped. At this moment, I was a sinner in Cheon’s eyes.

“How long?”

“More than three months.”

That long? It was longer than I expected. I buried my face in my palm and groaned. It seemed like the flow of time in the real world and the game world was similar. I honestly wished time had just stopped……

“……I’m sorry. You must have been really worried, huh?”

After rubbing my face with my palm for a while, I finally composed myself and apologized. Cheon’s eyebrows furrowed deeply. She glared at me with sharp eyes, then rested her forehead against my shoulder.

“Of course, I was worried. Someone who was in the living room suddenly disappeared without a trace—wouldn’t anyone be worried? The game console was still on, but you were nowhere to be found. I thought you just stepped out for a bit, but you didn’t come back.”

“……”

“I thought something had happened, so I filed a missing person report, but because you’re an adult male, they said it was probably just you running away, so they didn’t really investigate. Do you know how much I……”

The trailing words were heavy with sorrow and anger. I gently stroked the back of Cheon’s head, who was leaning against my shoulder.

“I’m really sorry.”

At my sincere apology, Cheon squeezed me tightly around the waist. She held me so tight I almost let out a yelp, but I knew this was just her way of complaining, so I gritted my teeth and held it in.

“……Well, whatever.”

With those words, the arms that had been tightly holding me slowly loosened. As I took a deep breath to endure the sharp pain in my side, Cheon continued speaking.

“You’re alive, you’re safe, and we’re meeting again. That’s enough.”

Cheon said this as she pulled her face away from my shoulder. She stared at me with eyes bloodshot from crying. Fortunately, she hadn’t cried. I sighed in relief and humbly met Cheon’s sharp gaze.

“You’ve been doing well, I see.”

Cheon, who had been scanning my face closely, said in a mischievous voice. I noticed the conflict between ‘I’m glad you’ve been doing well’ and ‘How could you be doing fine when I wasn’t around?’ in Cheon’s heart, and I gave a small smile.

“I’m not the type who can’t get by anywhere.”

“Yeah, that’s true.”

With a nonchalant reply, Cheon wrapped her arm around my waist again.

“Ugh! That hurts!”

“I already knew that, but somehow it’s making me annoyed.”

And with that, she tightened her arm around my waist. The pressure on my side and chest was intense, and as I twisted my body, I grabbed Cheon’s shoulder and pushed her away. She reluctantly let go and stepped back.

“Ah, that really hurts.”

The pressure on my ribs was intense, and the pain was considerable. I rubbed my aching side, grumbling as I hunched over, and Cheon snickered with a smug expression.

“Considering all the heartache I’ve been through, this is nothing.”

“If you’re going to say that, I can’t really argue……”

I trailed off with a dark expression, gradually pulling my hand away from my side as the pain began to subside, and standing up straight. I then stared intently at my younger sister’s face, whose eyes were bloodshot but still refused to cry.

When I quietly stared at her face, Cheon raised an eyebrow with a look that seemed to ask, ‘What?’ I gave her a faint smile at her expression and said.

“……It’s good to see your face. I thought I might never see you again.”

I tried to speak as calmly as possible, but as I got to the end, my voice trembled more and more, and I failed. I saw Cheon’s eyes grow wider upon hearing my voice, and I scrunched up my nose in response. I quickly changed the subject, seeing a playful glint start to form on her face.

“By the way, how did you get here?”

“Huh? Why are you asking that again? I told you earlier, I came to find you.”

“That’s why you’re here, but I’m asking how you got here.”

I had intended to shift the conversation with that question, but now that I said it out loud, I really wanted to know. How did she get here? How did she know I was here? I stared at Cheon with a questioning look as I waited for her answer, but she subtly shifted her eyes, avoiding my gaze.

……What’s with that reaction? That’s really unsettling.

A bad feeling started creeping up on me, the kind that said something was wrong with my younger sister. I stared intently at Cheon’s wandering gaze and called her name.

“Cheon.”

Cheon flinched, her shoulders stiffening. She squeezed her eyelids shut before slowly opening them and cautiously looked at me.

“How? How did I get here? The same way you did……”

Her gruff voice got softer as she finished. I raised an eyebrow, asking.

“Same way? Are you talking about the game? Did you turn on the game and come in here too?”

“……Yeah.”

“The one you gave me?”

“No, not that one. A different one.”

A different one? Not Idol Misery Simulation 2? I was taken aback by the unexpected answer.

“A different one? What do you mean?”

As I pressed her further, Cheon hesitated for a moment before slowly moving her lips. But just as she was about to speak, the surrounding scenery suddenly began to ripple. I looked around with wide eyes, surprised. It was clear from just a glance that the situation was starting to take a turn for the worse.

“Damn it. I guess it was too much after all.”

“Huh? What’s too much?”

“I’ll explain later. For now, let’s quickly grab that person and get out of here. That’s the right thing to do, right?”

Cheon looked back and forth between Secretary Jung Minjae, who was lying on the ground, and the truck. I figured it would be best to follow her advice, so I quickly started moving. As I lifted Secretary Jung Minjae, Cheon grabbed the bags that had been lying beside him.

“We probably can’t go far.”

In the brief moment between grabbing the bags and picking up Secretary Jung Minjae, the surroundings, which had been rippling, started to distort. The air cracked open with sharp, white fissures spreading across the space.

“Let’s go down.”

Cheon hurriedly gestured toward the guardrail beside the truck. We quickly moved towards it, climbed over the guardrail, and hid ourselves in the underbrush below.

At the same time, a shattering sound echoed, and the landscape began to break apart.

The chilling noise made me quickly wrap my arms around Jung Minjae and Cheon. Thankfully, no sharp pieces fell from the sky. It felt as though nothing had happened—time simply started flowing again.

I held my breath as I heard the heavy sound of metal crashing against metal, the sound of the car falling and rolling over the broken guardrail, and the truck speeding past. When the area was quiet enough, I cautiously lifted my head to look over the guardrail.

The truck was nowhere to be seen; it was probably already beyond the broken guardrail on the opposite side.

It was a pretty nice car…… such a waste. I felt a bitter taste in my mouth from the sudden loss of a perfectly good vehicle.

“Are we good now?”

“Yeah. Looks like it.”

Cheon asked, her eyes still lingering on the broken guardrail. I answered in a melancholic tone as I slowly rose to my feet. Then, I looked down to check on Jung Minjae, only to find his wide eyes staring up at me. We locked eyes.

“President? What…… is this?”

Secretary Jung Minjae looked around in confusion, unable to understand why he was here, even though he had been sitting in the driver’s seat just moments ago.

What should I do? How should I explain this? I tried my best not to show the discomfort I was feeling, thinking of a way to resolve this situation. Just then, Secretary Jung Minjae cautiously opened his mouth.

“……Did I, by any chance, pass out?”

With a pale, horrified expression, Jung Minjae whispered the question. I felt like I had found an answer and quickly nodded. As soon as I did, Jung Minjae’s face showed an expression of deep apology.

“I-I’m sorry, President. And…… thank you for saving me.”

It seemed he thought that after the accident, he had lost consciousness, and I had pulled him out of the vehicle. Well, it wasn’t entirely wrong. With that thought, I eased the guilt of lying just a little.

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

“Huh? Ah…… no. I think so.”

Secretary Jung Minjae nodded, reassuring me that he was fine after feeling around his body. I gave him a faint smile and extended my hand. Still lying in the underbrush, he took my hand and slowly rose to his feet.

“Are you okay, sir?”

“Of course. I’m fine.”

At my cheerful answer, Secretary Jung Minjae quietly sighed in relief. After confirming that he had gotten to his feet, I let go of his hand and began brushing the leaves and dirt off his suit. Jung Minjae, still looking somewhat awkward, accepted my help. Then, it seemed he finally noticed Cheon, who had been standing nearby, and his eyes widened in surprise.

“Director Goo Cheon……?”