This World is too Cruel to Men – Chapter 242

Dogun’s Perspective

Perhaps I had expected that something like this could happen.

That’s why I chose to follow my Senior.

I thought there might be something I could do, after all.

And, regrettably, my expectations turned out to be spot on.

Thanks to that, I could only feel both sadness and relief at the same time.

What if I hadn’t been here?

What if my Senior hadn’t asked me to accompany her, or if I had turned her down?

What kind of things would have transpired here?

What thoughts would my Senior, alone and without anyone to support her, be having right now as she faced such a situation?

I could hardly imagine.

The fact that I felt a sense of relief was actually because of that.

Of course… calming my Senior wasn’t as easy as it sounded.

After finally leading her out of the supermarket where she had been standing there like a ghost, we went into a nearby cafe where I fed her some warm tea and comforted her for a while before I could see the focus returning to her eyes, which had seemed like they had completely lost their light.

Is she finally calming down?

I wish that’s the case.

I was curious, but I couldn’t just ask her if she was okay.

It was impossible, because there was no way she could be okay.

If a simple situation like this could make a difference?

Then my Senior wouldn’t have made that expression earlier, nor would she have hesitated on the way here.

So there was no way she could be fine.

Asking someone who is clearly not okay if they are okay is like digging into their wounds, and I was already well aware of that.

Thus, the only choice was to remain silent…but fortunately, it seemed my silence wasn’t such a bad choice after all.

With a sigh that sounded as if something that had been stuck inside her just burst out, my Senior finally opened her mouth.

“…Aren’t you going to ask?”

Did asking if I wouldn’t be curious mean she was curious about why she was feeling this way?

With that nuance in mind, I smiled faintly and replied to my Senior.

“I was planning to wait until you were ready to tell me.”

“…What if I decided not to say anything at all?”

“Well… there’s nothing I can do about that.”

I shrugged my shoulders, as if to say there’s nothing you can do.

Maybe my intentionally exaggerated action worked.

A sound that resembled a deflating balloon escaped from my Senior.

And following that pitiful sound came—

“…If you’re curious, you can ask.”

A voice that seemed to crawl in.

If I’m curious, I can ask.

Is it really okay for me to do that?

On one hand, I wondered about that, while on the other hand, another thought crossed my mind.

Could it be… my Senior actually wants me to ask her?

“Phew…”

What should I do?

What would be the closest thing to the right answer?

After deep contemplation, I finally opened my mouth.

In the end, I spoke up and asked her.

“Um… that woman we passed earlier, is she the one?”

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Baeksulhwa’s Perspective

When I told Dogun, “you can ask,” it was because I thought I needed to explain what was happening, at least briefly, to him, who had followed me all this way without so much as demanding clarification.

Of course, while I said that out loud, I couldn’t help but think otherwise in my heart.

Maybe Dogun has already figured it out.

After all, he is quite perceptive.

Moreover, he was the only one who understood my situation.

Considering the circumstances, I had expected him to arrive at that conclusion, but—

“Um… that woman we passed earlier, is she the one?”

I never expected to be hit with such a question right after saying he could ask.

Naturally, the words that I had just tried to pry open now clamped shut again.

Perhaps he had guessed it all along.

That made me dread the words he might follow up with.

Would he accuse me of using him like this and express disappointment?

Or maybe he would try to correct me, saying such actions were not right, despite understanding my desire for revenge.

Which way would his next words lean?

I couldn’t tell, but I was still afraid.

Whatever the case may be, one of us was bound to be disappointed, and that outcome was glaringly obvious.

It was certainly the case that—

“Senior.”

When I heard Dogun call my name, I thought for sure this was it.

“If you’re hesitating because you’re worried about how I feel… you don’t have to.”

What actually rang in my ears was neither of those two options.

Indeed, Dogun didn’t express disappointment over feeling used, nor did he chastise me.

“Whatever decision you make, I’ll stand by your side…”

That was all he said—a reminder that he was on my side and that fact would not change, no matter what happened.

Who in this world could casually say such words to someone who isn’t even family?

And it wasn’t just empty words; he meant it sincerely.

Maybe that’s why, the weight of those words pierced deep into my heart.

What followed was a sensation as if everything that had been tightly locked inside me suddenly burst open.

Words and emotions began to pour out.

“I… you know… I thought I wanted to kill that woman I saw earlier…”

I wasn’t even fully aware of what I was saying.

“I shouldn’t think that… I shouldn’t…”

I didn’t even have the mental capacity to check Dogun’s reaction or expression.

I was too consumed by releasing everything that had been built up inside me.

What was surprising, though, was Dogun’s response.

He should have been fed up with my rambling, yet he showed no sign of that; he simply listened silently.

From time to time, when my emotions heightened beyond a certain point, he’d gently pat my back or hand.

Such gestures impacted me more than any words could have, and perhaps it was simply because it was Dogun.

I couldn’t be sure.

I couldn’t pinpoint it, but one thing was certain: I didn’t feel like before.

Earlier, it felt like I was being slowly sucked into some unknown swamp.

Thus, I grew curious once again.

What if, really, if Dogun hadn’t been beside me?

There’s nothing more pointless than speculating about events that haven’t happened, but I couldn’t help but lean into those thoughts; that was human psychology, after all.

So, with my thoughts leaning that way, at that very moment, Dogun hit me with an unexpected insight.

“By the way, um… Senior.”

“Yeah…?”

“Why did the culprits specifically target your family?”

“…What?”

“No, I mean, your story from before made me think that it didn’t seem like it was just a simple robbery.”

When someone gets too caught up in something, they tend to overlook everything else around them.

Remarkably, I had been oblivious to that until now.

Dogun’s comment made me realize that fact.

It may feel a bit odd to say this now, but looking back, it was still true.

After that incident, all that seemed to have disappeared from my home was just the cash in my parents’ wallets.

It was ludicrous if I thought about it logically.

If the motive was purely financial, they would have taken not just the cash but also the jewels at home.

But the only thing those women took was just a bit of cash.

It was as if this incident was meant to mislead everyone into thinking it was merely a robbery.

Thinking back, why hadn’t I noticed that sooner?

Clearly, it was because I had been so absorbed in my own grief.

And… if my parents’ incident was not, as the police concluded, just a simple robbery?

“I think… we need to investigate further,”

It seems I should do as Dogun suggested.

There must be something more to uncover.