ReLife Player

Unlocked chapter (4/13)

[When the Fox Rain Stops (11)]

«Can’t we come in too?»

«What are you talking about? You stay here. Don’t you realize you’ll be a nuisance to the other patients if you go around like this?»

Minji reprimanded the kids gathered in the Alice Hospital parking lot.

Eunha looked around at the nearly 100 kids and sighed.

This had gotten out of hand.

At first, Minji was only going to take the kids in her class who wanted to see Seona.

In the past, the children in the class who had fallen for Yeom Jae-jin’s propaganda wanted to beg Seona’s forgiveness.

As the majority of the children raised their hands to visit her, children who were close to them heard the news and came to visit.

We had to filter them out.

If only Eunhyuk hadn’t come up with a new idea.

«Why don’t we organize a surprise event?»

«Surprise event?»

«Can we do it at the hospital?»

«I’ll ask Grandpa.»

Everything went smoothly.

After getting permission from Alice Group Chairman Min Jun-sik, Hayang took the game to the next level.

And so it came to this.

«What are you going to do from now on?»

Eunha turned to Minji, who was yelling at the children to be quiet.

Currently, Hayang was walking around the hospital room with the affiliate children, trying to get the patients to understand.

Meanwhile, someone had to stop by Seona’s room to execute the plan.

«You and Choi Eun-hyuk, go upstairs. I’ll stay here and make sure the kids don’t make too much noise.»

«You don’t have to go in?»

«I’m good.»

Minji shrugged her shoulders.

Eunha noticed that she was being nonchalant about it.

Even if she had gathered the kids to oppose Seona’s expulsion, she still seemed to harbor feelings of guilt towards Seona.

She couldn’t help it.

Her mother had taken the position of denying Seona’s existence.

…I wonder if time will resolve this.

Eunha could do nothing but wait for time to fade away the emotions Minji had experienced.

«And if you see Hayang on your way to see Seona, tell her to meet me at the entrance. There are some things I can’t do without her.»

«Okay. Bye.»

Nodding, Eunha searched for Eunhyuk among the boys.

On the way, Eunhyuk tightly held a bouquet of flowers he had bought from a flower shop.

«I’ll go to Seona’s room after I find Hayang. You go first.»

«I go first?»

«I have to send the signal anyway, and you’re the only one who can ease Seona’s mood.»

Choi Eunhyuk may have been a mess, but he had a strange talent for soothing other people’s hearts. (E/N: That is so true, I love him)

Especially Seona’s.

He’d do just fine on his own.

«Okay. See you later.»

«Yeah.»

Eunha headed off to find Hayang, leaving Eunhyuk behind.

Seona was in a hospital room on the fifth floor.

«Jin Seona. Can I come in?»

It wasn’t hard to find the room.

In fact, he had a history of sneaking in and out of her room unnoticed by the nurses, even when his visits were limited.

Knocking on the door, he let himself in after a moment of silence.

«You back again?»

«Some other kids are here today. They’ll be in a little later.»

«Okay.»

Seona hadn’t been out of her room since she’d been admitted to Alice’s Hospital.

She was afraid to meet people.

It was a story he had heard from her after she had been startled when he unexpectedly visited her.

«Have you eaten?»

«Are you Sister Maria? I’m done eating today, okay?»

Seona replied in a sour tone.

She asked cautiously, «What’s that?»

«It’s a flower for you. I thought it would be nice.»

Despite not seeing her for a while, she seemed even thinner.

Eunhyuk felt uncomfortable when he saw her receiving the bouquet.

Eunhyuk’s heart sank.

It didn’t matter if she emptied her plate.

She was vomiting after eating recently.

«What do you want to eat?»

«Macarons. I want the macarons Eunha gave me the other day.»

«…I’ll ask the captain later.»

«No, I’m kidding, you don’t have to.»

Seona giggled.

She seemed to be in a good mood today.

«Huh? Is it raining?»

A light drizzle fell.

It was raining in bright daylight.

Eunhyuk walked over to the window and looked down at the children gathered in front of the entrance.

They were running around in the sudden rain.

He didn’t know if they would be able to stick to their plan.

«…Something’s wrong.»

«What’s the big deal?»

«Nothing.»

Eunhyuk turned away as if it was nothing.

For now, he decided to go outside to revise his plan.

Just then, he spotted the vase with the flowers he had brought last time.

«I’ll get some water for the vase.»

«Okay, take your time.»

«I’ll be right back.»

Eunhyuk excused himself and left the hospital room.

Seona waved helplessly.

For her sake, he should hurry back.

«Choi Eunhyuk. Where are you going?»

«Huh? Captain? Jung Hayang? You’re here, too.»

«I told you to stay with Seona, why are you here?»

«It’s raining, so I thought maybe we should change our plans…, I was going to tell Minji.»

«Rain?»

Hayang tilted her head.

Eunha and Hayang walked to the window, and it was raining outside.

«It’s just a little, so it should stop soon. We can stall it for a while.»

«If that doesn’t work, I’ll cast a protective spell. We should be able to avoid the rain for a while.»

«… Can you do that?»

Hayang said.

Eunha clicked his tongue.

Building a barrier around the outside of the hospital wasn’t that difficult but it would just take a lot of mana to maintain it.

He glanced enviously at her, noticing the amount of mana in her system.

«Eunha, what?»

«…Nothing.»

Feeling the stare, Jung Hayang replied with a bright smile.

She was completely unaware of the vast amount of mana in her body and its value.

«Jung Hayang, you go downstairs and wait for me to give the signal. Eunhyuk, you come with me.»

«Got it! You’re just trying to buy some time, right? Leave it to me!»

«Fill the vase with water first.»

Eunha pointed to the vase.

Taking Hayang into the elevator, he headed toward Seona’s room.

And in Seona’s hospital room─.

«─Where did she go?»

«Huh?»

There was no one there.

It was raining outside the window.

☆

Triangular ears sticking out above my head.

A neatly gathered tail resembling a paintbrush.

Finally, crimson eyes reminiscent of a monster.

I was different from others.

I realized this fact when I was very young, to the extent that the memories of that time are now faint.

‘My mom told me that after a thousand days of sleep, she’ll come and get me!

‘My uncle said the same thing as your mom, be a good boy and she’ll come get you!’

Children living in the church usually fell into two categories.

One, those abandoned at the church when they were so young that they had no memories of their parents.

Two, those led to the church by someone’s hands.

The former considered the people in the church as their siblings or parents, but the latter rarely did.

These children knew they were abandoned by their parents, yet they clung to the uncertain hope that their parents would come for them someday.

I always wondered about that.

Why they would reminisce about the time they spent with their parents and exclaim that they were different from the rest of us.

When in the end, the fact remains that they were abandoned by their parents.

Were parents really that amazing?

I was also a little envious.

The memories they have of the parents who brought them into the world.

«Sister Maria, why did my mom and dad abandon me?»

I asked.

Sister Maria frowned as if she had just heard an annoying confession.

‘Why is this kid spouting nonsense? Who would abandon you?’

‘They did abandon me. I know everything.’

‘Your mom is me, your dad is me, so who abandoned you and where?’

‘…….’

Sister Maria was like this.

When I heard that, I couldn’t help but ask why I had to be abandoned.

But the day came when I found out why.

And that day came when I realized how hard it was to live in this world because I was different.

‘I don’t think I heard you say you have an Ain child here?’

‘We want to adopt a child, not a monster’s child.’

‘You might as well sell her on the underground market. Ain based on foxes are rare, so they’ll fetch a premium for enthusiasts, and you’ll be lucky if you can find a place to feed and house her.’

«Ha, seriously… To think these perverts come openly seeking to adopt a child from the orphanage after the world’s end… Forget it, let me beat the shit out of you.»

The people who came to adopt that day spotted me among the children and clicked their tongues.

Gazes that were averted and reluctant, as if they saw something they shouldn’t.

Gazes that made me feel ugly, as if I had done something wrong.

And finally, the ones that slowly scanned me from top to bottom, as if they were valuing my worth.

That day, I realized how wrong it was to be different.

‘Jin Seona, what are you crying about? What have you done wrong? What have you sinned?’

Sister Maria scolded me and hugged me as I sobbed uncontrollably.

Sister Maria said I was abandoned in front of the church on my birthday, wrapped in swaddling clothes.

All that was left on me was a note with the name Seona on it.

‘Seona repeat it’

‘So, this church is my home, my mother and father are the adults living in the church, and my brothers and sisters are the children the church has taken in.

Even if the world treats me harshly, my life is right here, so never break down.’

‘You deserve to be happy. Your mother guarantees that in place of the absent God in this world.’

I held onto those words like a pillar.

No matter how difficult, I decided to endure it.

Whenever my strength waned, I thought about the people in the church who loved me.

And I lived, grateful for the friends who became my companions in this situation.

Actually, it’s not true, Sister.

No, Mother.

I don’t wish for happiness.

I just want to live quietly.

But…

‘… about the topic of monsters.’

Living is so difficult.

How much longer do I have to endure?

How much do I have to give up?

I don’t ask for much…

‘Look is that monster…’

Mother.

Truthfully, living is too hard for me.

I don’t think I can endure it anymore.

Maybe I don’t deserve to be happy.

«… The rain is getting heavier.»

The raindrops intensified.

Even in this clear sky.

«….»

I got up from my seat.

I went to the window.

Familiar faces were running into the hospital.

What kind of prank are they trying to play on me this time?

Are they trying to mock me as a monster again?

«… If I jump from here…»

…Would I die?

Suddenly, that thought crossed my mind.

Maybe that would bring relief.

With that, it might become easier.

«…»

The future was dark.

It was the days to come.

The more I tried to count the time that remained so ominously, the more it felt like standing on the edge of a cliff.

☆

I couldn’t see Seona.

Maybe she went to the restroom.

No, she hadn’t.

The restroom was in the hospital room.

«Don’t you know where she went?»

«There’s no way she could have gone anywhere….»

Eunhyuk muttered, looking at the bed where Seona had been just moments before.

Seona wasn’t the kind of girl who would disappear without a word.

Unless it was urgent, she would have waited for him to return, or made a note of it.

An unexplained feeling of anxiety overcame him.

«Choi Eunhyuk, where are you going?»

Eunhyuk ran out of the hospital room as his instincts screamed.

He could hear Eunha calling behind him, but he knew he had to find Seona.

He deployed his mana detection net.

«Tsk…!»

He clicked his tongue.

The conditions were comprehensive, so the responses caught in the detection net far exceeded ten.

It was a fleeting moment when he felt it would be difficult to find Seona this way.

Only one response detected on the rooftop bothered him.

It was raining outside, but there was someone on the roof.

Something was wrong.

His judgment was quick.

He summoned the mana in his body and ran up the stairs to the roof.

«Jin seona!»

He almost forcefully opened the door.

A gust of wind accompanied by raindrops swept in.

Raising his elbow to secure his vision, he spotted a girl getting soaked in the rain.

«Seona!»

He called her name once more.

The girl perked up her triangular ears.

Her faintly golden hair was wet and clung to her cheeks.

«…Eunhyuk…ah….»

She looked up from her spot on the ground, soaking wet from the rain.

«I…thought…that…if…I…died…like this…it…would…make…everything…easier…for…them…that…I…wouldn’t…have to…feel sorry for…you…I…thought…but…I…didn’t…!»

Seona cried in hiccups.

He couldn’t tell if the streams running down her cheeks were tears or raindrops.

«…I can’t…ugh! I don’t want to die…!»

One clear fact was that the droplets clinging to her trembling pupils weren’t from a monster.

She, who shook her shoulders so violently, couldn’t possibly be a monster.

No.

Eunhyuk stepped toward her.

Even if she were a monster, it didn’t matter.

She just had to be Seona.

Whoever it was, as long as she was Jin Seona.

«…It’s okay.»

Kneeling on the ground, Eunhyuk pulled her into a tight embrace, with her shoulders shaking.

With the hands that had been on the floor, she touched him hesitantly, as if handling something perfectly clean.

«…I kept…thinking…about…Sister Maria…and the kids at church…and…about you…and… that I might… cause trouble for you…, and someday… you might… come to hate me…! I thought I might… not deserve… to be with you…! But still, with you all…!»

«Okay.»

Eunhyuk gently stroked her head.

«It’s okay.»

The hand that had been desperately clutching his clothes lost its strength.

«It’s okay. I want to be with you too, all of us.»

It was the most pointless thing to worry about before the world ended.

If you want to be together, just be together.

You don’t need qualifications.

There’s no reason to hate.

There’s no reason to cause trouble.

«It’s okay because it’s you.»

Eunhyuk whispered in her ear.

He was confident.

His friends were all on the same page.

«It’s okay.»

The trembling stopped completely.

Seona carefully moved the hand that had been clutching his chest to her back.

«…Is it okay?»

«It’s okay. I, Eunha, Minji, Hayang, all of us like you.»

«I… Can I be happy like others…?»

She asked, swallowing her breath.

«Why worry about something obvious? Just be happy.»

«I’m an Ain… Even so?»

«Why does it matter that you’re an Ain? It’s important that you’re our friend. You can be happy. I guarantee it.»

«….»

Eunhyuk grasped her shoulders.

Looking into her eyes, he grinned mischievously.

«Even if you can’t be happy, then, I’ll share my happiness with you.»

«…Really? Can you promise, pinky swear?»

«Really! Pinky swear, I promise.»

Seona blinked her red eyes and nodded vigorously at him.

No more tears came out.

It wasn’t just tears.

The heavy rain that had been falling so fiercely thinned out, as if asking when that had happened.

«Ah…! I guess the preparations are all done.»

«Preparations?»

Seona asked.

Eunhyuk lifted her up.

Surveying the surroundings, he led her towards the entrance of the hospital.

«Look down there.»

«…Huh?»

Seona, looking down, widened her eyes.

Countless children had gathered in front of the entrance.

She saw Minji and Hayang.

It wasn’t just the two of them.

Children who had been in the same class, children who had become friends, one by one, appeared.

«Surprise! The kids wanted to apologize to you, so we all decided to visit you at the hospital today.»

Eunhyuk leaned against the metal fence, spreading his arms wide.

Immediately afterward, colorful paper planes were flying here and there.

As if they were dancing.

«…»

When she realized, it wasn’t raining.

Hayang had deployed a protective spell that formed a hemisphere over the hospital.

«Guys, here we go! One, two, three…!»

She could hear Minji shouting from far below.

Soon, the kids lined up in the parking lot began a chorus.

You were born

To be loved

Born to be loved

The song resonated in her ears.

The lyrics, which she had heard almost every day in the church, like a routine, struck her heart so deeply now.

«Will I ever…, will I ever be happy?»

«Do I have to tell you one more time?»

«…No.»

She shook her head.

She didn’t need to ask again.

The song was telling her.

In your life

This is love

You were born to be loved

You were born to be loved

And you’re still getting that love

You’re receiving it.

So let’s listen to the song.

Let’s sing the song together.

☆

«Ugh, Choi Eunhyuk, that, that…. How can you not listen to me and run to the roof?»

The melody of the song was resonating in the air.

Two people were singing.

Eunha wasn’t entirely oblivious to the point of considering going to the rooftop.

Hiding behind the door, he looked at Seona and Eunhyuk and clicked his tongue.

«The hospital roof is fenced off anyway, so there’s no way anyone could fall off.»

Even as he said that, Eunha relaxed.

He breathed a sigh of relief and decided to leave them alone until the children came up from downstairs.

That didn’t mean he forgave Seona.

Regardless of the reason, he couldn’t just overlook her attempt to end her life.

It was just on hold for now.

Until she found stability.

And before that─.

«─Since it has come this far, I need to make it definite.»

There was one thing left to do.

Throwing up, sobbing, crying, screaming, punching my pillow rn. They are so cute. Un aplauso para esta pareja que esta enamoradaaaaaa.