BLDS Chapter 157

Baek Ae-young began to meddle with the people around her, walking leisurely with satisfied steps like a lion that had conquered the jungle. The items she had put in her pockets could be mistaken for leisure rather than gold or money.

The first person caught by Baek Ae-young was Seo Jihyuk, who was closest. He was rummaging through another drawer, taking out bandages and some unidentified ointment, when Baek Ae-young asked while watching his actions:

“Aren’t you getting anything as a gift for Jihyun unnie?”

“From here? I don’t give picked-up items as gifts to anyone.”

Seo Jihyuk looked around the messy accessory store, his eyes scanning over the scattered necklaces, earrings, and bracelets. Then, awkwardly scratching the back of his head with his fingertips, he asked in a low voice:

“… What do women like?”

“Pure gold, cash, savings accounts, installment savings, deposits, profits, rewards…”

“… I didn’t ask what you like. No, I asked the wrong question. It’s my fault.”

Seo Jihyuk replied weakly, cramming the bandages and ointment into his pocket.

“Everything I said is correct.”

Baek Ae-young said with a confident voice. Seo Jihyuk retorted to Baek Ae-young with a slightly uncertain tone:

“I’m not saying you’re wrong. It’s just that you’re only mentioning things that are too burdensome to suddenly receive from an opposite-sex coworker.”

“Really? I think giving what I suggested would be better than giving some weird teddy bear or flowers.”

“I don’t think so. … Then what do women dislike?”

“Plating, withdrawals, unpaid amounts, overdue fees, various charges, stingy bastards like salt…”

Seo Jihyuk seemed to regret asking Baek Ae-young such questions. Making a slight groan and shaking his head lightly, Seo Jihyuk replied lifelessly:

“I’ll figure it out myself.”

Baek Ae-young quickly lost interest in Seo Jihyuk and sauntered towards her second prey, Tumanako. Perhaps because she moved so quietly, Tumanako didn’t notice her approach even when Baek Ae-young came very close. So when Baek Ae-young spoke to Tumanako, she literally jumped in surprise.

“What are you looking at? Do you like that necklace?”

“Huh?! Oh. … Yeah. It’s pretty, isn’t it? It was too expensive, so I just looked at it when I came before.”

“Then take it this time.”

At Baek Ae-young’s simple words, Tumanako’s eyes wavered with hesitation. Then she said in a gloomy voice:

“It belongs to someone.”

“That’s right.”

Baek Ae-young took down the necklace Tumanako had been looking at from the wall. Then she lightly undid the necklace’s clasp and put it around Tumanako’s neck. To Tumanako, who wore a sullen expression even with the desired necklace around her neck, Baek Ae-young said:

“I stole it and gave it to you. Wow, it suits you well. The necklace has found a new owner.”

Then she started walking leisurely again. Baek Ae-young’s third target was me. She approached me, who had been watching from afar, like a king walking fearlessly through his palace. Looking at John Doe sitting in the chair and me standing next to him, Baek Ae-young asked:

“Isn’t it tiring carrying this person around?”

“Of course it’s tiring.”

“You said you’d ask if he wants to go with us or not when he wakes up, right?”

“Yes.”

I expected Baek Ae-young to ask about John Doe’s unconscious state. However, Baek Ae-young lightly nodded her head, then swiftly swung her palm towards John Doe’s cheek like a whip. There was no time to stop her. John Doe’s face moved sharply to the right once, then to the left.

I froze, unable to properly process what had happened in less than a second. John Doe, who had been slapped twice, woke up startled. Mmph? Mmph mmph?!

“He’s awake now.”

Baek Ae-young nodded towards me again and gave a thumbs up. Then she turned around and walked away, leaving behind me in shock and John Doe disoriented from being slapped awake.

Baek Ae-young started walking with light steps towards her final target, Shin Hae-ryang. I turned to John Doe and said in a small voice with a sigh:

“I’ll untie what’s in your mouth, but don’t shout.”

John Doe looked at me with his cheeks reddening and swelling, and nodded. Despite being slapped twice in quick succession, there were no scratches on John Doe’s lips or cheeks. Only his cheeks were rapidly swelling, but the state of the inside of his mouth would have to be seen to know. Besides, to get an answer, he needs to be able to speak.

As I tried to untie the gag in his mouth, I couldn’t figure out how it was tied. Seo Jihyuk seemed to have untied it in one go, but how? Did I pull it like this? Or like that? As I fumbled around, looking at the back of John Doe’s neck, then his mouth, pulling the string this way and that, Shin Hae-ryang, who had been talking with Baek Ae-young, approached. Seeing that John Doe had regained consciousness, he said:

“Let’s hear the answer in this state. If you want to part ways with us, we’ll leave you here. … If you want to come along, you’ll have to go with the gag on and your wrists tied. If you prefer the former, nod your head; if the latter, shake your head.”

I thought John Doe would shake his head vigorously back and forth like a rock band vocalist. But surprisingly, John Doe shook his head side to side. … Why? I stared blankly at the direction of John Doe’s head, not understanding.

I wondered if there was a misunderstanding or if the interpretation was wrong, but John Doe shook his head side to side again. Shin Hae-ryang looked at John Doe for a while, then eventually talked with Seo Jihyuk. As Shin Hae-ryang walked away, I asked John Doe:

“Why did you make that choice? It doesn’t seem like the people here will be of any help to you even if you go with them, does it? You get hit, you faint, you’re tied up and treated worse than livestock. I’d like us to escape together if possible, but if it’s not safer for you to be with us, I think it might be okay to part ways here.”

“Mmph! Mmph mmph!”

I was curious about the difference between the armed Muhanikyo believers in the Second Underwater Base and those who weren’t, but did this person really need to be sacrificed like this in the process? John Doe tried to say something to me, but couldn’t speak due to what was in his mouth. I wanted to untie it, but I couldn’t figure out how Shin Hae-ryang had tied the knot, and it seemed impossible to untie without a knife. I remembered the answer I had given to Henry and anxiously asked the bound man:

“Do you… really like this kind of thing?”

“Mmph mmph! Mmph mmph mmph! Mmph mmph mmph mmph!”

John Doe, making an expression like he was about to burst, turned his head this way and that before grabbing a nail polish bottle from the display with his bound hands. He tried to open the nail polish bottle with his tightly bound hands but dropped it on the floor three times, seemingly realizing he couldn’t open it with his own hands.

John Doe handed me the blue glittery nail polish bottle. Wondering what he was up to, I obediently twisted open the bottle. Then, after coating the brush attached to the cap with plenty of nail polish, I was about to apply it to John Doe’s right thumb nail, which he was holding out.

John Doe swatted my hand away in irritation. Then he grabbed the brush part of the cap that had fallen to the floor and started drawing. Only when John Doe had dipped the brush into the nail polish bottle more than three times due to the quickly drying nail polish did I realize it was writing. Ah… So that’s why he wanted this. When he suddenly held out the nail polish bottle to be opened, I thought he wanted me to apply it.

[They might kill me if they say they’ll let me go. They won’t just let me go. I’m not a pervert!]

The last sentence was faintly painted in a desperate blue color that looked like it might break off. So John Doe chose to go along while tied up rather than risk being killed under the lie of being set free.

“I’m sorry. It’s not easy to communicate.”

John Doe looked at me with resentful eyes before slumping as if letting the tension out of his shoulders. As the nail polish bottle spilled, John Doe applied some to his finger and wrote on the floor, avoiding the glass shards.

[Help me escape when the time is right]

Just my thought, but that seems like the worst choice you could make. I was reminded of Zhu Xian’s escape attempt. No matter how I look at it, the Engineering Team A people seem to hate unexpected actions immensely. Why not just speak honestly and part ways here?

“I think it would be better to tell Hae-ryang to leave you here. They want to leave you behind.”

[How can you trust these people? They might kill you too if things go wrong]

John Doe hastily smudged the writing on the floor at the sound of glass being stepped on. Seo Jihyuk spoke quickly:

“Come on. I don’t plan to spend more than 3 minutes in this ruin. We still have too many tourist spots left to see. We need to quickly glance around with our eyes and get out of here.”

Then he tried to get everyone moving again. Everyone who had scattered gathered in the center of the accessory store. Shin Hae-ryang, who was at the very back, quickly scanned me, Tumanako, and John Doe with his eyes, then silently took away a small nail clipper from John Doe’s palm that I hadn’t even noticed was hidden there. John Doe’s face turned pale.

Shin Hae-ryang once again scanned John Doe from head to toe with his eyes and urged him to sit down on the floor. Baek Ae-young had somehow come to stand beside me and Tumanako.

John Doe hesitated, then used the sole of his shoe to push away the glass before obediently sitting on the floor. Shin Hae-ryang pulled out something long and thin that looked similar to a dental explorer from the ankle area of John Doe’s long jeans. As Shin Hae-ryang bent down to remove that metal object, the back of his hand brushed past John Doe’s neck. John Doe instantly stiffened his body.

“What’s that?”

Not knowing what Shin Hae-ryang had taken out, I asked Tumanako who was right next to me, and Tumanako narrowed her eyes and said:

“It’s a tool used for grooming nails. Haven’t you used one?”

They groom nails with something like that? Isn’t that a torture device? Shin Hae-ryang silently threw the nail clipper and the metal tool said to be used for nail grooming far into a corner. There was a clanging sound as they hit the floor.