Sentinel Phobia
Heeyeon was extremely emotional right now. Everyone, watching her grumble as she passed by, slowly strayed away. She was so angry. Seokjin's words pierced her heart. Honestly, it didn't hurt. I had no expectations of him. I was just annoyed. Why couldn't I get my way? Seokjin's words from earlier replayed in my head.
"What, do you have something to say?"
" ..Oppa, it's true that I was wrong, but.. "
His voice trembled with a mixture of shame and anger. Seokjin was the most rational of my team. He always took care of his younger siblings, knowingly or unknowingly, and he could easily win any argument with his logical arguments. He didn't give in to provocation, but rather provoked others in return. Yet, Seokjin was equally terrifying.
He was definitely a savage. Seokjin would mercilessly tear anyone who touched him apart. Yes, anyone. This time, he was the target. Heeyeon trembled, pale with fear. He was even scarier than Yoongi, who, when angry, would spit out murderous intent. Knowing he was on my side was reassuring. But if he was preparing to tear me apart, it was a different story.
"Oh, you know what you did wrong?"
" ...Yeah. But that's too harsh..."
"Then kneel down."
" ...what? "
"Brother!!"
You said I was wrong. Show me the evidence.Surprised by Seokjin's reaction, the female protagonist quickly stopped him. Well, Seokjin wasn't the type to listen. Heeyeon bit her lip and her hands trembled. No matter what, she was told to kneel. It felt like her pride was being eroded.
But she didn't know what would happen if she didn't kneel now. Slowly, she began to kneel toward the female protagonist. Anger welled up within her. Her whole body trembled with humiliation. Her eyes glared at her venomously. She hated her so much, she loathed her. She wished she would disappear quickly. Hee-yeon instinctively knew that her time to use her secret weapon was running out.
The thought made her heat up again. Heeyeon, lost in thought, was moving when a new female employee, carrying a mountain of luggage, barely made it past her. She happened to be a normal woman, a woman of low status within the center. Heeyeon smirked, the corners of her lips curling up.
A squeaking noise echoed, and the employee's head turned to the side. Tears welled up in her eyes, her cheeks flushed red. She held her aching cheek and looked up at Heeyeon. She looked young, and no matter how you looked at her, she couldn't have been more than 23. Her appearance was also quite different. Frustration welled up in her, and she grabbed the employee by the collar, hauling him up and slapping him in the face again.
She couldn't hold back the tears, and the contrast with my own appearance was so stark that I felt irritated. She looked so fragile, it seemed to trigger my protective instincts. I could barely see the vulnerability in my acting. But how could others do it so easily? Angered, I raised my hand again, but a child, who seemed to be her friend, ran over and helped her up.
"My, my friend was a little careless... I'm sorry. Please forgive me just this once."
"Uh... I'm, I'm sorry..."
A sudden sense of emptiness washed over me. Even at that young age, Normal had friends who cared for and protected him, even though they were of the same sex. But how could I, at this age and even as a high-ranking guide, have no one to protect me? Ah, I see. This is all because of that woman, Kim Yeo-ju. I will destroy your happiness. I will destroy it, and the eight of us, the members and I, will live happily ever after. We will live well under their protection. That was my pledge.
Hee-yeon, having finished her solemn pledge, slowly pulled away. Of course, it was a foolish thought. In her mind, Yeo-ju was nothing more than a vixen who had seduced the members, a snobbish demon queen who boasted of her high rank. Apparently, the saying "you reap what you sow" holds true. Even at this moment, the staff, snickering at Hee-yeon's seemingly abandoned state, were swarming her. Unaware of them all, Hee-yeon, still straight-backed and with a tired, haughty gait, walked out of the center building.
"I guess there was no need to come out."
Although I didn't trust Hee-yeon and only superficially complied, it was true that I had been clinging to her guidance, quenching my thirst. I knew that this one thing would never change, an unchanging truth, so I came out to comfort her. It was just that I happened to see Hee-yeon acting tyrannically there. It was a bit comical. She had squirmed her way through the crowd, taking up the largest space, and then, just because someone bumped into her, she was spewing out such a venomous remark. It was not only utterly ugly, but also violent.
Rather, it was a relief that the members, who still didn't know her true identity, hadn't seen this scene. From the start, Hoseok's attitude, more concerned about the members who saw Heeyeon in such a state than Heeyeon herself, showed that he hadn't considered her a team member for a long time.
"I wonder if the young employee is doing well-"
Hoseok, who didn't even look back, seemed indifferent, or rather, cool. From the beginning, Hoseok was good at taking care of others, but all of that was limited to my acquaintances. Yes, in fact, Hoseok was the type of person who didn't show interest in others. When it came to my acquaintances' stories, he would go out of his way to talk about them, be happier or sadder than anyone else, and get angry the most passionately. He was a really proactive person, but if it was someone else's business, he would only take interest for a moment and then lose interest.
So, I had only a slight interest in the incident involving Hee-yeon and the young employee that had just occurred, but I had no interest at all. If anything, it was in my relationship with Yeo-ju. I even felt jealous of others and even found Hee-yeon's harassing of her unpalatable. It was a combination I'd never felt before.
.
.
.
Arriving at the accommodation, they were met with a startling sight. Every single flowerpot in the room was shattered, glass shards scattered about, plants had been trampled, and a bloodstain that had started in the kitchen and continued all the way to Yeoju's room. Blood still dripped from a skewer, seemingly impaled with something, and the floor was littered with tiny pinholes, seemingly pricked with skewers, dozens upon dozens of them.
Yeoju's face paled, speechless, and she stared at the scene unfolding before her with a cold gaze. Yoongi quickly cleared away the broken glass and flowerpots, and the bloodstains left in the otherwise clean house seemed ironic. Yeoju, shivering, went into the room, and the sight inside startled her so much that she burst into tears and collapsed.
The other members, startled by the heroine's reaction and running towards her, couldn't help but be shocked. Blood was already splattered everywhere in the room, and Heeyeon was also stained with blood here and there. Heeyeon, laughing maniacally, was holding a dead rat still immobile with one skewer and continuing to stab it with the other. Next to them, there were about five or six rats that looked to have been dead for a long time, each with their organs damaged, and on the opposite side, three or four rats collapsed, foaming at the mouth, impaled on skewers and blood still oozing out.
Moreover, five skewers, presumably impaled on the five rats he had previously killed, had been blown away and lodged in five of the many photographs firmly attached to the wall. Each of the nine photos bore the smiling face of the female protagonist, taken at an unknown time. Two candles lit the room in front of them, and the curtains blocked the windows, turning off the lights, as if cursing.
The heroine, her legs feeling weak, crawled to the kitchen, where she found an object emitting a sweet smell. Rats, smelling the scent, entered through the crack in the open door. When they touched the object, the skewers installed above would pierce each rat's body, one by one. It was a trap. It was obvious it had been created with the Sentinel's powers.
It was truly disgusting. I laughed out loud. Wasn't this center supposed to protect people from anti-government forces? Because of this, they were elevated to national heroes and earned the people's unwavering trust. This wasn't right. They should have respected and cherished not only the people, but all living things, all living things. They couldn't even help animals severely injured or in distress due to environmental pollution, but they were skewering and killing live rats. What a contradiction.
The female protagonist's pupils were hollow. As she stared blankly at the rats dying one by one, lifeless, with expressionless eyes, a large, soft hand covered her eyes and whispered a low voice into her ear. His breath tickled her eardrums, ringing. Ironically, his voice alone gradually calmed my breathing. I was so out of it that I can't remember who it was, but one incredibly warm feeling lingered in my mind.
"Shhh, it's okay. It's all okay. So calm down."
The voice that slowly comforted me was so maddeningly sweet, so poignantly affectionate, it kept playing over and over in my head, never leaving. With that memory as the last, my consciousness slowly faded. Through my slightly open eyes, I felt a soft lip brush past my forehead. His eyes were filled with worry.
I opened my eyes and woke up to find myself in my own bed. The two windows were wide open, as if trying to expel the carbon dioxide that had filled the room. A breeze blew through the gaps in the screen door, fluttering the curtains vigorously and gently caressing the heroine's hair. The rat carcasses that had piled up in the room, as well as the bloodstains that seemed destined to remain, were all gone.
A smile spread across my face, a sense of well-being that was almost leisurely. However, the skewer marks remained, untouched. As I stroked them with a bitter heart, a loud noise, accompanied by a clanking noise, came from outside.
"..what did you say just now?"
"Jungkook, calm down for a moment..."
"Really? Really? Do I look really serious right now?"
"Yeah. It's an exciting topic."
But you know, Jungkook...Seokjin, who had been grinning out of place, quickly changed his expression. Then, the already tense atmosphere felt even more tense. The morning everyone except Yeoju woke up, and the five members, who had been talking late into the night, finally decided to expel Heeyeon.
This was the argument of the five members, excluding Hoseok, who went to find Heeyeon, and Jungkook, who ran away. Hoseok, who had been aware of Heeyeon's true nature and had never liked her, responded indifferently, as if to tell her to do whatever she wanted. However, Jungkook, as if he could not let go of Heeyeon, repeatedly defended her.
It was understandable. It was Heeyeon who first knocked on his door, when he was lost in his own world and unable to do anything. Of course, everyone else reached out, but Heeyeon was the only one who knocked. He couldn't have imagined that she'd do it all with the full expectation that he'd become her loyal pet.
Seokjin paused for a moment, then continued. The chill in his words made everyone around him gasp. While Seokjin was usually a very generous person, the moment he crossed the line, he would draw a clear line, and he was the one who became the most feared.
"Are you being a bit harsh?"
He was a very kind and affectionate older brother, but he was also stricter than anyone else. He was just an older brother. He'd always had only one older brother. He was just the older brother of Yeoju, his sore thumb. From the beginning, Heeyeon had never been part of his group. Whenever I spoke to her, he'd subtly ignore them and treat them like objects. Seokjin, too, had never opened his heart to her.
"But it's not like I'm being kicked out."
It made me wonder what all the stories I'd told him so far had actually been heard. Where had all that passionate talk I'd given him for about 20 minutes gone? Even after hearing the details I'd laid out in such detail that I couldn't even refute them, I felt a little disheartened by his reaction. He'd certainly been forgiving, but this time, I couldn't really cover up.
"...Are we fighting again?"
The female protagonist, who had been observing the entire situation, spoke with a tired expression. Everyone's eyes turned to the female protagonist, who hadn't even noticed her presence. Everyone was startled, as if they'd seen a ghost. They were so focused on their conversation that they hadn't even noticed her approach, which was the root of the problem. Suddenly, memories of the past flashed through my mind. She'd been forced into this team, fought from day one, and finally exploded. She'd said she'd leave, and run away.
If Seokjin had been scary that day, now the thought of her leaving was scary enough in itself. Isn't that the biggest difference between the beginning and now? Unlike the beginning, now I've not only grown attached, but also a mysterious feeling that I've never felt before is flooding in. That was her.
Now she was truly precious... truly theirs, she was dazzlingly beautiful yet fragile enough to crumble at the slightest touch. At least, that was how it seemed to them. She had blossomed dazzlingly and brilliantly in their eyes. Even their entire existence seemed to have little to say about her.
And looking at them like that, Heeyeon only clenched her fists tighter.
This is a survival report...ㅠ
It took too long...
I'm sorry...ㅠㅠㅠㅠ