Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 216

< 216. Just Leave Him >

“Taeri!”

Shin Joowoon called out to Jang Taeri, his voice strained and rougher than usual. His face stricken, Shin Joowoon rushed towards the smoke.

“Jang Taeri!”

The car, wrecked against the fissure [a long, narrow crack or opening in the earth or rock], was a complete mess. The body was crushed, the door half-twisted and torn off. Through the gap, the driver slumped, held only by the seatbelt. Unconscious, the driver remained still with eyes closed amidst the chaos.

Fragments of glass littered the ground, a horrifying scene with smoke still rising from one side.

“Taeri.”

Amidst it all, Shin Joowoon clenched his fists, searching frantically.

Jang Taeri had definitely been standing at this spot. The driver and the car were there, but Jang Taeri was nowhere to be seen, making it unbearable to stay calm.

“Damn it.”

Rembrary also looked around for places where a person might have been thrown – behind the bushes, between the trees, behind the large rocks…….

Then, almost simultaneously, Rembrary and Shin Joowoon’s gazes converged on one spot: under the car. They looked at each other with instinctive fear, understanding without speaking that the other was terrified. They were both contemplating a possibility too terrible to voice.

Rembrary regained his composure first and hurriedly approached the car, peering underneath. But he couldn’t see anything clearly from that angle.

“Is there any chance she was thrown clear?”

Eventually, Rembrary, who had been searching around, asked Shin Joowoon.

“This isn’t a cartoon.”

Shin Joowoon stated flatly.

“Then where did she go?”

Surely she wasn’t sucked into the fissure. That must be it. Jang Taeri didn’t directly collide with it. Rembrary frowned and ruffled his hair wildly.

Just then.

“That?”

Shin Joowoon muttered, looking at something: a black bag. It was the bag Jang Taeri had been holding before the incident. The end of the bag was faintly visible towards the driver’s side, mixed with the blood spilled by the driver, making it hard to see.

“You bastard.”

Shin Joowoon cursed lowly at the driver. Jang Taeri was pinned under the driver’s side.

* * *

The two barely managed to push the car away and pull out Jang Taeri. They knew they shouldn’t move the injured carelessly, but leaving her there would have meant a greater chance of being crushed to death, so they had no choice.

Shin Joowoon checked under Jang Taeri’s nose, the blood vessels in her neck, and her wrist, then muttered in a choked voice.

“She’s breathing. Barely.”

Jang Taeri’s injuries were severe at first glance. A heavy silence fell between the two. Shin Joowoon clenched his fists until they bled.

“Again…….”

At that moment, Rembrary, who had been quietly watching Jang Taeri, reached out and touched the horrific wound – a wound that looked painful just to look at.

“What are you doing?”

Shin Joowoon looked at Rembrary in surprise, unable to continue his question as Jang Taeri’s wound began to heal in an instant.

The bleeding stopped, new flesh grew, and eventually, even the trace of the wound disappeared, including the small scratches on her face and neck.

Jang Taeri, who couldn’t even tell if she was breathing, was now breathing comfortably as if she were sound asleep. If her clothes weren’t stained with blood, she would have looked like someone who had just fallen asleep from exhaustion.

Shin Joowoon stopped looking at Jang Taeri and stared at Rembrary with wide eyes.

When their eyes met, Rembrary calmly explained.

“I thought it would be too late to call an ambulance.”

He was calm, unlike someone who had just performed a miracle.

Instead of correcting him to ‘ambulance,’ Shin Joowoon picked up Jang Taeri.

There was no reason to keep her lying down when the external injuries that would have taken hours to operate on had healed in an instant. Her bones must have healed as well.

“Let’s lay her down inside.”

“Wouldn’t it be better to lay her down in the car?”

“Yes.”

The two went back to the car and laid Jang Taeri down in the back seat.

Shin Joowoon leaned against the car, watching Jang Taeri with an anxious face. Then, when Jang Taeri frowned and turned to her side, he closed his eyes, finally looking a little relieved.

Once Jang Taeri was okay, Shin Joowoon became serious and pondered.

What he had just seen… what on earth was that?

His troubled eyes searched for Rembrary.

Rembrary was sitting in the front seat, suppressing his surprise by eating candy. But that was Rembrary’s inner self. Outwardly, he didn’t seem surprised at all.

A peaceful appearance.

‘Saint.’

A single word flashed through Shin Joowoon’s mind as he watched him.

‘He’s a saint.’

Having finished his thought, Shin Joowoon called out to Rembrary.

“Pig.”

“I guess this is why the CEO always eats candy when he’s upset.”

“Pig. Just a moment.”

Rembrary blankly held out a piece of candy, but Shin Joowoon shook his head.

“No, let’s talk.”

“Three people made similar wishes, but how come none of them came true? It seems like one of us is hated by God. It’s not me, so it’s either Shin Joowoon or Jang Taeri. With personal feelings mixed in, I’ll vote for Shin Joowoon.”

“……Not that talk.”

Shin Joowoon rubbed his forehead. How come he hasn’t changed even in this situation…….

Well, if that ability didn’t suddenly appear, it would be strange for his personality to change just because he suddenly revealed his ability. Shin Joowoon pressed his temple and asked.

“You said you weren’t a saint.”

“I asked if I was a celebrity saint.”

“So. You said you weren’t a celebrity saint.”

“Yes, I’m not.”

“Then what was that just now? What is it?”

“God is great.”

“……Didn’t you say you weren’t a saint?”

“Is a saint only a celebrity saint?”

Shin Joowoon became more confused by Rembrary’s words. He took off his coat and covered Jang Taeri with it, then closed the back door. Then he got into the driver’s seat and started questioning again.

“So, you’re a saint?”

“I don’t want to answer.”

“After showing me such a sight?”

“I don’t pry into Shin Joowoon’s secrets either. Shin Joowoon should stop prying here too.”

“!”

“Isn’t the important thing that Taeri is safe?”

“That’s true, but…….”

Shin Joowoon closed his mouth and looked at the back seat. Jang Taeri had a peaceful face, as if the accident earlier had never happened.

Shin Joowoon closed his eyes and tried to calm his mind.

As he did so, a hand came up on his forehead. He was surprised and opened his eyes, but all he saw was the palm of a hand. Instead, his agitated heart began to calm down.

For the first time since gaining the ‘Eyes.’

Shin Joowoon unknowingly closed his mouth and stayed still, not wanting to break the silence of this moment.

He didn’t know what he was doing. He just felt comfortable, as if his body and mind were wrapped in clouds, to the point where he had an unfounded belief that the world was peaceful and everything would be alright.

How long had he been like that? When Rembrary took his hand away, Shin Joowoon slowly opened his eyes. He was going to ask what this was, if this was also his power, but Shin Joowoon frowned before he could ask the question.

For a very brief moment, the color of the other person’s eyes…….

“Did you put in lenses?”

They looked red.

“No.”

Rembrary answered calmly and placed his hand on his lap.

Shin Joowoon blinked a few times. The eyes that had seemed reddish at first glance looked black again.

‘Did I see it wrong?’

“Are you a little calmer now?”

“Being comforted by a pet pig. Can you believe this.”

“You should realize it by now. Who’s the pet.”

Rembrary snorted and tore open another candy wrapper.

Shin Joowoon put his hands on the steering wheel and pondered again.

Rembrary also didn’t speak, thinking about the fissure from earlier.

The sight of the fissure appearing in the air, the sight of the car colliding with the fissure and bouncing back. Rembrary slowly recalled that sight in his head again.

‘The fissure…… is getting bigger. And its influence is growing.’

The fissure he first saw behind the stage at the year-end awards ceremony. At the time, no one cared about the fissure, and no one was affected by it. Lavroom pointed out the fissure, but that was all.

But after that, a hand came out of the fissure and shook the wires, causing an accident, and many people were almost seriously injured. Sajae and he stepped in to smooth things over, but if they hadn’t been there, a pretty big accident would have happened.

But the fissure he saw this time didn’t have any phenomena like a hand popping out, but a car that was running fine crashed into it on its own and bounced out.

It was clear that the fissure itself was affecting this world. But looking at Shin Joowoon, even with the ‘Eyes,’ it didn’t seem like he saw the fissure…….

“Why did Nakru go in?”

At that time, a subdued voice was heard from the side. Rembrary stopped thinking and turned his head. Shin Joowoon was looking at him with a heavy face.

He must have been thinking hard about something, wondering whether to ask that question or not.

Beyond Rembrary’s speculation, it was actually true. During the silence earlier, Shin Joowoon was constantly contemplating whether to ask Rembrary this question.

Rembrary’s brother is definitely Nakru, and Rembrary also helps Nakru’s work. For Shin Joowoon, pretending to know about Nakru to Rembrary himself is an adventure.

However, unlike his heavy resolve, the returning voice was endlessly light.

“I’m not Nakru?”

Shin Joowoon frowned.

“But your brother…….”

“They tell me to come in. But I’m not going in.”

Rembrary stated firmly.

Shin Joowoon felt a little empty for a moment. He felt relieved, but also very empty. He had been working so hard to worry that Rembrary might be Nakru. He’s not? And he says it so easily?

No, more than that, he’s a saint? Where does that personality look like one?

Doesn’t a saint have their own atmosphere or commonalities?

That’s even a unique characteristic of saints that even Nakru, who hunts saints, acknowledges. No matter how you look at him…….

“Shin Joowoon’s expressions change very diversely.”

“I don’t know what kind of reaction I should show right now.”

“Be happy that Taeri is alive.”

“!”

“And admire my greatness for saving Taeri.”

“…….”

“That’s why. Because you’re like this, I get confused.”

Shin Joowoon sighed, but his eyes were smiling.

It’s a bit unexpected that the other person is a saint, and I still don’t believe it, but anyway, it’s good that he’s not Nakru. Like he said, Jang Taeri is safe, and that’s all that matters.

At that time, Rembrary opened the door and went out.

“Where are you going?”

Shin Joowoon followed him without realizing it. After Jang Taeri almost had a big accident, he felt like he would have trauma from sending him alone.

However, Shin Joowoon’s worried expression hardened when Rembrary pointed his finger at the driver.

“We have to heal that person too.”

Shin Joowoon deliberately turned his head to confirm that Rembrary was pointing at the driver.

Rembrary ran across the road towards the driver as if it were natural.

Shin Joowoon walked quickly and grabbed the hood of Rembrary’s hoodie.

“Sorry. I was in a hurry.”

“That’s not a leash. Let go.”

Shin Joowoon pointed at the driver with his chin.

“That person. Are you really going to heal him?”