Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 220

< 220. This is Why They're Saints >

“Woo Yeon-woo, no way…!” Shin Jo-woon, struck by a terrifying thought, hurriedly pressed the call button.

Judging by his usual demeanor, Rembrary didn’t seem like someone who would ever throw his life away. But you can never truly know what’s inside a person just by looking at the outside.

Besides, he’s a Saint, and his brother is a Fallen Being. To make matters worse, the Fallen Being didn’t even know he was a Saint and kept chasing after him, asking him to join him. That must have been incredibly stressful.

‘Please answer the phone. Pick up.’

Shin Jo-woon paced around the room with his phone pressed to his ear. He desperately wanted Rembrary to answer and tell him it was nothing, that he was just having some absurd thoughts.

If that happened, he could let go of all the teasing about whales, anchovies, and anchovy stir-fry, and just laugh it off today.

At that moment, Rembrary answered the phone.

[What is it?]

It would have been nice if it were his usual tone. But it was a bit more gloomy than usual.

Shin Jo-woon leaned against the window with one hand. The cold night air was palpable even through the glass.

“What are you talking about?”

Shin Jo-woon asked, his hand still pressed against the window.

[About what?]

“The text.”

[Ah, the farewell message.]

“Where… are you going?”

[Yes, I’m going somewhere far away.]

“Where is that? Are the other members with you? Are you going for a shoot [a filming session]?”

Rembrary chuckled softly instead of answering, and Shin Jo-woon became anxious again. *Why are you avoiding the question?*

*So, that ‘far away’ is….*

“You pig.”

[What?]

“Don’t hang up the phone.”

Shin Jo-woon, after urging him, hurriedly grabbed his car keys with one hand. He couldn’t hang up the phone, fearing that Rembrary might do something drastic if left alone with his thoughts.

“Oh? President, where are you going?”

The housekeeper, who was bringing a tray with ice water, was surprised to see Shin Jo-woon coming down the stairs with a frozen expression.

“Oh, just for a bit. Is that cold water?”

“Ice water…”

“Thanks.”

Shin Jo-woon took a big gulp of water. The extremely cold water momentarily blanked his mind, but it cleared his head. He calmed his trembling hands and walked to the parking lot in one stride.

Even in the midst of all this, the call continued.

Because of this, Shin Jo-woon didn’t know that Jang Tae-ri, who was shocked by the farewell text, had also called Rembrary, but the call didn’t go through because Rembrary was already on the phone with him. So she was even more worried now.

* * *

*What’s going on? Is it because of the car accident back then? Because people keep staring strangely because of the car accident? Or is it some kind of sadness as a Saint? Is it because of that?*

Jang Tae-ri’s younger sibling also felt sad from time to time, despite being young. Whenever they saw people struggling, they would feel the same pain and suddenly burst into tears.

Young Jang Tae-ri and Shin Jo-woon didn’t understand it at all, and it’s still hard to understand now. It seemed like there was some kind of pain that only Saints could see. Could it be because of that?

Jang Tae-ri stepped on the accelerator and gripped the steering wheel tightly, feeling anxious.

Sending such a text and not even answering the phone, it was inevitable that people would become more anxious. *Maybe I’m overthinking it. I wish that were the case.*

Anyway, the feeling is bad and the words are suspicious, so there’s no harm in checking.

However, when Rembrary didn’t answer the phone even after two rings, Jang Tae-ri eventually hesitated and called Jong-woo. *I don’t want to make things bigger, but saving a person is more important than that.*

[Yes, who is this?]

“Hello, this is Jang Tae-ri.”

[Yes… who? President Jang?]

Jong-woo asked in a dazed voice when the call connected. He was flustered because Jang Tae-ri would never call Jong-woo directly.

[What’s going on?]

“Yeon-woo sent a strange text.”

[A strange text? Like a prank text? Oh my, that kid!]

“No. A precarious… you know, the kind of text someone who’s about to leave far away would send.”

[Yeon-woo did? He didn’t seem like that earlier.]

“Besides, he’s not answering the phone. Can you call him, Jong-woo?”

* * *

Like dominoes falling one after another, uneasy feelings were similarly transmitted.

Jong-woo was surprised to receive a call from Jang Tae-ri saying that Rembrary was acting strange, so he called Rembrary. He really didn’t answer.

“Did something really happen? What’s wrong with him?”

Jong-woo didn’t even know what kind of text Rembrary had sent to Jang Tae-ri, but now Jong-woo was also tense.

Fortunately, Jung-seo answered right away.

[Oh, hyung [older brother/male friend]. What’s up?]

“Jung-seo, sorry to wake you up. Is Yeon-woo next to you?”

[Next to me? Of course, he’s sleeping next to me… where did he go?]

Jong-woo was relieved to hear that he was next to him, but then he was surprised by Jung-seo’s added words and dropped his phone.

* * *

“Just a moment, I’ll go look for him.”

Jung-seo didn’t know that Jong-woo had dropped his phone, so he said that and went out to the living room. After looking around here and there for a while, he found Rembrary on the veranda without much difficulty.

Rembrary was sitting leaning against the veranda wall, yawning repeatedly and talking to someone on the phone.

“Hyung, I found him.”

Jung-seo checked Rembrary through the curtains and told Jong-woo. But Jong-woo, who had dropped his phone, didn’t answer.

He dropped his phone while driving, so he couldn’t pick it up until he got a signal, and he hadn’t been able to hear since Jung-seo said, ‘I’ll go look for him.’

But Jung-seo had no way of knowing such specific circumstances.

“Hello?”

[…….]

*Why isn’t he answering?* As he was wondering, Rembrary turned around from beyond the veranda and asked with his lips, ‘Why?’

Jung-seo shook his head as a sign that it wasn’t anything and went back to the bedroom.

*I don’t know what’s going on, but if it’s really urgent, Jong-woo will call again later,* he thought.

* * *

Rembrary didn’t know what was happening in succession right now. He was tired and had nothing to say, but Shin Jo-woon wouldn’t hang up the phone, so he was just annoyed.

‘Did I send the farewell message too vividly?’

[Pig. Are you listening to me?]

“I’m listening. But how long do I have to listen?”

[Just a moment. I’m almost there.]

“Are you coming here?”

Rembrary sighed and covered his forehead with his hand. *I should have sent the farewell message right before leaving.*

At that time, the doorbell rang. *It must be Shin Jo-woon.*

“Looks like you’re here. I’ll hang up.”

[What? Wait―]

Rembrary hung up the phone, went to the living room, and opened the front door. But the person who came was not Shin Jo-woon, but Sa Gam-jae.

“What do you want now?”

“I have found it. A rift [a tear in space-time].”

“Already?”

*I heard that you were going to look for a rift that was appropriately sized to pass through, but you’ve already found it in the meantime?*

When Rembrary asked in surprise, Sa Gam-jae replied.

“I didn’t see it myself. I asked the other reapers. Fortunately, it’s not too far away.”

“Are you saying we should go now?”

“If what I saw is correct, the size of the rift continues to shrink. It’s better to go quickly.”

“I’m glad I sent the farewell text in advance. Okay, let’s go. Just a moment.”

When Rembrary went into the bedroom, Jung-seo was sitting leaning against the headboard of the bed and told him.

“Jong-woo hyung was looking for you earlier.”

“Yeah, I’ll call him while I’m going.”

“Where are you going?”

As Rembrary rummaged through the drawer, Jung-seo asked a question and reflexively looked at his watch. *It’s dawn. A dark dawn. You’re going out at this hour?*

“To a place I miss.”

“?”

“To a place where there are many people who need me.”

Jung-seo didn’t immediately understand Rembrary’s words, but Rembrary approached Jung-seo and lightly tapped him on the back.

“Farewell.”

At that moment, Jung-seo also felt a strange premonition at the farewell, as if he were leaving for a distant place. *Farewell? Usually, you say ‘I’ll be back’ or ‘I’m going and coming back,’ right?*

*No, there might be people who say that and go out for a while, but this time there’s something about the feeling….*

“Should I go with you? If you wander around alone, you might get caught up in something strange again―”

“It’s okay.”

As soon as Rembrary answered, Sa Gam-jae said near the bedroom entrance.

“I’m going with him, so you don’t have to worry.”

Jung-seo was even more dumbfounded and asked back.

“You’re going with Sa Gam-jae? Where are you going?”

“I have something to do. I’ll tell you later.”

Rembrary said that and took his hat, sunglasses, and mask and went out.

Jung-seo hesitated whether he should chase after Rembrary. But if he was just going out, he had already refused to go with him once, so he might deliberately find it bothersome and annoying if he chased after him.

And while Jung-seo was hesitating, Rembrary left with Sa Gam-jae.

“Where did it appear?”

“It appeared in a nearby mountain.”

“There are more than one or two mountains nearby.”

“I received the location via navigation.”

A car that I had never seen before was parked in front of the dorm. It seemed to be Sa Gam-jae’s personal car.

As Rembrary got into the passenger seat and closed the door, Sa Gam-jae also got into the driver’s seat and immediately set off without delay.

There were hardly any cars on the road because it was dawn, and unlike Jong-woo earlier, there were hardly any traffic lights this time, so the car with the Grim Reaper and the Saint slid quickly down the road.

Rembrary leaned his head against the window and reminisced about his time here.

“What are you thinking about?”

“If I leave, will the strange signs that appear here disappear too?”

“!”

“I wish it would.”

“……You’re like a Saint in strange places.”

Rembrary chuckled softly.

“I’ve been hearing that a lot lately.”

In the meantime, the car went up the mountain a little and stopped in the park parking lot.

“Is it here?”

“It’s in this area.”

Sa Gam-jae checked the coordinates sent by his colleague on his phone and pointed to one place.

“I think it’s that way.”

Rembrary got out of the car and looked around. There were a few streetlights around the park, but even those were not inside, so it was very dark.

“This way.”

Sa Gam-jae looked at his phone and went into the dark bushes. Rembrary followed him.

Even though it was dark, Sa Gam-jae didn’t fumble even an inch and went forward, so it wasn’t difficult to follow him.

How long had they been walking like that? Finally, Sa Gam-jae stopped somewhere. In front of a cliff that wasn’t quite a precipice, but quite steep.

“I think it’s over there.”

Rembrary looked at the rift floating in the air that Sa Gam-jae was pointing at, then turned his head and looked at Sa Gam-jae again.

“Are you telling me to be a human basketball? How am I supposed to score from here?”

“Would it be difficult?”

“Can you do it?”

“Shall I throw you over there?”

“You’re crazy.”

At that time, the sound of footsteps approached quickly from nearby. Rembrary and Sa Gam-jae stopped arguing and turned around.

Shin Jo-woon appeared with a rustling sound.

Shin Jo-woon, who was usually neat and tidy, was a bit disheveled today. Even though it was only slightly disheveled, Shin Jo-woon, who strode up to Rembrary in that state, grabbed Rembrary’s shoulder and got angry.

“Why are you making this choice because of those guys? Don’t do it. It’s not worth it.”

“?”

< 220. This is Why They're Saints > End