Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 34

34. Sharpening the Blade to Repay the Favor

Rembrary opened the bathroom door and peeked outside.

Fortunately, he was the first one up, and everyone else seemed to be asleep.

He tiptoed out, grabbed a bandage from the medicine cabinet Jungseo had taken out yesterday, and returned to the bathroom.

‘Good thing I watched how they used it before.’

He had put these on the injured areas when Taein and Keshi were fighting.

After washing his face, Rembrary applied the bandage to the cut and came out.

He was eating chicken breast and salad from the refrigerator when the other members started to wake up and emerge from their rooms.

Luckily, they were still awkward with each other, so they mostly left him alone, only saying things like,

“You put on a bandage?”

‘Yeah, keep ignoring me.’ Rembrary finished his salad with relief.

But the leader, Jungseo, was the problem.

“No, you can’t use that one.”

Despite his indifferent and aloof personality, he had a strong sense of responsibility.

As soon as Jungseo saw Rembrary, he spoke firmly, approached, and ripped off the bandage.

“Use a scar-free bandage.”

“I’ll do it myself.”

Rembrary pushed Jungseo away and asked,

“Where is that bandage?”

“What about ointment? Did you apply it before putting it on?”

“I applied it.”

“It looks too smooth for that, though?”

Jungseo, scolding him in a cold voice, went to the drawer and brought a container that looked different from the bandage Rembrary had used. Before Rembrary could take it, Jungseo tore off the bandage on his face.

“······”

As soon as he removed the bandage, Jungseo froze, and so did Rembrary.

They stared at each other, frozen, and then Rembrary quickly raised his hand to cover his cheek.

But Jungseo widened his eyes, grabbed Rembrary, dragged him into the bathroom, locked the door, and asked,

“I think I’m about to say something crazy right now…”

‘Is he going to ask about my divine power!’

Rembrary guessed what Jungseo was about to say and quickly spoke.

“If you’re going to say something crazy, stop right now.”

Then, he pointed to the doorknob and changed the subject.

“Didn’t you say that was broken?”

But Jungseo said,

“I have to say it.”

However, unlike his firm words, he couldn’t continue speaking and just opened and closed his mouth.

Then, in a nervous voice, he asked,

“Are you perhaps… an angel?”

‘I’ve been found out!’ Thinking that, Rembrary asked back in disbelief,

“What? An angel?”

Why is he suddenly talking about angels here?

Jungseo, realizing that it was a crazy thing to say, blushed and ruffled his hair.

“Damn it, that bastard Maeng Wooshin.”

‘Maeng Wooshin?’

Wondering who Maeng Wooshin was, he asked,

“Who is that?”

Jungseo took a deep breath and asked again.

“Question revised. Are you perhaps… a healer or something? Like in a game—no, he doesn’t even know games.”

“Are you talking about a healer?”

“Similar! Is that it? Can you heal people? With magic… or superpowers? Whatever it is.”

Rembrary pondered and then answered,

“No.”

It felt like too blunt a lie to someone who had already seen the wound on his cheek.

It seemed better to deny it for now.

However, Jungseo couldn’t easily accept the denial, as he had witnessed more than one thing.

Ever since that shocking day when he saw Rembrary cut his palm with a knife.

Jungseo had been watching Rembrary closely.

There hadn’t been any more strange occurrences since then, but instead, he had found strange anecdotes online.

One fan claimed that they had been cured of their illness by stanning [being an avid fan of] Rembrary.

Another netizen claimed that their child had been cured after taking a picture with Rembrary.

Both were treated as crazy stories, but Jungseo, who had seen Rembrary’s knife and palm wound, couldn’t easily dismiss their claims.

Moreover, Jungseo had to cling to even the smallest possibility.

Just like when he had wandered around after hearing rumors about that crazy group.

“Tell me honestly. I’ll keep it a secret.”

“No.”

“I swear. Absolutely, absolutely, I’ll keep it a secret unless you want me to.”

“I said no? And where in the world is there magic?”

Rembrary, who came from a world where magic existed, boldly denied it.

Originally, there was magic in his world, but not here.

Besides, Jungseo himself had treated Rembrary like a madman, saying that there were no such things as demons or gods.

However, Rembrary flinched at Jungseo’s expression, which looked like he was about to cry.

“Please tell me honestly. Is it really no?”

“I’m…”

Rembrary, who had become a high priest at a young age due to his innate divine power, tended to rely on his divine power more than other priests.

He had never even voluntarily participated in volunteer work.

But having lived his whole life as a priest, he was weak in situations like this, where someone was begging for help.

‘Seeing him go this far, there must be something going on.’

It must be really urgent.

As Rembrary’s answer dragged on, Jungseo knelt down.

Then, as if overwhelmed with emotion, he grabbed Rembrary’s leg and pleaded.

“That palm back then, and the cheek wound now, your fan, the child’s father. You did it, right? Please say yes. Please!”

He didn’t shed tears, but he looked like he was crying.

“What on earth is going on?”

Rembrary decided to hear him out and helped Jungseo up.

‘Does he perhaps have a disease…?’

Jungseo hesitated but eventually confessed honestly.

“Do you remember when I went to the hospital before? I didn’t show you my mom?”

“Yeah. I remember.”

“……”

“It’s okay, tell me. You asked for help.”

Jungseo opened his mouth heavily.

“Do you know about neurofibromatosis?”

“Neurofibromatosis?”

Rembrary shook his head.

When it came to healing with divine power, the name of the disease was unnecessary.

He just needed to channel divine power.

Memorizing disease names was something only doctors needed to do.

“What is that?”

Jungseo took out his phone from his pocket and searched for neurofibromatosis, showing him the pictures.

Rembrary was startled.

He had healed countless patients, but this was a disease he had never seen before.

“The severity of the disease varies from person to person, but my mom’s symptoms are very severe. She can’t even walk properly, and it’s hard for her to live her life.”

“Oh dear…”

“And because the symptoms also appear on the outside, she doesn’t want to meet other people.”

Jungseo bit his lip tightly as he spoke.

As if trying not to express his emotions as much as possible.

But his distorted expression alone showed how much he was struggling.

Jungseo put his phone on the sink and pleaded with Rembrary.

“If you happen to have that kind of ability… could you help me?”

After asking the question, Jungseo suddenly bit his own palm.

Rembrary was startled and tried to stop him, but he had bitten so hard that blood was already flowing from his palm.

It wasn’t enough to tear off flesh, but there were clear teeth marks.

Rembrary looked at the scene, sighed, and reached out his hand.

As Rembrary’s hand touched it, Jungseo’s palm wound disappeared.

Jungseo widened his eyes but didn’t make a sound.

But the tears he had been holding back were finally welling up in his eyes.

Rembrary reached out both hands, as he used to do as a priest, and hugged Jungseo tightly.

He patted his back a few times in that state, then let go and answered.

“I will help you.”

Jungseo stood there silently again, biting his lip tightly.

Rembrary thought he would say thank you, but after standing there for a while, the words Jungseo uttered were,

“Wait.”

“Huh?”

Then he went outside.

“What are you two doing in the bathroom?”

Taein’s blunt voice was heard through the open door.

“Shut up.”

Jungseo’s firm voice too.

After a while, Jungseo returned with the scar-free bandage he had left on the table earlier.

“If you put this on, Jongwoo hyung [older brother/male friend] won’t take it off either.”

Jungseo said that and then put the bandage on the spot where he had been injured yesterday. Then, he stood there awkwardly, looking down at the bathroom floor, and said,

“Thank you.”

“Okay.”

“I’ll think of you as a benefactor for life and repay you.”

“Stop it and shut your mouth.”

“No.”

Jungseo said firmly and then muttered, looking down at the palm Rembrary had healed earlier.

“Really. I will definitely repay you.”

* * *

– They changed the Sing Survival penalty? Why did they change it?

– If they keep doing the penalty like this, isn’t 8th place practically 1st place? It would be annoying to be in 1st place.

ㄴ Seon Woosil looked like he was about to cry lololol [laughing out loud]

ㄴ Don’t you know that celebrities are desperate for screen time? They’re giving them screen time like that.

– I only saw Woo Yeonwoo’s steel mentality ㄷㄷ [an expression of awe or amazement]

– It’s not just steel level, it’s a psycho? Wasn’t the zombie’s finger broken?

ㄴ ㅇㅇ [yes, yes] It looks like he put his hand on the broken finger?

ㄴ He put it on and bent it.

ㄴ Crazy. Did he bend the broken finger in the opposite direction?????

ㄴ ㄴㄴ [no, no] The finger wasn’t bent from the beginning.

– It’s true that he didn’t bend it. If you look closely at the screen, you can see that the zombie is covering the injured finger with his hand. It just looked like it was bent.

– Even if he didn’t bend the finger, he’s still a psycho. Why would he grab the injured finger on purpose?

– Personality ㄷㄷ [an expression of awe or amazement] He’s still smiling in the meantime.

– Woo Yeonwoo is Woo Yeonwoo. I’m more surprised that Yuli beat up the zombie. She’s always been sickly and had minor illnesses ;;

– She can’t exercise? Didn’t she say she can’t dance because she’s weak?

– The uppercut experience isn’t the experience of someone who’s been sickly?

ㄴ ㅅㅂㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ [an expression of strong amusement or disbelief]

ㄴ Why. She might have learned boxing to get healthy.

– Seeing her fly the zombie, it seems like she’s already healthy. Why is her dancing still like that?

* * *

Tuesday night.

Rembrary, who was monitoring the Sing Survival broadcast with the members, was surprised to see himself on the green screen.

“It was incredibly dark inside? Why is it showing up like that? I didn’t even see the green light?”

Hyegyeol answered indifferently.

“Even at night, they said you can see it like that with some kind of camera.”

“Really?”

“The result is right in front of you. More than that, hyung [older brother/male friend]. You’re going crazy on the internet again. They’re calling you a psycho.”

“Psycho? What is that?”

“A crazy madman? Something like that?”

“……”

Rembrary sighed but still thought it was fortunate.

As expected, not everything was hidden in the darkness.

But because the injured man had been holding his hand the whole time, the fact that his finger was completely bent backward wasn’t visible on the screen.

‘Anyway, I have to be careful even in the dark here.’

Rembrary stored this information well in his head.

Meanwhile, Keshi was performing the last-place penalty on TV.

Seon Woosil was standing on the street, and Keshi was dancing and singing in front of him.

The passersby were filming the scene with their phones.

Hyegyeol saw that and laughed as he passed by.

“Wow. Look at Seon Woosil’s expression. He’s looking at Keshi hyung [older brother/male friend] like he’s complete trash?”

Rembrary understood a little bit why Keshi had been so angry yesterday.

Besides the reason he vented on him, the reason he came in angry.

While Keshi was singing a love song for the penalty, Seon Woosil was watching with his arms crossed and a very, very displeased look.

Even when they were on bad terms, they usually pretended to be friendly in front of the camera.

It seems that even Seon Woosil can’t control his expression when it comes to music.

But as he was watching TV, something was suddenly held out in front of him.

A cup filled with red juice.

Even just one cup.

The person holding it was Jungseo with a blunt expression.

He had been grinding something in the kitchen by himself earlier, and this seemed to be the result.

‘But why is he giving this to me?’

“What is this?”

When the flustered Rembrary asked, Jungseo answered indifferently.

“Tomato juice.”

“?”

“Drink it.”

“!”