The Returner Chapter 157

"The mood?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
So, what was up with the mood?
Yi Ji-Hyuk tilted his head.
Wasn't the atmosphere at an amusement park always like this? Like, everyone was noisy, unorganised, a bit chaotic and stuff like that.
"Isn’t it supposed to be like this?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
"M-mm….." (Jeong Hae-Min)
Maybe it was because this was Jeong Hae-Min, who was rather adept at reading the crowd, she could tell that people around them seemed tenser than usual for some reason.
"Well, you can just go ask them what’s going on, right?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
"M-mm??" (Jeong Hae-Min)
As soon as she heard Yi Ji-Hyuk’s suggestion, Jeong Hae-Min began grinning like an idiot.
Why wouldn’t she have done something so obvious already?
"………..I’m sure it’s nothing." (Jeong Hae-Min)
"C’mon, go and ask." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
"No, well, I think I made a mistake. I’m sure everything’s fine!" (Jeong Hae-Min)
"Mm?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
After easily deciphering Jeong Hae-Min’s somewhat complicated expression, Yi Ji-Hyuk began smirking.
"Hey, it’s because you can’t speak English, right?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
"…..No, it’s not!!" (Jeong Hae-Min)
Jeong Hae-Min’s face reddened considerably as she became very serious all of a sudden.
"No, that’s not true. I can speak perfectly, you know!" (Jeong Hae-Min)
"Okay, then say something." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
"Even if I do, you won’t understand a thing, right? I don’t wanna wound your pride and that’s why I’m not gonna say anything, so like, you better be grateful!!" (Jeong Hae-Min)
"Sure, sure. Your highness." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
"I’m, I’m being serious, you know!" (Jeong Hae-Min)
Yi Ji-Hyuk snorted once and spoke up.
"Never mind. Don’t bother. I never expected a shorty to speak English in the first place, anyway. Just grow up quickly and learn how to speak English. I can just ask other kids around me, and that would be that. Hey, if either of you know how to speak English, go and……" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
Almost at the same time as his words were leaving his lips, Kim Dah-Som began staring at the distant heavens above, while Doh Gah-Yun was submerging inside Yi Ji-Hyuk’s shadow.
Grab.
Yi Ji-Hyuk grabbed Doh Gah-Yun as she was about half-submerged in his shadow, and pulled her up as a sigh escaped from his mouth.
"How did she even manage to buy the grub like this?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
"I told you, I spoke English and bought them just fine!!" (Jeong Hae-Min)
"…..Really now?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
"Yup!!" (Jeong Hae-Min)
Doh Gah-Yun quietly opened her mouth.
"She went ‘Dis, dis, dis. Hau much’." (Doh Gah-Yun)
"………….."
"………….."
Doh Gah-Yun didn’t stop there.
"Relied on body language. Need to learn properly." (Doh Gah-Yun)
"Hah……"
Yi Ji-Hyuk massaged his forehead.
She was nominally one of South Korea’s top idols, so when thinking about how she had to resort to body language while ordering food, a sigh automatically escaped from his mouth.
"Tsk."
"What? What?! As long as the other person gets it, who cares! You have no idea, but actually, those really fluent in English communicate like that, you know!!" (Jeong Hae-Min)
"What was that?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
….I have no idea? Really now?
Hey, you dumb rotten little girl!! This old man is the body language master!!
At least in this world, you know a bit of other language’s systems and receive education from early on! You see, me, I managed to converse with body language alone during the time I was stuck in Berafe, when I couldn’t understand a thing those people were saying!!
You think you can accurately convey ‘I need to go to a bathroom real quick, so can you tell me where to find one nearby’ with nothing but body language? This great me did!!
Hah…..
Just thinking about those days brings tears to my eyes.
Those d*mn Berafe ba*stards!! (Yi Ji-Hyuk’s inner monologue)
It was then, Kim Dah-Som came at him with a sneak attack.
"Here." (Kim Dah-Som)
"Mm?"
Kim Dah-Som tore the ‘ear’ part of the pizza, used a fork to pick it up, and brought it near Yi Ji-Hyuk’s mouth.
"You want me to eat this?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
Nod.
Yi Ji-Hyuk didn’t think too much and ate the pizza piece.
Witnessing that spectacle, flames erupted in Jeong Hae-Min’s eyes.
Completely disregarding her, Kim Dah-Som continued to observe Yi Ji-Hyuk chewing on the food, before swiftly bringing cola to his lips.
Slllurp~
Why was she getting so ticked off by the sight of him sucking on his straw?! Jeong Hae-Min trembled in rage while being subjected to this scene, before angrily picking up a muffin.
However….
*SFX for something happening quite suddenly. Yes, there’s an SFX in Korean for that, too.*
It was then, a spoon full of pudding was thrust before Yi Ji-Hyuk’s mouth.
*SFX for someone swallowing whole a spoonful of grub*
Again, Yi Ji-Hyuk didn’t think about it at all and ate the presented pudding. Doh Gah-Yun wordlessly watched him chew on her pudding, before mechanically shoving the rest of the dessert inside his mouth.
"Hmm….."
Even in the midst of getting fed, Yi Ji-Hyuk was tilting his head slightly.
What is this?
What is happening here?
It feels like things keep entering my mouth….. (Yi Ji-Hyuk’s inner monologue)
In the past, he couldn’t bother feeding himself, so he let his demonic servants feed him while he lay in bed. That used to happen quite often, so almost out of habit, he accepted what these girls were feeding him without resisting.
However….
No, hang on a minute.
These kids, aren’t they getting a bit too enthusiastic….?? (Yi Ji-Hyuk’s inner monologue)
"Euh!"
Jeong Hae-Min shot up from her spot and shoved the muffin in Yi Ji-Hyuk’s mouth.
"Euph?! Euph!!" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
This was already well past the level of them feeding him anymore.
Doh Gah-Yun quietly observed the unfolding situation and managed to find enough of a gap to shove more pudding inside Yi Ji-Hyuk’s mouth.
It was truly an attack befitting Doh Gah-Yun’s character that did not miss the slightest opening from her target. Which was his mouth.
"…………"
Kim Dah-Som’s expression hardened slightly, and then, the whole pizza began occupying the front of his mouth now.
"Wouhowoodaee Yheauwuha!!" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
He desperately cried out, but his voice couldn’t form any tangible words whatsoever and came across as just that, a cry.
"You thirsty?" (Jeong Hae-Min)
Jeong Ha-Min held a can of cola and continued to look for an opening to strike; seeing her getting ready to pounce, Yi Ji-Hyuk desperately shook his head.
"You must be thirsty, right? You have to be thirsty by now." (Jeong Hae-Min)
If all three cans of cola entered his mouth, a truly humongous tragedy might unfold next. Yi Ji-Hyuk hurriedly got up from the chair and retreated further away from the table.
"Aalm ooowoon." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
Since when did saying ‘Calm down’ become this difficult?
Besides all that, what’s gotten into them?!
Is this assassination?! Are they trying to assassinate me?
Suffocating me with food? Is that it?!
Is Seo Ah-Young the instigator behind this dastardly act?! (Yi Ji-Hyuk’s inner monologue)
"I shall be the one to feed him, so you two can stop now." (Jeong Hae-Min)
"Denied." (Doh Gah-Yun)
"I’ll feed him, thank you." (Kim Dah-Som)
And now, three females no longer paid any attention to Yi Ji-Hyuk and began glaring at each other. Meanwhile, he was focused wholeheartedly on chewing and swallowing the food filling up his mouth.
There were so much c**p inside his mouth, he couldn’t even taste anything anymore. No, wait. Wasn’t this mixture already on the level of dogfood?
Even when Yi Ji-Hyuk was trembling hard in humiliation, the three females continued with their war of nerves.
"What were you thinking, shoving food like that? Can’t you see he’s having a hard time?" (Jeong Hae-Min)
"But, I was the one who started feeding him first." (Kim Dah-Som)
"Pudding, soft and moist. Muffin, hard and dry." (Doh Gah-Yun)
Jeong Hae-Min began trembling in barely-checked rage.
These rotten kids!! Why did they have to come here, too?!
"By the way…." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
"You, keep quiet for now." (Jeong Hae-Min)
"No butting in." (Doh Gah-Yun)
"We have matters to discuss." (Kim Dah-Som)
All three attacked him at the same time, but Yi Ji-Hyuk remained resolute.
"No, hang on. That’s not it…." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
"I told you to pipe down!" (Jeong Hae-Min)
"Go that way." (Doh Gah-Yun)
"Oppa, just a moment, please." (Kim Dah-Som)
Yi Ji-Hyuk spat out a groan and spoke.
"Hey you idiots. Can’t you sense the atmosphere around you?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
Atmosphere?
Only after hearing him out did the three girls look at their surroundings. Even before they had noticed it, there was not one soul around them anymore.
"….Where’s everyone?" (Jeong Hae-Min)
"Hmm. Looks like I need to find out." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
Yi Ji-Hyuk raised his hand up in the air and snapped his fingers.
"………….."
"………….."
"………….."
Nothing happened.
Receiving a trio of somewhat suspicious gazes, Yi Ji-Hyuk began smiling in awkwardness.
"Ha, ha, ha…." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
"What now?" (Jeong Hae-Min)
Jeong Hae-Min’s unimpressed question prompted Yi Ji-Hyuk’s face to crumple unsightly, and he roared out loudly.
"Come out already!!" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
Still no response.
"Hey, come out here now! Otherwise, I’m gonna go on a rampage!!" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
Only then, a Caucasian man wearing a black suit hurriedly ran towards them from afar.
"Pant, pant…."
That man ran with everything he had and arrived before Yi Ji-Hyuk while panting uncontrollably.
"How…. How can I help you?"
"Tsk, tsk." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
Yi Ji-Hyuk tutted unhappily.
"What the heck? What kinda secret agent are you? Aren’t you supposed to, you know, keep yourself nicely hidden nearby but when I snap my finger, you pop out and go ‘ta-da’?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
"….Maybe you saw one too many movies."
Did he think that ninjas were for real??
After hearing that answer from the American agent, Yi Ji-Hyuk wordlessly stared at Doh Gah-Yun. She immediately understood the meaning behind that look, and rapidly submerged into his shadow.
"You should be able to do this much, at least!" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
When Doh Gah-Yun re-emerged from the shadow, the American agent’s eyes nearly popped out of his sockets.
Ninjas existed for real in the East!!
"….We can’t do something like that."
"What a useless bunch! Eiii!" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
Yi Ji-Hyuk’s criticism caused the agent’s shoulders to slouch.
If it were anyone else saying those things, the agent would’ve smashed that guy’s chin in by now, but well, there was naught anyone could do even if Yi Ji-Hyuk decided to rampage about in the White House while wearing nothing but a pair of thongs.
"Did something happen?"
"I should be asking you that. What’s happening here?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
Yi Ji-Hyuk asked the agent.
Unless the American agencies were made up entirely of idiots, they should’ve detected his arrival in their country the moment that happened. Yi Ji-Hyuk’s initial expectation of them putting a tail on him turned out to be correct.
One might think that would be an unpleasant thing, but Yi Ji-Hyuk didn’t really feel that way.
The greater the importance of a person was, the more necessary it became to watch said person.
Back in Berafe, the various scouts observing him from afar alone numbered in the tens of thousands, after all.
‘Well, they were no longer on the level of simple scouts, weren’t they.’ (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
They surrounded him in a wide arc and tried to predict which direction he might take, all of them fully prepared to sacrifice themselves if it needed be, so in that regard, they were no longer scouts but more like meat shields, no, meat alarm system.
"Mm….."
The agent seemed to be deliberating on something, before opening his mouth.
"Something did happen, but we haven’t really figured out what kind of situation we have on hand at the moment."
"In that case, I’ll figure it out, so why don’t you tell me what happened?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
"Actually….."
The agent spoke with a worried expression on his face.
*
"Ohohohoho. Isn’t this a fine weather?" (mom)
…..Mother, it’s December right now.
In all honesty, this isn’t really a good weather for a day out at an amusement park.
We may have just avoided the rainy season, but still, you won’t find a lot of people around here at this time of the year.
And you’re saying that the weather’s nice…. (Choi Jung-Hoon’s inner monologue)
There were lots of things he wanted to say, but Choi Jung-Hoon dared not to voice them out in the open.
Just who was this middle-aged woman in front of his eyes?
She was none other than Yi Ji-Hyuk’s mother.
Meaning, she actually gave birth to Yi Ji-Hyuk, the strongest human alive, as well as the worst nightmare of humanity ever to grace this Earth.
That fact alone would be enough to shock and terrorise anyone, but on top of that, she was also an existence that treated Yi Ji-Hyuk as her personal drum kit, too.
Choi Jung-Hoon already lost count how many times he bore witness to that spectacle.
Even though no one dared to meet Yi Ji-Hyuk’s gaze, she still gave Choi Jung-Hoon a huge mental shock by grabbing that man’s head and began performing spike serves on her son’s back.
And then, a bit later, she even kicked him down and performed double spike serve on the back of collapsed Yi Ji-Hyuk, too.
‘If I get technical about it, isn’t she the true strongest human in history?!’ (Choi Jung-Hoon)
Indeed, there was no way Choi Jung-Hoon would treat this woman poorly at all.
If Choi Jung-Hoon was Yi Ji-Hyuk’s father, he wouldn’t have hit his own kid that badly, yet to see her pound on her son as if it was nothing….. Without a doubt, this auntie was no ordinary person at all.
Of course, Yi Ji-Hyuk did deserve those beatings, but….
Indeed, he had done plenty of things worthy of harsh beatings. Even then….
"Ye-Won-ah. Don’t you think so?" (mom)
"Yes, mom." (Ye-Won)
Choi Jung-Hoon’s gaze was redirected towards Yi Ye-Won next to him.
‘She’s so reserved.’ (Choi Jung-Hoon)
Maybe because he was surrounded by brilliantly good-looking men and women all of the time, Yi Ye-Won and her simple but neat dress came across refreshing to Choi Jung-Hoon’s eyes.
On top of this, she was calm and reserved, which was rather unimaginable for a younger sibling of that man, Yi Ji-Hyuk.
‘She’s adorable.’ (Choi Jung-Hoon)
If Choi Jung-Hoon had a younger sister around the same age as her, he’d have spoiled that girl rotten.
To think she was able to grow up so wholesome like this in that environment - this kid was deserving of some praise, indeed.
"Even in that environment, you…." (Choi Jung-Hoon)
"Excuse me?" (Ye-Won)
"No, it’s nothing important." (Choi Jung-Hoon)
Choi Jung-Hoon lightly shook his head.
With a mom like Park Seon-Duk and an older brother like Yi Ji-Hyuk, even Gandhi would’ve turned into the god of destruction, instead. (TL: Oh? Is this Civilization reference? I think it is.)
Seriously now, you’d watch and learn those craziness while growing up, so how could the event of a totally-normal person coming out from that household make any sort of logical sense?
‘Is her personality a quiet one to begin with?’ (Choi Jung-Hoon)
In that regard, Yi Ye-Won should be seen as rather remarkable.
When Choi Jung-Hoon stared at Yi Ye-Won with a content smile on his face, a sharp, criticising voice suddenly dug in from his side.
"What do you think you’re doing?" (Seo Ah-Young)
"Mm?"
Seo Ah-Young was glaring daggers at him.
"Why are you looking at me like that, ma’am?" (Choi Jung-Hoon)
"Why are you looking at an underage kid with eyes of a criminal?!" (Seo Ah-Young)
"Eyes of a criminal?!" (Choi Jung-Hoon)
All I did!! Was to look!!
With strictly! Pure intentions!! (Choi Jung-Hoon’s inner monologue)
"Clank, clank!" (Seo Ah-Young) (TL: Sounds of handcuffs, actually.)
"N-no, hang on. You’re wrong. Really." (Choi Jung-Hoon)
Just as the panicking Choi Jung-Hoon tried to explain himself, he suddenly heard the uneasy bustle coming from afar.
"Mm?"
Choi Jung-Hoon’s gaze immediately shifted in that direction.
Fin.