ANTITOXIN Chapter 27

He tilted his head crookedly.

“Why? Is something wrong?”

Suddenly, Seolwon realized. The reality of the story. The story he told was not his past. It was a kind of text—the text in question. In other words, he was testing him.

“How is it, my story? Do you get the picture of what kind of person I am now?”

The man, having finished his story, interrogated him.

Seolwon locked eyes with him while racking his brain. What kind of reaction would be the correct answer? Was his story true or false? To call it a lie, the details were too meticulous, and to call it the truth, his attitude was too chilling. Put another way, it wouldn’t be strange if it were true, and it wouldn’t be strange if it were false. Perhaps because of that, his intuition also wavered, unable to grasp a clue.

Before long, Seolwon swallowed his dry saliva. He felt as though he had encountered the most difficult problem of his life. The only thing he knew right now was that if he failed to get this problem right as well, that muzzle would once again aim at someone. And that someone would be either Executive Director Hwang or himself—or both.

Truth and falsehood. All or nothing. 50:50.

He had to choose one of the two. However, he had absolutely no way of knowing. What the correct answer was.

What is it?

What could be the answer?

Inadvertently, his gaze shifted toward the incinerator. Staring at the facility filled with the aura of death, Seolwon questioned himself several times. He leaned on his intuition, and he leaned on his shamanic illness. Nevertheless… no answer came.

Tsk! The man clicked his tongue, making a sound. It was a signal letting him know that his patience was wearing thin. The heartbeat that understood the signal grew violent from this point onward.

Due to the extreme anxiety, cold sweat flowed down his temples. The man’s head tilted. Even that gesture felt like an urging. His warmthless pupils felt like a time bomb about to explode at any moment.

A moment later, it was just when the man’s lips budged as if to pronounce a death sentence.

― A lie.

A voice was heard from somewhere. The voice of a wandering spirit that felt unfamiliar yet not unfamiliar.

Startled, Seolwon followed the words of the wandering spirit without stopping to think.

“It’s a lie.”

The man’s lips twitch. By that, Seolwon became certain. That he had delivered the correct answer.

“It’s a lie.”

He repeated it as if driving in a wedge.

The man’s eyes narrowed. After that, he raised one corner of his mouth, openly testing him.

“Do you really think so?”

Inevitably, Seolwon hesitated. The voice of the wandering spirit had clearly given him the answer. Yet, was it right to blindly trust the words of an unidentified wandering spirit? What if it had told him the opposite on purpose to get him into trouble? Doubt welled up belatedly.

However.

― You fool, it is a lie.

As if reading Seolwon’s mind, the wandering spirit spoke once more. Only then did Seolwon look around, searching for the wandering spirit that had spoken to him. But it was the same this time. It did not catch his eye. Even though it was definitely nearby.

It couldn’t be helped. He had no choice but to trust it. At any rate, with nothing being felt right now, there was nowhere else to lean. All or nothing, Seolwon opened his mouth with the mindset of a gambler.

“Yes. It’s a lie.”

“…”

For a while, he merely stared intently at Seolwon’s face. Then, suddenly straightening his upper body which had been leaned forward, he leaned back against the backrest again and asked in a casual tone.

“By the way, which part?”

“…!”

Seolwon, who had judged based only on the story itself, sucked in his breath at the question that caught him off guard. Which part was a lie? There were multiple variables to this problem.

Seolwon’s pupils shook relentlessly, unable to hide his agitation. The man’s smile, whose nature was ambiguous—as if amused, as if scoffing—deepened further.

“That is…”

Pushed by anxiety, Seolwon blurted out an opening. At the same time, he listened intently. Hoping that the wandering spirit would give him a hint once more. Soon, a giggling laughter is heard. More clearly than earlier. As if letting him know, I am right here.

Wondering if it could be, Seolwon quickly threw his gaze in the direction of the sound. Surprisingly, this time he saw it. Far away, next to Executive Director Hwang, a young wandering spirit was standing with its hands behind its back.

As their eyes met, the wandering spirit slowly instructed him through the shape of its mouth.

― Almost all of it.

This time too, Seolwon followed exactly.

“Almost all of it.”

The wandering spirit smirks broadly. As if to say well done. Was it an illusion? That appearance seemed quite similar to the man. It was to the extent that he wondered if the man’s childhood appearance had looked exactly like that.

Wait, if so, could that wandering spirit perhaps be…

“…Your younger sibling?”

At the words he spat out inadvertently, the wandering spirit shook its head.

It’s not the younger sibling? Then…

― Older sister.

The wandering spirit instructed him on the correct answer.

“Older… sister? Not a younger sibling… an older sister. It was an older sister.”

Seolwon blankly muttered the words that had bypassed his brain. The wandering spirit nods its head, saying that’s right. After that, it pointed at the man with its finger. As if telling him to look over there now.

At that, Seolwon shifted his gaze. And at that instant, he ended up freezing. It was because of the man’s pupils, from which all expressions had vanished. It was just like a knife. A well-honed knife. A fatal knife where it wouldn’t be strange no matter when it stabbed him.

“…”

“…”

Once again, a heavy silence flowed.

He stared piercingly at Seolwon with a face harboring a cold chill, and Seolwon endured the man’s gaze while filled to the brim with tension.

The silence was shattered only after a long while had passed since then.

Screeech!

As the chair was pushed, a metallic sound echoed from the floor. It was because he stood up from his seat. Seolwon’s gaze naturally followed him upward. Locking eyes with Seolwon, the man said.

“Okay, pass.”

Appending a refreshing smile.

By passing… did it mean he would let it slide just like this? …Yes, it seemed so.

However, Seolwon did not let down his guard recklessly. Until this situation completely terminated… no, until he was completely released from the man’s interest, it felt like he must not loosen the string of tension.

“At any rate, you aren’t in that kind of relationship with that person? Are you sure?”

The man, bringing back the topic that had already passed, demanded confirmation. Seolwon nodded his head without hesitation.

“Yes, we aren’t.”

“Then that’s enough.”

It was right then. The man abruptly aimed the muzzle toward Executive Director Hwang. Subsequently, a click, a metallic sound, occurs. It was a sound made by touching the trigger.

“Heuk!”

Executive Director Hwang’s eyes flew wide open, having relaxed his tension while he was pushed out of their interest. There was no time to beg for his life. Because in the very next instant, the trigger was pulled.

Click!

A death-inducing sound echoes out.

Seolwon closed his eyes tightly.

However, thud! The explosive sound after pulling the trigger is somehow faint.

…Huh?

At a sound too different from his expectation, Seolwon stealthily opened his eyes. He sees the man spinning the gun round and round like a toy, with his finger hooked on the trigger guard. Executive Director Hwang with a dazed expression, and a small bead like a soybean that had dropped beneath his feet, came next.

Toward Seolwon, who was merely blinking his eyes with a dumbfounded expression, the man smirked broadly. And what he said was this.

“Why, is something wrong? You said you were nothing to each other.”

Of course, nothing was wrong. But… to think it was a fake gun, of all things.

For Seolwon, who had thought it would naturally be a real gun since he was an arms broker, it was simply absurd.

Whether Executive Director Hwang had a similar impression, he wore a blank face. With his pants thoroughly soaked. Having been so terrified, he had ended up peeing himself. Seeing this, the man furrowed his brows, letting out an, “Ugh,” and then openly grumbled.

“Ah, I was raised delicately so I have a weak stomach.”

…Despite having a face that looked strong no matter how one viewed it.

“What a relief. Since I’m not close with a bastard who pees himself anywhere at his big age. Right?”

The man’s interest shifted back to Seolwon. Seolwon, with a lukewarm expression, nodded his head to signify agreement. Sorry as he was to Executive Director Hwang… it was the truth.

Did he like that he concurred? The man chuckled.

“For now, the traffic control on this side is cleared up.”

Suddenly, the man threw the toy gun he was holding onto the floor. Smack! The gun that hit the floor shattered, and fragments splattered here and there. It was the moment the identity of the gun, which was nothing more than a fake, became clearer.

“Now, shall we clear up the other side too. But it’s a bit improper to show a person getting worked on before we even get close, isn’t it? Even I have to maintain my image. So…”