LSDK 03

Chapter 3

The Ji-i of today could easily pick most ordinary locks with just two hairpins. Even if it was an electronic door lock, she knew dozens of ways to figure out the password. She could also slip something from another person’s pocket into her own without leaving any sign.

She also knew where to hit someone to make them suffer as if they were about to lose their breath, and how to overcome physical disadvantages. She knew enough methods to last more than ten minutes in close combat without being pushed back. That did not mean she intended to use them in the real world outside.

Unless it was unavoidable.

She had not learned only illegal things, either. All of it had been paid for with taxes. During the past eight years, Ji-i had learned skills that allowed her to make practically every kind of clothing. She also had a makeup and disguise qualification that was almost equivalent to plastic surgery. Starting with Korean cuisine, she had also obtained qualifications for making desserts, including bakery products.

She had even learned woodworking, so what more could she possibly say?

“Then again, even if you have experience with men, modern medicine is so advanced that it shouldn’t be a problem. But there really is no need to go that far… Hey, hey!”

“…….”

Since Arang seemed to have no intention of getting to the point, Ji-i decided to simply ignore her and walk away with an expressionless face.

She had also learned inside the facility that the most effective way not to show anxiety and fear was not to force herself to act composed, but to show indifference or apathy.

But apparently, eight years had been far from enough for Ji-i to develop the ability to pretend all the way down to her bones.

At least, judging by how her unconscious mind reacted first to Arang’s provocation.

“I’ll kill your grandfather.”

Perhaps it was like the saying, Once a Marine, always a Marine.

Maybe it was the same with soft-hearted people.

Once a pushover, always a pushover.

“…….”

In the end, Ji-i stopped again. This time, she spun around and glared at Arang.

“It depends on what you do.”

This woman really hadn’t changed even a little.

“What do you want?”

“I’ve been holding onto your grandfather’s life all this time for your sake, and you don’t even know how to be grateful. You ungrateful bitch.”

Maybe Arang had become even more self-centered and lacking in conscience during the past eight years.

She had always been like that before.

Arang’s self-centered thinking had been at a serious level. She thought and interpreted everything according to what she wanted. Even when she got caught doing something bad, Arang would deny it as if she were the one being wronged. And she seemed to genuinely believe her own excuses.

Because of her self-centered way of thinking, the extremely selfish Arang seemed to have completely forgotten why Ji-i had been isolated for eight years.

Even if Arang had really taken perfect care of their adoptive grandfather, it was not a favor. In a way, it was simply something she was supposed to do.

No.

Even if she had taken care of their adoptive grandfather, the calculation still didn’t work out in my favor.

Still, as Ji-i, she had no intention of calculating every little penny when it concerned her adoptive grandfather’s life or death.

“…….”

She could settle things here and cleanly go their separate ways.

If Arang had really taken care of her grandfather.

But Ji-i knew better than anyone that the possibility of that was only fifty-fifty.

“Should I call the hospital right now and tell them to kick him out?”

Ji-i now knew that Arang’s character had been rotten from the very beginning, judging by how she was threatening her while waving around her phone.

It would have been nice if she had realized it sooner.

If she had, she would not have spent all those years shedding tears of blood and paying the price in Arang’s place.

“…….”

“Then that old man will really die, you know?”

“You really have been taking care of my grandfather all this time?”

Her adoptive grandfather was a homeless man with neither a first name nor a last name.

Ji-i had never once heard his name or surname, either.

She had asked him before, but for some reason, her adoptive grandfather had firmly kept his mouth shut and refused to answer.

From what she had heard through various channels, her adoptive grandfather had been abandoned by his children in the equivalent of Goryeojang, and he kept his mouth shut because he did not want to become a burden to them.

Ji-i did not know what twists and turns had happened along the way.

But she knew that she had never done anything her adoptive grandfather disliked.

As a result, all she knew was that her adoptive grandfather was also in a position like hers—a person who had no one who would grieve if he simply disappeared from the streets without leaving a trace.

“Or what?”

And Arang had been taking care of such a man all this time?

“You?”

She did not believe it.

If she believed it, that would mean her seven years and six months—eight years when counted by calendar years—had all been wasted.

Ji-i gave a hollow laugh and stared directly at Arang.

“If not me, then who?”

“…….”

What exactly was this woman plotting?

Then, at some point, Ji-i’s eyes narrowed.

With her eyes slightly narrowed and an uncertain expression, she carefully observed Arang.

“I’ll call right now and—”

Whether Arang had actually taken care of her adoptive grandfather or not, it was certain that she knew something about his whereabouts.

Otherwise, there was no reason for Arang to pressure her by bringing up her adoptive grandfather every time she opened her mouth.

“What do you want?”

In the end, Ji-i decided to believe only that there was a possibility Arang knew where her adoptive grandfather was, and asked her.

“So you really have no experience?”

Arang asked her in return.

“I don’t know.”

Rather than not knowing, she probably did.

It was just that shame prevented her from telling the truth with her own mouth.

Come to think of it, I still have something like shame left?

I thought I had thrown it away a long time ago. Heh.

“You don’t know?”

“…….”

“You’ve never slept with a man?”

“No.”

Ji-i answered Arang firmly.

Her first partner had not been a man, so naturally, she had nothing to say.

On the very first day she entered the facility, that very night, Ji-i experienced something she had never even imagined.

It had not ended with simple bullying.

Even so, no one was punished.

Ji-i’s misfortune was that the head of the cell she had been placed in was a 100-percent pure evil person.

He was so bad that even the facility managers were afraid of the cell head and avoided him whenever possible.

The next day, Ji-i was taken to the hospital and forced to stay there.

And even that was not enough.

The moment she was discharged, the nightmare began again.

If she resisted, Ji-i herself had to pay the price.

After repeatedly being admitted and discharged from the hospital, she gradually became numb.

She had felt extreme fear, but little by little, she decided to become indifferent to it.

Just endure it. Somehow.

At least until the cell head gets another pet.

The cell head was serving a life sentence.

So instead of hoping that the cell head would disappear, Ji-i became a very inhuman person who counted the days until another victim appeared.

The facility was a jungle that changed even her values.

Anyway, she had counted down the days until she could be free.

But unfortunately, that day did not come as quickly as she had hoped.

Even a 100-percent piece of trash still had feelings unless he was a psychopath.

Because of that, the cell head’s affection and obsession toward Ji-i grew stronger day by day.

Ironically, later on, that actually became an advantage for Ji-i.