## Chapter 228 – Escape
“…..”
Wearing a hat in the middle of summer, I hide in the crowd of the market, evading the police chasing after me.
It was good that I escaped the police who had swarmed the hospital, but what came after was the problem.
All I have now is the clothes I took from the detective and a hat I stole from the market.
I don’t have a wallet, money, or even a phone to call someone, and I’m completely disoriented.
“…Damn it.”
I put my hand on my throbbing stomach and take it away to find it covered in blood. Did the wound reopen?
Even though I hastily used golden energy to heal myself for the escape, it was only emergency treatment with the little power I had.
I used up all the energy in my body fighting Kin, so I don’t have much left to heal the wound.
To be honest, I feel like I’m about to collapse any minute. I need to find a place to rest quickly…
‘Hide.’
“…Is no one there?”
“It doesn’t seem to be here.”
Amidst all this, I pull my hat down low at the warning ringing in my head, trying to hold back my ragged breath from the pain.
Two plainclothes police officers brush past me. Even in this situation, I’m still being chased.
There are more police officers loitering around than before. Are they narrowing the encirclement to this market?
“Haa, haa…”
I can’t move rashly. In this condition, I don’t have the confidence to win even against ordinary humans.
If I fight, I might accidentally kill a police officer if I misjudge my strength, and if I hold back, I’ll be overwhelmed by numbers.
In the first place, causing a commotion in a place with so many eyes on me will immediately expose me…
I need help, but how do I ask for it? The public phone is on a wide street outside the market.
Even if I drag my aching body there, my blood-soaked appearance will look suspicious to anyone.
Then the only option left is…
I calm the chaotic flow of energy due to fatigue and injury with deep breaths.
I used up all the golden and red energy breaking Kin’s prison yesterday, so I’m completely drained.
And the green energy is a mess because I overused it, and it’s not even recovering now.
But the only thing left is blue energy. I can do something with this.
“….”
I turn my head, dodging the police officers hidden in the crowd just like me.
Even though it’s among people, I’ll be easily spotted in the middle, so I head towards the corner of the market.
Each time I bump into people’s shoulders, I hold down the throbbing wound and escape the crowded throng, and then,
“…Hey, I’m telling you not to worry about a murder case. That university is super far from here, right?”
In contrast to the chaotic center of the market, a moderately quiet and secluded alley entrance appeared,
And in front of that alley, a woman was seen talking on the phone, avoiding the noise of the bustling market.
“Excuse me, miss.”
“Ah, wait a minute. Yes?”
I carefully look around and approach the woman, speaking to her. She stops talking and looks at me.
“…I’m sorry, but could you possibly lend me your phone for a moment? I lost mine…”
“…..”
I wipe away the cold sweat and force a smile, trying to smooth out my face that had been contorted with pain.
But the woman is silently glancing at my body here and there,
And she’s slowly backing away, as if she’s noticed something suspicious.
“…W-Well, I’m on a call right now. I’m sorry, but you should ask someone else…”
“…I have no choice then…”
“Y-Yes… Well… Mmph?!”
I cover the woman’s mouth as she tries to get away from me and run into the dark alleyway even though it’s daytime.
The startled woman flails her arms and legs, but her eyes are already covered by my palm,
“…Shh… Be quiet…”
“…Euh, bff…”
The woman’s arms and legs droop as she’s directly exposed to the blue light emanating from my palm.
I pick up the woman’s phone that slipped from her powerless fingers and fell to the ground with a thud.
‘Y-Hello? Hey, Kim Haeun? Are you okay? What’s wrong? Hey, hey!’
A man’s voice booms loudly, even though it’s not on speakerphone.
Was she talking to her boyfriend? That’s convenient since I needed to clean up.
“Hello. Are you this woman’s boyfriend?”
‘Who is this bastard? What did you do to Haeun?’
“Well… it doesn’t matter if you’re her boyfriend or not, this is the alley near restaurant number 12 in the central market.
I was in a hurry, so I put a rather strong hypnosis on this woman. Come and get her.”
‘Hey, wai…!’
I cut off the lengthy call. This man will take care of this woman.
I leave the woman standing blankly like a doll and tap the phone screen to dial a number.
I don’t memorize phone numbers one by one, but I recall a recently memorized number and make a call.
‘Ringing, ringing’
A monotonous and constant ringing tone sounds about four times, and I lean against the wall while waiting.
And by the time the ringing tone sounds another four times, I become anxious. What if she doesn’t answer?
Did something happen? As those worries deepen, the pain in my stomach intensifies.
‘…Hello?’
“…Haa, Lee Chaeyoon… It’s me…”
‘Oh, w-wait… Just a moment…!’
Chaeyoon, who answered the phone with a lukewarm voice, stutters in surprise upon hearing my voice,
And after hearing the sound of her running and footsteps, I finally hear her voice.
‘H-Hello? Oppa, where are you right now?!’
“I’m, I’m… at the XX-dong central market… Where are you? Why is your voice so quiet…?”
‘…I’m getting questioned at the police station with Seohee unni right now…
Unni is inside the police station, and I came out for a moment to make a call.’
Ah, why didn’t I think of that? That big incident happened at the school we attended,
And most of the students there would recognize me. I’ve become the main suspect in that incident,
So the police needed to find out who was closest to the suspect, but that wouldn’t have been difficult.
After all, the rumor that Chaeyoon was dating the loser Im Chanwoo had spread throughout the school.
So Chaeyoon, who caught the police’s attention, is being questioned, and Seohee must have gotten caught up in it.
‘…I was so surprised to hear that Oppa escaped from the hospital…
Are you okay? You were really badly hurt when I last saw you…’
“I’m sorry… I called because of my condition… Can you help me?
I’ll explain in detail later, but for now, please send someone here…”
‘…Yes, I understand. Since neither Seohee unni nor I can, I’ll send someone else there.’
“…Okay, I’m asking… for a favor…”
I hang up and come to my senses to find myself slumped on the ground, leaning against the wall.
Cold sweat hasn’t stopped since earlier, and my breathing is naturally becoming rapid even though I haven’t been running.
Even though it’s summer and I’m wearing thick clothes, I feel my body getting colder and colder.
“…Shit… I’m really going to die…”
It was a joke, but I can’t laugh. My body isn’t listening to me.
I’m not sleepy, but my eyes are closing on their own. If I close my eyes like this, I won’t be able to open them again.
“Hoo…”
I scrape together the last of the depleted golden energy, like squeezing out the last bit of toothpaste from an empty tube, and send it through my body.
I try to recover my body by suppressing my breathing as much as possible and squeezing out the empty energy.
I feel like almost 30 minutes have passed, but according to the time on the woman’s phone, only 3 minutes have passed.
I barely manage to lift my body, which has recovered enough to open my eyes clearly.
“…Damn it, I need to eat something…”
Not because I’m hungry, but because I want to live. I’ve used up all the Creator’s power left in my body.
I can’t expect my dying body to recover naturally anymore, and I need to eat something to regain strength.
“…But I don’t have money…”
I’m wondering if I should steal food when a presence enters the alley.
“Haeun-ah!!”
A skinny man dressed like a thug enters the alley and shakes the woman standing blankly in the middle of the alley, shouting.
Is that the man who was on the phone with that woman until just now? He came so quickly…
“Haeun-ah, what’s wrong? Can’t you recognize me? Haeun-ah?”
“……”
“…Hey, it’s you, isn’t it? The bastard who called earlier. What did you do to Haeun?”
“…Are you her boyfriend?”
“I’m not, but what’s it to you? Why is she like this!”
“Oh, so you like this woman.”
“No, but this bastard has been ignoring me since earlier… You little shit, do you even know who I am… Argh?!”
Even though my condition is trash, it’s not difficult to subdue a moron pretending to be a thug like this.
I grab the arm of the man who clumsily throws a punch and twist it behind his back, slamming him against the wall.
Then I take the clutch bag that the man is holding in his other hand and open it. If there’s anything…
Inside is a cigarette, cash in a paper bag that looks like about 500,000 won,
And several fruit-flavored lollipops. This is pretty good…
I unwrap two lollipops and throw them into my mouth, chewing and breaking them before I can even taste the sweetness.
It’s not enough to fill me up, but my body reacts to the sweetness in my dry mouth.
My dying heart and blood vessels move, and blood circulates. It’s only a little, but the golden energy has returned slightly.
“Ah, ack! Let me go, you bastard…!”
I feel the blood and warmth spreading, and I let out a sigh of relief as the sensation of warmth returns to my fingertips.
I make eye contact with the man who is constantly letting out small groans. Well, you never know what will happen.
I never thought I would be saved by a thug like this. I smile and unwrap another lollipop, putting it in my mouth.
“Haa, thanks to you, I lived. You look fierce, but you carry around lollipops, how cute.
I’ll take the remaining lollipops and some of the money here. I don’t have much right now.”
“Y-You bastard…! Do you even know who you’re messing with? You, you’ll disappear without a trace in Seoul…!”
“I’m not asking for it for free. Hey, you.”
“….Yes.”
The woman named Haeun, who answers my call with a blank voice, approaches me.
The man with his arm twisted and pinned against the wall widens his eyes and gasps for breath.
“…From now on, this man is your master. You must obey everything this man says.”
“….Yes, I understand.”
“…Huh?”
“So, how about it? If you give me 5 lollipops and 500,000 won, I’ll give you this woman.
Honestly, I think that’s a much better deal for you. I’m giving it to you for free because I owe you my life.”
“Y-You really did something to Haeun…! Hey, did you give her drugs or something…!”
The man widens his eyes with a trembling voice, as if he’s feeling some unknown fear.
I smile and grab the man’s hand that I was twisting, bringing it to the woman standing in the alley.
“Don’t worry so much, here.”
“Ugh, ugh?!”
“……”
I put the man’s hand directly on Haeun’s chest.
The man, who was groaning with a pale face, closed his eyes tightly,
But the woman didn’t react at all until the man opened his eyes again.
“…Haeun-ah? S-Sorry, it wasn’t me, I didn’t do that…!”
“……”
The thug, who was startled and took his hand away after a beat or two, makes excuses,
But this time, the woman named Haeun doesn’t move at all and stares into the air.
“Haeun-ah…?”
“…I told you that I accidentally put her under a pretty deep hypnosis, right? I used too much light on a normal brain…
She probably won’t come back to her senses for the rest of her life in this state, so this woman is yours now.”
“Haeun is… mine?”
“…Then I’ll be going now.”
I take the money and lollipops from the bag of the thug who is standing blankly and looking around at the woman who is frozen like a statue,
And then puts his hand back on her chest and breathes roughly. I carefully leave the alley, leaving behind the man who has become a beast filled with the emotions of domination and possession.
…Well, it’s too much of a hassle to undo the deep hypnosis one by one, and more than anything, I don’t have the strength to do so.
I felt uneasy about leaving her on the street like that, but if that man takes her, she won’t starve to death.
I don’t know what’s so good about a thug woman with so much makeup, but they must have met because they’re birds of a feather.
I take out another lollipop and put it in my mouth, pulling my hat down low and looking around.
Thanks to this small lollipop, my body has recovered enough to spread my sense of danger widely,
And thanks to that, I was able to easily avoid the police who were still wandering around.
“…Ah, should I have taken the phone too?”
…No, I don’t know who Chaeyoon sent, but if I recover a little more stamina, I’ll be able to tell by their presence…
I turn my head and approach the old bakery. Then let’s fill my stomach a little until someone comes.
“Grandma, could you wrap up 3 twisted doughnuts for me?”
