## Chapter 43 – Isolation
Seo-hee Jung’s ostracism continued.
“Yuri, Yejin.”
*Huddling sounds*
“…….”
Strictly speaking, it wasn’t so much ostracism as it was the twins’ ignoring her, which would be a more accurate description.
“Another failure today?”
Seo-hee Jung didn’t respond to my question.
I handed her grilled meat and fruit.
“Here’s today’s lunch.”
“…Thanks. I’ll be sure to repay this kindness.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
Threats don’t work on Seo-hee Jung.
That’s the conclusion I came to after observing her.
Not only would I lose in a power struggle, but even if I somehow subdued her and forcibly took her multiple times, she wasn’t mentally weak enough to just sob and accept the situation.
‘But threatening the twins is something I should never do.’
Political maneuvering, pettiness, meanness.
Seo-hee Jung loathed such things, so if I took the twins hostage and made them do lewd things, I might actually get a knife in my gut.
However, if I could somehow break that spirit, if I could just win over Seo-hee Jung’s body and mind, I would possess immense power and protection.
‘The more I look at her, the more she seems like a truly captivating prey.’
Anyway, the conclusion is that force won’t work.
I need to open her heart with appropriate carrots and sticks and make her spread her legs willingly.
That’s why I isolated Seo-hee Jung in the first place.
To make her accept only me.
“Can I get disinfected now?”
“Alright. Lie down.”
And in reality, only I was approaching her.
Not the homeroom teacher, not Yeon-ju Kim, not even the twins approached her.
But Seo-hee Jung, isolated as she was, didn’t break easily.
“But are you sick? Your complexion doesn’t look good.”
“That’s none of your concern. Just stay still. You’ll be in the way if you move.”
She would glance at the twins whenever she had a chance with a haggard face, but that was it. Seo-hee Jung was still going strong.
She was unfazed even when socially isolated.
I could once again realize just how tough she was.
‘Amazing. Come to think of it, she did move around alone at school for three years.’
I know what it’s like to be alone. I know what it feels like to be isolated.
Because I was alone for three years too.
‘This won’t do.’
Seo-hee Jung won’t break. Not like this.
“It’s done. Now go back.”
As soon as I finished disinfecting her, Seo-hee Jung turned her body away and said only that businesslike word.
‘I might have to change my approach a little.’
***
Actually, I don’t have much time.
Conquering Seo-hee Jung is important, but I can’t just be attached to Seo-hee Jung.
Daily quests can be cleared by just buying water, but the main quest progress has been delayed for days now.
The science department and So-young Park were also a problem.
I used to visit them every day, but now I haven’t been there for four days. If I delay it any longer, the condition of the supplies might deteriorate.
‘Then I might lose out on cash earnings.’
Cash is already being consumed rapidly from eating meat and clearing daily quests, so if there’s a problem with cash supply, it’s like putting a brake on earning points as well.
The science department and So-young Park’s dissatisfaction is a bonus.
‘More than anything, I’m worried about Jimin.’
According to Seo-hee Jung, the kids in the class have already started rationing food, but even so, I think it’ll only last 10 days at most.
I didn’t want Ji-min Park to starve.
‘I can’t put it off any longer.’
I prepared to move. The homeroom teacher, who was doing the dishes, expressed doubt at my actions.
“Woo-jin, where are you going?”
“I’m going to move. It’s already been four days, right? I can’t delay it any longer.”
“Huh? But the scabs on your back haven’t fallen off yet. And the bruises….”
I looked down at my body while putting on my top.
The bruises, which were more extensive than on the first day, looked a bit gruesome even to me.
Because they covered almost my entire upper body.
The red and blue skin was now dyed purple.
Of course, the color would fade and return to normal in a few more days, but it wasn’t really the right time to move right away.
“Haha, what can I do? I’m the only one who can do it.”
I was the only one who could freely enter and exit our base.
It’s a natural fortress, but this aspect was a bit inconvenient.
“Anyway, I’ll be back. It’ll take about 12 hours like last time, so don’t wait for me and make sure to eat regularly. Here’s some meat.”
The twins came running to me and held out their hands.
The kids’ faces were quite pale at the mention of 12 hours.
I put four large strawberries in each of their hands.
“This is for two meals. Don’t eat it all at once. Got it?”
Nod nod.
Of course, I know they’ll eat it all in one sitting. As soon as I leave.
They’ll probably eat it all before the next mealtime even comes.
Because the option of rationing is virtually nonexistent in their minds.
‘You’ll endure for 12 hours without strawberries and feel my importance even more.’
Okay, so I took care of the twins.
I put on my clothes, stroked my throbbing lower abdomen, and moved my feet. As I passed by Seo-hee Jung, she awkwardly stopped me as I was passing by.
“I’ll go with you.”
“There’s no need. You’re worried about Yuri and Yejin, right?”
“Still, I don’t think it’s right to just eat without doing anything.”
“Are you really going to come, Seo-hee Jung?”
I looked straight at her and asked.
Seo-hee Jung, receiving my obvious gaze, looked back and forth between the twins, who were popping strawberries into their mouths, and me, wavering.
‘Your weaknesses are the twins and your pride. That must mean they’re excellent whips to train you with.’
I shrugged and smiled brightly.
“You stay here. I’ll just go alone.”
Honestly, it didn’t matter whether she came or not.
Well, it would be nice if she came according to plan.
The thing is, the twins kept being in Seo-hee Jung’s field of vision, so there was no room for me to squeeze in.
It was work, but I thought, ‘Wouldn’t there be an opening if I went outside and separated her from the twins?’
‘But it doesn’t matter to me if she doesn’t come.’
I’ve been holding back for the past few days.
The homeroom teacher and Yeon-ju Kim seem to be resolving their urges by going out to run errands and making out with each other.
But I can’t even relieve myself alone because the twins are always circling around me, and I can’t mingle with the homeroom teacher or Yeon-ju Kim.
In short, I’ve been quite pent up.
That’s why it didn’t matter to me if Seo-hee Jung didn’t come with me.
I could just drag So-young Park from the science department into the bushes and relieve myself a few times.
But it seems her pride is stronger than I thought, as Seo-hee Jung reluctantly turned away from the twins, struggling to lift her feet.
“No. Yuri and Yejin aren’t working either, so I can’t be the only one not working.”
“If you’ve decided that, stop looking back. The kids have been doing just fine without you, so stop worrying about them.”
“Ah, okay.”
I dragged Seo-hee Jung, who kept looking back and resisting like a cow being led to the slaughterhouse, onward.
***
“Woo-jin! You haven’t been coming often lately, so I can’t catch fish comfortably!”
As soon as I jumped down the cliff, Science spewed out words like a machine gun, as if she had been waiting.
“How can we trust you to do our work like this?”
Judging by her expression, she was trying to seize on my mistake and negotiate something.
Having been through so much for three years, I could see her intentions just by looking at her face.
“Say something!”
“I’m sorry. I had some circumstances.”
“Circumstances? What circumstances! Are you kidding me? This is a matter of life and death for us! Either take responsibility for our lives properly, or give us more to eat!”
…Science is full of energy today too.
She pointed her finger and shouted loudly, not giving me a chance to say anything even when I tried to speak.
So I just watched to see how long she would keep talking.
*Plop*
Someone jumped down from above. Science’s face stiffened when she saw her face.
“Huh? Seo-hee Jung…?”
“Oh? Science teacher is here too.”
“Why is Seo-hee here?”
I shrugged.
“These are the circumstances.”
“Ah…?”
Science quietly retreated, and I reluctantly made a deal with So-young Park, who came forward.
“Anyway, I’m sorry. I’ll apologize again.”
“Ah, no. Woo-jin student still threw water and bananas down every day.”
Even though I couldn’t come down here to trade directly, I made sure to throw down drinking water and food every day.
That’s what she was talking about.
“Still, I think there must have been quite a loss because of me. Since it’s fish.”
“Ah, since it seemed like you were going to be late, Mina unnie and I smoked the ones we caught early.”
The two of them had become quite wise, having gotten the hang of island life.
Thanks to that, my cash income wasn’t too bad either. I handed a handful of fruit to So-young Park with gratitude.
“Eh. This much?”
“I’m not giving you a lot, this is the wage for working hard for three days.”
“Ah.”
So-young Park smiled with a proud face.
“And this is a service.”
As I lifted up the packaging pack, So-young Park and Science’s eyes widened.
Science, who had run away far away, hurriedly came back, took off her horn-rimmed glasses, put them back on, and checked the contents in my hand.
“M-meat?”
“Yes. Pork belly. It’s pork, so don’t get a stomachache from eating it half-cooked, make sure to cook it well.”
“Woohoo!”
Science lifted the meat high and jumped up and down.
Seeing a grown adult jumping around and being happy like a child, I was once again reminded of how important food is to humans.
Science strode out of the water to grill the meat right away.
I quietly approached her, who was shrugging her shoulders and preparing to grill the meat, and tapped her on the shoulder.
“Even so, you should at least say thank you, Mina-ssi.”
“Hmph. Well, I’ll enjoy it. To be honest, pork belly isn’t really my taste, but well, I’m grateful since you’re giving it to me.”
Science said thank you in a sulky way. How cute. That’s why I can’t help but tease her.
“You’re welcome. Enjoy it. And I’ll look forward to it.”
“Huh?”
“You seemed to have a lot of strength in your tongue today. Replenish your energy while eating meat. I’ll be sure to get a service next time.”
As I bent down and fondled her breasts with my hands, Science’s body stiffened.
But her breasts were still soft and felt good to caress.
“You have to answer, Mina-ssi? Say you’ll replenish your tongue strength well.”
“U-uh. I’ll, I’ll replenish my tongue strength well.”
“Yes, I’ll look forward to it.”
I took my hand off her breasts and straightened my back.
So-young Park’s cheeks were red as if she knew what I had done, but Seo-hee Jung didn’t know anything.
No, Seo-hee Jung was still looking at the waterfall and thinking about the twins.
“Seo-hee. Let’s go now.”
“Okay.”
