Chapter 06
If the hypothesis I just came up with is correct, then instead of rejecting him outright, it would be better to accept him.
I’m not completely sure, but Seo Jinhyung treats me differently from other people. That was actually a good condition for psychological therapy.
The final goal of my “treatment” is to make sure Seo Jinhyung doesn’t become a murderer. And for that to happen, he has to learn guilt.
‘If he gets someone precious… maybe he’ll change.’
To feel guilt, you have to be able to put yourself in someone else’s shoes. And nothing makes that easier than having someone you truly care about.
I just have to take it step by step.
“What’s this about, Saeyeon?”
His low, soft whisper tickled my ear. I wanted to jump out of his arms and rub my ear like crazy, but I forced myself to endure it.
“Just say thank you instead of acting like a jerk…”
I grumbled, and Seo Jinhyung laughed quietly.
His large body was warm.
For a moment, he felt like a normal person again. He wasn’t eating ramen, and it wasn’t dawn either.
* * *
Bzzz.
After finishing the movie and getting ready for bed, my phone vibrated.
A familiar name popped up on the screen.
[Jung Sumin: lol guess what, we’re going to the same schoolㅋㅋ]
“…What?”
I shot up from my seat and immediately searched my contacts, pressing the call button. After a short ring, a familiar voice answered.
“Hello—”
“What are you talking about?! What about basketball?!”
“It just happened.”
Jung Sumin had been my close friend since elementary school. In Not a Killer, he wasn’t even mentioned by name—an extra among extras.
No, since his name doesn’t even appear, he’s not even an extra. Lucky guy.
Anyway, unlike ordinary students, Sumin had been preparing to go pro as an athlete since middle school. He was a promising basketball player who showed up in sports articles all the time.
He said he was going to a well-known basketball school in the countryside after receiving an opportunity there. This was way too sudden.
“What do you mean ‘it just happened’? Explain properly.”
“Did you see the news about the Inhuman at Sinchon Station two days ago?”
Inhuman? A bad feeling struck my chest.
“…They said an A-rank White Killer subdued it in ten minutes. No serious injuries, though…”
“Hey! I’m not hurt. Why does your voice sound like that?”
His sly snicker came clearly through the phone.
Yeah. He sounds perfectly fine. Laughing like that.
Feeling stupid for worrying, I shut my mouth with a sour expression.
“There was a kid who couldn’t make it to a shelter building, so I protected him until the White Killer arrived.”
“Are you insane?! Do you have two lives?!”
In this world, there are specially designed ‘air-raid buildings’ meant to protect civilians from Inhumans.
Since Inhumans can appear anytime, anywhere, the government requires certain buildings—including public facilities—to have Inhuman defense designs.
Even when it’s not mandatory, most buildings spend extra money to install those designs anyway.
So when the emergency alarm for an Inhuman goes off, civilians evacuate to the nearest air-raid building, and those buildings automatically lock down.
Within five minutes at most, a White Killer arrives to resolve the situation.
“Not two lives, but I did save one in the end.”
He sounded proud, which made my temper flare—until another question popped up.
“Then why wasn’t it on the news? That’s the kind of heroic act people would go crazy over.”
“Guess the Association blocked it? I became a White Killer trainee.”
“What?!”
He really had a talent for shocking people multiple times in one night.
This was what happened: while protecting the child and holding off the Inhuman until the White Killer arrived, the Killer who showed up late handled the rest and gave him a business card. He offered Sumin the chance to become a White Killer if he was interested.
Tempted by the job—far more promising than being a basketball player—Sumin accepted the offer and joined the Association as a trainee.
This is seriously the kind of route only web novel or manga protagonists take. Jung Sumin, a trainee…?
The position of White Killer holds an incredibly high status here.
A six-figure annual salary is nothing, and if you’re famous or high-ranked, your popularity surpasses most celebrities.
If you’re handsome or pretty, you’re basically top-tier celebrity level.
But it’s not a job just anyone can do. It’s often called a “heaven-tier profession.”
And Jung Sumin is doing that?
My familiar friend suddenly felt like a stranger.
“They blocked it because other kids might see it and try to follow. It’s dangerous.”
“S-So you’re going to become a White Killer…?”
“If I pass some exam, I guess? But I’m still in high school, so I can’t actually work yet.”
“Ah, right.”
Because of the job’s danger and youth protection laws, minors can train under the Association but cannot actively work as White Killers.
That was why the underage protagonist in Not a Killer hid his identity while operating.
“But a lot of trainees just keep training and fail the exam in the end. They said they’d pay me, so I said sure, but I don’t really know.”
“Then congrats on becoming a lifetime trainee. You should’ve just stuck to what you were doing, you spineless bastard.”
“Lol. What about you? How’s life at the rich house?”
“Shitty.”
We both burst out laughing.
“I’ll make lots of money and get you out of there. Just wait.”
“Get lost. I almost ended up with an ‘oppa,’ so now hearing that word makes me sick.”
“Oh. That handsome guy?”
“No, damn it! I said Seo Jinhyung was handsome once. Once! Why do you always attach ‘handsome’ every time you mention him?”
“Just stuck in my memory. Maybe because you’ve never said that about me.”
Is he insane?
He must’ve heard it from tons of other girls already. Shameless jerk.
“Come to think of it, you’ll get even more popular now. Won’t the ‘White Killer trainee’ title work better than ‘basketball club ace’?”
“Since when was I popular because of a title?”
“Whatever. I’m not delivering gifts for you anymore. I’ll just steal them all.”
I was sick of it. For nine whole years—from elementary to middle school—I’d been the stepping stone.
Girls too shy to confess to him targeted his easygoing female best friend instead.
Maybe because I looked average, no one saw me as competition. They just used me.
I was so happy thinking I wouldn’t have to deal with that in high school.
Between being a gift vending machine and running therapy sessions for a sociopath, I almost cried.
“Ah, and now gifts for that guy you live with might come to you too.”
Damn. Didn’t think of that.
There is no hell worse than this. On November 11th, I have to skip school. I can feel it.
* * *
“Ugh… what should I do next?”
The sad movie I had ambitiously prepared last time didn’t have much therapeutic effect.
Of course, I have other methods in mind, but remembering the psycho smiling brightly after watching supposedly the saddest movie in Korea made me doubt anything would work.
Maybe I should just lock him up somewhere and beat him up. Shock therapy might fix him.
I woke up late, having missed lunch, and was lying on the living room sofa flipping channels mindlessly.
Then I stopped on one.
It was a rerun of Animal & Plant Farm, the highlight of Sunday.
“Is it fun?”
“AAAHHH!!!”
I screamed and jumped upright. Clutching my pounding chest, I turned my head. Seo Jinhyung stood there in neat clothes—I had no idea when he came down.
“Make some noise when you walk, seriously!”
“I think you were too focused on TV to notice.”
As if! Why are you using assassin skills in broad daylight?!
I was too startled to argue. Seo Jinhyung approached like an assassin and sat beside me.
“What?”
“Just cooling my head. The problems aren’t solving well…”
You fake bastard. Pretending to study in front of the original reader?
In Not a Killer, Seo Jinhyung studied on weekdays and planned the Association’s destruction on weekends.
Like ordinary people who work on weekdays and relax on holidays, our mastermind also had his own hobbies.
So the “problems” he mentioned must be—
Ugh. Ew. Gross.
I grabbed the remote and turned up the volume.
“Yeah, cool your head. Please.”
Maybe cool it enough to realize you’re not sane.
On screen, a cheerful narrator spoke.
“Miryo~ you have to be happy~”
The scene zoomed out to a zoo.
“Here’s a baby kangaroo that never leaves its mother’s side!”
Before we knew it, Seo Jinhyung and I were sitting side by side, focused on the TV.
This is boring.
But instead of changing the channel, I decided on some impromptu therapy.
Seo Jinhyung has family issues. The baby kangaroo clings to its mother. Somehow, it fits.
I’d been stuck on what to try next. This was perfect.
I decided to enlighten the empty can of a man who was probably just absorbing the TV as pure information without emotion.
“Wow. Even animals cherish their families like that.”
“Yeah.”
“The miracle of life… The baby kangaroo is so cute. Its name is Haru.”
“Mm.”
“Watching this makes me feel like I shouldn’t even step on ants carelessly.”
“Haha.”
But I couldn’t think of a proper line.
My empty words got equally empty responses from him. But why did he laugh at that last one?
Ah… isn’t there some profound line? Something that ties together Seo Jinhyung’s emotional void, the mother kangaroo’s protective instinct, and the beauty of life… something sharp and unexpected…
…Even if there is, I won’t think of it right now. Damn it.
I ran out of nonsense to squeeze out.
Whatever. Let’s just watch TV.
I turned my brain off and focused on the show again.
The baby kangaroo stubbornly refused to leave its mother’s pouch.
“It must be nice. Doesn’t even have to walk. I’m jealous.”
“Then do you want to be carried around like a baby kangaroo, Saeyeon? I’ll carry you around, oppa will.”
