Freeman: "You idiot! No!"
Jumping through the window, he ran into the living room.
He saw Marsha’s silhouette sitting with her back to him.
Relieved that she was safe, he sighed, but his face soon turned pale.
Upon closer inspection, Marsha seemed to have lost her mind, holding a knife in her hand.
Blood dripped from the blade, pooling on the floor.
Her stepfather lay dead a step away.
Checking the corpse’s pulse, Freeman bit his lip and stepped back.
Strangely, he felt nothing. He just prioritized what needed to be done next.
For the first time, he thought he might be a rather cold person.
Freeman: "Marsha, what happened?"
She was still out of it.
Shaking her shoulders, her focus finally returned, and she looked up at Freeman.
Marsha: "Dad tried to assault me."
At first, he couldn’t believe it.
Even though he was her stepfather, they had lived together as family for years.
Freeman: "What are you talking about? Why would he suddenly..."
Maybe it wasn’t sudden? Finally, he understood the life Marsha had been living all this time.
Enduring those precarious days, how much confusion and pain had Marsha gone through?
There must have been other ways, but Freeman didn’t think about it anymore.
Marsha had saved herself from hell, and he was grateful to the heavens that she was safe.
Freeman: "Let’s go. It’s dangerous here."
When Marsha didn’t move, Freeman pulled her.
Freeman: "We don’t have time. If his comrades find out he’s dead, they’ll seek revenge. We have to leave."
Realizing it wasn’t the end but the start of something else, Marsha snapped out of it and moved.
Then, she let out a bitter laugh.
Having never owned anything in her life, she realized there was nothing to pack.
Leaving the house, the two ran at full speed without stopping until they reached the village entrance.
Freeman panted as he spoke.
Freeman: "We’re safe for now. Once we’re out of the village, it’ll be harder for people to track us."
Her stepfather’s comrades might be different, but Marsha was confident she could run to the ends of the earth.
Marsha: "Thank you, Freeman."
Freeman: "Hehe, it’s nothing. Let’s get out of here. Wherever we go, I’ll protect you."
Marsha’s eyes filled with sadness.
It had been enough as a joke, but now their lives were at stake.
Marsha: "Freeman, I’m sorry. I’m leaving alone. I won’t take you with me."
It was like a bolt from the blue.
Freeman: "What? What are you talking about? Do you know how dangerous the outside world is? After what happened today, you still don’t get it?"
Marsha: "It’s fine. I think I can handle anything now."
Freeman: "No! I can’t let you go alone!"
Marsha thought one last time, but her mind didn’t change.
Marsha: "I don’t love you."
Freeman: "Wh-what are you talking about? Why are you bringing this up now?"
Freeman desperately ignored the truth because he wanted to leave with her.
Marsha: "You’re a good friend. From childhood until now. But I’ll never see you as a man. Following me will only bring you a miserable life. I might even marry another man someday."
It was a cruel thing to say to Freeman.
What was most cruel was that her words were true.
Freeman: "I don’t care. No matter who you meet, I’ll protect you. I’m tired of living with a drunk father who calls me useless. This is my choice."
Marsha: "Idiot! Why can’t you understand? I don’t like you! We can’t be together!"
Freeman: "So what? If you don’t like me, then don’t! I’ll just keep liking you! It doesn’t matter if you marry someone else! You said it yourself before! You have no right to interfere with my feelings!"
At this point, Marsha was also frustrated.
Marsha: "Oh, really? Good for you. Go ahead and spend your whole life staring at me and die an old bachelor. Want me to tell you the truth? You’re a burden to me. How long do I have to take care of a coward who can’t even kill an ant? It’s just making my life harder!"
Freeman: "I’m not a coward! I’ll protect you!"
Marsha: "Then how are you going to protect me? What can you even do?"
Freeman gritted his teeth. Then he picked up a stone from the ground and started scraping off his eyebrows.
A shocked Marsha grabbed his wrist.
Marsha: "What are you doing?"
Shaking off Marsha’s hand, Freeman scraped his skin even more roughly.
As blood began to stream down his face, Marsha’s expression turned blank.
When Freeman, now completely without eyebrows, threw the stone, his expression had changed.
Freeman: "How about now? Don’t I look scary? I was a coward because of my eyebrows. No one will mess with me now. So I won’t be a burden to you."
Marsha: "Are you... crazy?"
Freeman’s face, now without eyebrows, was definitely different, but what had changed more was the look in his eyes.
Freeman: "I’ll get stronger. I’ll do whatever it takes to get stronger. So just let me stay by your side, okay? I won’t ever ask you to like me back, just let me go with you, okay?"
Marsha: "You really... sigh, you idiot."
Marsha shook her head.
She thought she needed to be cold, but even that feeling was swept away by a sigh.
Freeman’s eyes snapped open. His vision, which had been blurred from the concussion, was gradually becoming clear again.
’How much time has passed?’
It might already be too late, but he forced his exhausted body to stand up.
Freeman: "I’ll protect her."
Freeman’s legs began to move.
Toward where Marsha was.