Regressor Instruction Manual (PART 1)

Chapter 12. Lee Ji-Hye

"Have a seat," I said.

"I-I..." stuttered Jung Ha-Yan.

I saw her hesitate. I figured that she was still shaken up after what happened because of the way her shoulders quivered every now and then. The way she wiped her tears away made her look like a child.

First of all, she was an ordinary 21-year-old woman. It was understandable for her to act that way since she had never experienced the earlier situation and of all places, she experienced it here. I didn't exactly understand what she was feeling, but Jung Ha-Yan seemed like she didn't really know what just happened and what kind of situation she was just in.

"I'm, hiccup...I'm sorry," Jung Ha-Yan said, apologizing.

"I'm not exactly sure what you're apologizing about," I told her.

"But I, hiccup...I."

"You did nothing wrong, Ms. Ha-Yan. Of course, I didn't see the situation myself...first, can you slowly explain to me what happened?" I asked her calmly.

"I-It really wasn't my i-intention. I-I just..."

"I know. You can talk to me comfortably," I said.

When I told her with a small smile, she started talking slowly.

I had a general idea of what happened and it was also a situation where I could assume what happened.

The problem was that I couldn't really understand what Jung Ha-Yan was saying. She started rambling while crying, so it was difficult to understand her lamentations.

According to the system, her intelligence stat wasn't that low, so I guess one's intelligence wasn't measured based on simple critical thinking skills.

"A-And suddenly, Mr. Seok-Woo..." she said.

"I see...I see...so that's what happened," I said.

"H-He pulled my hand and then yelled," Jung Ha-Yan said.

"Oh..." was all I said.

However, whether I was able to understand her or not wasn't important. Being sympathetic was more important. Rather than pointing out her mistake, listening to why she was crying and why she felt upset was more important.

***

'I'm on your side.'

I didn't say it, but that was what she was probably thinking.

"A-And then...M-Mr. Deok-Gu suddenly came and...hit that man and then Ms. Ji-Hye, hiccup," she continued.

"I see."

"A-And then you came..."

"Got it," I told her.

The problem was that her rant was getting longer. Fortunately, her lengthy story came to an end a few minutes later.

"It must've been hard for you," I commented.

"I-It's fine. I-I feel a bit better now," Jung Ha-Yan said.

She definitely seemed like she had calmed down a bit. Her shoulders that were shaking intermittently had calmed down and her sad expression changed into a small smile. She was finally able to relax a bit.

"Thank you, Mr. Ki-Young," Jung Ha-Yan said.

"There's no need to thank me. It's just the circumstance..."

"N-No. Not that, but how you said you believed me..." she said, interrupting me.

"Ohh..."

"You've been helping me ever since we met, but I-I haven't done anything for you..." Jung Ha-Yan told me.