Six ‘timelines worth remembering’ had disappeared.
Hundreds of years worth of relations and thousands of relationships left him behind. Countless deaths hazed by his memories flashed past him.
He had been as ordinary as a human could be. It wasn’t something he could possibly withstand with a sober mind.
The man who had lost his senses belatedly realised the correct method. Forced to foolishly go the long way around, the man was finally standing next to Bom’s bed with legs covered in wounds.
After realising that everything in the world would eventually leave him behind and disappear, the man stopped forming deep relationships with anything.
With the end of the 6th iteration, and with the hazy memories of thousands of iterations flashing past his head, he was finally standing here after ever so faintly retrieving his humanness. Although he couldn’t predict how this iteration would turn out in the future, he could still guess that some kind of relationship would inevitably be formed.
Imprisonment.
So when the word he had to hide the most suddenly escaped from Bom’s mouth, he felt blood racing out of his brain.
His body immediately cooled down and so did his mood.
Black liquid bubbled up from a corner of his emotions.
Of all the things, it had to be the Green Dragon.
The dragon whom he met a thousand times at the very least – the one he abused and harassed the most due to her strong vitality. The one he imprisoned inside the underground labyrinth; the one that enlightened him whilst cursing him till the end.
Of all things… it had to be the azure eyes of the young Green Dragon staring at him.
Imprisonment.
That was a word which should never come out of the mouth of Bom, who was living a normal daily life. A word that should never ever leave her mouth.
He needed to properly confirm why this was the case, using a method even more credible than the Eyes of Equilibrium.
<The Authority, [Vintage Clock (EX)] observes the target, [Yu Bom].>
He wasn’t agitated. In the 7th iteration, he knew that reality was being manipulated for some reason. He had always been considering the worst case scenario so whilst hiding his thoughts, he quietly asked.
“…How were you imprisoned.”
“Hmm, the floor was white. There were things like tiles on the floor and it was dark.”
“Dark?”
“Yes. It was bright around me, but I don’t know if my body was emitting light or if there was a lamp next to me.”
There were no tiles on the floor of the underground labyrinth nor was it dark. Since the [Fragment of Paradise] was always lit up, that place was always as bright as day.
As if to wedge his doubt further in, a message was floated by Vintage Clock.
<The Authority, [Vintage Clock (EX)] did not find anything abnormal from the target, [Yu Bom].>
<The Authority, [Vintage Clock (EX)] feels comfort and familiarity from the target, [Yu Bom].>
<[Vintage Clock (EX)]: ^~^>
Vintage Clock’s judgment might be slow but it was never wrong.
There weren’t any problems with Bom.
The arrow travelled right past his neck. The black thing surging from within regained its calm and his emotions that were sinking down with an anchor became a level lighter.
The Regressor gave a nod.
Now, it was time for him to listen to the story of the child as a guardian instead of as a regressor discerning the situation.
“And?”
“There was a weird string attached to my neck.”
“What string.”
“Something like a dog leash? It was connected to a chain and was very long.”
“That is indeed a bit weird.”
“Right? So although it’s not certain, it felt like I was being imprisoned there.”
Bom vacantly touched her neck.
“Is that all?”
“And there was someone. Someone holding the leash.”
“Who was it.”
“I don’t know. I woke up right before seeing their face so…”
“Really? And what else.”
She shook her head in response, seemingly against saying anything more about the dream. He didn’t know how to interpret dreams nor did he dream himself. Therefore, there wasn’t anything else he could say about the dream.
“But do dragons dream?”
“Hatchlings do, yes. Very frequently though.”
“Do you tend to dream of what you wish for, like humans?”
“Yes.”
“Maybe there was something you were wishing for in that situation then.”
Bom stared at him as if she found his words ridiculous. Then, she shook her head.
That was the end of their conversation.
Bom was silent and fidgeted her feet in deep thought. He was thinking about leaving the room when she suddenly opened her mouth again.
“I want to stay inside my room for the time being.”
“Why.”
“I don’t think I can see Yeorum’s face right now.”
Saying that, she heaved a sigh and ran her fingers through her hair. She slowly repeated that several times and her azure hair moved about reflecting the light within the darkness.
“You don’t need to worry. I won’t make everyone in the house awkward. I just want to rest here and settle my thoughts before coming out.”
To the kids, their rooms were like a lair of their own.
He nodded his head.
“You don’t need to worry too much about it. It’s normal to fight.” He said.
“Yes…”
“And even if Yeorum got hit by that, she wouldn’t have died. So don’t worry.”
“Right. If we fought, I would have been the one getting bashed up right?”
“Probably.”
“You’re not saying no? I’m still a dragon though,” said Bom.
“Who do you think is teaching her how to fight.”
“…Ah right. I was this close to dying then.”
“You wouldn’t die.”
“Then I guess this close to having black and blue eyes.”
The tone of her voice was slightly humorous so Yu Jitae faintly smiled.
“Why? Is it funny to imagine me being hit?”
“It is. Because it’s hard to imagine.”
‘So mean…’ she murmured before giggling out loud. It truly was hard to imagine her being bashed up.
The mood eased a little.
Bom gazed outside the window and he turned his gaze too, following the eyes of the child. It was late in the night, but there were people taking their dog out on a walk.
“How cute.”
That was when another pair of a person and a dog came running from the other side. The dogs showed intrigue at one another but suddenly started barking out loud as if discontent about something. However, the leashed puppies were nothing but pet dogs. The fight was soon dissolved as they were each pulled away by the hands of their owners.
Bom watched them for a very long time until the puppies eventually disappeared.
“Just like me…”
The words vacantly left her mouth.
“What do you mean.”
“Nn? Ah, I meant they were cute just like me. I look a bit like a puppy don’t I?”
“No. Not at all.”
“There’s no way… Do you want to see me wag my tail?”
For a bit, he imagined a green lizard wagging its tail but shook the thought away.
In any case, she was in a better mood in just a short period of time. Bom giggled and tilted her head slightly before gazing up at his eyes with a drooping pair of eyes.
“By the way ahjussi, have you tried smoking before?”
“Huh? Yeah.”
“You don’t smoke anymore, do you.”
“Right. Because I quit it.”
“Why?”
“Because there was no reason to continue.”
“How did you quit? I heard it was very addictive.”
“I decided on a day to stop smoking. Why are you asking that though.”
“You know… bad things are always fun, aren’t they. Even if it’s not good for me or the people around me. I was just wondering how people restrained themselves once they get addicted to it.”
In this day and age, the addictiveness or the danger of nicotine wasn’t that important for superhumans. But even then, the superhumans were unable to quit it easily after laying their hands on cigarettes or drugs.
Rather than the addictiveness of the material, it was just that they found it difficult to change their habits.
“Should I try it?”
Bom said as a joke, but he nodded instead.
“Are you serious?” she asked.
“Yeah. Do it if you’re interested in it.”
“You’re not stopping me?”
“It’s not wrong to do what you want to do.”
Her eyes widened in response to his words.
“I heard you die quicker if you smoke though?”
“But you’re a dragon.”
“Even then.”
“If someone wants to do something, I think it’s good to try it rather than postpone or avoid it, no matter what that may be.”
Bom appeared slightly surprised but he couldn’t guess the reason. Soon, when she opened her mouth, there was faint dissatisfaction mixed with her voice.
“That’s strange. That’s a bad thought.”
“What?”
“If you find your life precious, shouldn’t you avoid doing that?”
“What are you saying? It’s all over once you die anyway. Everything precious to you is worthless once you die.”
“That’s the strange part. Why are you thinking about the meaning it holds after you die? When we’re living like this right now?”
Her voice mixed with dissatisfaction continued.
“Is that strange?” He asked.
“Of course. You only have one life. Even if I had 10 lives, they would be precious and even just 3 would be more precious than 10, but we only have 1 life.”
“…”
“How can you not find that precious, ahjussi?”
He didn’t reply. There were lots of things he could say, but nothing in particular that he wanted to say.
“There are just people like that,” he stated.
“…”
With a frown on her face, Bom remained silent. She was simply staring at him like a puppy out in the rain.
When he was silently staring at her face, his eyes reached the torn wound on her lips. It was the wound that was formed by her teeth when she was trying to hold her anger in.
“Guess you didn’t heal it fully.”
“…”
“Doesn’t it hurt?”
“It does hurt. Whenever I speak.”
“Then why are you just leaving it.”
“Because it needs to hurt.”
“What do you mean.”
“My mouth made a mistake. Because I said something wrong to Yeorum, I wanted to remind myself whenever I speak, to not make another mistake.”
It was something he felt from time to time, but the mind of this child growing flowers was no different from a barren wasteland.
“I find you hard to understand sometimes.” He said.
“Sorry?”
“Sometimes your thoughts are quite extreme.”
“…?”
Bom looked into his eyes before asking a question.
“That just then. Yeorum said the same thing, didn’t she? While swearing at me.”
“No. She didn’t say that.”
“I know. Her mouth is like a rag. She must have called me a crazy b*tch, a lunatic and a psychopath…”
“…”
“Nn? Why aren’t you saying no? So she really did say it…”
“Huh? No she didn’t.”
“She did, didn’t she. What an awful girl…”
“No. She didn’t say anything.”
“It’s fine. Doesn’t matter what she says. But I want you to know at least, ahjussi. I’m not crazy.”
“I know. Of course you’re not.”
“Maybe you can call me a boring girl. But not crazy.”
“Okay. Just heal your lips.”
“Don’t want to,” she said firmly.
“Whatever you want.”
“Nn…? You thought Yu Bom was a weird child just then, didn’t you?” She asked.
He shook his hand in response.
“Who knows. More importantly, Bom. You should stop talking. You’re talking too much and your wound’s opening again.”
“I need to finish what I have to say. I’m not crazy. I was even more normal. If I was living by myself, I would have been a lot more normal than now.”
“I get it. I get it so it’s fine.”
“But, but…”
“Shh.”
Taking a tissue out, Yu Jitae brought it to her lips and carefully wiped the blood flowing from her lips. When his hand touched the lips of the child and wiped the dripping blood, Bom murmured with a vacant voice while her eyes were blankly gazing into his eyes.
“Someone’s constantly trying to drive me crazy from the side…”
When he retrieved his hand, Bom slowly laid herself down on the bed. He thought that she must be talking about Yeorum.
In any case, she was back on the bed so it would be fine to take that as a sign that he should now leave the room.
“I’m going back then. Rest as much as you want and come out once you settle your mind.”
“Yes…”
He was about to leave the room when Bom whispered.
“Please tell Yeorum to stay away from my room for now.”
“You have to make up. Weren’t you going to apologise?”
“But even then, I don’t think I’ll like Yeorum for the time being.”
“Why?”
“It’s hot. Very annoying.”
That might have been the clearest way to express her hatred from Bom’s perspective.
***
After that, Bom did not leave her room a single time for over a week.
“Going training.”
Yeorum, who recovered her mentality first, left for her daily workouts as if nothing was wrong.
“…”
Gyeoul found it uncomfortable for a day or two at the start, but was back to normal after a few days.
“Ahjussi ahjussi ahjussi. When is our unni coming back out? Is she fine? How long is she going to stay holed up in her room?”
Kaeul looked as if she would stay anxious like a baby chicken holding in its dump until Bom left her room.
In Unit 301, Yeorum appeared to be slightly feeling out of place. Whenever Yu Jitae, Kaeul and Gyeoul were sitting down and playing together, she would avoid them for no real reason.
Although Gyeoul didn’t care, Kaeul was different.
After trying to speak to her several times and failing, Kaeul looked for the right opportunity. One day, she headed to the most popular confectionery store of Lair from morning and lined up to buy some macarons.
When Yeorum returned in tatters after her training, she ran up to her and spoke to her.
“U, unniii! I got some super duper delicious macarons, uhh, do you want to have them together…?”
“No. I’m good.”
“Ah… this, this is very good…! No like, I haven’t tried them yet but the other kids said it was super amazing…!”
Kung. When the door closed in front of her, Kaeul stared at the door of her room not knowing what to do, before turning towards Yu Jitae.
He gestured to her to come sit down.
“Hing. I don’t want to eat this anymore…”
The macarons ended up going to Gyeoul’s hands. She started enjoying them one by one and after glancing at her indulging in the macarons, Kaeul also stealthily picked up a piece for herself. Judging from how her expression soon brightened albeit by a little, it seemed that people weren’t lining up in front of the store for no reason.
“Even though it’s so delicious… right?”
“…Nn.”
“You know, for me, I find things like this very very uncomfortable.”
“…” Nod, nod.
“Right, Gyeoul. Isn’t it times like this when ahjussi should be stepping forward? Please hurry up and bring unni back…!”
“…Yes.”
Following the two kids, the baby chicken also started chirping out to him as if it knew what was happening. When he stayed still, it began poking his legs with its large beak.
He silently listened to the chirping noises of the two baby chickens and the blue bird.
Since Bom didn’t wish for it herself, he had already decided to wait for her. It wasn’t like Bom would stay holed up in the corner of her room for an eternity.
*
Two more days went by before Bom walked out of her room.
Around noon of a certain weekend, an urgent voice was heard inside Yu Jitae’s mind.
‘M, my lord…! There is a serious problem!’
It was from Clone 2.