That day, only Bom and Gyeoul were home for lunch. Yeorum had gone for her training while Kaeul was at a spirit beast cafe with Chirpy.
“Gyeoul.”
Inside the quiet house, Bom called the child who had been blankly staring at the tropical fish inside the aquarium of her room. Gyeoul turned around and looked at her.
“Do you want to eat something?”
“…Nn. Where’s ahjussi?”
“Probably off to work.”
Yu Jitae wasn’t in the dormitory but it was nothing to worry about. Bom was the only one in Unit 301 that knew of Yu Jitae’s connection with the Association, and also knew that he was busy with Association-related tasks. And she also had a vague idea about the ‘Hostility’.
“…He’s, outside a lot these days.”
Until then Bom wasn’t concerned in the slightest. She decided not to think about where he was or worry about when he would be coming back. There wasn’t anything in particular that she was seeing from Providence either and she just assumed he was busy.
“What do you want to eat with unni, Gyeoul?”
“…Uumm, instant noodles?”
“Didn’t you have them yesterday?”
Whenever he wasn’t home, she simply had to play his part.
That was what Bom was thinking.
***
He had watched a movie where the protagonist was a regressor. The story was about the protagonist returning to the past from the future, rebuilding his future.
But being an actual regressor, Yu Jitae found it difficult to concentrate on the movie. In the movie, the worldly affairs affected by the protagonist had turned out to be mysteriously advantageous for the protagonist.
It was as if the protagonist of the movie had entered a world of his dreams instead of returning to the past.
Real life regressions weren’t like that.
The ‘flow of time’ was like a continuation of pushing through the starting points of various domino lines. There might only be several dominoes falling in the near future, but those mingled and turned in the distance, leading to thousands of other outcomes.
Extremely insignificant elements twisting the future and impacting important figures didn’t happen just once or twice.
An example would be how the Second Great War had broken out in the 5th iteration after just 2 years of Yu Jitae’s regression point. It had taken 20 years in other iterations but it was dragged forward due to his reckless rampage.
What was fortunate was that large incidents like the Great War required some inevitable prerequisites. Unless one was trying to intentionally twist the future, the flow of a grandiose incident like that tended to stay in place.
However, small things like a ‘daily life’ tended to be damaged all too easily.
To protect daily life, he had to clearly separate normal life from abnormal life.
‘Daily life’ couldn’t be too different from other people’s lives. A life that is happy and joyous, a life that is sometimes upsetting, sad and painful. It was the life of everyone else.
And adding a few spoonfuls of joy and happiness in the process was the life he was pursuing in the 7th iteration.
Daily life had to be normal. Thus, the Regressor did not collect money meaninglessly and did not seek out unnecessary authority. He did not influence the surroundings with things that weren’t necessary.
He was cautious.
The daily life he desired had to be probable in the eyes of normal people, and he had to fit himself into the realms of the normal. If he didn’t do so and gained everything the kids wanted all too easily like a deus ex machina, it would mess up the compensation system in their minds. They would no longer be able to find small bits of joy precious, and that in turn would no longer be a daily life.
One of the most natural powers within the probabilities of daily life was human connection. A relatively distanced connection that was not too far and not too close.
“It’s a beef omakase. Do you like beef?”
That was why Yu Jitae started having a meal with this orange-haired woman.
With 3 meals, he would create a decent connection and the woman would add more joy to Bom’s life. An adaptation into a movie was an exceptional event and since it wasn’t a direct solution he forced, it would fall under the realms of probability.
Bom would be happy, and she would consider it great.
“Just so-so.”
“But this place should be different. It’s quite expensive.”
Throughout the meal, Carrot Girl stared at Yu Jitae. The promised number of meals was 3.
As if bewitched by a spell, she observed his expression, face, gesture and paid attention to his voice. She continued writing something down on her notes as if there was a constant flood of ideas.
“Were you a soldier? Or maybe a criminal?”
“Soldier.”
“From which force?”
Yu Jitae gave a frown and she quickly changed the topic.
“Ah, that’s my bad. Well, it could be a military secret after all. Have you killed monsters before?”
“I have.”
“Have you killed a lot? How was your military life?”
“I fought a lot, and killed a lot. It’s nothing great. Just the duty of a soldier.”
After a short silence, she slyly asked.
“…Then, what about beings other than monsters?”
It was a cumbersome question and his face turned stiff.
“What do you think.”
“…”
She again wrote something down on her notes.
Throughout the three encounters, Yu Jitae repeated giving short responses but she returned every time in a visibly brighter mood.
These people called writers were impossible to understand.
And in the process, Yu Jitae felt unfamiliar with these types of meals.
There was not a sliver of joy or pleasure.
It was as if he was eating in front of a block of wood. This was what he had been feeling whenever he was with other people until the 6th iteration, but had now become unfamiliar to him.
For him, meals had become naturally pleasant times.
Why was that the case?
Looking back, he realised it was because all his meals had been with the hatchlings.
“Here.”
Towards the end of the third meal, Carrot Girl gave him a business card. [Hinari Pictures. Vice President. Kang Yungoo] It was the business card of a person he did not know.
“What is this.”
“Hinari Pictures. Don’t you know? It’s the best horror movie production company in Korea. They have good connections with cinemas as well.”
“This is the one?”
“Yes. Two of my movies have been released here. I’ve already talked to them about it and though it’s not certain yet, they will contact you before the end of the awarding ceremony. You can then sign a contract with our company to talk about the OSMU publication rights.”
Is that so…
There wasn’t anything certain yet, in other words.
“You ended my long writer’s block. Thank you. I’ll talk to you again when the movie is confirmed.”
“Thank you.”
She seemingly wasn’t expecting a thanks from him, and widened her eyes in surprise.
“Let’s meet again for the contract. I’ll help you out.”
***
It was night when he arrived at the dormitory. The kids were gathered in the living room, eating fried chicken and chatting to each other.
“I’m back.”
“Ohnng, ahjussi. Hi. Come and have chicken…!”
Kaeul flapped her arms with chickens dangling on both of her hands as Gyeoul also welcomed him with a wide smile on her face.
“Where were you?”
“Just meeting someone.”
Yeorum apathetically nodded and bit through a piece of chicken.
Tomorrow was the awarding ceremony.
Tomorrow, Bom would be acknowledged by others for the story she had been writing for almost a full year. A party was a must for a happy occasion like this, thus the chicken and coke they were currently having.
“Hihi.”
In the midst of their noisy chatter, Kaeul suddenly opened her mouth with a bright smile.
“Oh, right right. Ahjussi. Do you know?”
“What?”
“Bom-unni prepared her lines for the awarding ceremony, you know? It’s about…!”
“Kaeul!”
Kaeul was swinging a piece of paper when Bom, in a fluster, quickly snatched the paper away from her hands. Seeing that, Yeorum, Kaeul and even Gyeoul bursted into laughter.
“Why. What is it.”
“Nothing. It’s nothing.”
He was curious but Bom had no plans of telling him what it was. She seemed to find it funny herself as well, and giggled while hiding the paper.
The sound of laughter in Unit 301 continued till late night.
Even after returning to her room, Bom couldn’t control her joy. There happened to be a person with whom she wanted to share the joy so she called her.
– Nn. Bom?
“Hello? Granny.”
– Aigu. What’s happening? Your voice is very bright. Something good must have happened right?
“I got a Gold Prize.”
– Nn? You mean your novel?
“Yes.”
– Aigo…! Well done! Very well done!
Throughout the night until the break of dawn, Bom continued talking to Li Hwa about this and that.
She wasn’t at all fatigued.
Was it because she was a dragon?
Perhaps so, but she probably wouldn’t have felt tired even if she were a human.
That was how happy she was.
*
The day broke.
With only three hours left till the start of the awarding ceremony, Bom arrived alone at the waiting room wearing a beautiful modernised version of a traditional Korean dress.
The Horror Institution offered makeup and hair stylising and the awardees were gathered in the waiting room for their makeup.
“Hello everyone.”
“Ohh, Miss Broccoli. Welcome!”
Several writers who were acquainted with Bom welcomed her.
With bright lights above them, the awardees excitedly chatted while receiving the services of the makeup artists and hair stylists. From talks about their work, to companies and congratulatory comments for each other, the conversation topic naturally moved to that one woman who wasn’t currently inside the room.
“By the way, do you know how Carrot Girl is really quiet these days?”
“That ridiculously annoying person?”
“Yes. She’s suddenly become a different person. She doesn’t get angry at all and smiles amiably… Like she even greeted me first at the company!”
“Oh my, wow… Oh right! I also heard something about her.”
“What is it?”
“Carrot Girl, I heard that she’s meeting a man these days.”
“Ehng? She’s been complaining about inspirations so much… Maybe she got inspiration for her romance novels?”
“Maybe. Why do you think she was constantly peeking her head into horror? It’s because she ran out of ideas for romance and tried to do something by changing genres.”
“Well. That’s good for both of us I guess.”
Bom listened to their conversation and nodded when appropriate. As usual, she wasn’t thinking much about it and simply thought, is that so…
After her makeup, people gasped in admiration around her as Bom smiled embarrassedly and gave a nod. Then, she took out her script for the award acceptance speech from the dimensional storage and read through it, before putting it back in.
She completely memorised it already, but wanted to look at it again for some reason.
“Dear writers, please enter the venue!” shouted one of the staff.
Bom sat at the very front seat of the audience in preparation for the start of the ceremony. That was when she heard the sound of clicking heels from a distance as Carrot Girl, who had completed her makeup and hair stylising at her own store, nonchalantly sat next to Bom.
As people had been talking about behind her back, she appeared to be in a very good mood and her previously sharp countenance was full of comfort.
Whether that was the case or not,
Bom wasn’t concerned about her but Carrot Girl suddenly started a conversation.
“Hello.”
Bom turned around.
“You look really pretty today.”
“Sorry…?”
“You look pretty. Even without makeup you looked great but you look really cute with makeup on.”
“Ahh, thank you. You look great too.”
“Can I touch your cheeks?”
Bom shook her head with a smile.
“Unlucky. You could have made your hair green as well. In that way, there could have been a headline going Carrot vs Broccoli. Look at me. I’m carrot-coloured right?”
She fluttered her orange-coloured hair and Bom replied with a smile.
“I’m alright. It’s already an honour to receive a prize.”
“Hnn. Really?”
Despite smiling on the outside, Bom wondered why this woman was suddenly acting familiar. Even the other writers next to her were dumbfoundedly stealing glances.
Did her personality really change that much?
“How do you feel?”
“It feels very nerve-wracking, because this is my first time.”
“That’s good. You know what’s coming up after the ceremony right?”
“…Yes?”
“Aren’t you going to thank me? This unni had to use a fair bit of influence.”
Bom closed her mouth for a bit as she couldn’t understand her words.
What was happening after the ceremony?
Despite thinking that, she didn’t forget to put an amicable and kind smile on her face but…
“I read your manuscript but it looked quite suitable for a movie adaptation as well. You described the atmosphere quite well. This was your first work right? You must be talented.”
“Movie… adaptation?”
“Nn? Don’t you know? Didn’t Jitae-ssi tell you about it?”
“……Jitae-ssi?”
The smile disappeared from Bom’s face.
“I guess he didn’t tell you yet. Well, the production company just gave their ‘OK’ sign this morning so that must be why.”
Carrot Girl who had been lacking romance inspiration.
Meeting a man these days.
Yu Jitae who had been busy these days.
Carrot Girl’s personality changing all of a sudden.
And… a movie…?
An ominous feeling reared its head. Like a black rose, when the smile disappeared from her lips, Carrot Girl curiously asked.
“Why are you frozen stiff like that?”
“What are you talking about.”
“‘What are you talking about’…? Where’s your manners? And did you really not hear anything? Well, that’s fine. You can figure out what’s happening from now. Come with me for a bit after the ceremony. We will go meet people from our company and–”
“No. Say it from the start.”
Her voice was like a bucket of cold ice.
While Carrot Girl vacantly blinked her eyes, Bom asked.
“What did Jitae-ssi do?”