“Are you done preparing?”
“Yes. I said bye to everyone I know already.”
“How are the kids like.”
“Hmm… I think Kaeul and Gyeoul both accepted it completely by now.”
“What about Yeorum.”
“Totally being hated. Everyday she says she wants to hurry up and leave.”
“Oh no.”
“You reap what you sow, I guess.”
“I guess so.”
“Who told her to give her heart to a devil.”
The context of the proverb she used shifted into an odd direction.
“What?”
“You don’t need to be sorry. It’s her fault for doing that.”
“…”
Yu Jitae and Bom were together heading to the ‘ship’. They were outside a certain nameless fissure and were walking on top of a misty lake. Bom couldn’t see far ahead even with the eyes of a dragon and had to watch Yu Jitae’s steps from behind, and thus had to be very close to him.
“There’s really only two days left now,” she said.
“Good work on pretending like you didn’t know anything until now.”
“It was really hard, you know…”
It was rare of her to grumble like that.
“I was like a bridge.”
“A bridge?”
“Whenever the kids had something to ask oppa, they asked me first. Similar to how you just asked me about them. I would always tell them sincerely about what I knew. That was how I built trust and…”
Was it a complaint that she had ended up betraying that trust?
He was thinking that when she continued her words.
“…Thanks to that, it was easy to trick them.”
Instead, he received a distorted reply.
“…”
That was when a black structure began to reveal itself from within the layer of mist. It was a long rectangular block that reached 6 metres in height, 6 metres in width and 12 metres in length. This box that looked like a large container was a [Dimensional Cruise] and was the ship which the baby dragons would be riding on the way back.
“Let’s go in.”
“Yes.”
He approached the box as a part of the metal body of the ship started scattering into tiny blocks. They soon became stairs and a door leading Yu Jitae and Bom inside.
“This cruise has the coordinates and the petrol all loaded. You don’t have to do anything and this will by itself travel through the dimensions to reach Askalifa. Your mana has also been registered to the ship and all you have to do is get on.”
Bom gasped in awe after inspecting the magic formulae.
“You made them very detailed.”
“Of course I had to. Considering what this is.”
“By the way, did you register Earth’s coordinates here as well?”
“I didn’t. Why would I do that.”
“Ah.”
Bom nodded her head. Yu Jitae hated the dragons and naturally, there was no way he would expose the coordinates of Earth to them.
Because of that, this will be a complete farewell. After going back, they will never be able to come back.
“You will spend a month or two inside, and this will stay temporarily at several dimensions to gather their coordinates. If there happens to be a disjoint in the dimensions, it will teleport away and will then automatically begin moving again when it ends. You don’t have to worry about anything.”
“Will the fuel run out if we are constantly exposed to several disjoints?”
“It will. After meeting around 3,000 of them.”
She looked quite surprised. That was understandable because carrying out a dimensional teleportation 3,000 times would require an absurd amount of fuel. Normally, it would be impossible unless one was at the level of a transcendent authority.
It was only possible because Yu Jitae had been preparing it for a long time.
“I will show you around.”
He took Bom and explained the facilities inside. There were all sorts of entertainment devices set in place so that they would not feel bored during their month of voyage.
Besides, he had also expanded their rooms with dimensional spells.
There was also a kitchen with all sorts of cooking utensils, and the large refrigerator was full of food. Since it was difficult to personally use dimensional spells inside the cruise ship, all of these would come in very handy.
One by one,
They talked about the structure of the ship as well as plans for the voyage as Bom diligently nodded her head.
“Did you understand everything?” he asked.
“Yes. We have to obediently play right? Like plants.”
Do plants play?
Although skeptical, he returned a nod.
“And what’s in that room?” Bom asked while pointing at a door.
It was a small door that could barely fit one person and Bom found something abnormal after opening the door.
“Is this a hot spring?”
He nodded back.
Around the steaming hot spring was a small forest, and the temperature outside was below 0 degrees. It was cold enough for every breath to come out as a white mist.
This place which was a harmonious mix of man-made and natural objects was one he had made for the baby dragons. Nature, heat, water and chilly air. Filling the area were enormous amounts of elemental mana.
An astronomical amount of money had gone into this place to maintain the abundant elemental mana inside.
“…?”
Bom turned to him in surprise after quietly glancing around the room.
“Do you like it?”
“…What is all this?”
“Do you like it or not.”
“Like, how much did it cost to make all this, oppa.”
A few months ago, a transnational munition corporation, TTA, had been bought by the Defence Ministry of USA and had shocked the world. It was because this corporation that had the Association as its trading partner had a higher GDP than most developing nations.
“I’ll be empty-handed when I leave anyway.”
“…”
Travelling through dimensions would lead to a significant amount of fatigue. During the long journey back, the baby dragons would visit this place whenever they were exhausted and recover themselves.
Even though this cruise would be lost after going back, this hot spring would still remain at Askalifa, and would serve to be a gathering spot for the baby dragons in the future.
“Seriously, until the very end…”
Bom said with a sigh.
“Oppa, you know you are a bit of a psycho.”
“Me? Why me.”
“Who in the world does this much for a separation.”
Even though the start might have been wrong,
If it comes to a good end, maybe that could still be considered an atonement?
His kindness was for him to drop his sense of guilt, and was a selfish one.
“…”
Looking back, he had yet to do the last review for Bom.
Was her Amusement enjoyable, he wondered.
***
In truth, I was pretty much out of my mind ever since I came into this place. Neither the facilities nor the devices entered my eyes properly, and my ears also had trouble picking up his words.
It didn’t really matter, because the brain would automatically remember them anyway.
Clinging onto my blank mind, I talked with Yu Jitae.
I observed his explaining lips,
His hands,
And his back as he walked before me.
That amazing hot spring and whatever, in fact didn’t ring my heart in any way. How meaningful could it be even if it really was that magnificent?
In a world without him…
That was when something from the facilities entered my sight. Despite creating such a fancy and expensive area, what Yu Jitae had placed outside the hot spring, was funnily enough, a water purifying artifact that poured out boiling water for instant noodles.
My mind went back to the time we had instant noodles after playing with water. I suddenly felt my distancing mind come back with a flash.
“Shall we have a small chat before going back.”
Yu Jitae seemed to be suggesting the living room as the place for conversation. I grabbed him by his hand and instead guided him to my room.
An alcohol display case which I had missed before entered my sight. Ever since the onion core incident, I often enjoyed alcohol by myself in my room and that must be why Yu Jitae placed that inside.
“…Do you want a drink?”
And by the time I came to myself, I was sharing glasses of alcohol with him. The detoxification system was disabled because I wanted to be drunk.
The Amusement must have been long. I, who did not know how to drink any alcohol, had long become an addict who could live off of alcohol.
Clink–
He opened his mouth. Through his hazy lips, I could see his teeth and behind them was the tongue.
He was saying something.
Since I was zealously saying something back, it was definite that we were talking about something. What were we talking about, I wonder…
‘Do you want to look?’ That was what I suddenly said without me even realising it.
Saying that, I smiled and he must have seen the empty spot at where the cracked fang was. Even though I could recreate it anytime, I had yet to do so.
‘I look like an idiot right?’
I could not hold back a smile.
Suddenly, it became hot.
And so, I took off my jumper.
I turned to the mirror. The missing fang was immediately visible with a smile and made me look quite foolish.
This was eating away at my own values according to my idea of “Beauty equaling strength” and “Smiles being the cheapest yet a very powerful reward to move people” since someone was bound to look down on me when I smiled like this.
Therefore, it could be said that he had ruined my weapon. However, I will live on with this chipped weapon because this was what he gave me.
‘See this?’ I pushed my tongue into the gap.
‘Looks like raw tuna right hehe,’ I said and he shook his head with a squint.
After having several more bottles, and drinking strong alcohol,
My body became hotter and hotter.
It was too hot to wear a jumper.
And so, I took off my jumper.
He frowned.
Why is he frowning? I could not understand it.
Clink–
Bringing the glasses together, I suddenly had this thought.
In the end, it is impossible to avoid fate.
Some time in the past, father told me that every existence with the blood of a green dragon flowing inside them must obey destiny, and that nothing will change no matter how you withstand, struggle and attempt to change it.
Back then I hated those words so much…
But in the end, I was defeated by fate.
Maybe that was why?
The guards I had set up against the black-haired woman started fuzzing away.
This must be how it goes.
After sleeping with me, he grabs a random woman and sleeps with her before dying by himself.
Even though it sounded ridiculous, wasn’t he still just another male? It seemed that the thing called a reproductive urge or whatever soared up when it was time to die.
Of course, I didn’t bother looking up whether that was true or not because there was no need to know something so useless.
What next floated up in my head was Ha Saetbyul of the previous iteration. That woman was also black-haired so it might be her.
Sleeping with his ex-girlfriend before death.
Wow. How romantic…
…Should I put some poison on his ‘Dick Jitae’?
Continuing that line of thought,
I started feeling deathly melancholic.
“Should we stop drinking. I think you are very drunk.”
“No…”
Raising the bottle of alcohol, I tipped it upside down over my mouth, while contemplating how merciless destiny was.
That was when the bottle no longer gave alcohol,
So I glared at the bottle.
“Bom. Stop.”
“…”
“That’s our tenth bottle. You should stop drinking or detoxify it.”
“…”
“I’m starting to feel tipsy as well.”
What is he saying.
Ah.
Why–
Why is it not coming out…
I shook the bottle of alcohol and could feel something splashing inside.
But when I brought it to my mouth, there was still nothing coming out of it.
What is this.
I can definitely smell alcohol though…
I tried licking the bottle to at least drink the bits of alcohol that was on it.
Ah.
This is so annoying.
Why the hell is it so hot.
I felt like I was sweating so I first decided to take my jumper off. Him frowning in front was none of my business because he always frowned whenever he wanted to.
“Jitae.”
There was only one thing that mattered.
“Give me more.”
*
Yu Jitae felt perplexed.
Bom was constantly fanning her face and looked very feverish, so he could understand her taking her jumper off and the cardigan inside, but now she was even taking off her singlet.
Now, there was only one layer of underwear covering her bare skin and he had nowhere to rest his eyes on, so he fixed his gaze on her face and saw the gloomy look on it.
“There’s no more alcohol…”
Lifting the bottle of alcohol and raising her head, she closed one of her eyes and glared inside of the bottle. And when a single drop landed inside her eye, she foolishly shook her head after a flinch.
“Nn? There is alcohol. So why is it not…?”
“Oi oi.”
He snatched the bottle from her.
“I told you to stop drinking.”
“Whyyy?”
“You are drunk.”
“I ain’t drunkk…”
“Can’t you tell from how you’re speaking?”
“What did I sayy…”
She was all over the place.
“Today is our last day…” she muttered.
“Yes. This is our last.”
“And I’ve always been a good kid…”
“…”
“Let me do what I want for just one day…”
He heaved a sigh.
“Alright.”
While swinging her arms, she picked up another bottle of alcohol and pushed it towards him. She was no longer even using a glass. Clinking his bottle of spirit with hers, he chugged the whole bottle as Bom similarly lifted her head and gulped it. Her throat moved up and down and she lowered the bottle to the table only after emptying half of it.
“It’s too hot…”
She then suddenly began complaining that it was hot.
It was obvious because she had poured in so much alcohol.
“I have to take off my jumper…”
Wait, wait. What are you…