Chapter 369: Episode 103: Difference in Perspective (1)
It happened some time ago.
Unit 301.
A golden pair of eyes was looking at Bom who was sitting on the couch in her outstretched t-shirt that constantly slid down.
She was crouching down reading a book but Kaeul was persistently staring her way, so she slightly shifted her head to meet the gaze. Usually, Kaeul would have smiled ‘hehe’ and said hello but she was quite different that day.
“…”
“…”
“…What’s wrong?”
Seemingly with a question in mind, Kaeul sneaked up and sat next to her on the sofa. The same gentle fragrance of grass seeped into her nose as if she was in a forest.
When Kaeul sat next to her, Bom lowered the book and looked back at her. After a few seconds of odd silence, Kaeul raised a question.
“Unni.”
“Nn nn.”
“Do you like ahjussi?”
“Nn. I do.”
“Then, do you love ahjussi?”
Hearing that, Bom widened her eyes a little with a slightly open mouth. However, her expression returned to the normal indifferent one in just a few seconds.
“Nn.”
Kaeul tilted her head with her eyes stuck on Bom.
“How do you love him?”
“Hnn?”
“We, uhh, can’t fall in love and stuff right?”
Bom replied with an awkward smile.
“Who knows? I also wonder how.”
Finding that response questionable, Kaeul asked back.
“You don’t know either, unni? How you fell in love?”
“Nn. I don’t know.”
“Ehng?”
Bom raised her hand and rested it on her chest.
“I think this must be broken.”
Kaeul blinked her eyes before asking yet again.
“Then, in that case, is there like a reason you fell in love? Ah! I’m just asking because I’m curious…!”
‘Hmm…’ Nipping on the bookmark, Bom contemplated deeply before shaking her head.
“I don’t know.”
“Eyy. How can you not know that?”
“No, really. I don’t know. Actually, I thought about it a lot myself but I really have no clue. Seriously…”
‘…How did this happen.’ Bom murmured something similar to what she had previously said.
With that, Kaeul resolved two out of the three questions she had, even though the replies Bom gave didn’t fully quench her curiosity.
“And also, last question.”
“Nn.”
“A few days ago, me and ahjussi…”
Kaeul talked about the things that happened while sending the baby chicken, Chirpy, back to his world, including how she cried in his arms on the way back.
Although there was no need to bother telling her all this, Kaeul wanted to share them.
She was quite nervous during her speech. She had no confidence to look into Bom’s eyes and her lowered gaze was facing Bom’s stretched out t-shirt by the time she came to herself.
“…And that’s what happened.”
After finishing her explanation, Kaeul carefully raised her head back up and found Bom gazing down at her with an expression she could not read.
That in turn made her more nervous.
“…”
“…”
“A, are you perhaps angry…?”
“Do you like ahjussi?” Bom asked instead of replying to her question.
“Uun? Un… Ah, ah! But! Not, not in the way you’re thinking! Because he’s a good person, and precious? That’s why I like him. Not like, the things you see in a shoujo manga…!”
“Nn.”
“Just… but, still, I thought unni wouldn’t like that so… I just, unn…”
“Nn.”
“…Are you okay?”
“Nn. I’m fine.”
“Uinng?”
Bom sounded so nonchalant that it instead made Kaeul flustered.
“You’re okay?”
“Nn. I’m totally okay.”
“Why? Unni, you are, umm, very sensitive with your belongings right?”
“Ahjussi isn’t an object though, is he.”
“But, the… umumu… uhh, you know… Don’t you feel jea… lous or something like that…?”
After finally realising the point Kaeul was trying to make by beating around the bush, Bom replied with a giggle.
“I’m not jealous at all. Well, I guess it might feel weird to see that happen in front of my eyes though.”
“…”
“But still, it’s okay.”
“Ehng? Even if someone other than me, like Yeorum-unni or Gyeoul, does something similar with ahjussi…?”
“Nn. As long as you don’t cross the line.”
“Really? That’s a bit unexpected. I actually thought unni would be super upset…”
“No, of course not.”
Bom caressed her hair. Her eyes were gazing outside the window into the distance.
“It’s been around 5 years since we lived together right? I’ve always felt sorry, and thankful to you guys.”
“Unn?”
“Sorry because you getting involved with the dimensional disjoint might be because of how unlucky I am, and grateful because you’ve never blamed it on me and…”
“Uun…”
“I think I’m quite attached to you guys after spending such a long time together. Sometimes I even wonder how I can live without you after going back. It feels great to live together… When Gyeoul gets a bit bigger, I want to go to a hot spring together, go gambling with Yeorum, and buy delicious food together with you. How would I ever feel jealous?”
“…”
With a pause, she thought, looking at the ceiling and the ground before turning towards Kaeul. Soon, Bom concluded her words along with a faint smile.
“You guys are so precious to me…”
It seemed that the white bird had been continuing the analysis all by itself after ending the communication with him. The number of messages that floated up were therefore extremely abundant.
<The Authority, [Vintage Clock (EX)] has concluded the analysis on the manifestation of Hostility: [Last Night]. The time, location and risk level will be revealed.>
<The Authority, [Vintage Clock (EX)] has completed the analysis on [Great Hostility]. The objective and cause for the Great Hostility will be revealed.>
<The Authority, [Vintage Clock (EX)]…>
Going up the log, he viewed a message that had come up a lot earlier. He quickly looked at the information on the ‘Third Night’.
<The Authority, [Vintage Clock (EX)] has concluded the analysis on the manifestation of Hostility: [Third Night].>
Images formed by voices and letters were engraved in Yu Jitae’s brain.
Before long,
He was met with the shocking truth.
<The Authority, [Vintage Clock (EX)] has opened the records of the [Third Night] which has deviated from the world’s timeline.>
<Target: [Mutant Black Dragon Myu].>
Blood raced into his mind.
He did think about the possibility before.
But after locking her and experimenting with her, he had dug into all parts of Myu’s body and the Hostility did not manifest in any way even till the death of Myu’s personality.
By nature, [Hostility] tended to manifest itself even at a low level of stress. It was like a reflex system and was a common attribute that accompanied [Mental Contamination].
That was why the logical conclusion he had drawn through multiple experiments was that Myu couldn’t be a host of Hostility.
It was impossible for even a black dragon to persevere through a [Mental Contamination] to deceive both the personality and Yu Jitae. It was simply impossible.
However, that was when something suddenly appeared in Yu Jitae’s mind.
The extraordinary thing he had found inside Myu’s Conceptual World…
……Don’t tell me.
<Explanation: There has been an interference from an existence outside the world’s timeline that is displeased about your regression.>
<Her name is [Lugiathan].>
<She is the chief of the black dragon race which you have killed outside the Providential timeline.>