By Zephyria 
Kim Si-baek felt a prick of guilt but asked back nonchalantly.
“Why so sudden?”
“Just because. I was imagining having sex with you today, and then I just got in the mood.”
“…….”
He silently flicked Tae-un’s forehead.
After lunch, he secretly left the office building. The journey to Jeongseon Prison was arduous. Of course, Biyendwe took charge of looking up train tickets and bus schedules.
[Death and Beauty advises that if you intend to travel alone, you should obtain a driver’s license.]
“I got one a long time ago. But……”
Boarding the train, Kim Si-baek spoke softly to Biyendwe, who was disguised as a doll, while munching on a boiled egg bought from a station convenience store.
“Forget memories of Earth; I can’t even remember exactly when I last drove by myself in mak slecht. Was it twenty years ago?”
[Death and Beauty lets out a heavy groan.]
As one of the highest-ranking priests in the religious sect, would Kim Si-baek have ever had a reason to drive himself? Moreover, autonomous driving by artificial spirits had become commonplace.
[Death and Beauty asks, by the way, how you intend to handle the proselytizing.]
“The situation is different from mak slecht, so I’ll have to think more about how to avoid being called a cult.”
[Death and Beauty suggests leaving it to providence.]
“I love how you express ‘having no thoughts’ so elegantly—oop.”
The wing of the baby crow slapped across his mouth.
After arriving at Jeongseon Prison and waiting for a while, he was finally able to meet Tae Cheol-hun in the visitation room.
The sound of long fingers irregularly tapping the desk—tap, tap-tap—spread through the silence of the office.
‘Why did Si-baek hyung go to Jeongseon Prison? Tae Cheol-hun, as expected?’
Tae-un quickly reviewed his memories, unaware that he was the one tapping the desk. Had he made any mistakes when he spoke about Tae Cheol-hun previously?
……No. He was certain there were none.
Unlike Kim Si-baek’s other acquaintances, Tae Cheol-hun’s residence remained constant unless a special incident occurred. This meant Kim Si-baek could find him on his own at any time.
Therefore, Tae-un had been especially careful not to make any slips of the tongue when Tae Cheol-hun was the topic. If Kim Si-baek wanted to meet an acquaintance from the past, he could easily find him, and since he was incarcerated, Tae Cheol-hun—whose life hadn’t changed much—would be an appropriate choice. That way, Tae-un wouldn’t make mistakes due to discrepancies between memory and reality.
That was why he had intentionally left him alive instead of killing him.
He hadn’t made any mistakes. While he hadn’t been able to respond perfectly to every topic related to past acquaintances, as long as he didn’t encounter anyone else on the way to meet Tae Cheol-hun, there would be no problem.
Relieved, Tae-un returned to his contemplation of how much of his weakness Kim Si-baek would tolerate.
Tae-un had been imprisoned by Tae Cheol-hun thirty years ago in Earth time. That amount of time was etched into the old man before him.
“We don’t have much time, so let’s make this quick, Mr. Writer. What are you curious about?”
Despite reuniting with the man who had overturned his future, no agitation arose within Kim Si-baek. Since he had already sorted out his feelings toward him while on Earth, facing him now didn’t change anything special. However, the reason his brow furrowed unconsciously was because of the years visible on the man’s face.
‘He really got old.’
Compared to his prime thirty years ago, the old man’s shoulders were slumped, his back was hunched, and his skin was deeply wrinkled. Yet, the large, thick frame of his hands and feet remained the same.
Looking at the thick hand beyond the translucent partition, Kim Si-baek recalled how that hand had treated the young Tae-un. He should have beaten him so badly that he couldn’t even wear dentures for the rest of his life and had to survive on porridge, not just breaking a few teeth.
“I am curious about the circumstances of your arrest thirty years ago.”
“Not the story about killing those bastards in Gyeongsan? Wouldn’t the story of killing relatives in a tiny hamlet of less than a hundred people sell better?”
“I’ll hear that next time.”
Tae Cheol-hun smacked his lips. When Kim Si-baek took out a notebook and pencil to pretend to take notes, he began his story.
Tae Cheol-hun’s experience was also Kim Si-baek’s, so there was nothing particularly noteworthy. Except for the part where the role of the person who encountered Tae Cheol-hun—who had forced open the door of a semi-basement room and brutally beat a child—had been replaced by someone else.
To save the young Tae-un, Kim Si-baek had to stand up to Tae Cheol-hun. Having been beaten senseless by a teenage boy, Tae Cheol-hun recalled that the boy was a national athlete and instead sued him for assault. Along with a false accusation that he had beaten a young child, taking advantage of the child’s inability to express himself properly.
The truth didn’t matter. The media, having caught a scent, hammered him relentlessly, and the fallout of the incident grew.
Kim Si-baek was disciplined by the association and stripped of his position as a national athlete. Although the false charges were later cleared when it was revealed that Tae Cheol-hun was a mass murderer and kidnapper, Kim Si-baek did not return to fencing.
“Do you remember who that man was at the time? I understand the police were never able to find him.”
“I’m curious about that too. Maybe I was out of it back then, but I don’t remember exactly which bastard interfered with me. All I know is that it was a man. If it had been a woman, I would have slit her throat on the spot.”
Tae Cheol-hun chuckled, seemingly pleased with his own words.
“If I could just get a lead on who that bastard was, I would have ripped him to shreds. Mr. Writer, do you know? Even in here, I can easily hire people on the outside to kill someone.”
Tae Cheol-hun boasted as if he were sharing some highly confidential information. Kim Si-baek let out a hollow laugh at the sight of him acting as if he were someone important, despite being locked in prison for decades.
“Before the visit, I asked the correctional officer when your release date was, and he just laughed.”
“Huh?”
“He said you passed the parole review at the beginning of this year, but you intentionally caused trouble inside so that your parole was revoked.”
The visitation time ended quickly. As Kim Si-baek stood up, he looked down at the old man who had abused his brother in the past but was now pathetically aged.
The reason Tae Cheol-hun suddenly changed his mind and chose to stay in prison instead of being released was obvious. Being in prison didn’t mean he was completely cut off from the outside world. Over thirty years, he must have suddenly realized that the child whose life he had ruined had acquired the power and ability to kill a person without anyone ever knowing.
If he returned to society, Tae Cheol-hun would gain freedom, but in exchange, he would also gain the terror of not knowing when Tae-un might kill him.
“Do you think you’ll be eternally safe just by stubbornly enduring life inside prison? If I were the 7777 Guild Master, I wouldn’t miss the chance while you’re feeling relieved, thinking that since thirty years have passed, you’ve forgotten your grudge, and as long as news of your release doesn’t break and remind me of your existence, you’ll be safe.”
Tae Cheol-hun’s face turned pale.
“W-Writer! Have you heard something? That damn brat—no, are you acquainted with the Guild Master?!”
Leaving behind Tae Cheol-hun’s desperate voice as he practically clung to the partition, Kim Si-baek left the visitation room.
[Death and Beauty watches you with concern.]
Kim Si-baek, who had been lost in deep thought, turned his gaze toward Biyendwe’s divine utterance. The baby crow that had been perched on his crown was now flying around his head, sending a worried look.
“It’s not because of Tae Cheol-hun.”
Setting aside his worries for a moment, Kim Si-baek gently stroked Biyendwe.
“I was contemplating the difference between a memory that has been replaced by another existence and a memory that simply doesn’t exist and has been erased.”
[Death and Beauty asks if there is anything else suspected to be a replaced memory.]
“I think I’ll need to look into more old acquaintances to know for sure…… but it just occurred to me that my records as a fencer seem to have been deleted, not replaced. Looking at what Tae Cheol-hun said, the replaced man’s trajectory was exactly the same as mine. However, the match records for domestic competitions are different from mine.”
Thinking back carefully, it seemed that the athletes who had been ranked below Kim Si-baek—who had dominated most competitions—had moved up one step each to fill his void.
“My memory is hazy, so I can’t be certain.”
[Death and Beauty agrees that it is sufficient, as it has been proven that your existence was deleted in international competitions as well.]
To collect more cases, he would need to meet more old acquaintances, but no one in particular came to mind.
‘The nuns and the priest probably won’t remember me, just like Min-hyung and the other kids……’
Because if he had been replaced by another person, there would have been confusion due to the difference in memories when reminiscing about the past with those children.
As he walked down the hallway lost in thought, Kim Si-baek’s eyes suddenly widened.
“……Detective Park?”
The man limping toward him from the opposite direction was Detective Park, his former partner.