By Zephyria “You, your foot….”
“Why?”
Sa-young asked calmly. His violet eyes, curved thinly as if he was enjoying himself, were filled with Cha Eui-jae. Eui-jae’s fingertips involuntarily gained strength. The foot that had been rubbing his ankle lightly brushed against the hem of his pants. Eui-jae quickly put down the bread.
“Hey, hey, just a minute.”
“It’s not ‘hey’.”
The hem, swaying helplessly as the foot moved, tickled his ankle. Eui-jae squeezed his eyes shut and gave the answer Sa-young wanted.
“…Lee Sa-young.”
“Yeah. I’m here.”
“Why are you touching my foot?”
“Well….”
Sa-young smiled gently.
“Because I want to.”
“You do everything you want?”
“But.”
The foot that had been lingering at the hem of his pants seemed to move away, but soon, his soft instep filled the hollow of Eui-jae’s sole. It fit perfectly, as if they were originally one.
Lee Sa-young tilted his chin slightly.
“You’ll accept it, right?”
‘This crazy brat, why is he so frivolous with his feet?’
Was the strange feeling he kept getting because of the scene in the room he had seen earlier, or because of Lee Sa-young’s face, which had been flushed red? He couldn’t tell. His foot flinched.
“What the hell are you talking about…. Hey, get your foot away.”
Eui-jae was about to hide his foot under the chair.
“You can’t even accept this much? After biting my finger.”
Sa-young held up the bandaged finger as if to show it off. Looking at his left ring finger, Eui-jae was speechless again. It seemed like he would be talking about his finger every chance he got. With a gloomy face, Eui-jae picked up the bread again. Soft flesh rubbed against the hollow of his foot. Sa-young, propping his chin up, murmured languidly.
“We in this world… seem to be quite special to each other.”
Special. Cough, Eui-jae covered his mouth and coughed softly. A bed big enough for two people to lie down on, and two belongings that anyone could tell belonged to different owners. The sensation of heat rising on his cheeks and ears was vivid. He probably wasn’t as red as Lee Sa-young, but he was probably quite flushed.
‘Damn it, the poker face trait doesn’t activate at times like this.’
Eui-jae, who had been continuing to cough, suddenly stopped.
‘…No, come to think of it, it’s like it’s disappeared altogether since some time ago….’
But before he could continue his thoughts, Sa-young raised the corners of his lips as if mocking him.
“What on earth were you thinking about…. Your face is bright red.”
“…I choked.”
“Aha….”
“I really did.”
“I’m sure you did. What I meant was as family….”
Sa-young shrugged and gestured towards the living room with his eyes.
“…There were pictures of the two of us together, too.”
“Pictures?”
“Didn’t you see them? You must have been really out of it…. Look at them later.”
After speaking, Sa-young picked up a piece of rolled omelet with his fork and began to eat it little by little. It was strange that he was frowning as soon as the food entered his mouth, after having been smiling until just before.
“Is the rolled omelet not good? Don’t eat it if it’s not good.”
“No….”
Lee Sa-young frowned slightly.
“It feels like it’s been a while.”
“What has?”
“Um….”
Sa-young slowly chewed and swallowed the rolled omelet, then murmured.
“Eating food while tasting it.”
“…What?”
“Ah, don’t make a fuss. It’s nothing.”
Sa-young answered nonchalantly and began to spread jam on his bread. Eui-jae pressed his lips tightly together.
Had he been unable to taste anything until now? But he seemed to have eaten well at the Hanover Soup Restaurant.
Then, a memory suddenly came to mind. The day Lee Sa-young first came to the Hanover Soup Restaurant, when Lee Sa-young first ate Hangover Soup. He remembered it clearly because he had been watching him from the moment he took his first spoonful, wondering what he would say.
Come to think of it….
‘The soup is hot.’
‘The meat is tender.’
There was no evaluation of the taste.
‘Crazy brat Poison.’
“Why, do you feel sorry for me?”
Eui-jae raised his head. Sa-young took a bite of the jam-covered bread as if to show off, and chewed slowly. His Adam’s apple moved slightly, and he wiped the crumbs from the corner of his mouth with his thumb.
“If you feel sorry for me.”
Soft flesh rubbed against his foot. Sa-young smiled gently.
“Don’t push me away.”
Eui-jae was silent. In fact, both of them knew. Not only was it impossible for Cha Eui-jae to feel sorry for Lee Sa-young, but he also wouldn’t push away Lee Sa-young’s foot. This was just…
“……”
An excuse. For Cha Eui-jae.
Sometimes, there are things that must be overlooked even when you know them.
There are also emotions that you don’t know what to call.
That’s why Eui-jae didn’t avoid the body heat that was rubbing against him. Instead, he also nudged Lee Sa-young’s ankle with his toes. As if by mistake.
Eui-jae picked up a small frame placed on the living room drawer. It was a picture of Cha Eui-jae and Lee Sa-young smiling at the lens, with their arms affectionately around each other’s shoulders and waists. A world where the West Sea Rift had not occurred.
If the West Sea Rift hadn’t happened, could they have lived like this? Like family.
Then, the cell phone he had put in his pocket rang. Eui-jae put down the frame and hesitated before checking the phone screen. It was a text message.
OurEui-jaeHaveaGoodLunchAreYouGettingAlongWithSa-young^^CallAuntieTonight~^^
The suffocating text message content without spaces and the smiling eyes. The sender was….
‘Aunt.’
Park Hye-kyung. Eui-jae pressed the familiar number to check the message box. There were countless text messages exchanged, and call history was recorded at least once every two days.
‘Auntie is alive here too….’
Eui-jae endlessly rubbed the screen as if he could touch the letters in the text message. The sunlight pouring in from the large window was dazzling and warm.
This place is perfect and peaceful. As if it was made by taking only the best memories and molding them.
Swish…. Water poured from the sink. Eui-jae raised his head. Lee Sa-young was standing straight in the kitchen, washing the foam off the dishes. As if he felt his gaze, Sa-young turned his head. Their eyes met. His violet eyes were filled with a look of bewilderment.
‘…….’
Eui-jae turned off the phone screen and shoved it into his pocket. Now that he had put out the urgent fire, it was time to find a way to escape the Dungeon.
The scenery outside the window was not much different from before. As expected, the answer must be outside. The house is a kind of safe zone, or base camp.
He headed for the front door. The firmly closed door was uniquely opened and closed with a key instead of a door lock. He unlocked the lock and carefully grabbed the doorknob.
‘Let’s just check outside for a moment.’
He was prepared to face a Monster as soon as he opened the door. Eui-jae turned the doorknob with force. And,
“…What is this.”
He faced an empty void.
Thud, roll… A shoe that had been kicked by his foot fell over the door frame and sank into the endless darkness. The sound of it falling could not be heard. Outside the door was a sheer cliff, and the surroundings were all pitch black. It was literally ‘void’. Cha Eui-jae, facing the endless darkness, froze with his hand still on the doorknob. A voice echoed from afar.
“Hyung?”
‘What is this.’
This couldn’t be happening. If the outside of the door was like this, what was the scenery that had been reflected outside the window? Where is the Master of the Dungeon? How far does the Dungeon’s territory extend?
At that moment, the sound of hurried footsteps stopped, and wet hands and arms wrapped around his waist like snakes. Thud, a solid chest touched his back. And a large hand covered the hand holding the doorknob.
Bang!
The door closed. He could hear slightly rapid breathing near his ear. Only then did Eui-jae come to his senses. Haa, Lee Sa-young, who took a long breath, bumped his head against Eui-jae’s shoulder and then lifted it up sharply.
“Are you crazy?”
“No, did you just…. Did you just see that?”
“I saw it. If the outside of the door is like that, you should think about closing the door right away, what are you doing standing there blankly….”
Lee Sa-young snapped sharply. However, Eui-jae stared at the firmly closed door with a blank face.
This place is a Memorial Dungeon created based on someone’s memories. The range of the Dungeon is….
Eui-jae muttered.
“This house….”
“What?”
“The Dungeon range. It seems to be this house.”
Only this house. An ominous feeling crawled up his legs. The Dungeon is this house. Most Dungeons are cleared by killing the Master of the Dungeon.
Then the Master of the Dungeon is inside this house….
‘No, no.’
He had to fix the habit of always assuming the worst. Eui-jae bit the inside of his lip and put strength into the hand holding the doorknob. Then, something caught on his fingertip. His eyes widened. Sa-young pulled the arm around his waist towards him, urging him.
“What are you doing not moving away from the door.”
“No, just a moment.”
There was something like a scratch on the lower part of the doorknob. Eui-jae released the arm around his waist and squatted down in front of the door to check the lower part of the doorknob.
The clearly engraved scratch was,
‘HYS’
It looked like an alphabet. Eui-jae, who was tracing the scratch with his fingernail, muttered softly.
“HYS…?”
“HYS, you said?”
“Yeah. It’s written like that below the doorknob?”
As soon as he heard the alphabet, Lee Sa-young clicked his tongue briefly.
“Why is that crazy brat’s alphabet here….”
“What is it?”
“…You said this is a Dungeon, right? Made based on someone’s memories.”
“Yeah.”
“…Can Hong Ye-seong even make a Dungeon? He can handle independent other spaces, so it wouldn’t be impossible….”
“Hong Ye-seong?”
The face of Hong Ye-seong, smiling brightly with his thumb raised, floated up in his mind. He’s an annoying person, but isn’t he a madman with good ability? Sa-young, who had his arms crossed, retorted with a displeased face.
“He has a strong sense of self-love… so he leaves his signature on most of the things he touches. He leaves Chinese characters on things he thinks are masterpieces, and English initials on things he makes for fun.”
“Then here too….”
“Unless he only made that doorknob… it’s right to assume that Hong Ye-seong made this Dungeon too.”
Sa-young pressed his forehead and muttered.
“To be exact, the Hong Ye-seong of this world.”