By Zephyria After the embarrassment and shame subsided a little, the first thing that came to mind was guilt. Thankfully. Eui-jae swept his hair back for no reason.
‘How can you think like this about a sick person?’
He couldn’t believe he was having such terrible thoughts. Eui-jae rubbed the mask roughly. But he could still clearly feel the sensation of the firm body clinging to him.
The two arms that wrapped around his waist as if he would never let go again, the back that heaved as if catching its breath, and the sounds of small sobs mixed with breaths. How could he not welcome it? Eui-jae didn’t know how to reject warmth.
Especially if that was his only one.
“Ah, I’m going crazy!”
But isn’t this trashy?
It was the moment his hands were messing up his hair. Tap, tap, he heard something passing over the wooden floor. Eui-jae stuck his head out the door. Cluck was walking with a wooden tray on its head.
There were two ceramic cups filled with Sweet Rice Drink on the tray, and the Sweet Rice Drink remained still until the ceramic chicken reached the threshold of the room.
‘The comfort is bed-level.’
Cluck, who had crossed the threshold and arrived in the room, stopped in front of Eui-jae. Then, it rolled its soybean-like eyes and looked up at him. Eui-jae picked up the tray and moved it to the table. Not forgetting to say thank you.
“Thank you.”
“Cluck.”
Its smooth chest puffed out roundly, as if proud. When he shifted his gaze from Cluck to the tray, one of the two cups placed on it was labeled ‘For Hong Ye-seong.’ He wanted to invade Hong Ye-seong’s territory out of spite, but he gave up since he was the one who came to ask for help.
Eui-jae picked up the cup that had nothing written on it. But he couldn’t drink the Sweet Rice Drink.
‘The gaze keeps coming…’
Cluck was squatting on its cushion after serving, looking at Eui-jae with its black, round eyes. It was as if it was demanding something. What else did it want? Eui-jae glanced at Cluck and tried to start a conversation.
“…Why?”
“Cluck.”
Cluck tilted its head. Cha Eui-jae was good at most things, but even he didn’t have the ability to understand the words of a ceramic chicken. Unfortunately. Eui-jae held up the cup with a dubious look and pretended to drink.
“…Drink it?”
“Cluck!”
Cluck shook its head. Soon, it lowered its head and sighed deeply. A chicken sighed! It wasn’t just a sigh, but a sigh that scratched at people’s nerves.
‘This guy doesn’t seem like a chicken.’
Now that he thought about it, he felt some intelligence from those soybean eyes. Eui-jae stared intently at Cluck’s beady eyes. Cluck also looked back without avoiding his gaze.
As the unintentional staring contest continued, Hong Ye-seong walked in with a plastic bag. Perhaps because of the green tracksuit, he looked more like a loafer than usual.
“Did you try the Sweet Rice Drink?”
“No, not yet.”
“Try it! This body made it myself. Even the public officials recognized the taste. Eat some scorched rice too. Oh, I have kimchi radish soup, should I bring it?”
“I appreciate the thought, but can we get to the point?”
“Are you leaving after we get to the point?”
Hong Ye-seong drooped his eyebrows.
“This body is bored…”
Eui-jae glared from behind the mask. Hong Ye-seong, who was grumbling with his mouth sticking out as much as Cluck’s beak, straightened his posture. And he asked, breaking the scorched rice into pieces.
“Okay. Seeing you carrying Lee Sa-young, it must be about Lee Sa-young, right?”
“Yeah. He woke up.”
Hong Ye-seong beamed, chewing on the scorched rice.
“That’s good! He woke up earlier than I thought.”
“But there’s a problem.”
“What problem?”
“You said it. Since two Souls are in one body, we should leave him alone until he regains stability. There’s no way but to wait.”
“I did.”
Eui-jae fiddled with the cup and asked.
“I was too out of it to ask then, but what did you mean by stability?”
Hong Ye-seong pondered deeply, then downed the Sweet Rice Drink and slammed the empty cup on the table.
“Well… for example, let’s say it’s juice. Over time, the contents evaporate, right? If there’s no external stimulus, it won’t shake. That’s what I mean. I expected that if we waited until the Souls merged properly, they would naturally find stability on their own.”
“…Then did he wake up before it was time?”
“What?”
Hong Ye-seong, who was placing a piece of scorched rice on Cluck’s head, blinked.
“Wait a minute, judging by the way you’re saying it, could it be…”
“They didn’t merge.”
“Huh?”
“There are two, Lee Sa-young. Inside.”
“Huh, really?!”
Hong Ye-seong’s eyes widened. Eui-jae rubbed his forehead and muttered.
“I’m sure. It’s that guy I saw in the Destroyed world. But not only that guy, but also the Lee Sa-young we know…”
“That’s really weird… Two Souls have their own egos in one body? That’s… Haaam.”
Hong Ye-seong, who had been talking like he was possessed, suddenly yawned and narrowed his eyes. They looked like they would close any second.
“So… what I want to say… is… hmm.”
Moreover, he kept yawning and nodding like a sick chicken. He had been chattering non-stop like he had oil on his tongue until just now, but suddenly he was about to fall asleep, so it was inevitable that he would be flustered.
‘Why is he suddenly like this?’
Eui-jae reached out and grabbed Hong Ye-seong’s shoulder, which was shaking from side to side.
“Hey, what’s wrong?”
“Huh? Ah… I don’t know.”
He rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand, but his flickering eyes soon began to close slowly.
“Why am I suddenly so sleepy…”
“What the hell are you talking about. Hey!”
“Hmm.”
With those words, Hong Ye-seong bowed his head and was caught in Cha Eui-jae’s hand. Judging by the small snores, he seemed to be really asleep. Did this guy have narcolepsy or something? It was absurd. Eui-jae shook Hong Ye-seong’s shoulder in frustration.
“Hey, you haven’t even said anything properly, are you just going to fall asleep?”
But a voice was heard from somewhere other than Hong Ye-seong’s mouth.
“I’ll answer for him.”
“What?”
“Don’t be surprised, friend. I just put him to sleep for a while. That way I can intervene.”
Eui-jae creaked his head around. Cluck, who was sitting alone on the cushion, was staring intently at Eui-jae. Its smooth beak moved.
“Remember? Two identical people cannot exist in one world. Likewise, I and this guy cannot exist at the same time. This is a trivial trick, but it doesn’t violate the laws of the System. All you have to do is recognize me as Cluck.”
Cluck was talking!
Eui-jae’s eyes widened. Even after rubbing his eyes and looking again, the voice was coming from Cluck’s beak. It was even a familiar voice. It was Hong Ye-seong’s voice, who he had been talking to until just now! Golden patterns appeared in the black, round eyes like soybeans and rotated rapidly.
Emotional Eye. It was much more complex and intricately intertwined than he knew.
“You…”
“Wait.”
Cluck raised one of its white wings.
“I know you have a lot to say, and I know what you’re going to say. But don’t equate me with Master. There’s power in words, right? Simple thoughts and saying them out loud are different.”
“……”
“The System is already watching Lee Sa-young. It’s watching this place where that guy is too.”
Awkwardly standing, Eui-jae glanced at the ceiling. Cluck continued slowly.
“The moment I violate the rules, I won’t be able to answer what you’re curious about and I’ll be kicked out right away. Let’s help each other. Of course, I can’t tell you much…”
Eui-jae gathered the words he was about to spill out. And he touched his mask and lowered his head. The one he was talking to now was the ‘Hong Ye-seong’ he had encountered at the end of the Memorial Dungeon. And he was also the one who held the most information.
Hong Ye… no, Cluck flapped its wings and smacked its lips.
“Hey, I was never going to step in this time… In the end, you’re calling me out? You don’t move as expected, so it’s fun to watch.”
Cluck tilted its head and began to chatter.
“By the way, friend, what did you do? Why did Lee Sa-young become like this? Why didn’t the Souls merge? This is also a situation I didn’t expect. Can you explain it to me?”
“……You.”
“Yes, friend?”
Cluck stretched out its neck. Cha Eui-jae, who had been trembling silently for a while, ran up and grabbed Cluck and shook it.
“Give me back Cluck, you crazy bastard!”
“Cluck!”
In the quiet mountains, a loud chicken cry echoed.
20 minutes later, Eui-jae was still sitting in Hong Ye-seong’s love nest, but the one sitting across from him was Cluck.
Cluck stacked a lot of cushions to match Eui-jae’s eye level. The homeowner, Hong Ye-seong, was lying curled up next to him, smacking his lips and fast asleep. Eui-jae took off his mask and put it aside, took a sip of Sweet Rice Drink, and glared at Cluck.
Cluck, who was diligently grooming its body with its beak, opened its mouth, no, its beak.
“What woke Lee Sa-young up? Where did it go wrong?”
“Stop asking questions and just tell me straight.”
“This body has been thinking about it, and even though you say you didn’t do anything, there must have been some stimulus.”
“…What stimulus?”
“Well, it must be a stimulus that would make Lee Sa-young’s eyes pop open. For example…”
Cluck tilted its head back and forth and rolled its eyes.
“A kiss, perhaps?”
“Cough.”
Eui-jae covered his mouth and coughed, subtly averting his gaze. His already round eyes became even rounder. Cluck tilted its head.
“What, did you really do it? I was just throwing it out there?”
“……”
“Wow……”
Cluck, who covered its beak with its wing, muttered. Its round eyes narrowed.
“Thief.”
Eui-jae, who had a lot of guilt, shouted.
“Shut up!”
“That’s why the kid opened his eyes. According to the plan of Lee Sa-young of the Destroyed world, the two should have merged without realizing it.”
“How do you know that plan?”
“Huh? Well…”
The Emotional Eye appeared once again on the small black eyes like soybeans.
“Because I modified that watch. So it can be used again.”