Chapter 35

"Do you like amphibians?"

At a time when help was desperately needed, he was making idle talk.

"Shut up and hurry. I can't breathe."

Chahaya pressed his nose with one hand and grabbed the toad's upper jaw, lifting it up. Only then did Seoon, whose breath had been cut off, quickly exclaim,

"There's poison on its back, so don't touch it."

Due to gripping the handle, Matari's blade cut through the toad's body and slipped out. The toad's fluid gushed out like a broken faucet. Seoon tried to roll away to avoid it, but he was already drenched in the yellow liquid.

Chahaya dragged the toad and threw it out the window. *Thud!* Though it was only the third floor, the sound of something exploding made his expression sour.

As Seoon stood up, sticky fluid dripped from his entire body. To make matters worse, the living room was filled with the toad's entrails, and the stench was overwhelming.

Chahaya looked out the broken window and then turned to Seoon.

"Still going to be stubborn?"

"…I'll give up."

Seoon took the hand Chahaya offered.

***

After taking a shower in the bathroom, it was around 5 AM.

It was an awkward time to go back to sleep, so the light in Chahaya's bedroom was still on. Seoon went to the closet and found a hoodie to wear. None of the pants fit, and he still couldn't find any underwear.

A pair of training pants with a band around the waist was the best option, but wearing them without underwear felt empty. The small size made the pants stick tightly to his buttocks, making it uncomfortable to walk.

"I'll stay in the living room."

He peeked into the bedroom. The living room only had a single recliner, but it seemed fine to sleep on the floor with a blanket. When he approached, Chahaya was dozing off in his seated position.

"Go to bed and sleep."

Seeing Chahaya leaning against the bed head, he poked his shoulder.

Was this the leisure of a top-tier being? Chahaya slowly lifted his head, looking annoyed. If it were him, he would have been terrified, thinking Chahaya might be a mutant, but it felt a bit unfair.

"Did you clean yourself properly?"

"Does it still smell?"

Seoon sniffed his arm. Chahaya pulled his arm and buried his nose in the inner flesh. His nose, rubbing like a dog, eventually reached Seoon's neck. Given his sensitivity to smell, Seoon understood the thoroughness but had to suppress a subtle sensation by tensing his toes.

"It doesn't smell, right?"

Seoon pushed Chahaya, who was sniffing his scalp.

"Yeah, I allow you to come to the bed."

"But I'm going to sleep in the living room."

"Why? The bed is wide."

Chahaya moved to the wall side and patted the space next to him.

"Such consideration is for girlfriends, right?"

"Would you do it for a toad?"

"I was going to, but some guy threw it away."

Chahaya pulled Seoon's arm, making him flop onto the bed. The force was so strong that it was a miracle his arm and shoulder didn't separate.

"Rats are weak, so the strong one should go to the living room."

"Please, I thought my arm was going to be pulled out just now."

"Let's use Jang Kyungmin as a living Seoon-specific item."

The image of Jang Kyungmin struggling involuntarily came to mind.

"Don't joke like that. I know you're serious."

"See for yourself." Chahaya, who replied without sincerity, leaped over Seoon and got out of bed.

"Chahaya."

Seoon called out to him as he was about to go to the living room. Chahaya turned and Seoon patted the bed, gesturing for him to come back and sit.

"I'm not a toad."

"Kid, you have something to say?"

Chahaya didn't come in immediately but took something from the fridge and sat down. It was a water bottle with condensation on the outside.

"Hey, there's a tunnel, right?"

Chahaya gulped down the water, making his throat move. It looked so refreshing that Seoon's throat felt dry.

"What if there were a lot of mutants in the tunnel?"

"Is that also a rat's intuition?"

"Let's say it's similar."

"How many is a lot?"

"Hmm… about a thousand?"

"If there were a thousand 6th-stage mutants, we'd all die. Should I say my last goodbyes? I've been Seoon, Seoon."

Chahaya handed the water bottle to Seoon. Seoon didn't argue with his words and continued with his business.

"What if there were a thousand 3rd-stage mutants? How many do you think you could handle?"

After a moment of thought, Chahaya's answer was concise.

"All of them."

"…"

His mouth opened involuntarily.

Before losing his powers, he had tried to imagine how many he could handle. He concluded that he could probably deal with about two hundred. That was only possible if he used Cosmo to its maximum extent, taking out a large number at once.

Just as there are different types of bombs, the size of a top-tier being's Cosmo varied. If he were a regular hydrogen bomb, Chahaya was no different from the most powerful Tsar Bomba.

To think there was such a vast gap between top-tier beings… The days he burned with inferiority complex against such a being felt utterly futile.

"Is that just boasting?"

When he asked, Chahaya smiled pleasantly.

"Rat's intuition is really good. I could probably handle about two hundred."

It felt like Chahaya, who had drifted away to a distant star, had suddenly come closer. Seoon grinned and replied, "I also expected that much."

"Is that also a rat's intuition?"

"No, I thought that's how much I could handle if I were my old self."

"Then I can handle three hundred."

Seoon's face remained smiling, as if he was being generous.

"Hey, wasn't I pretty cool just now? I killed a mutant without any special move."

Chahaya, now in a good mood, was about to grab Seoon's mouth. The fact that he didn't look pleased at the idea of eliminating all of them, but rather looked dark, indicated that Cha Byungcheon had completely messed him up.

"Chahaya."

"Yeah?"

"I'm sleepy."

"Okay, let's sleep. We can talk after we wake up."

Chahaya, who had been sitting, flopped to the side. He mumbled about sleeping in the living room but didn't push Seoon away. Chahaya grabbed Seoon's collar and pulled him to his side. Seoon pushed him away and went back to the wall.

"Now I don't smell like mutants."

"I know."

"Then let's just sleep?"

"Okay, I'll go to the living room. I've never slept with someone before, so it feels uncomfortable."

"Am I really a stranger? What about the Seoon who clung to me during the school trip?"

"At that time, I was in so much pain that I needed a human heater."

"Yeah, I also feel cold after eating a frozen pizza."

…What a crazy guy. Seoon laughed in disbelief and lay on his back.

<…I already ate it once.>

Why did that thought come to mind?

Seoon could only think he had misheard the Messenger's words in his drowsiness. He had never gotten a response when he asked the Messenger again while fully awake. But if, by some chance, he had unconsciously swallowed his own power like he did with Han Donhee's Cosmo… The culprit who took his ability would be Chahaya.

Looking back, his power disappeared when he came to Narakga on January 1st, and he had a phone call with Chahaya around midnight as the new year dawned.

"Hey… Do you remember the call we had on the last day of last year?"

It was already over four months ago, so it was uncertain if he would remember.

"Doesn't it?"

Seoon turned to look at Chahaya.

The room was still lit, but his closed eyes showed no movement. It was strange how he could hear Seoon's special move even in the dark.

Seoon stared at Chahaya's sleeping face. His gaze was drawn to a spot on his clean skin. He suppressed the urge to touch it by clenching his fists. He turned his back and pressed his body against the cold wall.

After a long time, unable to fall asleep due to the bright fluorescent light, he got up. Seoon quietly left the bed and looked at the living room.

"Where are you going?"

A deeply sleepy voice came from behind.

"What, were you pretending to sleep?"

"I was sleeping, but you kept waking me up."

Chahaya's eyes remained closed.

"Did you develop a trauma from Seoon's disappearing act?"

It seemed like he was throwing a tantrum. Seoon sighed and turned off the light in the room.

As dawn broke, the path to the bed was clearly visible. Seoon went back to Chahaya's side and lay down. If Chahaya opened his eyes, he would feel like cosmic dust witnessing a nebula directly. Rather than that, he closed his eyes tightly, and Chahaya's high body temperature flowed over his skin.

***

500,000 won.

It was a considerable amount for a 2-night, 3-day school trip.

Originally, 1st-year students were supposed to go on a training trip, but since last year's 1st-year students had already gone on a school trip around this time, the order was completely reversed. The 2nd-year students had staged a protest, demanding another school trip, but it was not accepted.

Seoon glanced at Chahaya, who was sitting at the next desk.

The education office provided some support for the school trip, but about 400,000 won per person was still needed. Some extra money for snacks during the trip would be necessary. Last month, they couldn't go on a field trip together, so he at least wanted Chahaya to participate in the school trip.

"Are you going?"

Seoon, lying on his side, asked Chahaya.