Chapter 52

"When will you come back, Mr. Guild Master?"

If Kim Eji hadn't spoken up, Cha Haya would have read all of Seo Un's strange behavior. Seo Un quickly looked at Kim Eji.

"That seems like something I'll have to decide after I see. I'll go first before it's too late."

Seeing Seo Un's anxious look, Kim Eji only nodded vigorously.

"Yes, see you next time! When will you come back, Cha Haya?"

"When Cha Seo Un returns."

He said it casually and followed Seo Un.

Ah, really! Always talking like that.

The sound of Kim Eji's grumbling hit Seo Un's back, but Seo Un felt a dullness in his ears as if they were ringing.

I can easily touch Yuchan's head, but Cha Haya's actions were on a completely different level. I just find my younger brother cute, but Cha Haya's actions made me think he was mistaken.

Even the customs officer's words about the length of my stay didn't register properly. I vaguely heard him say he would go home first if Cha Haya went ahead.

Kim Eji's actions kept replacing my own, making me feel a sense of self-loathing.

Seo Un walked with his eyes on the ground until he was sucked into the gate. Despite the dizziness that made him feel like he would vomit, he wished his brain would shut down and stop thinking.

The sensation of his body being torn apart was something he couldn't get used to, no matter how many times it happened. Fortunately, it wasn't as shocking as the first time.

Seo Un opened his eyes, feeling the dirty sensation of his body being reconstructed. As expected, it was the last place he had been before going to the Narakga.

Standing at the entrance of his house, Seo Un slowly looked around. There were no traces left by him or Cha Haya. It seemed the cleaning helper had done a thorough job.

Seo Un took off his shoes while still wearing his Matahari. The house was so large, but the distance to the bedroom felt unbearably long.

I don't want to get used to the Narakga, and I don't want to be swayed by Cha Haya's actions...

Everything was so unpleasant. That guy probably never felt anything unpleasant, so he couldn't understand these feelings.

I had always thought it was fortunate that I wasn't a woman, but after seeing Kim Eji today, I realized that as long as we were friends, I would have to endure these situations. The tightness in my throat made me feel like my tonsils were swollen, and I collapsed onto the bed.

[Good night.]

The display on the pad placed on the bed head lit up.

[To ensure a comfortable sleep, the song you set will be played on repeat.]

I didn't feel like listening to music today. Just as I was about to tell it to stop, I heard:

[Lullaby, lullaby, our Cha Seo Un. You sleep so well, our Cha Seo Un.]

Seo Un tapped his ears, thinking he was hearing things.

[Lullaby, lullaby, our Cha Seo Un. You sleep so well, our Cha Seo Un, lullaby, lullaby...]

What the hell is this...!

Seo Un sat up and was stabbed in the side by the Matahari. He grabbed his aching waist and quickly grabbed the pad. To his amazement, the lullaby being played through the speaker was sung by Cha Haya.

Tap, tap, tap. Seo Un opened the folder where he stored his songs.

'Cha Haya's lullaby to help Cha Seo Un sleep'

All the great songs were gone, and only one music file remained.

I was surprised that a guy who lived in Indonesia knew how to sing a Korean lullaby, but more shocking was that he had deleted my folder.

The songs I had randomly stored since high school helped regulate my sleep pattern.

Of course, most of them were break-up songs or songs about unrequited love. I used to sing along and fall asleep, lost in the emotions.

Somehow, they had become my lullabies...

'I should have been content with being friends.'

'Friendship and more'

'Am I the only one in pain?'

'Break up with her!'

'Self-reliance.'

'Now that I've forgotten you, everything will be better.'

Where did all those great songs go, leaving only Cha Haya's lullaby?

Did Cha Haya notice something?

No, even the best search engine couldn't have detected this kind of twisted feeling for a friend. But if Cha Haya had listened to the music I selected, he would have laughed at my damp emotions.

I secretly hoped he hadn't heard it...

But he pretended he hadn't and had heard everything.

"...Cha Haya."

[Yes, sir.]

The words to delete the lullaby file never came. I could have deleted it myself, but I just left the pad on the bedside table.

Lullaby, lullaby, our Cha Seo Un. You sleep so well, our Cha Seo Un.

Instead of falling asleep to Cha Haya's lullaby, Seo Un got up and headed to the refrigerator.

He took out two cold, chewy candies and put them in his mouth. While chewing the cold, chewy candy, he opened the refrigerator again. Thinking he would eat just one more, he ended up emptying the whole bag.

Was the stress from wanting something sweet, or was it a sign that I had admitted to being an addict?

I told the speaker to stop, but Cha Haya's lullaby kept echoing in my ears.

I couldn't fall asleep even when my eyes were bloodshot. I wasn't sure if it was due to the sugar or because I had heard a lullaby from him for the first time.

***

"Ahh, what do I do if you bring me to the gate?"

The child, with his hand on his side, shook his head.

Seo Un, who was much taller, looked down at the small boy with a tilted head. The child, with a bowl cut, had red hair and red eyes. He looked up at Seo Un.

Seo Un, looking down at the child in a completely white space, slightly opened his mouth.

"You...?"

The child, as if meeting an old acquaintance, laughed with a snort.

"Already noticed?"

"...I saw you."

"Of course, you did."

"Definitely... at Yuchan's house."

The child tilted his head.

"Yuchan? Who is that?"

"At our hideout on the 4th floor... I saw your picture."

The child in front of him looked exactly like the one in the tricycle photo. The owner of the house had black hair and green eyes, while this child had red hair and red eyes. It was so distinctive that he remembered it clearly from a nightmare he had before.

The child, with large, round eyes and a small nose, was cuter in person than in the photo. The only thing that felt strange was the unusual color.

"Is this a dream?"

Maybe he was meeting someone who lived in the Narakga.

"Half right, half wrong."

"Then?"

"Let's call it the realm of my consciousness."

"It's a dream."

A child couldn't use such vocabulary.

"If you misunderstand, I'm not just a child. I lived there for 15 years."

"Where?"

"@#$!# planet."

Squeak! Seo Un quickly covered his ears at the sound that scratched his eardrums. It's not ready yet, what can I do, I'm sorry. As the child stomped his feet, the pain gradually subsided. Seo Un, with a furrowed brow, spoke.

"Exactly... what planet are you talking about?"

The child firmly shook his head, lips tightly closed.

"I didn't mean to hurt you. So don't hate me."

Despite living somewhere for 15 years, he spoke like a child.

"When did I say I hate you?"

The child, relieved, tightly hugged Seo Un's thighs. The softness and warmth of the child felt real, even in a dream.

"If it's not a dream... did you call me?"

Seo Un tried to stay calm, given the bizarre situation.

"Yes, I have a question for you."

"For me?"

The child's cheeks were puffed up with a smile.

"Yes! Which came first, the chicken or the egg?"

It was an unexpected question, but it seemed like a child's innocent curiosity.

"I don't know. That's not something a baby would be curious about, is it?"

"Baby? I clearly said I'm 21 years old in human years."

The redness on his cheeks, matching his hair, was cute. Seo Un, unknowingly lowering his guard, squatted to the child's eye level.

"Which came first, the chicken or the egg? Answer quickly."

"Brat. If you're talking about evolution, it would be the microorganisms in the sea first."

The child, who I thought wouldn't understand, shook his head, saying that wasn't the answer.

"What if someone created us?"

Seo Un blinked rapidly.

He looked about six years old. I've never talked to prodigies, but it was strange. It felt like talking to an adult in a child's disguise.

"What do you think came first?"

"I think the egg came first."

"Why?"

The red eyes sparkled.

"Would all the eggs definitely grow into chickens? Many don't hatch. Even if they do, some might die like me."

The child pointed at Seo Un with a small finger.

"Just like you did to me."

"You did? What did you do to me?"

Seo Un, still squatting, crossed his arms.

"Isn't it called Narakga now? But the place I lived in was called 'Gajang,' not Narakga."

Whether the official name of Narakga was Gajang or Tarzan, it didn't matter.

"More importantly, what did I do to you?"

"I was just happy to see you, but you stabbed me. And you had your friends tear me apart."

"..."

I couldn't believe it. From what the child said, only one thing came to mind.

"Chicken mutant...?"