Two Rabbits at Once
Baek Yuri went ahead first, down the long corridor and into the living room, while Neoul and Dong-dong remained behind at the foot of the stairs.
“Prince, is it truly necessary to make a promise about letting me win the highest prize?”
From behind them, Dong-dong, who had been listening in silence, spoke up.
“We could simply round up all the human beings who have a rabbit-like face, are physically healthy, and torture the truth out of them.”
“Excuse me…?”
Neoul’s eyes widened.
What was this horrifying thing she was saying?
“Dong-dong Gyeomsa-bok. How can you say such cruel things…?”
“Just think about it. Is there any easier or more efficient way?”
Neoul frowned at Dong-dong’s matter-of-fact tone. Then, in a low voice, he called her name.
“Gyeomsa-bok.”
“Yes, Prince.”
“Torture is wrong, and interrogation is only for criminals. What crime have the humans with rabbit-like faces committed? They were simply born looking strikingly like rabbits.”
“But rabbits—!”
“The rabbit who reincarnated did steal the Mountain God’s elixir, yes, but the one with the right to punish that theft is the Mountain God, not us.”
“…….”
“So neither torture nor interrogation would be appropriate. And besides, if we did that, they might confess to anything just to escape the pain. If everyone claimed to be the rabbit, that would only make things more confusing.”
Neoul stated flatly that it could not be done.
Dong-dong, who had been listening in silence, bowed her head so sharply that her neatly tied hair—pulled tight and high into a single knot—flopped forward with the motion and slapped Neoul across the face.
“Ah! My thoughts were too narrow! I failed to see through the wisdom of your brilliant judgment, Prince! I am so ashamed I do not know what to do with myself!”
“…….”
“…….”
Was she… doing that on purpose?
She had seemed to have a sharp edge when she talked back to Won Hasin, so was this her way of saying, So, you think you’re so clever, huh? Fine. Hmph. Eat my hair, then?
Flustered, Neoul took one step back—no, two—and said,
“Raise your head, Dong-dong Gyeomsa-bok.”
He had already moved away in case he got smacked in the face again, but Dong-dong lifted her head this time very slowly.
Her expression, however, was deeply sour. Her eyes, sharp as needles, looked astonishingly insolent.
“You seem dissatisfied with my face.”
“What, me? No, not at all.”
“With your eyes open like that…?”
Clearly not “not at all,” then. She looked extremely put out.
“What is it that displeases you so much? Tell me.”
When Neoul gently coaxed her, Dong-dong folded her arms over her sides and let her complaints spill out.
“Why do we have to distinguish between right and wrong? The Dragon King may die any day now, so we should seize the rabbit’s liver by any means necessary!”
“…….”
“If everyone confessed to being the rabbit, then wouldn’t we simply offer all their livers to the Dragon King? If he ate a thousand livers, surely one of them would be the rabbit’s liver by chance!”
Oh… That was brilliant, actually.
Instead of searching for one rabbit, just collect the livers of every rabbit-faced human and offer them up.
It was a method Neoul had never even imagined.
But then he pictured Baek Yuri and all the rabbit-faced humans who resembled Baek Yuri being tied up in a row with ropes and dragged splashingly down into the sea, and he shook his head.
He had been so mesmerized by the light shining from each of those humans that he had remained on land. He had sworn he would follow the road to its end and see what awaited there.
If his fate was to be the one who extinguished their light…
“I cannot do that.”
He would rather resist it.
He would absolutely find another way.
Neoul spoke with quiet certainty.
“I do not think a rough method is always the right answer. I will find the rabbit in my own way, persuade him, and save Father. Teacher Baek Yuri said he would help me, did he not? We can do it.”
“But…!”
Dong-dong still looked unconvinced.
In her eyes was the resentment of someone who could not understand how such a fragile mindset could possibly save the Dragon King or the future of the Dragon Palace.
Neoul did not scold her insolence. He only spoke gently.
“Trust me, Dong-dong Gyeomsa-bok.”
“…….”
“How could I not understand your loyalty toward your father? But my own filial devotion to my father is no less than yours. I will cure his illness, no matter what it takes.”
“…….”
“I understand that you are impatient. But there is a saying that the more urgent the matter, the more you must take the longer road. Do not think of it as choosing a slow path when a faster one exists. Think of it as choosing the safest road, the one with the fewest risks afterward.”
Those were words he had chosen carefully, one by one.
Neoul did not want to hurt humans, and he wanted to save Father as well.
Baek Namu, the Grim Reaper, would have called this catching two rabbits with one hand.
— Hey, hey, mermaid prince. Listen. There’s a saying that if you try to catch two rabbits at once, you’ll lose both, right? Kind of like how you’ve lost your face and your movements all at once right now.
— But I can’t accept that. I don’t even understand it. Why do humans have two hands? They’re there to catch two rabbits. Use tools too! Why stop at two? You could catch ten!
— Huh? What are you talking about? I’m saying that once you become my disciple, you have to catch ten rabbits! Got it?!
Hrm. The memories of that hellish training session came rushing back for a moment….
In any case, perhaps sensing Neoul’s sincerity, Dong-dong Gyeomsa-bok softened the sharpness in her eyes.
“…Even if you say that, I still can’t fully believe you.”
Dong-dong thought Neoul was being soft because he felt sorry for humans.
She could not understand why he felt pity at all. They dirtied the sea whenever they pleased and swept away, with their nets, the very prey she liked best.
“However….”
Still, there was some strange force in those black eyes—steady, calm, and carrying an unshakeable will.
They made her believe he would not make false promises. And that perhaps, just perhaps, he might truly accomplish what he had said.
In the end, Dong-dong threw up both hands in surrender.
“You must have a better idea than someone like me, who only knows how to use poison and swing a spear. I’m not even as good at dictation as you are… Fine! I will follow your lead, Prince. If you need my strength, command me at any time.”
“Thank you.”
Neoul expressed his gratitude.
While he searched for the rabbit, there could be no news from the palace for some time, so they needed someone to keep contact with the Dragon Palace. Dong-dong Gyeomsa-bok’s cooperation would be invaluable.
He was relieved she had come around.
“I will go to the living room now. Gyeomsa-bok, please return to your room for the moment. Tomorrow, once the guests have left, it would be best to speak with Representative Won Hasin.”
Leaving Dong-dong as she went back into the room, Neoul passed through the corridor and returned to the living room.
Just then, the TV was showing the rating evaluation segment.
[Look at me! I’m Baby Octopus! (Octopus!)
In the shallow sea mud
A cute little Baby Octopus! (Octopus!)]
“Pfft!”
“Wahahahaha! Raccoon Brother! Ahahaha!”
“Pwahahaha! It really does look like an octopus! Nice!”
“It’s funny even when I watch it again! Eek!”
They were laughing so hard they were pounding the floor, smacking the sofa, clutching their stomachs, and choking on their food. It was complete chaos.
“…….”
Neoul, seeing himself on-screen for the first time, dancing with all his might and singing Baby Octopus in deadly earnest, was left speechless.
There were even subtitles scattered all over in cute, plump little letters: “wiggle wiggle,” “hoit! hoit!” and so on.
That didn’t feel like this back then… did it?
The sight of those adorably wriggling arms was shocking enough to make his skin crawl.
“Oh? Baby Octopus is here?”
“Neoul Octopus~ Octopus~!”
The humans, wiping tears from their eyes, teamed up to tease him.
Baek Yuri, who had come back a little earlier, was already mixing in as if nothing had happened. A moment later, a text message arrived on Neoul’s smartphone.
I told them you’d only gone to greet your aunt because I happened to meet her here before. Please go along with the story.
Neoul replied that he understood, then sat on the sofa and turned on his smartphone. He did not even glance at the TV screen.
Ha On-ha prodded him with his elbow and went on spouting nonsense. “Hey, Neoul Octopus~ Did you want to go to the deep sea?”
“Go away, Ha On-ha. I am busy.”
This time, Woo Cheong sprang to his feet and danced the octopus routine, making sure the camera could see him well. He moved so elegantly it was hard to believe it was the same choreography at all.
Neoul had clearly danced the octopus routine perfectly enough to feel a little embarrassed, but after watching Woo Cheong, he started to doubt himself.
That definitely wasn’t the dance I did.
Neoul was right. Woo Cheong had upgraded the choreography and made his own version of the octopus dance. Laughing as he danced, Woo Cheong finished in a flashy pose and looked back at Neoul.
“Hyung, hyung! Should I stop calling you Raccoon Brother and start calling you Octopus Brother instead?”
“Your manner of speaking is bizarre. Pick one—either polite speech or casual speech.”
Neoul took issue with Woo Cheong’s way of talking.
“Wahahahahaha!”
He had not even said anything especially funny, but Baek Gi-yeom, who had already been struggling to hold in his laughter while watching Neoul’s rating evaluation, burst out laughing even harder and clapped.
“Should I call you—wahahaha!—heh-heh-heh! Just pick one! Ahahaha!”
His threshold for laughter was extremely low. Maybe Baek Gi-yeom’s laughter was contagious, because everyone else became cheerful too.
What’s wrong with them?
Neoul snorted in disbelief, then told Woo Cheong he could call him whatever he liked. After that, he went back to staring at his smartphone. In the internet browser, he typed rabbit-faced with the clumsy determination of a crow pecking at keys.
A flood of celebrities known for their rabbit-like faces appeared.
Good grief… How can there be so many rabbits in the world?
In any case, Baek Yuri was only one of the rabbit candidates. Since nothing was certain yet, he needed to keep investigating in advance.
Most of them had fair, bright skin and clear, lively eyes, and their overall impression was not sharp and angular but soft and rounded. Some even had cute protruding front teeth that made them look even more rabbit-like.
There were humans with a pure, refined look similar to Baek Yuri, and others who seemed a little more lively and bright.
Neoul recalled the conditions the Sea Witch had given for the reincarnated rabbit.
A striking rabbit-like face.
Clean, strong skin and a sturdy body.
At least the rabbit-faced celebrities he found online all had exceptional looks and clean skin. There was no way to tell their physical condition from photographs alone.
How can I meet these people naturally and secretly test whether they’re rabbits or not…?
He needed a way to discover their identities without arousing suspicion.
* * *
Once the reaction shoot was over, the humans cleaned up the delivery food trash and went into the guest room.
Neoul went back up to the second floor alone, but since the Sea Witch and Won Hasin were gone, he came back down again. Then he ran right into Won Hasin, who was just opening the front door and coming in.
“Where have you been?”
“I took the lady home.”
Neoul stopped Won Hasin and showed him the search results on his smartphone, then asked,
“How do I meet these rabbit-faced celebrities?”
“Hmm? Ah.”
Won Hasin realized this was a continuation of the conversation they had had upstairs earlier and answered accordingly.
“If you want to meet famous celebrities, then you need to become famous yourself. Debut first.”
“If I debut, I can meet them?”
“Of course. There are also ways to do it through company connections, but your face is already out there, so that’ll be hard for you.”
“Then what should I do…?”
“First debut, then go on music shows, shoot variety shows, do a bunch of different activities. Your schedules will overlap, and then you’ll naturally run into each other, right?”
Overlap in schedules…
Yes.
Neoul remembered that most rabbit-faced celebrities worked as idols or actors. People who did the same work were bound to cross paths somehow.
“I could probably set up a few meetings for you, but that wouldn’t be natural, would it? And you can’t just blatantly ask, ‘Are you a rabbit?’ Anyone would think you were suspicious.”
“That is true.”
“Right. And then the rabbit might catch on and run away. If that’s fine with you, I can arrange something.”
“No, thank you.”
Neoul thanked him for the information and slipped back into the room.
If I want to meet the other rabbit candidates, I have to debut first. And if I want to see whether Baek Yuri starts to recover the rabbit’s memories before he turns twenty-five, it would be advantageous to debut in the same group as him.
Now that he understood what had to be done, it felt like an incredible stroke of luck that he had been swept into Idol Travel by chance.
Entrusting the delivery of the rabbit’s liver to the Sea Witch, and continuing the filming instead of quitting.
Without realizing it, Neoul thought back to his own performance just moments earlier on TV—singing Baby Octopus while dancing with all his might.
Neoul was usually quite shameless about most things, but that performance was a level of embarrassment he could hardly bear to watch twice. He had not realized it at the time, but seeing it through the screen, as if through a third person’s eyes, made it feel… rather awful.
If all the viewers had seen that…
What if I can’t debut?
For the first time, a sense of foreboding crept over him.