Yeon-woo Is a Good Person
He had already seen the soul following him, so there was no need to look. And repeating facts they both already knew would serve no purpose either.
Having settled on that, Rembrary decided against answering right away and instead fired back a question of his own.
"What is your relationship with Sa Gam-jae?"
"Coworkers. What about you — what's your relationship with Sa Gam-jae?"
"Coworkers..."
Rembrary let the word trail off as a belated realization struck him.
Coworkers? Then wasn't this the perfect opportunity to learn something about Sa Gam-jae's true identity?
Besides, this woman's face was every bit as pale and bloodless as Sa Gam-jae's. Even her whole bearing felt eerily similar.
Perhaps this time, at last, he might glean some useful information about Sa Gam-jae.
"Who are you?"
"Who are you?"
"I am Rem... Woo Yeon-woo."
"I'm Jik-jae. Sa Jik-jae."
"Not your name. I asked what you truly are."
"Didn't I ask for your name too, Jjap?"
"Why do you keep calling me Jjap?"
But Rembrary's questioning had no effect whatsoever. No one answered, and only the questions kept coming, so their conversation simply circled the same spot again and again.
Rembrary was growing stifled, but then it dawned on him that this was hardly the time to be playing verbal games with a suspicious woman.
The wail of a siren echoed from not far away. If he delayed any longer, there was no telling what kind of chaos Jong-woo would kick up.
"We will settle this over the soul for now."
Saying so, Rembrary reached out his hand. The soul drifted forward until it just barely brushed his fingertips.
But before he could take hold of it, the woman yanked the soul back out of reach, and Rembrary's hand swung through empty air.
"Why do you interfere?"
Rembrary frowned, his brow knitting at the obstruction.
The woman answered flatly.
"This person is dead. Why would you want the soul of a dead man?"
"He is still alive."
Rembrary jerked a thumb over his shoulder.
"His body is over there. A perfectly sound body, breathing and everything."
The woman replied with complete composure.
"Well, he's going to die soon anyway."
"If he has not yet died, then saving him is the right thing to do."
"And who gets to decide whether it's right or wrong? Me, that's who. Now why don't you step aside, human?"
"No one but a god may give me orders."
Rembrary said, crisp and absolute.
At that remark — so compassionate yet so magnificently arrogant — the strength drained from the woman's fingers in an instant. Not because his words had startled her. She simply found it so hilarious that he would brazenly spout something that unhinged and cringe-worthy that her grip went slack.
Rembrary wasted no time seizing the opening. He thrust out his hand and pulled the soul toward himself.
"You really are arrogant as hell."
The woman murmured, half-mocking. But she made no move to snatch the soul back. Instead she folded her arms and studied Rembrary.
The soul clung to him as though his arm were an oasis in a desert — as if it knew, instinctively, which person to follow in order to live.
Rembrary smacked the annoyingly clingy soul on its backside until it settled down, then hoisted it over one shoulder.
"Hey, Jjap."
Having watched him a moment, the woman called out. Rembrary turned, and their eyes met once more.
"Why do you keep calling me Jjap?"
"See you around?"
What a strange woman — stranger even than Sa Gam-jae. Were all of Sa Gam-jae's coworkers like this? Rembrary gave no answer and hurried off with the soul in tow, racing back toward Jong-woo.
The woman watched his retreating back for a moment, then raised her phone.
It was the exact same outdated model Sa Gam-jae used.
When she held down the number-one button, the phone rang once before Sa Gam-jae picked up immediately.
"Did you find the Jjap?"
Sa Gam-jae asked quickly over the line. Wedging the phone between her ear and shoulder, the woman fished a piece of gum from her pocket and popped it into her mouth.
"Found him. Just left him."
"What was he doing?"
"Carrying off a dead soul."
"A soul? What does he intend to do with it?"
"We'll just have to keep watching, won't we? He just left."
Blowing a bubble with her gum, the woman smiled until her eyes creased into crescents.
"But you were right. He really is a bizarre one. There's something to him."
Knowing nothing of the call the woman was making to Sa Gam-jae, Rembrary hurried back to where Jong-woo was.
But Jong-woo was no longer alone there. An ambulance — the kind Rembrary had seen on dramas — was parked nearby, and several people in matching uniforms were loading the collapsed man's body onto a stretcher. Around them, bystanders in all manner of clothing were thrusting their phones forward as if they were flashlights.
Jong-woo was speaking with one of the paramedics when he spotted Rembrary and bellowed, "Hey!"
In an instant, every head turned toward him. The phones in their hands swung his way too.
Jong-woo had been the one to shout, but instead of going to him, Rembrary slid the soul off his shoulder and approached the paramedics carrying the stretcher.
"Excuse me. I have something to return to this person."
As Rembrary approached, the paramedics froze mid-step, stretcher in hand. They seemed to know the bad rumors about him too; their faces twitched with unease.
"Return... what, exactly?"
Instead of answering, Rembrary reached toward the man lying on the stretcher. He meant to give back the soul.
But before his hand could touch the body, he caught himself and stopped.
Too many eyes were watching.
What if the bystanders saw him pressing the soul into the body?
The moment the soul settled back in, this half-corpse would sit bolt upright. People might find that strange. No — they most certainly would.
Yet he couldn't very well return the soul from a distance, either.
Then how was he supposed to hand the soul back?
The soul was already squirming, desperate to return to its body.
At that moment, a cartoon Hye-gyeol had once shown him flashed through Rembrary's mind.
A film in which a prince kissed a sleeping princess, and she fluttered her eyes open and awoke from her slumber.
When Rembrary had asked, "Why would that prince kiss a dead woman? His tastes are suspicious," Hye-gyeol had clicked his tongue, incredulous that Rembrary didn't know fairy tales.
According to Hye-gyeol, this world was full of stories in which a person who slept as if dead would awaken if someone gave them a kiss.
Rembrary had scoffed at the notion as absurd then. He still found it absurd now.
But that was beside the point — the story looked perfectly suited to his present needs. It was a superstition everyone knew, so surely a little creative adaptation would be forgivable?
Rembrary's gaze swept over the collapsed man.
A kiss...
He had no desire to press his lips to that man, however.
Though Rembrary had no reproductive urges, he was not immune to reproductive reluctance.
He had no wish to bestow a fairy-tale kiss upon a scruffy, bearded man who looked twice his age.
What if he enlisted Jong-woo's help instead?
Jong-woo grumbled, but he was tender-hearted; to save a life, he would kiss the man.
He might hate it, but if a person was to save a person, sometimes unpleasant tasks had to be done.
Rembrary decided to ask Jong-woo.
On second thought, though, this plan was also a bit odd. If Jong-woo kissed the man on Rembrary's instruction and a miracle followed, wouldn't people grow suspicious not of Jong-woo, but of him?
That wouldn't do either.
Then I must find someone whom kissing that middle-aged man would not seem strange for...
As he pondered, the perfect creature caught Rembrary's eye. A cat with an utterly adorable yellow-striped coat.
I shall make use of that one!
Rembrary beckoned the cat over. Those beloved by gods were naturally beloved by animals too, so the cat came bounding to him in delight.
Rembrary lifted the cat up in one hand. Purring happily, it snuggled into his arms.
"Mr. Yeon-woo, why on earth do you have a cat...?"
The paramedic, who had been halfway through sliding the stretcher into the ambulance, panicked at the sight of Rembrary approaching with the cat.
Instead of answering, Rembrary brought the cat's mouth to the collapsed man's cheek.
And in that fleeting instant, his other hand slipped the soul into the man's body.
"Hey!"
The paramedic, who had frozen in shock, shouted and shoved Rembrary away.
Clutching the cat, Rembrary staggered back half a step.
The enraged paramedic's face flushed red, and he nearly let loose a stream of curses. Pulling pranks on an unconscious man? How utterly vile could one get?
But just before the profanity could leave his mouth, the man on the ground heaved a great, ragged breath and jerked his upper body upright.
The paramedics stumbled backward in alarm.
The bystanders — who had been filming with glee, muttering that Yeon-woo was up to his Yeon-woo antics again — froze in shock as well.
The man who had collapsed looked around with a bewildered expression and mumbled,
"What on earth...? Who are you? Why am I here...?"
Rembrary handed the cat over to him.
The man accepted it without understanding anything, then suddenly went pale and pointed at Yeon-woo.
"Y-you! I've seen you before!"
The man's face drained of color.
"You're the one who saved me!"
Rembrary brought a finger to his lips.
The paramedic shot him a disgruntled look.
CEO Im's hand, which had been trembling every time he clicked the mouse, gradually steadied as the public reaction to Rembrary turned out not to be half bad.
Before long, a tidy smile had settled onto his lips, and he spoke with an air of easy confidence.
— End of Chapter 70: Yeon-woo Is a Good Person —