Chapter 112
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 112
The next day, Dokyun went back into the study and began searching through the books, looking for a way to deal with Go Eun-chae.
One might ask why he was looking for it there, but his reasoning was simple: since Seo Han-gyeong was the very cause of Eun-chae’s creation, he figured he might find something if he dug through her records.
As he’d seen the day before, most of the notes were just transcribed passages from other books.
Dokyun narrowed his eyes and cursed inwardly.
So she had the makings of a plagiarist even back then.
A person who scraped together other people’s sentences like this didn’t even deserve to be called an author.
…To be fair, the act of transcribing itself wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. However, Dokyun’s perception of Seo Han-gyeong had hit rock bottom, so it was more that he couldn’t see anything she did in a positive light.
Wasn’t that how it was? The same action could seem good when done by someone you like, and bad when done by someone you dislike.
If these had been Eun-ah’s notes, Dokyun would have been busy praising her, saying that this was surely the secret to her masterful prose.
After flipping through the transcription notebooks with a sulky expression for a while, Dokyun let out a deep sigh, shook his head, and put everything back in its place before leaving the room.
He hadn’t found anything useful.
He clutched his throbbing head, his mind a tangled mess. Just then, as he stepped into the living room, his eyes fell on Eun-seol, who for some reason was rummaging through the refrigerator in the kitchen.
He tilted his head, then remembered it was about time for dinner. A chill ran down his spine, and he hurriedly called out to her.
“Eun-seol!”
“What is it?”
Seeing the question in her eyes, Dokyun quickly approached her and spoke in a firm voice.
“…I’ll make dinner.”
“Is there something you want to eat…?”
“I’ll make it.”
Dokyun’s tone was more resolute than ever before.
If he could have seen himself in a mirror right then, he probably would have burst out laughing at the expression on his face.
It was that strange.
His eyes were wide and glistening. His nostrils were flared, his nose scrunched with tension. His jaw was clenched so tight that his chin was puckered.
It was the face of a man trying to hide his panic by tensing every muscle.
Feeling an instinctive revulsion at his expression, Eun-seol simply nodded and walked away. She had no desire to see that face up close.
Watching her retreat, Dokyun finally let his expression relax and began to search the fridge himself.
That had been a close call.
Eun-seol rummaging through the fridge meant she was about to concoct another one of her bizarre dishes. He didn’t need to see the result; his past experiences were enough to predict the outcome.
Having averted the impending threat to his digestive system, Dokyun let out a small sigh of relief and carefully selected ingredients from the fridge that were least likely to be polarizing.
He felt no sense of guilt or apology.
No, if Eun-seol had cooked, she would have been the one who needed to apologize.
His stomach was not some unprejudiced child capable of digesting such… distinctive food. His stomach was a delicate thing that required careful consideration.
Dokyun laid out the ingredients one by one, wondering what to make for dinner, when he recalled the sandwich Eun-ah had made for him a few days ago.
A sandwich that, despite being a sandwich, had more meat than bread and had kept him full the entire time he was eating it.
Remembering the dish that had left quite an impression on him, Dokyun gave a small nod, decided on the menu, and began to cook.
The result wouldn’t be as good as what Eun-ah had made, but since every ingredient in this house was top-quality, it was unlikely to be inedible.
Following the steps he’d watched her take a few days ago, he grilled the meat and toasted the bread. Then, he sautéed various vegetables in a buttered pan, made a sauce, and carefully stacked everything together. Satisfied with his creation, Dokyun smiled, then shifted his gaze to Eun-seol, who was sitting at the table with a sulky expression. He flinched.
He hesitated for a moment as a wave of guilt washed over him.
No. Still, I can’t be the one to die.
Steeling his resolve once more, Dokyun presented the finished sandwich to her and spoke.
“Ms. Eun-ah made this for me a few days ago, and it was really good. I don’t know if it’ll taste the same, but please, give it a try.”
“Go Eun-ah did?”
“Yes.”
At the mention of Eun-ah’s name, Eun-seol’s sulky expression vanished, replaced by one of interest. Dokyun let out a small smirk and sat down.
Really, when you watched her, she was just so fond of Eun-ah.
“Come to think of it, you’ve probably never had Eun-ah’s cooking before, have you, Eun-seol?”
“Well, there’s no way for me to.”
Watching Eun-seol pick up the sandwich as she spoke, Dokyun felt a pang of sympathy and spoke again.
“…Go on, try it. It won’t be exactly the same, but I followed Eun-ah’s recipe, so it should taste similar.”
After he spoke, Eun-seol, sitting across from him, opened her mouth slightly and began to eat the sandwich.
A tense moment. Just as he was wondering if he’d made it properly, Dokyun saw Eun-seol’s eyes widen slightly and celebrated inwardly.
“How is it? Is it okay?”
“It’s so-so.”
A blunt reply.
However, the way she continued to eat the sandwich diligently suggested she liked it quite a bit.
A slight smile touched Dokyun’s lips as he felt a sense of satisfaction, and he began to eat his own portion.
It’s delicious.
It seemed he’d managed to replicate it pretty well.
*
Several more days passed.
In that time, while researching ways to get rid of Go Eun-chae, Dokyun took out her childhood diary for the first time in a long while.
The faded pink cover. The princess and unicorn drawn on it.
Dokyun let out a faint smile, recalling a thought he’d once had looking at this diary, but his expression soon darkened as a familiar ache stirred in his gut.
To be honest, it was a diary he had no desire to see.
Reading the sentences written inside brought back the memories of that time, making him deeply uncomfortable.
The only reason he was opening it now, despite that, was because he needed to re-read the last page, which he still remembered.
Dokyun skipped all the preceding entries and flipped to the final page.
Written there.
[Die.]
A single word, scrawled furiously.
He could now say for certain. Go Eun-chae had written this.
A word steeped in resentment, and even more so, in hatred.
Dokyun traced the word with his finger, a strange thought occurring to him.
Perhaps, of all Eun-ah’s personalities, Go Eun-chae was the one who had suffered the most.
Wasn’t she the one born only to suffer, permitted only to tear herself apart?
Of course, what Eun-chae had done wasn’t right. Nor was she a kind person.
But the thought just came to him.
Maybe the reason Eun-chae had tried so desperately to swallow Eun-ah was because she just didn’t want to be in pain anymore.
Maybe the reason she continued her life-threatening behavior was because she would rather die and be at peace.
It was a baseless guess, but Dokyun couldn’t simply dismiss it as his own delusion.
Because the words Eun-chae had cackled at him were still seared into his memory.
—It hurts because of you.
—I’m hurting in her place.
—You should be reflecting after all I’ve done for you.
—Why won’t you look at meeee!!!
It could have been something she blurted out in her excitement. It could have been nothing more than mockery.
The reason he couldn’t ignore it was because if it wasn’t—if his guess was right—then Eun-chae’s life felt just too tragic.
Isn’t a life that ends with nothing but pain just too agonizing?
Her case was different from Seo Han-gyeong’s.
Seo Han-gyeong had a background that could have brought her plenty of happiness, but she had ruined it herself. That was fundamentally different from Eun-chae, who had never been permitted anything.
A deep sigh escaped Dokyun’s lips as the thoughts swirled in his mind.
What followed was hesitation.
Could he really ignore all this and just delete Eun-chae? And could he be at peace with himself afterward?
Thinking of Eun-ah, it was what he obviously had to do, but the reason he hesitated was because of his own paltry morality.
It was because of his childish, simple-minded wish for all the stories he knew to have a happy ending.
The hesitation stretched on.
Biting his lip, Dokyun squeezed his eyes shut and closed the diary.
It seemed he couldn't do it.
*
Dokyun faced Eun-seol, his posture visibly shrunken. Eun-seol stared at him silently for a moment before finally speaking.
“…So, you want to try talking to Go Eun-chae?”
“Yes…”
It was an insulting request.
After all, if you were counting who had suffered the most at Eun-chae’s hands, it was arguably Eun-seol, even more so than Eun-ah. Wasn’t she always the one who had to clean up Eun-chae’s messes?
But he had no one else to ask, which was why he had to bring it up like this.
A long silence followed Dokyun’s answer.
He couldn’t bring himself to lift his head, staring at the ground with an apologetic air.
The silence stretched on, and the atmosphere grew heavy.
“…Fine.”
An answer came.
“What?”
Startled by her reply, Dokyun snapped his head up. Eun-seol sighed and added:
“I said fine. You must have your reasons for this. I’m saying I’ll help.”
An affirmative reply. Dokyun’s face lit up, and he bowed his head deeply, offering his thanks.
“Thank you!”
Truly, there was nothing he could say but thank you.
He knew she was making a huge concession for him.
He knew this was his own selfish demand.
And that was precisely why he was so grateful.
As Dokyun kept his head bowed, overcome with emotion, Eun-seol spoke.
“So, do you have a plan? I doubt that Go Eun-chae thing will listen quietly.”
“I have something in mind.”
Lifting his head, Dokyun spoke with a grin.
He was certain Eun-chae wouldn’t stay quiet.
With that god-awful personality of hers, she would probably grab something and start a rampage the moment she appeared. It was obvious without even seeing it.
But that didn’t mean there was no way to handle her.
It was a method that had flashed through his mind in an instant, but Dokyun was sure it would work.
There was no way it wouldn’t.
Well, it’s a chance for a little revenge, too.
A long smile leaked out at the thought.
“Oh, I have my ways.”
The words came out with a shrug of his shoulders and a laugh.
Watching him smile, Eun-seol felt a wave of what could only be described as physiological revulsion.
*
A hazy mind. A languid body. A cozy sensation.
I opened my eyes, feeling all of it. And the moment I did, I realized.
Ah, I’m awake again.
Something must have happened.
A smirk crept onto my lips.
Time to get to work. Now that I’m out, I have to play my part.
As I thought that and tried to sit up…
Clunk—.
My body was brought to a halt.
A flicker of confusion. What was going on? I lowered my head to check my body and finally saw that I was bound from head to toe—arms, legs, torso, everything.
“You awake?”
A low voice reached me. I turned my head and saw a face that had become quite familiar.
“…Mr. Honeybee?”
“Cut the Go Eun-ah impression.”
“What could you possibly mean?”
“Go Eun-chae.”
Go Eun-chae.
A laugh escaped at the sound of that name.
Who decided she was Go Eun-chae? From the moment she was born until now, she had never once been Go Eun-chae.
Every word she had spoken, every action she had taken, her entire life.
It was all for Go Eun-ah. So, wasn’t she Go Eun-ah?
With that thought, I smiled at my ‘Mr. Honeybee.’ He was standing with his arms crossed, a smirk on his face as he spoke.
“I prepared a slightly different arrangement this time. How do you like it?”
A different arrangement.
At those words, my gaze fell once more to the restraints binding my body.
My wrists were in handcuffs. My ankles were cuffed, too. My body was secured to the bed by straps divided into three sections—across my waist, thighs, and chest.
A thoroughly prepared set of restraints.
Indeed, just as he said.
“I see~.”
This time, the arrangement did seem a little different.