Chapter 174
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 174
Another week passed.
For the past seven days, Dokyun had made it a habit to stop by the storage shed for an hour after work, meticulously sifting through its contents.
It was a search for any clue about Eun-byeol, and beyond that, for any trace of the life Eun-seol had lived.
Of course, it wasn't easy.
Most of the items were, quite literally, junk. The few things that might have offered a clue were crushed by the weight of time, and picking through them one by one to find anything useful was grueling labor to undertake after a full day at the office.
But he endured the hardship and combed through the shed for his own satisfaction.
He was doing it so that, in the future, he wouldn't regret not having done his best in this moment. He was doing it so he could one day look back on his time with them and smile.
Dokyun gripped his stiff neck and rolled his head, his thoughts continuing.
I think I have a rough idea…
It was all still in the realm of speculation, so he couldn't be certain, but he definitely knew more than before.
Dokyun glanced at the diary he’d been holding—the same one he’d found in the study when he first arrived. He set it down in a corner of the shed and let out a breath.
His body felt unnaturally heavy.
The chronic fatigue had grown particularly severe lately.
It wasn't as if he was sleeping less, but ever since he started coming in and out of this shed, the exhaustion refused to leave his body.
Am I overdoing it?
Maybe he needed to hold back a little.
As the thought crossed his mind, he let out a low groan, switched off the shed light, and stepped outside.
The moment he was out the door, a breeze swept over him.
The season was deep in the heart of autumn.
The sweltering heat had faded, and a chill was beginning to fill the void.
The world was preparing to welcome winter once again.
Dokyun thought about this and let out a small, wry chuckle.
It’s been a year.
Soon, in just a few more months, it would be a full year since he’d come to this place.
He had arrived in early December, just as winter was beginning. When the cold waves hit again, he would be spending the winter with Eun-ah, but in a much different state than before.
It had been an eventful year, a year in which so much had changed.
Being captured and confined without knowing why, facing a truth he could never have imagined.
And now, somehow, he was in the process of resolving it all.
Feeling a wave of emotion as he recalled the past year, Dokyun shook off his thoughts as another breeze swept by and locked the shed door.
...No.
It was still autumn. Why was he getting all sentimental already?
The thought that he was just being melodramatic made him chuckle to himself as he walked on.
I should go to bed early today.
And so he walked, with no idea what would happen in his sleep.
*
When Dokyun returned to the house, he narrowed his eyes at the dishes crowding the dining table.
It wasn't for any particular reason.
It was just…
“…This is eel.”
“Uh, y-yes…!”
“And this is raspberry wine.”
“It is…!”
The dishes laid out on the table were broadcasting a rather blatant intention.
Besides the items he’d named, there was asparagus. Oysters. Bananas.
The table was filled with what were commonly known as foods that boosted a man’s ‘stamina.’
Dokyun felt his entire body freeze at the overt display before him.
His gaze shifted tremulously toward Eun-ah.
She was darting her eyes about with a suspicious expression.
To Dokyun, it was a look that screamed, I want to do it tonight.
Of course, that was just Dokyun’s interpretation.
The real reason Eun-ah had chosen only stamina-boosting foods was due to the last, pea-sized remnant of her guilt.
For a week now, she had been stealthily draining Dokyun’s vitality every night after he collapsed from exhaustion.
Perhaps she had drained a little too much. It was only after seeing Dokyun’s ‘thing’ utterly fail to perform the previous night that she thought, Oops, and a wave of guilt washed over her. Thus, today’s menu was prepared with a mix of apology and a desperate hope that his ‘thing’ would rise again.
“Y-You’ve been working so hard lately… s-so…!” she managed, nodding awkwardly.
At her words, Dokyun, who had been watching her with suspicion, suddenly put on a deeply moved expression.
Normally, he would have sensed something was off, but the accumulated fatigue had clouded his judgment, and he failed to scrutinize her expression.
“Ah… Thank you.”
The innocent prey had no idea of the cruel truth—that he was going to be devoured again tonight—as he offered his thanks.
Thump. Eun-ah felt a sharp pang in her conscience at his words. A cold sweat trickled down her back.
She had to maintain her composure. Forcing the corners of her mouth up, she replied to Dokyun.
“E-Eat a lot…!”
“Okay, I’ll dig in. You should eat too, Eun-ah.”
“O-Okay…!”
Eun-ah picked up her spoon and chopsticks.
Only after seeing this did Dokyun break into a bright smile and pick up a piece of eel.
It was a different menu than usual.
Thinking it was a thoroughly satisfying meal, Dokyun once again had his vitality drained in his sleep that night.
He still had no idea what was causing his chronic fatigue.
*
The next morning, Eun-ah woke up feeling refreshed.
The warmth of the room and Dokyun’s body heat seeped into her.
She felt languid and relaxed.
Letting out a small yawn, Eun-ah lifted her head slightly to look at Dokyun, who was still asleep.
His face was slightly scrunched, and he was groaning softly in his sleep. He looked utterly exhausted.
Even though she had just woken up, the sight made her conscience prickle. She mumbled her lips together for a moment before turning away from him.
…She had an excuse.
I-I was trying to hold back…
He was working so hard for her, so she had tried to restrain herself, but hadn't he shaken her resolve? Hadn't he been sleeping so defenselessly? Hadn't he made her have wicked thoughts?
Y-Yeah! It’s Mr. Honeybee’s fault…!
The self-rationalization came quickly.
It was a shameless line of thought, on par with a sex offender blaming the victim for dressing provocatively.
Even Eun-ah herself vaguely sensed this, and her body flinched.
B-But I only did it three times…!
That was about two times less than usual. Shouldn't that count as an extenuating circumstance?
Nodding to herself at the thought, Eun-ah then shot up from the bed and left the room.
It was time to prepare a meal.
She moved with far more diligence than usual.
Eun-ah told herself, repeatedly, that this was absolutely not an act born of a guilty conscience.
*
Dokyun sat on the sofa, kneading his stiff and aching body.
Why am I so tired?
Seriously, and this was no joke, he felt so exhausted that he thought he might have collapsed at work if it hadn't been the weekend.
He was sure he’d gotten enough sleep, but his body seemed to disagree. His entire being was screaming in protest.
“Ughhh…”
A groan escaped him involuntarily.
As Dokyun groaned and leaned back against the sofa, Eun-ah, who had been stealing glances at him, began to fidget.
Fortunately, Dokyun’s eyes were closed, so he didn’t see her, but Eun-ah’s conscience was pricking her again, and she couldn’t possibly stay still.
Her eyes squeezed shut against the rising guilt.
Should she tell him? Should she confess everything and beg for forgiveness?
As the thought crossed her mind, she stuck out her lower lip and shook her head.
I-It’s Mr. Honeybee’s fault…!
It was a self-serving answer, but there was a hint of childish resentment mixed in.
And why wouldn't there be? Lately, he’d been so busy investigating her other personalities that he hadn't been paying as much attention to her.
Of course, she knew he was doing it for her, so she should have been grateful.
The matter of her other personalities was her own mistake. It was her flaw, and it was her problem to solve.
How could she not feel grateful when he was working harder to solve it than she was?
But even so, just because she understood it rationally didn't mean she had accepted it all emotionally.
Emotions existed in a realm separate from reason.
Greed was a bottomless pit, no matter how much you filled it.
Even though Dokyun was doing this for her, Eun-ah hated that it was causing him to neglect her.
He always held her tight, he always loved her without change, but still, she wanted him to express it more.
Gulp.
The thought brought a lump to her throat.
I shouldn’t be like this, Eun-ah thought, but she felt a surge of panic as her emotions refused to listen to reason. She tried her best to swallow it down.
“Eun-ah?”
Dokyun’s voice cut through her thoughts.
Startled, Eun-ah flinched, then slowly turned her head toward him.
Noticing something different in her expression, Dokyun moved closer, wrapped his arms around her tightly, and continued his question.
“What’s wrong? You don’t look well.”
“N-No, I’m fine…”
Eun-ah buried her face and replied.
Even when he looked so tired, he still worried about her first. That was so like him.
That thought, along with a wave of shame for what she had just been thinking, washed over her.
Eun-ah reached out her arms to hug him back, burying her face in his chest as she whispered.
“I-I’m sorry…”
“Hm? For what?”
“For… for being so pouty…”
Dokyun tilted his head.
It was a natural reaction.
He had no way of knowing the storm of emotions that had just passed through her, so he could only assume she was having a bad day.
Dokyun gently patted her back, his voice full of affection as he comforted her.
“It’s okay. I love it when you’re pouty, too.”
“Mm…”
A weak sound escaped Eun-ah’s lips.
Feeling her turmoil melt away with almost comical speed in the warmth of his embrace, Eun-ah made another vow.
Tonight, she would really hold back. She would definitely endure.
Since she couldn't be of much help, this was the least she could do.
Squeeze—
Power flowed into Eun-ah’s arms, and she hugged Dokyun even tighter.
I-I promise…
A new resolve formed.
That night, for the first time since she’d discovered the method of feeding on a sleeping Dokyun, Eun-ah succeeded in restraining her urges.