Chapter 6
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 6
"Johan and Hera's lips met."
The soft bed, the low, resonant voice, the warmth radiating from him. Everything blended together in perfect harmony, filling her chest.
I'm so happy...
Could I really die from sheer happiness? She was so happy it was starting to make her anxious.
"For you, for us, we must create a world for humanity."
The story she had written was finally made complete as it was recited by his lips.
"Y-You... you missed this part..."
Had his nerves gotten the better of him again? He'd skipped a line.
"Ah... right..."
His voice trembled. He took a small, deep breath, then recited the line he had missed.
"Mwah... mwah mwah... smooch... slurp..."
"Mmm... G-Good job..."
She raised a hand and stroked his head. The soft strands of his hair coiled around her fingertips.
"Yes..."
He nodded, a smile playing on his lips. His smiling mouth moved once more, reading the text aloud.
"I love you."
Haaah...
He was clearly just reading the script, but that single word washed over her with such sweetness. Her heart began to pound like never before.
Thump, thump. Would she seem too easy if he knew how flustered she was? She willed her heart to calm down, then gazed at him and silently, sincerely, conveyed her feelings.
I... I love you, too...
His voice continued on. One page, then another. She handed him the manuscripts, listening to his voice. She closed her eyes and felt his warmth. The resonant voice, his body heat, and the softness of the bed all merged, pulling her consciousness down into the depths.
Agh... I can't fall asleep...
She tried to fight off the drowsiness, but it was a futile struggle.
*
"Johan ran on without stopping."
"Perhaps, in truth, there had never been a paradise for humanity."
"Johan could only stare blankly at the spot where Hera had disappeared."
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He finished the page, but a new one wasn't handed to him.
"Eun-ah...? I've finished reading..."
Sensing something was off, Dokyun turned to look at her.
Haa... haa...
Closed eyelids, rhythmic breathing, manuscripts slipping from her hand. Eun-ah was asleep. The room fell silent, and only the sound of their breathing hung in the air.
Seeing the sleeping Eun-ah, Dokyun felt the tension that had seized his body instantly dissipate, and he let out a sigh of relief.
Did I... Did I get through it?
Whenever he tried to skip the parts with onomatopoeia or sound effects, she had noticed with uncanny precision and punished him with a sharp pinch on the arm, but other than that, there hadn't been any real crises.
His tension eased, Dokyun shifted his gaze to Eun-ah, who was sleeping soundly while clutching his chest. Her face looked so peaceful.
Suddenly, Dokyun felt a surge of indignation.
She's sleeping? The fuck? She can sleep?
He didn't know how much time had passed, but that woman had forced him to read her manuscript nonstop, without a single break.
His mouth was bone dry from talking so much, but he'd been too afraid of what she might do if he showed it. He had kept reading with the single-minded thought that he must not displease her.
The moments he spent reading the manuscript flashed through his mind.
-Screech, skreee, skreeaaaaaaak!!
-Whirrr! K-k-krrk! Krrk!
-Mwah... mwah mwah... smooch... slurp...
Recalling those shameful moments, Dokyun trembled with a belated wave of humiliation and disgrace. He could feel his face flush with heat.
Fuck...
He felt like he was about to cry. In just one day, it felt as if he had shed all the tears he'd held back for years.
When was the last time he'd cried his eyes out, snot running down his face? As far as he could remember, it was in elementary school, when a neighborhood punk had stolen his SSR Blue-Eyes White Dragon card.
In the nearly twenty years since then, Dokyun couldn't recall ever crying so wretchedly.
And it was all because of that crazy woman. Dokyun glared at Eun-ah. He wanted to do something, anything, to hurt her, but his hands and feet were bound.
The resentment and hatred welling up inside him screamed at him to tear out her throat with his teeth, but if he actually did it, bound as he was, he would only end up slowly starving to death while watching her corpse rot.
"Huuuh..."
A bitter sigh escaped Dokyun's lips. His emotions kept flaring up, rattling his mind. Was it because he'd been dealing with nothing but her since he woke up? It was as if his own emotional state had started to synch with hers, refusing to be controlled.
Dokyun closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and tried to get a grip. He reminded himself that the moment he lost his mind, it would truly be over, and desperately reined in his emotions.
Finally, as he allowed himself to relax with the thought that the person threatening him was asleep, reason began to fill his mind, bringing up things he hadn't been able to consider before.
The company...
What was happening there? Would they have found my unauthorized absence strange? I hope so. I hope they called the police, I hope they realized I've been kidnapped.
Shit... If I get fired like this, I won't even get my severance pay...
How could I get fired for a reason like this after everything I did to hang on at that company? It made no sense.
After the company, his thoughts turned to his parents.
Ah... I wonder if they're doing okay.
I should have called them more often. He suddenly regretted his past self, who never checked in unless they called first.
I should have been a better son...
Wouldn't they be wondering if I'm okay? Wouldn't they report it if I don't answer their calls?
I wonder if Pporongi is okay.
Our family's little sweetheart, Pporongi. He was always the first one to run out and greet me whenever I visited my parents' house. Wait, did they get him neutered?
After his parents and family came friends, acquaintances, and even his ex-girlfriend. All sorts of stray thoughts tormented him. At the edge of his vision, he could see the sleeping Eun-ah.
Fucking bitch.
Did I sell out my country in a past life? Why did I have to get caught by a psycho like her and live in fear like this? Negative thoughts churned in his mind, but Dokyun quickly shook them off and steeled himself.
No, what's going to change by thinking like this?
What's done is done. I have to figure out what I can do right now.
After all, when something happens, isn't the first step toward a solution to grasp the cause and the current situation?
I know why she kidnapped me.
It was a completely absurd reason, but one that made sense if you considered her a lunatic. Next, the current situation.
Well...
I don't know whether to call this fortunate or unfortunate, but for now, the feelings she has for me are something close to affection.
That fact was terrifyingly creepy and infuriating, but in my current kidnapped state, it was better to think of it as a good thing. At least as long as I maintained her affection, my head would probably stay attached to my neck.
First, I'll play along.
I have to use the affection she has for me. I need to win her over as much as possible and create an opening.
First, these damn handcuffs.
The physical restraints. I had to get out of this state where it was difficult to even leave this small bed.
How should I coax her...?
Sucking up to her? I can do that as much as she wants. I'm a working professional, five years into my career. If I just put my mind to it, I can definitely pull it off.
The worrying part is that her actions aren't as sloppy as her way of speaking.
She speaks with a slow drawl like some village idiot, but her actions are, in contrast, extremely meticulous. Just looking at the room, you could see it. It was cleaned out to the point of feeling empty, and essential things like the lamp stand or the door were placed outside my line of sight.
And the manuscript. She had anticipated that I would ask her to untie my hands.
Meticulous actions that rarely showed an opening.
And on top of that.
That fucking trigger.
I think I have a rough idea of her trigger pattern. I can't understand her emotions or her way of thinking, but I can faintly make out the purpose behind her outbursts.
To correct my behavior.
The first time, when she clawed at my cheek.
-Th-That... kind of trash...!!!
When she thought I wasn't reading the manuscript.
-You weren't looking... You're not looking at it...!!!
If my words or actions don't meet her standards, or if she thinks they go against them, she has an outburst.
The important part here is "if she thinks."
It's not about what I'm actually thinking. It's about how it looks in her eyes.
I could see severe paranoia and psychological instability. I can't give her any reason to suspect anything. I have to hide my emotions. No matter how scared I am, I have to keep a smile on my face.
At that moment.
"Nnngh..."
"Gasp!"
He sucked in a sharp breath. Dokyun's gaze swiveled toward Eun-ah like a rusty hinge.
"N-Nooo..."
Eun-ah was talking in her sleep, her brow furrowed.
Jesus...
I thought she'd woken up. My heart nearly stopped at her small movement. My mind, which had been racing just moments before, ground to a halt.
Ha... Can I really do this...?
His confidence vanished. Like a vow carved into the sand, washed away by a wave until its shape was unrecognizable. The resolution he'd just made was being swept away by fear.
Gulp.
No, I have to. I have to do this, no matter what. I can't live like this forever!
As long as I'm imprisoned here, I'll have to continue these horrific reading sessions. Absolutely not. I never want to do that again. I will escape, somehow, and reclaim the life I'm supposed to be living.
To do that, I first have to keep my head down and play along.
Getting rid of the physical restraints. That's the top priority.
Where I am and how to escape are problems for later. One wrong move and her affection could turn into murderous rage and tighten around my neck.
I can't make a single mistake.
Dokyun's gaze fell on Eun-ah once more.
Alright... let's do this, you fucking bitch.
I will escape. I swear it.