Chapter 75
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 75
The next morning, the first thing I saw upon waking was Eun-ah, who had climbed on top of me and was nuzzling her face into my chest.
I chuckled for a moment at the ticklish sensation of her squirming against me. Reaching out, I stroked her hair and greeted her.
“Good morning.”
At my words, she finally lifted the head she’d been burying in my chest. A wide smile spread across her face as she answered.
“G-Good morning...!”
After speaking, she leaned in.
Peck.
Our lips met for a brief moment before parting again.
My heart fluttered at her unreserved affection so early in the morning. I laughed and pulled her into a hug, and a silly giggle escaped her lips.
“Eheheh...”
It had only been three days, but it felt like we were reuniting after a long time. A wave of fondness washed over me, and I leaned in to kiss her again.
Peck.
Another brief touch of our lips.
We laughed for a moment, our noses nearly touching. Then, still holding her, I sat up, patting her back as I spoke softly.
“Should we get up now?”
“Mmm...” she mumbled with a small whine.
I chuckled again and added, “Time for breakfast.”
“Okay...” She gave a slight nod.
She unwrapped her arms from my waist, stretched languidly, and sat up.
“W-Wait just a minute...!”
I watched her leave, then stretched my own body before getting out of bed and following her from the room.
*
Time passed, and by the afternoon, I was sitting on the living room sofa, watching Eun-ah write. She was nestled snugly in my arms, focused on her manuscript.
Come to think of it...
I realized I hadn't seen her writing in a while. Was her update schedule okay?
I was a devoted fan who would wait forever as long as the story wasn't discontinued, so it didn't matter to me. But some readers would drop a novel the moment its update schedule became even slightly unstable.
My curiosity piqued, I asked her about it. She let out a heavy sigh and answered with a pout.
“B-Because I had a backlog...”
“Ah.”
Right. I remembered the manuscript she’d shown me when I was first locked up here.
That was enough for nearly thirty chapters, I recalled. If she released one a day, she could take almost a month off.
As I nodded, I wondered why she would build up such a large backlog. The answer came to me almost immediately.
A defense mechanism to avoid acknowledging her other personalities. It had to be something like that.
I figured she unconsciously created the backlog to avoid acknowledging the passage of time, to keep from noticing the gaps.
My heart ached a little as I saw these glimpses of the life she’d been forced to live. Just then, she spoke again.
“S-Such a hassle...”
I studied her expression. Her shoulders were slumped, her lips were in a pout, and her face was on the verge of tears. Why did I find it so cute?
I chuckled at the thought and hugged her tighter.
A small whine escaped her. “Uungh...”
She snuggled against me, and I smiled at how adorable she was. Then, I gently coaxed her to get back to writing.
“Your readers are waiting, so you have to keep it up.”
“B-But I only need you, Honeybee...”
I couldn't help but feel a thrill of pleasure as she said that, sneaking glances at my face. Still, I couldn't bear the thought of her abandoning her novel, so I hugged her again and pressed on.
“I'm a reader, too. I'm waiting for my favorite author's novel... Aren't you going to write it for me?”
“Ah...!” I said, my voice tinged with a hint of sadness.
She flinched, letting out a small sound, then shook her head vigorously in response.
“I-I'll write it...!”
With that, she turned her gaze back to the manuscript.
I felt a pang of guilt for pressuring her, but I had to do it. I wanted her to maintain at least some connection to the outside world.
Without this novel, she would be completely cut off from society.
And besides.
It's so good, it'd be a shame.
Putting all else aside, her talent was just too precious to waste.
She was just that good of a writer. It wasn't simply a matter of beautiful prose; she had the innate talent of a storyteller.
Her writing had an immersive quality that pulled you in from the first moment.
That was why I had invested a full month of my time—even breaking into my savings—and it was why her novel had become such a success.
She had succeeded while writing in a niche genre, far from the mainstream, simply because her story was that compelling.
Even I, with my strange habit of abandoning any novel that got popular, fully intended to reread this one after it was finished. That alone proved how exceptional her talent was.
I watched her quietly as she typed away.
What kind of thoughts swirled inside that small head of hers, allowing her to write so fluidly?
I watched her for a long time, filled with curiosity and wonder. Before I knew it, she had finished her chapter and was stretching.
“Nngghh...!”
“You worked hard,” I said, setting the laptop on the table. Eun-ah immediately turned, wrapped her arms around me, and spoke.
“I-I'm done, so praise me...!”
Seeing her eyes sparkle with anticipation as she looked up at me, I let out a soft chuckle and stroked her hair.
“You did great. You really are the most amazing person in the world, Eun-ah.”
“Uheheh...” A silly giggle escaped her at my words.
She was laughing, nestled against me, when her expression suddenly turned puzzled. She tilted her head.
“Hmm...?”
“What's wrong?”
When I asked, she glanced up at me, then back down. She raised a hand and poked me squarely in the stomach.
My belly fat yielded with a squish under the pressure of her finger.
At that, Eun-ah burst out laughing as if she'd just realized something.
“Y-You've gained weight, Honeybee...!”
She giggled as she said it.
Flinch.
A shudder ran through me.
Have I? No, of course I have. It would be stranger if I hadn't. To be honest, I had been eating incredibly well lately.
Better than I'd ever eaten in my life, in fact. Add to that the fact that I barely moved around in here, and my reduced activity level must have had an impact.
“H-Have I...?”
“Mhm...! Y-You're so squishy, Honeybee...!”
Her words were like daggers to the heart. Ah, so she noticed because I feel more... cushioned.
“Haha...” I tried to sound cheerful, but the laugh that came out was completely hollow.
Oblivious to my inner turmoil, she flattened her palms and began kneading my stomach with both hands. Then she opened her mouth and drove another dagger into my heart.
“L-Like a wild boar...!”
A critical hit. The pain was excruciating. A wave of depression washed over me.
Feeling my eyes start to well up, I asked Eun-ah a question.
“Wh-Why a wild boar...?” There are so many cuter pigs. A piggy bank, a piglet... why a wild boar?
As I asked, she answered with a radiant smile, still kneading my stomach.
“Mhm...! B-Because you're big and look scary, Honeybee, so a w-wild boar...!”
Someone once said that the cruelest evil is born of innocence. They were right.
Her words, spoken without a hint of malice, were cold daggers twisting in my gut.
I was hurt and annoyed. Feeling miserable, I stared at her, wanting to fire an insult right back, but...
“Heehee...”
There was nothing to criticize about her appearance.
Her once-emaciated frame had filled out nicely from our shared meals, and her once-pale skin now glowed with vitality, fair and flawless.
What's more, her once-tousled hair, which I now brushed daily, was neat and tidy, adding an air of elegance to her.
It was a stunning improvement from a month ago. I had nothing to criticize.
Fuck...
This is the problem with narrative consistency.
It was so, so unfair. For a moment, I tried blaming my parents for my genetics, just like I used to, but what was the point? Tears welled in my eyes.
“Th-Thank you...” I could only spit out words of thanks with a bitter heart.
“Heheh... I-I like it...!” she said, snuggling against me again. For a moment I found her incredibly annoying, but then my heart fluttered, and the sadness began to fade.
Right... If she likes it, isn't that all that matters?
As I began to rationalize it, I felt my heart grow a little lighter.
Having composed my gloomy thoughts, I patted the back of the girl hugging me so tightly and finally spoke.
“If you like it, Eun-ah, then I like it too.”
“Mhm...!” The feeling of her nuzzling her head against my chest was ticklish.
Still... It was annoying.
With that thought, I gave her waist a playful tickle.
“Bwegh!” A strange squeal of laughter escaped her.
She pouted, glaring at me with narrowed eyes. I just snickered and pulled her into a hug.
As I held her tight, I felt her little hands patting my back, and another laugh escaped me.
“Y-You're mean...!”
“I'm sorry,” I said, laughing at her whining. Her light taps stopped, and I felt her arms wrap around me once more.
We held each other like that for a long time, the space around us filling with the sound of our breathing.
It was so peaceful. The air in the house was warm enough to forget the cold winter wind outside, and with her faint warmth added to it, the atmosphere felt endlessly cozy.
A pleasant languor began to settle over me, and I started to feel drowsy. I glanced down at Eun-ah and saw that she had fallen asleep, her breathing soft and even.
She looked exhausted.
Well, of course. In the last few days, Eun-ji had been out and about, and Eun-seol had been handling business in this body. The physical fatigue must have piled up.
‘...’
When I thought about it like that, a strange feeling washed over me. Even though they all looked and acted so differently, making me feel like I was meeting separate people, I was forced to remember that they were all, ultimately, Eun-ah.
The reality that the people I’d been living with were alternate personalities hit me, and my thoughts grew complicated.
How was I supposed to see them? How should I define them? How was I supposed to treat them?
The questions kept coming.
They shared the same body, all personalities born from the same person. But each had their own thoughts, their own traits. They had clearly lived their own lives.
And yet, were they personalities that had to disappear? Were they to be eliminated simply because they were defined as an 'illness'?
Should I just dismiss them as a part of Eun-ah's delusion?
My thoughts spiraled.
I remembered the look on Eun-seol's face when she called herself an alternate personality.
I remembered Eun-ji, sobbing while crouched in a corner of the amusement park.
I remembered Eun-sam, spouting all kinds of vulgar nonsense while greeting the old men at the street food stall.
Did I have the right to define their time, their lives, as something that needed to be erased?
A heavy feeling settled in my stomach.
I wasn't the kind of person who could do something like that.
As far as I was concerned, they were all distinct individuals. I couldn't just write them off as something to be eliminated.
No, stop. I squeezed my eyes shut, deliberately pushing the thoughts away.
It wasn't something to think about right now.
The one I needed to think about now was Go Eun-chae.
A ticking time bomb. A monster threatening to swallow Eun-ah whole.
I had to focus on her first.
I shifted my focus.
Tomorrow.
I had to go with her and speak with the doctor alone.
It was best to start with what I could do right now. That was the right path.