Chapter 107
Chapter 107
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 107
Chapter Title: 36. In Search of a Dream (1)
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Bom was lying on the sofa.
She was dressed in her school uniform—a white shirt and tie up top, with a brown checkered skirt below. Her grass-green hair was splayed out messily, and her hands were clasped together over her stomach. She was just staring blankly at the ceiling, so he asked,
"Aren't you going to class?"
She lifted her head.
"Yeah."
"Why not."
"Why?"
"You have class today. You should go."
Bom paused, lost in thought for a moment, then replied.
"...Why?"
It was one of those rare days when he wasn't hanging out with the girls.
"I'm going alone today."
Yeoreum had already left.
"What about me? I've got homework with friends today!"
Gaeul was gone too.
"...Eats well."
Winter chirped happily with a full-cheeked smile. The guardian lifted another bag of feed.
"I'll feed her a bit more."
"...Here? More?"
"Yes, little miss. That's how she'll grow nice and plump... er, big and strong."
Only Winter and her guardian remained, feeding the chick in the kitchen. Her peeps sounded joyful, like, 'Are you testing my limits?'
So the living room was peacefully quiet for once. Until...
"I've been thinking hard about it."
Bom spoke up, crouched down with her knees hugged to her chest.
"I can't find a reason to go to class."
"A reason to go to class?"
"Yeah... Yeoreum and Gaeul enjoy it—they listen to lectures, hang out with friends, and have fun."
True enough.
"But nothing about it interests me."
"...Really?"
"Going to hear professors lecture. Studying. Taking exams. Meeting people. It's all fine. Nice, even. But I keep thinking... I could just not do it."
"Your grades are pretty good, though."
Last fall semester, Bom had gotten A's in every subject. Her GPA was a solid 4.0—impressive compared to Gaeul's B+ and Yeoreum's B-.
But Bom shook her head with a sullen expression.
"I intentionally got a few questions wrong on the exams."
"Why."
"No reason to aim for perfect scores."
Fair point. Gaeul rarely studied and still pulled those grades; Yeoreum slept through class. Bom, who actually studied sometimes, getting straight A's felt off. She was a dragon, after all—perfect memory after one glance.
Come to think of it, he'd never paid much attention to Bom's school life. He'd just assumed she'd handle it fine on her own.
As he stood there silently, Bom timidly tugged at the hem of his cardigan. Like she wanted him to sit.
The regressor sat beside her.
"Can I ask you something?"
"Sure."
"Why do humans go to school?"
"To get an education."
"Then why chase good grades?"
"To win the competition and secure a better future."
"What's a 'better future'?"
"Dunno. Money, connections, happy family. That sort of thing."
"Did you compete with someone for that, Ajusshi?"
The regressor fell silent for a moment.
Through countless regressions, he'd stopped thinking in normal human terms. He needed time to consider it.
"No."
Looking back, his only rival had been himself.
"Hmm..." Bom fiddled with her bangs, now long enough to brush past her eyebrows—an awkward length.
"I'm a dragon, so I don't need money. I can make it anytime."
"..."
"Connections? Nah. I'm not lonely, so I don't need relationships."
"..."
"Happy family? Can't picture it yet. I was raised by clan elders since I have no parents, but I've never felt lacking."
He'd never heard the Green clan's story from a dragon's perspective before. Their standards differed from humans'.
"Why do you keep living, then?"
"Mm... To be happy...?"
"What makes you happy?"
"I'm already happy."
"Why?"
"Just... Room 301 feels fun. Even without much. Watching Yeoreum and Gaeul together, or Winter growing. And you're fun too, Ajusshi."
"...So no reason for class?"
"Yeah."
He recalled the Green Dragon from past regressions.
3rd run: A shut-in artist.
4th: A sculptor.
5th: Painting in Europe.
6th: Writing novels in Europe.
5th and 6th got interrupted when Yoo Ji-tae caught her midway.
3rd and 4th? No real success.
So different from the current Bom, who excelled at everything. But back then, she'd never succeeded once.
How was that possible?
"But I don't think it's just my problem."
Then Bom changed tack.
"What?"
"You're the same, Ajusshi. Besides taking care of us and hunting mines, you don't really do much."
"..."
"Basically unemployed."
"..."
"Or a kidnapper."
She giggled. A fresh, bright sound tickled his ears.
"Why do you keep living, Ajusshi?"
Her deeper question caught the regressor off-guard.
Tough one.
He'd once given life meaning—aims, goals. But endless failures stripped them away. All that remained were habitual, abstract notions born of inertia.
Not suitable for baby dragons.
As he didn't respond, Bom turned to stare straight into his eyes. An unreadable expression, demanding an answer.
"You don't need to know."
"There you go, getting all serious alone again."
Bom smiled warmly.
"You did this before too..."
"Did I?"
"Yeah. I'm used to it now."
He changed the subject.
"Wanna try something together?"
"Huh?"
"Might spark something you wanna do."
"You think?"
"Better than lying around bored."
Bom nodded and headed to her room.
She emerged in a t-shirt and shorts.
"You're the Green Dragon. How about making something?"
"Sure. What?"
He knew three failures for sure.
Painting. Novels. Sculpture.
Now, he'd uncover why.
"Let's draw."
Bom's room. The table.
Bom dimmed the lights and cast Light (D) like a lamp. The paper gleamed whiter.
Beside it: paints, colored pencils, crayons—stuff she'd bought for Winter.
Bom bit a hair tie, gathered her hair into a ponytail. In the dark, light revealed her pale neckline.
"What'll you draw?"
"Hold on."
Bom grabbed Yoo Ji-tae's wrist. He tried slipping free; she gripped harder.
"Stay put."
She rolled up his shirt sleeve herself.
"So, what to draw?"
"Figure? Still life?"
"Flowers. Landscape? It's spring now."
"Sounds good. But you can't draw flowers or scenery, Ajusshi."
"It's your drawing time."
"We do it together. So no flowers or landscapes."
Matters-of-fact tone.
"I can draw 'em."
"Pfft."
"Flowers are easy."
"Prove it."
Yoo Ji-tae quietly picked up a crayon.
A flower...
The last one he remembered: blooming amid Noah's crumbling dream-world.
He chose gray. Bom snickered.
"..."
The finished flower: gray, head bowed.
"What is that?"
Bom chuckled.
Even to him, it didn't look floral.
"..."
He reached for fresh paper. Bom stopped him as he tried discarding it.
"Why toss it? You drew it."
"It's not a flower."
"Pfft. It is. Gray. Head down. Drab, but still."
"Better to start over. It's a fail."
"Mm..."
Bom pondered, then shook her head.
"The poor flower's all alone now."
"..."
"Give it a name at least."
"Name the flower?"
"No? Paintings have titles."
Yoo Ji-tae thought.
Flower from Noah's collapsing world.
Title...
"End."
Bom grimaced and wagged her head.
"Weird?"
"Yeah."
"..."
"Lemme try. Title later."
"Okay."
Bom dipped her brush and painted a new flower behind the gray one.
Stem, leaves, petals flowed from her fingertips. So focused, she didn't notice her tongue sticking out.
Soon, a pink-petaled flower bloomed behind the gray.
"How's this?"
As expected. Bom wasn't great at drawing. But far better than his.
"Good job."
"Thanks."
"Title?"
"Mm. Out-of-Body?"
She giggled.
Indeed, gray soul peeking from pink flower.
"Nice."
"Joking."
"...Then what?"
"Think while I do the background?"
"Sure."
They filled the page together. He didn't know grass, but mimicking Bom's jagged green strokes worked.
As Bom painted, she murmured absently.
"I've raised tons of dragons."
"Yeah."
"Flowers look delicate, but they're tough. Bloom anywhere. Wastelands. Ruins."
"I see."
"Briefly, but they prove: I'm alive here."
He nodded vaguely.
He added a yellow sun in the corner. Bom went, "Oh," and nodded.
"Spring's here, Ajusshi."
"Looks like."
"Like spring?"
"Dunno."
"Really?"
"Never thought about it."
"Okay."
The painting was done.
"Title?"
"Flower."
"Lazy."
"..."
"Like when you named us. Put effort in."
He hadn't admitted slacking then either.
As Bom overlaid his odd flower with gray paint, she asked again.
"C'mon. Title?"
"...Flower."
Bom's eyes twitched.
"No. No effort."
"Out-of-Body."
"Ugh."
"...Flower's Out-of-Body?"
Irked, Bom spun. Gray paint splattered his face.
"Oops."
"..."
"Sorry. Accident."
He brushed it off casually. Could've dodged, but took it.
Mischief sparked in Bom's eyes. Conditions met: close enough legs touched; playful mood.
Timing felt off.
Bom flicked paint from her brush.
"Hey, hey."
She laughed hysterically, unrelenting. He shielded his face, snatched her brush.
Bom's giggles cut short. Eyes gleaming with thrill, she met his gaze.
"You're in trouble."
"Scary."
"..."
No words. No moves.
Tension crackled.
Next instant, he shook the stolen brush wildly.
"Eek—!"
Gray paint rained mercilessly. Startled Bom fled to the living room.
Left alone, Yoo Ji-tae rose slowly. Wiped paint from his face and floor.
Winter, napping in the living room, woke to the commotion.
"...?"
There was Bom-unnie. Gray blotch on her cheek.
What's that? Curious, Winter hopped off the sofa, stealthily trailing Bom. Peeked through the bathroom door crack.
Bom stared blankly at her reflection. Tilted her head, then dragged the paint on her cheek into five streaks.
A shape emerged.
Like a gray flower.
Only then did Bom smile faintly and wipe it clean.