Night of the Prophets (2)

After Kim Dokja finished her conversation with the Prophets, we gathered inside the lodging Lee Seongguk had prepared for us.

Jung Heewon looked around the room for a moment and reacted with surprise.

"Wow, individual rooms? It's not as good as Jinwoo's room, but… how did those people manage to build a force this big?"

"Those people completely think Dokja is Yoo Joonghyuk…"

"I'm hungry…"

"Hold on."

Kim Dokja held up a palm, cutting off the party as they all talked over each other like a chaotic marketplace.

Kim Dokja gave us a brief rundown of everything that had gone down today.

From the moment I first called her Yoo Joonghyuk and why she went along with impersonating her, to the fact that Lee Seongguk and Jung Minseob were Prophets—and what a Prophet even was.

Faced with the sudden flood of information, Jung Heewon and Lee Hyunsung both looked thoroughly confused.

Jung Heewon had already figured out that Kim Dokja knew fragments of the future, but she had no idea there were others like her, so her eyes went wide with genuine shock.

Lee Hyunsung looked completely blindsided by the explanation, wearing an expression that screamed he could barely believe it.

I already knew all of it, of course. Still, I put on a surprised face just like Jung Heewon and played along, fooling the rest of the party.

Kim Dokja ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠answered Lee Hyunsung's question with perfect composure, then turned her gaze and locked eyes with me.

Kim Dokja fixed me with a rather serious look. I met her gaze and fell silent for a beat.

Jung Heewon and Lee Hyunsung watched our faces carefully. Kim Dokja still stared at me with that same serious expression.

Faced with the three of them, I closed my eyes for a moment and cooked up an excuse. One came to me right away.

Kim Dokja's face flushed crimson. She lunged at me in a panic and clamped her palm over my mouth.

Oh-ho? Now she was even threatening me.

But wait—didn't Jung Heewon already tell Kim Dokja that I'd overheard too? Why not?

I looked at Kim Dokja, who was still covering my mouth, then shifted my gaze toward Jung Heewon.

Kim Dokja, still clamping her palm over my mouth, twisted her face into a vicious scowl and glared at me, huffing.

Reaction's pure gold.

Teasing Kim Dokja really was the most fun. Her reactions were the freshest, the most thrilling, the tastiest.

Lick, lick.

"……!?"

The second I ran my tongue over the palm covering my mouth, Kim Dokja jerked back in pure shock and scrambled away from me, putting distance between us.

Whether from sweat or something else, Kim Dokja's palm had a faintly salty taste.

I grinned brightly at the woman glaring at me and typed into the group chat.

When my banter with Kim Dokja started derailing the conversation completely, Jung Heewon cleared her throat and steered us back on track.

Jung Heewon looked startled by Kim Dokja's message. Kim Dokja thought for a moment, then continued typing.

Me, Jung Heewon, and Lee Hyunsung all reacted at once.

!

Having said her piece, Kim Dokja looked at me and continued.

Wham!

The ultimate taboo among women—mentioning weight, fat—and Kim Dokja's face went completely blank as she hurled a box from behind her straight at me.

The box flew with perfect accuracy toward my solar plexus. Kim Dokja's Strength was currently at 24, so it came in at a pretty solid speed and nailed me dead center.

Thankfully it was empty, so the impact wasn't too bad. Still, I deliberately rolled across the floor. Then I frantically typed a message to her.

Kim Dokja looked down at me sprawled on the floor with a completely emotionless face. I rubbed my hands together until they were raw, begging for forgiveness.

Fortunately, her heart was big enough that she let out a small sigh and forgave me.

Silence hung heavy over the lodging because of me. Desperate to change the atmosphere, I pestered everyone about dinner, and thankfully they all nodded in agreement.

At Kim Dokja's question, I pulled out a food name every Korean knew by heart.

Once I had everyone's ramen preferences, quantities, and leftover-rice requests, I immediately set out a gas stove, bottled water, ramen packs, leftover rice, napa cabbage kimchi, chopsticks, and spoons right in front of them.

And then I decided to mess with the three of them a little.

In front of myself I laid out the Magic Hearth, a grill stand, and a grill plate, then prepped lettuce, garlic, ssamjang, chopsticks, oil sauce, green onion salad, white rice, napa cabbage kimchi, and more. Finally—

I pulled out the Rex meat I'd been storing in My Little Hideout's refrigerator.

"Hmm-hmm-hmm~♪ Delicious meat~."

With dinner prep finished, I was about to slap the Rex meat onto the now-properly-heated grill plate over the Magic Hearth and start cooking when I felt eyes on me from somewhere.

I turned toward the source of the stares. Kim Dokja, Jung Heewon, and Lee Hyunsung were all looking at me with expressions of pure disbelief.

"What? First time seeing someone grill meat?"

Jung Heewon asked, looking utterly fed up.

"Are you planning to eat that all by yourself?"

"Of course."

"What about us?"

"You three said you were eating ramen, didn't you?"

"Ha, for real! Wow…! ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Haha, hahahaha!"

Jung Heewon stared up at the empty air with a face that said she was completely done, laughing for a long while.

Crap, did I tease them too hard?

Watching Jung Heewon laugh like a maniac at the ceiling for so long made me a little nervous.

While I was fretting over her reaction, Kim Dokja—who had been glaring at me the entire time, opposite of Jung Heewon—slowly opened her mouth.

"Heewon. Hyunsung. Grab Jinwoo."

"Got it."

"Sorry about this, Jinwoo…"

"Uh, uhh? Why are you suddenly doing this?"

Jung Heewon and Lee Hyunsung each seized one of my arms at the same time and dragged me right in front of Kim Dokja.

Kim Dokja looked down at me for a moment after I was hauled before her, then grabbed my chin with one hand and spoke.

"Hey, Jinwoo? Didn't we already go through this last time?"

"Probably…?"

"And yet here you are again, saying you'll eat the delicious stuff all by yourself? Last time we had convenience-store sandwiches while you tried to grill pork belly, remember?"

"Yeah?"

"Teasing us is really fun, isn't it?"

I snuck a glance at their hands. Veins were bulging thickly on all three of them.

Y-yep… messing with food was a bad idea after all?! Even nice guy Lee Hyunsung is reacting like that?!

My survival instincts blared a danger signal that any more teasing would end in disaster, so I hurriedly shouted.

"Aha! Now I get it!"

"Get what?"

"That I went way too far with the jokes! Let's all eat together, okay?! I grill meat like a total pro!"

"Can we look forward to it, then?"

"Of course! And instead of the floor, I'll even bring out a table and chairs so the three of you can eat comfortably!"

At my words, Jung Heewon and Lee Hyunsung released my arms. I rubbed my hands together like a shameless courtier, working hard to persuade them.

Thankfully the three of them accepted my persuasion. I grilled meat diligently for them, and after we all ate our fill of meat, we finished by boiling ramen together for dessert.

Once dinner was completely over, the hour had grown so late that the people of Dongmyo Station began drifting off to sleep one by one. Watching them, Kim Dokja typed into the group chat.

Kim Dokja shook her head at my message.

Kim Dokja finished speaking, then pulled a small cloak from her coat and flipped it inside out.

The moment Kim Dokja vanished from right in front of our eyes, a startled Lee Hyunsung muttered.

Having said that, Kim Dokja must have started moving—because the empty doorway of the lodging suddenly opened on its own, then slid quietly shut again.

We began inspecting the weapons each of us carried, preparing for the chaos that would soon arrive.