The Scent of Iron
Going out. The walk back home is a blur. The next thing I know, I'm lying in bed, staring blankly at the ceiling. Ai returned just as dawn was breaking. From the moment the door lock clicked and I heard her light footsteps outside the room, I kept my eyes shut and pretended to sleep. She opened the door carefully, as if worried she might wake me. "Oppa, you asleep?" When I didn't answer, she crept closer, sat beside me, and leaned down to kiss my cheek. As her soft hair brushed against my face, I caught the faint metallic tang of blood beneath her usual sweet scent. I couldn't open my eyes or speak until she closed the door and left. She didn't notice. Even her shoes were neatly arranged by the entrance, just like before she left.
The image wouldn't leave my mind. Blood staining the white cement red. Flies swarming around a body that hadn't even begun to rot. Chunks of flesh scattered across the floor like overripe fruit. I'd already suspected Ai wasn't human. The strange behavior she'd shown over the past two days had been enough. But a monster? One that eats people?
The me from my memories wasn't exactly a moral paragon. Still, I understood what it meant in modern society to take a life—especially a child's. While I was lost in these tangled thoughts, the room had already grown bright with daylight. True to her promise to wake me every morning, Ai knocked on the door. I hadn't slept a wink since.
...
"What? You know how to cook?" The kitchen table was covered with food Ai had prepared herself. "Hehe, I put in some effort~"
She stood there in an apron, looking proud. Neatly sliced rolled omelet, fragrant seaweed soup, and an assortment of side dishes. "...There was plenty of food in the fridge."
The ungrateful brother didn't realize praising his thoughtful little sister should've been his first priority. "Eating that stuff will only make you unhealthy, dummy."
Ai pulled a chair right up beside me instead of sitting across the table. "That's not it. I was just wondering why you bought all that if you knew how to cook." And in such large quantities that we couldn't finish it before the expiration dates. It was a sharp question, but Ai just grinned and answered casually. "I learned. Just now."
She rested her arms on the table, propped her small face on them, and looked at me. "You said I was your wife. So I tried really hard to learn." Then she pulled out a smartphone I'd never seen before and waved it in front of me. A cooking tutorial was playing on the screen. "So hurry up and eat, okay? Before it gets cold~"
At her urging, I brought the food to my mouth. It was surprisingly good. More than just presentable. "...It's delicious. Really delicious. You must've worked hard making this."
She beamed like a child at the praise. Haha, how ridiculous. There's no way you can learn to cook like this in a single day. Until yesterday, Ai hadn't even known how to properly use the TV. Yet she'd somehow operated a smartphone, watched cooking lessons, and produced restaurant-quality food overnight? And where had she even gotten that phone? She'd never had one during the two days we'd spent together. That impossible learning speed—could it be connected to her eating people?
A chill ran through me. Even so, I kept eating with as calm an expression as I could manage. "...Ai." "Yeah, Oppa~ Want me to get you some water?" "There's ketchup on your phone." "Huh? Uh... uh?? Ah... aah, I must've spilled some earlier. I was so distracted."
She licked her finger and frantically wiped at the red smear on the back of the phone. It wasn't ketchup. The dried substance on the cracked surface was clearly a different color. "Come to think of it, where's my phone?" Ai set the device down on the table. "Yours broke, remember? You took it in for repairs." I kept my hands and mouth moving naturally. "Right. I remember."
...
After breakfast, Ai walked me to the door like a real couple, even holding my hand. "Good luck at work, Oppa~ Do your best!" Then she leaned in with a playful smile and whispered, "What should I do for you when you get home after working so hard... ehehe..." "Haha, I'll be looking forward to it."
Despite her suggestive teasing and the kiss she gave me, my lower body didn't react at all. What I'd seen was still too fresh in my mind.
...
My feet carried me on autopilot to the part-time job I didn't even remember having. The me from before had apparently repeated the same routine every day. The place felt unfamiliar at first, but the moment my feet touched the ground, a sense of déjà vu washed over me. It was a small pub that doubled as a restaurant during the day. The owner ran it more as a hobby, so it was rarely busy in the afternoons.
When I walked in, an unfamiliar voice greeted me. "Oh! So you didn't die after all. You weren't answering your phone, so I thought you weren't coming back." A well-built middle-aged man sat at an empty table, his voice booming. The owner? I didn't remember him. But like a wind-up doll, the words came out naturally. "Sorry. My phone broke, so I had to get it fixed." "What? Really? Then what've you been doing? Kids these days can't live without their phones."
"Haha." Apparently, I was quite good at putting on a front. A fake smile settled easily on my face. "Boss, that's just a stereotype~ And the way you said that just now made you sound really old."
A woman's voice came from somewhere out of sight. A girl around my age sat there in a waitress uniform. "Yeah, yeah. Since she's here too, this old man will get out of your way. How scary..."
So it seemed the woman and I were left to run the place during the day. "Alright, good work. See you tonight." Even after the owner left, the stiff smile remained plastered on my face. "You came in early. How was your weekend?" As I headed toward the changing room out of habit, she spoke up. She wasn't someone easy to forget—dyed brown hair, decently balanced features. Though compared to Ai, she didn't hold a candle. "Yeah. It was fine." "Not just the boss—I was worried too. You weren't answering calls or even reading messages..." "Haha, sorry for making you worry." "How's your sister doing, Hyun?"
"What?" My body went rigid. What did she just say? She knows about Ai? More than that—she just called me "Hyun"... "...Can I ask you something weird?" "Huh? Uh... sure...?" "What's my last name again?" "Wow, that's actually pretty weird... Is this some kind of joke?" She gave a small laugh. "It's Choi, obviously. Choi Hyun. Even if I wanted to forget you and your sister's names, I couldn't."
Right. Choi Hyun. And Choi Ai. Names I knew. Unlike the sticky, fabricated memories clinging to me, this one sat transparent and deep in my mind. "Ai still isn't going to school? Tell her to come visit the shop next time. Haha."
How does she know? Ai was a name I'd made up on the spot, forced out by the entity's urging. But hearing "Choi Ai" felt completely different from when I called the entity "Ai." "...My phone broke and all my photos got deleted. Do you happen to have any pictures of Ai?" "Ah... probably not...? I've never actually met her. Oh! I have seen her profile picture though."
She tapped on her phone and showed me the face of the "Ai" I knew so well. But the girl in the photo had neither the distinctive hair color nor the cat-like golden eyes. She had the same face, but with long, glossy black hair and dark eyes, wearing an innocent, childlike expression. No wicked smile, no sisterly warmth—just something appropriate for her age. Her hair reached down to her waist, similar in length to the entity's. "She was really pretty. She looks just like you. Ah, can I come visit your place next time?" "No. You can't." The refusal came out sharper than I intended. "Sorry. Probably not." "Ugh... yeah... no, it's fine. Anyone would react that way if someone suddenly asked. Don't worry about it."
She tried not to show her disappointment. My head was spinning with all the questions unraveling at once. Our brief conversation ended there.
...
The shift passed without incident. The shop was located on the outskirts, after all. Evenings got somewhat busy with drinkers, but the daytime hours I worked were quiet. The owner said it was better if he handled the drunk customers himself. He seemed like a decent guy. He stayed friendly whether he was greeting the occasional customer, handing out menus, or taking orders. Even when the woman passed me food from the kitchen to serve, my hands and feet moved naturally, as if the gaps in my memory meant nothing.
I still couldn't remember the owner or the woman's names. Maybe they hadn't meant much to the old Choi Hyun. Even so, it seemed I'd worked here for quite a while. Both of them remained kind throughout. But compared to the lingering impact of hearing the name "Choi Ai," my feelings toward them felt shallow.
On the way home, I was lost in thought until I reached the front door. The moment I opened it, I heard hurried footsteps rushing toward me. "Oppa, welcome back! You worked hard!" Ai threw herself into my arms with an enthusiastic cheer. The soft, freshly showered scent of her body eased the tension built up from the day. "Yeah, Ai. Were you okay?" "I missed you, I missed you~ Hug me, hurry~"
Still wearing my shoes, I gently embraced her. What is this? It's obvious she has feelings for me. No doubt about it. When she says she loves me, she means it. So is she really just offering affection without expecting anything in return? Wearing my little sister's face—the real Ai's face that I'd forgotten. Ai buried her face in my chest and sniffed like a puppy. "Want to shower first? Or eat?" Then her expression changed in an instant, and she started rubbing my lower body. "Or... me first...? Hehe..."