248. While She Sleeps
248. While She Sleeps
***
Snatch.
Serin reluctantly took the sausage Sua offered and ate it, and she couldn't help feeling a strange sensation.
"..."
She kept being fed by girls younger than herself, and she couldn't help wondering what on earth she was doing.
But they'd gone that far to offer, so refusing felt wrong too.
"Serin, say ah."
"Is there anything you'd like to eat?"
After that, when Seoyun and Sua kept trying to feed her at every opportunity, Serin chose to refuse both of them outright.
They'd turned it into some kind of competition, and if she went along with it, there'd be no end in sight.
Once Serin refused, Seoyun and Sua's dinner came to a quick end, though they both felt a little disappointed.
......
They'd been talking about various topics when, all of a sudden, Serin covered her mouth with her hand.
"Haa-eu..."
Unable to hold back a yawn, Serin felt her eyes slowly closing.
'Is it the medication?'
Being around people she was close to put her at ease, but as time passed, the drowsiness from the medicine seemed to surge up more and more.
"Aren't you sleepy right now?"
"Serin, why don't you just go lie down? You look really tired..."
When Sua and Seoyun noticed and immediately asked, Serin let out a small laugh and shook her head.
She was grateful for the concern, but she felt it wasn't time yet.
"...Seoyun, you barely got here. What do you mean, sleep."
Besides, she was seeing her younger sister for the first time in two weeks. Going to bed already felt like she'd be neglecting her, and that made her feel sorry.
"Serin, if it's because of me, it's really okay."
Even when Seoyun repeatedly said it was fine, Serin just shook her head.
Sua, who'd been watching the two of them, decided this was the right moment and spoke up.
"Ah, then how about we watch some NewTube together?"
"NewTube?"
When Serin asked why NewTube all of a sudden, Sua quietly pulled out a hologram device.
She'd brought it along while preparing to visit Serin in the hospital, thinking Serin might get bored, and right now it seemed perfectly useful.
"A new video went up on RinTube today, so I thought it'd be nice to watch it together. And Seoyun, you came to see your sister too. Don't you want to watch NewTube together and hear her thoughts on it directly?"
"Her thoughts, huh... Yeah, that does sound fun."
Once Seoyun agreed it seemed fine, Sua operated the hologram device as if the answer had already been decided.
Clack.
The hologram device settled onto the cleared table, and a RinTube video began playing in the air as a hologram for everyone to see.
—Come on in.
The video that played opened with Daji showing off her dazzling beauty as the intro. Serin blinked as she watched Daji standing there with an air of nobility.
"Sua, this went up today?"
"Yes, I just checked, and two videos went up on RinTube today, one after another. I think they were edited versions of the Cave of Trials."
"Oh! I watched this on stream too."
When Seoyun said she'd watched the video too, Serin awkwardly swept her hair back.
It was a little embarrassing that someone she knew kept up with all her streams.
—Clang! Clang!
Right after that, the hologram showed Serin facing off against the Orc Lord, apparently from the very beginning of the Cave of Trials.
And the three people watching the hologram were each admiring something different.
Sua was once again admiring Serin's skill, Seoyun was simply admiring her sister's dazzling presence, and Serin was admiring the editing skills of the RinTube editors.
It was a strange situation where all three were admiring the same video, yet each was impressed by something completely different depending on their perspective.
Serin had a feeling she knew whose work the video was.
'This looks like Soyul's editing.'
The video was clean and free of anything unnecessary, and now she could tell who had edited something just by watching it.
"It's really you in that video, and even though I know it, sometimes I still can't believe it, you know?"
Seoyun kept marveling the entire time she watched.
In the video, her sister moved so fast it made her wonder how anyone could move like that, and the fact that it was her sister was just amazing.
"Seoyun, do you play Another World too?"
Sua, who'd been watching Seoyun marvel, spoke up.
"No, I don't play games, so I don't know much about it."
"Really? Then how about trying it this time? Another World is really fun, and your sister's this good at it. Seoyun, maybe you have a talent for games too?"
At Sua's eager approach, Seoyun met her gaze but gave an awkward laugh.
"I don't know...? Watching the video, I'm not really confident."
"I think you'd be really good at it too."
When Sua spoke as if hyping her up, Seoyun, who'd been staring at her, was curious about something else.
"Sua, how good do you think my sister is? I don't know much about it, but she seems really good."
For a moment, Sua couldn't hold back her laughter, as if she'd just heard something utterly absurd.
"Pfft... Serin, Seoyun's asking if you're good at Another World. What do you think?"
"Well..."
At the question so obviously loaded with intent, Serin answered with a smile instead.
Seeing that, Sua turned her gaze back to Seoyun and spoke in a suggestive tone.
"To put it in a way you'd understand easily, Seoyun. Should I say she's at a pro-player level? No, actually, even among pro players, there's almost no one who could beat your sister."
"She's that good?"
"Yeah. She's at a level where I could say she's the best person I've ever seen."
After answering, Sua momentarily wanted to add that she herself was ranked 8th, but she barely held it back.
They weren't close yet, and saying that would just make her look like she was showing off.
And so the first RinTube video continued until the scene where Serin faced the Grim Reaper.
......
Nearly two hours had passed as they finished watching the RinTube video and chatted.
Serin was now blinking with completely unfocused eyes.
'Just a little more...'
She wanted to spend a bit more time together, if only for Seoyun, who'd arrived late, but it was hard to fight off the wave of sleepiness.
Sua, who'd been watching Serin's condition, let out a small sigh and spoke.
"Serin. Go to your room now."
"Yeah... Serin, I think you should go to your room and sleep now, okay?"
When Sua and Seoyun spoke one after another, this time Serin didn't refuse. As she got up to go to her room, she suddenly looked at the two of them.
"What are you two going to do after this? Are you both going to sleep over?"
"Serin, is that okay?"
"I was going to sleep over, but are you going to have Sua stay the night too?"
When Seoyun tilted her head and asked, Serin spoke up before Sua could answer.
"It's pretty late, so Sua, why don't you just sleep over too?"
If she sent Sua home now, things between the two of them would definitely end on an awkward note.
"If you insist that much, I'll stay over."
When Sua accepted, as if she'd read Serin's intention, Serin smiled with hazy eyes.
"Good choice. And it'd be nice if you two talked and got to know each other better after this... You can use any room to sleep in."
Click.
With that, Serin went into her room, leaving only Sua and Seoyun in the living room.
"..."
"..."
Only one person had left, but the space suddenly felt steeped in silence, and the two of them didn't exchange any particular words.
The two of them stared blankly at the door Serin had gone through.
It was Sua who looked away first.
Sua, who'd been quietly gazing at Seoyun's black bob cut, so clearly different from Serin's, belatedly thought that Seoyun did resemble Serin after all.
'Well, they are sisters.'
It would be stranger if they didn't resemble each other.
If Serin possessed a beauty close to perfection, Seoyun had a rather cute impression, with looks that would make plenty of people want to get close to her.
And even so, she was still pretty enough to be called pretty.
"Do you have something to say to me?"
When Seoyun, aware of Sua's gaze, abruptly spoke, Sua let out an involuntary laugh.
Once Serin was gone, Seoyun's attitude suddenly seemed to shift completely.
Being in the same space as someone who wasn't well-disposed toward her wasn't exactly a common experience for Sua, but she had certainly been through it before.
The worst of those encounters had been none other than her first meeting with Serin, which had started from a misunderstanding, so honestly, Seoyun's current attitude wasn't at a level Sua would call difficult to deal with.
"I do have something to say. Seoyun, why are you keeping your distance from me like that?"
Sua answered calmly and then asked in return.
Why was Seoyun keeping her at arm's length?
It was true that Sua had built a mask, as if imitating Seoyun, but even so, she didn't know why Seoyun was keeping her distance.
She'd never shown that mask in front of her, after all.
Looking back, Seoyun had been like that in the past too.
Back in school, Sua had been conscious of Seoyun's position and had deliberately tried to get close to her, but she'd felt Seoyun intentionally pushing her away, so she'd lost interest.
"I'm keeping my distance? That's how you felt, Sua?"
When Seoyun asked as if it were news to her, Sua answered with a nod.
Seoyun, who'd been staring at Sua, spoke calmly.
"Well, I won't deny it. Honestly, I don't really know why I wanted to keep my distance from you either. It's just that ever since back then, whenever I saw you, something... how should I put it... I couldn't tell what you were thinking. That's how it felt."
"In short, you can't tell what I'm thinking?"
"If I had to put it that way, sure. Am I wrong?"
After their exchange, Seoyun gazed steadily into Sua's eyes.
'Those eyes.'
More than anything else, those eyes she was looking into right now bothered her.
When Serin was around, they'd seemed to hold at least a little life, but now they were indifferent to the point of showing no emotion at all, and those red eyes gave off an alien feeling.
"......"
Sua, who met Seoyun's gaze without a word, was also feeling something strange.
Because what Seoyun had just said sounded almost like she was asking, 'Aren't you acting behind a mask?'
Feeling that odd sensation, Sua suddenly put a small smile on her expressionless face.
"Serin's one thing, but you're really something too, Seoyun."
Even at Sua's cryptic words, Seoyun only kept her gaze on her without answering.
Sua, who didn't avoid her gaze, looked back at her with a calm expression.
Before she knew it, she was looking at Seoyun with a feeling similar to how she looked at Serin.
In front of Serin, even when she wore a mask, it felt like her true nature was seen through, so she'd naturally stopped wearing one.
But Seoyun was speaking as if she'd known all along that Sua had been acting behind a mask back in school, and that was a little surprising.
Actually, what her true self was had become an ambiguous territory even for Sua herself by now.
Was the bright, cheerful version of herself who acted that way to leave a good impression on Serin her real self? Or was the emotionless version of herself looking at Seoyun right now the real one? She couldn't even tell them apart anymore.
That shift in attitude couldn't simply be explained away as just being "human," and Sua had been aware for a long time that she wasn't ordinary.
Calling it a split personality didn't feel right either, and no matter what other symptoms she looked up, none of them fit her.
......
After that, the two of them continued exchanging all sorts of conversation, but contrary to Serin's hopes, they maintained a subtle distance that seemed like it might narrow yet never quite did,
and Serin, who had gone into her room, had collapsed into a deep sleep.
Softly breathing, sound asleep, she was having a dream connected to her past.