Chapter 211
Chapter 211
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Ringmaster
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"Honestly, tell me. What is this meat?"
"This meat is top-grade beef from a Grade 1 cow with premium quality..."
"I told you to tell me the truth."
"Well, it's not exactly Grade 1..."
"..."
Song Arin stopped poking at the cake that had come out for dessert with her fork and looked at me.
"Hey."
"Yeah."
"I'm just saying this because you never know, but..."
"Yeah."
"...are we really not just here for fun?"
I had nothing to say in response to Song Arin's suspicion-filled words.
Appetizers, mains, and now dessert.
Every time someone brought out food, I'd confirm it with my eyes, and Song Arin would use hypnosis to verify the truth, but the answers we got back were all the same.
Well, not entirely the same.
"This place has more scammers than I thought."
"For real."
Song Arin let out a deep sigh.
The food was good and not bad tasting, but for a place supposedly booked solid with reservations and sourcing Grade 1 ingredients, there were too many signs of cost-cutting or outright scams.
Like it was flashy on the outside but kinda meh on the inside.
"Anyway, let's not let our guard down until the end."
"Yeah. I'm scared the last dessert's gonna be a human finger or something."
I poked at the cake while chatting idly with Song Arin.
"By the way."
"Yeah."
"...that."
"Yeah."
"...thaaat..."
"Hey, Arin. Spit it out. Don't just go 'that' over and over."
"Argh, just wait!"
Song Arin shut her mouth and opened it repeatedly in frustration.
"Th-that..."
"..."
I crossed my arms and waited for her to speak, and after a long while, she finally let out a heavy sigh and looked at me.
"Why'd you bring me here?"
"You, Arin?"
"Honestly, you could've done this alone. Checking people out and all that."
"I told you."
I looked back at Song Arin, who was staring at me, and repeated what I'd said earlier.
"It's because I wanted to say thanks."
"It's not thanks."
Song Arin looked at me.
Her face was serious now, unlike before.
"I'm not an idiot."
"..."
"At some point, the way you look at me changed. I noticed."
"..."
"What do you think it is?"
Song Arin crossed her legs and gazed at me.
"...Who knows."
"Worry."
Her words rang out quietly amid the chatter of people enjoying themselves around us.
"While doing this work, there are two emotions I can pinpoint for sure."
"What are they?"
"Goodwill, and worry."
Song Arin gave a dry smile as she looked at me.
"You know what? Your expression changes every time you look at different people."
"..."
"I can tell from your eyes."
Song Arin pointed to her own eyes and smiled.
"When you talk to the branch chief, your eyes sparkle with mischief like a kid."
"..."
"When you talk to the blonde, it's a bit like an older brother vibe."
"Well, Eirin is young—"
"When you talk to the white-hair, it's flustered, but with goodwill."
Song Arin kept going without giving me a chance to speak.
"And when you talk to the black-hair, it's goodwill and warmth."
"..."
"And when you look at me, it used to be playful, but now it's pure worry in your eyes and on your face."
Song Arin looked at me and smiled.
"Right?"
"..."
I had nothing to say.
It was true—ever since the Myeongil Apartments incident, I'd been looking at her with genuine worry.
Worried she'd break down, or make some irreversible choice.
Song Arin let out a small sigh as she saw my face.
"I'll be honest. Sometimes, when I see you talking to the black-hair, I wonder what it is that makes you so fond of her."
Song Arin stared straight at me.
"And there's only one thing I can conclude from that."
Song Arin continued without wiping the smile from her face.
"That girl gave you something that I—no, even white-hair, or anyone else couldn't."
"Arin—"
"What could it be?"
Song Arin murmured as she looked at me.
"After the Red Lady incident, I've been with you in almost... well, most incidents. So maybe something happened that I don't know about?"
"..."
"And when I think about it, only one thing comes to mind."
Her gaze shifted from me to the cake in front of her.
A handmade cake, but not made by the world's top patissier.
It looked impressive, beautiful on the outside, but the inside was just a tad sloppy.
Premium, but not the best—flashy but hollow.
"Ah. The black-hair gave you a debt you can never repay."
She murmured while poking the cake with her fork.
"And you were moved by that debt, your heart touched."
"..."
"So, I tried to do it too. Or more precisely, if that situation came up, I wanted to do it too."
"Arin."
"I've told you before, right?"
Song Arin smiled faintly.
"If I want to, I can linger in anyone's heart."
"..."
"I can make them remember me forever, worship me, make them unable to live without me."
She was right.
If she wanted, she could make most of the world love her.
"But that's not real emotion."
Her voice trembled slightly.
"In the end, no one truly remembers me or worries for me."
"..."
"And you're the only one who can make me certain of that."
She looked up at me again.
She continued with a still-calm expression.
"But it didn't work."
"..."
"To die in place of someone else—that has to be a skill too."
Yoo Daon's face flashed in my mind for a moment.
In a room where you couldn't leave unless you did XX, Yoo Daon endured countless pains for my sake and chose to save me.
What about Jang Chaeyeon?
She too chose drowning without a second thought, or throwing herself into the crater.
"That time on the moon, when I did everything I could to protect you—that was why too."
Song Arin murmured as she looked at me.
"I thought if I protected you like that, and resolved things at the end, sending you off a bit more comfortably, the way you looked at me would change. Was I a burden?"
"...No, not a burden."
If she hadn't protected me, I really wouldn't have held out.
It was a desperate situation back then.
I was going mad, and so was she.
In fact, because she protected me, I was able to stay till the end and solve the problem.
"But in the end, you wrapped it up this time too."
I recalled her face, tears streaming down as I choked her throat.
"So here we are."
Song Arin met my eyes and smiled.
"You, still looking at me with worried eyes."
"Arin."
"No. I'm not blaming you or her or anything. Honestly, I don't feel much."
Song Arin slowly shook her head.
"It's just a bit regrettable. Regret that I can produce good results, but not the best ones."
"..."
"So, to answer your worried gaze with my honest feelings."
Song Arin met my eyes.
"You know about the Myeongil Apartments, don't you?"
"...!"
I involuntarily sucked in a breath, and Song Arin smirked at the sight.
"Yeah. Otherwise, you wouldn't look at me like that with such worry."
"How..."
"Hey, how what?"
Song Arin laughed in her usual tone.
"After the Myeongil Apartments incident, the way you look at me changed—do you think I'm an idiot who wouldn't notice?"
"..."
I had nothing to say.
"And I learned another horrific truth."
She sighed.
"Hey, Kim Jaeheon."
"...Yeah."
"I'm a really awful person."
Song Arin looked up at the ceiling.
The chandelier was still gleaming beautifully in the light.
"Pretending to care for others while what I've actually done is just... yeah."
"..."
"But honestly, I don't remember well now."
Song Arin murmured, even though she hadn't hypnotized herself.
"Is it because humans are creatures of forgetfulness? Or because I was too young back then? The only thing I remember clearly is what my mom and dad said while looking at me."
"...What did they say?"
"..."
Song Arin looked at me.
Even though the chandelier light wasn't shining directly in her eyes, something sparkled in them.
"I love you. Survive no matter what and live happily, Arin."
"..."
"That's all I remember. But from what I've heard, I did something awful."
Song Arin murmured as she looked at me.
"So, yeah. Must've been that."
"..."
I looked above her head.
[Name: Song Arin]
[Age: 21]
[Talent: Hypnosis]
[Talent: Manipulation]
[Background: She's being crushed by an unbearable past.]
[Weakness: A little push, and she'll crumble.]
"Shall we go?"
Before I could say anything, Song Arin stood up.
"Well, someday there'll be a day when I do better."
"..."
I stood up too, looking at Song Arin.
"Yeah. Let's go."
She walked lightly through the crowd in her dress.
People looked at her.
"What're you doing?"
She turned back to look at me.
"Not coming?"
*
The night was cold.
In the biting chill, Song Arin looked at me.
"Sorry. I kinda ruined the mood at the end."
"...No, it's fine."
"Sorry's sorry. It'll be okay from tomorrow."
Song Arin smiled faintly and tapped my arm.
"See you tomorrow. Today was really nice."
Then she turned and walked away.
I watched her retreating figure.
What should I say?
Clumsy comfort? Empathy?
I didn't know the incident well enough to empathize with her story.
Comfort might just make her feel more pathetic.
"..."
What should I have done?
I started walking home.
I walked through an empty alley.
As my worries deepened,
-clatter.
A sound came from beside me.
The sound of a wooden doll walking on the ground.
I slowly turned my head to look.
A single wooden doll was staring at me.
At the same time,
"The third act."
-shrrk!
What had been a wall moments ago opened up like a stage curtain.
The dolls put on a show.
Some danced, some watched like audience members.
And above them, blood-soaked dolls hung like sacrifices in spiderwebs.
A hand appeared.
And then, a familiar face appeared before me.
"..."
Music blared.
In music like a clown's circus,
[Name: Ringmaster]
[Age: -]
[Talent: Manipulation]
[Talent: Manipulation]
[Background: Let's sing. For a world where all are happy, for a world where all have fun, for a world where none suffer.]
[Weakness: ]
Her emotionless gaze fixed on me.
"Arin—"
Before I could speak, something grabbed my collar.
It was a long thread.
"Wait, Arin...!"
She looked at me with an expressionless face.
"You."
"..."
"Not me?"
She tilted her head as if confused.
Then threw me onto the stage.
My consciousness faded like being forced into sleep.
"...!"
From behind, it felt like I heard Song Arin's voice.