Enlightenment (2)
The door to Kang Jia's room creaked open with that same grating screech.
Her body always smelled so damn good, but her room was a total disaster. How the hell did she live in this pitch-black pit where even the lights wouldn't turn on?
Then again, she was practically glued to me like my shadow most of the time, so she probably never used her own room anyway.
"There's a desk lamp."
I hadn't noticed it last time, but there was at least some light source. Maybe because it was such a bright sunny day, I could vaguely make out the lamp on Kang Jia's desk.
Click.
I adjusted the gooseneck to shine light across the whole room, and suddenly everything was visible.
Diary... diary.
She must've moved it after catching me looking at it last time.
Slide.
I opened the drawer.
"Huh?"
Surprisingly, it wasn't hidden or anything. It was just sitting there neatly in the drawer.
The important part was the padlock attached to the side of the diary. It looked like one of those childish locks elementary kids use, but absurdly enough, it was a hefty chunk of metal.
Where would the key to this thing be?
Kang Jia didn't want me seeing her diary.
And it was obviously her messing with my memories.
Which meant she didn't want me uncovering the secrets of this world—or getting my old self back.
So where would someone like her hide the key to her diary?
Not in her room with the diary itself, that's for sure...
I'd hugged her body plenty of times and even checked inside her panties, but no key anywhere.
Not in her room, not on her body... then...
'The storage room?'
The thought hit me out of nowhere.
The small room at the end of the hallway leading to the kitchen on the first floor.
I didn't want to go in there, but the 'parents' only said not to during meals, so if I was careful, maybe I could sneak a peek.
First, I needed a shower.
I could still feel that cockroach monster's breath clinging to me.
Shhh.
Even as I rinsed off under the cold shower spray, my eyes kept flicking to the ceiling. Like any house, the duct up there connected to the bathroom in my room.
What if that thing burst out from there? The fear lingered.
I swore I could hear that scritch-scritch scraping from above.
I rushed through the shower, barely toweling off before bolting out like I was fleeing.
'Damn it...'
Even the house—the one place I thought I could rest—was turning into hell.
Humans can't sleep in a room where even a finger-joint-sized cockroach crawls on the ceiling.
Let alone a monster bigger than a person?
How the hell was anyone supposed to sleep?
I didn't have nerves of steel like that.
This was bullshit.
Bang!
"Oppa~ All clean? Ah!?"
Kang Jia jumped when she saw me standing in her room, too freaked out by the cockroach to dress properly, just a towel barely covering my groin.
But it was only for a second.
"Heeheehee, you wimp oppa. Scared of a cockroach so bad you couldn't even dry off? Huh? Huh?"
She grinned wickedly, teasing me again.
Did she really find this fun? She wasn't a kid anymore.
"No, seriously... Sigh... I'm not joking. It was a huge cockroach..."
I wasn't even mad anymore.
...Not that I could get mad at her in the first place.
"Aww~ I get it~ Gimme the towel, I'll dry you off."
I asked nicely, but she snatched it from my hand in a flash.
"Head down, oppa. I'll dry you."
I obediently lowered my head.
The towel meticulously wiped the water from my hair.
"So cute, so cute, so cute, so cute...!"
'Feels nice, though...'
Kang Jia's creepy muttering as she dried my hair sent chills down my spine, but it really did feel good.
Just when I started wondering if I'd end up her pet for real, she handed back the towel.
"There, you do the rest. I gotta head to work now."
"Work?"
"Yeah... I really don't wanna leave you, oppa... but work's been crazy busy lately. I'll be back around lunch."
Suddenly busy, huh...
What the hell did her 'company' even do...?
She suddenly glared at me.
"You won't go outside, right? We promised."
"Y-yeah..."
"Okay then, kissy♡"
She was demanding that promise kiss from before.
I leaned in, and she stood on tiptoes, pressing her lips to mine.
"Tongue, oppa."
Smack♡
Slurp...♡
The second I stuck out my tongue, she sucked on it like a butterfly devouring nectar from a flower.
"Pwah♡ Heehee, thanks for the meal. Anyway, since I wrapped my tongue around yours, you gotta keep the promise! If not, I'll really punish you."
Scritch-scritch-scritch-scritch-scritch.
It was a hallucination.
I felt uneasy.
So without thinking, I grabbed Kang Jia.
"Um... hey... can you not go today?"
"Huh...?"
It was embarrassing to say, but staying alone in this house was too dangerous.
"Can't you stay with me...?"
"Gasp...!"
She clapped a hand over her mouth.
"A-a confession all of a sudden?"
"What the hell are you talking about...? It might be funny to you, but that cockroach is driving me insane. For real!!"
Kang Jia, who was slipping into some dumb rom-com vibe, turned serious at my shout.
She peered deep into my eyes.
Observing me.
Cold sweat, dilated pupils, clinging to her unlike usual.
"You're serious, oppa...? W-what do I do... I have to go..."
With all her obsessions and mental issues, she recognized my state matched her own anxiety attacks.
Squeeze...
She hugged me gently.
"It's okay. I'll... protect you. Wait here a sec."
With that, Kang Jia opened the bathroom duct in her room and stuck her head in.
I heard that eerie Suggestion Voice echo muffled from inside the duct for the first time—not aimed at me.
Kang Jia popped back down.
"Good? This one's a real command, unlike the requests I made to you before. Nothing can touch you now, okay? So be a good boy and stay home?"
Even the commands on me had been hard to resist, and those weren't full power?
I wasn't sure if her suggestion power would work on that brainless cockroach monster, but it sure beat doing nothing. I felt way better.
'Still feels off, though...'
With Kang Jia—the only one who could protect me from the three unidentified horrors in this house ('parents' and the cockroach)—gone.
But I didn't cling anymore.
I had to tough it out.
Alone.
If I kept relying on her, I'd end up truly submitting from the depths of my heart.
Besides, to open her diary, I needed her gone anyway.
"Okay, I'm off! Get some sleep!"
Thud.
The front door slammed downstairs.
I hurried into some clothes.
"Storage room, storage room..."
Time to check it out.
Something useful had to be there.
I passed the kitchen—where the 'parents' had been chomping on something—and opened the storage door, avoiding the creepy dining table.
Unlike her sister's room or the bathroom duct, no dust or stench.
If anything...
It smelled sweet.
Like candy, or nuts, or fruity tang.
My mouth watered.
I want to eat... eat... so bad...
I slapped my own cheek full force.
That was close. Almost lost it.
This was like before.
That uncontrollable hunger when staring at the meat the 'parents' were eating—like ants swarming inside my skull.
Hunger dominating my brain.
"Fucking... insane house..."
No safe spot anywhere.
I held my breath as much as possible, scanning the storage fast.
Spotless white walls, bright fluorescent lights.
Shelves lining the walls, packed with tools and junk.
One thing caught my eye.
[Jia's! Touch it and die!]
I snorted.
Imagining her tiny fist shaking in the air made me chuckle despite myself. Even though she was an uncontrollable monster, that cute appearance was her biggest weapon.
I ignored the warning and pulled out the plastic box, opening it.
Inside...
"!"
The key...!
I pocketed it quick, then checked the rest. Lots of weird vials and boxes.
"What's this... GHB?"
No fancy packaging—just a white cardboard box with thick marker scrawl.
Wasn't this the date-rape drug, like liquid ecstasy or something...?
My memories were fragmented, but I vaguely recalled illegal stickers in public restroom stalls advertising GHB. The news made a huge fuss.
Obvious why it was in a [Jia's!] box. Either used it on me or bought it to.
Sickening.
I pocketed a couple pills from the box.
Neither the key nor pills were bulky, so no issue.
'All the items to take down Kang Jia are gathered.'
Worth slapping my face and holding my breath for.
Key for the diary.
Pills to knock her out, then off to school to see Su-hee.
Creak.
Back in her room again.
I opened the drawer and pulled out the diary.
Gulp.
Something had to be inside.