Chapter 46
Chapter 46
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 46
Chapter Title: The Monstrous Cockroach
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"Hoo, huu, huu."
Yu In-ha's place...
Yu In-ha took a deep breath, gripping the door lock tightly.
Sh... shit. How big is this thing to make her this tense?
My heart started pounding too.
"I-I'm going in?"
At Yu In-ha's signal, I nodded.
She said she'd gotten insecticide and stuff ready.
We just had to grab it as soon as we saw it.
But what if the insecticide doesn't kill it...?
What if it goes berserk from the excitement...? Heh... hek...
Beep beep beep. Ding-ding.
The door opened with a cheerful sound.
Come to think of it, this was my first time at Yu In-ha's place.
Not that I'd ever have a reason to come here, but somehow, because of a bug, here I was.
"Hoo, huu."
Yu In-ha opened the door nervously and stepped inside.
The entryway... thankfully, no major disaster greeted us right away.
I stayed on guard and followed her in.
For a villa studio, it was pretty spacious...
Probably around 250 to 300 square feet.
The room was impeccably neat and tidy, just like Yu In-ha's personality.
Here and there, flashy accessories stood out as accents.
Wow... I've never seen such a pristine bachelor pad.
"Wh-where'd it go... you fucking bastard..."
Yu In-ha's eyes darted around frantically, pupils shaking.
It probably crawled under some furniture...
For now, I grabbed some insecticide spray and a massive book in a hurry.
If we couldn't kill it in one hit, we were done for...
"No way you slept here with that thing last night?"
"Are you crazy? I went to a motel, obviously.
Shit, if you'd caught it yesterday, I wouldn't have needed the motel, fuck..."
...Well, that's true, but...
No, you could've caught it yourself from the start!
Yu In-ha muttered about how the motel cost sucked, scanning the room vigorously.
I scanned too, but nothing yet...
"Hu... huheuk..."
With the thing nowhere in sight, Yu In-ha started twitching like she was having spasms.
Her mental state shattered, she trembled uncontrollably...
Seeing the usually fierce Yu In-ha like this was kinda novel...
Though I'd probably freak out too if I saw the real thing...
"C-call some other guy.
You know tons of dudes..."
"Fuck no? You want my location leaked?
Why would I bring a guy to my place?"
...Am I not a guy?
Shit, she sees me as some slave errand boy...
Fair enough, it's her private space, so bringing a guy over would be weird.
Plus, calling guys just to kill bugs is kinda lame...
Guess I'm her last resort... fuck.
"Wh-where the hell did it go, fuck..."
Yu In-ha gritted her teeth and turned on her flashlight.
The bright smartphone light... somehow, it felt like we shouldn't turn it on...
Scrabble scrabble scrabble!
"Aaaah!!!!!! Aaaah!!!!! There!!!! There!!!!!!"
The moment the light hit under the dark furniture, a cockroach burst out.
Gu... guh!
It was almost half the size of my fist, just like in the photo...
Okay, maybe not literally fist-sized, but it felt that way.
No, fuck, including its legs, it really was fist-sized!!
"Hu... huheuk...!"
My legs froze like I'd faced a wild beast.
This overwhelming cockroach... was on par with a predator...!
My body locked up like I'd been hit by infrasound howling. Wh-wheel... f-fist-sized... f-fist... rice ball-sized...!
"Hey, Yi Jun-hyeong, what are you doing! What the hell!!"
Yu In-ha screamed and stomped her feet.
The cockroach charged with majestic swagger...
Better late than never, my senses snapped back. Y-you cocky little shit. How dare you ignore the lord of creation!?
Kikikikikiki.
Lord of creation? Bullshit lol.
As if mocking me, the cockroach barreled straight at us.
Yu In-ha practically collapsed onto me in hysterics.
What can you puny fucks do if I charge? Lol.
The deranged cockroach came at us like a madman...
Something like endorphins surged at the sight.
This fucker... lost all fear?
"I'll kill you..."
In one hit!
The cockroach scrabbled right up close with that scrabble scrabble sound.
I raised the book dramatically. Come on...!
Thud.
The book slammed into the floor, followed by a squelch.
...Squelch? H-how big is it to make a squelch...?
I ground my foot on the book for sure. Die! Die! Die! Just fucking die!
"Ha, ha, hak, hak, hak,"
Yu In-ha collapsed, gasping like she was dying.
I could see why she'd freaked out so bad...
I was scared shitless too... If this were my place, I'd have bolted...
"I-is it dead? Dead?"
"Probably... dead..."
Smashed under a thick book in one go, plus I stomped it—no way it survived.
"The problem is..."
"The problem?"
"Disposal... that's the issue..."
Yu In-ha flinched back with a "Huheuk."
I pressed my ear to the book. Definitely... dead. No twitching.
But it was so huge... the corpse must be massive too...
"O-of course you have to clean it up!"
"Cleaning it up... I don't think I can..."
I don't have the guts to check the body...
At my words, Yu In-ha freaked and clung to me.
"Why!!! Why!!! Clean it up!!! Please clean it!!! I can't live with this!!!"
"I-it'll haunt my dreams. It'll haunt me, I said..."
"Agh! Aaaah—! Please! Please! I'm dying! I'm seriously dying!"
The usually haughty Yu In-ha begging me like this...
Kinda thrilling.
But thrill or no, I was too scared to do it. This is my limit...!
"I spent 70,000 won because of you...
Fuck, 70,000 at a shitty motel...
Just clean it up..."
"W-wasn't because of me, right?"
"If you'd come yesterday, I wouldn't have spent 70,000..."
Miracle math...
But with her begging like this, I couldn't just bail...
Ugh... fuck... Cleaning the corpse will shatter my mind too...
This bitch...! How dare she ask me with a straight face? Pay with your body!
That was just a fantasy; nothing else to do...
I glanced down at the book again.
Yu In-ha's eyes followed. N-no way...
"C-can't do it. I can't."
"Aaaah!!!! Don't go!!!! Don't you dare go!!!!!"
It's really impossible, fuck!!!
I killed it, that's enough!!! Call pest control for cleanup!!!
As I moved to leave, Yu In-ha panicked and yanked my pants.
Let... let go! My pants are coming off!
"I-I'll be good! I'll treat you right! No more bullying! No more loser treatment!"
"That's a given!"
No, fuck, stating the obvious!
Yu In-ha dragged along on her knees, practically spitting blood.
"I'm dying! Dying here! Fuck, you wanna get beat? Hey! Stop!?"
Begging failed, now threats...
My ingrained loser DNA flinched, but I couldn't stop.
That's really impossible, fuck!!
"I-I'm going."
"Hu, huheuk,"
Dragged to the entryway, Yu In-ha gasped.
Sh-she's about to faint. But fuck, I can't help it!! Killing it was bad enough; cleaning it will give me nightmares! Gotta bail!
"W-wish."
Yu In-ha grabbed the door and said.
"I'll grant one wish. Here's a wish coupon."
"...Wish coupon...?"
My body reacted instantly.
That wish coupon the delinquents always forced on me...
They'd make me do weird shit, then give me a wish coupon as "payment"...
Why does that sound tempting...?
"N-no, I'll buy you food. Food."
"...I'm out."
"Wish coupon! Wish coupon! I'm giving it, fuck!"
Trying to pawn it off with a meal...
Back in high school, I'd have done it without a peep...
But not anymore... Though if Yi Ju-ha asked, I'd clean without question...
"Hey... promise?"
"Fine... fuck..."
Should I record this?
Getting a wish coupon from Yu In-ha...
Honestly, I was gonna clean and leave. But planned for tomorrow. Today... just killing it maxed my mental limit...
"Hoo... hup..."
I turned back and stood before the book.
Heroic cockroach... planet-destroying cockroach... time to face its corpse...
I slowly lifted the book.
A sinister sizzle sounded.
Yu In-ha clung beside me, peeking down.
Siiiizzle...
With unidentified dripping liquid, the half-visible heroic cockroach...
I dropped the book.
"I-I'm going. Sorry. Pretend it never happened."
"You fucking bastard!!!"
"Huu... huheuk..."
"Hehe."
My mental state...
Cleaning up a planet-destroying cockroach... was pretty tough...
Way more agonizing than just killing it...
That massive wreckage... the mystery liquids...
Lifting the squished corpse... it'll stick with me for a while...
"Heung."
...This wicked bitch...
Yu In-ha beamed, looking relieved.
I even wiped up the yellowish mystery goo, so yeah.
Still, not a total loss...
Saw some rare sides of Yu In-ha.
And got the wish coupon. Yeah... that's enough... avenged the loser's grudge...
Bread shuttle alliance bros... you watching?
"Hey, hop in."
Yu In-ha smugly patted a car.
A brown Carnival. What's this? Gifted? Doesn't seem bought.
"Got it from my uncle. I got a car, see?"
"Ooh..."
Nice? Kinda outdated vibe, but better than nothing.
Doesn't match Yu In-ha at all, this old model...
"Ool..."
"Pretty good, right?"
Honestly, it's crappy.
But looked maintained, pretty clean.
And a nice scent too. Knowing her, she scrubbed it spotless and sprayed perfume like crazy...
"Loosen up, punk. I'll buy coffee."
"Yeah..."
Still haven't fully recovered...
"Still, a guy's a guy, huh? Useful, Yi Jun-hyeong?"
"..."
Just install bug spray next time...
I sighed and buckled up.
Something feels off though. Didn't she just get it?
"But... you drive well?"
"Huh?"
Yu In-ha's reaction was a beat slow.
She burst into awkward laughter late.
"I'm a total pro."
"..."
Why avoid eye contact?
At my skeptical look, her face crumpled.
"Don't believe me, fuck? Huh? Don't?"
"No, not that..."
She's not using me for driving practice, right?
I gripped the seatbelt tight without thinking.
Can't die before using the wish coupon!