064. Promise
064. Promise
Around sunset.
Far off in the distance, a house with a blue roof started to come into view.
【Reformed Guburi】─A countryside road stroll stream is fun too, lol.
【Yoho】─Seeing the host and Bubblegum walking along side by side holding hands somehow feels like a dad and his daughter.
【Min-ji】─It really does. It's nice to see. heh.
【Qkrnfl892】─?? Min-ji's corruption phase is over. Was it just temporary corruption?
【Min-ji】─My mood suddenly went down earlier. Sorry. heh heh.
The broadcast was still underway.
The walk there was boring, for one.
And for some reason, I felt like the atmosphere would be awkward if I walked down the road alone with just Bubblegum.
【Hottie Licker】─Suddenly missing my dad. lick.
【Min-ji】─Me too. T_T
【Se-hun Defense Force】─Min-ji, you don't have a dad?
【Min-ji】─Yeah.
【Se-hun Defense Force】─Since you're a gold spoon, I figured you'd have a dad too.
【Yoho】─I have a father. heh heh.
【Reformed Guburi】─Whoa, Yoho has a dad?
【Hottie Licker】─Jealous. lick.
【Qkrnfl892】─Yoho, your mother must be exceptional in both ability and looks.
【Reverse-Rape Maniac】─Hey, Ppaguri. Your mother is a police chief too, isn't she? You don't have a dad?
【Qkrnfl892】─Yeah, don't have one.
Judging by the standards of the world I used to live in.
If you looked at the chat log just now, you might find it strange.
It could easily look like a patricide joke if you weren't careful.
But in this world, it was common conversation.
Because people in South Korea here frequently lacked a father.
Of course, the me of this world had both parents.
‘It must be thanks to my mother's looks.’
I didn't want to admit it.
But the mother of this world's me was considerably beautiful.
Even in her funeral portrait, there was a glow that seemed to radiate light.
Compared to her, my father's looks were below average.
‘Were my parents in the previous world the same people too?’
Thinking about it now, I suspected they were probably different people.
If it weren't a Gender-Reversed World.
My father was absolutely not at the level to marry a woman like my mother.
‘If he had been a wealthy, capable man, there might have been a possibility...’
Unless he was a real piece of trash.
I thought there was no way a rich and capable person would abandon their own flesh and blood.
‘Though abandoning them in the first place did make him trash, I supposed.’
Thoughts of my parents surfaced out of nowhere and soured my mood.
So I shook off the idle thoughts, resolved to think only hopeful thoughts from now on, and checked the chat window again.
【Semen Thief】─How are babies made?
【Reformed Guburi】─You make them by having sex.
【Reverse-Rape Maniac】─They're made even if you get reverse-raped.
【Hottie Licker】─They happen even if you suck like crazy. lick.
【Semen Thief】─What's sex?
【Reformed Guburi】─Swallowing a dick with your cunt and going, hut-dul! hut-dul! Shaking it like hell while moaning.
【Semen Thief】─What's a cunt and a dick?
【Reformed Guburi】─A pussy and a cock, you retard. Fucking hell, acting all innocent. You fucking bitch.
【Semen Thief】─Aha.
【Hottie Licker】─Guburi is great at explaining things on their level. lolol
【Qkrnfl892】─lolololol
【Se-hun Defense Force】─When the hell is that bastard going to get banned?
A small laugh burst out of me when I saw Guburi's chat.
As expected, Guburi was one of those viewers my room couldn't do without.
She was like a breath of oxygen that breathed life into the chat window, after all.
"Gyejipsa. Chat mute Guburi."
【Gyejipsa】─Wakyapya!
Just like that, I got to the front gate of the neighbor's house while watching the chat.
*
*
*
【Hottie Licker】─He's leaving us again...
【Yoho】─I'm fine. Getting abandoned is something I'm used to by now...
【Min-ji】─You have to come back quickly. T_T
【Qkrnfl892】─These fuckers are so damn dramatic. lol
In front of the neighbor's gate.
I set up a stand in the bushes and fixed the camera in place.
【Se-hun Defense Force】─Se-hun. You're just going to leave the camera out here and go in?
【Reverse-Rape Maniac】─What if someone steals it?
"It's fine. It's the countryside, so no one will take it. There's nobody passing by in the first place."
I decided to leave the camera outside like this and go in.
Unless an animal carried it off, there was no way it would ever get lost.
【Qkrnfl892】─No, I mean. You could just turn off the stream or cut the feed and take the camera with you. I really don't get what you're doing.
【Reverse-Rape Maniac】─Looks like he got a taste for the abandonment play. I actually like it. lol
【Semen Thief】─Whoa.
【Se-hun Defense Force】─Maybe he's doing this because it'd be a nuisance if he brought the camera while visiting?
【Hottie Licker】─Our Se-hun isn't that considerate. lick.
【BigGirl】─Hmm. What's the real reason you're leaving the camera here???
"The reason? You guys can just stare at their front gate and imagine me eating."
【Se-hun Defense Force】─?
【BigGirl】─??
【Qkrnfl892】─Are you a psycho?
"It was a joke."
【BigGirl】─I thought it might be a joke.
【Se-hun Defense Force】─lol, so what's the real reason?
"There's no particular reason."
【Se-hun Defense Force】─?
【BigGirl】─Hmm...
【Qkrnfl892】─Told you, he's a psycho.
"That was a joke too. If I set it up like this, I can start the broadcast right away when I come out after eating without any extra prep, right?"
【Reverse-Rape Maniac】─How many seconds does it take to turn on a broadcast? lol
【BigGirl】─You don't have to turn off the stream in the first place, you know.
【Qkrnfl892】─I think what you just said was bullshit. The first reason you gave is probably the real one.
【Se-hun Defense Force】─For real lol
【Hottie Licker】─lol, don't try to understand Se-hun's actions. He's a man more inscrutable than a cat. lick.
"Think whatever you want. Anyway, I'll be back."
【Qkrnfl892】─Bye
【Min-ji】─Come back safely!
【Yoho】─I'll hold my breath and wait.
【Hottie Licker】─If you come back quickly, I'll give you a kiss. smooch smooch.
After finishing my goodbyes to the viewers like that, I moved to the neighbor's front gate and pressed the doorbell.
***
We received a warm welcome from the mother and daughter next door and went inside the house.
There was no need to introduce Bubblegum separately.
I had sent a text in advance saying I was bringing my daughter.
"But I had no idea you had a daughter. You look incredibly young."
The middle-aged woman,
Lee Yu-sun, spoke while looking at Bubblegum with a fond expression.
Of the mother and daughter, the mother was Lee Yu-sun.
The daughter's name was Lee Yu-na.
The entire time Lee Yu-sun guided us to the living room, she gazed intently at Bubblegum with eyes full of maternal love.
"What is your daughter's name?"
"Bubblegum."
"Bubblegum! Wakyapya!"
Bubblegum and I answered at the same time.
Hearing the answer, Lee Yu-sun asked again in confusion.
"Bubblegum? So then her full name including the surname would be Gye Bubblegum...?"
"Something like that."
"Wakyapya."
I just glossed over it vaguely.
Truthfully, I didn't know Bubblegum's name either.
I hadn't been particularly curious, so I'd never asked.
For reference, in this world, it was standard to take the surname of the parent who held custody.
When we were exchanging texts,
I had explained I was raising a daughter alone, so it was only natural she thought the surname was 'Gye'.
Of course, when both parents were present, the child took the mother’s surname.
‘But that person had been quiet for a while. Was she really shy?’
As I walked down the hallway, I glanced sideways at Lee Yu-na.
She had her lips pressed firmly shut and was just staring straight ahead with a dazed, blank look in her eyes.
She was a truly taciturn woman.
"I'm sorry. The hallway is a bit long, isn't it? Here, this is the living room."
Lee Yu-sun said that as she opened the living room door.
In the center of the spacious living room, I saw a dining table laden with a colorful array of food.
"Wakyapya! It looks delicious!"
Bubblegum ran over restlessly and sat down in a chair.
It wasn't just her appearance; her behavior was exactly like a small child's.
"Se-hun, please have a seat too."
"Yes."
Once I took the seat next to Bubblegum, the mother and daughter naturally sat down across from us.
I slowly examined the food laid out on the table.
‘...It was all meat. But what kind of meat was it?’
The appearance looked quite appetizing.
But for some reason, I had absolutely no appetite at all.
I wasn't sure why, but my instincts were repulsed by the food on the table.
It was a strange thing.
Unless it was human flesh, there was no reason for me to be this repulsed by food.
"Come on, come on. Don't be shy, help yourselves right away."
It was the moment Lee Yu-sun urged us to start eating.
Screech—!
Bubblegum shoved her chair back and shot up from her seat.
"I, I suddenly have to poop! Bathroom!"
"Ah. The bathroom is through that door on the right..."
"It's cominggggggg!"
Without even hearing Lee Yu-sun out to the end,
Bubblegum opened the door on the right and ran off into the hallway.
***
Lee Yu-na hurriedly chased after Bubblegum,
saying she would guide her, just in case.
She mentioned the hallway was long and complicated, so she might get lost.
And so, only two of us were left at the dining table—Lee Yu-sun and me.
"..."
"..."
A heavy silence hung over the living room.
Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick.
Only the sound of the wall clock's second hand moving regularly filled the room.
Naturally, there were no sounds of cutlery clinking either,
since neither I nor Lee Yu-sun was touching the food.
While this silence continued for a while,
the sound of Lee Yu-sun swallowing the saliva in her throat could be heard.
"So..."
Her lips moved as she slowly began to speak.
She looked back and forth between me and the food.
"Se-hun? Do you perhaps... not like meat?"
"No. I like it."
"Then why aren't you eating...?"
"I'm planning to eat together once my daughter comes."
"Ah, I see..."
After that, silence flowed again.
*
*
*
Fifteen minutes passed.
Bubblegum still hadn't come back.
She could have an upset stomach, so it wasn't something to worry about too much.
What I needed to pay attention to right now were the unsettling gazes I'd been feeling for a while.
‘For some reason, it felt like someone kept watching me...’
It didn't seem to be my imagination.
I subtly shifted my gaze, trying not to be obvious.
I scanned the dining table,
observed the kitchen,
swept my gaze over the three doors connected to the hallway,
then began to slowly take in the entire living room.
Lastly,
I carefully placed my hand on the table and gripped the knife.
And then I looked at Lee Yu-sun and asked.
"...Excuse me, may I ask you one thing?"
"Huh? Ah, yes. Go ahead."
"Are Yu-sun and Yuna the only two people living in this house?"
"That's right? Why do you suddenly ask?"
"..."
"Se-hun?"
I rose from my seat, still holding the knife.
I felt a presence coming from two spots:
the blind spot next to the kitchen refrigerator,
and behind the door that connected to the central hallway.