Chapter Text
<Darkness Exploration Records>
<
Can only be entered by multiple people
Players will be periodically asked to lend an item or body part, and each person may refuse a request once. But any person can choose to accept the request. Upon a person’s second refusal their body will be dragged away and torn to pieces by countless hands. Due to the incorporeal nature of these hands, there have been no recorded ways of bypassing or escaping the punishment. The ghosts have been recorded to make equal parts lethal and non lethal requests. Any borrowed items and parts will be returned to the user at the end.
>
As far as darknesses went, this one at least had no long term side effects assuming everyone followed the manual correctly. However…
I stared at the splayed and shredded body in front of me and grimaced. In the distance, crows cawed. They’d likely come to collect the pieces soon. The other person who came with us was asked for their “brain” and “spleen.” They had refused both times. I suspect that Kwak had purposefully misled them about the case, and by the time I realized this, they had already refused for a second time.
At least they had refused one of the lethal requests already so there were only two left. Otherwise this situation would’ve been far worse.
Baek Saheon stood beside me, his face, which was pale earlier while watching the hands tear apart the man’s body, was now filled with a cautious glint. I followed his gaze to where the tattered corpse was. Saheon took a step over. This guy really was-
“Don’t.”
Saheon tensed, paused, and looked over at me.
“Lending things belonging to others isn’t recognized as an offering by them.”
He clenched his fist, and begrudgingly walked back.
This damned grubber. Just the idea of rummaging my hands through someone's splayed organs and guts like that sent shivers up my spine and he had barely hesitated.
But, I had to admit, something like that made him useful for the later part of this darkness.
We continued walking down the crumbling stone pathway, which was periodically illuminated by decaying street light fixtures emitting pale eerie blue light. The surroundings were covered in a dense mist, which made it difficult to see any further outside of the path but it seemed to be mostly just swaths of knotted branches and tall reaching trees. Occasionally, crows sounded from overhead.
We had crossed about three lights when a raspy voice called out to us.
“...Hello…”
A cloaked figure sat on a crumbling wooden bench a few steps outside of the path. They gestured us over with their left hand. As we made our way closer, I caught sight of the gaunt figure under the cloak. Traces of blood stuck to their clothes and hair, and their body was plastered in bandages. It was a bit hard to tell what they would ask from a quick survey of their appearance.
“... Could I please borrow your right hand?”
Bingo.
It was a non lethal request. And also made for a convenient excuse to make my roommate be the one to do that one task I was trying to avoid at the end.
Beside me, Baek Saheon flinched and stared nervously at me.
I nodded at the figure. “You may.”
The cloaked person smiled softly.
“.. Thank you…”
Then, with a trembling left hand, the ghost brought out a large cleaver from under their cloak.
I screamed internally.
Saheon gaped at me, and then the cleaver, and back to me. I might have found his reaction comedic if I weren’t busy being terrified out of my wits.
“I promise… it’ll be fast,” the cloaked ghost muttered.
Why couldn’t my hand have magically transferred to this ghost’s hand! Why did he have to go with a cleaver! Ahhh! Ahhhhhh!!! I can’t even use any items right now in case they ask for it later!
But we had to get through this somehow. I knelt and moved my right hand under where the cloaked man had raised the cleaver and closed my eyes.
Shkk—
Pain exploded in my hand. I felt warm liquid pooling on my wrist. I gritted my teeth. I needed to maintain my composure. I couldn’t let it show too much around someone like Baek Saheon.
It hurt. It hurts. It hurts so bad. I want to go home.
But I had to get out of here first.
Taking a shaky breath, I got back up, trying to staunch the bleeding stub with my jacket. I watched the cloaked ghost wearily.
At least it only took one swing. If it took multiple I might’ve passed out right then and there.
The ghost picked up my hand happily and laughed.
“Yes! Thank you! Thank you! Now I can… play it again… my…”
The ghost got up shakily, cradling my severed hand close to his chest, and as fast as it could it began hobbling away from us. I strained to look at where they were headed, it seemed to be some sort of wooden cabin. But the mist made it hard to tell.
I motioned for Saheon to go ahead. It would be better if he couldn’t see my reactions.
But Saheon didn’t start walking immediately. He had been oddly silent for a while actually.
“Um… sir, I have a healing potion, would you like to use it?”
I looked at him in bewilderment. Wow. My roommate, the item goblin, offering his precious items to heal me? It was surprising, but…
“No.”
“H-huh?”
“What if one of the ghosts asks for that item to be lent to them?”
“Ah…”
“Then you would only be able to refuse them, which means you wouldn’t be able to refuse one of the lethal requests.”
Kim Soleum smiled at Baek Saheon.
“Unless you were that eager to lend them something like that?”
Saheon shuddered.
“N-no! I just didn’t think about.. that.”
–
Dammit! This crazy bastard… Saheon thought.
“I was just trying to be… be considerate… sir.”
“I’d rather you be considerate of our survival then.”
Baek Saheon hopes Kim Soleum dies. He hopes this crazy bastard bleeds out and his corpse gets picked apart like that other guy. He’s not even sure why he offered the potion in the first place.
Maybe it was seeing Kim Soleum’s pale face after shakily getting up.
Maybe it was the way his left hand shook trying to staunch the bleeding.
Maybe it was-
Well. If Kim Soleum had accepted it he was planning to ask for payback outside anyways. An item in return perhaps. His supervisor always had valuable items. Maybe if there were some other opportunity?
–
Kim Soleum glanced at Saheon who looked disgruntled and embarrassed and sighed.
“People have never been reported to have died from offering non lethal body parts or organs, so you don’t have to worry about me. I won’t die from this.”
There was a bit more to the reason on why that was the case, but the darkness manual they provided didn’t have the reasons yet so I didn’t feel the need to elaborate to my roommate about it. It was actually impossible to die from blood loss from any non lethal offering here. The only reason “lethal” organ offerings resulted in deaths was because the ghostly hands considered those offerings akin to an offering of the entire being, rather than just a single body part.
“I wasn’t worried about you bas-” Saheon began.
Kim Soleum raised an eyebrow.
“I understand… Sir.”
They continued treading down the pathway.
They had crossed four streetlights and there had still been no ghost yet. Wasn’t this taking a bit longer than usual?
Just then, a small hand gripped the back of Kim Soleum’s shirt.
They turned around.
There stood a child, with tattered clothes. Or more precisely, just their body. They were missing most of their head, only the lower half of their jaw remained, and even that was barely attached to their neck.
The small figure held out its hands, deep bite marks and gouges left by claws littered their arms. It seemed like they had been mauled to death by an animal, or animals of some kind.
A gurgling sound made its way out of the child’s throat.
“..huread?”
Head. It had been clear what they’d ask for from their appearance from the start.
“No, I cannot give you that.”
The headless child lowered their hands and drooped.
“oeukay.”
I began walking away. Fast. As fast I could while still being able justify the speed as just being in a hurry to my roommate if he asked.
The way blood pooled in the child’s jaws and gurgled when they attempted to talk had nearly made me faint. Behind me I heard my roommate make a noise of surprise and the patter of his steps as he quickly rushed to catch up.
“Sir!?”
“It was a lethal request, no point in lingering, unless you were really considering it? Saheon, if you’re so eager to lose body parts I’m sure I can find a more lucrative way for you to do it?”
“Ugh! I’m coming… damnit.”
The next request was also lethal.
“Heart”
But I was incredibly relieved this ghost looked fairly normal beyond some bruising. I really don’t think I could’ve taken it if this ghost was also missing half their head and gurgling blood everywhere.
I motioned for Saheon to decline the request, since I had already used up my decline chance on the previous ghost.
We quickly moved on. Although I knew I wouldn’t die from it, the pulsating pain from where my hand had been severed was making it hard to concentrate. I needed to be careful. Cold sweat dripped down my forehead.
Up ahead, a figure was huddled tightly, leaning against a street light, with their knees to their chest. Faint, muffled, sobbing emanated from the ghost.
Gauze was wrapped around their left eye.
I frowned. This was going to be rather troublesome. Saheon had figured out what’d they be asking for too, based on his reaction.
We made our way over, and the ghost raised its head.
“Kind sir, please… lend me your left eye. I.. I can’t find my way home otherwise…”
Saheon instinctively put his hand over his left eye. Why was it always this damn eye!
He thought back to the cleaver the other man had brought out when Kim Soleum had offered his right hand and shuddered.
“Haah… fuck this…”
Kim Soleum tilted his head and stared at him.
“Well? You were so eager earlier, here’s your chance?”
“Shit. Shit! I know… Just give me a second, damnit…”
Saheon steeled himself.
It’ll be over soon, and once I’m out I’ll get it back so.. Just bear with it.
He opened his mouth.
“You c-”
“You may.”
?!
Saheon whipped his head over to gape at his supervisor who had just interrupted his offering.
“H-huh?”
Kim Soleum gave him a patronizing glance.
“You were taking so long I was about to die of boredom.”
—
In truth, Kim Soleum had a few reasons.
First off, Saheon’s left eye would be useful for the final task in this darkness.
Second, although he’d never experienced it before, the way the purple eye attached to a person made it so that removal was extremely, excruciatingly painful according to the darkness exploration records. While he didn’t know how high Saheon’s pain tolerance would be, there was a chance he’d turn into a useless mess on the ground, and Kim Soleum lacked both the energy and a hand to carry an extra person right now.
That being said, he was finding it really hard to mentally prepare for getting his eye gouged out shortly after getting his hand cleaved off.
But this had the best chance for success. So it was for the best.
The ghost pulled out a spoon.
Kim Soleum wanted to scream. He wanted to run.
"Aha...."
He accidentally let out a nervous laugh.
—
The way the ghost had rummaged in his eye socket had been awful and it truly was a wonder he hadn’t passed out or thrown up on the spot.
I held my hand over my bloody eye socket as we continued walking along the path.
When he saw the person pull out a spoon he really had thought of using an item, since it was the last offering they had left. But it seemed like a waste to use something like in a darkness as tame as this one just to offset some pain. The ghost had bowed and apologized afterwards before heading off into the darkness.
With my one good eye, I observed that Saheon had been uncharacteristically shifty beside me. If I didn’t know better, I’d think Saheon looked guilty. But someone like him would more likely be gleeful that he had escaped two offerings just like that so it had to be something else. Well he wouldn’t be wrong to be worried about my intentions, because I did have ulterior motives for doing something like this after all.
–
Saheon's mind was in disarray.
What the fuck was that!
Was being a bit slow truly a good enough reason to offer your eye instead? And was he ... laughing??? After seeing the spoon??? This lunatic dopamine obsessed bastard was truly insane. His gaze darted over to Kim Soleum again. He didn’t even know where to begin if he had to list all the things wrong with this insane psychopath.
Looking at the pool of blood trickling through his supervisor’s left eye. He felt something twist uncomfortably in his gut.
—
They had finished up all the offerings at this point. Up ahead, the street lights had begun to warp and twist, as if some large creature had lumbered its way through the pathway, and crumpled some structures on the way. Small blue flowers growing through worn and broken pieces of concrete began to become increasingly abundant, until they reached a clearing with a field full of them, faintly glowing.
A dark, giant feathered beast, maw hanging open lazily, laid in the center of the clearing. Its body rose and fell slowly, it was asleep. Upon closer view, rows of serrated teeth lined the creature’s mouth similar to that of a shark. Blood dripped from where its mouth hung open, staining the surrounding flowers and grass red.
Crows that were perched on the branches surrounding the clearing, some holding human parts in their beaks, watched them observantly.
<Darkness Exploration Records>
<
At the end, you will need to retrieve what you’ve lended, and make your way out. Do not take any additional items or things that do not belong to you. After that, a pathway of red flowers will guide you back home.
>
Saheon stared at the slumbering beast. Where were their items? Wasn’t there supposed to be a pile of parts and pieces here and they’d get their belongings back like some lost and found?
Kim Soleum patted Saheon’s shoulder from behind with his one good hand.
“Well, Saheon-ssi, seeing as I’m missing a hand and eye, you should be the one to retrieve the parts shouldn’t you? You should be good at recognizing what parts belong to me right?” Kim Soleum gestured towards Saheon’s eyepatch.
Saheon turned his head and stared at his supervisor.
“Aha.. and where do I…”
Kim Soleum smiled at Saheon and pointed at the creature’s gaping, pitch black maw.
“In there, obviously?”
Saheon paled.
“Haha.. um sir.. Surely we can… talk this through…?”
“Saheon-ssi, only one person can fit at a time in that thing's mouth. If I go in with one hand and one eye how long do you think it’ll take me?”
Saheon hated how logical that sounded.
“But surely since it’s your body, you’d be better at recognizing them?”
“Maybe if there was light in that thing's mouth, but without it, your eye will work better.”
There really was no getting out of this for him.
—
Fuck! Shit! That crazy, insane lunatic!
In hindsight everything Kim Soleum had done now made sense.
No wonder he had been so eager to lose a hand and eye. Fuck!
He cursed Kim Soleum. He cursed Kim Soleum’s ancestors. He cursed whatever Kim Soleum planned to spawn in the future. That fucking asshole.
He crawled through the fleshy walls of the creature's mouth. He had seen a few limbs and hands, but none were his supervisor’s. He had found his eye earlier though, luckily it was close to the entrance.
He recalled Kim Soleum’s mocking smile as he went into the creature’s mouth.
“Don’t take too long, who knows, it might get hungry and wake up.”
Don’t take too long my ass! Its not like I want to be stuck in this fucking creature’s mouth any longer than I have to! He internally wailed.
The scent of decaying flesh was stronger here, and the fumes were beginning to make his eyes water.
“Ugh…”
Brushing aside a few limbs in a pile, a faint red glow caught his eye.
It was Kim Soleum’s right hand!
He quickly snatched it and began shuffling back, making his way out. Carefully so he didn’t graze the creature’s rows of teeth, he squeezed out. He was covered in a copious amount of saliva and blood, but at least it was over.
Kim Soleum was sitting on a slab of concrete nearby.
“Congratulations. You were taking a while so I began to think you had gotten digested. But it looks like it went well after all?”
Saheon bit back some scathing remarks.
“Haha, sorry sir, it was hard to move around in there so I took a while…”
“Right. Now let’s go.”
Suddenly something caught his eye. An item glinted on the ground nearby. The fountain pen? Hadn’t Kim Soleum taken that already? Saheon reached out his hand.
“Don’t touch-”
Shffle.
From behind, the great creature's plumage shivered and trembled. Dozens of yellow eyes stretched open and locked in on Saheon. The beast let out a blood curdling screech.
–
Kim Soleum cursed. That idiot had read the manual right? Surely? So why did he!
No. It was too late to lament that now.
He ran over, and right as Saheon’s head was about to be crushed on by the creature’s jaws, he yanked.
They tumbled onto the ground.
“Move!” Kim Soleum yelled.
Saheon stumbled to get his footing.
“Agh, shit! It’s because of all the slime in that creature’s mouth!”
Red flowers began to bloom to the right of the clearing, a pathway forming past the slabs of ruined concrete slowly began to reveal itself.
There.
They bolted. At that end of that pathway, this would be over.
And then, Saheon tripped. All the blood and slime really was a hindrance after all.
Kim Soleum turned around and dragged Saheon’s body up.
Right as the creature brought its claws down on his head.
A loud crack.
His vision turned fuzzy and his ears were ringing. Red seeped into the grass and flowers below him. As his vision darkened, he thought, he really should’ve come up with some excuse to tell Saheon that the darkness required both of them to leave alive to clear.
In the distance, soft singing accompanied by a melody being played on the piano could be heard. The melody played slowly, as if someone was making an earnest attempt with one hand.
—
Saheon had stabbed the creature’s paw with his ballpoint pen. It had caused the beast to rampage into a tangle of vines but it wouldn’t be there for long. The sound of snapping vines echoed behind, like a ticking clock.
Saheon looked at his supervisor’s collapsed form on the ground. Blood pooled from the side of his head. The exit was right there, he should leave this crazy bastard behind. He probably wasn’t human anyways. And if he did die, well good riddance. He’d finally be free from this dopamine obsessed lunatic’s antics.
–
He sprinted like a madman, with Kim Soleum’s heavy body on his back and parts shoved in his pocket. He should’ve left him behind. He should’ve let this maniac become that thing’s dinner. The lumbering beast had ripped free and was rapidly catching up based on the crescendo of snaps and sounds behind and Saheon really didn’t know if he could make it in time before they both joined the piles of limbs and pieces in that thing's mouth.
Suddenly, the ground beneath him opened up, and he tumbled into darkness.
—
Baek Saheon blinked.
A familiar ceiling. Company housing? They made it! The darkness manual did mention it would drop them in the place closest to their current “home” in the world afterwards.
Groggily getting up from the floor, he looked around and saw a figure laying unconscious on the ground a few feet away.
Kim Soleum.
He had his hand back, his eyes were closed, but he probably had his eye back too.
However, blood continued to pool from his head. An alarming amount at that.
Because that wasn’t one of things that had been “lent”
He shuffled over and put his finger over Kim Soleum’s neck.
A pulse, albeit weak.
Grabbing the healing potion, he pried Kim Soleum’s mouth open.
He can’t complain about inefficient use if he’s unconscious. Saheon thought.
He poured the liquid in and watched. It seemed like his complexion improved a bit, and he wasn’t as pale as before.
Hauling his supervisor's body onto his back, he trudged his way to Kim Soleum’s room and carefully laid his unconscious body on his bed. Kim Soleum’s usually neatly arranged hair was matted with blood on one side. His bangs spilled messily over his face. He looked a bit softer like this, a far cry from the sharp and piercing presence he’d have normally. Maybe he was even-
Saheon shook his head, no what was he thinking? He took a look around at the room instead.
It was shockingly empty.
It had been a while since they had moved in hadn’t they? So why did it look like Kim Soleum had moved in just yesterday?
It didn't matter. Whatever his lunatic roommate was up to, none of it was his concern.
He headed to the washroom to clean up.
–
When Kim Soleum woke up, his head was pounding. He opened his eyes slightly and then quickly shut them. It stung!
He definitely had a concussion. He stilled and tried to recall the events from before he had gotten knocked out.
Right. The monster had hit him in the head. Quite frankly he was a bit surprised. He really thought Saheon, being as he was, would’ve left him behind to die. Maybe his roommate believed the path would only continue to form if he had the lost parts and their owner? Whatever the reason was, he was relieved.
Slowly, and gingerly Kim Soleum propped himself on the bed. As he did, he found that his right hand splayed uselessly on the bed. He opened his eyes.
Looking over, it was definitely attached and present. But like his left eye, they were non-functional.
Kim Soleum let out a deep sigh. Right, it was because the creature had landed a good hit on him before they escaped. The beast was known for imbuing temporary curses on those it touched.
[Friend!]
I looked over at my nightstand. Ah. Braun. I had left him in his tub for a bath before I had gotten unceremoniously dropped into that darkness.
[You seem to have gone through quite the ordeal! Its shame I wasn’t present to witness your adventures.]
I sighed.
“Yeah. I’ll tell you about it on my way to work.”
I got up and began changing clothes. Missing one hand, it took a bit longer than usual. I went to tidy up my bed and stared at the pillow, which was thoroughly caked in blood.
Yeah. I’d need to wash that later. Or maybe get a new one altogether.
Still, there was less blood than what I was expecting. I noticed a cup of water and some towels sitting on the nightstand.
—
Chief Jaheon looked at me as I explained the situation with the curse and recounted the darkness.
“It’ll last for a week, but it’ll be fine afterwards. Similar to the time when we were cursed after leaving the taxi ride ghost story, so I’ll still be able to work, I’ll just be a bit more cautious”
“Kim Soleum-ssi.”
“Yes?”
“You are bleeding.”
I felt something warm trickling down my face from my eyes. I raised my hand to touch my face and came away with smeared blood on my fingers.
Ah. Maybe I had underestimated the curse. Although there wasn’t any severe pain yet I felt discomfort rising in my throat.
“Take a sick leave.”
“…Yes.”
—
And so, I was back at company housing.
Surprisingly, my roommate was also there.
“Agh?” Saheon yelped as I opened the door.
Clearly he wasn’t expecting me either.
“That’s not the sound I’d expect to hear from someone who should be grateful I saved their life? Really… Did you even read the manual?”
I was still a bit peeved about it. The manual had clearly and explicitly mentioned to not take items that didn’t belong to anyone in the group yet he had done so, foolishly. At this point I just wanted some compensation for the trouble he had caused.
I walked over and pulled out a chair at the table where Saheon was and sat down.
“Well?”
Saheon looked down and scowled.
“Ugh.. I used up a-”
He paused and bit down on his lips.
“I mean, I’m sorry sir, and thank you for saving my life.”
I gave him an unimpressed look.
“That’s it?”
Saheon raised his head and glared indignantly at me.
“What! Well what did you want then?”
I pondered for a moment. Actually what did I want from Saheon? What did my roommate even have that I could use? There weren’t really any items he possessed, and that he’d be willing to part with, that I could request right now.
I glanced down at the table, and at what Saheon was eating.
“Food and drinks for a week.”
“Eh? That’s all?”
I nodded. It was a simple request, because quite frankly in my current state I didn’t want to be cooking with one hand and accidentally retching blood into my food while cooking it.
“Okay,” Saheon mumbled. It was a surprisingly tame request, all things considered.
I got back up and made my way back to my room. Behind me Saheon suddenly had a realization. “Sir you… wouldn't happen to be a heavy drinker would you? Sir!?”
I ignored him.
The curse was really hitting now. Waves of nausea and dizziness crashed over me as I trudged to my bed, only to be greeted by the bloodstained pillow. Right. I still needed to change that.
Teetering over to my closet, I clumsily pulled a pillow down from the top shelf and replaced the one on my bed. I’d wash the other one after waking up. I slumped onto my bed, closed my eyes and drifted off.
—
When I opened my eyes, it was dark. I tapped my phone. 6:58.
I made my way outside to the living room where my roommate was finishing up on cooking a meal. Maybe it was because we’ve always avoided each other on purpose that I never saw Saheon like this, but it felt odd to see him in a casual t-shirt and shorts.
Saheon noticed me and glanced back.
“Ah, I’m done, I have your bowl here. Just give me a second.”
I waited until he had started to make his way over with my bowl and I thought for a moment.
“Let’s eat together.” I pulled out a chair at the shared living room table.
Saheon jolted, nearly dropping the bowl.
“What? Why?” He sounded perplexed.
“Because I feel like it.”
Saheon stared at me like I had gone insane. Although at this point it was quite a common look to be seeing from him. But he relented anyway and grabbed the pot, and settled it on a hot pad on the table along with two bowls of soup and rice on the side.
I looked at the pot, it was Gamja-tang, and it looked surprisingly good? I felt my mouth water, I hadn’t eaten since yesterday, now that I think about it.
Anyways. There was a reason I had done this.
I swapped the bowl Saheon had given me with his.
Saheon stared at the bowl.
I smiled at him.
“Well Saheon-ssi? You first.”
Saheon looked like he couldn’t make heads or tails of what I was trying to do. Which really, was a good thing. I guess he hadn’t poisoned or drugged it after all.
I tilted my head.
“Well? What's wrong? Is your own cooking so bad that you don’t want to touch it?”
After a few more beats of confusion, an annoyed glimmer flashed through Saheon's eyes. He understood. Angrily picking up his spoon, he shoved a mouthful of soup into his mouth.
“Agh.. damnit, I didn’t poison your food!
“I see. That's a shame. It would’ve been fun if we played roulette every day with the poisoned meal? Or maybe had a competition on whose poison tolerance was higher?”
“I worn’t poison it!” Saheon shot back between mouthfuls of food.
“Hmm. I see.” I picked up my spoon but paused to look at my roommate across from me.
Seeing him angrily shovel food into mouth was quite amusing. It was somewhat reminiscent of an angry hamster? I even found it somewhat cute.
I held back a laugh, and began eating.
—
We finished up eating and sat at the table together for a while in silence. During this, Saheon had been staring intently at my right hand. It couldn’t be helped, he’d notice with something like this.
“Why aren’t you… using your right hand?”
“That monster that was chasing us, touched me, remember? Its imbues curses on people, but it only lasts a week or so.” I replied nonchalantly.
Saheon looked away and clenched his fist tightly.
“It's not like… I was the one who cursed you… you just…”
“..Yes? Unless Saheon-ssi got an item recently that curses people, of course you couldn’t have?”
Objectively speaking though, Saheon had been the reason it had gone astray in the first place. But I didn’t feel the need to bring that up.
Saheon fidgeted uncomfortably. It’s not like I had brought it up on purpose or accused him, so why was he jumping to defend himself so quickly?
I finished and got up.
“Anyways, thank you for the meal Saheon-ssi, it was good.”
I headed back to my room.
“Wait.”
? I turned back to look at Saheon.
“I also made breakfast and lunch, but you were asleep so… it’s in the fridge.”
“I see, thanks, I’ll eat it later.”
I shut the door to my room.
[Friend! Your ungrateful and irritating roommate actually has some impressive cooking technique!]
I smiled. “Indeed, it would seem that way.” Although I had originally asked Saheon for meals out of convenience, it was turning out to be quite a good deal? I wasn’t expecting his cooking to be so good.
I had also placed Braun in a spot where he was able to see Saheon cook. Since I was asleep most of the day, it was nice to be able to have Braun see if Saheon attempted to do anything suspicious to the food. Because as far as my roommate knew, I was just some insane lunatic talking to a lifeless plush doll.
“I appreciate you keeping watch.”
[Of course, friend! It might be a bit mundane, but I can manage a simple task like this.]
–
Actually it had just slipped his mind. Saheon would’ve considered poisoning the food otherwise. He’s not really sure if he would’ve gone through with it back then but… couldn’t he still do it? Sharing a meal in a pot, but having the antidote on hand after?
Was there anything he could use to make Kim Soleum more agreeable and hand over some intel or items?
He thought back on the fountain pen and shivered. No, better not, who knows what his crazy lunatic roommate would do after catching him a second time.
—
I woke up to a mouthful of blood.
Ugh… last time I got cursed it was pretty consistent, why did this one have progression even?
I hurried over to the washroom and spat out the blood.
Glancing at the mirror, there was some blood pooling in the corner of my eyes too. I sighed and tried my best to clean up my face.
Making my way to the living room, I saw some rice and banchan set out on the table. Saheon was lounging on the couch, he had gotten up early and was waiting for me it seemed. Hearing my steps, Saheon got off the couch and made his way over, but upon seeing my face he froze.
“Gh!? Sir? Your eyes?”
I sat at the table and picked up the chopsticks.
“Subconjunctival hemorrhage, side effect from the curse,” I remarked.
Saheon sat in front of me and gave me a nervous glance.
“I-it’s not contagious is it?”
I gave him a disdainful look.
“Its a curse, not a virus, Saheon-ssi.”
“R-right…”
I paused for a moment. But, now that Saheon had begun combining our meals due to my poisoning suspicions yesterday…
“I’ll go eat in my room for today.”
“Huh?”
“While it's not contagious, I don’t want to accidentally get blood over your food.”
I quickly swept some banchan into my bowl and headed to my room.
“Thank you, Saheon-ssi.”
After Kim Soleum left, Saheon continued eating his meal by himself at the table.
“Damn… I can’t finish all this by myself,” he muttered.
—
On the third day, Saheon was also home the entire day. Which was quite odd for someone like him. I was no longer bleeding from my eyes and uncontrollably retching up blood so I went back to eating together with my roommate.
“Saheon-ssi has been home quite long, did something happen at work?” I casually inquired.
Saheon scowled.
“My team got wiped in a darkness recently so they’re out of people to send. All the ones they were planning had a strict person count.”
“I see. My condolences.”
“They were useless anyways. I don’t care about any of them.”
…
Right. This was the kind of person this guy was after all.
We ate the rest of the meal in silence.
—
It wasn’t something Saheon would ever admit, but watching Kim Soleum enjoy the food and say thank you after actually made him feel quite good?
Maybe because it was the only time Kim Soleum had ever given Saheon thanks in earnest. Or the fact that Kim Soleum seemed to be genuinely impressed by his cooking based on his reaction.
It might’ve just been his eye playing tricks on him, but he’d even go so far as to say that Kim Soleum’s eyes lit up a bit whenever he first tried something?
He found himself looking forward to his supervisor’s reactions somewhat.
—
Uh?!
I let out a noise of surprise.
Saheon had made bibimap for dinner today. It looked good, but when I bit into it, it was surprisingly sugary. And… insanely spicy. It felt like my mouth was on fire.
Saheon, who was watching my reaction, paled.
“Agh??”
He frantically got up.
“Ugh.. sorry I forgot, I got used to making it this way because my sister, she would- argh! I’ll remake it, stop eating it.”
“...No, it’s fine, I was just a bit surprised. Just give me something to drink.”
In truth, it was not fine. Actually, it felt like there were a thousand fire ants in my mouth but I didn’t want to waste the food and it looked like Saheon genuinely didn’t intend to just mess with me either.
Saheon looked at me.
“You’re sure?”
“Yeah.”
He sighed and brought over a bottle of Soju.
I opened the bottle and then glanced at Saheon who had begun eating his portion with no troubles. I gestured for his cup.
“Huh? No, I’m fi… Agh! Damnit. Okay.”
He probably thought I was suspecting him of poisoning the soju again, but actually I had just wanted to share. I poured him a cup, and continued eating, trying my best to not let it show how much the heat was bothering me.
“Your sister used to make it like this?” I inquired.
Without looking at me, Saheon muttered, “Yeah. She had awful taste, that’s why I-”
He paused.
“Anyways. I just got used to how she made it so I eat it like this now too.”
Past tense. His sister had passed away then. They must’ve been close if he was still eating something as awful as this with cooking skills as good as his.
“What.. about you sir?”
“Hm?”
“Do you have any siblings?”
“Yeah. I have a little brother, he’s a dessert pastry chef. I also miss the food he’d make.”
Saheon opened his mouth to say something but stopped.
They continued eating in silence.
…
Saheon was a lightweight. At first I thought it was the spiciness of the bibimap making him flush, but it had become clear from the way he had been wobbling that it was the alcohol. I looked at the bottle. It hadn’t even been that much?
Maybe this was why I haven’t seen this guy drinking much. Saheon got up shakily after finishing and stumbled his way towards the sink.
Suddenly, he tilted over.
I quickly shoved my chair aside and caught him by his waist. For a few seconds, we stared at each other, faces inches apart.
…
Saheon dazedly blinked at me.
This guy… really shouldn’t drink. I thought. How could it get this bad with just that amount?
Suddenly clarity and panic flashed through my roommate’s eyes.
“GAH?”
He scrambled away from my grasp, and haphazardly caught the ledge of the kitchen counter with his arms, panting wildly. Why was he turning even redder? Surely tripping couldn’t have been that mortifying?
“Sorry, um.. I’ll do the dishes now so…!”
“I’ll do them.”
“Huh?”
I folded my arms and gave him an exasperated look.
“You can barely stand straight. You’ll break all the kitchenware with the state you’re in.”
“But.. your hand sir?”
“I still have one good hand. And it’s not like I'm missing an entire arm, it's just temporarily unfunctional. It’ll be slower but at least I won’t be stumbling and crashing through the kitchen.”
“Who’s crashin-” Saheon began, irritated.
I looked pointedly at him.
…
“Fine.” Saheon grumbled and wobbled over to his room. “Thanks,” he mumbled before clumsily slamming his door shut.
—
It was the fitth day since they had started this food arrangement. Out on the table was a set of pastries. From a visual sweep, they all looked good, coming from someone who had first hand experience helping out their sibling in a bakery. The smell of butter wafted tangibly from the pastries and they looked perfectly golden brown.
It was odd, up until now, Saheon had only made traditional Korean recipes.
So… this was what he was doing last night? Yesterday, while laying in bed and trying to sleep, I kept hearing strings of curses coming from the kitchen late into the night and the smell of something unmistakably burning.
In front of him, Saheon had an anxious and eager look on his face. He was staring at me so intensely it made me feel a bit awkward honestly. I wasn’t quite sure how to describe it, but it was similar to the look a dog might have seeing a ball in its owner’s hand right before they threw it.
Braun had been watching him… right? And said nothing was amiss? Surely he wouldn’t still be considering poisoning me now?
I cautiously took a pastry and took a bite.
It was delicious! It wasn’t on par with what my sibling would be making, but for someone who was cursing and burning food past midnight, it was incredible he managed to make something as good as this.
“How is it?”
I looked up, Saheon who had leaned closer, uncomfortably close for that matter, was staring at me expectantly.
“It's very good, the inside is airy and soft while the outside is crispy. The filling is rich and has just the right amount of sugar,” I noted.
Saheon smiled triumphantly.
As I continued eating, I noticed Saheon looked quite happy and pleased the whole time. If it wasn’t due to having successfully poisoned his supposedly insane, dopamine junkie roommate, might it be that this guy actually liked cooking? And took pride in it when people enjoyed his food?
Looking at the expression on his face… I thought it might actually be the case.
It was amusing that someone like “Viper” had a side like this. And… I found it oddly endearing.