episode_0027

For Yunyoung, Mira was a special person, so he could grasp anything about her more sensitively and quickly than anyone else.

And Yunyoung’s intuition was screaming sharply.

That the Mira right in front of him wasn’t the girlfriend he knew.

It was fiercely warning him that she was just someone who looked like her.

‘What on earth is going on…!’

He had reunited with his beloved, overcoming death, but what it brought was not an ecstatic encounter.

It was something unsettling and unpleasant, difficult to express in words, to the point where it might have been better if it hadn’t happened at all.

As a bewildered Yunyoung hesitated, unsure what to do, Mira approached until she was right in front of him. Then, she suddenly lunged and kissed Yunyoung.

At the sudden kiss, Yunyoung’s eyes widened. His pupils trembled faintly with surprise and horror.

But it wasn’t long before his eyes slightly furrowed, as if enduring some kind of pain.

Yunyoung had kissed Mira several times while they were dating.

Each time, he had felt a soft, fresh joy… but now, as if a lie, he felt none of it. It even felt like kissing a mere stone.

This was not a kiss from his beloved.

Coming to his senses, Yunyoung forcefully pushed Mira’s chest. *Thud*, she staggered back weakly.

Despite being treated this way, there was no sign of displeasure or anger on Mira’s face from being pushed by her lover.

Only an empty, shell-like smile adorned her face. Seeing that, Yunyoung could be certain.

“You… you’re not Mira.”

“Heh heh heh… Yunyoung.”

Mira made a sound like a leaking laugh as she called his name, but Yunyoung’s hostility only intensified.

“Who are you?! Someone’s impersonating Mira!”

“Yunyoung…”

Mira kept repeating the same words to every question. It felt less like a person and more like an intricately crafted doll.

Just facing it made anger and sorrow well up in Yunyoung’s chest.

“Shut up, I said shut up!!!”

He yelled roughly, tears welling in his eyes, and glared at the entity.

“Don’t you dare… impersonate the person I love… the person I cherish most… in their form!”

Yunyoung sharply snapped at the Mira-like entity. But she merely kept repeating, “Yunyoung,” with a blank expression.

The sight felt so heartbreaking that Yunyoung, unable to bear it any longer, *whipped* his head towards the god.

“Explain properly. Who on earth is this woman?! What is she?!”

“She is Mira-ssi. You know her well, don’t you?”

“Don’t talk nonsense. This woman isn’t Mira!”

“No, she is indeed the Mira-ssi you’re thinking of.”

Yunyoung’s voice rose.

“Don’t lie! I know Mira tens, hundreds of times better than you. That woman isn’t Mira.”

Despite Yunyoung’s sharp tone, the god seemed utterly nonchalant. Then, he stood beside Mira and caressed her cheek with his finger.

Seeing the god perform such an unsettling act on a form that resembled the woman he loved, Yunyoung *trembled*. It felt incredibly repulsive and filthy.

Towards Yunyoung, the god opened his mouth.

“Her soul, you see, has shattered. That’s why she is like this. She is indeed the Mira-ssi you know.”

“What…?”

“It’s troublesome to assume that all souls are intact when humans ascend to the afterlife. Most are worn down and tattered little by little. And there are also souls that are particularly tragically damaged.”

“Surely not…”

The god lightly curled his lips.

“Yes, your guess is correct. Mira-ssi is such a case. If a soul is shattered this horribly, it can’t even reincarnate and would end up being incinerated. But I brought her to you especially, considering your love. Hahahaha.”

“……!”

“Now, how does it feel to meet your beloved? Tell me your thoughts.”

As Yunyoung was speechless from the tremendous shock, Mira moved first.

“Yunyoung… Yunyoung…”

She repeated her doll-like murmuring, approaching step by step with an empty smile.

Yunyoung *flinched* and stepped back fearfully with each advance.

“Yunyoung…”

“St-stop… stop it!”

“Yunyoung…”

“With that face, that voice… don’t call my name. You’re not Mira!”

Yunyoung roared loudly and challenged the god who was watching this spectacle.

“Why… why are you doing something so cruel?!”

“Cruel, you say…? I specially brought the shattered Mira-ssi for you, Yunyoung-ssi. Those words are quite hurtful.”

“Shut up. What kind of reaction did you expect from me? Did you think I’d be happy?”

“Isn’t this the lover you longed to see so much?”

“Don’t babble nonsense. That’s not Mira!”

“Hahaha, no matter how much you deny it, she is Mira-ssi, whom you yearned and longed for. Did you perhaps forget her face in the meantime?”

The god spoke with a kind face and a gentle voice, but Yunyoung knew.

That the entity was playing with him, while wearing a gentle mask──.

“Don’t be ridiculous! She can only repeat the same words. How could I treat something like that as my girlfriend?”

“In that case, can I do whatever I want with this Mira-ssi?”

“What…?”

Then, the god deftly wrapped his arm around Mira’s waist and pulled her towards him.

The posture was unmistakably one that intimate lovers would adopt.

An immense wave of disgust and humiliation washed over Yunyoung’s entire body. Blood was seeping from his bitten lips, but he wasn’t even aware of it.

“Since she’s someone with no relation to you, does it matter if I do as I please with her?”

“Yunyoung…”

Mira murmured “Yunyoung” while looking at the god. She was like a broken record, only capable of saying that one thing, no matter who the other person was.

Yunyoung was unbearably pained to see her look at another man, not him, and call his name.

For Mira, Yunyoung should have been the only one…

‘That’s not Mira. That’s not Mira!’

Even as he murmured it to himself as if to brainwash himself, the biting pain in his chest didn’t easily subside. Just the god laying a hand on that Mira-like entity filled him with disgust.

Meanwhile, the god watched on, clearly amused, with a smile in his eyes.

“If I kiss this woman, embrace her, and taste her flesh, it has no relation to you, right?”

“Shut up! I didn’t allow you to do such a thing.”

“Is there any reason I need to ask your permission?”

The god retorted as if it were nothing, continuing his words.

“You yourself denied that she was your girlfriend, so why are you trying to interfere now?”

“Even if she’s not Mira… she looks exactly like Mira. Deliberately bringing a woman who resembles my girlfriend in front of me and trying to embrace her is clearly meant to humiliate me. Do you take me for a fool?”

“Is that a reason why I shouldn’t embrace this woman? You said she wasn’t Mira-ssi. This woman might just resemble Mira-ssi.”

“Don’t play word games. I’ll kill you.”

“If you’re that angry, then I can do it where you can’t see, right? As long as it’s not in front of your eyes. Ah… I’m looking forward to it. Hahaha.”

“Why are you doing this to me….”

“Hm?”

“Why are you doing this to me? Mira and I are pitiful people. Why are you so cruel to people who have already fallen to the deepest abyss? Please… just stop now.”

Yunyoung pleaded. He didn’t want to be hurt and suffer because of Mira any longer.

“I cannot do that.”

“Why?!”

“Because it’s fun.”

“Fun, you say…?”

At the unexpected answer, Yunyoung’s eyebrows twitched.

“After living this long, it gets boring, you see. Have you ever thought about what it’s like to be a being born a god, destined to live as a god?”

The god kindly explained to Yunyoung, who wore a bewildered expression.

“Life as a god is quite busy and arduous, in many ways. It’s like being the CEO of a huge corporation, perhaps. Always swamped with work, and even with power, you can’t do anything as you please because of all the watchful eyes on you, living as if constantly monitored. Do you understand this suffering?”

“What does that have to do with me?”

“So I wanted to use my power a bit to enjoy some amusement. Especially with souls like Yunyoung-ssi, who have just entered the afterlife, there are no monitoring eyes, so my interference goes unnoticed.”

Upon hearing that, Yunyoung understood, even without the god needing to say more.

To the god before him, he and Mira were merely toys.

“Especially taking away someone else’s lover, it’s just incredibly fun. Heheheh…”