episode_0007

“How old are you?”

Who is the woman waving her hand with a friendly smile in front of me?

And why am I sitting here?

A cold sweat runs down my back.

Not only was he captured by a terrorist group he had only seen on TV, he was also having a one-on-one interview with them.

The little teddy bear held in my arms becomes soft and fluffy.

“25 years old. No, 24 years old.”

The counselor sitting in front of me scratches his cheek at my answer.

Judging by the ambiguous and strange expression on his face, it seems like that wasn’t the answer he wanted.

My voice was shaking because I was so nervous, but I wasn’t lying.

“Um… .”

He seemed to be thinking about something, then began to write something down on a document on the desk.

My hands were sweating from the tension.

As the teddy bear he was holding in both hands became soaked with sweat, he continued to ask me questions.

Starting with your name, and where you live, etc.

“What about your parents?”

“Both of you are not here.”

As always, when anyone asks me a question about my parents, there is a moment of silence when they hear my answer.

He made an apologetic expression while doing so, but I actually hated that.

My face is wrinkled.

The little girl’s body was so expressive of emotion that I covered her face with a teddy bear.

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.”

It’s okay.

It’s just a little bit uncomfortable.

So, I wish you would just send me home.

“Can you please send it back to where it was?”

It’s starting to get scary.

I didn’t ask for details, but I don’t know when the torture will start.

There isn’t much information you can get from lower-level employees.

I probably know less than they do.

“No!”

He shouted firmly.

The voice was a little loud, so I was startled and my body trembled.

The teddy bear in my hand almost fell off, so I flapped my hands and grabbed it again.

“Sorry. Are you surprised?”

I shook my head blankly.

There wasn’t much I could do to answer the barrage of questions that followed.

I simply answered honestly when asked about my favorite food or what I usually do.

“I usually spent my time in the lab.”

“What exactly did you do in the lab?”

“I slept, ate, and read a book.”

after-

A deep sigh escapes the counselor.

I worried that I might have answered incorrectly, but there was not a single lie in what I said.

“Okay. Your name is Jeff?”

“Yes.”

“Who made this?”

I couldn’t answer.

Since when have you been using the name Jeff?

I don’t remember exactly.

At some point I just started being called Jeff, so I just used that name.

“I don’t know.”

“Um… .”

The counselor seems to be in deep thought.

The pen spinning in his hand dazzles the eyes.

I was blankly staring at the pen spinning around when I heard the counselor’s voice.

“Do you like the name?”

I like it, and it’s a name I’ve been called by often.

I had no complaints because I didn’t even think about it.

“Yes, everyone calls me that… .”

“I see.”

A smile appears on his face.

How can someone with a nice-looking face join a terrorist group?

He was truly a terrifying person.

He said as I was shivering with fearful imagination.

“Did your identical twin spend time in the lab?”

I was about to open my mouth to answer honestly, but I suddenly felt a strange sense of awkwardness and closed my mouth.

It felt like a car that was running smoothly got stuck on a speed bump.

I raised my hand and touched the corner of my mouth, then carefully opened my mouth.

“Yes.”

Twins… .

Twins?

Are you sure these people aren’t bringing me into their lab to get information, but to think I’m a test subject for human experiments?

I recall the strangely kind attitude of those people.

He waved little dolls in front of my eyes and even gave me candies and chocolates.

Although I found their attitude strangely odd, I couldn’t think deeply about it because my mind was clouded by the pressure from the tension and the nausea from experiencing the warp ability for the first time in my life.

I felt the candy stuffed into my pocket.

I can hear the rustling of wrapping paper through the thin cloth.

“You can eat candy whenever you want.”

In his eyes, it seemed like he was reaching into his pockets for some candy.

I took out the candy with awkward hand movements and put it in my mouth.

“Which one of you is the older sister?”

At the sudden question, I dropped the candy I was holding in my mouth.

The fallen candy stuck to the teddy bear’s furry head.

“Sister… ?”

“Yeah.”

I was lost in deep thought, my tongue licking at the lingering scent of candy in my mouth.

I glanced at him and saw that he was still smiling kindly.

“Maybe it’s me?”

I’m actually older, so I’m probably right.

“Okay. Then what is your brother’s name?”

“What’s your name?”

“Yeah. I guess my little brother was a little anxious, so no matter how many times I asked, he wouldn’t answer.”

I opened my mouth to answer his question.

But the voice did not come out.

This time it felt similar.

A chin-like sensation comes to my mind, as if I am passing over a speed bump.

It is not mandatory.

But naturally, thoughts change.

“I think I should ask.”

Shine hates having her name known.

I had to ask her directly for permission.

“Okay. See you tomorrow, Jeff.”

He sorted out the papers on his desk as if he was almost finished.

I was standing up from my chair, flustered by his words, when he looked at me and said:

“When you open the door and go out, a pretty girl is waiting for you. Follow her and she will take you to your younger sibling.”

He headed towards his firmly closed door.

The teddy bear held in one hand dangles and sways from side to side.

The shaking caused the candy attached to the teddy bear’s head to fall off and roll across the floor.

The sticky candy rolls around and gets stuck in a corner.

I stared blankly at the candy, then slowly took a deep breath and opened the door.

“Hello?”

A tall woman was waiting for me in front of the door.

I am overwhelmed by the small smile on his lips and the playful eyes.

He swallowed and answered slowly.

“Hello.”

The voice was the same as that of the woman who ran out of the lab holding Shine in her arms.

That’s the guy.

At that time, I couldn’t see her face because she was wearing a suit and mask, but this time, she wasn’t wearing anything, so I was able to examine her face in detail.

The teddy bear I was holding in my arms suddenly fell out.

“Follow me.”

She picked up the teddy bear I had dropped and handed it to me, saying:

It’s not coercive at all.

Rather, it was a soft voice.

Still, there was a strange power in her words, and I followed her blankly.

The terrorist group’s compound was quite large.

And there were a ton of people walking around.

Their faces always had smiles on them and they seemed free-spirited.

“I’m Amy.”

I was so absorbed in looking around the inside of the building that I couldn’t respond to what she said.

“What’s your name?”

“Yes… ?”

I looked up at her and answered belatedly.

She introduced herself as Amy, stopped walking, and looked back at me.

It seems like he has no intention of going forward unless you tell him his name.

“Jeff.”

“Jeff?”

“Yes.”

Is my name that weird?

In the past, no one reacted like this.

While I was thinking like that, I was able to find my reflection in a large mirror hanging on the wall.

It looks like a little girl.

The teddy bear in his hand dangles.

The girl with long white hair had a somewhat anxious look on her face.

ah.

It was only then that I realized why people had such a strange reaction to the name Jeff.

It wasn’t a name you would give to a girl.

“Okay Jeff. Let’s get along well from now on.”

Amy said and held out her hand.

White, thin fingers reach out to me.

I saw with my own eyes the sight of the beam of light bursting from her hand and instantly slicing through the specially made tempered glass.

I was shaking with anxiety.

I held her hand carefully, imagining my body being pierced by the rays that burst from her hand.

Amy’s eyes narrow.

Her hands flutter up and down in a large motion.

“Let’s go.”

The place we arrived at after following Amy was a small room.

As I opened the door and entered, I found Shine sitting on the bed.

Shine, who had been blankly staring at the wall, fixed her gaze on me as I opened the door and came in.

“Ah… .”

A faint groan escaped my gaping mouth.

The interior of the room was horrible.

There were dolls everywhere, and even the bed sheets were an unpleasant shade of pink.

It has a refreshing scent.

On the desk was an aroma diffuser that was said to calm the mind and body.

“Then I’ll pick you up at dinner time, so have fun.”

Amy said that and left the room.

The door closes.

The door was not locked.

It’s just closed.

It was my first time meeting Shine in person.

Because she and I always had a big glass wall between us.

The distance was too close.

I looked at Shine’s expression and then sat down on the belly of the large teddy bear placed in the corner of the room.

Get buried in softness.

It seems like it could be used as a substitute for a sofa.

“Hello… ?”

An awkward silence falls.

As always, Shine showed no reaction.

I thought so.

Shine’s sudden action was sudden.

She got out of bed and walked towards me.

Feeling a subtle fear from the girl approaching me in a straight line, I hugged the teddy bear in my hand as if squeezing it.

Shine approached me, looked down at me, and then dug into my side.

The fluffy teddy bear falls backwards, crushed.

Shine sat close to me.

Her gaze was still directed at me.

“Over there… .”

My words fall apart without strength.

The moment I tried to get up from my seat, avoiding Shine’s gaze that was looking at me without saying anything, Shine’s arm grabbed mine.

As he tries to get up, his posture collapses and he falls on top of a large teddy bear.

Shine did nothing.

He just held my arm and watched me quietly.

That’s how time passed.

I had no idea how to react to Shine’s reaction for the first time.

As I was passing the time in such a state of confusion, I began to nod off to the feel of the soft teddy bear and the warm temperature of Shine.