episode_0068

I faced the sudden provocation with a serious expression. It was so absurd that my tone became a bit sharp.

“What do you mean you know? You’re not trying to say you figured it out with some kind of stuttering, are you?”

“W-well, yes.”

“What is it then?”

“I don’t exactly know. This stutterer just… told me.”

“The stutterer told you?”

Was she reading minds or something? Yooju cautiously stroked the stutterer and replied.

“I can’t exactly read minds. It’s a different feeling.”

“For example?”

“When the stutterer touches the end like this, a tingling sensation, like some kind of electricity, comes in. My heart flutters. My hands shake, and my face turns red. This is, well…”

I think it’s a stutterer that detects love.

Was it because I was dumbfounded, or because no counterargument came to mind? I could only let out a bitter laugh.

“So, what, I’ve been liking that person without even knowing it?”

“I-I don’t think so. It’s just that the stutterer…”

Yooju continued to hesitate with her words, as if searching the surroundings with the stutterer.

Feeling like I should counter, I kept pressing Yooju as if being chased by something.

“You don’t know much about this, but I’m already done with that person. When I liked them, they pushed me away, and now it’s the opposite. We’ve switched positions…”

“I know, I do. That story.”

Yooju suddenly spoke up, then seemed to think her words were too aggressive, so she closed her mouth and covered it with her hand.

Then, she glanced at me subtly, lowered the hand that covered her mouth, and cautiously spoke again.

“But still, I still like them.”

“…”

“Even though it’s annoying, it’s true that the annoying feeling comes first… But deep down, I still love them.”

“Are you deliberately trying to annoy me with those words?”

“N-no! No, not at all! I-I wouldn’t do that…”

Even as I spoke, I knew. Whatever she said wasn’t likely to have any malice behind it. I just ended up picking a fight because I had no counterarguments.

Rather than malice, the atmosphere emanating from Yooju’s eyes felt like discussing a morning drama with a mom or talking about a Netflix drama with a friend. It was like frustrated viewers or readers watching characters who were clearly meant to be together hesitating.

…Ah.

At that slightly out-of-place moment, one possibility crossed my mind.

“Yooju, did you by any chance…”

“Yes?”

“Did you curse this work not out of dislike, but because you didn’t want to see it succeed?”

Yooju vigorously nodded her head at that question, almost making the stutterer wobble.

“Yes! I loved it so much. I read it every day, hoping the two would get together quickly!”

“But why did you curse it then?”

“T-that’s… At that time, I just…”

Anyway, since it was true that she had cursed Lager, Yooju lowered her rising tension, sighed, and muttered with a crestfallen expression.

“It was so hard for me too, because they were doing better than me… I was really struggling back then!”

That’s how it was.

Yooju had one key difference from the other humanoid monsters. While the others were solely driven by jealousy and tried to destroy the work, Yooju had affection.

Fundamentally, she wasn’t the one trying to destroy this world.

Even though she had abandoned her own world, she was granted a third chance at life as ‘Character Yooju Taylor,’ not as the ‘Creator God Yooju.’

“It’s strange, this world.”

Muttering like that while sipping on cola, Yooju turned towards me and said, “You might not like this, but…” turning her body towards me.

“If you don’t like it, you don’t have to say anything.”

“Hey, as a fan! As a devoted reader, can I say something too…?”

I’m really not a character. Someday, I’ll go back to Earth. I wanted to say that, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it after seeing the sparkling eyes of Yooju.

“Sure, go ahead.”

With that, Yooju cleared her throat and sat a little closer to me, saying, “It’s so romantic and sad that you two are not just characters, but have a connection from a previous world. So, I really hope that you two will be happy in this world.”

It was a bit of a special story. The story of Lagger and me is not just limited to this world.

Even before becoming characters, we knew each other, and I liked Lagger.

After coming to this world, Lagger likes me.

Seeing this constant back and forth, it’s tempting to shout, like a drama-addicted middle-aged woman, “Hurry up and fall in love!!”

But.

“I don’t like Lagger. You’re mistaken.”

I denied that possibility once again.

Listening to the story, it was entirely possible that Yooju was overly immersed in me as an extension of simple fandom.

It’s because, I don’t feel any fluttering in my heart when I look at Lagger.

The excitement I felt back in high school when I confessed to Lagger is completely gone.

With my heart in this state, how can you call it a state of liking someone? Where in the world is there such a calm and steady love?

I’m not a fool who doesn’t know love. I definitely loved Jisoo, and I still do.

That’s all there is to it.

Yooju sighed with a disappointed expression. She sucked on the straw in the empty cup, making a sound as it touched the bottom of the cup.

I should finish my meal soon. Thinking that, I put a piece of hamburger into my mouth.

“You two even showered together. You know about that too, right?”

At that statement, I froze in the middle of putting the hamburger in my mouth.

“What are you talking about?”

“They showered. At the hospital.”

“Who and who?”

“Dakota and Lagger.”

“What?”

Thinking I misheard, I asked again.

“So, Dakota and Lagger showered together?”

“Yes.”

“In the same space?”

“Yes.”

“…Completely naked?”

Even as I said it, I realized it was a stupid question and closed my mouth. Do people shower completely naked or with clothes on?

It happened at the hospital. Sent to take care of them, in a sacred hospital. Hmm…

But hmm…

Hmm…

As the silence grew longer, a random thought popped into my head.

“Did they… do it?”

It might have been better not to ask. But for some reason, I was curious again.

Yooju remained silent on that topic.

Avoiding eye contact, she focused on the fries. I leaned in closer to her and asked.

“What, what is it? Did they or didn’t they? Do you know? Do you not know? Just tell me that.”

“Oh, I know…”

“Did they? Or didn’t they?”

“Well, um…”

After hesitating for a moment, Yooju stammered.

“See… It’s bothering you after all.”

Seeing Yooju saying that in a sneaky voice, I couldn’t just let it go. I reached out and firmly grabbed Yooju’s cheek, stretching it out forcefully.

“Do you want to die? Huh? Do you? Are you teasing me? Huh?”

“Ugh, no, no. I just, no, ugh…”

“You might be curious. It’s natural to wonder when a man and a woman are in the same space completely naked, right? Is that what’s bothering you? Huh?”

“Ugh, no. It’s not a big deal. Ugh, let go of me…”

“I’m trying to pull out a splinter. Stay still.”

By the way, the cheek is stretching out nicely. If you keep making nonsense, I’ll have to keep bothering you.

“Oh! Ael!!”

At the sound calling from behind, both me and Yooju turned our heads simultaneously. Where was she all this time, finally eating now, Lena was approaching with a plate full of french fries.

“To be honest, this isn’t very polite, you know?”

I expected it, but Lena sat in front of me without a hint of apology, eating french fries noisily and making small talk.

“Yeah, yeah. How about ramen from the convenience store later?”

“Eating ramen after this?”

“We have a new member now. It’s a celebration party. Um…”

Lena looked at Yooju, trying to remember her name, and then looked into the air for a moment. Yooju quickly greeted her, poking the splinter.

“I, I’m Yooju!”

“Oh right, Yooju.”

Lena clapped her hands and nodded repeatedly. Then she dipped the french fry in ketchup and sucked it up eagerly. Are french fries really that good?

“Hey, I might get disciplined.”

Come to think of it, now wasn’t the time to casually go to the convenience store and buy ramen. With a confused expression at my words, Lena raised her head with a french fry in her mouth.

“They said I’ll be disciplined for deserting during the battle. It’s not like getting kicked out of the academy, right?”

I asked to see if I could mentally prepare myself, and it was a good thing I did.

“So, are you going to Yeongchang?”

Me, Yeongchang? Not even a joint enlistment, but a joint Yeongchang!