episode_0092

Swish, swish─! Splash─!

The sound of the waves echoed loudly.

After confirming that it was truly Suah, the atmosphere became more relaxed. Of course, that doesn’t mean Suah was pulled out yet. She was still buried in the sand from her neck down.

“Hoo…”

Her friends sat cross-legged in front of Suah’s head, meaning they wanted to have a calm conversation now. Deer said,

“Seeing you talk nonsense, you must be Suah. What’s going on?”

Why does talking nonsense have to be my verification? No, and what I said just now wasn’t even nonsense.

But Suah sighed deeply and said,

“I decided to become an actress. I’m also Wi Ji-hye from ‘Sword’.”

─You should say you played Wi Ji-hye. Being treated as the same person as you… well, it doesn’t feel very good.

Suah firmly suppressed the Wi Ji-hye inside her mind.

*Kkeuaak!* A scream unfitting of her dignity could be heard, but she ignored it.

Meanwhile, her friends were shaking their heads.

“Well, I heard you were acting through Saengji unnie.”

“…But even so, it’s so amazing. Suah on the screen looked so different. Like a different person.”

“Hearing it from you is even stranger. What’s going on?”

It was then that Deer spoke again.

“How long have you been acting that you’re already filming a movie? And what’s with that insane skill? None of this makes sense. Stop with the special powers nonsense and tell us something that makes sense.”

“No, the special powers are real though…”

But then.

─*Sunbae*, all the preparations are complete.

─Finally, it’s my turn to step in.

‘Huh?’

─Would you entrust your body to me for a moment?

Suah did so.

*Pat!*

It was annoying that he hadn’t shown up until now, but she figured Yoo Han-suah must have his own reasons – that’s what she thought.

At least until now, Yoo Han-suah had been the most competent.

And the next moment.

“…”

Yoo Han-suah, with Suah’s body, opened his eyes and said,

“Friends.”

“What.”

“Actually, I was embarrassed to talk about what I possess, so I glossed over it by using the concept of special powers. But the symptoms I mentioned are real. There are multiple personalities inside me.”

Of course, her friends were dumbfounded.

“What bullshit is this? You’re finally talking like Suah.”

“It’s good that it’s Suah, but, ugh, I’m already getting frustrated.”

“Should I give you a whack on the head?”

Then, Yoo Han-suah calmly opened his mouth.

“I understand. It’s inevitable you’d react that way. I only realized it recently myself. The day I realized I had a talent for acting. That’s when I understood what all my symptoms had been pointing to.”

“Symptoms? Are you some kind of patient?”

Yoo Han-suah didn’t answer.

Only.

“…”

He just wore a somewhat affectionate smile.

Then, suddenly, Saengji’s eyes widened.

“Huh?”

Everyone’s attention focused on Saengji Kim Sun-ah.

“I’ve heard of it before! Among people with brain damage, a very small number can show abilities that are far superior to ordinary people in certain fields! So, the exact name is…”

“…”

“…Savant syndrome! That’s it! That’s it!”

Silence fell among her friends.

After a while, they stared intently at Suah, but their gazes had changed. The anger and bewilderment were already gone, and they seemed to be slowly understanding.

Of course, Suah was beyond speechless.

‘Yoo, Yoo Han-suah! Are you crazy? What are you doing!’

─I never agreed to this.

‘What?’

─They just started misunderstanding.

‘Ah, no! Why are you letting them misunderstand! Why are you making me out to be a patient!’

─Since when has *Sunbae*

─Been under the illusion that she’s normal?

‘?’

Huh? Is that so?

Am I really that backwards?

─*Sunbae* will become insanely smart in the future, but…

─Not yet. Accept it.

‘…’

Suah is screwed…

Suah is dejected…

Suah is discouraged…

It was then that Deer spoke again.

“…Is, is it real? Suah had something like that?”

“It fits perfectly. It seems to fit.”

Black Bear nodded.

“With Suah, no matter what she did, it wasn’t just that she didn’t have an aptitude for it. It felt like she couldn’t do it no matter how hard she tried. But the fact that she’s uniquely good at acting…”

“Th, then why didn’t you tell us sooner? If you had said you were going through something like that, we wouldn’t have messed with you!”

Yoo Han-suah looked at Deer.

Of course, his expression was still affectionate. Like a terminally ill patient about to die the moment the last leaf scatters and falls in the wind.

“I didn’t want to ruin the mood.”

“What?”

“If I said something like that while we were having fun, everyone would become cautious. I don’t like that. I’d rather be considered lacking and stay friends with you.”

“…”

The sharp look in Deer’s eyes gradually softened.

“…Th, then why do you disappear after starting acting? You could have confided in us when you were having a hard time practicing. Why are you suffering alone?”

“Because I know how I look.”

Suah. No, Yoo Han-suah said,

“You guys always cheered me on whenever I challenged myself to something new. I remember everything. But I felt sorry for always coming back empty-handed.”

“…”

“Acting was much, much more enjoyable than I thought, so I thought I should hide it even more.”

“…You.”

“I wasn’t confident in receiving your support first. It’s the first aptitude I’ve found in my life, and I wasn’t even sure yet. To be honest, I was worried about what would happen if I couldn’t do even this properly. So…”

“…Stop, stop it.”

Deer couldn’t even look Suah in the eyes anymore.

The other friends also took action. They started frantically digging Suah’s body out of the sand.

Suah was pulled out in an instant.

And the next moment.

Deer Go Eun-bi hugged Suah tightly.

Thanks to that, the Suah inside was startled. Holy crap, I thought you were going to pull off a wrestling move or something…

“You idiot!”

Deer shouted.

“…Just tell us from the beginning! We would have understood!”

“We didn’t even know!”

“Lee Suah, what kind of fight have you been fighting until now…!”

Then, the other friends started hugging the sand-covered Suah, and around that time, Suah understood Yoo Han-suah’s intention. After all, they are one and the same.

‘Humans want truths they can understand.’

No matter how much you explain special powers, it’s over if your friends can’t accept it. Only the one explaining and the one accepting get tired, and only unpleasantness remains.

So, the answer Yoo Han-suah presented is a kind of link.

A link that fits perfectly between the actions Suah has shown so far and the sudden results she’s produced. It’s a content that everyone is satisfied with, so I don’t think it’s bad.

Yeah, it’s not bad, but…

The problem is…

‘It’s a lie after all. That’s what bothers me.’

It makes me feel uneasy to keep deceiving my friends.

But then.

“Hey, Lee Suah! I’m sorry!”

Deer shouted.

“…Actually, I’m a VTuber! Every time I had to act stupid while broadcasting, I thought of you and imitated you. I thought you were the dumbest person on Earth, I’ll reflect on thinking that!”

‘Huh?’

And then next was Monkeying.

“Suah, I’m sorry. Actually, when your inventory was robbed when we played games together in the past, it wasn’t hacked, I robbed it. I thought Suah wouldn’t be able to use it anyway… I’m really sorry…”

‘Huh?’

And then next was Saengji Kim Sun-ah.

“Suah, I’m sorry. I liked you so much, but I still sometimes felt that you lived too recklessly. Thinking about it now, you were struggling so hard in your own way…”

‘What?’

And finally, Black Bear.

“I’ll pay you back the money I borrowed from you this week… I’m sorry…”

‘Huh?’

That’s right. You borrowed money from me several times.

‘No, you bastards…?’

What is this? These guys make me feel affectionate, but I also want to punch them?

…Is this what friendship is?

Anyway, Suah was able to wash away all her guilt. Looking at it now, there wasn’t a single person who hadn’t deceived Suah in some way, big or small.

Suah hadn’t lied though! I’ll start doing it too now!

*Pat!*

It was then that she regained her body from Yoo Han-suah.

Suah, who had thrown away all her guilt, patted their backs.

“Yeah, I’ll work harder in the future. Cheer me on.”

“Of course! We’ll cheer you on! Until the Earth is destroyed!”

“And also say I look like an Arctic fox a lot.”

“Hmm? Who looks like an Arctic fox?”

What is this reaction? Suah was slightly taken aback.

Suddenly, Monkeying opened his mouth.

“Suah, I have something I’m worried about.”

“Worried?”

“Yeah. What if people in the industry treat Suah badly.”

Then, the other friends quickly became worried.

“That’s right! Are those people bullying you?”

“They’re not going to take advantage of you again because you’re dumb, are they?”

Suah shook her head.

“No. I’ve made some pretty close people, so.”

Then, Deer tilted her head.

“Close people? Who?”

“Seo Yeon-ju, Kim Sun-il… I think I’m closest to these two, and they’re both really nice to me. I don’t feel uncomfortable.”

“Do you have their phone numbers?”

“Of course, I do. I think they’ll pick up right away if I call?”

Actually, the last words were a bluff that Suah blurted out without realizing it. How could she resist wanting to look good in front of her friends?

“…!”

But her friends’ reactions were very intense. Maybe it’s because everyone except Black Bear are girls, but the opinion to call Kim Sun-il rather than Seo Yeon-ju was dominant.

‘Crap, I can’t even take it back now…’

Suah called Kim Sun-il with some hesitation.

And after a while.

“…Hello?”

Kim Sun-il revealed his face through a video call.

“…!”

“This is crazy!”

“Heeeuk!”

Her friends covered their mouths and jumped up and down from their seats.

Kim Sun-il seemed embarrassed but didn’t seem displeased.

He just took turns having thoughtful conversations with each of Suah’s friends one by one. Even for quite a while. To the point where Suah’s status among her friends rose like crazy.

For Suah, it was just something to be thankful for.

◈◈◈◈◈

Time flew by in the blink of an eye.

Finally.

The day came when the short film that would receive an award was decided.