Chapter 94: A Simple Favour (2) (1/2)
The reason was simple.
It was because the dragons had to be happy.
Since they don’t forget, their memories remain forever including painful memories. Therefore, Yu Jitae had to act in a way that made them feel happy every single time.
Radically speaking, if Bom was a child that became happy for being rejected, Yu Jitae could deny every single word of hers. But in reality, Bom was not like that so he did not refuse her requests.
‘You always rejected me during the past year and I have never asked for the same thing more than once. This is the first time I’m asking you like this’
He could remember the Green Dragon of the fifth iteration. It was the only one that tried to communicate with Yu Jitae among the four dragons and asked him for a favour.
‘Can’t you just, do it once…?’
If he didn’t refuse her request, would the fifth iteration have ended differently?
‘Even though I’m asking you like this…’
It probably wouldn’t have been all that different, considering that he had gotten off on the wrong foot. However, the dragons of that iteration would have been slightly less unhappy at the very least.
He refused and thus the dragons became unhappy – such memories of the fifth and the sixth iterations became stuck in his head like a road sign. Despite being a forgetful human, those memories floated back up whenever he closed his eyes.
Of course, he couldn’t say that out loud. How could he say that it was because they were like sunfish that died from every single thing in the world*?
He therefore gave up on replying.
“Nn?”
“…”
“Nnnn?”
“…”
“I want to know…”
“…”
“You’re not going to tell me?”
She was persistent for some reason today. He decided to move away from this place.
While carrying Gyeoul, Yu Jitae tried to carefully stand up but couldn’t. After jumping down from the table, Bom sat down on his lap.
“Where are you running.”
After smiling, “Hihi”, she moved around until she was comfortable with her seating posture. Gyeoul was still soundly sleeping so Bom’s voice got softer after coming closer.
“Do you remember what my first request was, ahjussi?”
He didn’t.
“It was on the day we first met when I was asking you to not kidnap me. I became fond of that place and was staying there for half a month so please leave me be, is what I said. But ahjussi rejected my first request. And I was kidnapped.”
“You said you weren’t kidnapped. You came with your own feet.”
“But that’s the reality of it. An adult taking a child into custody. That’s a kidnap no matter what you say.”
“…”
“But you see, something strange happened. On the very next day, I asked the second request, to go shopping together. And ahjussi did not reject it.”
He vividly remembered that. It was when she suddenly said that she would cook a meal for him.
“It was strange – being nice after doing a bad thing. But I didn’t hate it. On the first day, I was trying to hide my fear but my thoughts changed slightly after that.”
“…”
“But then there was this doubt. Why did he kidnap me? How did he know who I was?”
“I can’t tell…”
“You said you can’t tell me that, but it wasn’t just me. Even Yeorum and Kaeul were curious several times.”
Yu Jitae closed his mouth. After taking all of them in, he thought their life together was somehow going well. He thought it was because they were young kids that didn’t know about the worldly affairs but…
“I persuaded them. I explained in your stead, ahjussi”
“Why.”
“In order to live? But you see. After living like that for some time, we all started thinking differently.”
“Thinking differently?”
“Yes. Or should I say we got attached to it? You know how sometimes we slowly start to like things that we hated.”
“…”
“Well, I did carry out some small revenges.”
A small revenge?
He suddenly remembered something.
“The first meal you made for me. That was on purpose, huh.”
Her smile became a level deeper. Thinking that he had suffered a loss, Yu Jitae gave an empty smile.
“That soup must be the same as well?”
“Sorry?”
“I think you should make that again. I get that it’s a medicine, but it’s not the best thing to eat.”
Even now, Yu Jitae refrained from saying that it tasted bad. Realising that, Bom smiled.
“Ah, but by the way, I didn’t make this for revenge.”
“Then, is that how it always tastes?”
“No? Don’t you know that, ahjussi?”
“Know what.”
Her eyes bent into crescents.
“You look cute when you’re eating.”
Cough.
Yu Jitae unconsciously coughed out loud in reflex. For him, that was an extremely dumbfounding sentence to hear.
Gyeoul wriggled her body from Yu Jitae’s cough. When he carefully patted her back, the child went back to sleep.
“She almost woke up.”
“…What are you trying to say.”
“What do you mean?”
“…”
“Ah, what I mean by cute? You look really awkward when you’re eating something. You eat really slow and carefully.”
He suddenly thought that that might be possible because he had not eaten for over dozens of years.
“Your expression changes when it tastes bad, and I can tell them apart.”
“…”
“Today, this was the cutest.”
Bom raised a Bigyeong fruit. It was a dark green fruit the size of a fingernail.
That thing. He remembered that it tasted very bitter.
“That’s a bad habit. Do you laugh while seeing others in pain or something?”
“Sorry. But…”
“But what.”
“Because ahjussi never refuses it, I keep on giving you more.”
The Regressor heaved out a small sigh and shook his head.
“Are you still not going to tell me why you don’t refuse?”
“…”
“Maybe you like me?”
Now what was this about. The Regressor replied with an indifferent voice.
“No.”
Going, “Hmmm?”, Bom brought her body even closer. Her body was almost touching Gyeoul as she raised her face and looked into his eyes.