Chapter 109: In Search of the Dream (3) (2/2)
“…”
Wearing a pout that was at least twice more sullen than usual, she looked back and forth between the device and Yu Jitae.
She then shook her head. It seemed that she was slightly displeased, but she didn’t stop typing on the keyboard.
He decided to watch on a bit more.
*
At nighttime around 2 am, someone knocked on the door of Yu Jitae’s room. “Yeah,” he replied as Bom peeked into the room through a small gap between the door and the frame.
“Were you sleeping?”
The Regressor shook his head. She heaved out a sigh while still wearing the circular glasses.
“Why.”
“It’s just a bit hard to write the novel.”
“Come sit down.”
“Nn.”
She sat down on his bed.
“What’s the problem.”
“Since it’s a horror novel, there will be lots of ghosts right.”
“I guess.”
“When the ghosts come out, the protagonist has to be afraid. But no matter how much I try, I can’t express the feeling of fear.”
“But you said you saw ghosts before.”
“Yes. Ghosts and some undead… but back then, I wasn’t that scared.”
Indeed, a dragon fearing ghosts would be slightly weird as well.
Hatchlings were similar to humans at a glance but were different in certain places. Maybe this was why she wasn’t able to get much of a positive reaction even when she wrote novels in the sixth iteration.
“Anyways, and?”
“I thought about it for a few days. And there was this one time where I became scared of someone for the first time in my life, you know…?”
She then threw glances at Yu Jitae. Even without hearing it, he could somewhat guess when that would have been.
“Is that the first day you saw me?”
“Yes. The day I was kidnapped.”
Damn.
“And then.”
“Can you try acting as the ghost please?”
“…”
It’s not like he couldn’t, but at the same time, he didn’t really feel like willingly listening to her request.
“Weren’t you also scared when you were caught up in the dimensional disjoint.”
“But that’s not being scared of a specific target.”
“How is it different.”
“Umm, so like, the disjoint is like a spooky night. That is scary in itself, but there has to be a ghost inside a horror novel.”
“…Guess that makes sense.”
Even after hearing her explanation, the Regressor wasn’t too keen.
It was fundamentally different from when Yeorum wanted to learn his gaze so that she could threaten the reporters. In the end, Bom wanted a situation where she would be scared and threatened but wouldn’t fear remain in her memory forever?
Therefore, he remained silent.
“You can’t? It’s okay if you don’t want to…”
He thought she gave up rather easily.
“You know how to reject as well, ahjussi. Well… no-one’s stopping you…”
But she kept going on.
“Drawing and sculpting were no good and… even the novel is the same, I see. I thought it was pretty fun this time though…”
Then, she took off her glasses and threw them into the bin.
“…What should we do next?”
He could feel her protesting with her entire body. Left with no other choice, Yu Jitae decided to help and Bom nodded with a brighter expression.
“In that case, I’ll be writing here so please frighten me from behind.”
“Like, surprise you?”
“A little bit more violent please. Slightly more bad.”
“Explain the situation in a bit more detail.”
“Ummm, so…”
This was how the novel went.
A female criminal discovers a cabin in the middle of a mountain while running away and peacefully lives there. She brings friends in to play and brings her loved one in as well. Actually, the woman had killed the owner of the cabin and the owner’s soul returns as a ghost to take revenge on the woman.
“Do you know about revenge, ahjussi?”
“I do.”
“You know that feel, right. Like, how something big is about to happen.”
Like something big is about to happen?
“Alright.”
The role play soon began.
Bom turned the lights off and sat down in front of Yu Jitae’s desk. She then used a pen to write something down on the notebook.
Meanwhile, the Regressor slowly raised his body.
Like something big is about to happen…
It wasn’t necessary to get serious against a child. He simply had to give her a rough feeling.
He thought to himself.
I am the owner of the cabin.
That woman killed me and stole my cabin away.
There was a distant memory of a distant iteration where he had been deprived of something by a woman and how he took revenge on her.
How did I do it back then.
Probably…
He probably walked up to her back in silent steps. Back then, the target was sitting down in front of a table, laughing as she ate. Similar to that, the green-haired girl did not sense his presence. As he embraced the woman from behind, he reached up and touched her on the neck. When she sensed the touch of a stranger on her neck, the woman that had not sensed the approach of another being, finally noticed the arms covering her body. He placed his lips next to her ears and slowly opened his mouth. “You seem to be enjoying yourself,” he whispered and used his big, thick hand to strangle the slender neck of the woman…
“…!”
In that instant, Bom turned towards him in fright. There was nervousness, never seen before, hanging in her eyes.
Was it that scary? It can’t be. He had no intention of scaring her, nor did he have even a sliver of killing intent like before. Yu Jitae was only copying the movement.
“…Bom. Are you okay.”
“Ah, ah, ah… Yes.”
Her expression definitely wasn’t okay. At least he could tell that.
After slightly looking away, Bom tightened a fist around her chest and lowered her head. Then, she began slowly heading towards the door.
“I’m sorry if that surprised you. I was trying to make it feel like something big was about to happen, but it must have been over the top.”
“N, no… I’m really fine.”
Until the end, she never looked back and closed the door as if she were running away. He was trying to hold himself back, but it seemed to have failed. Left alone, the Regressor awkwardly touched the back of his neck.
That’s why I didn’t want to do it.
*
After returning to her room, Bom leaned on the door. Only then was she able to collect her breath that threatened to explode.
She was so surprised that she had a slight fever on her forehead and cheeks. Even her heart thumped loudly as it pleased.
She thought he would just walk up and surprise her, and wasn’t expecting him to come hug her with his two arms from behind…
Once again thinking back on the situation, she closed her eyes and heaved out a deep, heated sigh.
Her shivering lips curled up faintly and she murmured with a smile.
“That was dangerous…”