Chapter 132: Troubling (3) (1/2)

“I think I need to study.”

“Study what.”

“Horror. Would you like to watch a movie with me?”

That day, he decided to go outside with just Bom. She was wearing an oversized shirt and short pants.

“How does it look?” she asked. She spread her arms out wide and looked like a flying squirrel.

“Looks good.”

Bom nodded in response.

It wasn’t even summer yet so he wasn’t sure if there would be horror movies being screened, but there actually were some being screened right now.

The cinema inside Lair’s entertainment district had very few people. It was already nighttime, close to closing time and it seemed that the movie itself wasn’t very popular either.

Bom and Yu Jitae were the only ones watching the horror movie, as if the entire cinema had been borrowed by them.

The movie started with a happy family adopting a baby possessed by evil ghosts.

It wasn’t that fun.

During the movie, Bom’s eyes suddenly turned blank but Yu Jitae didn’t care too much about it. She was like that several times a day with the ‘Eyes of Providence’ forcibly showing her Providence on its own accord.

Would she be able to focus on the movie?

“How was it?” Bom asked after the movie.

“It wasn’t good.”

“Me too. Was it scary?”

“The child running in with a knife was alright.”

“Right. That scene was good.”

“Did it help?”

“Nn.”

She then went to the bathroom. After waiting outside for a few minutes, he suddenly wondered why she was going to the bathroom but decided to ignore it.

The two of them got on an elevator. Since it was close to closing time, the elevator of the cinemas had no-one else inside. Yu Jitae stood still and Bom remained still as well.

Nothing happened in particular.

Because the cinemas were located at one of the top floors of the building, they had to change elevators to a different one in order to get to ground floor. However, the other elevator was out of service after closing time so Yu Jitae took Bom and headed to the emergency staircase.

They quietly walked down the emergency staircase.

Nothing happened in particular.

When they got out of the building, Bom suddenly stood still on the spot. With pouty eyes she stared at him and her slightly slanted eyes resembled a puppy whose treats had been taken away.

“Why.”

“Why?”

“What.”

“What is?”

“What’s up.”

“No?”

It struck him several times, but Bom was really efficient with her words sometimes. And in the Regressor’s eyes, it seemed that she was somewhat discontent.

He had no idea why.

“Ah, would you like to go to a cafe?”

She didn’t look very happy tonight. Thinking that she might feel slightly better after they went to a cafe, he agreed.

“Alright.”

Whenever they went to a cafe, Yu Jitae ordered a long black. It was because he didn’t feel anything no matter what he ate, but Bom always suggested a new menu to him.

“Mocca please.”

“Yes miss. Ice, right. Would you like cream on top?”

“Yes. Two please.”

Today’s menu seemed to be a coffee that tastes like chocolate. After grabbing the coffees, Yu Jitae and Bom sat on some small and uncomfortable chairs. The chairs were oddly close to each other and the height of the table was strangely low.

“Maybe this is for taking pictures.”

“Pictures?”

“You know, this place is pretty, right?”

He looked around but didn’t really get it. What was clear was that it looked very uncomfortable.

Yu Jitae drank the coffee with a straw. It tasted sweet and smelled like both coffee and chocolate. They were drinking their drinks without any conversation when Bom asked him.

“You’re not eating the cream, ahjussi?”

“Yeah.”

“Why?”

“There’s no particular reason why. Why do you eat them.”

“Because they’re nice? Try it at least.”

Then, she used Yu Jitae’s straw to scoop up some whipped cream and lifted it up. When he tried to receive the straw, she pulled her hand back and pushed it towards his mouth again, only after he lowered his hand.

She was stubborn at making him eat it.

“…”

“Hurry.”

Left with no other choice, he ate it off of the straw in her hand. It tasted slightly sweet with a hint of the fatty smell unique to milk.

“How is it?”

“Just so-so.”

“I see.”

Bom still continued trying to feed him cream so Yu Jitae had to eat it on repeat.

The street lights outside the window were bright. Stopping her hands, Bom looked off into the distance so Yu Jitae also stared at the distant streets of Lair.

Looking back, he was alone with her for a comparatively longer period of time today. The thought that he could make her feel troubled did flash at least once during that long time.

However, he didn’t.

The image of a ‘Mischievous Green Dragon’ was something that had been formed very recently. The Green Dragons that he saw and remembered had never shown a side like this.

For over 50 years.

Thinking back, his relationship with her was close to being the worst. He didn’t listen to her words and completely refused her requests. She pleaded so he slapped her and tied her up.

The voice towards the end of the sixth iteration that cursed him and claimed that she would never forget this day was still vivid in his ears.

‘And yet you’re the one that ruined everything.’

It was a tragedy brought upon by his excessive greed. During the time, he thought it was an okay-level of greed but looking back, he realised that it had been excessive.

But that didn’t mean that he felt a sense of guilt from that. He wasn’t the type of person to do so. There might be plenty of people cursing him right now but he did not care a single bit about that.

However, it was true that the Apocalypse had come because of his excessive greed so it was important to be careful at least in this iteration.

Therefore, there was no reason to make Bom feel perplexed just because of simple entertainment and intrigue.

“Are you thinking about a woman?”

It was then that Bom turned towards him and asked. Since the Green Dragons were always females, it was true that he was thinking about a woman.

“Yeah.”

“Who?”

“Someone I knew in the past.”

“How long did you know her for?”

“Quite a lot.”

Bom halted her questions for a bit and took a sip of her drink.

“…But why all of a sudden?”

“No real reason. I was just thinking about the past.”

“Were you friends?”

“No.”

“Were you on bad terms?”

“Probably yes.”

“How bad?”

He hesitated before answering that question. It was because this child tended to realise a bit more than what he knew and thought of.

“Very bad.”

“Did that woman curse you, ahjussi?”

“Similar.”

“What a bad person.”

He smiled hazily.

“Why did that woman curse ahjussi. Did you do something wrong?”

“I did.”

“I’ll give you time to defend yourself.”